Hawaii Tours

[ShallIDoIt]

Help... I'm really struggling with trying to sort out some type of itinerary / tour for our upcoming Hawaii cruise. We have just recently booked the Princess Ruby for 2nd December 2024. I'm looking at things to do and I am really struggling. Princess trips are out of the question as mainly booked up or ridiculously expensive. I have questions for all ports but will just focus on Honolulu on this. Just to say this is our first proper cruise where we will be doing trips, so very new to this.

 

Honolulu

 

We want to visit Pearl Harbour, Waikiki Beach area and Downtown Honolulu, We dock at 7am and depart at 11pm, so I hoping this would be enough time for all three?? We would like to hire a car, but I have no idea how I go about doing this. Are there car hire places near the port where I can arrange pick up of the car and which car company would i need to search. 

We are also struggling for tours of Pearl Harbour as limited tours due to the 7th December being the anniversary of the invasion

[princeton123211]

On 9/2/2024 at 8:35 AM, ShallIDoIt said:

We want to visit Pearl Harbour, Waikiki Beach area and Downtown Honolulu, We dock at 7am and depart at 11pm, so I hoping this would be enough time for all three??

All three can easily be done in that time frame. I would start with Pearl Harbor-- you'll need to get timed tickets for the USS Arizona Memorial which will sort of dictate when exactly you go there. 

 

Downtown Honolulu is ok-- I wouldn't devote too much time to it. The Iolani Palace would be a highlight in the downtown area and also requires timed tickets. Waikiki is the spot where I would spend the early afternoon into the evening if at all possible. Great beach and a ton of spots for food and drinks. 

 

On 9/2/2024 at 8:35 AM, ShallIDoIt said:

We would like to hire a car, but I have no idea how I go about doing this. Are there car hire places near the port where I can arrange pick up of the car and which car company would i need to search. 

I would absolutely not hire a car. The area you are talking about is quite small-- Uber, Lyft, taxis are available and a MUCH more cost effective way of seeing things. Exorbitant parking costs in Waikiki alone should dissuade you from renting a car. 

 

On 9/2/2024 at 8:35 AM, ShallIDoIt said:

We are also struggling for tours of Pearl Harbour as limited tours due to the 7th December being the anniversary of the invasion

Now that is a challenge. If Princess has a Pearl Harbor only tour that might be a work around. But you definitely do not need to be on a formal tour for Honolulu or Waikiki. 

[DCwom]

On 9/2/2024 at 8:35 AM, ShallIDoIt said:

Help... I'm really struggling with trying to sort out some type of itinerary / tour for our upcoming Hawaii cruise. We have just recently booked the Princess Ruby for 2nd December 2024. I'm looking at things to do and I am really struggling. Princess trips are out of the question as mainly booked up or ridiculously expensive. I have questions for all ports but will just focus on Honolulu on this. Just to say this is our first proper cruise where we will be doing trips, so very new to this.

 

Honolulu

 

On 9/2/2024 at 8:35 AM, ShallIDoIt said:

We want to visit Pearl Harbour, Waikiki Beach area and Downtown Honolulu, We dock at 7am and depart at 11pm, so I hoping this would be enough time for all three?? We would like to hire a car, but I have no idea how I go about doing this. Are there car hire places near the port where I can arrange pick up of the car and which car company would i need to search. 

You do NOT want a car, parking isn't easy and its expensive. We used Ubers, even the public bus isn't bad, but if time is a premium then just do the Uber thing. We were in Oahu for 6 days and only went downtown twice, once for the palace and once for HOMA and the Doris Duke house. Unless you are really into palace stuff, I'd skip downtown altogether.

 

If you like hiking, Diamond head is close to Waikiki, but you need tickets, so plan accordingly. There are the color trolleys that you can hop on/off, there are multiple routes (colors) I'm not sure how they are when a cruise ship is in port, we did NOT ride them, so I cannot comment on them.

