Rental Cars for POH

[austin1216]

I am going on Pride of Hawaii, August 14th, for my honeymoon and trying to figure out what to do for shore excursions on every island.

I keep reading about people renting a car at each island to do things on their own?

I think i like that idea, plus i am sure it is much cheeper then the ships excursions.

Are the car rental places at the pier or do i have to take a cab at each island to the rental places?

Which is the best rental agency?

We are spending a week in Maui before the cruise, but is there any can't miss things to do on the other islands, we heard a lot about the Na Poli Zodia Tour.

Any help from anyone would be great!

Keeping my figures crossed that the cruise ship is better then the reviews that people are giving it.

[lambs2]

This is the website we ended up using to rent cars for our June Pride of America cruise: http://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com/

We ended up using Thrifty on each of the islands, except for Kona where we did not rent a car but went on the ship's Captain Zodiak excursion. I had first just booked our rental cars straight through Thrifty as a Blue Chip member, but when I heard about this site I found that the discount code they have got me a better price most times. I also kept checking back every week or so as the prices sometimes go down. It is very easy to book cars online, and even to cancel them and book a lower cost if you find one. I think I cancelled and rebooked our rental cars at least three times when I found a lower price. Just keep a copy of the current paperwork for each port. A week on maui sounds WONDERFUL! You will have a terrific time!

[2cruiseagain]

Haleakala downhill bike ride was great. If you do a Molokini snorkel trip, do it in the morning. Go see Kapalua area. Look to "buy" vacation property there.

[cya]

Hi, 2cruiseagain, On the Haleakala bike ride do you know if you go fast? I will be doing this excursion with 3 teenager and was wondering how safe if was also? Did you do the sunrise ride? Thanks

[2cruiseagain]

Originally Posted by cya

Hi, 2cruiseagain, On the Haleakala bike ride do you know if you go fast? I will be doing this excursion with 3 teenager and was wondering how safe if was also? Did you do the sunrise ride? Thanks

You can go as fast as you want . You have to keep your hands on both brakes for most of the ride. Basically, riding the brakes down hill. My two are 13 & 14 and had no problem. I was concerned because my daughter can't ride a bike that well, but she did great. Main thing is to go pretty slow so you can enjoy the weather and scenery. We stopped about 1/2 way to get a snack and drink. A nice little general store.

I was booked for the sunrise but opted to go with the express ride (9am) when I thought of getting my teens up at 2am and driving to the starting point. I think you get to the top over an hour before sunrise. That would have been a long morning and a long rest of the day.

[cya]

Hi,Thanks for the info.. Did you book the excursion with the ship or on your own? I agreed with you getting teenagers up before noon might not be pretty or fun...

[CruisinMK]

Originally Posted by austin1216

any can't miss things to do on the other islands, we heard a lot about the Na Poli Zodia Tour.

I did that tour, i liked seeing NaPali coastline up close, pretty amazing.
But since you also see the same coastline from a further distance on your Pride of Hawaii sailing, I don't think it's a must see for you. The snorkeling is nice but not great. Kauai is a great place to do a helicopter, rent a car, I'm sure a lot of the shore excursions are fun...

[mammamia2]

Renting cars at each port is very easy. We used Thriftyand joined their Blue Chip Program online which really did expedite the check-in process and got us an upgrade on Hilo. They have shuttles to take you to the rental sites at each port. We also rented at every port except for Kona, where we did a deep sea fishing excursion.
We basically used the Revealed books as our guide on each island. The "not to be missed" items in the books are the ones we hit and others to our interests. We found that we were able to do alot more than people who went on tours thru the ship because if we wanted to move on we could, if we wanted to skip lunch we could, etc. And the expense was much less doing it on our own. We felt free to really enjoy what suited us and it was so much fun. I highly recommend it. Also, if you have a portable navigation system bring it along. Even though the islands are easy to navigate, not having to follow along on the map makes life that much more carefree.

[Diane F]

When I looked at Blue Chip Program through Thrifty they asked for a credit card number.I did not like that idea, so I did not sign up.In case something happens and I do not pick up car I reserved,I would be afraid they could charge me.I like reserving and not feeling obligated.

[CWC123]

We're also on the 14AUG06 POH sailing.
We have rental cars at all ports. Some National, some Alamo, depended on prices and coupon rates.
Only way to go if you want "Freestyle" touring.

See you and your bride soon!

Chuck

[2cruiseagain]

Originally Posted by Diane F

When I looked at Blue Chip Program through Thrifty they asked for a credit card number.I did not like that idea, so I did not sign up.In case something happens and I do not pick up car I reserved,I would be afraid they could charge me.I like reserving and not feeling obligated.

They ask for the cc # to expedite the pick-up process. Your paperwork is there ready to initial and sign. They don't even ask the options for insurance or gas fillup, because you answered those in the questionaire. Read the fine print and you should feel better about knowing they won't charge your card without your permission.

[2cruiseagain]

Originally Posted by cya

Hi,Thanks for the info.. Did you book the excursion with the ship or on your own? I agreed with you getting teenagers up before noon might not be pretty or fun...

We didn't use the ship. We already had a car, so getting there was easy.

http://www.mauibiketours.org/reservations.php

[smarterman64]

You should rent a car. In nawilliwilli, where you see all the other shuttles, go in the entirely opposite direction towards the forward of the ship. All the shuttles stop there.
It is worth it, for like road to hana for what the ship charges, definately do it on your own.

[tomluvsaida]

We haven't gone yet but I've got all our rentals on each island with National. I used them because they were the cheapest with my AARP Membership.