Getting of the ship in Hawaii

[tejmar]

We finally got our booking nos. so that we can book excursions in Hawaii and we are considering our options. We will be at the island of Kauaii, Lahaina, Maui one day each for around 11 hours. We are trying to decide whether to rent cars and go on our own or take the excursions. What I would like to know is how long does it take to get off the ship in the morning if you are going off on your own. We've cruised before and know that often times the people with the cruise tours get first priority especially when tenders are involved. I'm assuming that in both of these ports tenders are not involved, but I'm sure that there is a time factor involved in exiting the ship. The reason we would like to know is that if we decide to rent a car or make some tour reservations about how long would it take us to get ashore i.e. more than an hour.

 

We have less than 3 weeks to go and the excitement is starting to build. Hard to believe the time is quickly approaching.

[Esme]

Maui is definitely a tender port - I know there was another one but I can't remember which port it was - could have been Kona. It's been 7 years since we've been there so my mind is a little fuzzy. :) I am sure someone who has been there recently will know.

 

Enjoy Hawaii - it's beautiful and we so enjoyed both our cruises there.

[Lovebirds]

Maui is definitely a tender port - I know there was another one but I can't remember which port it was - could have been Kona. It's been 7 years since we've been there so my mind is a little fuzzy. :) I am sure someone who has been there recently will know.

 

Enjoy Hawaii - it's beautiful and we so enjoyed both our cruises there.

You are correct. Tenders in Lahina and Kona, docks in other Hawaii ports. Most of the cruise lines try to que up the passengers according to the times that the excursions start, but if you are doing your own thing, you should be able to just blend in with the others and get off the ship.

 

The first time we were in Hawaii, we found that the guided motorcoach tours were very interesting. The second time we rented a car and just went wandering.

[Himself]

I hope the anchor on the ship holds at the tender ports.

 

Himself

[anjan]

I have cruised Hawaii twice. It is very easy to rent a car. We reserved cars prior to the cruise. Just let the rental company know that you will need a pickup at the pier. The rental cars are at the airports. When you drop off your car in the afternoon they will take you back to the pier. Hawaii is very easy to navigate.

 

If you like to snorkel the Molokini shore excursion in Maui is worth it. We saw sea turtles, sting rays, eels and all kinds of fish.

[the2ofus]

Regarding rental cars in Hawaii, it is important to factor in the amount of time it takes to get to and from the car pick-up point. You will need to wait for a shuttle, which also usually is picking up several other passengers. The ride to and from the pick-up point can take a good bit of time, depending on traffic, especially in Honolulu. Also, be sure and check whether the rental agency is open as late as you need it. If your ship is in port late and the rental agency is only open until 5 p.m., you will need to arrange for a taxi back to the ship, or cut your independent sightseeing short.

 

Do consider taking pictures of the rental car if you have a digital camera. The car we rented in Kona (after a long wait because they had more reservations than cars in the lot) had numerous scratches and a few dents. We made sure they were noted on the rental form and that the rental agent viewed the car and signed the form BEFORE we left the lot in the morning. We weren't about to get hit with charges for damages.

[Sunviking]

Our experience on a cruise of the islands this past May on the Infinity mirrors that of The2OfUs. We found that we had to make a pretty generous allowance for pickup and return of the rental cars. If I'm not mistaken at Lahaina we were told the latest we could bring the car back to get a shuttle for the ship was 3:30PM. We also found it was extremely important to inspect the cars and note every ding or scuff (and there were many of those) on the rental paper. We had a dispute with the agent when we returned one car (I forget which island). Fortunately we had the paper on which we had noted everything and it had been signed by the guard when we took the car off the lot. All that being said, we really enjoyed doing our own thing and would not opt for ship's tours.

[tejmar]

Thank you all for the information. We are very excited about our upcoming cruise and the prospect of driving around some of the islands on our own. Some of the offered excursions seem nice, but we thought that we could try some of the offerings own our own. Thanks again.

[Cruiseoften]

tejmar

 

Wish we were joining you :)

 

Passengers holding Tour/Excursion bookings are first off the ship......the suggestion that you 'blend in with the crowd' to get off early is not a good one - you need a Tour/Excursion Sticker and a number to go ashore - DIY's leave last - and rightly so to my mind. If everyone does as requested, the wait time is shorter for all!

 

Each Island has much to offer so for your first visit, I'd suggest carefully selecting your tours and leave the car for another time. Among our favorites are the Tropical Botanical Gardens; the Wailea River Cruise; Pearl Harbor; the volcano and Pele. Not all tours all day affairs. Look out for shuttle buses to Hilo Hatties - a must for at least an hour.

 

Enjoy!

[superstein61]

tejmar

 

Wish we were joining you :)

 

Passengers holding Tour/Excursion bookings are first off the ship......the suggestion that you 'blend in with the crowd' to get off early is not a good one - you need a Tour/Excursion Sticker and a number to go ashore - DIY's leave last - and rightly so to my mind. If everyone does as requested, the wait time is shorter for all!

 

I humbly disagree. Unless HAL does something different in Hawaii, people not on excursions can still get off the ship very early and beat the crowd if they want to. I believe thats what the blending into the crowd comment meant.

 

On the Z - we were always off very early - we were in fact on the first or second tender to HMC - simply by eating breakfast a little early and going and picking up a tender ticket when they were ready.

 

While some spots are saved for excursion people - there are others that are still first come first serve at tender ports.

