Excursions - Circle Hawaii

[spcl4cs_gal]

If anyone has taken the Circle Hawaii cruise lately, can you tell me which excursions would be classified in the "Not to Be Missed" category. There seems to be many available, some more expensive than others, but I would like to know which ones I should be looking at for my September cruise. Thanks in advance. :)

[PathfinderEss]

You might try going to your roll call, but it seems to be pretty quiet in there as yet.

You might also go to the port section of Cruise Critic which would be about Hawaii. You may get some answers there.

I have listed both links below.

Sept 19 2014 16 day Hawaii Circle Cruise - Cruise Critic Message Board Forums

 

Hawaii - Cruise Critic Message Board Forums

 

We have done this cruise a few times but we usually just do things on our own.

[RuthC]

If any of your ports have a flight-seeing opportunity, then that is one excursion to take.

I have taken a helicopter out of Lahaina, which went through some deep valleys, and over to Molokai. Recently I did a helicopter flight over Kauai that was a real thrill.

[TiogaCruiser]

If any of your ports have a flight-seeing opportunity, then that is one excursion to take.

I have taken a helicopter out of Lahaina, which went through some deep valleys, and over to Molokai. Recently I did a helicopter flight over Kauai that was a real thrill.

 

Do you recommend one place over another? I was looking at the flight over volcanoes and lava versus one in another port to the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Am just starting to get familiar with HI- this cruise is on the radar.

[RuthC]

I've never flown over the volcanos, so can't give a valid answer to that. Both of the ones I did were over lush mountains with the deep valleys. This last one did go over the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, and past the Na Pali Coast, and was a really pretty ride. The views of the ocean and mountains at the same time was striking. We had a long time in the air, or so it felt.

 

If I were going to fly over volcanos and lava, I think I would like it to be at night (don't know if you can do it then) as the contrast would be better then.

 

Out of Lahaina and over Kauai were quite similar flights.

[AlohaPride]

Oahu - Pearl Harbor, Arizona Memorial, Mighty Missouri, North Shore, Pali Lookout

 

Kauai - Little Grand Canyon is pretty cool.

 

Maui - Kaanapali Beach is my favorite place in the whole wide world.

 

Hawaii (Big Island) - SCUBA with the Manta Rays, Volcanoes National Park (tons of hiking).

Edited June 19, 2014 by AlohaPride

[POA1]

If you are just doing one helicopter ride, make it the Big Island. However, AlohaPride is local, so pay more attention to what she has to say.

[AlohaPride]

If I were going to go flight seeing, I'd try to find a tour that would take me to Molokai and/or Lanai because those are the two island that are hardly EVER visited. Molokai is the location of Kalaupapa National Historical Park. This is where the nation sent Hawaiians and other citizens with Hansen's Disease and where Sts. Damien and Mary Anne tended to them. Lānaʻi is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. If you want untouched real Hawaii, these two islands are the place to go.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

If I were going to go flight seeing, I'd try to find a tour that would take me to Molokai and/or Lanai because those are the two island that are hardly EVER visited. Molokai is the location of Kalaupapa National Historical Park. This is where the nation sent Hawaiians and other citizens with Hansen's Disease and where Sts. Damien and Mary Anne tended to them. Lānaʻi is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. If you want untouched real Hawaii, these two islands are the place to go.

 

Great idea! One more to consider is over the Na Pali coast of Kauai. As I recall, it is VERY difficult to access by hiking or by Jeep, and is quite spectacular. You may see it from a distance on a cruise, but it is worth a close-up view.

Edited June 19, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[AlohaPride]

Aloha, you are probably more up-do-date on this than I, but another helicopter flight to consider is over the Na Pali coast of Kauai. As I recall, it is VERY difficult to access by hiking or by Jeep, and is quite spectacular. You may see it from a distance on a cruise, but it is worth a close-up view.

Yes, it's very popular by air or sea (so much fun by catamaran), but might the ship be doing some scenic cruising of the Na Pali Coast in its itinerary?

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Yes, it's very popular by air or sea (so much fun by catamaran), but might the ship be doing some scenic cruising of the Na Pali Coast in its itinerary?

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

I didn't know they did tours there by catamaran. That sounds great! I have been on two cruise ships that passed the Na Pali coast, but we had to stay some distance away for safety reasons (the same for Kilauea).

 

To the OP, if you decide not to do an excursion of Na Pali (so much to choose from, I know), then you might consider bringing a pair of binoculars instead to get a good view from onboard ship.

Edited June 19, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[AlohaPride]

My friend just did it yesterday with Aikaloa and had a BLAST. The pictures were beautiful. I would recommend doing it by catamaran and taking a helicopter to Molokai for a flight tour.

Edited June 19, 2014 by AlohaPride
Attach photo

[SoCal Cruiser78]

My friend just did it yesterday with Akialoa and had a BLAST. The pictures were beautiful. I would recommend doing it by catamaran and taking a helicopter to Molokai for a flight tour.

 

That sounds like a plan for my next trip there! Mahalo :).

Edited June 19, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[POA1]

If you are looking for some really good Hawaii guide books, I recommend Andrew Doughty's Hawaii Revealed, Oahu Revealed, and so on. They might be overkill for a cruise, but if you are spending any land vacation time on the Islands, these guides can't be beat. We've been using them for almost 20 years and just got the latest edition of Oahu Revealed for our trip this fall.

 

How good are these books? Their recommendations are spot on and their maps are so good that you don't get lost. (Remember, we were using these books before car GPS and cell phone navigation. When you are only working with 13 letters, street navigation is challenging to say the least.)

[spcl4cs_gal]

If any of your ports have a flight-seeing opportunity, then that is one excursion to take.

I have taken a helicopter out of Lahaina, which went through some deep valleys, and over to Molokai. Recently I did a helicopter flight over Kauai that was a real thrill.

 

Hi Ruth. Yes there are a few offering helicopter flights and I was really hoping to take at least one of them. What do the prices look like for these? Right now HAL only lists $$$$ for them. Thanks.

[RuthC]

I don't remember what I paid. Sorry. :o I think the "$$$$" symbol stands for $200, but it could be higher than that. (probably is higher than that; $200 sounds too low.)

There's a legend on the HAL site which explains the price range for the "$"; prices are generally at the high end of the range.

 

Didn't think to mention earlier, but if you go flightseeing in a helicopter, there's a camera built into the plane, and you can purchase a DVD of your specific flight. Since it's part of the plane, the shots are stabilized, so you don't get seasick watching them.

There's an extra charge for the DVD (natch).