What to do at the port stops in Hawaii

[marcyjane]

Going on NCL Pride of Aloha and was wondering what to do if you are not water people. We like walking on the beach and relaxing, but not much into the diving, swin with the dolpins etc. Also not much of hiking people either.

So what to do??? Kauai, Hilo, Kona, Maui.

Thanks for anyone's input.

Marcy

[jame_g]

Well, in Hilo I would do Volcano National Park.

 

On Maui I would do Haleakala Crater, Maui Ocean Center if you think you'd enjoy that, maybe a luau or Warren and Annabelle's. We didn't do Warren and Annabelle's, but others recommended it. A lot of people recommend Lahaina for shopping, dining, checking out an historical hawaiian town.

 

On Kauai a lot of people enjoyed Waimea Canyon. We did the Hollywood in Hawaii, which was just so-so. Some people love it, others find it somewhat lame.

 

In Kona, we did the Captain Zodiac, which was great. But it sounds like you probably aren't up for that. The glass bottom boat was nice, but we got bored about halfway through. We did enjoy checking out some of the shops and the small beach there, but that didn't take long.

[marcyjane]

Thanks so much. jame g did you go on the Volcanoes National Park tour? If so how did you like it.

We were thinking of doing a Luau on one of the islands.

Shopping ideas as well are there a lot of shops around were the ship dock.

Thanks just anyone keep the info coming

Marcy

[marcyjane]

Thanks so much. jame g did you go on the Volcanoes National Park tour? If so how did you like it.

We were thinking of doing a Luau on one of the islands.

Shopping ideas as well are there a lot of shops around were the ship dock.

Thanks just anyone keep the info coming

Marcy

[marcyjane]

Thanks so much. jame g did you go on the Volcanoes National Park tour? If so how did you like it.

We were thinking of doing a Luau on one of the islands.

Shopping ideas as well are there a lot of shops around were the ship dock.

Thanks just anyone keep the info coming

Marcy

[marcyjane]

Sorry folks double post.

 

Marcy

[jame_g]

We did the Volcano National Park and Rainbow Falls tour. It was a nice way to spend the day.

 

First stop was the falls and someone on our tour proposed to his girlfriend there and she accepted. Next was the Nani Mau gardens, which were okay, but nothing special, but several people on the tour enjoyed it. Then VNP and lunch at the Volcano House. Lunch was a buffet. VNP was nice, the large crater, the steam vents with the smell and color of the sulfur. Very interesting to be in an area like that. We travelled around the crater, stopping at 3 points. Volcano House overlookling the crater, an outlook area among the steam vents at the edge of the crater, and an outlook information center with a lot of information on the volcano. Then we visited Thurston Lava Tube. If you go here, bring a couple flashlights if you want to go past the lighted area for a ways. Someone loaned me theirs so we could go deeper. After that was the Mauna Loa Macadamia nut factory and gift shop, which was actually a nice way to end the tour. You can only look into the factory from the outside, but lots of nice treats at the gift shop. lol.

 

Shopping. You tender in Kona, but there are some shops right there in the dock area. On Kuaui, it was a bit of a walk, but there were some shops not too far off. There wasn't much very close in Hilo or on Maui, unless you had a car. Then it wasn't a far drive. In many of the ports there were shuttles that would take you to Walmart or Hilo Hatties.

[marcyjane]

jame g,

Thanks so much very good information and I appreicate you taking the time to go into detail.

Marcy

[hncg57c]

I'm not sure if you're into the adventure kind of stuff...In Kauai, we took a helicopter tour of the island. This was my family's favorite excursion. It was absolutely amazing...beautiful scenery and we got to see all of the major sites in Kauai. Another exciting excursion we did was ziplining at the Haleakala Crater in Maui. We all enjoyed this as well. We booked both of these excursions on our own.

 

For Kona, we had trouble deciding on what to do...but finally half of our group did the ATV adventure at Kahua Ranch and the other half did the Kona Coast and Parker Ranch tour. If I remember correctly, for Kona, NCL did offer a couple of different siteseeing tours (historical tour, coffee now and then tour, etc.).

 

Are you planning or renting a car? It wold allow you to do more things than some of the excursions offer. For instance, in Maui for two days, we were able to go to Iao Valley, Maui Tropical Plantation, Lahaina, ziplining at Haleakala Crater, and Haleakala Crater. Also, having a car gives you the option to stay at places longer than a tour bus would.

[marcyjane]

Doubt that we will rent a car on any of the islands. Due to the fact that we are two over 55 baby boomer women with no sense of direction (Ha!)

I have booked tours on other cruises on our own from searching the web and as well as from suggestion from cruise critic memebers and all went well, I just always worried that on no ship excurision about making sure we made it back to the ship on time . The last cruise to Alaska we went with the ships tours so we had no worry that we would make it back on time and even on one cut it really close.

Just keep giving me great tour ideas and information as all will be helpful.

Thanks to all you cruise critic members you all alway come though.

Marcy

[Grandpp]

Hi...We're sailing PoAm 10/28. So exciting! My DH and I are like you and don't really want to drive around getting lost. I may change my mind and rent a car one day on Kauai though. I had planned to take the tour to Fern Grotto but now understand it is closed. I'm afraid of heights so don't want to do a heli tour (although my DH would love it).

 

I suggest you check out www.hawaiiportreviews.com for some good info on ports.

 

Our mustsees are a luau and a waterfall. So we will go to Akaka falls on Hilo. I'm really not interested in VNP although it seems EVERYONE ELSE says it is not to be missed. I'm also concerned that some areas are high altitude and not good for someone who has had recent heart problems.

 

Have fun planning!

 

Theresa

[spleen93]

Nowhere in VNP is high enough of an altitude to affect anybody. The summit of Haleakala on Maui may be another matter but VNP shouldn't be a problem for anybody altitude-wise.

 

Spleen