Ideal Hawaiian itinerary

[mrobstad]

I'm having some trouble planning my April POA hawaiin cruise. No one has joined the roll call yet, so I'm looking for advice from past cruisers. I've checked the Hawaiin board, but not much info there....

I figure we will rent a car in our reopen overnight islands, mauai and Kaui. We'd like to snorkel, do a helicopter ride, and a luau, and horseback ride. Have been looking at tripadvisor as well.

I guess timing is the issue/concern.

Has anyone been on the POA and felt they planned it perfectly?

[puddles99]

Well I'd guess that "perfect" for me isn't likely to be perfect for anyone else. With that said, we had an awesome time and I wouldn't change much other than our last day (post disembarkation, pre-flight home) and if we had it to do again, we wouldn't do the Road to Hana again (but I'm glad we did it once). You can read more about our trip in my review which is linked below in my signature. If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them!

[deladypilot]

We went back in 2009 and had a wonderful trip. I agree with Puddles that what is perfect for me is not always perfect for someone else.

 

It was our first cruise and before I found CC so we took only NCl excursions. Of course I would not do the same now. The ships Luau was very nice, but not at all what I expected. I guess I had always dreamed on a Luau on the beach and theirs was at a farm under a large metal building. Of course that is great if the rain started. The show was good and the food was ok. I think if I was to go again, I would find a private luau.

 

Of course we flew in the day before and on the morning of the cruise we did the Pearl Harbor tour. I would go at least 2 days early if I were to do it again. Jet lag is terrible.

 

NCL did a great job of Volcanos park and I would be happy to do that again through them.

 

We did not do any of the snorkel or water sports so I can not help you there

 

NCL used to have rental cars through their excursion desk but I do not see them now. I have heard some good and bad about renting. So check carefully

 

Best of luck

[jonbgd]

I'm having some trouble planning my April POA hawaiin cruise. No one has joined the roll call yet, so I'm looking for advice from past cruisers. I've checked the Hawaiin board, but not much info there....

I figure we will rent a car in our reopen overnight islands, mauai and Kaui. We'd like to snorkel, do a helicopter ride, and a luau, and horseback ride. Have been looking at tripadvisor as well.

I guess timing is the issue/concern.

Has anyone been on the POA and felt they planned it perfectly?

Been to Hawaii many times living in SF

Also did the POA.... Great cruise

 

You could always do a Luau on Ohau prior to your cruise

But if you don't the Old Lahaina Luau 1st night Maui

 

 

My favorites Snorkeling in Maui

Honalua bay north of Kapalua Great if the waves arnt to big

Black rock in front of the Kannapali Sheraton Especially if you want great place to eat and relax afterwards

Or south to Ulua beach a little north the Grand Wailea Expensive area to eat after

 

Or do an snorkel excursion in Kona on a zodiac. It was like swimming in an aquarium

 

Helicopter 1st day Kaui just in case it gets canceled so you might get rescheduled on the second day

[Cruisebehindthescenes]

I did this cruise two summers ago.

 

The only excursion I did through NCL was the Luau. The reason behind that was that it was open-bar and we didn't want to have to worry about getting back to the ship after having drinks, so we went with the excursion which provided roundtrip transportation by bus. No complaints - it was fantastic.

 

We rented cars in all of the ports except Kona - there are shuttles that come to pick you up at the ship in every port from nearly all the rental companies. Book your rentals in advance and just confirm that there's a shuttle.

 

In Maui, we rented a car for two days - there is place to park the car near the port. After getting the car, we went and did the Road to Hana. We then came back to the ship late afternoon for an early dinner and went to bed early. We got up in the middle of the night and drove up Haleakala for the sunrise which was amazing (dress warmly if you do that). We then came back to the ship for breakfast and went to Lahaina for the day before bringing back the car.

 

In Hilo, we rented a car and went to Volcanoes National Park. The park is really easy to navigate and there are a lot of people there to help you find a hike that is right for you.

 

In Kona, we found a local tour operator that brought us to a beach to snorkel with the turtles. It was about $20pp no issues there.

 

In Kuaui, we rented a car for two days and drove around all day the first day exploring. At night we went to Luau, and then we went exploring again the second day in the other direction. If I did it again though I would only rent a car the first day. The second day is pretty short and you can make do just walking around the port area on the second morning.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[mrobstad]

This is why I love Cruise Critic! Those are exactly the details I was looking for! I had one son marry/ honeymoon in Maui in July, and another son marry/ honeymoon in September, but land trips are different in that you are not pressed for time. Interestingly, both sons and a member above said the road to Hana can by skipped. The Old Lshaina luau is recommended on tripadvisor, so I think that's a go--thanks for the recommendations. I'd love to swim with sea turtles! And Pearl Harbor is def on the list as is volcanoes national park...thanks again!

