Hawaii to Vancouver May 2020

[texas bound]

We will be doing the transition cruise in May. I have so many questions and thought maybe someone who did it in 2019 might have some answers. Or maybe you've been there and can answers some questions. We will be going from Honolulu to Lahaina to Kailua then on to Seattle, Victoria, Canada. 

[Ourusualbeach]

If you post your questions people can answer them. 

[smeck]

Psychic I am not.

[wellsme1]

Come over to the Roll Call.

[pink845]

We did Radiance May 2019 Honolulu to Vancouver.  What are your questions?

[TwinMamainMN]

1 hour ago, pink845 said:

We did Radiance May 2019 Honolulu to Vancouver.  What are your questions?

 

We are doing that same cruise this year! We sail in 78 days and are doing 4 days on Oahu pre-cruise. I can't wait! If you did a trip review, can you link it here please? Think we have most of it sorted out and private excursions booked, but am not sure about what to do in Kona.

[kaseyoz]

Ok, i will ask a question as I too am on this cruise, only just booked though after Spectrum cancellation.

i am on the roll call.

First night is in port, honolulu.

can we drop bags, check in and get straight off again. Latest check in is 5 pm.

or do we need to wait until after muster. 
We would prefer to be in Waikiki for as much time as possible. We have 5 sea days in a row on the ship.

thank you

[Biker19]

8 hours ago, kaseyoz said:

First night is in port, honolulu.

can we drop bags, check in and get straight off again.

Yes. 

[DFWJean&Bill]

We are looking at this cruise. Would you recommend port or starboard side for best views?  Thanks so much for any tips or info. 

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, DFWJean&Bill said:

Would you recommend port or starboard side for best views?

Probably won't make a diff - we went past Naapali coast in both directions.

[jsf]

We did this cruise last year, we were on starboard side in a balcony cabin good views. We went into Honolulu  a couple days before departure so we could do all the sightseeing such as Pearl Harbor and the city and more,

[pink845]

We dropped off our bags with the porters. Then dropped off our car at the airport.  We took the city bus back to the port $2.50 each and then checked in around 2 pm.  No line at all.  Then headed back out to Waikiki by bus once again.  Finally, got back to the ship for I believe it was 6:30 pm.    We had spent four days prior to boarding on Oahu.  We especially enjoy the beaches on the East Coast, Kailua and the north shore waves.  We only spent one night in Waikiki and that was at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. All other nights on North Shore and East shore.  Had our fill of Oahu having been there numerous times previous on land vacations.    

 

Every island we visited, we rented cars. Paid no more than $50 bucks for each car rental full size or SUV either with National or Enterprise and did everything on our own. 

 

Kona was very familiar to us having spent numerous vacations at Hilton Waikoloa so we simply went to A Beach and Hapuna Beach up the coast (close to where the Hilton is located) and relaxed.   Lovely sand nothing like the pebble sand of Waikiki.

 

On Maui (we were there two full days) with Radiance so one day we drove to Haleakaka and just relished in the beauty of it all and met some friends who were at the Fairmont Wailea before heading back to Lahaina and parking the car across from the pier for the night.   On the second day, we went up to Kaanapali Beach and walked along the board walk and watched the waves and then shopped in Lahaina.

 

In Kauai, we drove up the Grand Canyon of the Pacific  - Waimea Canyon and Poipu Beach.  

 

Hilo, we drove to Volanco National Park, Rainbow Falls, Akaka Falls and shopped in downtown Hilo.    All the ports were not new to us having previously done land vacations on all of them but it was nice to revisit our favorite spots.  Truly there is no need for expensive shore excursions if you rent a car in each port and do it yourself. Good roads everywhere.  Start out early.      

[texas bound]

I was waiting to see if anyone had done this itinerary before I posted any questions. So here goes.

 

We are planning to take the public transportation to PH then back to hotel to retrieve luggage then a shuttle to the ship. We want to tour PH plus the Missouri. Has anyone done both and how long doing it on your own? I know it probably depends on depends on how extensive you look at things.

 

Not sure what to do the next day. Renting a car for 11 people isn't really an option.

 

I know on Lahaina we are tendered in. I have reserved a luau at Feast of Lele. It looks like it is fairly close and walkable. Some of my group may not be able to walk that far. Is there transportation readily available? I have a map showing several places close to the pier that we can walk to and see.

 

At Kona, it doesn't seem like many places are doing tours on a Sunday. What did you do? I was thinking of maybe going to a nice beach. Are there surfers to watch on Kona?

 

We then sail for 6 days with next stop at Seattle. I don't know if any of my group would like to go to the Boeng Museum, Pike Place or the Space Needle. Some like to shop. Did you need transportation to each of these locations?

 

Victoria, BC is last stop. In mid-May, will the flowers be plentiful enough to go to Butchart Gardens? I will need to line up a shuttle for us if so. Any other suggestions?

 

As you can probably tell, I like to arrange all the things we do on our cruises.

 

TIA

[sergeant655]

I did a similar cruise in 2012 on Radiance and for boarding day. There is a all aboard time  that is in place for the purpose of the muster drill.  Passengers have to be onboard for the drill but are welcome to go ashore again after the drill. On day 2 the all aboard time is similar to that for a port of call