Thoughts on over/under planning

Hi,

My DH and I will be on PoA on May 14th, have 3 days planned in Waikiki and 4 nights in San Fran all pre cruise.

Other than spending time with our daughter in San Fran, and seeing the USS Arizona while in Oahu, we have only one private tour planned while in Hilo.

I'm usually a planner, but my DH is a "wing it" kinda guy. We booked all of this only 2 months out and I usually spend months planning.

I'm now stressing because I don't have much planned and am wondering how Winging it will work!

I'm considering renting a car for one of the islands, but which one? Thoughts?

Just wondering what others experiences have been..

Thanks for letting me vent!:)

I have planned almost every day of our trip. We will be in Waikiki for 6 days pre cruise and then Kona and Lahaina post cruise for 10 days. I have spent the last two years researching and planning. If I didn't plan it I would get to each day and wonder what on earth we are going to do that day. I think I would forget to see so much that way and I want to see as much as possible as this is a once in a lifetime trip. Looks like we will be on the same cruise :)

I would encourage you to book cars on Maui and Kauai. There's so much great scenery to enjoy, and nice beaches, but you need to get out of the port area to be able to access it.

Under-planning IMO means missing out on the highlights - and since you're going to that effort and expense to get to Hawaii, it seems like a waste not to take advantage of the opportunity to explore.

Don't stress ... even if you just book the rental cars and take a guide book with you, it will be better than doing no planning. While I usually plan well ahead, we've done last minute trips and have been successful with minimal planning. If you have a free evening between now and then, you can probably plan Kauai and Maui in that time.

Good luck.:)

Hanauma Bay in Oahu,

Old Lahaina Luau in Maui

Waimea Canyon in Kuaui

Loved them all !

Aloha :D

We just returned from a cruise on the POA last month and also did four nights in San Francisco and four more nights in Waikiki. I am slowly getting my blog caught up with detailed reviews and lots of photos from each day...perhaps you can get some ideas from reading about what we did. (Not sure I will have it all done by the time you leave however...) The link is:

My Souvenir Memories Blog

One suggestion I can make is to download the Gypsy Guide App for both Maui and Oahu on your smartphone. If you rent cars on these islands and use the app you will feel like you have your own private tour guide. It might be a great (and low cost!) solution if you don't have time to plan. The apps cover pretty much all of the main roads on both islands.

Our only formal tour was the Captain Zodiac snorkeling tour in Kona which I can also recommend. We booked it through the ship and it wasn't cheap, but it was one of the most fun days on our trip!

I think it depends on what kind of traveler you are. I am an overplanner with everything. I like to have my plan, and then a back up plan in case something goes awry with my original plan. I always tell myself that things will go wrong, and I probably won't get to see and do everything we had intended. I'd just hate to be somewhere amazing, and miss out because I hadn't thought things through. (Or even worse, get home from an amazing trip where we had a lot of downtime, only to read about some incredible experience that we could have had, if only we'd done some research ahead of time!)

Hawaii especially seems to be a place where you have to have your plans made ahead of time.

If I could plan our Hawaii trip over again, I would have rented a car on Kuaui. We went to the canyon with Roberts, but I would have loved to have been able to go to a few more overlooks.

You will have a wonderful trip whether you over plan or under plan! :D

Thanks everyone. I'm in planning mode now! Think we will rent a car in Kauai, definitely want to see Waimea Canyon.

Still on the fence about the road to Hana. Blog is wonderful.. Thanks for the link!

I have planned almost every day of our trip. We will be in Waikiki for 6 days pre cruise and then Kona and Lahaina post cruise for 10 days. I have spent the last two years researching and planning. If I didn't plan it I would get to each day and wonder what on earth we are going to do that day. I think I would forget to see so much that way and I want to see as much as possible as this is a once in a lifetime trip. Looks like we will be on the same cruise :)

Maybe we will see you on board. What hotel are you staying at? We will be at the Outrigger Beach Resort.

