Island Princess to the Big Pineapple 2-20-06

[Dave Hansen]

Nothing like planning ahead, way ahead. This way you get your choice of

the deck plan. If you've been to Hawaii before, what was your most

interesting experience? If not, what are you planning to see? I hope to

hear from a lot of people.

Dave Hansen

[DonahCBrown]

Nothing like planning ahead, way ahead. This way you get your choice of

the deck plan. If you've been to Hawaii before, what was your most

interesting experience? If not, what are you planning to see? I hope to

hear from a lot of people.

Dave Hansen

Aloha Dave,

 

I live here and have cruised the Islands as well. What do you want to know about?

 

Donna

[RvrCrzr]

We've been booked for months! I pre-plan too!

 

We'll be getting off the ISLAND PRINCESS when you get on!

 

It'll all be worth it in the end. Looking forward to the responses...and I wish more people would write reviews! (AND POST PICS!)

[michaelL]

I have been several times - IMHO 3 Must do's are helicopter ride nice on kauai and big island volcanos if active, Pearl harbor AZ memorial, trip up to haleakala on maui -- bring warm clothes in feb.

[michaelL]

This will get you started excited:

 

 

http://www.mauiguide.com/OPENER.html

[mlymd]

Hi Dave,

I'm also booked on the same cruise. Nothing like planning ahead. You're not the only one. I'm looking forward to all the sea days. They should be very relaxing.

Marcy

[Dave Hansen]

Marcy, You're right the sea days are great. We should always savor

every momet. I'd liketo share an idea. Let's get a lot of e mail to

Princess encouraging them to host a cruise critic party. You've

probably been on Celebrity or Royal Caribbean and know how it

works. Just in case, you plug in your booking number and when

at least 25 people are registered the party is set. After you

board you get an invitation sent to your cabin for the party.

Soft drinks & snacks furnished by the cruise line.

Thanks for the many offers of information. I or I should say Linda

and I want to see as much as possible. In Feb. 04 when we

went to Hawaii on the Regal, the Arizona Memorial was closed

due to heavy rain. We were on the lanch about half way there

when the closing was made. How convenient, you got your

clothes washed while you were wearing them.

Where do we find the black sand beaches? Mashed lava ,of

course but I've heard they're great to see.

To the Big Pineapple

Dave & Linda Hansen

[Pilgrim Pete]

michaelL We will be visiting Hawaii Feb 05. Was your advice for wearing warm clothes regarding the sea crossing or whilst on the Islands?

 

I would like to drive the road to Hana on Maui in a rental vehicle. How much of the route should we plan to cover bearing in mind we will only be on that Island 6 hours due to recent itinerary changes which sees us depart at 4:00.

 

Also is 4 hours enough time to get from the ship to the AZ Memorial and back as we would like to return to the ship in time to try the Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center in the afternoon / evening or are we trying to pack in too many activities?

 

Thank you

[Dave Hansen]

Pete, Good questions. I'll enjoy the answers as well

Dave Hansen

[Dave Hansen]

Donna, Please take a look at the questions Pete asked. I appreciate

your comments. Donna, where is a black sand beach that is easy to

find

Thanks

Dave Hansen

[Joyce B.]

We are on the Island Princess leaving January 19 and are also interested in going on the road to Hana. Really would like to know if we would have time to do this????

[Kaylas Mom]

Pilgrim Pete -- there is NO way to get to Hana and back in six hours. If you get struck behind slow traffic, you'll miss the boat. Think Haleakula instead, I think....

[nhcruiser]

We visited Hawaii this spring aboard the Regal Princess.

 

In response to Pilgrim Pete’s question on the Arizona Memorial and the Hawaiian Cultural Center tours both in one day. I think that you will be okay but perhaps it may make sense to book a tour that covers both activities.

 

The Arizona Memorial will require about 5-6 hours based on the lines of people that day and the amount of time that you wish to spend there. Coaches are given priority entrance to drop off and pick up their passengers this shortens the wait. The Cultural Center is on the north side of the Island easily accessible via route H3 and route 83 but again the coach drivers know the route which is a very winding coastal route.

