Silver Sweethearts

3 hours ago, Josie201 said:

Don’t want to hijack the OP but we are very interested in beach options.  What’s close by and are there rental facilities?  (Chairs etc ) 

To be honest, nothing decent in that area that we would recommend.   You would be best to look at areas such as Wailea and Kihei on Maui's south side.  Rent a car and make your own personal itinerary!  

8 hours ago, phabric said:

Princess has changed Lahaina to Kahului from 8am-7pm Oct 5.

 

What is there to see in Kahului that is not a beach tour?

First of all, what are your interests - and will you be renting a car?  Do know that Kahului is a commercial/industrial area that is not set up for tourists, nor does it solicit them.  It would be best to have your activities set up before you get there.  

2 hours ago, DCwom said:

Some folks have raved about Leonard's bakery and their Malasadas so I figured I'd add a favorite in Google maps for our upcoming trip in May. Well I noticed that their website says they are closed for construction from now (April 15th until early May), hopefully they will reopen before our trip. I know they aren't the only makers of Malasads, but they are the only one whose name I remember. They do say their 4 MalsadaMobiles are still operating.

You might also try Home Maid Bakery on  Lower Main Street in Wailuku on Maui.  Off the beaten path and a real local place, but close to the POA.  No advertising out front.  You can google it.  Their malasadas are very popular.  They were said to be closing, but they are not - at least for now.

1 hour ago, Casanova02 said:

What's POA stand for ?

"Pride of America" (your ship).

17 minutes ago, Silver Sweethearts said:

 

Do try your source once again, as we show them open 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays.  Worth checking.

While you are at it, check out the short (about 2 minute) video entitled "Walking Back to Pride of America - Maui Port.

9 hours ago, Youyoyotoo said:

bummer. it is not open on Sundays. 

Do try your source once again, as we show them open 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays.  Worth checking.

11 hours ago, Zqueeze1 said:

Some friends of ours got invited  to have dinner at the mysterious Study.  The had no idea who invited them or why.  They were part of a group of eight who were invited by a generous couple from a top tier cabin.  One can order from any of the specialty restaurants. In addition, the chef offered  a seafood entree as well as Kobe wagyu beef.  There were also served Camyus wine with dinner. They said that they enjoyed the experience. 

When the Explorer was new we were invited to dine in The Study twice.  The tables at that time were for four, but we had no trouble requesting a two-top.  Yes, we were in a suite, but it wasn't the Regent Suite.  Since there was only one other table occupied, we figured perhaps we were chosen as very fortunate guinea pigs for this new Regent endeavor.  In any event, the room and staff do provide a quiet and pleasant venue for dinner.  (Boy, do you get stared at though when you walk through the supposed hidden doors in Prime & and Chartreuse to reach The Study).  

12 hours ago, jollyjones said:

The OP is talking about Kona which is on the Big Island and is a tender port. It's a small town with a few things to see. 

Quite right.  Don't know what we were (or weren't) thinking.

4 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

This isn't the Caribbean. There won't be folks hawking tours. 

- And the nice beaches and shops to visit are not located where you will dock in Maui (Kahului).  It is a commercial/industrial area that really has nothing to offer visitors.  Your best bet is to rent a car and make your own tour

2 hours ago, Yukonbear said:

We have not booked anything and wondering if there are things we can get at the port.  We looked at a tour on Viator but it is a 6 hr tour and we would leave at 9am so it’s not possible.  

Your request is a bit vague.  Could you give more details please?

1 hour ago, DCwom said:

I just received an email that the NCL Volcano National Park excursion will no longer stop at the Jagger Overlook. No explanation why, could this be a closure by the NPS? I found something about the demolition of the Jagger museum being demolished in early 2024 due to the last eruption in 2018.

Geomorphologists recently determined the ledge on which the museum sits is “extremely unstable,” preventing future use of the building and grounds. It would likely take years, plus additional funding, to reopen at a new site according to the current Star-Advertiser.

4 hours ago, Giantfan13 said:

We are also doing a Princess cruise next year to some of the ports already mentioned. I was also curious as to how easy it is to rent cars in some of these ports and the relationship to where the ship docks. We will be in Honolulu, Maui, Hilo and Kauai. 

We did a cruise to Hawaii many years ago and we rented cars in each port but memory of it has faded and I wanted to know how easy/hard it is now to do this.

