Celebrity Road to Hana Tour

[gonow61]

Has anyone taken this ships tour from the Solstice? Wondering what size buses they use and quality of tour as having trouble finding a independent tour to fit our schedule. We are in port 0800 to 2130 but most of the tours depart before that and the one company I found doesn't go all the way. Thanks

[CruiserBruce]

Nobody runs bigger than about 16 passenger mini-buses, as the road is too windy for bigger vehicles.

[Silver Sweethearts]

13 hours ago, gonow61 said:

We are in port 0800 to 2130 but most of the tours depart before that and the one company I found doesn't go all the way. Thanks

 

Did the company mention how far were they going to take you?  The Celebrity tour is listed as 9.5 hours long, and would mean it is the only thing you would do on Maui.  

[gonow61]

Thanks

[princeton123211]

For what its worth this is an extremely easy trip to do on your own with a rental car (you don't need a Jeep but a lot of people rent them on this trip). I've done the drive 4 times myself-- you can turn around in Hana or you can keep going all the way around. If the ships tour company says they dont go all the way around, there are plenty of other tour companies that do. But I think this is way more enjoyable driving yourself. 

[TwinMamainMN]

7 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

For what its worth this is an extremely easy trip to do on your own with a rental car (you don't need a Jeep but a lot of people rent them on this trip). I've done the drive 4 times myself-- you can turn around in Hana or you can keep going all the way around. If the ships tour company says they dont go all the way around, there are plenty of other tour companies that do. But I think this is way more enjoyable driving yourself. 

 

I know the duration of the trip TO Hana and back is varied and depends on a lot of things, like how many times you stop, and how long you stay. How long did/does it take YOU to do Road to Hana and back from Lahaina, and where did you stop along the way? We are on Maui from 8a-11p and want to do a luau for dinner that starts at 5:30 or 6pm. It seems that we should have plenty of time, no?

[Silver Sweethearts]

2 hours ago, TwinMamainMN said:

 

We are on Maui from 8a-11p and want to do a luau for dinner that starts at 5:30 or 6pm. It seems that we should have plenty of time, no?

 

Do understand that if you are renting your own car you will not be first on the tenders, as those on the ship's tours will be taken first.  When you get ashore you will have to taxi or Uber to the rental agency to pick up the car.  By then it  could well be 9:30 or 10 a.m.  If you drive straight through to Hana and back even without stopping, that would be be another 6 hours or so.  Then you would need to return the car and get to the luau.  Perhaps going part way to Hana and back would work better for you.   

[TwinMamainMN]

9 hours ago, Silver Sweethearts said:

 

Do understand that if you are renting your own car you will not be first on the tenders, as those on the ship's tours will be taken first.  When you get ashore you will have to taxi or Uber to the rental agency to pick up the car.  By then it  could well be 9:30 or 10 a.m.  If you drive straight through to Hana and back even without stopping, that would be be another 6 hours or so.  Then you would need to return the car and get to the luau.  Perhaps going part way to Hana and back would work better for you.   

 

Thanks for this information. Hubby really wants to drive it himself, but booking an excursion to do it might work better. Lots of time to consider the options thankfully.

[princeton123211]

12 hours ago, TwinMamainMN said:

How long did/does it take YOU to do Road to Hana and back from Lahaina, and where did you stop along the way? We are on Maui from 8a-11p and want to do a luau for dinner that starts at 5:30 or 6pm. It seems that we should have plenty of time, no?

I agree with SilverSweethearts in that you don't have enough time to do both. If you drove from Lahaina to Hana and then kept going all the way around to Lahaina, it would take you about 6 hours if you didn't stop at all (which isn't the point of the exercise). Stopping at a few places along the way, you're looking at a total drive time between 8-9 hours. You're fortunate to have plenty of time to do it with the long port visit, but you would be hard pressed to make a luau. 

 

The luaus are fine, but the drive is a much more worthwhile way to spend your time in Maui. I'd suggest postponing the luau to another island and take the time and do the drive yourself and do it right. You'll then have time to leisurely take the trip around the island and you could even have a late dinner in Lahaina before headed back to the ship. 

