Gps?

[lightsleeper]

Is a GPS really a good idea to bring

 

We have been going back and forth about purchasing one and if it really helps navigating around the islands, will go ahead and purchase.

 

Will be spending three full days in Waikiki with car rental before boarding POA and intend to rent car on each island

 

Would like to hear comments from those who did/didnt use gps

 

thank you in advance

[corvette1963]

We brought our GPS from home and it was the most used thing we brought. We had 2-1/2 days pre-cruise and 2-1/2 days post cruise on Oahu and we also used it on every island. There are not a lot of signs on the islands that let you know which direction to go. Ours has lists of tourist sights and we could select where we wanted to go and it never failed to direct us right there. Especially if you want to go to beaches, it was wonderful. Lots of the beaches are not marked. It was also great to find our way back to the boat. Ours took several minutes on each new island to get it's bearings, but then did a great job. If you do purchase one, I'd suggest you get it ahead of time enough to really get comfortable with setting it. Play with it at home a few times and you'll be good to go.

[riofriotex]

We brought our GPS from home and it was the most used thing we brought. We had 2-1/2 days pre-cruise and 2-1/2 days post cruise on Oahu and we also used it on every island. There are not a lot of signs on the islands that let you know which direction to go. Ours has lists of tourist sights and we could select where we wanted to go and it never failed to direct us right there. Especially if you want to go to beaches, it was wonderful. Lots of the beaches are not marked. It was also great to find our way back to the boat. Ours took several minutes on each new island to get it's bearings, but then did a great job. If you do purchase one, I'd suggest you get it ahead of time enough to really get comfortable with setting it. Play with it at home a few times and you'll be good to go.

 

Agree. My dad brought his, and a friend lent me her Garmin Nuvi 360 NA. I played around with it a couple days before the trip to learn how to use it. We ended up using it instead of my dad's as it was smaller and fit in my purse when we left the car. I'm going to buy one of my own after I finish paying off the Hawaii trip next month!

[alansfreed]

The GPS is probably the greatest invention mankind has come up with in a long, long time... and I'm not exaggerating by a whole lot :)

 

If you're planning to rent a car on any of your stops, by all means get a GPS. Most any attraction you want to visit will be pre-programmed into the unit as a point of interest, so you can simply search for it, and navigate to it. The GPS will allow you get to your destination like you're a local driver.

 

As mentioned before, don't buy it specifically for the trip without learning how to use it ahead of time. Buy it now, put it in your car and get the hang of searching for places and navigating to them. Once you get the hang of using it, you'll undoubtedly wonder how you ever lived without it. My wife jokes that I don't go to the bathroom without mine...

[smslms]

We take our GPS wherever we go. Just recently returned from a month in Hawaii and although we know our way around it really came in handy in finding a few places that we weren't all that familiar with. Take it along and enjoy your trip.:)

[Iwannabeatraveler]

We used our Garmin Nuvi 360 on Oahu for 5 days with excellent results. Make sure you do map updates before you go on the computer for the latest data. Also, Doesn't hurt to carry and old fashioned map and phone numbers to destinations just in case there is sattelite interuption. GPS is great but not human and can get confused at times!

[Raison]

Is it possible to hire GPS when you hire cars?

[vbmom87]

Is it possible to hire GPS when you hire cars?

 

Yes it is, but you will be charged anywhere from $10-14 a day. Depending on how many days you need it, it might be a better idea to purchase one. You can get a good one for about $100.

[riofriotex]

Is it possible to hire GPS when you hire cars?

 

There is also the factor of being somewhat familiar with the GPS before you really need it. The Garmin I borrowed was easy to use, but I would not have wanted to be trying to figure out how to use it while driving from the airport to the hotel when we arrived. :)

[vbmom87]

Is a GPS really a good idea to bring

 

We have been going back and forth about purchasing one and if it really helps navigating around the islands, will go ahead and purchase.

 

Will be spending three full days in Waikiki with car rental before boarding POA and intend to rent car on each island

 

Would like to hear comments from those who did/didnt use gps

 

thank you in advance

 

Absolutely a great idea to have a GPS in Hawaii. I don't know how many times I told my co-travellers how glad I was to have the GPS, especially around Honolulu and Waikiki. The other islands were a bit easier, but it was still nice. It just saves time and frustration. We spent four nights on Oahu pre-cruise and rented cars in each port. I have traveled all over the mainland pre-GPS days, sometimes covering 6000 miles in three weeks. I am a great map reader and navigator. However, with the GPS, you don't have tro waste time figuring things out.

 

If you purchase one, make sure it includes Hawaii maps. Also, a good idea is to learn the "current location" feature. On my Garmin it is found under "favorites." When you are at a pier you will be returning to, or a car rental you will be returning to, etc., you can set the GPS to that exact location by coordinates. Make sure to title it and then when you need to return, the GPS will direct you right there. We had one error with the pre-programmed car rental. It took us to Enterprise, which used to be where Thrifty was. We quickly looked at our rental agreement, put in the correct address and were on our way. Had I done the "current location" or compared addressed to begin with, this would not have happened.

 

Before we left for Hawaii, I pre-programmed all the places were were planning on going to on the islands. It made it very easy once we were on an island. Do spend some time learning how to use the GPS before you head to Hawaii. Use it at home, even to places you know how to get to, just to learn how the GPS will direct you. You need to learn their "language."