 

How far is the airport and are there no car rentals closer, especially near where the ship docks? Same for the other ports mentioned. 

Pretty easy, actually. There is only one dock that cruise ships can use in Maui now (Kahului Harbor).  It is about three miles from there to Kahului Airport (where the consolidated car rental facilities are located).

7 hours ago, leela8 said:

I am also looking for a place to buy Hawaiian fabric in any of these ports.

On Maui you might check out Fabric Mart and Sew Special.

5 hours ago, DCwom said:

Has anyone done the Mountain tubing on Kauai? It sounds interesting and unique. I've read that its a 4WD trip to the ditch on unpaved "bumpy" roads. I tend to get motion sickness, so I'm a little concerned about the ride.

It is up to what one considers fun. If you don't have claustrophobia, don't mind bouncing off the tunnel walls and off other guests in darn cold water, don't mind the darkness and length of the tunnels, etc., go for it.  Rather expensive for what it is though, but YMMV.  Do your homework well on this one!

Have you considered the Paul Gauguin?

4 hours ago, jkbec101 said:

Anyone ever used them?

 

No - since we have never had a need to rent a Jeep.

2 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

Where your ship docks in Kahului to the top of Haleakala is only a bit over an hour though-- very doable on day 2 leaving you plenty of time to get back and turn in the car. 

It sounded like they wanted to do Haleakala at sunset though, which isn't going to work with the POA leaving at 6 p.m. on day 2.

14 hours ago, Moorecc70 said:

It is MacGregor’s - sorry all.

Don't quite understand, but If you are looking for the correct spelling, it is McGregor (with no 'a').

1 hour ago, Moorecc70 said:

We just returned from HAL Koningsdam Hawaii cruise.  Did POA in Nov 2018.  The best things we did:

Maui - rented a car.  Taxi to airport, share with another couple.  Had our own agenda including McKenzie Point Lighthouse where we could observe whales in the bay (fabulous)

With all due respect, we believe you meant McGregor's Point Lighthouse instead of McKenzie Point.

As an alternative, you might look at doing Papeete-Papeete on the Paul Gauguin.  You can get a non-stop flight from New York to Honolulu.  Hawaiian offers a non-stop from Honolulu to Papeete every Saturday.  You could fly in to Honolulu, stay there for a few days to get rid of any jet lag and then catch the Saturday HNL-PPT flight.  One pleasure for us on that is avoiding going through LAX.

On 2/20/2024 at 1:30 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

Yesterdays daily-

 

opps- internet isnt behaving and doesn’t like the photos right now. I’ll catch up with the dailies later.

 

PS- thank you to everyone for refraining from including photos in the quotes. 

Speaking of photos - Has anyone seen the Green Flash at sunset yet??  We're seeing it almost every day (clouds permitting) here on Maui.  Rather interesting.

9 hours ago, DeepFreeze63 said:

Great! This could be a poster response to questions about dress code at dinner in CR. Women dressier than men. Men in collared shirts (with long sleeves and sweaters for the chilly venues) and chinos and slacks

Love this threads; thanks to posters.

At least for us, we feel when guests dress so casually it takes away from the special atmosphere the dining room creates.

13 hours ago, jdc987 said:

Hi, looking at island map, I am curious where or how you get to departure point of tour?  I am also interested in whale watch tour and it list departure point at some distance from cruise terminal.  Thanks in advance.

Whale Watch tours on Maui may be found at Ma'alaea Harbor, about nine miles from where the POA docks.  If you rent a car it will take about 20 minutes to get to Ma'alaea.  Do check first though, as whale season may be over by the time you arrive here.

3 hours ago, sunviking90 said:

Another retired gen x-er here who also started cruising on a 20,000 ton beauty (RCCL’s Sun Viking) I enjoyed your intro and I’m looking forward to your reports already! 

Sitmar Cruises was our favorite.  The ships didn't have all the bells and whistles (unless you considered skeet shooting from an aft deck), but they had excellent food and a great staff.  Hope HAL treats you well too.  Bon voyage, BermudaBound 2014 and fellow sailors!  Fair winds and following seas.

Thank you for the thank you.  We have been following your progress and achievements on this roll call for some time now and it sounds like you have everything in gear.  We wish you fair winds and following seas!