Excursions

[Jade's Fire]

My friend and I will be going on our first cruise in August to Hawaii on NCL Pride of America; we've gotten stuck on what to see and how to do it :confused:. I'm not thrilled with what the ship is charging for tours; I'll drive if I have to but wouldn't mind avoiding it either.

 

Here's where we stand so far:

• Hilo: Of course we want to go to Volcanoes National Park; we're looking at either the Volcanoes National Park, Volcano & Rainbow Falls or Hawaii Volcanoes Nature Deluxe excursions vs. renting a car. Am I right in thinking that none of the above tours get you to see molten lava? My friend wouldn't be able to do the Lava Viewing Hike.

 

• Maui (Kahului): We're thinking of taking the bus to Lahaina and the beaches to the north of the town for one of the days.

 

• Kona: Either a free day or a Glass-bottom boat excursion which is only an hour.

 

• Kauai: We're considering the Wailua River & Paradise Gardens excursion. I also wouldn't mind going to Papu beach.

 

• Honolulu: We'll be doing two pre-cruise days here, going to the Polynesian Cultural Center and a day around the city/beach. We were thinking of seeing Pearl Harbor the day we return, either with an excursion or renting a car. My concern here is storing luggage for the day; we're on a Canadian carrier so don't qualify for Easy Fly. Is there somewhere it can be stored or would it be safe in a rental car for the day?

 

Thanks for any and all advice and recommendations. Feel free to add any sites that I haven't mentioned that you think are vital to see/do.

 

Also, how does renting a car work as far as getting from the ship to the rental office and back again and how long does all that take?

[floridiangirl]

Aloha,

 

I found a great shore excursions webpage surfing the web. It is exclusively for Hawaii cruise passagers, called RobertsHawaii. The tours are limited (in the sense that is one or two choices per location) but super cheap! But they are exactly the same as the CruiseLine. Most of them are 29 and some are 49 for extended versions. To give you an idea, we booked the Volcano and Rainbow Falls for 49 dollars while the CruiseLIne offers the same tour for 89.0.

 

Here is the link: www.GoRabbitGo.com

 

Mahalo!

[puablo]

I've not actually been there yet (PoH in 3 weeks!) but I can comment on a few things based on my research.

 

Regarding the various volcano tours, the top ones are all bus tours that either go to Chain Of Craters rd. to walk on the lava (Lava Viewing Hike), a trip around the crater with stops at the lava tube and some small hikes, or both (Volcanoes Nature Deluxe). Originally I was agonizing over which one to do until members of this site kept saying "rent a car, rent a car, rent a car". Ultimately I realized that renting a car would cost me $30, plus $10 entry into the park, and I could do everything on the nature deluxe trip which would cost $150 per person otherwise. Needless to say this is a no brainer for me but it might not work for everyone. I'm very active, and I have no problems with driving a car in Hawaii (some people refuse to do it), and the idea of being able to see what I want at my own pace is ideal for me. But basic summary, you can see all the things on your own via a rental car, if you're inclined to plan your own trip.

 

Similarly we also found that most of the top tours in Kauai (at least, the ones that piqued our interest) were also bus tours to places we could go on our own. So for there we're getting a car both days and doing things at our own pace, for the same reasons.

 

I'm not going to fully go the route of "get a car on every island", but my advice is simply to look at the excursions you want to do, and decide if a car may be a more appealing alternative to accomplish the same goal.

[lola319]

Hi

 

We will be sailing on the PoA on 5/26 and I would like to have feedback on Botanical Gardens at Hilo, Rainforest Waterfall hike in Maui and Waimea Canyon in Kaui. Never been to Hawaii before, don't know what to expect as far as the excursions, should we rent a car at Hilo and go on our own... also for Waimea canyon???

[Travel_Queen]

We just returned from Hawaii on Saturday, and I can tell you what I did, and my experience. We rented cars on Hilo, Maui (two days) and post cruise 3 days in Oahu. In Kauai we took the helicopter excursion through the ship, and in Kona the Captain Zodiac snorkeling. These two excursions (or similar) we could have booked independently, but since most excursions start early in the morning, and/or may not get back in time for all aboard, we didn't want to take the risk of the ship not getting in on time, or the excursion running long.

 

For the most part this worked out great; we were free to go where we wanted (which requires pre-planning), and stop for as long as we wanted. The one thing you have to keep in mind is that it takes time to get to the rental place, do the paperwork, check out the car, and sufficient time to gas her up and return...and then the shuttle back to the ship. In addition some ports are tendered, and excursion people get first dibs on the tenders. In Hilo, we didn't get on the road to VNP until about 10:00 am..and we barely made the ship coming back, our saving grace was that a bus load of people had just returned before us and the ship was waiting for them....not us! In Maui, we kept the car overnight and left the car in overnight parking ($20) just across the street from the pier...so the second day was a breeze getting the car. In Oahu, we went from the pier to the car rental by their shuttle...and kept the car until the day we left..and the shuttle took us to the Airport, so we saved in cabs, but we had a lot of time since we knew we had three days ahead of us.

 

After checking out of the hotel on our last day, we left our luggage in the trunk..and even some in the back seat, found some free parking a little distance from Waikiki.. took the bus to the main Waikiki stretch and back on the same transfer.

 

Anyway, rental cars are great if you know what you want to do and see and you have the freedom that only Hawaii can provide (the views from the coastal roads are amazing and you can stop at so many pull outs), but at ports with limited time, an organized tour works well too.

[lola319]

Thank you Travel Queen!

 

So would you recommend doing Hilo with NCL as to avoid being late, I'm just trying to see what is the best way to do it:) ?

[sellbuy]

Hi Travel_Queen,

 

Can you give more info on $20 overnight parking lot in Maui? Were you docked at Kahului?

[DebraDot]

I am so excited to hear about the overnight parking in Maui! We have booked a hotel because we had heard that it was almost impossible to get a space if you came back after 5:00. This is news, and good news at that. Might save us $250!

 

Travel Queen: was there plenty of parking at the overnight parking site? Give us more information so we can find this site. Thank you for mentioning this.

[Jade's Fire]

Thank you ever so much, floridiangirl, for the site. It looks absolutely perfect! Has anyone tried any of their excursions?

[PDAZ]

Hi

 

We will be sailing on the PoA on 5/26 and I would like to have feedback on Botanical Gardens at Hilo, Rainforest Waterfall hike in Maui and Waimea Canyon in Kaui. Never been to Hawaii before, don't know what to expect as far as the excursions, should we rent a car at Hilo and go on our own... also for Waimea canyon???

 

Only can help you with the Botanical Gardens at Hilo

 

http://www.htbg.com/

 

It's absolutely gorgeous! Not a traditional garden, it's actually a walk through a rainforest with all sorts of plants and birds. The downside is that it's a steep trail. Another cruiser said that there were golf carts that would take you back up the hill -- I didn't see these when we were there. It was quite a workout getting up hill -- not for the physically challenged!

[PDAZ]

It looks like Travel Queen was on the Wind, which tendered in Lahaina I think. There would be quite a few lots there. I don't recall there being any paid lots by the dock in Kahului.

[lola319]

Good Day!

 

Thanks for the site PDAZ, in 3 more weeks I'll be in route to Hawaii

I can't wait!