 

If you plan rent a car it will require and extra hour in the morning and evening because the rental agencies are near the airport about 20 minutes from pier 11 (Aloha Tower). This did not present a problem to us, as the Regal Princess did not depart before 11PM.

 

On Maui I agree with Kaylas Mom, forget about Hana there is not a chance of making that trip in 6 hours!

 

We rented a car in each port while in Hawaii and had a great time. The specific problem with Maui is that it is a tender port. This problem is made worse because the locals who manage the pier, alternate the docking of tenders with pleasure boats and other cruise ship tenders. In April we anchored off the shore of Lahaina at 8AM and did not set foot to ground until 10:15. This considering our Elite Member priority tender privileges at that.

 

The second problem again is rental car access. The agencies all have vans to pick up their customers and drive them several miles north to Kannapali where the resorts are, but this is still a good way from the tender pier. The pickup and return process required about 40 minutes each way. But then remember that you will also need to pickup your party and drop them off because the vans only will transport one person to drive the rental car. The others are not allowed in the van.

 

We did drive by private car to the summit of Haleakala and were rewarded by a spectacular view! The others in our party really enjoyed the scenery. I missed most of it because I drove that day and the route to the summit was very serpentine all of the way. Focus is very much required!

 

If I had to do it again I would have taken the coach tour!

 

Hope that this helps!

 

Rod

 

 

 

[Dave Hansen]

Thanks Rod, Excellent Information. We had a healthy dose of snow

right before Thanksgiving so Hawaii planning is very helpful. One more

thing Rod, where's your next cruise?

Aloha

Dave Hansen

[Pilgrim Pete]

Rod - Thank you for the detailed reply. Loosing two hours for the early departure at 4:00 and the tender and shuttle problems sounds as though we will have little time on Maui. Do you think we will have enough time to collect a car and reach the summit of Haleakala and safely return to the ship?

[nhcruiser]

Dave, enjoy your snow. My Brother-in-Law lives in Oak Brook and got clobbered too! I think that we will see the same storm over the weekend. Can’t wait to ski!

 

Our next cruise will be in April from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale, 15 days, through the Panama Canal. We did a partial canal cruise in 1999 but have since wanted to experience the entire passage.

 

Pete, We did that exact same trip in April and made the round trip to the summit of Haleakala and back without incident. The entire circuit took us five hours without stopping for lunch.

 

If you do choose to go with this idea, I highly recommend that you make an advanced reservation with a national car rental company. I also brought my cell phone with me and called the rental company as soon as we boarded the tender. They were really good and had a van ready to pick me up. My wife and our friends walked up to the main street (2 blocks) from the tender pier while I gathered the car. They were ready to be picked up as soon as I drove up in the rental. If you have to go into the pier area with all of the shops and look for people you could be held up for an hour or so. I also planned ahead and mapped out a clear course to Haleakala in advance so I knew exactly where we needed to go. Sounds like I was a little to detail oriented but I think that it paid off in the end.

 

Rod

 

[Kaylas Mom]

Pete, The other thing to do if you are worrried about time is to go to MacGregor Point and whale watch. Not as recommended as Haleakula, but an easy drive from either Kahalui or Lahaina.

[Pilgrim Pete]

Rod - Can you plan too much! (We already have the car booked - Haven't got the map yet though). All I have to do now is persuade my wife to drive.

 

Thank you to you and Kaylas Mom. Only three months to wait.

[nhcruiser]

Hi Pete,

 

Just remember that we drive on the 'wrong' side of the road over here on this side of the pond!

 

By the way where in England do you live? We are planning a visit next Sepetember for our fall cruise. We were considering the British Isles Cruise round trip from Southhampton aboard the Golden Princess.

 

Rod

[Pilgrim Pete]

Hi Rod (sorry missed your reply until today)

 

We live in Tamworth, 15 miles north east of Birmingham in the centre of England, not far from Stratford on Avon.

 

Which itinerary are you considering for Nothern Europe?

[DonahCBrown]

Where do we find the black sand beaches? Mashed lava ,of

course but I've heard they're great to see.

