First Cruise - POA - ? To tour every day or not

We are doing the POA 7 day cruise of the Islands of Hawaii in April 2016. We are Aussies and will be spending 4 weeks prior to this cruise in the US visiting Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Chicago. We also intend to have 3 days prior to the cruise in Honolulu. My query is does everyone rush off every day and do a tour at the different ports or is there plenty to see in the actual ports where the POA will dock? We just thought we would like to relax and wind down a bit and just wander around the different ports and spend time on the ship. We will do the volcano tour on Hilo hopefully with Lavaland Hawaii Tours.

Kahului (Maui) wouldn't be a good choice for just staying near the port as there really isn't anything of interest there.

Kailua Kona is somewhat of a 'tacky tourist town' ... although you could explore a few historic sites on foot there.

On Kauai you could spend your second day near the port - there's a beach within walking distance, a resort and some shops ... but with such spectacular scenery on Kauai, you'd probably want to take advantage of your full day to explore.

Will your 4 weeks on the US mainland include some less busy places ... or just Chicago, Las Vegas and LosAngeles?

:confused:.I know you will be tired after all that touring on the mainland, but why on earth would you go to this paradise called Hawaii and then even consider not getting off the ship?:confused:. You'll know what I mean after you have (hopefully) seen it.

My suggestion is to take a little time to kick back during your 4 weeks in Chicago, LA and Vegas. You surely will not be touring every day of those 4 weeks? What you are suggesting is just crazy, IMO.

:confused:.I know you will be tired after all that touring on the mainland, but why on earth would you go to this paradise called Hawaii and then even consider not getting off the ship?:confused:. You'll know what I mean after you have (hopefully) seen it.

 

My suggestion is to take a little time to kick back during your 4 weeks in Chicago, LA and Vegas. You surely will not be touring every day of those 4 weeks? What you are suggesting is just crazy, IMO.

You stole my words, EXACTLY.

To the OP, you want to 'wind down' do it in other places. You are on vacation in a paradise. see it all, do as much as your body will allow you to do. Rest when you get home. I seriously can't fathom anyone going all this way and staying on the ship.

I would take Hawaii over all the other places you are going. Take some time off in Chicago, in Vegas, lie around the pool and chill out, but in Hawaii, enjoy it all.

You have to understand that you don't have to do and see everything, rush around like a maniac trying to do it all.

Rent a car and just drive around the islands and enjoy the scenery, the food, the people. We always say, to 'stop and smell the roses' and know where you are instead of running around every waking hour trying to see it all. But never stay on the ship. PLEASE.

Cheers

Len

First off I didn't say we were intending on spending all the time on the ship. I was just trying to find out if there was interesting things to see and do around the ports or whether we would be better off hiring a car at each port.

First off I didn't say we were intending on spending all the time on the ship. I was just trying to find out if there was interesting things to see and do around the ports or whether we would be better off hiring a car at each port.

We can't answer many of these questions, if you think about it. Does everybody rush off and tour every day? Who knows? I don't think there are any serious ways to answer that. We don't know what interests you. Beaches? Snorkeling? Whale watching? Volcanos? Essentially none of those things can be done in Vegas, Chicago or LA. Well, a little beach time in LA. Or Golfing?

I think a better idea is to do some reading on the board here. Every port is covered extensively, with all the options. Some ports are easy to do on your own, some more complicated. Renting a car works very well in Hawaii, but not every one wants to do that.

Then look at what NCL is offering. Determine what your interests might be. Then narrow down the question a bit.

We rented cars in each port but Kona, where we simply disembarked and wandered the town. I didn't think it was tacky at all; I thought it was really nice. But to each, their own. Anyway, being from Australia, renting cars is probably out for you? I would probably do a google search on each island and see what interests you. Definitely look at gohawaii dot com, and then see if there are any tours that go to what you would like to see. Do some more research and then come on back and pick our brains! :)

First off I didn't say we were intending on spending all the time on the ship. I was just trying to find out if there was interesting things to see and do around the ports or whether we would be better off hiring a car at each port.

