Hawaii on POA Dec 12th

[TillThen]

We've cruised before, but first time for Hawaii and NCL. We're takig the advice of many people on this forum, and we're booking rental cars for some of the ports. (We are not very interested in doing pre-arranged excursions)

So far, we've only booked for two ports: Kahulu, Maui as we are arrive at 8:00 Dec 14th, and don't depart until 6:00 pm Dec 15th. We have also booked Nawiliwili (Kauai) becuase we arrive on Dec 17th and don't depart until 2:00 pm Dec 18th.

We are only at Kona for one day, from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm - is it worth it to rent a car here, or are there things to do close to port?

Likewise for Hilo -we are only there from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm the same day, so again just wondering what there was to do in close to the port.

Finally, the day we leave the ship docks on Dec 22nd at 7:00 am, but our flight is not until 10:00 pm. We were thinking of renting a car that day, and touring around Oahu, and then we could leave our luggage in the car? Does anybody know of an alternative for our luggage. On others cruises, they have a baggage service that takes the bags to the airport (at an additional cost - does anybody know the cost if this is an option), which would leave us free to just explore Honolulu. Or is there somewhere close to the Port that we can stow our bags - large lockers?

Any suggestions would be appreciated?

Thanks

[pizzalady1]

For luggage storage, see http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=645429

[cheddarcat]

We just got off the Pride of Aloha last Sat. Dec 1 2007. My answer to you would be rent a car in as many ports as you can. There are free shuttles in all the ports to take you to Wal Mart, Hilo Hatties and ABC stores are usually close to the pier. We rented a car the second day in Honolulu because our flights came in so late on the first day we couldn't see anything. It's pretty easy to find your way around we really just winged it and headed down the North Shore and circled right around. We rented through HERTZ and had no problems at all with lines and we had to drop off at the airport on Nov 22 Thanksgiving but it wasn't any problem. Just a note: There is a gas station right where you drop foo at the airport but I think it's closed at 600 pm. We also rented a car on the last day as well. We didn't get off the ship until about 900 am and there was a bit of a lineup to get into the shuttle to go over to HERTZ and a bit of a wait but we had all day to kill as well. Our flight left at 1010pm. Do NOT take your luggage with you in the rental. Thieves know they are rental vehicles and will be inside within seconds. Rental all start with HR at the beginning of the license plate. You will not be able to relax knowing your luggage is there. If you qualify for the "EASY FLY" program do it!!! We did not as we were flying into Canada. There is a place that you can store your luggage right at the pier for $5 a bag but you have to pick it up by 600 pm or you will not be able to get it. The only Shore excursion that we did that I thought was worth it was the, "Road to Hana" It's a long day but very informative and if one person has to do the driving they will miss out on very beautiful scenery. You HAVE to keep your eye on the road as it's very narrow and windey[sp} The tour operators through Roberts Hawaii were excellent but if I had to do it all over again I would have gone on my own to see the sites. I would definately rent a car in every port the next time I go. Big tour buses with people in and out all the time was not for me. So much of the day is loading and unloading!! You will LOVE Hawaii. Every island is unique.

[TillThen]

Thanks very much for both replies. We are flying back to Canada (Vancouver), so I assume from your comment that we will not qualify for the Easy Fly program neither. Storing the luggage at the pier and picking it up by 6:00 sounds like a possibility.

 

Another option we thought of, but didn't know if it as avaiable, was to store our luggage at the airport in a locker (if there are any) as the Hertz rent a car picks us up at the pier and shuttles us to the airport anyway. Does anybody know if there are lockers, or baggage storage, at the Honolulu airport?

 

Cheddarcat - what did you think of POA? I have read lots of varying reviews. One question I have is do we have to book for the specialty restaruants when we board? I read that somewhere...we won't be boarding the ship until 9 or 10 pm as our flight gets in late, so we won't be able to book them on the "first" day of the cruise?

[vidwiz]

Several people say no rental car needed in Kona, lots to do there.

[pizzalady1]

There are no lockers or baggage storage at HNL.

[j-9]

Hi Tillthen - we were on the Aloha in Feb and will be on again on Dec 12, so that tells you what kind of time we had :) .

 

You could book the specialty restaurants a day or 2 in advance only, so you don't really need to worry about all the reservations being taken by the time you get there. We ate in the restaurants 4 times I think, and never had a problem getting in. A couple of times, we just walked up.

Definitely rent cars, and if you are a beach person, rent one in Kona too. The best beach in the world is north of Kona.

[0Josh0]

Definitely rent in Hilo. Volcano National Park is a must-see, and touring the park at your leisure is really great. You can pull over whenever you see something breathtaking, which will be about once a minute......

 

In Kona, we headed south about ten minutes in a taxi, and snorkeled. The area we went to was VERY crowded, but really great. There was so much sea life that I got run over by a sea-turtle in about 1 1/2 feet of water while putting on my fins... it was fantastic. Huge colorful fish.

 

However if the perfect beach is your thing, then you may want to take the J-9's advice about Kona, but I didn't go there and can't comment.

 

Do not leave anything at all in your rental car, and think the door locks will prevent thievery. You will find broken glass all over the areas where you are most likely to visit, signifying all the other people there before you that had windows smashed in. We always kept nothing but a roadmap in the car with the doors UNLOCKED to prevent damage to the car. If you lock the doors they will think something is inside that they want.

 

Have a great time..... It looks just like every postcard or photo you have seen.... it's that pretty.