 

At non-tender ports - its not an issue - just get off when the ship is cleared. no need to wait

[Jemima]

I humbly disagree. Unless HAL does something different in Hawaii, people not on excursions can still get off the ship very early and beat the crowd if they want to. I believe thats what the blending into the crowd comment meant....

 

On the Z - we were always off very early - we were in fact on the first or second tender to HMC - simply by eating breakfast a little early and going and picking up a tender ticket when they were ready.

 

HMC is not a good example as most people don't take excursions there.

HAL tends to schedule lots of excursions early. At most tender ports there will be several ship shore excursions scheduled soon after anchoring/clearing. For example, at one port on our last cruise our ship anchored about 8am. There were six excursions available and five were scheduled to leave between 8:00 and 8:45 in the morning. There were several bus loads of people for all or most of these. That really doesn't leave any room on tenders for anyone but those on ship excursions and suite passengers with priority tendering.

[Nanner]

We did our first Hawaii cruise on HAL in April and rented a car on both Maui and the Big Island (Hilo). You don't mention the cruise stopping at Hilo, but if it does I would strongly recommend getting a car and driving to Volcanoes National Park to do your own thing. You can find time to make some other stops (like Hilo Hatties, the macadamia nut factory, gardens...) and still see the volcanoes at your own pace. There wasn't a shuttle when we arrived at the dock, so we rented a taxi (split the fare with some other folks so it wasn't bad) to the airport to maximize our time. We got a free shuttle back from Budget.

 

On Maui, we drove to the top of Haleakala and some around the island. It was a long trip, and while I'm glad we saw it, it does eat up a huge chunk of your day. It's also a much more harrowing drive than VNP, and if you are acrophobic at all you won't want to be behind the wheel.

 

There we did get a shuttle both ways from Budget. We called as soon as we were in port and it wasn't much of a wait for the shuttle. We walked to the Old Lahaina luau after a bit of a rush to get the car back on time. Caught the final shuttle at 4 pm. If I ever return, it's time for the road to Hana and Iao Valley.

 

Kaui you might enjoy just doing a helicopter ride or one of the easy kayak or snorkel trips. It's beautiful and you won't be disappointed with whatever you choose to see. In Kona we took our only shore excursion with the ship, which was a bus tour to the Painted Church and Place of Refuge (both interesting and worth seeing) and a coffee plantation (just another excuse for buying junk and you didn't see much of actual coffee production).

 

If you do Honolulu, I'd recommend one of the bus tours. You can book one yourself (we did with Enoa Tours) and circle the island, see the sights and get out of the big city.

 

We didn't find that getting off the boat was a big issue in tender ports. We were off the boat by 9:15 each time. This is one of the major reasons I love boats that don't carry 2000-plus passengers!

[cruzngal]

Having been to Maui a number of times, I'd vote for renting a car there. There's plenty to see in the time allotted: The Maui Ocean Center is a neat aquarium. Snorkeling Molokini is cool, but you can also stop at one of the zillion snorkeling shops and rent equipment for about $20 or less (estimate based on experiences a few years ago) and get a free map of snorkeling sites right off the beach. You can just park the car put on your flippers and swim out 30 feet. Some of them offer snorkeling quality better than Molokini. Driving to the top of Haleakela is another option, and there is a winery about halfway up the side of the "hill" that you can stop at for a quick tour/tasting. Lots of cute little shops and art galleries in Lahaina. Just DO NOT be tempted to drive to Hana, no matter how neat someone thinks the drive is. You won't make it back in time. The Iao valley is much closer and will give you feel of the Hawaiian rain forests without the very long car trip.

[tejmar]

Thanks everyone for the info.

 

We are in Hilo for two days so I am renting a car for both days and parking in the harbor over night. Parking is $8/day and is a short walk to the ship. By doing this we will be able to drive around one night. In Kauai, I'm renting again and we plan on doing the Fern Grotto on our own and walking around the Wailua park the taking a helicopter tour in the afternoon. The company that runs the boat tours said that if we call early in the morning they could tell us the best time to arrive and not get behind the cruise tours. The helicopter tour operator said the same thing. He told us that we didn't have to make a reservation right now. Even with the rental car on Kauai we are saving $80 over the cruise rate. If it ends up that we can't do the helicopter, we can still drive around and see the sights. We drove around Oahu when vactioning there 25 years ago and really enjoyed it. That was our favorite part of the trip, just driving around an taking in the beauty of the island. I just wish that we were there longer. Unfortunately in Maui the submarine tour that my wife wants to take is from 12-2 PM which would make it senseless for us to rent a car for the day there.

 

We plan on really exploring the Big Island which should be very exciting. Eighteen days and counting down.

[iluvcruzin]

Definately rent a car. It's the only way to go. It's funny when you run into the people from the cruiseship tours along the way. While you get 2-3 in, they are getting one. I have a review on the addicts board under Vision of the Seas if interested in what all I did. I had the help of some expert cruisers at the time that helped plan the route for me. Hawaii was the best cruise I EVER took. - Loved it!:D

[tejmar]

iluvcruzin:

 

I'm interested in reading your post, however, the addicts board has the worst search fuction that I've ever seen on a message board (what I've come to expect from a Google run search). I tried to manually find the post, but I'm having some difficulty wading through all of the posts without additional information. Could you tell me which forum, topic name, and approximate date? Thanks