[alansfreed]

If you do have a GPS and you're fairly technically savvy... here's a GPX file I created for our Hawaii trip. This file is the result of many, many hours of research I had done prior to our trip. It includes many points of interest that we wanted to visit during our visit in April:

 

http://www.freedmultimedia.com/hawaii/Hawaii.gpx

 

NOTE: You may need to right-click on that link and then save the file. If you left-click, you'll probably get a page of GPS gibberish :)

[Raison]

Well it would definitely be better to buy one before going and get used to it by the sounds of it.

 

Help me out here, I don't know much about these gps thingys....I live in Australia, so how will I get one with Hawaii maps on it?

 

If I buy one here will it even work there?

Maybe I could buy it online?

 

Any ideas?

 

Debra

[cruzn single]

Just a thought--we have the GPS feature activated in our cell phones and it's about $10/month. Even though we own a Garmin Nuvi, there is no need to travel with an additional piece of electronics to keep track of.

[alansfreed]

You'll definitely want to inquire about that when you make your purchase. Living in Australia, presumably you'll only get a unit preloaded with Australian maps. It would "work" in Hawaii without the preloaded maps, but it would likely only give you your latitude/longitude and perhaps a very basic map in Hawaii.

 

Ask those questions when you go to buy it... you may very likely need to purchase additional mapping software along with the unit.

 

 

Well it would definitely be better to buy one before going and get used to it by the sounds of it.

 

Help me out here, I don't know much about these gps thingys....I live in Australia, so how will I get one with Hawaii maps on it?

 

If I buy one here will it even work there?

Maybe I could buy it online?

 

Any ideas?

 

Debra

[vbmom87]

You will probably want to buy one with Australian maps since that is where you live. Then you should be able to download the Hawaii maps (for a price, of course) for your unit. Always double check with the manufacturer before you purchase, to make sure they have Hawaii maps available.

 

I purchased all the GPSs I bought through Amazon. They always had the best prices for what I was looking for at the time I was looking.

[BopRN]

NO question...BRING IT! I don't have any idea how we would have gotten along without it! It saved our marriage...LOL! We spent an extra week in Oahu after the cruise where it seemed like every road started with K or M and ended in A....it was a godsend!

[vbmom87]

Oahu.... where it seemed like every road started with K or M and ended in A....it was a godsend!

 

 

Isn't that the truth!!! We didn't bring our friction mat for the GPS, so my DH held it while I drove. I had him spell out the first three letters of every street coming up that we had to turn on. You can imagine how a GPS mutilates the pronunciation of the names.

[SDTraveler78]

Hello there-

I just returned from the PoA 5/29/10 and only used the GPS once- that was on Maui. In Hilo, Kona, and Kauai, I got away with maps- there really aren't many roads to choose from on the big island and Kauai. I would suggest rent the GPS on Maui and Oahu-- I believe it is 10-12 dollars per day- sure beats buying a new GPS or U.S. maps for hundreds of dollars! Again, the maps handed out by the rental car companies are just fine. Even if you rented the GPS every day, it would only be about 80 dollars. :-)

 

Have a wonderful vacation!

 

Pete

[annecolorgreen]

Alan--I can't figure out how to open that. Any suggestions? I saved it but then my computer can't open it. It wouldn't let me save it in a different format.

[R&D'sNona]

We bought our Garmin Nuvi pre-loaded with world-wide maps, because we do a lot of traveling and we have zero sense of direction. For my family, it's not a luxury item. It has served us well in Italy, France, Hawaii, Alaska, Canada (although once it accidentally took us back to USA), Disney and plenty of other domestic trips.

 

BTW, it's not just for finding a destination: it gives you estimated time of arrival and way-points, and while you're on the road, it helps you find the nearest restaurant, drugstore, gas station, etc. Before GPS, I spent more time getting lost than sightseeing.

[CruisingGoddess]

Alan--I can't figure out how to open that. Any suggestions? I saved it but then my computer can't open it. It wouldn't let me save it in a different format.

 

I'm not that familiar with this but I don't think you can open it on a computer and you have to upload it to your GPS in order for it to be useful.

[alansfreed]

The file is something that will be very useful to true "GPS geeks" like me... but there is a learning curve involved in using them. And unfortunately, the specific instructions for using this file would be different depending on your brand/model of GPS.

 

GPX files are a collection of waypoints, in this case, a bunch of highlights I had researched for our Hawaii trip. The GPX file can be uploaded directly to many GPS units so you can easily choose those points and navigate to them. Being able to use the file depends on your GPS, and a bit of skill in getting the file properly uploaded to the unit.

 

(Your computer likely won't let you open it because you don't likely have a program associated with the .gpx file type -- it's not really meant to be "opened" per se. Check your GPS owner's manual to see if they have instructions for uploading points of interest to your unit.)

 

Alan--I can't figure out how to open that. Any suggestions? I saved it but then my computer can't open it. It wouldn't let me save it in a different format.

[CH_ca]

annecolorgreen,

 

 

If you really want to look at the file's content, you can open it with Microsoft Notepad (not Microsoft Word). This .gpx file is simply a text file in XML format.