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HAWAII CRUISE

JBASTIEN

By JBASTIEN,
in Hawaii

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mom says Excellent Advice! Rare

mom says

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Depends on the ship, the island, and the excursion. It will be very busy when the gangway first opens, but I wouldn't describe it as crazy. Try looking at each of your stops on the Ports of Call forum. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/37-hawaii/

 

Of course any tender ports will have a different disembarkation protocol. You can ask on the forum for your cruise line.

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leaveitallbehind

leaveitallbehind

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Other than with Maui, which was a tender port, there were no issues at all with getting off the ship or with finding transportation in our experience.  With that tender port there was somewhat of a delay with the initial off loading as the tenders were sequenced at two ship board departure stations, which took some time for each tender cycle.

 

It is no more difficult or time consuming than with any other typical itinerary port of call.

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CruiserBruce

CruiserBruce

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3 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Other than with Maui, which was a tender port, there were no issues at all with getting off the ship or with finding transportation in our experience.  With that tender port there was somewhat of a delay with the initial off loading as the tenders were sequenced at two ship board departure stations, which took some time for each tender cycle.

 

It is no more difficult or time consuming than with any other typical itinerary port of call.

Kona is a tender port.

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Silver Sweethearts

Silver Sweethearts

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6 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Good point and thanks for mentioning it.  I was only referring to our itinerary in 2019.

Since August, the only port available on Maui is Kahului, and ships will dock - not tender - there for the foreseeable future.  Take this into consideration when planning your activities on the island.

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princeton123211

princeton123211

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20 hours ago, JBASTIEN said:

How crazy is it getting off the ship when you arrive at each island?  and how hard to get transportation to excursions not booked through the cruise ship.

Worth mentioning because I don't know your cruising experience but Hawaii is not going to be like the Caribbean if that's the comparison being made. There won't be vendors just sitting there waiting to take folks on tours in most places. I wouldn't "wing it" without doing some planning and arranging transportation with the exception of Honolulu. Prior to the fires in Maui, if tendering in Lahaina, you could just sort of do your own thing but now docking in Kahului requires some planning. 

 

There are private taxis which can be arranged in advance on every island. Uber/Lyft do exist but really only at critical mass in Honolulu and to a lesser extent Maui. Rental cars can be handy if you want to get off the beaten path. 

 

Just worth keeping in mind. 

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KeepCalmBearOn

KeepCalmBearOn

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On 12/5/2023 at 10:12 AM, leaveitallbehind said:

Other than with Maui, which was a tender port, there were no issues at all with getting off the ship or with finding transportation in our experience. 

On 12/5/2023 at 2:19 PM, leaveitallbehind said:

Good point and thanks for mentioning it.  I was only referring to our itinerary in 2019.

 

Covid changed a lot in Hawaii and now the Lahaina wildfire.

 

Kauai is a very small population. Before Covid there were shuttles to Walmart, Hilo Hatties and another shopping are. Now only Hilo Hatties has one. There were shuttles to the airport (3 miles away) for rental cars. Now only Avis/Budget has a shuttle.

 

We rented an Avis car Oct 2022 and had no issue getting to LIH to get it. The line for a cab was 60-90 minutes and there are only about 70 Uber on the entire island to serve three population areas, Lihue, Hanalei and Koloa/Poipu. People had a VERY hard time getting transportation that day.

 

Kahului (Maui) is a bit better because it has a larger population, but I'd be careful using an Uber to get someplace (like Ka'anapali or Ma'alaea Harbor) because getting one for the return can be less certain.

 

Again, pre-Covid all the outer islands had car rental shuttles at the port, now very few do. Research this carefully.

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Desert Cruisers

Desert Cruisers

Posted
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On 12/12/2023 at 9:40 AM, scottca075 said:

 

Covid changed a lot in Hawaii and now the Lahaina wildfire.

 

Kauai is a very small population. Before Covid there were shuttles to Walmart, Hilo Hatties and another shopping are. Now only Hilo Hatties has one. There were shuttles to the airport (3 miles away) for rental cars. Now only Avis/Budget has a shuttle.

 

We rented an Avis car Oct 2022 and had no issue getting to LIH to get it. The line for a cab was 60-90 minutes and there are only about 70 Uber on the entire island to serve three population areas, Lihue, Hanalei and Koloa/Poipu. People had a VERY hard time getting transportation that day.

 

Kahului (Maui) is a bit better because it has a larger population, but I'd be careful using an Uber to get someplace (like Ka'anapali or Ma'alaea Harbor) because getting one for the return can be less certain.

 

Again, pre-Covid all the outer islands had car rental shuttles at the port, now very few do. Research this carefully.

Kukui Grove shopping center website still shows complimentary shuttle on cruise days. Where are you getting your info from? 

 

Also, not aware that Walmart ever had shuttle on Kauai. We would take the Hilo Hattie shuttle and walk over to Walmart.

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KeepCalmBearOn

KeepCalmBearOn

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1 hour ago, Desert Cruisers said:

Kukui Grove shopping center website still shows complimentary shuttle on cruise days. Where are you getting your info from? Also, not aware that Walmart ever had shuttle on Kauai. We would take the Hilo Hattie shuttle and walk over to Walmart.

 

My last three Hawaii cruise (2019, 2020, 2022) Kukui Grove definitely did not have a shuttle. Only Anchor Cove and Hilo Hattie's had shuttles.

 

Walmart had one at one because both my parents and I have used it on different trips. Not sure, when or why they stopped, but it was before Covid.

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Desert Cruisers

Desert Cruisers

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3 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

My last three Hawaii cruise (2019, 2020, 2022) Kukui Grove definitely did not have a shuttle. Only Anchor Cove and Hilo Hattie's had shuttles.

 

Walmart had one at one because both my parents and I have used it on different trips. Not sure, when or why they stopped, but it was before Covid.

Okay.  Perhaps Kukui Grove restarted the shuttle in 2023.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

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