 

The tours that do the route all the way around are in mini busses that look like airport rental car shuttles-- they're small, cramped, and don't have bathrooms or amenities that coach busses do-- its a long day on one of those. You will be vastly more comfortable in your own rental car and you wont be beholden to other people's schedule. There are a ton of smaller places to stop in addition to the more popular ones that you'll have a chance to see on your own. 

[TwinMamainMN]

Princeton123211 - ugh. I want to do it ALL! 😂 I appreciate your input. Driving road to Hana alone is much more our "style" of travel than a tour anyway. Do you think it's possible to do Road to Hana and see Haleakala in the same 8a-11p timeframe?

[dkata]

On 5/21/2019 at 3:52 AM, TwinMamainMN said:

Princeton123211 - ugh. I want to do it ALL! 😂 I appreciate your input. Driving road to Hana alone is much more our "style" of travel than a tour anyway. Do you think it's possible to do Road to Hana and see Haleakala in the same 8a-11p timeframe?

NO. Driving to Hana and back is a 4 to 6 hour trip, assuming you want to stop and look at stuff. Its a windy road with lots of one lane bridges, and you’re going to want to stop and get pictures of the waterfalls and view. You would not have time to do haleakala before the park closed.

[TwinMamainMN]

2 minutes ago, dkata said:

NO. Driving to Hana and back is a 4 to 6 hour trip, assuming you want to stop and look at stuff. Its a windy road with lots of one lane bridges, and you’re going to want to stop and get pictures of the waterfalls and view. You would not have time to do haleakala before the park closed.

 

The Haleakala NP website says the Park Visitor Center is open from 8-4 and the Haleakala Visitor Center is open sunrise to noon, but the park is open 24 hours a day except during severe weather. Why couldn't we go in the late afternoon? Maybe distance back to port?

[dkata]

Because you will be dizzy and exhausted from the trip back from Hana. What month  are you going? Sunset is at around 7 pm today.  You will be driving on windy roads down the mountain in the dark. Can Hana and Haleakala be done in the same day? Only if you are a masochist. the trip to Hana is about the journey, not the destination. Hawaiian time is laid back. thats my advice, ignore it if you want, but a tired driver is an unsafe driver. And you won’t be driving fast anywhere on the road to Hana or haleakala.

[TwinMamainMN]

2 hours ago, dkata said:

Because you will be dizzy and exhausted from the trip back from Hana. What month  are you going? Sunset is at around 7 pm today.  You will be driving on windy roads down the mountain in the dark. Can Hana and Haleakala be done in the same day? Only if you are a masochist. the trip to Hana is about the journey, not the destination. Hawaiian time is laid back. thats my advice, ignore it if you want, but a tired driver is an unsafe driver. And you won’t be driving fast anywhere on the road to Hana or haleakala.

 

Going in May 2020. Good point about the drive back in the dark and being too tired. I guess we will just have to go back to Maui another time. 😉

 

[dkata]

Also, i recommend the shaka app for maui. Download  it to your iphone or android phone before your trip. Bring a charging cable. The app gives turn by turn instructions and info about where to stop to see good waterfalls, where to eat, where the restrooms are. 

[cb at sea]

The Road to Hana is an all-day affair, especially if you'll be stopping here and there to see the sights!  You can't do both the RTH and Haleakala in the same day.  You realize you will be missing so much of Maui by doing this, if you only have the 1 day.

[princeton123211]

On 6/2/2019 at 8:22 PM, cb at sea said:

You realize you will be missing so much of Maui by doing this, if you only have the 1 day.

I'd actually argue the opposite-- you'll see more of Maui in one day than most people. If you go all the way around you see the desert, tropical rainforest sides and alot in between. Sure, you wont have time for a beach (and the beaches in Maui are wonderful), but you will get a wonderful overview of the multifaceted sides of the island. 

[zackmar]

On 5/18/2019 at 6:22 AM, gonow61 said:

Has anyone taken this ships tour from the Solstice? Wondering what size buses they use and quality of tour as having trouble finding a independent tour to fit our schedule. We are in port 0800 to 2130 but most of the tours depart before that and the one company I found doesn't go all the way. Thanks

We just did this cruise so I totally hear where you’re coming from. All the previous comments here share some really great advice. Where is your cruise coming from? We came from Sydney and Maui was our first port in USA so we had to go through immigration on the ship before we could get a tender to get off the ship. This process took a very long time. Our ship got in around 8am but we didn’t get off until 10am. If this is the case for you, I can give you some tips we learned to speed up the process. I really didn’t account for this delay, even with all my research I never knew this. 

