Excursion Ideas for Me and My Mom?

[SassyGirl]

Hi Everyone

 

I wonder if you can help me decide on excursions. I am taking the 10 day Hawaiian cruise on Celebrity Infinity in March which stops at:

 

Nawiliwil (Kauai)

Hilo

Kailua Kona

Honolulu

 

I am a fairly adventurous 39 year old woman travelling with my mom who is less adventurous (tends to be a little on the fearful side) and she's in her early 60's. Usually, when I travel it's with my husband who is adventurous like me, so we like to snorkel, rent cars and explore, etc. We prefer not to use ship-run tours, but rather strike out on our own. My mom tends to prefer escorted tours and prefers to stick with ship-run excursions. My mom does like beaches too, although she's not one to do really physical activities.

 

So I am at a loss as to what kinds of excursions might make both of us happy. I MIGHT be able to convince her to try snorkeling (maybe a trip where they don't FORCE you to actually go in the water if you are too scared). But I am wondering if any of you can suggest some excursions that you think we would both like?

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

 

Thanks!

 

Patty

[jenny368]

Patty: We are on the 3/27/05 Celebrity Infinity to Hawaii. Is this your cruise also? If so, join us on the roll call. There is a lot of talk about shore excursions going on there.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=44688&page=22&pp=25

 

Here are a few suggestions. We are a family of 4. My husband and myself (39 and 34) and my two daughters (15 1/2 and 9). Here is what we are doing:

 

Kauai: Movie Tour-see website-suppose to be a blast for all ages!

 

http://www.hawaiimovietour.com/

 

Maui: Renting a car and doing the whale watch tour. They have a 2 for 1 special. See website:

 

http://www.frogman-maui.com/frogman.html

 

 

Hilo: We are renting a car and doing Volcano National Park on our own. You don't have to get out of the car unless you want to.

 

Kona: We are renting a car and then snorkling with Sea Quest. Your mom can stay on board if she doesn't want to snorkle. They are small groups of about 6 people or so on rafts. Should be fun. We are doing the afternoon trip. 1-4 p.m.

 

http://www.seaquesthawaii.com/

 

Oahu: We are doing a limo tour "Circle Island Tour" from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. We have 6 people in our limo and have room for 2 more if you and your mom are interested. Scroll down on this website and read under "Circle Island Tour" for more info.

 

http://www.hawaiistarlimo.com/price.html

 

We are doing a luau at Germaines on our 2nd night in Oahu.

 

http://www.best-luaus.com/Germaines%20Luau/

 

We are staying 2 nights post cruise in Oahu also and going to the beach, etc.

 

If I can help you more you can email me also. cwvw@cox.net

[SassyGirl]

Thank you so much for all the info! I am going to look into all those activities and talk to my mom about them.

 

Patty

[Happy ks]

When we were at Kona, the snorkle boat had floaties, it was perfect for my daughter. She was much younger then and a little fearful of the water and not knowing how to breathe with a snorkle. The floaties were being used by adults as well, there was a window to look through so no snorkle, no swimming. I would check this out if I were you.

 

There is nothing wrong with splitting up and doing different excursion, you would have plenty to talk about at dinner.

 

Have a great trip with your mom.

[Chips401]

When we were in Kaui, we did the waterfull hiking tour. Flat even ground, beautiful scenery. It was 3 km round trip but not a vigorous walk at all. We booked through the ship. It was our favourite excursion.

 

Our other excursions were basic bus trips. Lots of bathroom breaks and not a lot of sightseeing for me. Be careful if you book a bus tour was they are real sedate and tend to keep you on a tight time line.

[wwinfl91]

This may seem like a silly question but is this your or your mother's first trip to Hawaii?

 

If so I would strongly suggest seeing what was called by Mark Twain, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, Waimea Canyon, when you are on Kauai. It is a more colorful version of the Grand Canyon.

 

From Hilo, I would suggest the Hawaiian Volcanos National Park.

 

From Kona you might visit the "Place of Refuge" National Historic Park and vist St Benedict's Painted church.

 

In Honolulu, I would recommend going to Diamond Head and Waikaki Beach. If you like history, the Arizona Monument and the Battleship Missouri are at Pearl Harbor. There also is the Polynesian Cultural center which has exhibits from cultures all over the Pacific.

 

If you have both been to Hawaii before then you have probably seen all these before and the earlier advice is probably better. But if you are visiting for your first time those are some of the things I would suggest. Those were the ones that ended up high or first on our list when we did our first cruise there last fall.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[mii]

This is a suggestion: We did this a number of years and loved it. It is the waikiki trolley in Honolulu. Here is the web site: www.waikikitrolley.com

 

Marilyn