Hawaii Tendering At Lahaina,maui

[wizard-of-roz]

We are cruising on November 12th (Golden) to Hawaii. Although we've been to Hawaii and her many islands by air and then rental car or taxi, this will be our first cruise.

I'm learning more and more about the time that it takes to tender in; get settled; get to the tour bus or car rental agency and I'm not liking what I hear. :(

1. It's way more expensive to take the tours offered from the cruiseline than to go on your own (finding cruise companies, driving, etc.)

2. The time that it takes (when you have to be tendered in, as opposed to walking onto the dock), is huge!

3. Plan, plan, plan or just go "hit or miss?" :o

I need the help of those of you who have done this itinerary and what your best suggestions are; the itinerary is as follows:

Hilo (docking), Honolulu (docking), Nawiliwili (docking) and Lahaina (tender).

As you can see from the above, there's more docking than tendering (thank goodness) but, Lahaina (Maui), was one of my most interesting places to rent a car. Will I be sorry? We're there from 7am to 7pm. Is that enough time to take a car to the "Road to Hana?"

What do you suggest? I appreciate all advice!!!!! :)

[paul929207]

You need to remember that, although the schedule says you are in Maui for 12 hours, you need to deduct the time to tender in and out.

 

For the tenders, Princess gives priority to people on their tours, people in suites and elite members of the captain's circle. Other passengers must pick up a ticket and are accommodated as space allows. It can be 60 - 90 minutes after the tendering process starts that everyone is on board.

 

On the other end, the last tender is usually 30 - 60 minutes before you sail.

[TM]

You certainly have plenty of time to drive to Hana but quite honestly, at least in my opinion, it really wasn't worth it. It is a very slow and an extremely winding road with quite honestly not a whole lot to see. And once you finally get to Hana don't blink because you will have missed the town.

[Alanscruise]

I have been on the Hawaii cruise twice. In Hilo it is best to take the shuttle to the car rental. The rental agencies at Hilo Airport are very close and this is the very best way to see anything around there. Akaka Falls or Volcano are the top favorites.

 

In Laihaina you tender. You can rent a car or take a bus. You will not have enough time to drive to Hana-NO WAY you will miss the ship. We like to relax on Maui-drive to NaPili for breakfast at the Gazebo Restaurant and then to Kaanapali for a walk along the beach and a drink with a view.

 

On Kauai be sure to shuttle a rental car. This is the most beautiful of all the islands. Drive up to Hanalei and walk out on the pier. Look around you at the most beautiful place in the US.

 

I can tell more if you like.

[spingal]

You will not have enough time to drive to Hana-NO WAY you will miss the ship.

 

I agree and would not risk this. Especially if Maui is your last stop. If you miss the ship then you have no way of catching up to it before it leaves the islands. :eek:

 

I have done this cruise 3 times and LOVE it!!! You will have a great time. :D

[Quacker]

My wife have done this cruise. With another couple we had cars reserved in all the ports. Just took the car rental shuttle each time to pick up and return the car. With the four of us we saved so many $$$ not taking ship tours. I agree don't fool with "Road to Hana". There's so many other great things to see without all that:cool: aggravation. Don

[CruizenSuzen]

You certainly have plenty of time to drive to Hana but quite honestly, at least in my opinion, it really wasn't worth it. It is a very slow and an extremely winding road with quite honestly not a whole lot to see. And once you finally get to Hana don't blink because you will have missed the town.

 

I know this isn't what you asked, but I'd like to second the post above. I would not waste your time with the Road to Hana. It was the lowlight of our trip, and we honestly almost killed each other.

 

IF you want a scenic drive, I would head to Hakealaka instead. If you're just looking for something memorable and inexpensive to do my suggestion would be to rent a car and do a tour of the local beaches and snorkeling sites. You can rent snorkeling gear very cheaply from Boss Frog's and order a map from Maui Dive Shop. It's a great day hanging out at the beaches and swimming with the fishes.

