Suggestions for group of 15 on POA?

[sunshine1223]

Hi all. A friend referred me to this website and it has been so helpful. This is my first time posting (I hope I do it right!). My family is sailing 6/20 on POA for my parents 50th anniversary. (They have been saving since Dad's retirement to surprise the family with this trip!) There will be 15 of us, 8 adults (including parents in mid-late 70's) and 7 kids ages 4-16.

 

1) Any (relatively economical) suggestions for a group this size?

2) Are there places, including beaches, we can walk to from the ports?

3) I will be looking into rental cars (it will require 3 to accomodate us) for a couple of the ports but am concerned with the logistics of getting and returning them, especially if we do a luau which would have us returning the vehicles late.

 

We are very excited but a little overwhelmed with the planning.

 

Thank you!

[Casper Cruise Newbie]

Hi Sunshine1223! Welcome aboard! Have you checked out the roll call board yet? There is a thread where you can "meet" other people that will be on your cruise. Our group of 9 will be on your cruise, and I've had fun hearing about where everyone else is from and what they are planning to do on the islands.

 

This will be our first time in Hawaii, so the info I have is all second-hand, but I believe that there are beaches within walking distance of the pier at Kona and Kuaui.

 

I have heard that if you want to rent a car at Kona, go with Dollar because they have pick up and drop off at the King Kamehameha (sp?) Hotel at the end of the pier. Otherwise you have to drive to and from the airport which is 8 miles away on a road that can get very congested. The advice I've run into on these boards has recommended that rental cars should be arranged asap or they may not have one for you.

 

I bought the Maui Revealed book since we have two days there and no excursions planned. I have found it very informative and well organized, and they have one for each of the islands if you are looking for in depth info.

 

Happy planning!

[sunshine1223]

Hi Casper Cruise, yes I have been to the Roll Call forum. It has been fun to read and very informative. I'll pop over there and join the "conversations." In the meantime, I thought I would try this main forum to take advantage of other's experience who have gone with a large group previously. It's a tad trickier with so many people. Especially the transportation.

 

Thanks and "talk" to you on the Roll Call!

[can]

We are in the same boat (haha - pun intended!) We, too, are traveling with a group. It is my MIL's 80th bday. There will be 13 of us, all adults except for my 2 kids, ages 7 and 9. We are on the June 20 cruise also!

 

Are you planning all the trips for your group? Are you going to try to do things together all the time? Truthfully, I gave up with our group. Because we have the 2 boys we wanted more "action" than the rest of the group. My kids would only deal with sightseeing for a short time, and the rest of our group with their age, bum knees, height fear, water fear (!), etc etc there truly was hardly anything left that appealed to everyone in our group. We are going to break into smaller groups. One day, SIL #1 is snorkeling with us but not SIL#2 who is afraid of the water. But SIL#2 says she will hike with me to Diamond Head (but not SIL#1 who is due for knee surgery when we get home). Get my drift?

 

I applaud you for trying to keep your group together. Maybe your group is more accomodating than mine! :o

 

One trip that sounded like it would be fun for the entire group was the Movies and Waterfalls excursion on Kauai. I understand that they play clips of movies in the van and then take you to the actual sight where the clip was filmed. But, we opted out of this because my boys are *geeked* about going on the mudbug excursion. (me too!)

 

Our comprimise was to promise to meet for dinner each night and talk about our day. :)

 

I was going to say that we are all going to a laua together, but even that is not true because one of the SIL's does not fly in early enought. Ditto, with the Polynesian Cultural Center. We have ticket to head out there prior to our cruise, but one SIL is coming in late.

 

Good luck in your planning! Congrats to your parents whe made it 50 years!

[smrtypnts]

We are in the same boat (haha - pun intended!) We, too, are traveling with a group. It is my MIL's 80th bday. There will be 13 of us, all adults except for my 2 kids, ages 7 and 9. We are on the June 20 cruise also!

 

Are you planning all the trips for your group? Are you going to try to do things together all the time? Truthfully, I gave up with our group. Because we have the 2 boys we wanted more "action" than the rest of the group. My kids would only deal with sightseeing for a short time, and the rest of our group with their age, bum knees, height fear, water fear (!), etc etc there truly was hardly anything left that appealed to everyone in our group. We are going to break into smaller groups. One day, SIL #1 is snorkeling with us but not SIL#2 who is afraid of the water. But SIL#2 says she will hike with me to Diamond Head (but not SIL#1 who is due for knee surgery when we get home). Get my drift?

 

I applaud you for trying to keep your group together. Maybe your group is more accomodating than mine! :o

 

One trip that sounded like it would be fun for the entire group was the Movies and Waterfalls excursion on Kauai. I understand that they play clips of movies in the van and then take you to the actual sight where the clip was filmed. But, we opted out of this because my boys are *geeked* about going on the mudbug excursion. (me too!)

