Maui question

[cottagemama]

Hello everyone. this is my first post. I am cruising on the Carnival spirit 12 night from Honolulu to Vancouver April 29th. this is my 2nd cruise & first time to the islands. We are in Maui from 8am to 6 pm on the Lahaina side the the following day we dock in Kahalui from 8 am to 6 pm. Can anyone advise me of some great tours to do? I really wanted to drive to Hana but from I'll I've read it doesn't look like we will have time. Thanks everyone for your help

[gadaboutgal]

We've driven to Hana many, many times and it is possible to do the round trip in less than a full day. You need to start out very early though. With no traffic, it would only take a little over 2 hours to get to Hana. What takes so long is all the places you want to stop for scenery- or getting stuck behind other very slow tourists. You could reserve on-line and arrange to have a rental car brought to the port for the time you dock or just walk over to get one. Less than 3 blocks from the Kahalui Harbor is a "we'll pick you up" major car rental office. (It's actually the same office you pick up your rental car from when if you were to fly into Maui.)

[beachchick]

If you are going to do Hana, you need to do it on your Kahului day. It's a much shorter drive than from Lahaina. You should be able to do it if you get off the ship early, get a car, get on the road, and don't "dawdle" too much. But it is an exhausting drive for most people. If you don't want to do Hana, you could go early up to Haleakala (that's an "oh, wow!") or go to 'Iao Valley, which is very close to Kahului and doesn't take all day. There's also the Tropical Plantation (kind of commercial, but good for an intro into Hawai'ian flora). I have to say that a helicopter ride (early in the day) can be fabulous. I know most people say the Big Island and Kauai are better (and they may be), but you see parts of Maui that you absolutely can't see or even get to by car or foot. We loved it.

 

On the Lahaina side you might want to consider a snorkel tour (there might be whales still, but that time is getting close to the end of the season). You could also rent a car and tour the west Maui beaches and snorkel spots yourselves. If you aren't into water stuff, you could just hang out in Lahaina and then catch a shuttle up to Whaler's Villiage in Ka'anapali. There's shopping (if you are into that) and many fine resorts. There's a terrific beachwalk all along that part of Ka'anapali beach. You could also rent a car or take a ship's tour (if offered) to the Maui Ocean Center at Ma'alaea harbor. It's small, but well done and interesting, especially for kids.

 

Have a great time.

 

beachchick

[cottagemama]

Thank you both for your replys. I think I'll rent a car in both ports. What is there to do in Haleakala?

Cottagemama

[spleen93]

What is there to do in Haleakala?

Cottagemama

 

http://www.nps.gov/hale/

 

Spleen

[BLGBEACHGAL]

We are also going on the Spirit from Honolulu to Vancouver on April 29th!!. We did this same cruise in October, 2003 only cruising back to Ensenada instead. This is a fantastic cruise!! We drove part of the Hana highway before and it is beautiful. We did stop often and it took us all day. The ship was overnight in Kahalui then so we had lots of time to hike and enjoy the drive and also the beaches. We didn't take any excursions in Maui, we just had a rental car for the two days we were there and enjoyed the scenery and the beaches.

[cottagemama]

Hi BLGBEACHGAL

So glad to hear of someone else on this cruise. I have been rearching as much as I can about the islands and have booked a number of excursions on my own. I just finnished booking a car for the Lahania stop so I think I will do the same for Kahalui and try to do as least some of the Hana highway. Can any of you tell me what acr rental agecies are close to the pier?Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I am really looking forward to this cruise and I'm trying to see as much as possible. We are a week on Oahu before the cruise and I have booked lots of things to do there. Another question for the experienced cruisers. My docs say the embarkation is from 1.00pm to 5:30pm. If we only go to the pier around 4 pm will it be a long wait to get on the ship or should we be there earlier? Thanks

Cottagemama

[sunshine426]

I will be visiting Maui in April via the Island Princess. We have a very brief time on this island, as we have to reboard prior to a 4pm departure:( We are reluctant to rent a car since this will be such a short day. Are their any resorts walking distance from Lahaina if we choose to just do a beach day? Any advise or tips will be most welcome!

