HAWAII CRUISE...port questions

[Teris50]

Going on the Golden 14 day circle Hawaii cruise on Dec 5. Can anyone tell me if when you arrive at the ports, if there are vendors trying to sell tours? Someone wants to zipline, but Princess price is higher then they want to spend.

And can you find car rentals close to the piers?

[amazinglife]

Going on the Golden 14 day circle Hawaii cruise on Dec 5. Can anyone tell me if when you arrive at the ports, if there are vendors trying to sell tours? Someone wants to zipline, but Princess price is higher then they want to spend.

And can you find car rentals close to the piers?

 

 

My suggestion is you book the car rental in advance....all the major agencies will pick you up an drop you off at the pier.

[SoBaycruiser]

Going on the Golden 14 day circle Hawaii cruise on Dec 5. Can anyone tell me if when you arrive at the ports, if there are vendors trying to sell tours? Someone wants to zipline, but Princess price is higher then they want to spend.

And can you find car rentals close to the piers?

 

The only port that has any vendors for excursions that I saw in April was at Lahaina (Maui) ...when you tendered ashore there were multiple boat charter places. We reserved a car through Thrifty at two islands and they were there to pick us up and drop us off. However, we were one of the first ones off the ship and didn't have to wait for the shuttle or the car.

[Bimmer babe]

Took this cruise in January '12. The only place we rented a car was on Oahu--Thrifty. We took a public bus from Aloha Tower to Waikiki and got off across the street from the office building in which Thrifty was located. I looked up the bus schedule online and knew where the bus back to AT would drop us as well as where the rental car company was.

 

Google "Ziplining on ____ (island)"--maybe that will give you a better idea of availability and $$.

[DiRonT]

Have done this cruise before and we are doing it again in 2 weeks. As for the ziplining - Princess offers it only on Kauai. there are quite a few zip lines on Kauai, but the company Princess uses is the best (IMHO). It costs less if you book it yourself directly with the vendor, but then you have to find your own way there and back - for us it is just as easy to use Princess. We are also ziplining on Maui - not offered by Princess and we will get a cab to the office of the zip line company. There are also some really great zip line companies on the big island (Hawaii), but they are about an hour to hour and a half drive away, so may be cutting it tight. There are usually vendors at the dock in Hilo ready to provide private tours, but I don't recall seeing them in Maui or on Kauai (could be - just don't remember seeing them).

[Princess Patches]

.all the major agencies will pick you up an drop you off at the pier.

 

Not in Honolulu. The only two car rental agencies I could find in Honolulu with a complimentary shuttle to/from the pier were the airport location of Thrifty and the Ala Moana Blvd. location of Enterprise.

[coo359a2]

I've always used this web site to rent cars on Ohau, Kauai and Hawaii. They have picked us up at the pier and I believe all were for Thrifty cars and very reasonable in price.

discount hawaii car rental .com

For ziplines. Did one zipline on Maui with Princess a couple of years back. It was about a 2 hour ride to the starting point and was just ok. Price was $179. Decided against a private zipline on Kauai as they were some distance out of port and had a 24 or 48 hour cancellation policy. Google "zipline" in whichever island you are interested in. I just did it and a lot of tour options popped up.

[termdev01]

I've always used this web site to rent cars on Ohau, Kauai and Hawaii. They have picked us up at the pier and I believe all were for Thrifty cars and very reasonable in price.

discount hawaii car rental .com

 

Can you comment on the price for car rentals? Someone told me that it is a lot cheaper if you book in advance than walking up on the day the ship gets into port.

[Working 2 Cruise]

Can you comment on the price for car rentals? Someone told me that it is a lot cheaper if you book in advance than walking up on the day the ship gets into port.

 

Not to mention availability. Check with Budget or Thrifty or any of the others mentioned above. Do GO to your roll call, or the Hawaii port section on this board as well.

[coo359a2]

Can you comment on the price for car rentals? Someone told me that it is a lot cheaper if you book in advance than walking up on the day the ship gets into port.

 

We are on the 16 March Grand Princess to Hawaii and we've rented a car through the web site I mentioned for our Kauai port. It is with Thrifty for $41.36 ($29 + $12.36 in fees) for a Ford Focus. That's about what we paid on our earlier cruises. I don't have any idea what the price might be if you waited till you arrived to try and rent a car. I prefer knowing that I have a car waiting for me to pick up and not have to waste time trying to find one.

[cruzn single]

Just a further caution DO RESERVE IN ADVANCE! Cars are limited on every island and when all are booked, you are out of luck. No way to get more cars quickly!

[grandsmack]

We have done this cruise 4 times and not missed a port but missed ports are not that uncommon on this cruise due to weather and sea conditions. I would suggest if you pre book non Princess tours and auto rentals you check to see their rebate polices. There are two ports subject to being missed. Kauai has a small inlet with sharp turns if the above conditions conditions are bad port will be missed. Maui is a tender port so again if above conditions are bad tenders can not go ashore and port missed.

 

To answer your question about private tours offered after disembarking at ports. As best as I can recall the ports of Hilo and Honolulu had the most with less at Kauai and Maui. Cabs are at all ports.

 

Hope this helps.

[termdev01]

We are on the 16 March Grand Princess to Hawaii and we've rented a car through the web site I mentioned for our Kauai port. It is with Thrifty for $41.36 ($29 + $12.36 in fees) for a Ford Focus. That's about what we paid on our earlier cruises. I don't have any idea what the price might be if you waited till you arrived to try and rent a car. I prefer knowing that I have a car waiting for me to pick up and not have to waste time trying to find one.

 

Just a further caution DO RESERVE IN ADVANCE! Cars are limited on every island and when all are booked' date=' you are out of luck. No way to get more cars quickly![/quote']

 

Thanks for the info/advice.