Lahaina Tender with outside tour question

[jmakita]

Cruising to Hawaii on RCCL Serenade in Oct 2006. I understand that at Lahaina, we tender in to town, which can take longer for disembarking process. I have signed up for tour not offered by cruise

(Hana Sky Trek tour with Temptation Tours) and need to meet them at Kahului Heliport at 11:15 am. I have been told it is approx a 45 min ride to get there from Lahaina. Can anyone offer any insight or info about timeframe we are able to get off ship in Lahaina? Is there enough time, or are we cutting this too close? Also, does anyone know of any available

transportation for us to get to Kahului Heliport? I have been trying to do

searches on web, but am not getting anywhere. Think we might have to

either spring for a cab, about $50 one way, or rent a car, but hate to drive ourselves in a place we are unfamiliar with..might be too stressful knowing we have to get somewhere when we don't know where we are going. Any thoughts or experience anyone can pass on would be much appreciated:o Can't wait for Hawaii!! This is only our 2nd cruise; First was to Alaska, and that hooked us for life!!

[bug_dan]

Driving on Maui is not that bad. The Drive Guides they offer at the rental agencies are very clear and you should be able to find your way around. Depending on what time you drop anchor at Lahaina, I would say you should be on shore within an hour to an hour and a half. The car rental agencies are about a 15 minute ride from Lahaina and they provide shuttles. Incidentally if you can get a copy of Maui Revealed, they have excellent maps.

[jmakita]

Thanks for the info Dan. Sounds like we shouldn't have a problem making it in time for our tour. It is sooo hard to choose what excursions to do. In all the posts I've read, people talk about how wonderful the helicopter ride is on Kauai. I'm thinking about cancelling my Zipline adventure in Kauai to do helicopter with either Blue Hawaiian or Air Kauai. Or maybe go on a Mud Bug tour. I just can't decide! Not sure if I can do both, but whatever we do, it'll be a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

[suziehmkr]

You might want to check to see if there are any other ships on port with you on the day you are there. Lahaina is a small port and can have a hard time with more than one ship. We were there when there were two ships in port and it took a very long time to get on shore. If you are the only one in port and you are on the first tenders after the ships excursion tenders your chances are better... but you don't mention what your port time is...

 

BTW - driving on the Islands wasn't stressful at all. Although, those of us from California have a hard time with the LOW speed limits. ;)

[jmakita]

Hey Suziehmkr,

Thanks for the heads up. We arrive in Lahaina at 7:00 am. How long did it take you to get to shore? Is there a way I can find out if any other ships are going to be there at the same time?

[suziehmkr]

If you are there at 7am, then I don't forsee any problems... that is an early port. We were on a different ship. But we were in port with HAL... we ported at 8am. We could get tender tickets at 9am if we weren't on an excursion... we were the first group to be called and I think we were on land around 10:30am. You can go to http://www.cruisecal.com and enter your port & date info and it will tell you who else is scheduled to be there. It won't list charters (like when the company I work with had chartered the Oosterdam for last week in Mexico) - but it will give you an idea of what is happening in your ports.

 

Hopefully, you will be the only ship in port that day so that you have no worries.

 

Have a wonderful cruise. Maui was my FAV, even with the tendering problems.