To the Big Pineapple

Dave & Linda Hansen

Black sand is actually created when the red hot lava hits the ocean, so most of the black sand beaches are on the Big Island, none are particularly convenient to the cruise pier in Hilo or to the Kona site, but here goes:

 

From Kona, you'd go south towards South Point, about an hour drive time and just past South Point you would see the signs for the Black Sand Beach. It is a pretty, and pretty remote spot. There are frequently turtles hauled out and sunning on the beach. There used to be a restaurant and small hotel there, but I don't think there's anything there anymore. Other black sand beaches are forming and disappearing all around the area where the lava enters the ocean from the current flow. The most famous black sand beach at Kaimu was overrun with lava a number of years ago, but a new beach is forming down at the end of the flow that covered over Kalapana.

 

The beach at Waipio Valley, which is sometimes offered as a shore excursion, I believe, is also mostly black sand, but not as stark and sparkling as the ones on the south end of the island.

 

Down in Puna, south of Hilo, Kahena Beach park has a black sand beach, and there is a tiny pocket size black sand beach reachable by 4WD and/or hiking from the Kekaha Kai State Beach Park off of Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway.

 

Most of these are hard to get to, and not very practical as day trips from a ship.

 

Just so you know, genuine black sand beachs are pretty much of a temporary phenomenon related directly to lava (specifically a'a lava - the chunky kind) hitting cold ocean water, breaking into bits, then getting ground up by wave action. They mostly erode away over time, getting replaced by white coral sands. The black and white pebble beaches are the result of a different kind of sand formation and the white sands are the result of wave actions on coral and sea shells (and the munching of coral by parrot fish) ...I Know, I know - too much information...;)

 

Donna

[DonahCBrown]

See previous for the black sand beach questions.

 

In re: Maui - I would concur with the poster who recommended against trying to do the road to Hana in the available time period.

 

You'll be here during whale season, and Maui and the northern part of the Big Island are great for whales and whale watches, although given the ship's usual passage, you should be able to see quite a few in the Alanuihaha channel between the Hana end of Maui and the Hawi end of the Big Island.

 

Maui is a tender port and it can take some time to get to and from given the pier traffic, as noted. Lahaina is a very 'walkable' town, and there are good snorkel/dive tours to Molokini - a sunken volcanic crater between Maui and Lanai. There's a ferry to Lanai, as well.

 

The helicopter tours are great, but if you are going to just do one (they're pretty pricey) I'd suggest the one on the Big Island over the live volcano, assuming there is activity - you can check on line at Current update of the eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawai`i

 

Lanai isn't usually a stopping place. Kauai has pretty good organized tours, including a "movie set" tour that takes you to all the location spots for things like Jurassic Park and the Elvis movies.

 

The Big Island Hilo side - best tours are to the volcano. Other stuff to do/see include the Lyman House Museum and Tsunami Museum in downtown Hilo, the various formal gardens and botanical gardens such as Onomea Bay, and Nani Mau, the Rainforest Zoo, and the Mauna Loa Mac Nut candy factory.

There should also be a tour up to the summit of Mauna Kea, although the best of these are at night and thus not something usually offered on cruise excursions, and to Waipio Valley - could be from either side of the island as it is up north on the eastern side of the island and bout equal distance from Hilo and Kona.

 

Kona side offerings tend to be in the watersports area, with other sights being the national park at Pu'uhonua O Honaunau (also known as the City of Refuge) the national park at Pu'ukohola in Kawaihae (site of the last major heiau or temple constructed in the islands. It was built by Kamehameha the Great for the war god Ku, was a human sacrifice temple, and was supposed to assure that Kamehameha was able to conquer all the islands - there's an interesting and very gory story about this, involving his cousin who was the principal sacrifice), and the horsedrawn wagon tour and historic homes tour of the Parker Ranch up in Waimea. There are also horseback rides ranging from the trail ride to Capt. Cook's Monument (which is officially British soil and is maintained annually by sailors from the British Navy who call in Kona just to do this) to open range rides in the upcountry around Waimea to rides through the sacred valley at Waipio. There are also all sorts of "adventure tour" things, from ATV to "flumin' da ditch" - a sort of kayak ride through the old irrigation water system up in Kohala.

