ShoreEx or DIY In Hawaii?

[jerseyjk]

I've seen a few posts regarding rental cars at various ports in Hawaii and I'm considering that route.

 

Does anyone have any advice on renting a car vs. ShoreExcursions vs. taking cabs to sites / activities. I'm more than comfortable doing things on my own (and yes, I've heard the "don't miss the boat" advice already), but I'm not sure if it's practicle in any or all of the ports. I'm willing to pay the price for a well-run NCL ShoreEx if it gets me to what I want to see, but I just hate being rushed through something that should be enjoyed at a leisurely pace ... In my experience, ship excursions tend to do that more often than not making them frequently not worth the cost of convenience.

 

If you've floated one of the NCLA ships, how did you do things at each port while on shore and would you do it differently if you had it to do over again?

[Treven]

I tend to rely more heavily on ship-sponsored excursions. I'll be in a strange city, not knowing how to get from one point to another, and attempting to drive & sight-see at the same time, wouldn't work for me.

 

I've never been disappointed with any of the cruise excursions; plus if you're late, with a ship excursion, the ship generally speaking will wait on you. If you're on your own, and you're late getting back to the ship, wave to it as you see it out in the middle of the bay or channel headed back into the ocean.

[flowerchild]

In Oahu, there is a lot of inexpensive public transporation. In Maui, there is none, so cars are your only option (didn't see a lot of taxis). Never been to Kauai, so not really sure, but it is less inhabited than Maui, so I would assume not much as far as options there.Since $$ is not an object, I would probably opt for xcursions on Oahu and Kauai, but in Maui, I suggest renting a car for the day, preferably a convertible, and touring as much of the island as you can in your limited amount of time in port...time wise options would be Iao Valley and a visit to the Maui Tropical Plantation (try lunch there, as well as good shopping), taking the drive to Lahaina (more shopping and history, self guided tour of town), Kaanapali (resort area, Black Rock, Whalers Museum at the mall)) and visiting Dragon's Teeth (Makaluapuna Pt in Kapalua) and driving just a little beyond, for great views of the landscape...depending on your preferences, many of those activities can be done in the short amount of time you are there...have fun!

[jerseyjk]

Thanks both of you for the info.

 

My apologies to the moderator ... I suppose this should probably be in the Hawaii forum ... I hate it when I mis-post. :rolleyes:

[Host CMLA]

My apologies to the moderator ... I suppose this should probably be in the Hawaii forum ... I hate it when I mis-post. :rolleyes:

No need to roll your eyes or apologize. You're asking whether or not you should do tours on your own or do NCL shore excursions. That's an NCL question. If you want recommendations for tours to do on your own, that would go on the Hawaii board. Members should also not volunteer private tour info on this board. Believe me...if your post didn't belong on this board, I'd move it. :p

[TikiMeekie]

We did rentals cars from Hertz in every port, and loved them all except for Kona. Kona still worked out pretty well for us, but the 7 mile trip to the airport took about 45 minutes, then there were only 3 shuttles back to the tender dock, 2:15, 3:30 or 4:15, and they said "don't do the 4:15". So, considering we went south from Kona for our sightseeing, and the airport was north, we had to head back at 2pm! Even then, we just made the 3:30 shuttle, which then took 45 minutes to get to the tender dock, and the line at tender was really long.

But we did have an amazing lunch at the Coffee Shack - recommended by Frommer's.

 

Hilo was pretty neat - we we ready to go right when we docked, and we beat the tour buses everywhere we went. :) Got to rainbow falls, check it out, then saw the tour buses on our way out. Same with the VNP, then over to Big Island Candies. It was great since it wasn't too crowded and we could spend the time that we wanted to. We also had 4 in our party, so the cost difference was HUGE.

 

And also, I LOVED driving in Hawaii. Compared to SoCal drivers, it was actually fun and pleasant, you don't have people tailgating you all the time, and people let you go in front of them.

