Road to Hana carnival cruise

[geovet]

I want to do the road to Hana. Carnival offers this excursion but the reviews on Carnival website were not good. There were only about 6 reviews and only a few in the past few years.

Has anyone else done this excursion?

I also noticed that most private excursion start around 7am. We get to port at 9am, so that option is not likely.

My other option would be to rent a car and use a app for instructions.
 

Any input would be welcomed

Thanks

[mskaufman]

I would talk to the private excursion folks about handling a cruise that gets in at 9am.  I know a lot of people rent cars but based on what we saw, would prefer to leave the driving to someone else.

[princeton123211]

12 hours ago, geovet said:

Has anyone else done this excursion?

I've driven the Hana road maybe 30 times and am about to again in two weeks. Is your ship overnighting in Kahului? If not what time do you depart? It's well worth it but you're going to want to make sure you have enough time. 

 

12 hours ago, geovet said:

I also noticed that most private excursion start around 7am. We get to port at 9am, so that option is not likely.

You can hire a private tour to do it-- personally I much prefer driving it myself rather then being stuck on a minibus. Most people start out very early because you can easily spend the entire day. Getting on the road around 10am (with a 9am arrival) you'll be a little late out of the gate but this might also mean a little less congestion on the road. 

 

12 hours ago, geovet said:

My other option would be to rent a car and use a app for instructions.

This will depend on how much time you have. If you are overnighting and don't have to be back at a certain time renting a car is a great option which might be more cost effective. The apps, particularly GuideAlong, are great and add a tremendous amount to the drive. 

 

If you aren't overnighting then a guided tour makes a lot more sense. Personally I don't love them as I like to be able to stop where I want but being able to not have to pick up and drop off a car will save you a lot of time. 

[geovet]

We will be there from 9am till 11pm. I was thinking that if time seemed short we could turn around before Hana. I’m not sure where would be a good place to do this and see some of the best stops.

[princeton123211]

41 minutes ago, geovet said:

We will be there from 9am till 11pm. I was thinking that if time seemed short we could turn around before Hana. I’m not sure where would be a good place to do this and see some of the best stops.

You have time then. If you drove straight from where your ship is to Hana it will take about 2 hours. So if you slow down and stop at some places on the way out and back you're looking at a minimum of 6 hours round trip but that could be up to 8 if you stop for lunch etc. Still gives you a lot of buffer time with an 11pm departure if you can get on the road as close to 10am as possible. 

 

I would recommend actually driving beyond Hana to the pools in 'Ohe'o Gulch and use the large National Park parking lot there as a turn around. Another turn around we've used before is the grave of Charles Lindbergh which is beyond the pools a bit in a churchyard.