Missing anything, or are we overdoing it?

[seansmum]

Hi, I think I have our itinerary worked out but any and all suggestions are welcome.

 

Sat. Sept.1

Honolulu

Plane arrives@ 2:40PM

Get on ship & relax

8:00PM Depart

 

Sun. Sept. 2

Hilo

8:00AM arrival

Pickup car @9:00AM

Volcano National Park,

Punalu'u Black Sand Beach

Return car @ 6:00PM

7:00PM Depart

 

Mon. Sept. 3

Kahului, Maui

8:00 AM arrival

Pickup car @ 9:00AM,

Iao Needle Valley, Lahaina, Jodo Mission

Drive North Shore

In port overnight

 

Tue. Sept. 4

Kahului, Maui

Chain of Craters Road

Return car @5:00PM

6:00PM Depart

 

Wed. Sept. 5

Kona

7:00AM

Find box lunch and snacks for charter. Any suggestions? We won't have a car.

10:30AM-4:30PM Fishing Charter

6:00PM Depart

 

Thur. Sept. 6

Nawiliwili

8:00AM

Pickup car @ 10:00AM Wiamea Canyon, Poipu Beach

 

In port overnight

Fri. Sept.7

Nawiliwili

Return Car @ 10:00AM

2:00PM depart

Dinner @ Jeffersons Bistro

 

Sat. Sept.8

Honolulu

7:00AM

Disembark

Plane Leaves @ 1:00PM

 

Thanks everyone for your help.

Sue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[CC Help Michell]

Hi, I think I have our itinerary worked out but any and all suggestions are welcome.

 

Sat. Sept.1

Honolulu

Plane arrives@ 2:40PM

Get on ship & relax

8:00PM Depart

 

Sun. Sept. 2

Hilo

8:00AM arrival

Pickup car @9:00AM

Volcano National Park,

Punalu'u Black Sand Beach

Return car @ 6:00PM

7:00PM Depart

 

Mon. Sept. 3

Kahului, Maui

8:00 AM arrival

Pickup car @ 9:00AM,

Iao Needle Valley, Lahaina, Jodo Mission

Drive North Shore

In port overnight

 

Tue. Sept. 4

Kahului, Maui

Chain of Craters Road

Return car @5:00PM

6:00PM Depart

 

I think I'm missing something -- Chain of Craters Road is in Volcanoes National Park, on the Big Island?

 

Wed. Sept. 5

Kona

7:00AM

Find box lunch and snacks for charter. Any suggestions? We won't have a car.

10:30AM-4:30PM Fishing Charter

6:00PM Depart

 

Thur. Sept. 6

Nawiliwili

8:00AM

Pickup car @ 10:00AM Wiamea Canyon, Poipu Beach

 

In port overnight

 

Fri. Sept.7

Nawiliwili

Return Car @ 10:00AM

2:00PM depart

Dinner @ Jeffersons Bistro

 

Are you using the car for something on this day? If not, you could save $10 overnight parking by returning the car the day before.

 

Sat. Sept.8

Honolulu

7:00AM

Disembark

Plane Leaves @ 1:00PM

 

Thanks everyone for your help.

Sue

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I think the 2 things I noticed are just typos. :) Otherwise this looks like a sane, reasonable itinerary to me.

[seansmum]

Thanks MichellP,

Yes, Chain of Craters Road was a typo. As for keeping the car we are just keeping all options open you never know what exciting might come up. But if we are tired we'll definitely keep that in mind. Thanks a bunch.

Sue

[Omega1]

We have just returned from PoAm cruise and our itinerary was almost identical - it worked out great.

Our only observations would be - we drove the Road to Hana on day 2 on Maui (presumably that's what you meant). This was a highlight of our visit.

I agree with MichellP, a car for day 2 on Kauai is not necessary, we did a helicopter trip that morning - awesome!

[judyf]

We have just returned from PoAm cruise and our itinerary was almost identical - it worked out great.

Our only observations would be - we drove the Road to Hana on day 2 on Maui (presumably that's what you meant). This was a highlight of our visit.

I agree with MichellP, a car for day 2 on Kauai is not necessary, we did a helicopter trip that morning - awesome!