 

On 9/2/2024 at 8:35 AM, ShallIDoIt said:

We are also struggling for tours of Pearl Harbour as limited tours due to the 7th December being the anniversary of the invasion

Dec 7 is a real wild card, surely they will have special events which could freeze you out. BTW, it was an attack, not an invasion, the Japanese never landed troops.

[ShallIDoIt]

22 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

All three can easily be done in that time frame. I would start with Pearl Harbor-- you'll need to get timed tickets for the USS Arizona Memorial which will sort of dictate when exactly you go there. 

 

Downtown Honolulu is ok-- I wouldn't devote too much time to it. The Iolani Palace would be a highlight in the downtown area and also requires timed tickets. Waikiki is the spot where I would spend the early afternoon into the evening if at all possible. Great beach and a ton of spots for food and drinks. 

 

I would absolutely not hire a car. The area you are talking about is quite small-- Uber, Lyft, taxis are available and a MUCH more cost effective way of seeing things. Exorbitant parking costs in Waikiki alone should dissuade you from renting a car. 

 

Now that is a challenge. If Princess has a Pearl Harbor only tour that might be a work around. But you definitely do not need to be on a formal tour for Honolulu or Waikiki. 

Thank you for the replies. We have now researched more and want to also visit Kualoa Ranch, which is around 37 minutes drive from Waikiki. This is probably now top of our list. It looks like there is transport from Waikiki to the ranch?? So our plan is to visit Pearl Harbour as soon as possible after departing the ship, then onto Waikiki to possibly get transport or get hire car from Waikiki??. I would like to see the sunset from Waikiki. We may or may not visit Honolulu. As it is a short walk to the ship, we may make that our last stop before walking back to the ship. Looking for tips on how best to achieve this with either car / or public transport / Ubers etc 

[ShallIDoIt]

2 minutes ago, ShallIDoIt said:

Thank you for the replies. We have now researched more and want to also visit Kualoa Ranch, which is around 37 minutes drive from Waikiki. This is probably now top of our list. It looks like there is transport from Waikiki to the ranch?? So our plan is to visit Pearl Harbour as soon as possible after departing the ship, then onto Waikiki to possibly get transport or get hire car from Waikiki??. I would like to see the sunset from Waikiki. We may or may not visit Honolulu. As it is a short walk to the ship, we may make that our last stop before walking back to the ship. Looking for tips on how best to achieve this with either car / or public transport / Ubers etc 

As the USS Arizona is closed due to 7th December anniversary, we will just do a whistle stop tour of Pearl Harbour. I believe there  is a free section? Is there  charge for parking?

[ShallIDoIt]

Just now, ShallIDoIt said:

As the USS Arizona is closed due to 7th December anniversary, we will just do a whistle stop tour of Pearl Harbour. I believe there  is a free section? Is there  charge for parking? Edit...sorry just looked again and it states $7 for parking

 

[princeton123211]

9 hours ago, ShallIDoIt said:

We have now researched more and want to also visit Kualoa Ranch, which is around 37 minutes drive from Waikiki. This is probably now top of our list. It looks like there is transport from Waikiki to the ranch??

There is-- you can drive or there is a public bus. It might say 37 minutes on Google Maps but usually there is traffic in and around Honolulu and at some times of the day it can be substantial. I would budget at least an hour each way if you rent a car and drive yourself and close to an hour and a half or more to use the bus each way. 

 

Honestly if you are going to other islands in Hawaii you can do similar things at even more picturesque places. You can have a very similar ATV experience at Kipu Ranch in Kauai and it might be a better use of time when there is so much to see in Waikiki in Oahu. Food for thought. 

 

9 hours ago, ShallIDoIt said:

As the USS Arizona is closed due to 7th December anniversary, we will just do a whistle stop tour of Pearl Harbour. I believe there  is a free section?

There is a free museum that is part of the USS Arizona Memorial. The visitors center and small museum are open but I believe all tours on December 7th are suspended due to various ceremonies happening. It is also the busiest day of the year there. It frankly might be worth avoiding due to the heavy crowds and coming back to visit on a subsequent visit. We had friends go one year and the parking lot opened at 5am and it was pretty full by 7am. 

