West Coast - Hawaii Roundtrip Cruisers Thread

[vjmatty]

Hi Ginny,

Remember me ?? I am the lady from AZ that lived in the LA area (grew up there) for most of my life. My DH is going to take a helicopter tour in

Hilo and is considering one in Kauai. Have you made a reservation yet?

If so, which one are you taking? I would love for him to travel with

someone he can meet in advance. I would love to join him, but DO NOT

like flying and so will not consider a helicopter tour..so he must travel

alone, but certainly want him to enjoy this once in a lifetime adventure.

Cindy

 

Of course, I know you from our Roll Call :)

 

I booked the Kauai helicopter ride through Safari... they come to the pier and pick us up, then bring us back afterward. I booked it through the Safari web site which has a special internet rate under $200. I think they come around 8:45am.

 

Here is their website, if you want to book the same tour-

 

http://www.safarihelicopters.com/kauaitours.html

[Sissy Ruth]

Of course, I know you from our Roll Call :)

 

I booked the Kauai helicopter ride through Safari... they come to the pier and pick us up, then bring us back afterward. I booked it through the Safari web site which has a special internet rate under $200. I think they come around 8:45am.

 

Here is their website, if you want to book the same tour-

 

http://www.safarihelicopters.com/kauaitours.html

 

Thanks Ginny,

I did book my DH, Bud's, tour with them. What a savings, plus if you book on board with Princess, it is not refundable. That may be the case with

Safari, but in the event of a problem, I'd rather fight with Safari than

Princess. Also, if he enjoys the tour, I am sure he can always book

a Kauai tour with them at that time also. I set up a 10 am for him as

I am concerned about him bring able to get off the ship in time as I

am sure the Princess tours will get priority. Thanks again

Cindy

[karatemom2]

I set up a 10 am for him as

I am concerned about him bring able to get off the ship in time as I

am sure the Princess tours will get priority. Thanks again

Cindy

 

Cindy don't worry about having to wait to leave the ship in Kauai. The Golden docks in Kauai, so you are able to exit as soon as the all clear announcement is made. We have done this cruise the last two years and in both instances were able to walk off promptly at 8 a.m.

[vjmatty]

Cindy don't worry about having to wait to leave the ship in Kauai. The Golden docks in Kauai, so you are able to exit as soon as the all clear announcement is made. We have done this cruise the last two years and in both instances were able to walk off promptly at 8 a.m.

 

That is good to know, since they are supposed to pick us up at the pier before 9.

[Sissy Ruth]

Cindy don't worry about having to wait to leave the ship in Kauai. The Golden docks in Kauai, so you are able to exit as soon as the all clear announcement is made. We have done this cruise the last two years and in both instances were able to walk off promptly at 8 a.m.

 

Thanks for the info, but he is booked for Hilo, not Kauai. However, if we

dock there, it is probably the same as in Kauai. They say in his confirmation that he is to meet in the "Aloha Room" at the port for pick

up. Is that close to where we disembark? I am only worried because he

will be alone and I will be off on another tour. He will probably be fine

alone, but I am the one that always checks out these details and all he

has to do in just kick back & go along..but after 42 years, there is no

changing that.

Cindy

[karatemom2]

Thanks for the info, but he is booked for Hilo, not Kauai. However, if we

dock there, it is probably the same as in Kauai. They say in his confirmation that he is to meet in the "Aloha Room" at the port for pick

up. Is that close to where we disembark? I am only worried because he

will be alone and I will be off on another tour. He will probably be fine

alone, but I am the one that always checks out these details and all he

has to do in just kick back & go along..but after 42 years, there is no

changing that.

Cindy

 

Yes it's the same in Hilo as you dock there as well. There is a large structure at the port that you walk through as you exit the ship. There are numerous vendors there and while I'm not sure where the Aloha Room is, it is probably somewhere in that building. I'm sure someone will be able to offer him direction if needed. I do understand your concern though because I'm always the one getting us from point A to point B as well.

[vjmatty]

Those of you who have done the RT on Princess.... I have a question about Ultimate Balcony Dining. If we are in an aft balcony on the Golden, will the weather be too rough in April to do UBD on the sea days? Our anniversary is the 12th of April which happens to be a returning sea day and I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate.

[karatemom2]

Those of you who have done the RT on Princess.... I have a question about Ultimate Balcony Dining. If we are in an aft balcony on the Golden, will the weather be too rough in April to do UBD on the sea days? Our anniversary is the 12th of April which happens to be a returning sea day and I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate.

