Hawaii POA

My Husband and l have booked the POA for my 50th birthday in March departing on the 21st. Wondering what the weather would be like? Any recommendations on Shore excursions not that keen on self drives.

Temperatures in Hawaii are fairly consistent throughout the year - here's a chart with average highs and lows for March.

Excursion recommendations should be based on your interests ... the best thing to do would be to read through the offerings from the cruise line and see what looks appealing to you, then post again if you have specific questions about tours.

Some people like to do small private tours rather than the ship's excursions - if you join your Roll Call here on Cruise Critic, you might find others looking to share private tours. Here's the roll call for your cruise - it has very little participation compared to some of the other POA roll calls, but hopefully interest will pick up soon.

Also, by reading some of the threads on this forum, you'll find lots of helpful suggestions re excursions.

Good luck with your plans.:)

My Husband and l have booked the POA for my 50th birthday in March departing on the 21st. Wondering what the weather would be like? Any recommendations on Shore excursions not that keen on self drives.

Don't rule out self drives until you have fully checked out what there is to see and do in each of the islands. Start with the ship excursions for an idea of what is out there, and then expand using sites like Trip Advisor for top rated attractions and activities which might interest you.

Most of Hawaii's sights are "drive up", like Waimea Canyon, Mt Haleakala, Lahaina, and self driving is very easy. The views in the islands are fantastic, all the way from point A to B. It can save you a lot of cash as a car can be had for $30 or $40 a day and can be kept overnight at or near the pier. In many cases, much less then the price of a paid excursion and you can probably pack in much more. You just reserve in advance and indicate ship pick up. They send shuttles to the pier. But many people book a luau through the ship rather than take their car as it eliminates the problem of driving back late after a few Mai Tais.

We did book a private excursion small group tour (max 6) for Hilo on the Big Island, Hawaii, to see Volcanoes National Park and other sights. Mary Lou's Tours ( For Hilo and Kona. Family operated, 3 vehicles, Ken, Mary Lou and son Kyle, max 18 between the three, so book early ). Check them out here on CC. and on Trip Advisor and you will see why they are highly recommended. We did a helicopter tour in Kauai as so many areas like the Napali Coast are inaccessible and you will see much which can't be seen from the road.

Happy planning!

Thanks for your reply and l will look into it further.

Temperatures in Hawaii are fairly consistent throughout the year - here's a chart with average highs and lows for March.

 

Excursion recommendations should be based on your interests ... the best thing to do would be to read through the offerings from the cruise line and see what looks appealing to you, then post again if you have specific questions about tours.

 

Some people like to do small private tours rather than the ship's excursions - if you join your Roll Call here on Cruise Critic, you might find others looking to share private tours. Here's the roll call for your cruise - it has very little participation compared to some of the other POA roll calls, but hopefully interest will pick up soon.

 

Also, by reading some of the threads on this forum, you'll find lots of helpful suggestions re excursions.

 

Good luck with your plans.:)

Thanks for the weather chart l was a little concerned as it is the Hawaiian winter month end so wasn't sure what to expect. Being in Australia the weather varies every day even in the summer months. I have checked out some of the shore excursions and yet to decide but l do have a far ideal as to what we would like to do. Thanks again for your feedback

I would like to add that my wife and I are going on POA 3/21/2015. We booked private tours on all the islands for the two of us for 300 per day.

This will save us from the fighting in the car like we usually do when we are driving together. Do not want to be arguing on our 20th.

There are other advantages to this also, such as, traffic, weather, etc. because the tour can be changed anytime with the local guide knowing the best. Look into it.

Mark

Not to sure about driving. Us Aussie's drive on the other side and l wouldn't want to miss the cruise departure time if we take the wrong turn. I have paid the balance of our trip today and l have looked into the shore excursions so l know what l would like to do but l will look into it more as we get closer. But l am getting pretty excited.

Hopefully we might meet on the cruise.

Definitely check out Mary Lou's Tours for both Hilo & Kona.

We enjoyed our tour with Kyle very much...$75 a person per tour.

Private tours or self reserved will save a lot of $$ over the ship's offerings!

Most of these will offer pier pick-up, so very easy!