Well, that's a relief!:). And yes, most everyone leaves the ship after breakfast for tours or to head out in their own rental cars. If you don't mind driving on the opposite side of the road, you can easily hit main scenic sights like Wiamea Canyon, Mt Haleakala and tons more. Incredibly beautiful, and I would hate for you to miss it. You can easily have a relaxing day. See Wiamea in the am, hit the beach in the pm, back to the ship early for dinner and a show. Or tour in am, back to the ship to relax pm, head out to a luau in the evening. You get the

picture;).

As Susan said, most of the ports are industrial and really nothing to walk to except for the ports she mentioned. For the half day on Kauai, we liked the beach area you can walk or shuttle to next to the ship. It's called Kalapacki Bay if you want to look it up. You can shop, have drinks at Dukes at the Mariott ( beautiful botanical garden enclosed by the hotel as well ) or beach all in the same spot.

Kona was the only place that we wandered around. It was nice and relaxing.

We did excursions every day because each island (and in the case of the Big Island, each side) is different. I would suggest using Kona as a day with no schedule and another day in Honolulu or Waikiki (just to enjoy walking around or the beach).

We hiked Diamond Head in Waikiki (just down the road from Honolulu) and then went to the beach for a while before we embarked. That was our relaxing time on Oahu. We also went to the Chief's Luau while we were in Waikiki because it fit into our schedule better (we wanted to go to Haleakala for the sunset in Maui and that would have been the only other time we could have done a luau).

The Chief's luau was excellent, btw, if you are looking for a good luau. You can arrange to be picked up and the food and show and activities were excellent. Not a huge crowd either.

You will have PLENTY of time to tour Oahu before the cruise...that's where I'd relax, if it were me! You know...Hawaii is best visited via a land vacation...there simply isn't time enough to see/do everything on port days!

You will have PLENTY of time to tour Oahu before the cruise...that's where I'd relax, if it were me! You know...Hawaii is best visited via a land vacation...there simply isn't time enough to see/do everything on port days!

Well, considering that you could spend 22 hours or even more ashore just in Maui, for instance, (if you have the stamina) you can and see and do quite a bit.

But I agree a land vacation is great. Or even better, combine the cruise with a land vacation in Hawaii. If it were me, I'd spend all 4 of those weeks in Hawaii.:p

We are doing the POA 7 day cruise of the Islands of Hawaii in April 2016. We are Aussies and will be spending 4 weeks prior to this cruise in the US visiting Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Chicago. We also intend to have 3 days prior to the cruise in Honolulu. My query is does everyone rush off every day and do a tour at the different ports or is there plenty to see in the actual ports where the POA will dock? We just thought we would like to relax and wind down a bit and just wander around the different ports and spend time on the ship. We will do the volcano tour on Hilo hopefully with Lavaland Hawaii Tours.

As others have said, you probably will want to do something in all the ports except maybe Kona. We have done the cruise twice and do Kona and one of the Kauai days on our own. While others think Kona is tacky, it is actually our favorite port. Just a nice little town with shops and restaurants/bars. Other ports there isn't much around. A lot of people also do "beach days" which I think is pretty relaxing. Also, we had some excursions that were shorter then relaxed the rest of the day. There is no possible way you can do and see everything, so my theory is to pick the most important to you.

I stopped asking many questions here because it seems people treat others like they are stupid or answer in rather rude ways or tell you to read threads that are years old or you have to sift through pages and pages of stuff. We don't all have time to do that! We all have different likes and interests or this would be a boring world I think!

I think its great you get to spend time in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Chicago too. While I love Hawaii, if I had never been to those other cities I would want to explore them too!

I'm sure you will come up with a great plan that can include a good balance of activity, sightseeing and relaxing. I have done the cruise 2 times and a land vacation on Oahu once. While I am by no means an expert at all, if there is something I can help answer for you, I would be happy to help.

Sounds like the trip of a lifetime!! Hope you have a great time!!

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My reasons for taking this high priced cruise, is to enjoy Hawaii. :) I am gone every day, with a rental car offering so much easy drive up touring. Reading some Hawaii travel books may give you further ideas. Looking over shore excursion lists is a good start, to have narrowing down interests.