 

Our comprimise was to promise to meet for dinner each night and talk about our day. :)

 

I was going to say that we are all going to a laua together, but even that is not true because one of the SIL's does not fly in early enought. Ditto, with the Polynesian Cultural Center. We have ticket to head out there prior to our cruise, but one SIL is coming in late.

 

Good luck in your planning! Congrats to your parents whe made it 50 years!

 

We will have a group of 12....Mom's 70's b-day. Very similar circumstances. Bottom line...the only thing I think we're ALL going to do is Volcanoes National Park. Some want to golf, some don't golf. Some want to see a botanical garden, most don't. Some want to go to the beach and/or snorkel a lot, others want to hike more. I figure, we'll meet up for dinner most nights and not worry about trying to keep us together. If we try to keep all of us together most of the time, everyone will end up miserable and we're all paying a lot, so it's better that we see each other occasionally and share our experiences than to always try to be together.

[wmbjr]

I figure, we'll meet up for dinner most nights and not worry about trying to keep us together. If we try to keep all of us together most of the time, everyone will end up miserable and we're all paying a lot, so it's better that we see each other occasionally and share our experiences than to always try to be together.

 

We had a group of 17 with ages from 7 to 72 that went on the POA in 2007. We had times when we were all together (a couple of dinners and a luau), but most of the time, we went our separate ways because we had different interests.

 

We generally had 3-4 vehicles at each port and all had been arranged months in advance (something I would recommend). One person typically went to pick up the car and the others would then be picked up near the pier. A couple of times everyone jumped on a shuttle that was not ver crowded and all headed to the rental agency. Drop off was similar, people were dropped off at the pier and either one or two would go turn in each car.

 

Whatever you do, just don't stress thinking everyone must be together all the time. Meet ahead of time if possible (or email or facebook or whatever) to discuss what you want to do and if possible coordinate and if not then just see each other when you see each other and otherwise enjoy the cruise!!!

[travelteach326]

All ports have rental car shuttles. Do a little research - check on line for coupon codes or corporate codes. Just pick a company and google "coupon codes for ________ car rental" and see what codes you come up with. Once you find a good price, then join their club -Thrifty has their Blue Chip Club. You join the club inputting all your info - drivers license, etc. and then when you arrive at the rental counter, all your paperwork is completed. They hand over the keys and off you go. Some even have seperate counters or and shorter lines. I had read on these posts to join. I did not take the advice. Arrived in Hawaii to a LONG line. Called home had dtr. join for us and it saved us ALOT of time.

 

If your group decides on the different excursions, I would contact the different companies to see if they will give you a group discount. When we do groups, we do mass email with questionaire. We then collect all the info and make decisions on what needs to be done. For instance, while in Hawaii, we saw alot of buses for Roberts Hawaii. Once you decide on which excursions, contact them and see what prices they give you. Here is the site:

 

http://www.robertshawaii.com/

 

GROUP SITE: http://www.robertshawaii.com/group-services/

 

I did not use them. We did our own excursions and rented cars in each port.

 

This is another good information site:

 

http://www.hawaii.com/

 

 

The best way to organize your group is to be organized and anal about everything. Check and recheck ALL your reservations. Using excel helps keep track of all the information you need to book an excursion. Good luck - this was how we kept track of our last group cruise of 75 to Alaska. We did alot of the excursions on our own. Did alot of research and planning.

 

If you need any help, just ask.

[smrtypnts]

We had a group of 17 with ages from 7 to 72 that went on the POA in 2007. We had times when we were all together (a couple of dinners and a luau), but most of the time, we went our separate ways because we had different interests.

 

We generally had 3-4 vehicles at each port and all had been arranged months in advance (something I would recommend). One person typically went to pick up the car and the others would then be picked up near the pier. A couple of times everyone jumped on a shuttle that was not ver crowded and all headed to the rental agency. Drop off was similar, people were dropped off at the pier and either one or two would go turn in each car.

 

Whatever you do, just don't stress thinking everyone must be together all the time. Meet ahead of time if possible (or email or facebook or whatever) to discuss what you want to do and if possible coordinate and if not then just see each other when you see each other and otherwise enjoy the cruise!!!

You said it far better than I--thank you!:)

[sunshine1223]

You guys are AWESOME! Thank you for the encouraging tips. I am feeling much less overwhelmed. It is going to be so very fun, I can't wait! I talked with my sister today and she has been helping with the rental car stuff. We are all communicating via phone and email as we try to finalize things. Did I already say I can't wait? ;) I could spend hours on this Cruise Critic site, but work comes early tomorrow.

 

Thanks, all, for your suggestions!