We drove the rest on our own via Harley's or Mustangs, but understand your apprehension at not wanting to drive :)

I always hear people go on about driving on your own in Hawaii but we didn't want to drive at all during our vacation and my mom and I had a wonderful time with private tours or ship excursions. It also gives you more time to enjoy what's around you than keeping a look out for certain turns or signs, and it's nice to hear the locals talk about their island first hand instead of something you'd read from a book. Nothing wrong with not driving yourself around haha

As for which excursions you should do, it all depends on what you like to see and do...though I'm guessing nothing too physical? But I second Mary Lou's tours, I had Mary Lou instead of her husband and she was excellent!

I always hear people go on about driving on your own in Hawaii but we didn't want to drive at all during our vacation and my mom and I had a wonderful time with private tours or ship excursions. It also gives you more time to enjoy what's around you than keeping a look out for certain turns or signs, and it's nice to hear the locals talk about their island first hand instead of something you'd read from a book. Nothing wrong with not driving yourself around haha

 

As for which excursions you should do, it all depends on what you like to see and do...though I'm guessing nothing too physical? But I second Mary Lou's tours, I had Mary Lou instead of her husband and she was excellent!

I'm so glad to hear this about not driving DH has issues with my back seat driving which can lead to some uncomfortable moments:(. Don't want any of that on my vacation and I also look forward to hearing the locals and tour guides. Just sit back and relax. We are booked with Mary Lou's tours in Hilo what other tours did you reserve, all private or with NCL?

Thanks for the advice. But the physical the better. I know what we would like to do, you are the second person that has recommended Mary Lou's so l will look into it and see what is on offer. P.S l am a young soon to be 50 year old Ha Ha

I'm so glad to hear this about not driving DH has issues with my back seat driving which can lead to some uncomfortable moments:(. Don't want any of that on my vacation and I also look forward to hearing the locals and tour guides. Just sit back and relax. We are booked with Mary Lou's tours in Hilo what other tours did you reserve, all private or with NCL?

Yeah, my mom stresses out enough just driving here, so driving somewhere she doesn't know isn't going to help her, and it's supposed to be a vacation so haha

Um, for the cruise portion, I did Road to Hana on Maui with a private company, then Mary Lou's in Hilo. All the other days were through NCL for me, like the sunrise and the horseback riding and whatnot. My mom did the Waimea Canyon and Fern Grotto privately as well as Mary Lou's in Kona again, then everything else through the ship, like Lahaina on Your Own.

And you know everything we did on Oahu was private since you're following my review, haha. Thanks again for that! =D

Thanks for the advice. But the physical the better. I know what we would like to do, you are the second person that has recommended Mary Lou's so l will look into it and see what is on offer. P.S l am a young soon to be 50 year old Ha Ha

Oo, should have some water activities in there, then, haha. Captain Zodiac comes highly acclaimed though I didn't end up doing that. I did go snorkeling, though. Had zip linging planned but that was forced to cancel. Then I did parasailing and horseback riding, haha. Definitely wanted to try stand up paddling but didn't end up going through with it unfortunately. Then there's all the hikes and the whole sunrise biking down the mountain excursion. So tons of physical things to do haha

Definitely check out Mary Lou's Tours for both Hilo & Kona.

We enjoyed our tour with Kyle very much...$75 a person per tour.

Private tours or self reserved will save a lot of $$ over the ship's offerings!

Most of these will offer pier pick-up, so very easy!

We drove the rest on our own via Harley's or Mustangs, but understand your apprehension at not wanting to drive :)

Due to all the great reviews I have read, I booked with them for both Kona and Hilo. We have room 4 4 more if you are interested. More details on post 32, or you can check out there web site at Maryloustours.com

Thanks to every ones feed back. I have looked into Marylou's Tours and also emailed for a quote. The only thing is the quote is in US$ and our dollar at the moment isn't very strong, by the time we get to America it is probably going to get worst before it gets better. We have an Australian company which is also offering the Hilo and Kona tours which is reasonably priced and they guarantee on time return to the ship which l was going to use to book these excursions. I believe that the other tours from NCL are reasonably priced. Thanks again Merry Christmas and have a safe festive season.

Hi Angel, we just returned from the Pride of America trip ( also to celebrate my 50th Birthday). We had a great time and I am sure you will have also. I booked all of our tours through Roberts Hawaii, ( shore excursions) and found them great. We also were not keen to drive on the "wrong" side of the road. Have fun planning... it will be a great trip.