 

Also, I'd recommend Aloha Mixed Plate in Lahaina for lunch or dinner. It's a very casual restaurant with great local food.

[Putterdude]

We did the cruise on the Diamond over Christmas and New Years this year. We found the tendering at Lahaina very awkward as there is only the one quay there and it is shared by ferries, fishing charters, whale watching excusrions, and what all. So took the tenders a long time to get their turn to tie up and let off their passangers. Having said that we quite enjoyed Lahaina and would like to go back again and stay for a few weeks.:)

[caribill]

I would not waste your time with the Road to Hana. It was the lowlight of our trip, and we honestly almost killed each other.

 

 

From another viewpoint, the road to Hana is a fascinating trip. When we did it (from a land vacation, not a cruise), it was an all day trip because the road is two lane and has lots of turns and a relatively low speed limit.

 

That said, there was a waterfall at almost every curve in the road. We ate a picnic lunch near one of them. Near the end of the road are the seven sacred pools (not the greatest sight in Hawaii, but nice).

 

However, I would not risk doing it since you never know if some traffic condition would prevent you from returning to the ship on time.

 

Since this is your first cruise, you may wish to do a Princess excursion at this port. Yes, it may cost a little more, but almost all Princess excursions are first rate.

[LETS PARTY]

you dont have time!!!!!!

buy time you tender in & get car it will 9:00 or later......lahaina to 7 pools 3 hrs each way, with out stops...if ship leaves at 7 last tender 6 or 6:30...youll have to have car back at 5:00....to stop along the way, eat go to pools ... to tight ... if your elite and can get on 1st tender, maybe....it is one of the most bueatiful trip you could ever take......some are so caught up on the drive they miss the view.......I've lived on Maui for 28 yrs, and made approx. 100 trips to hana

Rob

[California Native]

Aloha!

My answer will be based approaching this 2 ways

1. As an Elite cruiser who has cruised this itinerary 5 times

2. As a person who worked for a Hawaiian Tour Company and traveled to all the islands 26 times.

Maui...

Hana is beautiful. If you are rushed it's hard to stop and explore all the nooks and crannies which create the paradise you have heard about.

IF you haven't read about Hana, taken the audio tour, obtained local maps it could be boring and a low point of a trip.

 

But if you become a local..it is spectacular.

 

If you were porting in Kahalui I would strongly recommend it. However, you are not and this should not be attempted from a cruise out of Lahaina.

There are too many variables regarding Hana traffic and the 2 lane road.

You are in Hawaii, you don't need this kind of stress!

In Maui, many of the car rental companies will shuttled you back up to the car rental at the West Maui Airport

which is 20 minutes north of the tender.

Keep in mind they might be late..it's island time. The absolute closet car rental is Hertz they are less than 5 minutes away.

A few dollars more but worth it. your time is precious.

It was difficult to use priceline for this location, you will need to call them direct and explain you are a cruise ship pickup.

If you have traveled to Maui before, or would like to experience a very special meal I recommend Mamas Fish House in Paia.

It is worth every single penny. Please know that comment is coming from a Dollar Store Guru! They do have a website, so just google them

Hilo, Kauai and HNL...I was able to use Priceline as was awarded compact cars for 15.00.

On Hilo I recommend going to the Botanical Gardens. They do offer a shuttle from the ship area,

but we wanted a car to explore other places.

I also want to comment on the tendering in Lahaina again.

In all my 30 years of sailing, the 3 times I have tendered in Lahaina have been the scariest. 2 times the port was cancelled.

The water looks amazingly calm from the ship and the shore. It is not. If your Captain cancels the port be dissapointed, but respect that.

My last cruise they had to cancel tendering for awhile, when it resumed the tender boat was bobbing so much that it was at least

a 5 foot difference in clearance from our tender to the ship platform. It took 4 personnel to get each person off pushing them up off the tender and 2 pulling

them onto the platform. They even had us put on lifevests.

