Lahaina

[marnie2005]

Does anyone have any feedback on the “Lahaina on your own” tour NCL offers? Is 6 1/2 hours to long to spend in Lahaina?

[BermudaBound2014]

Can you post the tour description here? We hang in quite Lahaina often, but I'm not sure what the tour is offering for 6.5 hours. It feel you maybe able to save some money and do this on your own with a little help from your CC friends.

[marnie2005]

Basically , it’s just transportation from the Kahului cruise terminal to Lahaina…approx. 45 min drive…drop off and pick up 6 1/2 hr later…we are not interested in renting a car so thought this may be a option.?

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, marnie2005 said:

Basically , it’s just transportation from the Kahului cruise terminal to Lahaina…approx. 45 min drive…drop off and pick up 6 1/2 hr later…we are not interested in renting a car so thought this may be a option.?

An Uber from the port to Lahaina is about $60 each way, so if the excursion is less than $120 for 2 people its most likely not a bad deal if you don't mind being on a bus with a bunch of folks. 

 

The timing of the excursion will have a lot to do with how enjoyable it is. Lahaina is pretty sleepy in the morning and not a lot is open. If they are dropping you off at 9am it's going to be until about lunchtime that things start to fire up. If you have an option I would do this in the afternoon into the evening (assuming you have an overnight stop). Far more to do and a bunch of great options to eat/drink etc. 

 

If you go on the earlier side consider taking a a short Uber ride up to Whalers Village and seeing Kaanapali-- about a 12 minute drive from where you are. I love Lahaina but would be hard pressed to find 6.5 hours worth of things to entertain me-- especially if it's earlier in the day. 

 

If you don't have an option about timing with the excursion, but you do have an overnight stop, it might be worth just doing this on your own and staggering your departure from the ship into the afternoon. 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

I haven't tried using Uber in Kahului since before Covid, so I have no idea how it is now, but when I was in Kahului in Oct 2022, a LOT of people on our cruise were very frustrated with it (trying to get one).

 

Lahaina is the only place on Maui that you can shop, walk around/hang out for 6 hours or more. I'd spend my time in a bar and places I like to eat while my DW walks into "cute shops". I'm still trying to figure out how a town of 13,000 people can have 15,000 "cute shops".

[marnie2005]

13 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

An Uber from the port to Lahaina is about $60 each way, so if the excursion is less than $120 for 2 people its most likely not a bad deal if you don't mind being on a bus with a bunch of folks. 

 

The timing of the excursion will have a lot to do with how enjoyable it is. Lahaina is pretty sleepy in the morning and not a lot is open. If they are dropping you off at 9am it's going to be until about lunchtime that things start to fire up. If you have an option I would do this in the afternoon into the evening (assuming you have an overnight stop). Far more to do and a bunch of great options to eat/drink etc. 

 

If you go on the earlier side consider taking a a short Uber ride up to Whalers Village and seeing Kaanapali-- about a 12 minute drive from where you are. I love Lahaina but would be hard pressed to find 6.5 hours worth of things to entertain me-- especially if it's earlier in the day. 

 

If you don't have an option about timing with the excursion, but you do have an overnight stop, it might be worth just doing this on your own and staggering your departure from the ship into the afternoon. 

 

[marnie2005]

Thank you for the replys! The transportation leaves the cruise terminal at 9:15 so 10am approx. will be our arrival time in Lahaina. The cost is 115.00 per person. Concerned about getting a Uber and how easy it will be??

[princeton123211]

3 minutes ago, marnie2005 said:

The transportation leaves the cruise terminal at 9:15 so 10am approx. will be our arrival time in Lahaina. The cost is 115.00 per person. Concerned about getting a Uber and how easy it will be??

I don't think this is a great deal then-- both from a $$ standpoint (you can do it for half for 2 people on your own) and the time you'll be there isn't really the best. Uber in Maui works well in the afternoon/evening from Lahaina and where you dock in Kahului (which is also where the airport is located) but still leaves a lot to be desired in the morning. 

 

Another option would be prearranging a private taxi service. We use a fellow named Kevin who owns several nice Toyota minivans (808-205-4555) but there are plenty of other private services you can google. This might be a good option for the outbound. You shouldn't have an issue getting an Uber in Lahaina though. 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

7 minutes ago, marnie2005 said:

 Concerned about getting a Uber and how easy it will be??

 

See my response above. It was NOT easy, it was difficult and frustrating to my fellow passengers in Oct 2022. We rented a car. If you don't want to rent a car, pre-arrange a private taxi/shuttle.

 

I am a planner in the sense that I would not arrange a private taxi/shuttle one way and have no plan for the return. Lahaina is a long ways from the cruise port and there is one way there and back for large portions of the drive. If there is bad traffic (which is frequent) or an issue with the road, it can be problematic. At least with an NCL excursion, they are responsible to get you back or get you to the next port.

[princeton123211]

3 hours ago, scottca075 said:

Lahaina is a long ways from the cruise port and there is one way there and back for large portions of the drive. If there is bad traffic (which is frequent) or an issue with the road, it can be problematic.

I hear what you're saying but issues along that road aren't as frequent as some indicate and the Lahaina Bypass has also improved odds considerably. Especially if the ship was overnighting at Kahului I don't know if that would give me pause enough to get onto a bus with some more inconvenient touring times for twice the amount it would cost me to do it on my own.