 

Did you go to the end of the RTH or hlafay on day #2?

[Suzila]

In Hilo, we 'tried' to pick up a car at 9:00am, and the cars were all gone by then. We rented through the cruise line, and they used Alamo, but that really didn't matter....ALL the rental car companies had NO cars by 9:00am! Get out there to rent your car as soon as the ship docks. Everyone had to wait an additional 45 minutes before any type of cars were available.

 

When we rented in Maui, pretty early in the a.m., they had no more compacts available, so they gave us a convertible. That was fine with us, but if you're renting a compact, be aware that those are the cars that go first.

 

We did the Zipline in Maui, and I'd recommend it for anyone. Really, I have rheumatoid arthritis...if 'I' can do it, ANYONE can do it. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

[seansmum]

In Hilo, we 'tried' to pick up a car at 9:00am, and the cars were all gone by then.

We did the Zipline in Maui, and I'd recommend it for anyone. Really, I have rheumatoid arthritis...if 'I' can do it, ANYONE can do it. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

Suzila,

Did you have advance reservations for your car? As for the zipline I don't even do ferris wheels ( afraid of heights ). But, thanks for the suggestion.

Sue

[milolii]

I would reserve a car, especially in Hilo. Visit gohawaii.com

 

In Kailua-Kona, you can get any type of box lunch at the KTA supermarket. It is up a hill on Palani Road about three blocks. Palani Rd is at the cruise ship dock. Well, actually you tender in.

 

Otherwise there are ABC stores, two of them, on Alli Drive, that have snacks and limited already made items. The one in the Kona Inn shopping plaza has more items. The flea market will also be open on Wednesday and you can get fresh fruit there. It is also on Alii. No hill involved here, turn right at doc. Stop in front of the Konaweb cam, (mounted on the Century 21 building)call your friends back home and wait for them to see you on the cam. Visit konaweb.com.

 

Aloha!

[Omega1]

Hello judyf

Sorry for the delay in responding. We did the Road to Hana on the first day on Maui - collecting the car at 8am and getting back to the port at 6pm. One tip I got from this site was to prepare an itinerary of the things that interested us from the chapter in the Maui Revealed book. From experience it is not really possible to see everything listed in the book. The benefit of our own itinerary for the drive was to be able to prioritise the things we wanted to see alongside the appropriate mile marker - it helped greatly.

[judyf]

Hello judyf

Sorry for the delay in responding. We did the Road to Hana on the first day on Maui - collecting the car at 8am and getting back to the port at 6pm. One tip I got from this site was to prepare an itinerary of the things that interested us from the chapter in the Maui Revealed book. From experience it is not really possible to see everything listed in the book. The benefit of our own itinerary for the drive was to be able to prioritise the things we wanted to see alongside the appropriate mile marker - it helped greatly.

 

Thanks for the tips. I have set an itinerary already :rolleyes: I wanted everything written down by mm so we knew where it was if we wanted to stop.

 

I'm really looking forward to the RTH.:D

[beachchick]

Couple of general notes:

 

You really absolutely must reserve any cars in advance. They often sell out of available cars and, in some ports, the shuttle drivers have lists of pax with reservations and will only take those pax to the rental locations. (There are no rentals actually at the ports due to security, space, logistics, personnel, and any number of other factors.) Remember that you're competing with the thousands of land visitors every day of the year for a limited number of cars.

 

Also, the question about "missing" anything is easy for me to answer: Of course you are. There's no possible way to see and do everything wonderful in Hawaii on a cruise with limited days on each island. In fact, you can't see and do it all if you have a week on each island. Come to think of it, we still haven't seen and done all we'd like to do, and my DH and I have visited Hawaii six times in the past 8 years.

 

Your schedule is full while still being reasonable. That's good. You don't want to have your memories of Hawaii to be "rush, rush, rush, what was it that we actually saw?" and you don't want them to be "we didn't do anything" either. So, you come up with a compromise of activities and "stop and smell the plumeria" times.

 

beachchick

[river_sand_bar2]

Don't forget BEACH time.... your in Hawaii.... spend some time just laying on the beach and listening to the waves.

 

Hawaii is a laid back place.... so you be that way too... Mahalo