 

9 hours ago, ShallIDoIt said:

We may or may not visit Honolulu. As it is a short walk to the ship, we may make that our last stop before walking back to the ship. Looking for tips on how best to achieve this with either car / or public transport / Ubers etc 

I wouldn't make a big effort to visit downtown Honolulu after dark-- not much going on and the nightlife is in Waikiki. Downtown has a few great museums that are worth it, but they are only open during the day. The Iolani Palace or The Bishop Museum might be a great substitution for Pearl Harbor if you decide the crowds are too much to warrant a visit. 

 

If you limit your touring to Pearl Harbor/Honolulu/Waikiki it can all be done extremely cost effectively by Ubers which are plentiful and easy there. If you choose to venture to Kualoa Ranch you will most likely want to rent a car-- giving up 3 hours on a bus even on a 16 hour port visit is still not fun or a good use of time. If you do rent a car I would do so from one of the rental counters in Waikiki (there are various Hertz, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Sixt downtown) and this will spare you from having to Uber to and from the airport. It will also allow you to drop back off downtown and then go to Waikiki in the evening. 

[DCwom]

12 hours ago, ShallIDoIt said:

Thank you for the replies. We have now researched more and want to also visit Kualoa Ranch, which is around 37 minutes drive from Waikiki. This is probably now top of our list. It looks like there is transport from Waikiki to the ranch?? So our plan is to visit Pearl Harbour as soon as possible after departing the ship, then onto Waikiki to possibly get transport or get hire car from Waikiki??. I would like to see the sunset from Waikiki. We may or may not visit Honolulu. As it is a short walk to the ship, we may make that our last stop before walking back to the ship. Looking for tips on how best to achieve this with either car / or public transport / Ubers etc 

Sounds like a lot to do in one day.

 

I didn't find the museum at Pearl Harbor very impressive, nothing I haven't already learned or seen elsewhere, but then again I'm a history buff, so I've seen a lot of WWII stuff. If the AZ memorial and battleship aren't open, I don't know if you'd want to use your precious time on Oahu to do a "drive by".

 

We were 5 nights in our hotel a block from the ocean on Waikiki and never watched a sunset, although we walked the beach several times after dark, so many things to do! We took the bus downtime a couple of times to the museums, cheap, but it did eat some time, on the plus side we did get a good look at the homeless/mentally ill problems facing the island. I don't think we would have wanted to walk to the port after dark from downtown.  @princeton123211 suggestion about renting a car in Waikiki rather than the airport is sound advice, we rented from Avis in the International marketplace which is pretty much in the heart Waikiki for the 1 day we needed a car.

 

I hope I don't come across trying to steer you in any direction, I'm not, its your vacation and what I like may not be what you like.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

Sorry, but I have not read any of the other responses.

 

I would not go anywhere near Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 as it is incredibly busy because of official ceremonies. To me, there is really nothing worth seeing beside the USS Arizona Memorial. I would not go, just to go.

 

The only part of Downtown worth much is Chinatown, other than Iolani Palace and the Aliʻiolani Hale. You can do that is less than two hours. Then you can head towards Waikiki and Ala Moana using an Uber or taxi.

 

 

 

 

[cccole]

As mentioned in previous posts I would not go to Pearl Harbor on December 7.  If you rent a car and want to do a "whistle stop" tour I recommend late in the day. If you have not been to the Iolani Palace before I also recommend it.  The only royal palace in the United States and the audio tours are really good.  Reservations are recommended.   I think I have read that Enterprise is a good car rental company near the port.  If you drive to Waikiki I would valet at one of the hotels or you can possibly get metered parking in the public lot next to the zoo.  If you do not rent a car you will enjoy having Uber, Lift, taxi, or arranged driver shuttle you around.  Have a great time whatever you choose.  Cherie. p.s.  Also, I see that you will be there in December.  Honolulu has great Christmas lights.  You can just walk around or reserve a trolley ride to take you around. It's fun.

Edited September 6 by cccole

[ShallIDoIt]

On 9/5/2024 at 2:26 AM, DCwom said:

Sounds like a lot to do in one day.

