Has anyone rented cars using NCL shore excursions?

[j-9]

Just back from the Feb 11 PoAl sailing - wow had a great time.

The NCL car rentals worked great for us. Regular rental shuttle to the airport from the pier to pick up the car, the cars were not at the pier. It was through Alamo each time.

 

Kauai - smooth pier pickup and rental

 

Hilo - The pier in Hilo was a bit chaotic - lots of tours and shuttles, and a bit of confusion. We ended up sharing a taxi van with 5 other people to the rental place ($15 total) which worked well as we beat the line to get a car. No parking at the pier, there is a mall up the street where you can. We didn't rent the 2nd day, just walked around.

 

Kona - rental is at the airport, which is north on Kona - great if you are going to the beaches up that way, which I highly recommend. Not A bay, but Hapuna Beach - this is the best beach I have ever seen in my life! Facilities, food, some shade, beautiful sand, nice surf to play in.

The shuttles back to the pier are at 2:30 and 3:30 only - which we thought was strange, but the traffic is so bad by 4:00 that they need to beat it. Frankly, we were done by 3:30 anyways, and it was nice not to have to drive back into town. The shuttles were also available before the time it said on the shore ex ticket.

If you are going south of Kona, don't rent your car through NCL.

 

Maui - reserve your car early. People's reservations were getting cancelled because it was oversold. I heard someone say they had reserved theirs a couple of weeks before the cruise and it still was cancelled. Again, piece of cake. The rental car is a couple of minutes away from the pier. We kept it overnight, parked it beside the pier. There was a bit of confusion about how to rent for 2 days. The shore ex desk said just rent the second day through the rental place for the same price, and the rental place said the ticket should say child for 2 days. The charge for the second day was $41 instead of 39, but close enough.

 

In general the driving is non-stressful. Easy navigation, good highways. Hard to find parking at the beaches though - get the revealed books, and turn in at beach access signs, even if you think it is not the right place. Lot full doesn't always mean lot full.

 

We had a great time. Beautiful weather, good food, good wine.

[mitsguy2001]

Just back from the Feb 11 PoAl sailing - wow had a great time.

The NCL car rentals worked great for us. Regular rental shuttle to the airport from the pier to pick up the car, the cars were not at the pier. It was through Alamo each time.

 

How long did you have to wait to get the car? Can you explain the entire procedure and timing, starting with where to meet? How long were you allowed to keep the car for? Did booking through NCL give any advantage?

 

Maui - reserve your car early. People's reservations were getting cancelled because it was oversold. I heard someone say they had reserved theirs a couple of weeks before the cruise and it still was cancelled.

 

Are you talking about people booking through NCL, or on their own? If I booked several weeks ago through NCL for the April 30 cruise (we'd be renting the car in Maui on May 3), are we safe?

 

Again, piece of cake. The rental car is a couple of minutes away from the pier. We kept it overnight, parked it beside the pier. There was a bit of confusion about how to rent for 2 days. The shore ex desk said just rent the second day through the rental place for the same price,

 

How long can we keep it if we rent it for just the first day? We are doing an NCL excursion (Road to Hana) the 2nd day, and don't need a car.

 

and the rental place said the ticket should say child for 2 days. The charge for the second day was $41 instead of 39, but close enough.

 

Why does it say child?

 

In general the driving is non-stressful. Easy navigation, good highways. Hard to find parking at the beaches though - get the revealed books, and turn in at beach access signs, even if you think it is not the right place. Lot full doesn't always mean lot full.

 

We had a great time. Beautiful weather, good food, good wine.

 

At what time do you suggest arriving at the beaches (in Maui and Kauai) in order to get a parking space?

 

Thanks

[LokiGB]

<< rebooked a convertible in Maui for $63.00 total for all day>>

 

Speenstomper - who are you booking through? The lowest price I could get was $87.00 in Maui for a convertible for the day. HELP!!

[bccruiser2007]

To save a bit of time, go to breezenet.com. They list all the major car rental companies. Find the best rate, then go directly to the car rental company web site. (ie Alamo.com, thriftys.com). We used our Hawaii Entertainment book and saved a li

ttle more on Alamo).

