MAUI - Rainforest & waterfall Hike

[lvcruises]

Has anyone done the Rainforest & waterfall hike from an NCL ship? I'm booked on the POH in Aug. I was wondering if it included a continental breakfast and light lunch. The NCL website just says a snack at the falls. We are doing this instead of the Road to Hana, we figured it would be more fun plus we would still get to see part of the Road to Hana plus just more of Maui. Please let me know what you thought.

[lvcruises]

I guess since no one has posted, no one has taken this trip. I hope it doesn't mean its a really bad excursion. Please any information will be appreciated!:confused:

[CC Help Michell]

I guess since no one has posted, no one has taken this trip. I hope it doesn't mean its a really bad excursion. Please any information will be appreciated!:confused:

 

Well, since you haven't had any replies, I'll give it a shot. :) I read the detailed description of this five hour excursion on the NCL website. It sounds as if you go a fairly short way up the Road to Hana, to the Garden of Eden botanical gardens, then take a moderate hike to waterfalls. As I recall, the Garden of Eden location was after the first rest area on the Road to Hana, within the first hour or so of the road. The price charged by NCL is $129 per person for adults.

 

By contrast, we took the Road to Hana with Ekahi Tours, booked through adventuremaui.com. Our tour lasted from 8:30 AM until 6:30 PM. We did the entire Road to Hana (what you can do now; the circle road around Haleakala is closed due to earthquake damage). We had a breakfast stop, a deli lunch on a beautiful beach at Hana Bay where you could swim if you wanted to -- and we did, stopped at several locations (including waterfalls), visited Keanae Peninsula (my favorite stop of all on the tour... it was breathtaking), saw Hana and some amazing coastal scenery, stopped at Oheo Gulch (a/k/a the seven pools -- about 1/2 mile of hiking involved to go swim in the pools and if you are adventuresome, jump into them from overhangs), and saw some beautiful farmland, horse farms, and the old Congregational Church where Charles Lindbergh is buried. The cost was $114.00 for adults before tipping our marvelous tour guide, who is a resident of Hana. They also offer a "halfway to Hana" tour that goes to Keanae Peninsula and back for $87.00 (a brief swimming option at a waterfall on that one).

 

I guess the decision (pending someone posting here who took the Rainforest/Waterfall tour and loved it!) comes down to your priorities. I love beautiful flowers and plants -- but I saw plenty enough to satisfy me on the Road to Hana without visiting the Garden of Eden. I love waterfalls.. but the small ones in the seven pools satisfied me there (as well as the ones we saw at stops along the way).

 

You mentioned in your first post wanting to see "more of Maui" -- I have to say that based on the NCL description, you will see far more of Maui, especially rural Maui, if you do the full Road to Hana than doing this excursion. However, I've been wrong before, and I can only offer our own experience for comparison.

 

Good luck deciding and have a marvelous cruise, whatever you choose! :)

[lvcruises]

Thanks MichellP. I read your great Review and Post on the Hawaii board, you gave a lot of wonderful information. We actually had the Road to Hana booked, my fear is my husband will be bored. He will probably end up sleeping the whole way back and will probably be tired of riding after the 2-3 hour in the van.

 

Do they let you get out at a lot of stops to look around? What about on the way back to the ship? We are in our 40's and my husband doesn't like to sit around. Thanks again for you insight. I know we will have a great time no matter what....It is Hawaii...how can you not!!!

[CC Help Michell]

Thanks MichellP. I read your great Review and Post on the Hawaii board, you gave a lot of wonderful information. We actually had the Road to Hana booked, my fear is my husband will be bored. He will probably end up sleeping the whole way back and will probably be tired of riding after the 2-3 hour in the van.

 

Do they let you get out at a lot of stops to look around? What about on the way back to the ship? We are in our 40's and my husband doesn't like to sit around. Thanks again for you insight. I know we will have a great time no matter what....It is Hawaii...how can you not!!!

 

Mahalo for your kind comments on my review. :) I've spent today haunting the boards, being post-cruise-depressed, and uploading photos (have to do something while that's happening, right?). :) We are also in our 40's and my SO is more active than I am... we had tons of stops, walk arounds, photo ops, and hiking to the seven pools during our tour to keep him interested -- plus getting to eat hot from the oven banana bread from a roadside stand! By the time we were reversing course and heading back to the ship both of us were pretty tired, but in a happy-tired way if that makes sense?

 

It was about a 90 minute ride back after the last restroom stop... we didn't sleep, but we weren't the liveliest people around -- we did enjoy the gorgeous view outside the windows, though. On the other hand, our tour guide asked everyone what we were doing the next day, and when SO and I said the sunrise bike ride at Haleakala, she had a lot of great info for us because she used to drive that tour!

 

I'd discuss it with your DH (show him the posts, descriptions, etc)... if he'd really be bored he might prefer the Molokini snorkel, the non-sunrise Haleakala bike ride (if day one on Maui), a beach day at Ka'anapali, a trip to Lahaina, or even the Trilogy trip to Lanai (spendy but I've heard it's awesome). When we return to Maui (it will happen someday, after a few other priorities in Hawaii) I'd love to do the Trilogy sail, and we definitely WILL spend a few days at Lahaina. :)

 

I will say that even though my SO left it to me to plan our trip, I worried myself to a frazzle over him, his reactions, would he have fun, would he want to cruise again -- and when all was said and done he was just amazed at how much wonderful stuff we did and thanked me for the planning. He agreed to book a future cruise through the on board promotion, and I promised HIM that next time I'll build in more downtime and pick an itinerary with more days at sea and rest time! ;)

[lvcruises]

We are actually doing the Molokini Snorkel the second day. I hope it is a good trip, he really likes to snorkel, I'm always the last one in the water and the first one out of the water...