 

I didn't find the museum at Pearl Harbor very impressive, nothing I haven't already learned or seen elsewhere, but then again I'm a history buff, so I've seen a lot of WWII stuff. If the AZ memorial and battleship aren't open, I don't know if you'd want to use your precious time on Oahu to do a "drive by".

 

We were 5 nights in our hotel a block from the ocean on Waikiki and never watched a sunset, although we walked the beach several times after dark, so many things to do! We took the bus downtime a couple of times to the museums, cheap, but it did eat some time, on the plus side we did get a good look at the homeless/mentally ill problems facing the island. I don't think we would have wanted to walk to the port after dark from downtown.  @princeton123211 suggestion about renting a car in Waikiki rather than the airport is sound advice, we rented from Avis in the International marketplace which is pretty much in the heart Waikiki for the 1 day we needed a car.

 

I hope I don't come across trying to steer you in any direction, I'm not, its your vacation and what I like may not be what you like.

 

[ShallIDoIt]

Thank you for your input. The only thing with Pearl Harbour is that it will be the only day we will be in Honolulu area. Being from the UK it will be our one and only time we will go to Hawaii, so I do want to go to Pearl Harbour even if it is just a brief visit. It's just unfortunate for us that we dock on the 7th December into Honolulu!

 

We are not really interested in tours/museums anyway, so for us just to being there, seeing the harbour and just having a quick walk round just to say we have been there is enough for us.  

[ShallIDoIt]

On 9/4/2024 at 1:56 AM, DCwom said:

 

You do NOT want a car, parking isn't easy and its expensive. We used Ubers, even the public bus isn't bad, but if time is a premium then just do the Uber thing. We were in Oahu for 6 days and only went downtown twice, once for the palace and once for HOMA and the Doris Duke house. Unless you are really into palace stuff, I'd skip downtown altogether.

 

If you like hiking, Diamond head is close to Waikiki, but you need tickets, so plan accordingly. There are the color trolleys that you can hop on/off, there are multiple routes (colors) I'm not sure how they are when a cruise ship is in port, we did NOT ride them, so I cannot comment on them.

 

Dec 7 is a real wild card, surely they will have special events which could freeze you out. BTW, it was an attack, not an invasion, the Japanese never landed troops.

Sorry about the wrong choice of word. Attack was what I meant to say....attack on Pearl Harbour obviously not the invasion of Pearl Harbour

[ShallIDoIt]

On 9/6/2024 at 11:26 PM, cccole said:

As mentioned in previous posts I would not go to Pearl Harbor on December 7.  If you rent a car and want to do a "whistle stop" tour I recommend late in the day. If you have not been to the Iolani Palace before I also recommend it.  The only royal palace in the United States and the audio tours are really good.  Reservations are recommended.   I think I have read that Enterprise is a good car rental company near the port.  If you drive to Waikiki I would valet at one of the hotels or you can possibly get metered parking in the public lot next to the zoo.  If you do not rent a car you will enjoy having Uber, Lift, taxi, or arranged driver shuttle you around.  Have a great time whatever you choose.  Cherie. p.s.  Also, I see that you will be there in December.  Honolulu has great Christmas lights.  You can just walk around or reserve a trolley ride to take you around. It's fun.

 

[ShallIDoIt]

Thank you for your input. The only thing with Pearl Harbour is that it will be the only day we will be in Honolulu area. Being from the UK it will be our one and only time we will go to Hawaii, so I do want to go to Pearl Harbour even if it is just a brief visit. It's just unfortunate for us that we dock on the 7th December into Honolulu!

 

We are not really interested in tours/museums anyway, so for us just to being there, seeing the harbour and just having a quick walk round just to say we have been there is enough for us.  

