? on PoAM excursions - Hawaii

[Jfeasel]

We have a group of 11 sailing on the PoAM on August 5. When you get off the ship on the islands, are there tours that you can just book from independent operators? We've got 2 teens, a preteen and a 10 year old and they would be very bored on bus tour. Has anyone used an independent tour contractor?

[loghomelover]

We booked a car for each island prior to departure for cruise. Became a member of Thrifty Blue Chip plan (free membership) and was in and out of rental place in minutes. Very nice cars (Dodge charger and magnum). They give you a book of maps, along with attractions to see. I also bought tickets to Maui Ocean Center online and had minimal wait to get in there. (MUCH cheaper than through ship...$21 per person) Hubby said to tell you vans also available for rent through thrifty. You can also do the fern grotto on you own, found that for just $15 a person. We believe totally in doing our own driving and tours in hawaii, especially with a family of your size, will save you lots of money. Driving around the islands wasn't that difficult. We didn't do any driving on Kaua'i though because when we were there they were having mudslides tons of rain, 7 locals missing, roads closed....just shopped a little in a center within walking distance of ship (free shuttles to and from ship). We do highly recommend the Captain Zodiak snorkeling excursion from ship (cannot book this on own because they only do the cruise ship when in port). We also do NOT recommend the Paradise Luau. The food was VERY good, the performers very talented, the Master of Ceremonies or whatever he was put sexual undertones in almost every aspect of the show. We were offended, not for ourselves, but for the culture. In our opinion these are sacred dances and rituals and need not be presented by some one announcing "hey guys, watch this sexy dance" or "How would you like to thisgirl (or guy) for a walk on the beach?" Didn't feel this was necessary. We later talked with another couple on the ship who book their own luau and said it was nothing like that...also paid half what we did per person off ship and their daughter also got in free. Paradies Luau was a BIG luau also...close to 1200 people. Very well organized and maintained, not directly on beach as we thought, it was up on the resort lawn and could not even see the beach.

Sorry didn't mean to get carried away there. Back to your original question, we did not see anyone right outside the ship trying to sell tours. I did a lot of internet research and also requested travel guides and brochures from each island. Oh yeah, you can drive to volcano national park and tour on your own for $10 a carload.

Good Luck and Have Fun. We did.