In Honolulu there is soooo much to do for the 1st time visitor..

If you love history and would like to visit the only Royal Palace on US soil I would suggest a visit to Iolani Palace.

The Hawaii revealed books are wonderful. Also, utilize google there is a ton of info, along with the ports section of the board.

I have a few pictures of the Hilo Botanical Gardens on my website...that I think will entice you to go there.

There's also pictures of Mamas Fish House as this was a belated Mothers Day gift for my mom. The other Hawaii photos were for friends

who know how many times I've been there, but you will probably enjoy them anyway...

Just go into the link below and Karen's cruise corner

I was there last October/November on the Pacific Princess

http://when.do.we.leave.googlepages.com/

A hui hou!

[cacy6893076]

road to Hana, you will probably not be able to make it there and back--- by the time you get to the north part of the island from Lahaina past Kahului, would recommed a stop at Mama's Fish House, or Heading up Haleakala with a stop at the winery, but not enough time to get to Hana and back.

[Bucky3]

Aloha! And THANK YOU for posting that site. Those are the most beautiful pictures of Hana I've ever seen. I wish everyone whether they have been there or not could view them.

 

I also agree that tendering in Lahaina and then driving to Hana would not be a good use of time for one day on Maui. Save that for a land vacation! We have made that drive several times, and I would be a nervous wreck over the timing. On the other hand, if you feel you just HAVE to do this, take a ship's excursion where you will be assured of making it back in time. Just MHO.

[goodie2shoes]

We have done this cruise twice, with another coming up in October. We love it, and have always rented cars in each port.

 

Now, here's something you need to check. In some ports you have to return the car by about 4:00 p.m., as the last shuttle from the rental agency to the ship leaves shortly after that time. Be sure you know what time you have to return the car in each port! You don't need to plan to go somewhere and then find out when you get the car that you don't have time because you have to return it long before the ship sails.

 

Have a great cruise!

[wizard-of-roz]

Wow!!!! Eye opening answers. I will definitely re-think some of my excursion plans!

It's so easy to forget the time it takes to get the car and then get it back in time to re-board. And exiting and entering docks from tenders, OMG!!!!! You were so enlightening on this one!!!!!

My DH doesn't really move that fast and climbing is definitely not his strong suit. Oh! And, did I mention, we have a Service Dog that accompanies us wherever we go! Not easy to tender but it doesn't stop me. Although, I may have to re-think because the tender in Lahaina may be way too problematic! I may have to do that one myself and just visit Lahaina.

And the fact that "time is precious" is so true: The Botanical Gardens; MaMa's Fish House in Paia; Honolulu and all that it has to offer may be just enough!

Karen, thanks so much for the great advice and the wonderful pictures.

[ssbeagle]

No one has mentioned the fact that the one advantage to taking a ship's tour is that if the tour is late returning, the ship will wait for that tour. If you are on your own and return late, the ship will not wait for you and you must find your way to the next port or home on your own. I have seen people left on the dock because they returned just as the ship was sailing away.

[EviesCruisin]

We rented a car in Lahaina and drove up and down the coast. We went up to Kaanapali Beach (Sheraton) to the black rock and DH snorkeled. We drove up further to a gorgeous beach called Kapalua Bay. We parked and walked down to the nice pool & restaurant area of the Kapalua Bay Beach Resort and had lunch. We also rode up and down the coast - not all the way to Hana, but it's still a GORGEOUS drive. We then spent some time in town. Maui is absolutely gorgeous. I don't remember a huge amount of time to tender, since you have a long day, if it takes too long to get off the ship, you can still have a beautiful drive up and down the coast without going all the way to Hana. We sure did.

 

We are cruising on November 12th (Golden) to Hawaii. Although we've been to Hawaii and her many islands by air and then rental car or taxi, this will be our first cruise.

 

I'm learning more and more about the time that it takes to tender in; get settled; get to the tour bus or car rental agency and I'm not liking what I hear. :(

 

1. It's way more expensive to take the tours offered from the cruiseline than to go on your own (finding cruise companies, driving, etc.)

