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Favorite Hawaiian excursions??? First timer on Grand


Cruzmama
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We are sailing on our first Hawaiian cruise on the Grand. Other than seeing Pearl Harbor, we're not sure which excursions are the best. We like volcanoes, waterfalls, lava tubes, snorkeling. Which excursions are not to be missed? Should we consider booking through someone other than Princess?

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When we went a few years ago, we enjoyed our excursions. I don't remember which island we did what on, but I'll tell you what we enjoyed. We both enjoyed the climb of Diamondhead. There was a brief shower before the climb, and then one when we got down. The views are fantastic.

 

We also liked snorkeling in Maui, though do to some extenuating circumstances that excursion had to be cut short. We usually do our excursions through Princess. In some cases, depending on the amount of time in port, you may have opportunities to do a couple of different things.

 

Whatever you decide on I'm sure you will have a fantastic time!

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We cruised to Hawaii from San Pedro and from San Francisco this year. On both cruises we rented a car at each port and wouldn't do it any other way.

 

Do your research for each island. Go when you want, where you want. See the volcanoes and walk through the lava tube. See the waterfalls, don't miss the delightful Iao park. Stop and shop.

 

We recommend the DIY tour.

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If you don't feel comfortable renting a car here is suggestion.

Look for a private excursion because they us Halley are lot cheaper.

I would look at the Robert's of Hawaii website for suggestions. We did the volcanoes tour on

Our last Hawaii cruise. I personally don't recommend the garden tour.

 

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Forums mobile app

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We love whale watching in Maui. It was wonderful, and we saw so many whales.

 

Yes! I second the whale watching in Maui! Totally awesome. Don't miss it.

 

The Movies Made in Kauai tour is fantastic, if you are a movie fan.

 

If you are interested in WWII, see the battleship Missouri in addition to the Pearl Harbor Memorial.

 

Of course don't miss Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island.

 

I like taking the Princess ship tours. No worries, they do the work. Speaking of not stressing, don't worry, it is all wonderful:)

 

Aloha:)

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We also had the Movie tour, and we had a great time. I never knew so many things were actually filmed in Hawaii. They also provided a nice lunch. I agree though that what ever you decide to do, you should have a wonderful time.

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A third vote for the Kauai Movies tour. It included many waterfalls, which my hubby really likes (one of the cruises on his dream list is the So. America one with a side trip to Iguazu Falls), so he enjoyed the day. My teen and I are both movie fans so we both enjoyed it, and it was very informative. We even saw the opening scene and theme song for the original pilot of Gilligan's Island, and then we saw the beach where the background was shot (network execs didn't care for the song, composed by John Willliams, no less, and some of the casting, so it was recasted and reshot). A few on our tour (from the UK) never heard of the show. We ate lunch at a diner where some scenes from "The Descendants" was shot.

 

I'm not into "adventure" so I can't give you suggestions on those kind of excursions. Most of the time (on all of our cruises) we don't book any excursions, but base our time in port on my research. And one major requirement of my hubby is no renting of cars (we did rent a car on Kauai during our honeymoon, so that took care of seeing much of the island).

 

On our first Hawaiian cruise, we did book a tour of Hilo and points on the north east part of the Big Island (booked thru Princess). That included the two major waterfalls, but not the volcano. We also booked a snorkeling trip off of Maui on the same cruise (I stayed on the boat with a puzzle magazine, but did enjoy the lunch they served), and we got an almost close up view of whales -- the male whales were showing off for a female one. But if you go during the winter, you may actually see whales from the ship -- that happened on our December 2012 cruise as whales were playing pretty near the Golden Princess.

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We are sailing on our first Hawaiian cruise on the Grand. Other than seeing Pearl Harbor, we're not sure which excursions are the best. We like volcanoes, waterfalls, lava tubes, snorkeling. Which excursions are not to be missed? Should we consider booking through someone other than Princess?

 

On our cruise to Hawaii (Mar. 2013) we booked most of our excursions through PCL and were very satisfied with them, if not thrilled! However, we did book one excursions on-line and it turned out to be our favorite.

 

At Kauai, we booked the G8 (6 passenger) flight through "Wings Over Kauai". Our pilot was Josh (an AA pilot) and it was like a drive through the country side. If anyone in the plane spotted something interesting, he would made a circle once or twice for everyone to see. While we were a little higher than helicopters it was the most unbelievable tour we have every been on. Every seat is a window seat so no bad seats as there are in helicopters.

 

Please do not rule out a flight until checking out the following: http://www.wingsoverkauai.com

 

Whatever you do, Hawaii will call you back again and again!

Edited by RetiredNTraveling
corrections
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We are sailing on our first Hawaiian cruise on the Grand. Other than seeing Pearl Harbor, we're not sure which excursions are the best. We like volcanoes, waterfalls, lava tubes, snorkeling. Which excursions are not to be missed? Should we consider booking through someone other than Princess?

 

Did hawaii on golden princess in 2010 (our first ever cruise). Did mostly private tours, best by far was whale watching in maui, just got off the boat and booked a tour on the quayside. Absoloutly fantastic sight ,

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We are sailing on our first Hawaiian cruise on the Grand. Other than seeing Pearl Harbor, we're not sure which excursions are the best. We like volcanoes, waterfalls, lava tubes, snorkeling. Which excursions are not to be missed? Should we consider booking through someone other than Princess?

 

Here are my suggestions from the Holland America, Veendam, Circle Hawaii cruise in early January.

 

Maui

 

If your port call is in Lahaina, go whale watching with Pacific Whale Foundation http://www.pacificwhale.org and book online yourself. You don’t need a tour. The Pacific Whale Foundation booth is just as you exit the tender.

