Excursion Suggestions - Hawaii

We are first time Hawaii cruisers/visitors. There are quite a few excursions available to us through Celebrity and the choices are a bit overwhelming. I have listed our ports below. It would be appreciated if anyone could offer suggestions for excursions in these ports. We are open to excursions on our own as well so if anyone has any thoughts on things to do outside of the cruise line excursions, we'd be interested in your thoughts there too. Our ports are:

HONOLULU (overnight)

HILO

KAILUA KONA

LAHAINA, MAUI (overnight)

Thanks in advance!

Hi,

First, this will probably be moved to Ports section...and is your cruise round-trip? Hawaii is certainly a wonderful place to spend time before/after the cruise...but if not, still so much to see.

We did most our excursions on our own in Hawaii...very easy to do and plan.

Lahaina: Old Lahaina Luau (very good) and Mt Haleakala Sunrise and bike ride (fabulous) !

Hilo: We did a Roll Call tour that included many highlights of the island...including lava fields, black sand beach, etc

Kona: Rented a car (right at tender drop off area)...did (and highly recommend) a helicopter tour with a cliff side landing and time to explore and walk to a small waterfall (Fantastic), then drove to a wonderful beach...and of course purchased some Kona coffee !!

Honolulu: HoHo trolley...hit all the main touristy sites; time on beach etc...then the second day went to Pearl Harbor (awe inspiring and memorable).

Hope this helps a little bit...

Woody

Hawaii is our favorite cruise -- We are looking forward to Celebrity returning the R/T west coast market in the future.

We usually rent cars in most ports

You'll get a ton more info on the Hawaii board - Aloha! :)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=62i

Rent cars. Go with another couple from your roll call makes it nice.

Here is an example of why we recommend this.

A few years ago we took a cruise to Hawaii and it was right after about 30 days of rain. It was so bad that the sewer systems in the big hotels were not working and swimming was a no-go.

Anyway, one of the big attractions is Waielea (sp?) canyon, which is gorgeous. We rented a car and had a great day there. However, there was a threat of more rain, so Celebrity cancelled all the bus trips that had been scheduled to the canyon because they were afraid they would get stranded or some other bad thing would happen. There were something like 10 buses and 400 passengers had their excursion cancelled at the last minute.

Rent a car.

Happy Sails to You

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

In Maui you should rent a car and the first day drive the route to Hana and stop all along the way to do short hikes, etc. It's a wonderful day. It's a very winding road but great fun. We drove a few miles past the end and got out and played in the natural pools.

Get to bed very early and then wake up and get off the ship at 3 a.m. or so and take a private excursion to the top of Haleakala to view the sunrise. You then ride bikes down the 38 miles (literally all 38 miles downhill) to the beach. The company we used (I forget the name, sorry) brought a van and as we got lower on the mountain we shed our winter gear and ended up in shorts and tees at the beach. It was 30 degrees at the top and very windy and at the bottom it was 80.

They stopped the traffic at intervals so we could travel a couple miles even more safely. Halfway down we had a buffet breakfast. Great day.

Take a helicopter tour somewhere if you can. Tour Kilauea area. So fascinating.

We've been a couple times. First time was on a cruise and back then Celebrity spent a day in Kauai where we fell in love with the islands. Next time we just flew to Kauai and stayed on the north shore a week. Have a great time. We'll go again!

We also rented a car in Honolulu. Waikiki and Honolulu are/were very disappointing to us. I can see interstates and crowded big city anytime. We hit the road and spent most of our time on the north shore watching surfers and checking out lots of interesting places.

Get a guidebook or two. Maui Revealed was coming apart by the time we got there!

Anyone interested in history should consider a visit to 'Iolani Palace while in Honolulu. Folks who don't understand how Hawaii was acquired by the US will find the a visit an "eye opener." The palace is easily walkable from the Aloha Towers pier.

We are first time Hawaii cruisers/visitors. There are quite a few excursions available to us through Celebrity and the choices are a bit overwhelming. I have listed our ports below. It would be appreciated if anyone could offer suggestions for excursions in these ports. We are open to excursions on our own as well so if anyone has any thoughts on things to do outside of the cruise line excursions, we'd be interested in your thoughts there too. Our ports are:

 

HONOLULU (overnight)

HILO

KAILUA KONA

LAHAINA, MAUI (overnight)

 

Thanks in advance!

Two things live in Maui, I'm here right now. Hawaii is the USA, if you like rent a car in the Islands, and split the cost with someone. Make a schedule of the places you want to visit. Doing you will save so much, & do more things in the amount of time you are there…

HONOLULU (overnight) ,

Good, Beaches, Large markets, fine dinning

HILO

Hot & muggy, Volcano National Park, Lava tube, giant ferns

KAILUA KONA

Drive this, see what you want

LAHAINA, MAUI (overnight)

Fleming Beach, Front Street, Kaanapali ,Golf

Honolulu: Visit Pearl Harbor/Arizona Memorial/USS Missouri/Punchbowl one day...

...then drive around the island to the North Shore the next. :cool:

Hilo: Volcano Park... Walking through an underground lava tube is incredible! Watching an active lava flow, poor into the ocean is "fairly awesome" as well. ;)

If you are "into the 'out there'" visit the Keck Telescopes/Astronomical Observatory complex on Mouna Kea. You will be on top of the tallest mountain on Earth. (measured from its base)

Lahina: The scenery and feeling on the bike ride from Haleakala Crater is possibly the coolest nature related thing I have ever done/seen in my life. :)

Thanks everyone - great ideas so far. Keep them coming!

If you snorkel at all, there is a lovely state park on the east/southeast side of Oahu. I think it called Waimea (any map will show you). You can see some amazing fishes close to shore, including Humunukuakalaha, the state fish of Hawaii.

Also, drive out from Honolulu on the H-1 highway towards Kailua. As you come through the tunnel, the view before you is breathtaking

On Oahu. If you have military IDs you also have access to Bellows Air Field a Beautiful unspoiled beach. Also the Ala Moana (next to Hilton Hawaiian Village), lounge chairs & paddle boards much less expensive. Also, drive up to the North shore & stop at the Dole pineapple plantation for some pineapple whip (think frozen custard)

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We just returned from a land trip. We did a lot of activities but our favorite excursion of all time was the Wild Hawaii Ocean Adventure. My daughter got to snorkel with manta rays, spinner dolphins, and pilot whales in a single trip. You can find information and reviews about it on Trip Advisor.