I had made all arrangements months before the cruise to make sure we had everything covered. We had hired a private driver to take us on the road to Hana because we really wanted to do this and wanted to do the luau which we needed to be there by 5:45. We did it all! Road to Hana was rushed but we did it and it was amazing. I highly recommend it. Our driver said we did it opposite of how most people do it so it would be less busy. Honestly, if he wasn’t driving we could have never pulled it all off. Because he was from there, he knew the road really well. We saw many tourists struggling the narrow winding roads, an accident and car in the ditch along the way. So be prepared for anything. 😂 

We had planned to go back to the ship to change and freshen up but there was no time. 😞 

We weren’t happy about not feeling fresh for the luau but we had to let it go and just enjoy ourselves and it was fabulous.

🤙 

Monica 

 

[BarbinMich]

On 5/21/2019 at 9:52 AM, TwinMamainMN said:

Princeton123211 - ugh. I want to do it ALL! 😂 I appreciate your input. Driving road to Hana alone is much more our "style" of travel than a tour anyway. Do you think it's possible to do Road to Hana and see Haleakala in the same 8a-11p timeframe?

Just a few words of advice:  the traffic south of Lahaina is usually horrendous, especially going north in the afternoon (it's a 2-line highway).  We've stayed at a rental north of Lahaina and experienced that traffic several times.  Also, would advise against trying to do both Road to Hana and Haleakela unless you like driving in the dark on unfamiliar roads.  I would also advise returning to Lahaina before dark.  We spent most of a day doing the Road to Hana when we were staying on Maui.  Also, at least half a day visiting Haleakela--quite a mountainous drive so it's slow (according to Google, it takes 2.25-2.75 hr each way from Lahaina to Haleakela.

[TwinMamainMN]

On 6/9/2019 at 9:40 AM, zackmar said:

We had hired a private driver to take us on the road to Hana because we really wanted to do this and wanted to do the luau which we needed to be there by 5:45.

Can you share who you used, or what website you used? 🙂

[zackmar]

9 minutes ago, TwinMamainMN said:

Can you share who you used, or what website you used? 🙂

Yes for sure. 

His name is Justin. Tell him Monica from Canada. Lol. I think he’ll remember us. 

No Ka Oi Oahu Private Island Tours

Enjoy!

 

[Cindy]

On 6/9/2019 at 9:40 AM, zackmar said:

 We had hired a private driver to take us on the road to Hana because we really wanted to do this and wanted to do the luau which we needed to be there by 5:45. We did it all! Road to Hana was rushed but we did it and it was amazing. I highly recommend it. 

 

I agree with this...if you want to do the Road to Hana and a luau I think your best bet is a private operator. We’re on the POA in April, and we’re using Valley Isle for the Road to Hana, but I think their shore excuses only work for Pride of America. It might be worth contacting them to see what the other options are.

https://www.tourmaui.com/tours/pride-of-america-hana-shore-excursion/

 

On our second day in Maui we’re using Unique Maui Tours. They’re a little pricy, but totally customizable and you could add 2-4 people to help with costs if you wanted to. I’ve found them to be very responsive and easy to work with!

https://www.uniquemauitours.com/

 

 

 

 

[gonow61]

On 7/15/2019 at 9:30 AM, TwinMamainMN said:

Can you share who you used, or what website you used? 🙂

 

On 7/15/2019 at 9:42 AM, zackmar said:

Yes for sure. 

His name is Justin. Tell him Monica from Canada. Lol. I think he’ll remember us. 

No Ka Oi Oahu Private Island Tours

Enjoy!

 

 

Hi TwinMamainMN 

Have you booked with No Ka Oi Oahu private tours and if so what was your experience

Thanks

[TwinMamainMN]

12 hours ago, gonow61 said:

 

 

Hi TwinMamainMN 

Have you booked with No Ka Oi Oahu private tours and if so what was your experience

Thanks

 

No, we are still researching. We don't sail until May 2020.