[ShallIDoIt]

On 9/6/2024 at 11:26 PM, cccole said:

As mentioned in previous posts I would not go to Pearl Harbor on December 7.  If you rent a car and want to do a "whistle stop" tour I recommend late in the day. If you have not been to the Iolani Palace before I also recommend it.  The only royal palace in the United States and the audio tours are really good.  Reservations are recommended.   I think I have read that Enterprise is a good car rental company near the port.  If you drive to Waikiki I would valet at one of the hotels or you can possibly get metered parking in the public lot next to the zoo.  If you do not rent a car you will enjoy having Uber, Lift, taxi, or arranged driver shuttle you around.  Have a great time whatever you choose.  Cherie. p.s.  Also, I see that you will be there in December.  Honolulu has great Christmas lights.  You can just walk around or reserve a trolley ride to take you around. It's fun.

Thank you for your input. The only thing with Pearl Harbour is that it will be the only day we will be in Honolulu area. Being from the UK it will be our one and only time we will go to Hawaii, so I do want to go to Pearl Harbour even if it is just a brief visit. It's just unfortunate for us that we dock on the 7th December into Honolulu!

 

We are not really interested in tours/museums anyway, so for us just to being there, seeing the harbour and just having a quick walk round just to say we have been there is enough for us.  

[ShallIDoIt]

On 9/4/2024 at 10:59 PM, princeton123211 said:

There is-- you can drive or there is a public bus. It might say 37 minutes on Google Maps but usually there is traffic in and around Honolulu and at some times of the day it can be substantial. I would budget at least an hour each way if you rent a car and drive yourself and close to an hour and a half or more to use the bus each way. 

 

Honestly if you are going to other islands in Hawaii you can do similar things at even more picturesque places. You can have a very similar ATV experience at Kipu Ranch in Kauai and it might be a better use of time when there is so much to see in Waikiki in Oahu. Food for thought. 

 

There is a free museum that is part of the USS Arizona Memorial. The visitors center and small museum are open but I believe all tours on December 7th are suspended due to various ceremonies happening. It is also the busiest day of the year there. It frankly might be worth avoiding due to the heavy crowds and coming back to visit on a subsequent visit. We had friends go one year and the parking lot opened at 5am and it was pretty full by 7am. 

 

I wouldn't make a big effort to visit downtown Honolulu after dark-- not much going on and the nightlife is in Waikiki. Downtown has a few great museums that are worth it, but they are only open during the day. The Iolani Palace or The Bishop Museum might be a great substitution for Pearl Harbor if you decide the crowds are too much to warrant a visit. 

 

If you limit your touring to Pearl Harbor/Honolulu/Waikiki it can all be done extremely cost effectively by Ubers which are plentiful and easy there. If you choose to venture to Kualoa Ranch you will most likely want to rent a car-- giving up 3 hours on a bus even on a 16 hour port visit is still not fun or a good use of time. If you do rent a car I would do so from one of the rental counters in Waikiki (there are various Hertz, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Sixt downtown) and this will spare you from having to Uber to and from the airport. It will also allow you to drop back off downtown and then go to Waikiki in the evening. 

Thank you. I agree the best option seems to be to hire a car in Waikiki. However whenever i try to put an address in for Waikiki it says no cars available or it only comes up for collection from Honolulu airport. I have tried the different car hire companies, they give me lots of options for addresses in waikiki (mainly hotels) but when i click on them its saying unavailable. I suspect that it is because the car hire offices are closed on a Saturday or closed at the times we want to pick up/return the car. I can't believe it is so difficult to rent a car. We have hired cars from lots of places in the US and never seem to have so may problems.

[cccole]

@ShallIDoIt  Have you tried Discount Hawaii Car Rental?  Personally I prefer renting a car in Waikiki because it's easy for p/u and d/o.  There are rental car companies in the Hyatt which we prefer.  If you look at DHCR you can see costs for all locations.  I did a quick look and December 7 was available.  I understand you wanting to see the Pearl Harbor site.  My recommendation is still making it a stop closer to closing time for Pearl Harbor to avoid much of the crowds and possibly have easier parking.  Enjoy your day in Honolulu.  Cherie

[ShallIDoIt]

Thank you so much. I’ll take your advise on board about pearl harbour. Our plan is to hire a car from Waikiki, go to the kuoloa ranch ranch first, then pearl harbour later (if it’s not too busy) then back to Waikiki where we can drop the car off and spend the rest of the day there with perhaps just a drive through Honolulu before?? I’ll have a look at DHCR. Thank you so much

[DCwom]

8 hours ago, ShallIDoIt said:

Thank you. I agree the best option seems to be to hire a car in Waikiki. However whenever i try to put an address in for Waikiki it says no cars available or it only comes up for collection from Honolulu airport.