Hi Aussiecruiser,

I am looking forward to the cruise very much. If it ok can l ask which shore excursions you did and what you thought of them. Also with Roberts Tours did you book them in America of did you book them before you left. I would like to book everything before l leave as the Dollar is pretty low and l think it is going to get worst before it gets better but l know this is part and parcel of holidaying overseas. What kind of a cabin did you have and what deck? What was the food like? Also did you pay the daily service charge or is that part of the gradutities? I have read a lot of mixed reviews and as this is only our second cruise l know it is hard to compare. Our first cruise was in Europe with MSC. Looking forward to your response.

Thanks

Angel

Hi Angel. I will try to answer your questions one at a time.

1. I booked Roberts tours on line from Australia, very easy, user friendly website. You can email them with any enquiries and they get back to you very quickly. I booked the 4 tours for $140 USD package, 3 of them I was very happy with, the other one not so much so. First tour was the Haleakala Crater tour , this is the one I would not recommend so much - lots of driving time for only 30 mins at the Crater. Though the crater is stunning I thought it was a lot of travel time. Also the road is very windy, and 2 of us felt quite sick on the way down. This tour was not helped by the fact our bus broke down on the way back to port, and we had to wait for another bus and returned 2 hours later than planned. I wondered if I had made a mistake booking Roberts tours, but our other 3 tours ( Volcanoes National park and Rainbow Falls in Hilo), Journey to Waimea Canyon in Kauai and Pearl Harbour and city tour on disembarkation day all went smoothly and I would certainly recommend these. As we disembarked at each port Roberts representatives would greet us and direct us to our tours. for the Pearl Harbour tour they took our luggage and dropped us at our Waikiki hotel afterwards about 2.30 pm.

2. The only other tour I booked was a snorkelling tour in Kona which ended up being the best part of our Hawaii trip. I booked with Sea Hawaii Rafting . Amazing day snorkelling and even swam near a pod of dolphins . Would strongly recommend a trip like this if you like snorkelling.

3. I had booked a balcony guarantee cabin and was very lucky to get cabin 9166, great position. Small cabin but you really only need it to sleep and shower and dress.

4. Yes we prepaid our gratuities - I always do this through my travel agent I book with. I think as Aussies we don't have a choice, I think we have to pre pay gratuities with our booking.

5. I have cruised with other cruise lines but not MSC so I cant compare. NCL I feel is not as luxurious as Celebrity or Princess or Royal Caribbean but the freestyle concept works really well for us, and we have now cruised with NCL 3 times. I would not hesitate to book again if the itinerary was what I was looking for. Food was very good, ( not outstanding ) but certainly very enjoyable. I loved the evening entertainment in the Hollywood Theatre and Mardi Gras lounge.

I do believe a cruise is what you make of it, and if you go with a positive attitude you will love the Aloha spirit on this cruise. I truly hope you will enjoy your 50th Birthday trip as much as I did. Happy Cruising !

HI Aussiecruzer,

Thanks for the advice on the shore excursions. I have chosen to do the National Park & Rainbow Falls and this is my birthday day. As far as the other tours l haven't quite decided yet. We will be staying on deck 10.

I went to Station Pier yesterday in Melbourne and the Dawn Princess was parked ready to take it's next cruise l think they were off to New Zealand but just seeing the ship made me very excited so l am looking forward to this trip and l will make the most of it. Thanks again for you help.

Regards

Angel:)

Hi Angel

Great... sounds like you are getting into the cruising spirit! You will enjoy Volcanoes National Park on your birthday day - it is unlike anything we have here in Australia. Deck 10 is a great position. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have, and have fun planning :)

Hi Aussiecruzer,

Thanks for all your information which l am grateful for. You did most of the shore excursions at each port. So in Maui you did Haleakala Crater which was one of the excursions l did chose but maybe may change. What else did you do? Also when you were in port in Maui and Kauai over night what did you do? I think that we will do a Luau when we get back from the cruise as my younger daughter and her boyfriend aren't doing the cruise but holidaying in Hawaii.

My eldest daughter will be coming along she has booked a separate room. She is 27 years old she is wondering will there be people around her age. She is under the impression that Old people do cruises!!

Did you do the Rollcall on cruise critic? I haven't and not sure if l will there are 2 couples at the moment for my departure date.

Thanks again

Angel

Hi Angel

Our first day in Maui we just took a walk to the nearby Queen K mall as my 2 daughters wanted to shop at the Forever 21, and to use the free wifi. We did not plan too much for that day as we had flown to Honolulu landing Saturday morning on day of boarding so we thought we would have a quiet day. My 2 daughers aged 18 and 22 had the cabin next door to ours.