 

Kauai

 

Rent a car and drive to the Waimea Canyon and Na Pali Coast Overlook. There is plenty of time to do this and maybe stop by the Kauai Coffee Plantation. You pick the car up at the Lihue Airport, but the rental car companies offer free shuttle bus service between the pier and the airport. The cars are cheap and this is a great day.

 

Enterprise Rentacar: http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/deeplinkmap.do?gpbr=3642&bid=004&cnty=US

 

Honolulu

 

If you’re interested in a tour of Pearl Harbor, a ships tour is not necessary to visit the Arizona Memorial. We made reservations for the FREE tickets online through the government recreation website http://www.recreation.gov/unifSearchResults.do?topTabIndex=Search. There is a small fee of $1.50 per person for reserving tickets online. Tickets might be available on a walkup basis at the memorial on the day of your visit.

 

You can take a taxi or there are two city buses (#20 and #42) that operate from the pier area to the Arizona Memorial parking lot http://thebus.org/Route/Routes.asp. Exit the ship and head to Ala Moana Blvd. Cross the street, turn right, and walk to the corner of Ala Moana Blvd and South Street. You will see the stop for bus #20 (Waikiki – Pearl Ridge) near the corner after you cross South Street. This bus takes about 50 minutes to get to the memorial. For bus #42, continue walking down South Street to Avahi Street. This bus makes fewer stops.

 

To return to the ship exit the parking lot and walk to Kamehameha Street and turn left to the bus stop. Both buses will take you back to the pier or you can continue on the Waikiki Beach for the remained of the afternoon and return to the pier by bus.

 

Hilo

 

We opted for the ships tour that offered small group tours to Volcanoes National Park for a five-mile hike of Kilauea Iki volcano crater. This was a great tour.

 

Kona

 

We opted to just walk around Kona for a few hours. Things to see include: Huliheʻe Palace/Museum and Mokuaikaua Church, both dating back to the early 1800's, less than a block from the end of the pier; Farmers Market, about 4 blocks from the pier; have a MaiTai at the Royal Kona Resort - a great spot to take pictures of your ship in the bay while sipping a delicious drinks; and there is a small beach as you exit the tender.

 

Click on http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=41478436&postcount=314 for information on viewing my shore excursions for these ports – a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

Enjoy your cruise,

 

Ron

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We are sailing on our first Hawaiian cruise on the Grand. Other than seeing Pearl Harbor, we're not sure which excursions are the best. We like volcanoes, waterfalls, lava tubes, snorkeling. Which excursions are not to be missed? Should we consider booking through someone other than Princess?

 

The best views of the islands can be seen by airplane and helicopter.

My favorite helicopter ride was over heavenly Kauai.

The most practical way to see most of the Big Island is by air.

Edited by SargassoSage
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Here are my suggestions from the Holland America, Veendam, Circle Hawaii cruise in early January.

 

Maui

 

If your port call is in Lahaina, go whale watching with Pacific Whale Foundation http://www.pacificwhale.org and book online yourself. You don’t need a tour. The Pacific Whale Foundation booth is just as you exit the tender.

 

Kauai

 

Rent a car and drive to the Waimea Canyon and Na Pali Coast Overlook. There is plenty of time to do this and maybe stop by the Kauai Coffee Plantation. You pick the car up at the Lihue Airport, but the rental car companies offer free shuttle bus service between the pier and the airport. The cars are cheap and this is a great day.

 

Enterprise Rentacar: http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/deeplinkmap.do?gpbr=3642&bid=004&cnty=US

 

Honolulu

 

If you’re interested in a tour of Pearl Harbor, a ships tour is not necessary to visit the Arizona Memorial. We made reservations for the FREE tickets online through the government recreation website http://www.recreation.gov/unifSearchResults.do?topTabIndex=Search. There is a small fee of $1.50 per person for reserving tickets online. Tickets might be available on a walkup basis at the memorial on the day of your visit.

 

You can take a taxi or there are two city buses (#20 and #42) that operate from the pier area to the Arizona Memorial parking lot http://thebus.org/Route/Routes.asp. Exit the ship and head to Ala Moana Blvd. Cross the street, turn right, and walk to the corner of Ala Moana Blvd and South Street. You will see the stop for bus #20 (Waikiki – Pearl Ridge) near the corner after you cross South Street. This bus takes about 50 minutes to get to the memorial. For bus #42, continue walking down South Street to Avahi Street. This bus makes fewer stops.

 

To return to the ship exit the parking lot and walk to Kamehameha Street and turn left to the bus stop. Both buses will take you back to the pier or you can continue on the Waikiki Beach for the remained of the afternoon and return to the pier by bus.

 

Hilo

 

We opted for the ships tour that offered small group tours to Volcanoes National Park for a five-mile hike of Kilauea Iki volcano crater. This was a great tour.

 

Kona

 

We opted to just walk around Kona for a few hours. Things to see include: Huliheʻe Palace/Museum and Mokuaikaua Church, both dating back to the early 1800's, less than a block from the end of the pier; Farmers Market, about 4 blocks from the pier; have a MaiTai at the Royal Kona Resort - a great spot to take pictures of your ship in the bay while sipping a delicious drinks; and there is a small beach as you exit the tender.

 

Click on http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=41478436&postcount=314 for information on viewing my shore excursions for these ports – a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

Enjoy your cruise,

 

Ron

 

Thanks for the great info. Booking for 2015. Have to wait and see which ships Rci send to that area. Going to do a 7 night Alaska first. Just learned we have to change ships and can't stay on and do a B2B

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