Renting a car in Honolulu

[Vicjac]

I would like to rent a car at Honolulu airport.   We will be staying at the hotel (not yet chosen) one night prior to getting on ship that will be docked for an overnight in Honolulu.  So the rental car will take care of the transportation from airport to hotel / hotel to pier.  Will I be able to park at the terminal for the overnight?  If so, what is the price to park at terminal?  Will I be able to get a shuttle back to the pier upon returning the car?  I'm thinking this will be the best way to tour Honolulu and also eliminate all transporation needs while there for 3 days.  Thoughts??

[princeton123211]

5 hours ago, Vicjac said:

I'm thinking this will be the best way to tour Honolulu and also eliminate all transporation needs while there for 3 days.  Thoughts??

If you are planning on staying in Honolulu, renting a car will be expensive, frustrating, and unnecessary. The only reason to rent a car would be to drive up to the North Shore or explore outside of the city. Parking is extremely expensive and the city is very congested. 

 

Anything within the city or to/from the airport can be handled easily using Uber/taxi/bus.

[Beachiekeen]

That's an interesting thought.  But I think I agree with the PP.  I would arrange for transport to the hotel the day you arrive--you won't be doing much that day anyway except checking in and eating dinner.  You will have had a long day of travel and renting a car and navigating Honolulu traffic isn't my idea of a fun way to start the vacation.  We were on Oahu 3 nights pre-cruise and didn't rent our car until the next day for that reason.  You will have to pay for transport to the hotel but you won't have to pay for a night of parking so that's a wash.  Hotel parking will be upwards of $35 for the one night.

 

I do not believe you can park at the pier, most likely it will be a parking garage across the street or adjacent and possibly not walkable anyway when you are embarking with your luggage.  So on embarkation day, you may still need transport to the pier anyway.  You will need to research in and out times, cost, and whether the garage or lot allows overnight parking.   Some lots require you have to have the car out by a certain time the next morning, etc.

 

Where do you want to go that you think you need a car?  There is alot to do in the immediate Waikiki area as well as downtown Honolulu near the port, and you can take a taxi or even the bus to Pearl Harbor.  A hotel will hold your bags until you are ready to leave for the pier.  On departure day, you could rent a car from Enterprise just for that day and do some exploring before you leave Oahu.

 

I would just factor in the logistics, cost and hassle factors and then decide.  But I wouldn't automatically assume that renting a car for the 2 nights is the easiest or cheapest option.

[pink845]

This is what we did.  Our ship did overnight in Honolulu.  We arrived in Honolulu four days prior to our cruise.  First night we stayed at Hilton Hawaiian Village. Boy, was the parking expensive $50 bucks if I remember correctly.  We were staying on Hilton points so at least we had dough for the parking.  Then we moved up to the Courtyard by Marriott in Laie on the East shore.  The beaches on that side and are fabulous.  Again fabulous.  Then we moved over to the Turtle Bay (former Hilton) where Forgetting Sarah Marshall was filmed and countless other movies too.  Again the north and west of there more great beaches.   On the last day we came back down the middle of the island, stopped at the Dole Plantation, the outlet mall and headed to pier where we dropped off luggage with porters and then took the car back to the airport and took the city bus back to the pier.  The following day we got up early and spent the day in Waikikki.  On a earlier cruise we had already done Diamond Head, but if you want you can get up early and take the city bus to Diamond Head and then back to Waikiki and bus it back to the pier.  You will see that the sand on Waikiki beach is terrible once you have experienced the true fine butter sand of the East Shore.  Parking in Honolulu is outrageous and I do not believe there is anything at the port.