Both overnights we spent on board. Every evening we enjoyed the formal dinners followed by the on board shows and entertainment so we did not organise anything else. Lots of people did luau's, I am sure you would enjoy any one you choose. In case you are looking at Germaines luau in Honolulu, Sav-On Hawaii offers some discount but I have not booked anything with them so cant comment from personal experience.

Yes I did join the roll call for my cruise. We did not have enough for a Meet and Greet ( 25 minimum) but we had an informal get together on the first day. There were lots of young people on our cruise, so I am sure your daughter will enjoy.

Hi Aussiecruzer,

 

Thanks for all your information which l am grateful for. You did most of the shore excursions at each port. So in Maui you did Haleakala Crater which was one of the excursions l did chose but maybe may change. What else did you do? Also when you were in port in Maui and Kauai over night what did you do? I think that we will do a Luau when we get back from the cruise as my younger daughter and her boyfriend aren't doing the cruise but holidaying in Hawaii.

 

My eldest daughter will be coming along she has booked a separate room. She is 27 years old she is wondering will there be people around her age. She is under the impression that Old people do cruises!!

 

Did you do the Rollcall on cruise critic? I haven't and not sure if l will there are 2 couples at the moment for my departure date.

 

Thanks again

 

Angel

I'll add a couple things to the info Aussiecruzer gave you. We also did Haleakala, but in our own car and loved it. We have done it both trips to Maui and it is my favorite spot on Maui. Aussie did not enjoy it, but he was on a tour and unable to stop at leisure at the many pull outs to enjoy the spectacular views on the way up. The trip up and down is really the best part, rather than the summit. There are also spots where you can walk trails, like the Sliding Sands, if you want to be break up the ride. I'd suggest a small group tour if you can find one, or, since I think you said you like to be active, you might look into a tour company which takes you to the summit, and then you have a guided bicycle ride down.

A good ship tour for Maui is Lahaina On Your Own. Very inexpensive. You get a scenic trip to the other side of the island and then walk around the quaint town, shop, dine, ( there is also a luau there ) take a shuttle bus to Kaanapali Beach just up the road. You can also get whale watch, snorkel etc tours from the pier in Lahaina. May be good for day two if offered so you will not have to worry about getting back on time on your own.

The roll calls for the POA are not very active. I think people feel they will be off the ship daily so not much time to meet up and socialize. We did join ours, and ended up going on the same Mary Lou's tour with 2 other couples from the roll call, one of them an Aussie couple and they were great fun. We did not have a meet and greet, although I know some do, and they are usually right before the lifeboat drill mid afternoon of embarkation day

For Kauai, I don't remember anyone mentioning Kalapacki Bay Beach which is within walking distance of the ship. There are also free shuttles that run. There are lots of shops, beach equipment rentals and the beach is beautiful and shaded. There is a Mariott hotel with a Duke's restaurant and outdoor dining right on the beach. We did this on our 2nd Kauai day as the ship leaves early and it was easy to get back.

You will find people of all ages on board as many extended families book together. It should be easy to find young people at any of the ship parties or activities such as the Mojito Tasting.

Thanks punkincc for that valuable input. I forgot to mention we spent the last morning in Kauai at Kalapaki Bay which is an easy 10 minute walk from the dock - or there are free shuttles as you say. It really is a beautiful spot, we swam in the sea, relaxed on the beach, then had cocktails at Dukes before getting back on board for the 1.30 all aboard time. Really enjoyed that day, and the Napali Coast sail by around 5 pm is really stunning too. A relaxing day we thoroughly enjoyed.

Regarding Kalealaka crater, you are probably right. Because we were on an organised tour it was a lot of time sitting on a bus on a windy road for only 1/2 hour at the crater, though I must say it was stunning. 4 hour tour - I would say over 3 hours spent on the bus ( plus extra as our bus broke down but I presume this is not a common occurrence). They made a quick stop for restroom at a lookout on the way up, but if you had your own transport it would probably be a lot better. We did not get to Lahaina but I believe it is a polular spot.

Thanks to everyone for the input on Shore Excursions and things do to while on the POA cruise.

I think l have a fair idea as to what to do so when l get back l will post my experience l had on the POA.

Well just counting down only 75 days to go!!:p

Angel