 

The 'freebie' stuff tends to be shopper shuttles that will take you around Kona town to the various shopping venues from Hilo Hatties (also available on the Hilo side!) to Walmart. Walking distance of the pier in Hilo is pretty much nothing unless you really like to walk. It is at least a mile to a mile and half to Banyan Drive and another mile or so to "downtown" Hilo, and about a mile or two to the beach parks that are south of the pier. Kona is more walkable, with the reconstructed village and heiau of Kamehameha the Great on the grounds of the King Kam hotel right at the pier, and the village just to the right of the pier as you come off the pier, facing towards town. Along Ali'i Drive are the Hulihe'e Palace - the summer palace of King Kalakaua, and across from it is the oldest Christian church on the island. Your ship will actually be anchored about where the Ironman race starts and ends.

 

Obviously, I know the Big Island best, but will try and field questions about the others as well. Feel free to email me directly if you'd like.

 

Donna

[DonahCBrown]

Hi Rod (sorry missed your reply until today)

 

We live in Tamworth, 15 miles north east of Birmingham in the centre of England, not far from Stratford on Avon.

 

Which itinerary are you considering for Nothern Europe?

I know this was addressed to someone else, but we're booked on the Golden for a tour of the British Isles June 11 to 21 and have some questions, starting with what should we try and cram in a short (3 days really) stay in London - we're back to backing the Grand and Golden and have from the afternoon of the 7th to the afternoon of the 11th in London and environs. The ship will be taking us to Dublin, Holyhead, Belfast, Glasgow, Kirkwall, & Edinburgh.

 

Donna

[nhcruiser]

Donna, Great local information that I am sure Pete and Dave as well as other will appreciate! We are actually planning the same itinerary aboard the Golden Princess. We have been looking at May 8th I think but are really open to later in the summer.

 

I was actually going to ask Pete about local lodging, transport and similar questions relative to seeing the historic sights in England. We are currently planning three days pre-cruise, but that can change if the advice is to see specific things during certain days of the month.

 

Pete, if we were to hire a car in London, how long would it take us to drive to Tamworth? Would you recommend staying in a Southampton hotel or nearer to the center of London?

 

Thanks,

 

Rod

 

[Dave Hansen]

Where do we find the black sand beaches? Mashed lava ,of

course but I've heard they're great to see.

To the Big Pineapple

Dave & Linda Hansen

Black sand is actually created when the red hot lava hits the ocean, so most of the black sand beaches are on the Big Island, none are particularly convenient to the cruise pier in Hilo or to the Kona site, but here goes:

 

From Kona, you'd go south towards South Point, about an hour drive time and just past South Point you would see the signs for the Black Sand Beach. It is a pretty, and pretty remote spot. There are frequently turtles hauled out and sunning on the beach. There used to be a restaurant and small hotel there, but I don't think there's anything there anymore. Other black sand beaches are forming and disappearing all around the area where the lava enters the ocean from the current flow. The most famous black sand beach at Kaimu was overrun with lava a number of years ago, but a new beach is forming down at the end of the flow that covered over Kalapana.

 

The beach at Waipio Valley, which is sometimes offered as a shore excursion, I believe, is also mostly black sand, but not as stark and sparkling as the ones on the south end of the island.

 

Down in Puna, south of Hilo, Kahena Beach park has a black sand beach, and there is a tiny pocket size black sand beach reachable by 4WD and/or hiking from the Kekaha Kai State Beach Park off of Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway.

 

Most of these are hard to get to, and not very practical as day trips from a ship.

 

Just so you know, genuine black sand beachs are pretty much of a temporary phenomenon related directly to lava (specifically a'a lava - the chunky kind) hitting cold ocean water, breaking into bits, then getting ground up by wave action. They mostly erode away over time, getting replaced by white coral sands. The black and white pebble beaches are the result of a different kind of sand formation and the white sands are the result of wave actions on coral and sea shells (and the munching of coral by parrot fish) ...I Know, I know - too much information...;)

 

Donna

Not too much information Donna. I enjoy every tidbit.

It's snowing here right now, so thinking about Hawaii is certainly a

better idea. If you want to see snow check out the Travel chanel.

Thank you again for the information. Our climate is just like where

you keep the frozen fish.

Aloha

Dave & Linda Hansen