[ukbballfan]

Cottagemama

 

Have you considered staying off of the ship for that night? Get a rental, do the road to Hana and take your time, and then stay overnight in Hana. Drive back the next day and drop the car on the Kahalui side and rejoin the cruise. I would assume you could work this out with the Carnival people. There would be extra expense involved but you would to get to do what you wanted to do.

[beachchick]

sunshine426: Lahaina isn't a town with resorts and it doesn't have that kind of beach. I remember a couple of little mini beachlets along Front St. (walking south), but don't remember if they had any people on them. The waters right at Lahaina really aren't good for swimming, IMO. Baby beach is just a little north of Lahaina proper, but again it's a not a beach where you are going to want to do a beach day. The resorts start primarily at Kaanapali beach, which is not walking distance (plus you would have to walk along the main, busy road; it's a good 10 mile walk :eek: ). However, there are shuttles you can take from Lahaina to Kaanapali (Whaler's Village) for fine beaching. Almost anywhere along Kaanapali is good. If you snorkel, Black Rock in front of the Maui Sheraton is very good.

 

beachchick

[BLGBEACHGAL]

WE are in Oahu 2 days prior to the cruise and also have several excursions booked. We are taking a shuttle to the pier from our Waikiki hotel and plan to be there about 11:30. We were able to board about noon last time instead of the printed time of 1:00. We like to get on the ship as soon as we can, have lunch then get back off to enjoy Aloha Marketplace and then it is always nice to just kick back and enjoy the ship. If you have not been on the Spirit before it is a beautiful ship. We have rented a convertible in Kahalui with Hertz this time, but we rented from Alamo last time. They both have shuttles at the pier. It is always nice to hear of someone else on the same cruise as you it tends to get you even more excited (as if that can be possible) !! We have a ship excursion planned for Kauai which is tubing the ditch. By the posts that sounds like it should be fun. We took an independent excurision in 2003 which was great it was a 4x4 movie tour. Just a little more information for you to think about Have fun planning

[sunshine426]

BeachChick, Thanks for the reply and info. The shuttles sound like they will be the way to go. We do have our own snorkle equipment, so we should be all set.

[cottagemama]

Hi BLGBEACHGAL,

the only tours I have booked for the cruise itself are the Movietour in Kuai.How did you enjoy it and did you have time for any other excursions.would liked to have seen Waimea Canyon but wasn't sure of the time constraints. In Hilo we have booked helicptor tour-circle of fire. what about you have you booked any tours? I haven't researched Kona yet. what is there to do there? Thanks Cottagemama

[BLGBEACHGAL]

Hi! Cottagemama,

 

We have booked a hiking tour up Diamond Head and a North shore tour while in Oahu before boarding the ship. The 29th we have booked a dinner show at Blue Hawaii (since I am an Elvis fan I thought that would be fun). We also plan on going to the swap meet/flea market in Honolulu while still in port.

 

In kaui we have booked the tubing the ditch. We really enjoyed the 4x4 movie tour we took and we didn't do any more tours before. That takes up most of your time.

 

In Lahaina we have not booked any excursions. I enjoy shopping and that is a nice town for that.

 

In Kahului we have the rental car and plan on driving to the winery, and shopping and beach time.

 

In kona, there is a hilo hattie shuttle and kona is a pretty town. We plan on doing shopping and of course get some organic kona coffee for everyone back home. There is also a nice beach right by the pier.

 

In Hilo;

I have not decided what to do in that port yet. Last time we took a ship excursion which was a hike to the lava flow. We enjoyed that very much, but the flow had moved to far and we could hike to the active flow. We still hiked down into an old lava flow and thru an old lava tube. It was very interesting. We didn't have any time for anything else so I have to research Hilo.

 

I have lots of information from our previous trip I would be glad to share with you. My e-mail address is blgbeachgal@aol.com.