Rental car in Hawaii

[jmseight]

Hi,

 

We are planning to go to Hawaii on Holland America.

 

We have port calls at

1) Lahaina

2) Honolulu

3) Nawiliki, Kauai

4) Kona

5) Hilo

 

Does anyone know if we can get rentals cars within walking distance at any of these ports?

 

Thanks,

James

[CruiserBruce]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

Come over to the portion of Cruise Critic dedicated to Hawaii, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=62

 

where you will find tons of info on renting cars in Hawaii. Short answer is none within walking distance, but rental car shuttles are very common.

[Langley Cruisers]

Just a quick note that the traffic we experienced in Honolulu was among the worst we have ever seen. The city is notorious for bad traffic, just so you know. I wanted to mention it in case you might want to take a ship's tour or a private tour which gets you back in plenty of time before departure, instead of a rental car in that one port. Just a suggestion. :)

 

.

[Kartgv]

When you get to the Hawaii board that Cruiser Bruce links you to, do a search on "rental cars" and you'll find all kinds of information. Kona is the one port where there is an agency right across the street - it's in the Marriott King Kam hotel, and I believe it's a Dollar agency (though could be Budget). They have a limited number of cars, so reserve early if you can.

 

Both Kauai and Hilo have shuttles at the pier that will pick you up and take you to the agency. Honolulu is apparently a mess and I don't know anything about Lahaina, but you should find something in your search of the Hawaii board.

[cb at sea]

Rental cars are the majority of vehicles on the road...Aside from Oahu, the other islands are VERY easy to navigate!

[CruiserBruce]

Rental cars are the majority of vehicles on the road...Aside from Oahu, the other islands are VERY easy to navigate!

 

 

Really? I think that would be hard to prove...but we only have 25+ visits to Hawaii, all land tours.

 

Lets get some facts here. There are 1.4 million residents of Hawaii. Are there really 1.4 million tourists there driving? Very hard to believe.

[Langley Cruisers]

Really? I think that would be hard to prove...but we only have 25+ visits to Hawaii, all land tours.

 

Lets get some facts here. There are 1.4 million residents of Hawaii. Are there really 1.4 million tourists there driving? Very hard to believe.

 

LOL. Indeed. :)

[Gold Mine Gal]

I would be careful about renting a car in Honolulu from Dollar (Waikiki area). We changed to the Waikiki location after finding out the airport Dollar didn't service the cruise port. They said the Waikiki location would send a shuttle to the cruise pier, but on our Hawaii cruise 2 weeks ago, there were several of us that were stranded. They never sent a shuttle, despite several calls. Another couple and us shared a taxi ($40) to Dollar only to find a line of around 30+ people who had already been waiting in line for over an hour. Only 1 employee for Dollar and 1 employee for Thrifty which is at the same location. We had tickets to Pearl Harbor so frantically flagged a taxi, another $50 and just barely made our reservation. We booked through Hawaii Discount and they were very nice, refunded our taxi monies and were going to find out what the trouble was with Dollar. Hawaii Discount was working to get several people reimbursed for taxies as they all basically did the same routine as we did.

 

Ended up having to take the city bus and walking back to the cruise port from downtown, a very long way. Pearl Harbor was great, but the day started and ended on a sour note.:mad:

 

We also rented a car in Maui from Budget, very nice experience, quick and friendly service.

[jammen]

Hi,

 

We are planning to go to Hawaii on Holland America.

 

We have port calls at

1) Lahaina

2) Honolulu

3) Nawiliki, Kauai

4) Kona

5) Hilo

 

Does anyone know if we can get rentals cars within walking distance at any of these ports?

 

Thanks,

James

 

Yes you can, or have them pick you up at the dock

[CruiserBruce]

Yes you can, or have them pick you up at the dock

 

You can NOT rent at the dock at either Maui site, Honolulu, Hilo or Kauai. These are sites where you have to rent in advance, and they shuttle you to a nearby (typically, but not always, airport) site to complete paperwork and pick up your car.

 

Kona is the only site with car rental within walking distance.

[calliopecruiser]

My recent experience researching renting a car at Honolulu for the day.........Hertz has a "cruise day only" office at the port that is open for only two hours a day: 8-9am for pick up and 3-4pm for drop off. If you are interested in that type of brief rental (as I was), it is significantly cheaper (50%) and more convenient than renting from an agency for a full day. I didn't want a full day rental as I had no place to park it overnight and our ship leaves port at 6pm, so it is almost perfect for me. I wanted it a few hours earlier, but I'm happy to give those up for the convenience (and savings).

 

Of course, this is for next month so I don't know what my actual experience will be, but I'm pleased with the arrangements.

[Harry and Lucille]

On our last trip to the islands, we rented a car on Kauai. Four us took a tour along Waimea Canyon. Great pic op. On the way back, stopped in a small community for lunch. Only tourists. Everyone else was local. Great stop and all the folks were really great. Driving futher down the road, we stopped into a local, large garden shop. The owner was thrilled to give us a guided tour of the place. Much better than a bontanical garden and free. Returned the car and the cost was $27 plus a gas fill up a couple of blocks away from the agency. Pick up and drop off at the dock made it very easy. Harry :cool:

[jmseight]

You can NOT rent at the dock at either Maui site, Honolulu, Hilo or Kauai. These are sites where you have to rent in advance, and they shuttle you to a nearby (typically, but not always, airport) site to complete paperwork and pick up your car.

 

Kona is the only site with car rental within walking distance.

 

Hi,

 

Thank you for the advice. Would you have the name of the rental agency in Kona that I can walk to?

 

Thanks,

James

[BourbonNBluesLuvr]

Hi,

 

Thank you for the advice. Would you have the name of the rental agency in Kona that I can walk to?

 

Thanks,

James

 

Hello,

 

Dollar Car Rental is located inside the King Kamehameha Hotel, right at the tender dock area in Kona.

 

BBL