[maja651]

Been to Hawaii many times living in SF

Also did the POA.... Great cruise

 

You could always do a Luau on Ohau prior to your cruise

But if you don't the Old Lahaina Luau 1st night Maui

 

 

My favorites Snorkeling in Maui

Honalua bay north of Kapalua Great if the waves arnt to big

Black rock in front of the Kannapali Sheraton Especially if you want great place to eat and relax afterwards

Or south to Ulua beach a little north the Grand Wailea Expensive area to eat after

 

Or do an snorkel excursion in Kona on a zodiac. It was like swimming in an aquarium

 

Helicopter 1st day Kaui just in case it gets canceled so you might get rescheduled on the second day

 

We went in the POA back in 2007 and rented a car in every port except Kona as well. If you get off the ship as soon as you can, you can really do a lot if you have your own car. We bought the HAwaii Revealed books for each island (there is now an app as well for smart phones). We spent a lot of time before the cruise planning what we wanted to do based on those books and we pretty much did everything as planned! :).

 

I agree with jonbgd regarding the snorkeling locations in Maui. Even if the snorkeling at Honalua bay is not good the day you are there, the forest you have to walk through to get to the bay is worth the drive itself!

 

In Hilo we went to the Vocanoe National Park, the black sand beach, the cave tube and a really beautiful waterfall (sorry, I forgot the. Name).

 

In Kona we went to a beach near the port for snorkeling and walked along the boardwalk area. We bought a beautiful lei for only $5 right on the boardwalk.

 

In Maui we went to the Old Lahaina Luau the first night. We also spent a lot of time on Kaanapali beach and in Lahaina. (We rented a room at the Marriott on Kaanapli beach so,we could drink at the Luau without having to drive back to the ship.). One thing we didn't do, and wish we would have (we just did recently on a land based vaca so we know what we missed) was drive the road to Hana. Hands down, that was the absolute most beautiful drive I have ever been on in my life. I personally did not think that road was very scary like people seem to say. Do yourself a favor, rent a car, and drive to Hana! You will not regret it! (Of course, do it the first day in Maui).

 

In Kauai, we went on a helicopter rode (first morning) with Blue Hawaiian, and that was such an experience! We also drove up to the lighthouse near Princeville and drive all over the areas of the island You can drive to. The second morning we took the NCL kayak and waterfall hike tour and really enjoyed that tour!

 

Enjoy Hawaii! One thing, if you can, spend a week after the cruise in Hawaii to rest up after the cruise! That is one cruise that while awesome, is not very relaxing, especially if you want to see a lot in every port. You will need the week to recuperate! :)

[DeltaOne]

One thing we didn't do, and wish we would have (we just did recently on a land based vaca so we know what we missed) was drive the road to Hana. Hands down, that was the absolute most beautiful drive I have ever been on in my life. I personally did not think that road was very scary like people seem to say. Do yourself a favor, rent a car, and drive to Hana! You will not regret it! (Of course, do it the first day in Maui).

 

We'll be in Maui for the first time in January. I found an iOS and Android app that gives one a guided tour using the smart phones GPS. They have three for Maui: Road to Hana, Haleakala and Full Tour. Full tour costs $10 and covers the entire island -- over 400 points of interest. The Hana and Haleakala are less than $5. Can't wait to try this out.

 

http://www.gypsyguide.com/apps/Maui.php

[VideoTech]

I'm having some trouble planning my April POA hawaiin cruise. No one has joined the roll call yet, so I'm looking for advice from past cruisers. I've checked the Hawaiin board, but not much info there....

I figure we will rent a car in our reopen overnight islands, mauai and Kaui. We'd like to snorkel, do a helicopter ride, and a luau, and horseback ride. Have been looking at tripadvisor as well.

I guess timing is the issue/concern.

Has anyone been on the POA and felt they planned it perfectly?

 

Thanks for posting this question, MrRobStad! We're headed out on the POA in March, and the answers that you're getting are really going to help us out too.

[jinkies4]

We did POA back in 2006. We rented a car the first day of Kauai and drove to see a waterfall and stopped to swim and snorkel on two beaches. The second day of Kauai we all did NCL excursions - it was simpler because we split up 3 different ways.

 

For Hilo, we rented and drove a road that was kind of like a "little road to Hana", saw a waterfall, then found the small black sand beach to swim and play on. For Kona, we split up again and some of us did NCL excursions while others simply walked around and shopped at the port.

 

For Maui, we did a rental car for two days. One day we drove up Haleakala, stopped at a goat farm, then stopped at a beach to watch windsurfers. We parked in a lot near the ship overnight then the second day we went to LaHaina and then to the Maui Ocean Center and finally to a beach to swim a little.

 

Overall, the rentals saved us a ton of money. We would definitely do the rental cars again - believe we used Thrifty for most of them.

 

Have a fabulous time! We are planning another cruise their with NCL in 2015 for our 20th anniversary.