I highly recommend not "winging it". Most of the ports are industrial and not much to see in them.....If you really want to see Hawaii, I recommend having some tentative plans and renting a car at least one day at each port. Driving in Hawaii (everywhere but Waikiki) is very easy. I basically had tentative plans of stuff to do each day (sometimes we did all of them, sometimes we changed it on the fly.) Here is breakdown of how our days went when we cruised in October 2015 (we stayed 3 nights pre-cruise and 4 nights post-cruise.)

Pre-cruise Days 1-3 (Oahu) Diamond Head Hike (took the bus), Paradise Cove Luau, Pearl Harbor (no car rentals these days)

Day 4 (Honolulu) Embarkation Day!

Day 5 (Maui) Rented a car and drove around West Maui (Lahaina, Kahekili Beach Park, Iao Needle)

Day 6 (Maui) Sunrise Bike Tour (organized tour--no car rental)

Day 7 (Hilo) Rented a car and drove to Rainbow Falls, black sand beach at Punalu'u Beach, and Volcanoes National Park

Day 8 (Kona) Rented a car and drove to Manini'owali Beach--clearest beach water I have ever been to--GORGEOUS. We returned the car and then walked to Kona Brewing company and had lunch

Day 9 (Kauai) Rented car and drove to Opaeka'a Falls/Wailua River lookout and Ke'e state Beach Park

Day 10 (Kauai) Airplane Ride (organized tour--no car rental)

Post-Cruise Days 11-15 (Oahu) We rented a car most days and saw many sites including The North Shore, Makapu'u Point Lighthouse Trail, Nu'uani Pali Lookout, Lanikai Beach, Manoa Falls just to name a few

Still on the fence about the road to Hana.

There are a lot of very scenic areas on Maui to explore that would involve a lot less driving than the Road to Hana ... e.g. you can explore W. Maui - take in some great scenery, nice beaches, shopping and exploring the historic town of Lahaina.

A drive up to Haleakala summit is a highlight ... and a lot less driving than the Road to Hana. Iao Valley is another very scenic place - easily combined W. or S. Maui, or Haleakala.

South Maui has awesome beaches and La Perouse Bay where you can see lava rock fields left from Haleakala's last eruption (~ late 1700's).

If you don't rent a car on Maui would you book an excursion? There's nothing to do in the area of the port.

Sometimes, "unplanned" things turn out to be the most memorable! Don't stress too much! Read a guidebook, so you have an idea of what is available...then wing it....it's a vacation, after all! Anything is great!

In regards to Road to Hana I'm thinking about getting an app with a gps. I've heard of Gypsy Guide and NAVMII (which does not use data). Any thoughts/suggestions?

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In regards to Road to Hana I'm thinking about getting an app with a gps. I've heard of Gypsy Guide and NAVMII (which does not use data). Any thoughts/suggestions?

 

 

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I purchased the full island versions of the Gypsy Guide app for both Maui and Oahu and can highly recommend using the app. The Road to Hana is covered in the full island version for Maui or it can be purchased for a lower price individually.

If you use the app, take along a car charger for your phone. Although the app doesn't use data, it does drain your battery quickly. I also took a cable that plugged into the headphone jack of the phone to connect it to the car speakers. This made it much easier to hear the narration (there were 4 of us in the car.)

For less than $10, the app is like having your own personal tour guide!

Maybe we will see you on board. What hotel are you staying at? We will be at the Outrigger Beach Resort.

We will be at the Pacific Beach Hotel. I am starting to get excited and at work I am already winding down though I have another week to go.

I purchased the full island versions of the Gypsy Guide app for both Maui and Oahu and can highly recommend using the app. The Road to Hana is covered in the full island version for Maui or it can be purchased for a lower price individually.

 

 

 

If you use the app, take along a car charger for your phone. Although the app doesn't use data, it does drain your battery quickly. I also took a cable that plugged into the headphone jack of the phone to connect it to the car speakers. This made it much easier to hear the narration (there were 4 of us in the car.)

 

 

 

For less than $10, the app is like having your own personal tour guide!

Awesome!! Thank you so much for the feedback and tips [emoji4]

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