Pride of America - post cruise excursions?

[queensny]

Has anyone gone on the NCL shore excursion - Grand Circle Island Tour - on the Saturday the cruise ends? If you have what time does the tour get to the airport? Some reviewers of this tour said it gets to the airport at 6pm. Our flight is 7:30pm and we're wondering if we have time for this 8 hour tour? If we get to the airport at 6pm is that enough time to make our flight? Thanks.

[downsized]

We were on the POA last August.

My DW and I had to "reluctantly" leave the ship at 10:00am, but our flight home was not until 9:00pm.

 

We spent quite a bit of time trying to decide how to spend our afternoon before departure, and (most importantly) what to do with our luggage. As I recall, the fee for storing luggage was $40.

 

We then discovered that we could rent a car all day for $39!

We threw the luggage in the trunk, and simply drove about for those 11 hours!

 

In all honesty, I was more than a bit concerned about driving around the island, but I do have to admit it was the best excursion that we had all week.

Once you leave HNL, the traffic is "slight" and the views are excellent!

Stop where and when you want, see what YOU want to see, and most importantly, since it is an island... so long as you keep the ocean on your left, you cannot get lost!

 

We visited the Dole Plantation, sugar plantations, the North Shore, found an outstanding restaurant near the North Shore, saw turtles at Turtle Beach, and (quite simply) had a marvelous day!

 

The car cost us $39 and we had to buy $30 worth of gasoline, but we both are certain that it was the best $70 spent all week!

[LJH1]

Has anyone gone on the NCL shore excursion - Grand Circle Island Tour - on the Saturday the cruise ends? If you have what time does the tour get to the airport? Some reviewers of this tour said it gets to the airport at 6pm. Our flight is 7:30pm and we're wondering if we have time for this 8 hour tour? If we get to the airport at 6pm is that enough time to make our flight? Thanks.

 

 

You need to read the excursion descriptions closer, for that tour it says for flights after 8:00pm

 

Have a look at this NCL tour "Explore Oahu's Famous North Shore", this one is for flights after 5:30pm here is the link

http://www2.ncl.com/excursions/search?qs=N%3D4294967015%2B4294967243%26Ne%3D8057%26Nr%3DAND%2528p_Record_Type%253AS%2529

[hawaiilvr]

Go to bookstore and buy the book "Oahu Revealed," find some things in there that interest you, rent a car and head off on your own. Oahu is a fabulous island to tour on your own. I'd recommend the north shore - Haleiawa and Turtle Beach, specifically. Kayaking at Kailua Beach to the small flat top island is also great.

[queensny]

You need to read the excursion descriptions closer, for that tour it says for flights after 8:00pm

 

Have a look at this NCL tour "Explore Oahu's Famous North Shore", this one is for flights after 5:30pm here is the link

http://www2.ncl.com/excursions/search?qs=N%3D4294967015%2B4294967243%26Ne%3D8057%26Nr%3DAND%2528p_Record_Type%253AS%2529

 

@LJH1 Thank you for your reply. I did see that in description. That's why I'm asking. The tour ends at 5:15, and I'm wondering if our flight isn't until 7:30, why we can't make that flight? I was asking if anyone took this tour in the past, and if they knew what time the tour got back to the airport.

@downsized Thank you for your reply. Our group was thinking of that too. We have a large group, but I guess there's no reason why we can't rent a few cars and drive around on our own for the day.

[queensny]

Go to bookstore and buy the book "Oahu Revealed," find some things in there that interest you, rent a car and head off on your own. Oahu is a fabulous island to tour on your own. I'd recommend the north shore - Haleiawa and Turtle Beach, specifically. Kayaking at Kailua Beach to the small flat top island is also great.

 

Thanks for your reply. I'm leaning toward renting a car and going our own way.

[nycruiser80]

Thanks for your reply. I'm leaning toward renting a car and going our own way.

 

 

Came off the POA last week I think it is also much easier to just rent a car. You can get off the ship I think around 7 or 8 and DESPITE what NCL tells you at the debark talk some car rental companies are at the pier when you get off and offer complimentary shuttle buses to their airport car pick-ups. If and when you book your car rental just call the place directly in Honolulu (not the 800 number) and check to see if your car rental company has a shutle that will operate from the Honolulu pier to the airport car pick-up loacation. I used Enterprise and they did not have a shuttle yet they sent a minivan with driver to pick us up for free! They said it was their slogan to pick you up anywhere. From there we stayed 3 nights in Honolulu I did not leave right away. Even so you have almost the whole day. As others said bring a guide book and a map also a GPS if you have one and drive around. Visit a beach, Dole plantation, Pearl Harbor, shop, etc.....

 

A lot to do and you are not tied to a tour. I too took a late flight from Honolulu. I was on the Continental Newark 7:50pm flight. We got to the airport at 5:30 and it was great the airport was very quiet and we breezed through security.

 

Just remember if you rent a car keep in mind you hvae to drop it at a nearby drop point and then they will shuttle you to your airport terminal. Just allow 20-30 minutes or so for that.

 

Enjoy the cruise!

[hawaiilvr]

We used Thrifty, made a reseravation in advance, and they van was there waiting for us. We dropped it off before our 11:00 PM flight and they shuttled us to the airport. The cruise ship pick-up location and airport location are one and the same (at least for Thrifty).

 

Another tip - bring a GPS (or rent one). We were there last month for a week on Oahu and took our little Garmin with us and it made the trip so much more enjoyable trying to find places to shop, eat, get gas, etc. With all the street names starting with a "K" or a "H" it gets really confusing driving around Honolulu.

 

When we finished our cruise on the POA three years ago, we had enough time to drive to the north shore, go to the Aloha Swap Meet, go see the Byodo-In temple, and still have time to sit on the beach.

 

Another tip about the "Oahu Revealed" book - there are books for the other islands as well. When we did our cruise we studied each book and knew so much about the islands before we even stepped off the ship. We toured with rental cars, but it was like having our own little tour guide with us.