Hawaii excursion questions - physical difficulty?

[alisonslp]

Hi all. After reading a wonderful review here from last year, we are now looking into a POA Hawaii cruise. I tried messaging the poster but CC wouldn't let me? For those who have been on POA excursions - how difficult are they physically? Not really cardio wise but more knee/ankle wise. I am thinking of the tours involving waterfalls, volcanoes, Diamond head, etc. How sure footed do you need to be? Are they "twisted ankle" potential or just mildly rough terrain?  Were there older folks on the tour who managed fine or had trouble? I know this is a strange question but it's info I need before deciding if this cruise would be worth it for us to take the cruise because if I am going to take on the cost, I want to get the most out of the trip. I have rheumatoid arthritis. I am generally fine on flat land and mild terrain but a lot of hiking on inclines or severe uneven ground can cause my joints to flair and obviously terrain that has high fall potential would not be good.  I know the excursions have different warnings but I find they don't give a good idea of what exactly makes a tour "strenuous". I am fine cardio wise. It's the terrain that's an issue. And going along with that, did you find having hiking boots/sneakers would have helped or were not needed?

 

Any input is appreciated.

[cruisencrazy]

Hawaii is wild..  Most paths to anything beautiful are dirt, steep, muddy....  The road to Hana could mostly be seen from a car (Maui).  Nearly all waterfalls are remote and require a hike.  I personally think Kaui is most beautiful from the water.  Hawaii is stunning.  NCL rates their tours according to physical ability.  Hawaii is stunning.  We have done the cruise and gone to the islands on our own.  Maybe get a spa pass to soak whatever hurts after you see the beauty?

[alisonslp]

4 minutes ago, cruisencrazy said:

Hawaii is wild..  Most paths to anything beautiful are dirt, steep, muddy....  The road to Hana could mostly be seen from a car (Maui).  Nearly all waterfalls are remote and require a hike.  I personally think Kaui is most beautiful from the water.  Hawaii is stunning.  NCL rates their tours according to physical ability.  Hawaii is stunning.  We have done the cruise and gone to the islands on our own.  Maybe get a spa pass to soak whatever hurts after you see the beauty?

The spa pass is a really good idea. We thought about that for Alaska and decided last minute not to get them thinking we wouldn't have as much time to use it but it really would have helped.  And thanks for the input. I was thinking this would be the case but hoping not.  Decisions, decisions... 

[TSUmom]

We loved Hawaii and it is one of the most beautiful places we have been to.  My MIL has bad knees and when they went a few years ago they booked excursions through NCL.  My suggestion is to look at the excursions listed with NCL - you can filter them by level of activity.  They are a bit pricey but you may find some that appeal to you that have very little walking or easy walking.  At the end of the excursion description it usually says things like walking on uneven surfaces to give you a better idea.

[2bc cruisers]

Hiking up diamond head would be a resounding no for me if I had knee/ankle issues.  It is a LOT of stairs.  You can ride a bus around it tho with no problem.

On the big island, there is an excursion ( or hoho bus) that goes to rainbow falls, now that is accessible.  

Volcanoes np many excursions are just a bus ride letting you out at the sites and involve sidewalk walking to a viewing area, at rougher areas (lava fields). They allow you to stay on bus if you choose.

Hawaii is like anywhere else, read some reviews and find the excursions that are listed as accessible and or have a review that addresses difficulty level.

 

Sturdy sneakers for wet ground should be good enough.  I say go for it.  Hawaii is absolutely gorgeous.

Edited May 17, 2019 by 2bc cruisers

[finest14]

I live in Hawaii and you can get to many beautiful places with very little effort, and beautiful out-of-the-way places with lots of effort.  If you give me some examples of what your looking at I'd be happy to give you my opinion.  I'm "healthy" and up for anything.  My wife has two really, really bad knees and our son has a disability and has a tough time on uneven terrain.  So, I've done everything from wild to mild.  We've also done the POA cruise and had a great time.

Edited May 17, 2019 by finest14
Update

[alisonslp]

6 hours ago, finest14 said:

I live in Hawaii and you can get to many beautiful places with very little effort, and beautiful out-of-the-way places with lots of effort.  If you give me some examples of what your looking at I'd be happy to give you my opinion.  I'm "healthy" and up for anything.  My wife has two really, really bad knees and our son has a disability and has a tough time on uneven terrain.  So, I've done everything from wild to mild.  We've also done the POA cruise and had a great time.

Thanks! I am at the beginning stages of looking. I know I would like so see a variety of waterfalls, volcanoes, get to the high points for view down below but I don't know specifically what or where. I just had a little time to quickly look through the ncl excursions and it does seem that there are quite a few level 1s for what I am looking for so I am thinking that much of the tours are through van.

[careyayn22]

I haven’t been on the cruise and only been to Maui, but we went three years ago with three generations.  I have some back issues and none of us middle generation is in real shape, and we were fine for everything we wanted to see. A lot of waterfalls were just short hikes. Uneven and dirt,  but not real high imapact. 

 

My parents were with us.  My mom had back surgery and was stooped at the time (in between surgeries) and she was able to do short hikes but no climbing; we rented a wheelchair and used it a couple times for her.  She could do about 75% of what we did. . My dad rented a scooter. He was on O2 and couldn’t really walk. He saw a lot and did about 65% of what we did. Both loved it no matter what.