[MidtheNight]

And also, I LOVED driving in Hawaii. Compared to SoCal drivers, it was actually fun and pleasant, you don't have people tailgating you all the time, and people let you go in front of them.

 

We live in FLA and driving can be a nightmare here as well....Hawaii was a wonderful place to drive yourself. We did an 11 day NCL Wind Hawaii trip a couple of years ago and did our own thing in all but one stop (we took the ship's tour to Volcano National Park...which was quite good too). Other than that though we just got off the ship, hopped the shuttle bus for our rental car company of choice and off we went. I reserved cars ahead of time with Alamo (about 2-3 months) and signed up for their "weekly specials" email....ended up saving some money too by doing that as I could modify the reservation with the new promo code as the prices fell. Make sure that you sign up for those specials emails regardless of who you use for your rental car, it could end up saving you some good money (I figured I saved about $250-$300 for the entire trip just by reading what I would call junk mail at any other time of the year). So not only did we have a leisurely drive (no one seems to be in a hugh hurry there) but we saved money as well!

[GMoney]

I cruised Hawaii on X Infinity last year, and we rented a car in almost every port and in all ports did things on our own - even Pearl Harbor. I was very pleased with the results and would do it again in a second. You get a lot more flexibilty and I prefer to not be tied to the ship's cattle cars. Just to some research beforehand and you will be fine.

[mh6i]

On our July 3 POH cruise we rented cars at Hilo and both days in Maui and had no problems at all- in fact I would recommend doing the same. In Kona we booked our own excursion too but it didn't require a car (scuba shop picked us up at pier). In Kauai we booked shore excursions through NCL- the first day because financially it was close to the same price after factoring in the rental car cost (Na Pali Explorer excursion), and the second day because they chopped 4 hours off the scheduled itinerary and we wanted to make sure we got back to the boat on time, although originally we had a rental car reservation for that day.

[Onessa]

Hilo - is a good spot for just about anyone to rent a car and do the sights on your own. The town is easy enough to navigate about. The "must do" sight is Volcano National Park - and as a national park, there is a lot of info available.

 

Maui - we did snorkeling where we were picked up by the provider on day one. Day two we took a taxi (easy enough to find at the pier) to the Ocean Center (we had to call from the ocean center for a pick up). We weren't going anywhere but the Ocean Center so the taxi made sense.

 

Kona - snorkeling again (pick up at the pier) and then just walking / Hilo Hattie's shuttle for the rest of the day.

 

Kauai - we booked the "off road" excursion through the ship (it was Thanksgiving day so we weren't certain what all would be 'open'). It turned out to be great since the tour took us over a lot of private property and we got to see things we wouldn't have been able to on our own.

[NCmom]

We did the Wind June of 2005. At each port (except Kona), we rented a car and drove to see the sights. It was so easy--the shuttles were there to pick us up, then we got to see exactly what we wanted to, when we wanted to.

 

The one day that there was trouble was in Kauai. We were already on board, We were due to sail at 4, but there was an automobile accident that tied up traffic both ways, and 400+ passengers weren't able to make it back to the ship in time. The captain announced that we would be waiting til 6:30 to see how many made it back, then we would have to move the ship out of the dock area and tender in the remaining passengers.

[Conanc]

Thanks jerseyjk for posting this. I have the same question, so I will just keep a close eye on this thread.

[jerseyjk]

Thanks to everyone for all the info. Any other opinions would still be appreciated.

 

I'm now convinced to rent a car in Hilo and Maui. I'm going to research the shorex compared to DIY/rental car in Kauai and Kona and figure out which way to go on those stops.

[roxette]

I would never go on a ship-sponsored excursion. That's what they make the most profit on. Silly prices. A couple of weeks ago I was in Copenhagen, saw a cruise ship, heard what the people said what they should to that day. Something I payed, say 15 dollars for, they payed around 40 dollars for. If you are a family of four, that will be a pretty big anount by the end of the cruise.