 

I have been worring about by DH also, wanting to make sure what I pick is something that will keep him interested. We hate sea days and just sitting on the beach. I will show him these posts and print outs of the NCL write ups. I will also check out adventuremaui.com to see what they have. I've been calling NCL about once a week changing our excursions and adding Bon Voyage packages. They have been so nice and easy to work with. Thanks again for all your information.

[CC Help Michell]

We are actually doing the Molokini Snorkel the second day. I hope it is a good trip, he really likes to snorkel, I'm always the last one in the water and the first one out of the water...

 

I have been worring about by DH also, wanting to make sure what I pick is something that will keep him interested. We hate sea days and just sitting on the beach. I will show him these posts and print outs of the NCL write ups. I will also check out adventuremaui.com to see what they have. I've been calling NCL about once a week changing our excursions and adding Bon Voyage packages. They have been so nice and easy to work with. Thanks again for all your information.

 

No problem, and consider the honeymoon/romance package as well -- we just did the $79 one and were very well satisfied with it. And (this won't work, because nobody could have told me this before our trip, but I'll try) -- if DH doesn't wanna step up and do the homework, and speak up for what he wants to do, he needs to live with what you found and booked, and smile while he's at it! :) Like I said, it won't work, it wouldn't have for me and my SO (Mr. "a bicycle ride on the volcano is all I want"), but at least I tried! ;)

[lucki8ball]

I envy you!!!!! The Rainforest Hike was my favorite tour of all!!!!!! We cruised the islands a few years back, the first year the "Pride of Aloha" sailed. I rave about the hike!!!!!! I was a little worried about going on the tour when they talked about health and all since I have asthma. But I am so glad that I decided to go. The garden of Eden is absolutely breath taking!!!! They give you sandwiches and plenty of fruit on the tour. I love the pineapple there!!! Nothing like it!!!!! They gave us plenty of fresh pineapple a the end of the tour. You will disover a whole new world with fresh shampoo. You'll understand when you get there. We swam in two waterfalls. Again I envy you!!!!! I want to visit again!!! I would like to stay at the Sheraton. We went to a Luai there. Awesome!!! If you do this make sure you get your pictures taken at just the right time when the sun is setting. The pictures turn out awesome. I hope you receive this message in time. If you have any other guestions please feel free to ask. :)

[karatemom2]

I envy you!!!!! The Rainforest Hike was my favorite tour of all!!!!!! We cruised the islands a few years back, the first year the "Pride of Aloha" sailed. I rave about the hike!!!!!! I was a little worried about going on the tour when they talked about health and all since I have asthma. But I am so glad that I decided to go. The garden of Eden is absolutely breath taking!!!! They give you sandwiches and plenty of fruit on the tour. I love the pineapple there!!! Nothing like it!!!!! They gave us plenty of fresh pineapple a the end of the tour. You will disover a whole new world with fresh shampoo. You'll understand when you get there. We swam in two waterfalls. Again I envy you!!!!! I want to visit again!!! I would like to stay at the Sheraton. We went to a Luai there. Awesome!!! If you do this make sure you get your pictures taken at just the right time when the sun is setting. The pictures turn out awesome. I hope you receive this message in time. If you have any other guestions please feel free to ask. :)

 

Thank you for this review. This is the excursion we haved planned for Maui and it just helps to hear from someone who has done it already.

[lvcruises]

I envy you!!!!! The Rainforest Hike was my favorite tour of all!!!!!! We cruised the islands a few years back, the first year the "Pride of Aloha" sailed. I rave about the hike!!!!!! I was a little worried about going on the tour when they talked about health and all since I have asthma. But I am so glad that I decided to go. The garden of Eden is absolutely breath taking!!!! They give you sandwiches and plenty of fruit on the tour. I love the pineapple there!!! Nothing like it!!!!! They gave us plenty of fresh pineapple a the end of the tour. You will disover a whole new world with fresh shampoo. You'll understand when you get there. We swam in two waterfalls. Again I envy you!!!!! I want to visit again!!! I would like to stay at the Sheraton. We went to a Luai there. Awesome!!! If you do this make sure you get your pictures taken at just the right time when the sun is setting. The pictures turn out awesome. I hope you receive this message in time. If you have any other guestions please feel free to ask. :)

 

Thanks lucki8ball, I had all but given up on hearing back from anyone on this excursion. We leave for Hawaii in 9 days. We are really looking forward to this tour we thought it would give us a chance to experience Maui in a unique way. I'm glad to hear you really enjoyed it. Did you happen to do the Discover jungle falls by kayak in kauai? I haven't been able to get much feedback on this one either. Thanks again.:)

[lucki8ball]

Sorry but I can't help you there. We went snorkeling on the Body Glove tour. It was alot of fun but unfortunately we didn't see any dolphins. I guess you have to go in the afternoon to see them. They had plenty of food on this tour. My daughter and I also went surfing in Kaui. That was alot of fun too but the surf boards are so hard to carry on top of your head. Anyway, happy to hear that you received my message. Have fun!!!!!! I can't wait to go back!!!!! Don't forget to use the hot tub in the front of the ship. It has a waterfall!!! Pretty awesome!!! :D