2. The time that it takes (when you have to be tendered in, as opposed to walking onto the dock), is huge!

3. Plan, plan, plan or just go "hit or miss?" :o

 

I need the help of those of you who have done this itinerary and what your best suggestions are; the itinerary is as follows:

Hilo (docking), Honolulu (docking), Nawiliwili (docking) and Lahaina (tender).

 

As you can see from the above, there's more docking than tendering (thank goodness) but, Lahaina (Maui), was one of my most interesting places to rent a car. Will I be sorry? We're there from 7am to 7pm. Is that enough time to take a car to the "Road to Hana?"

 

What do you suggest? I appreciate all advice!!!!! :)

[EviesCruisin]

By the way, our ship switched itinerary days around. We were supposed to dock in Lahaina both nights but they moved to Nawiliwili on the first day. We drove across the island and spent all day on that side of Maui, including the old lahaina luau. We had already arranged a rental corvette convertible and the luau. Someone gave us a ride to Lahaina (Who had rented the car in Nawiliwili). You could get back on the ship fairly late. We had to rush back after the Luau but were OK. If you have a long day on the docking day in N.W.W., it was a gorgeous drive across the island and probably less than an hour, you could consider the Road to Hana that day also.

[EviesCruisin]

Just wanted to post our pics from our Maui shore drive, the Kaanapali Beach, Kapalua Bay, horseback riding in the Maui Mountains, and Old Lahaina Luau. This was accomplished two days back-to-back from the same ports. We did the Old Lahaina Luau and the Kaanapali Beach and Kapalua Bay on day one, from Nawiliwili. We did horseback riding on Day 2 from Lahaina. It actually made sense to do it in reverse, but the cruise changed the itinerary on us.

 

 

The whole island of Maui is absolutely gorgeous, you'll have a great time.

[wizard-of-roz]

ssbeagle: You board the Golden just as we're getting off.

I promise to save some ship for you.....

I have a lot to ponder over, in terms of car rentals and places to go.......I'm gonna be a busy gal....with all of your suggestions......

So much to do....so little time!!!!!!

[Putterdude]

No one has mentioned the fact that the one advantage to taking a ship's tour is that if the tour is late returning, the ship will wait for that tour. If you are on your own and return late, the ship will not wait for you and you must find your way to the next port or home on your own. I have seen people left on the dock because they returned just as the ship was sailing away.

 

You are quite right and in our case because of the tendering situation that I described earlier all of the ship's excursions were running late, pax were lined up for tenders back to the ship and we were at least 90 mins late in leaving Lahaina.

[cruiseryyc]

By the way, our ship switched itinerary days around. We were supposed to dock in Lahaina both nights but they moved to Nawiliwili on the first day. We drove across the island and spent all day on that side of Maui, including the old lahaina luau. We had already arranged a rental corvette convertible and the luau. Someone gave us a ride to Lahaina (Who had rented the car in Nawiliwili). You could get back on the ship fairly late. We had to rush back after the Luau but were OK. If you have a long day on the docking day in N.W.W., it was a gorgeous drive across the island and probably less than an hour, you could consider the Road to Hana that day also.

 

Nawiliwili is not on Maui - it's on Kaui, different Island.

[EviesCruisin]

You are correct. Sorry. We docked at whatever the other side of the island is besides Lahaina. I'm blanking on the name.

[EviesCruisin]

Kahului was the other down we docked in. Sorry for the confusion. . . I must be getting old!

[catmand]

Thank you so much. I haven't thought of our Hawaii cruise in a while, just went and checked out the pictures.

We too rented cars in all ports except Lahaina. If you do rent, be sure to do it asap.

We did a whale watch (on our own), got in early so had plenty of time. When I made the reservations they said if we were late we would be able to go on a later trip. After we had plenty of time to wander around Lahaina Harbor. Have a great cruise.