I try to do this cruise every year. But last year, I went twice with other lines. No comparison to how much better NCL is. :)

Oahu is not my preference for a lot of extended time. Last two trips, I had a week on Hawaii before the cruise, and a week on Maui after. Interisland flights are pretty cheap. :)

I find touring Hawaii a low cost bargain, compared to some other locations. So much you can see and do with a rental car.

Renting cars is definitely NOT out for Aussies. We hired a car in Maui for 2 days. The rental agencies are just a short shuttle bus away. We pre booked the cars and whale watching online before we left Australia. First day we did whale watching after driving over to Lahaina. We parked the car at the pier over night and the second day we drove up to the crater. Both were great lots of whales up close and the view from the top of the crater was quite spectacular. We did these trips at our leisure stopping when we liked along the way. We were nor rushed at all. My husband just had to concentrate on driving on the other side of the road. Kona and Hilo we went on a tour with May Lou but you could hire cars here. Kauai we hired a car the first day and drove to Waimea canyon the second day we took a flight with Wings Over Kauai> this was spectacular and we had a clear day which is some what unusual. The traffic was okay, so not too stressing. We were a little tired at the end of each day but we saw as much we could at our pace. Hope this helps. Jennifer

Renting cars is definitely NOT out for Aussies.

This is so nice to read! Usually those from Australia and Great Britain will say they don't want to rent cars when in Hawaii, and I totally understand why, so it's nice to know that it's still an option for some. It's a wonderful way to see the islands!:)

I don't know if this will help you or not, we have yet to do our POA cruise (in July of 2105), but I have planned Monday and Friday as down time with no paid excursions. Depending on how we all feel, will determine what we do those two days.

We have either a tour or our route planned for basically everyday we will be there in Hawaii. When we are not touristing around Hawaii we will probably be taking advantage of the UDP. My motto: There will be time to rest when you get home... this is Hawaii!

I don't know if this will help you or not, we have yet to do our POA cruise (in July of 2105), but I have planned Monday and Friday as down time with no paid excursions. Depending on how we all feel, will determine what we do those two days.

What excursions have you planned to do? We were thinking of doing the same thing.....to leave a couple of days with no excursions organized and book the ones that we don't want to miss.

With no tours planned, there isn't a lot at the port areas, and unlike the Caribbean, there aren't tour operators booking tours. There will be a few taxis about it.

As a suggestion- I would have a rental car made for each day, with easy ability to cancel if you change your mind. There is so much, you can drive to without having to have firm plans before that day. Just go over your guide book the night before- or maybe at an early breakfast?

Turn left, turn right, Hawaii is loaded with drive up beauty. :)

I don't know if this will help you or not, we have yet to do our POA cruise (in July of 2105), but I have planned Monday and Friday as down time with no paid excursions. Depending on how we all feel, will determine what we do those two days.

Um.. 2015 not 2105 (and I can't edit it)....

What excursions have you planned to do? .

Thursday before the cruise - we are touring Pearl Harbor – http://www.hawiidiscount.com – Harbor Hero’s adventures gold tour

Sunday: Road to Hanna - Valley Isle Excursions

Monday - open

Tuesday - Ricky's tours - http://www.rickystourshawaii.com/

Wednesday - MaryLou's Tours - Marylous Big Island Guided Tours

Thursday - Jay Dorrance Tour - http://www.treadlightlykauai.com/about-us.html

Friday - open

Imalismum - thanks for that information. We are planning much the same.

Also meant to say please let me know what you think of the tours.

This is our itinerary perhaps it may help in your planning:

Pre-cruise (Oahu)

Tuesday: Arrive in Ko'olina

Wednesday: Resort day and Paradise Cove Luau

Thursday: North Shore

Friday: Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, and Waikiki

POA

Saturday (Honolulu): Lounging day on the ship

Sunday (Maui): Lahaina and Kaanapali or Road to Hana

Monday (Maui): Lahaina and Kaanapali or Road to Hana

Tuesday (Hilo): Big Island Aina Tours to VNP and Akaka Falls

Wednesday (Kona): Shopping and maybe Hapuna Beach

Thursday (Kauai: Waimea Canyon and Poipu

Friday (Kauai -- Napali Coast sailby in PM):

(Me and 2 others from the group): Jurassic Falls Helicopter Tour

(Everyone else): Kalapaki Beach