I found something similar when I was looking for a rental, it was usually because the hours I put in for the rental period were outside the office hours. What we did do was rent from Avis in the International Marketplace, they were open early enough for us but closed at 3:00, however they had after hours drop-off, so we kept the car well past 3:00.

[ShallIDoIt]

1 minute ago, DCwom said:

I found something similar when I was looking for a rental, it was usually because the hours I put in for the rental period were outside the office hours. What we did do was rent from Avis in the International Marketplace, they were open early enough for us but closed at 3:00, however they had after hours drop-off, so we kept the car well past 3:00.

Thank you. I saw that rental was from the marketplace on DHCR, so we’ll look at that thank you 

[princeton123211]

8 hours ago, ShallIDoIt said:

Thank you. I agree the best option seems to be to hire a car in Waikiki.

So just to clarify-- I said that renting a car would be the best option should you choose to drive out of town to Kuoloa Ranch. If you were planning on staying in Waikiki or greater Honolulu avoid renting a car at all costs. 

 

I do stand by what I said in that you can have a very similar experience to Kuoloa Ranch in Kauai and personally that would be where I would do it because there is far less to do there than in Honolulu. 

 

8 hours ago, ShallIDoIt said:

However whenever i try to put an address in for Waikiki it says no cars available or it only comes up for collection from Honolulu airport. I have tried the different car hire companies, they give me lots of options for addresses in waikiki (mainly hotels) but when i click on them its saying unavailable. I suspect that it is because the car hire offices are closed on a Saturday or closed at the times we want to pick up/return the car.

There are Avis counters at both the Sheraton Waikiki and the International Marketplace a bit down the street which I have used on numerous occasions. You are correct that the satellite rental locations have weird hours-- the trick is to rent for a 24 hour period and make sure that your pickup and 24 hour late drop off times are within their operating hours.

 

Both locations have an after hours key drop so you can return the car early. Doing that should show you availability online-- if your return time is after their closing time it will show no availability. If it still doesn't work for some reason you can always just call them. 

[ShallIDoIt]

2 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

So just to clarify-- I said that renting a car would be the best option should you choose to drive out of town to Kuoloa Ranch. If you were planning on staying in Waikiki or greater Honolulu avoid renting a car at all costs. 

 

I do stand by what I said in that you can have a very similar experience to Kuoloa Ranch in Kauai and personally that would be where I would do it because there is far less to do there than in Honolulu. 

 

There are Avis counters at both the Sheraton Waikiki and the International Marketplace a bit down the street which I have used on numerous occasions. You are correct that the satellite rental locations have weird hours-- the trick is to rent for a 24 hour period and make sure that your pickup and 24 hour late drop off times are within their operating hours.

 

Both locations have an after hours key drop so you can return the car early. Doing that should show you availability online-- if your return time is after their closing time it will show no availability. If it still doesn't work for some reason you can always just call them. 

Sorry, I what I meant was hire a car from Waikiki and return back to Waikiki so we could explore the area. As far as Kuaui is concerned our plan is to visit the canyon there on a trip, so wouldn’t be able to fit the other ranch in, unless they are close and we could hire a car there and fit both in??

[princeton123211]

4 minutes ago, ShallIDoIt said:

unless they are close and we could hire a car there and fit both in??

That's sort of what I was suggesting-- you can rent one car vs having to rent in both Kauai and Oahu. 

[ShallIDoIt]

1 minute ago, princeton123211 said:

That's sort of what I was suggesting-- you can rent one car vs having to rent in both Kauai and Oahu. 

Ok great thank you. Good for thought. I really appreciate your help