 

John and Cathy

[mitsguy2001]

I made a typo. The day we'd be renting in Maui is May 2 (not May 3). It won't let me edit it, but I wanted to post that in case it makes a difference (May 2 is a Wednesday; May 3 is a Thursday and a legal holiday in Japan, which I didn't realize at the time I booked the cruise).

[Bettyboop66]

J-9,

Thanks for the update. Do you mind telling us how long you got to keep the cars for? We still haven't decided who to rent from the ship or individual agencies. If we get to keep the cars for whole days I would be leaning towards booking through the NCL. Thanks for the info.

Betty

[spleenstomper]

I rented through a link that's on CC all the time. I happened to find it myself by googling Hawaii + car rental. I can't find the link right now... will look for it.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

Definately sounds like too much hassel to deal with NCL shore excursion for a rental car. Hop a shuttle over to Thrifty....get blue chip for fastest service.....cheaper prices.....you tell them how long you want it and you may get a free upgrade too. I booked my Thrifty car in Maui as well as Kauai. Mid-size for $32.50. Can't beat that. Good luck if you rely on ship to book it.

[spleenstomper]

HT14004114 Put that code in on the Thrifty main page as a corporate number. I can't find the link...but that's the code.

[j-9]

How long did you have to wait to get the car? Can you explain the entire procedure and timing, starting with where to meet? How long were you allowed to keep the car for? Did booking through NCL give any advantage?

It is just like a regular car rental. You need to get the shuttle, which you may have to wait a bit for, and then if there is a line when you get to the rental car place, you may have to wait a bit more. There is a place for car rental shuttles at each pier. The car rental period is the standard 24 hours, but depending on how long you are in port you may not have it that long.

The biggest advantage for me was not having to worry about cancelling the reservation if we missed a port for some reason.

 

Are you talking about people booking through NCL, or on their own? If I booked several weeks ago through NCL for the April 30 cruise (we'd be renting the car in Maui on May 3), are we safe?

 

You should be fine. I reserved mine about 6 weeks before we sailed.

 

How long can we keep it if we rent it for just the first day? We are doing an NCL excursion (Road to Hana) the 2nd day, and don't need a car.

 

It is a 24 hour rental period.

 

 

Why does it say child?

 

I don't know. I don't even know if it is true. It is just something the rental guy in Maui told me.

 

At what time do you suggest arriving at the beaches (in Maui and Kauai) in order to get a parking space?

We had no problem at Po'ipu on Kauai. Kona and Maui were harder. If you are going to Ka'apali, get there as early as you can. Turn in where you see the shore access sign. The beach parking isn't well advertised, which confused us at first.

 

I would rent through NCL again.

Hope this helps.

[work4travel]

Did the NCL price include insurance?

[Leahcimp]

I'm booked on the PoAmerica 3/31 cruise. I reserved cars through Hertz for Maui and Kauai, directly through the Hertz website. There are multiple rental locations, however the Kahului and Lihue airports seem to be closest to the port. In addition, for each of these Hertz locations, the website says "Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX after ship docks to arrange for pickup service", so it sounds like they're very familiar with cruise passengers renting cars and they'll pick up at the port.

 

Hertz is probably a few bucks more than the other rental companies, but I've always had a hassle-free experience with them on the mainland, so I'm counting on the same hassle-free service on the islands.

[beachchick]

Leahcimp: In almost every port, the airport car rental locations are the closest (and usually only) rental locations. They are typically 10 minutes shuttle or less from the pier. The exceptions are Kona (the airport is at least 20 minutes away; Thrifty and Dollar have in-hotel counters at the King Kamehameha Hotel across the street from the tender pier; Enterprise has an in-town location about 1 mile from the pier) and Honolulu (a few of the companies have locations downtown or in Waikiki; the thing is that they aren't necessarily closer than the HNL locations).

 

Yeah, the rental car companies have the car rental thing for cruise pax down pat.

