Maui & Kauai Shore Tours

[Neffgirl]

I've got a cruise booked on Pride of America in Feb. 2009 and I'm considering two of the NCL offered shore tours: the 2 hour "Whale Watch" in Maui and the 3 1/2 hour "Kauai Canopy Zipline Adventure". Has anybody heard anything about or had any experience with either of these tours?

[O2BatC]

I've got a cruise booked on Pride of America in Feb. 2009 and I'm considering two of the NCL offered shore tours: the 2 hour "Whale Watch" in Maui and the 3 1/2 hour "Kauai Canopy Zipline Adventure". Has anybody heard anything about or had any experience with either of these tours?

 

My daughter and I did the Zip on Kauai. I'm in my 60's and for me it was hard on the arms (not much upper body strength, I guess). Then on another trip she did the Zip on Maui. I didn't do it since my arms still hurt. She said I should have gone. It was much more fun and less pulling on the arms. Hope this answers at least one of your questions.

Janis

[Beach4me]

I haven't done NCL's whale watch but I can tell you that you will be in Maui at the absolute PERFECT time for a whale watch. I've done several dozen whale watches in Maui and you can't beat February. I'm sure you will enjoy it. And, I'd dare say that if you don't do a whale watch in Maui, you will regret it. You will see whales from the ship but if you are really interested in getting closer to the whales and learning about them, a whale watch is the way to go. Whale watches almost always have naturalists aboard explaining the activity you are seeing...I can't imaging that NCL's would be any different.

[Neffgirl]

My daughter and I did the Zip on Kauai. I'm in my 60's and for me it was hard on the arms (not much upper body strength, I guess). Then on another trip she did the Zip on Maui. I didn't do it since my arms still hurt. She said I should have gone. It was much more fun and less pulling on the arms. Hope this answers at least one of your questions.

Janis

Hmmm.....in Maui, we've already got plans, but I appreciate your input on the Kauai Zip. I'm in my 50's & not REAL strong, but it just sounds like too much fun to miss. I guess I'll keep thinking about it - we've got lots of time 'til Feb. Thanks for the info!

[Neffgirl]

Oh, I'm glad you said that! My husband said taking the Whale Watch tour wouldn't make sense since you could see whales for free from the ship. He saw one (just one!), pretty far out, on our last cruise around Hawaii. I will have to show him your post. I think we may have to do this tour, for sure!

[bermudafan8]

We were on a Princess Hawaii cruise last summer and did the Napali Explorer excursion on Kauai. It was the best shore excursion we've ever been on.

We were picked up in a van & rode for 30-45 minutes to Kekaha. Then they collected our shoes & we boarded a 48 ft motorized rafts w/ a wooden floor and inflatable sides, and a shady covering. Sailed along the coast, went into a cave, stopped at a few spots for snorkeling w/ colorful fish; saw turtles and 2 monk seals resting on a beach. Then hung out for awhile at the dramatic Napali cliffs - wow what a sight. Unbelievable. As if the scenery wasn't already the most spectacular, we were then surrounded by a pod of spinner dolphins that were jumping and spinning all around us. What a day - I highly recommend this tour if available - napali-explorer.com

[skf]

We went on a whale watch from Digby, Nova Scotia. We didn't see very many whales, but the whales & dolphins we did see were quite close to the boat. It's a lot more exciting than standing on shore ( or shipboard ) & staring at spouts 10 miles away.

Steve

[judyzoo]

I did the whale watching tour from a Princess cruise. It was right at the tail end of the Maui whale season, so we saw only one whale -- with her very young calf. On the boat we were able to get as close as permitted -- I think it's 100 yards. And even though we saw only two whales, we were able to watch them for about 45 minutes, and it was wonderful! So I'd say that since you're going to be there during prime whale season, you'd be making a big mistake if you miss the whale watch. Not only will you see a lot of whales up close, the boat operators will also provide information about them to make it more meaningful.