 

mitsguy2001: IMO, there's absolutely no advantage to booking through the cruise line. You don't get priority of any kind. The only reason I can see for booking that way is that you don't personally need to cancel a car if your cruise is one of those very rare occasions where you miss a port. It's just not that hard to use your cell phone and cancel a reservation yourself if you've booked directly through the car companies (most don't require a CC to hold your reservation so you can cancel at the last minute). I guess the other reason you might book through the cruise line is if you want to book last minute while you're actually on your cruise. Of course, there's no guarantee that any cars would be available, but you wouldn't have to try to make a reservation by cell phone and call the various companies to see who has availability, who sends shuttles to the pier, and how much the rental would cost. We never do our car rentals through the cruise lines.

 

beachchick

[j-9]

Did the NCL price include insurance?

Work4Travel, the Shore ex ticket covered the base rate. If you need to purchase additional insurance on a regular car rental, you will need to with this one. We have coverage already so didn't need any additional insurance.

[Bettyboop66]

We are cruising on the PofAm in May, I know I read somewhere what pick-up codes to use for the car rentals so that they are the closest to the pier. But I can't find them. Does anyone know what they are? I am having the hardest time deciding whether to book through NCL or on my own. I'm leaning towards on my own as long as I can be sure that I'm using the right codes. Thanks for the help.

[RSWBADGER]

We are cruising on the PofAm in May, I know I read somewhere what pick-up codes to use for the car rentals so that they are the closest to the pier. But I can't find them. Does anyone know what they are? I am having the hardest time deciding whether to book through NCL or on my own. I'm leaning towards on my own as long as I can be sure that I'm using the right codes. Thanks for the help.

 

Maui OGG

Kauai LAI

Oahu HNL

Kona Airport KOA

Koan Cruise Pier K53 (Thrifty)

[beachchick]

The codes for the airports are

 

HNL - Honolulu

 

ITO - Hilo

 

OGG - Kahului, Maui

 

KOA - Kona (Thrifty and Dollar at the King Kam have codes, but I can't remember them; on the rental sites, try "Kailua-Kona, which may pull up the King Kam location; they are also listed as "cruise pax only" locations, try discounthawaiicarrental, which will help you find those and give you a good discount code.)

 

LIH - Kauai

 

You'll rent from the airport locations because those are the closest (and mostly only) rental locations. In Honolulu, several companies have downtown or Waikiki locations as well, but they are not necessarily that much closer than the airport and are sometimes more expensive.

 

beachchick

 

p.s. In case anyone needs to know: For ships anchored at Lahaina, Maui, you need to enter "Kapalua," "West Maui Airport," or airport desingator JHM. DO NOT attempt to rent from the Kahului OGG locations. They absolutely do not and will not shuttle you from Lahaina to OGG. It's almost an hour's drive and would be prohibitive in terms of time, effort, and fuel cost; besides, who wants to spend an hour each way going to get a rental car? The rental car companies do send shuttles from the Kapalua rental locations to the Lahaina tender pier. Keep in mind that most of those locations close by 5 pm. I believe they have after-hours drop-off, but you would need to take a taxi back to Lahaina (or to Ka'anapali and then take the Ka'anapali-Lahaina shuttle from there).

[mitsguy2001]

I booked cars for the first day in Maui and first day in Kauai through NCL, thinking we'd be able to pick up the car at the port (which was what we were told when we called NCL), but from what other say, it now sounds like we'd still have to take the shuttle to the airport location to get the car. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to booking through NCL vs cancelling the reservation and booking on our own? I must admit, I'm nervous about booking on my own, since people said that the car rental companies bump people. But, since we booked through NCL a few months ago, are we less likely to be bumped? If I booked on my own, it would be a more recent reservation, which is what makes me nervous.

 

Any more info on what time we'd have to return the car at?

[beachchick]

mitsguy2001: I can't help you with the "bumping" issue, but I stand behind my original advice that booking through the ship offers no advantages except that you don't have to cancel through the company if your ship misses a port (unlikely, but can happen) and that you might be able to book last minute while on the cruise (but you're already booked, so moot point for you).

 

You will have to take the shuttle to the airport locations along with everyone else and you will not have priority in line at the rental locations.

 

beachchick

[whale-watcher]

HT14004114 Put that code in on the Thrifty main page as a corporate number. I can't find the link...but that's the code.

are there any disadvantages to usiing this discount code? for example, if the rental company is oversold, is your discounted reservation more likely to be cancelled than a full price one (would hate to save a few dollars only to end up with no car...

thanks