 

Ginny is it one of the first or second sea days after you head home? The closer you are to Hawaii, the nicer it is generally. If you don't mind celebrating a bit early, you might consider doing it on one of the evenings in Hawaii that you are sailing between the islands. Those tend to be the very nicest evenings outside. Our last night in Maui was just gorgeous as we sailed away. It would have been a lovely time for a balcony dinner.

[vjmatty]

Ginny is it one of the first or second sea days after you head home? The closer you are to Hawaii, the nicer it is generally. If you don't mind celebrating a bit early, you might consider doing it on one of the evenings in Hawaii that you are sailing between the islands. Those tend to be the very nicest evenings outside. Our last night in Maui was just gorgeous as we sailed away. It would have been a lovely time for a balcony dinner.

 

Hmm... our last day on the islands is Maui on the 9th, so the 12th would be two days before we are in Ensenada, or the third sea day back. You're right, could be getting rough by then.

 

Maybe Kauai, since we board kind of early, would be a good day for it.

[Sissy Ruth]

Yes it's the same in Hilo as you dock there as well. There is a large structure at the port that you walk through as you exit the ship. There are numerous vendors there and while I'm not sure where the Aloha Room is, it is probably somewhere in that building. I'm sure someone will be able to offer him direction if needed. I do understand your concern though because I'm always the one getting us from point A to point B as well.

 

Mary, since you just returned, perhaps you could give me some advice,

or advice from any readers here, would be appreciated.

We have looked over the many tours offered in Kauai, but since my

DH's age (cannot walk for long distances or stand for long periods of time which,) prohibits the strenuous tours, we are between the Lighthouse/Garden tour (I have a fascination with lighthouses in general), or the Wailua River Cruise & Fern Grotto. This will be our second attempt

to visit Kauai since the ship could not enter on our first attempt and

we had to be content to cruise around the island all day to see what

we weren't going to get to see. Any suggestions or advice would be

appreciated.

[elsie3939]

Have you considered renting a car? The airport is relatively close and a shuttle will take you there. My husband just turned 79 and we are renting a car in each port (not Oahu) as we have done on our past 4 cruises to Hawaii.

 

We think that the driving is pretty simple. The road to Princeville is beautiful and you can take any number of side trips along the way. In the past we have used a number of guidebooks and have liked Fielding's Hawaii BUT the BEST is "The (Blue) Ultimate Kauai Guidebook" Kauai Revealed. It is awesome and will tell you which side trips to take.

 

Everything on Kauai is beautiful. It is not called the Garden Island for nothing. If you rent a car, I'd go up north and have a late lunch at the Princeville Hotel and enjoy the view of Hanalei. Gorgeous setting...decent lunch...If time permits you can continue farther north...we have made it all the way to Ha'ena and the Limahuli Garden but we bypassed alot of sites along the way (and lunch at the Princeville). Kauai is our favorite Island and I can not imagine taking a ship's tour of it! I know you'll love whatever you do. Elsie

[Tallcruiser]

We are about to sail! I was thinking about posting "live"...... What do you think???? Should I post here on the R/t thread or on Princess????:confused:

 

Elsie, where do you find the time???:eek: See you in a few days;)

 

Robin

[vjmatty]

Have a great cruise everyone who is leaving this week! We will be doing the same in two months :)

[karatemom2]

Mary, since you just returned, perhaps you could give me some advice,

or advice from any readers here, would be appreciated.

We have looked over the many tours offered in Kauai, but since my

DH's age (cannot walk for long distances or stand for long periods of time which,) prohibits the strenuous tours, we are between the Lighthouse/Garden tour (I have a fascination with lighthouses in general), or the Wailua River Cruise & Fern Grotto. This will be our second attempt

to visit Kauai since the ship could not enter on our first attempt and

we had to be content to cruise around the island all day to see what

we weren't going to get to see. Any suggestions or advice would be

appreciated.

 

The suggestion to rent a car is a good one if it would be a comfortable situation for your DH. Kauai is very easy to navigate and a car provides the best opportunity to see the natural beauty and stop at places where you want to spend some time. If a Princess tour works better for you, those sound like good choices. I am sort of partial to the Kilauea Lighthouse myself. I love the drive north and the lighthouse and the area around it are gorgeous with amazing views.

[karatemom2]

We are about to sail! I was thinking about posting "live"...... What do you think???? Should I post here on the R/t thread or on Princess????:confused:

 

Elsie, where do you find the time???:eek: See you in a few days;)

 

Robin

 

I'm sure all the round trip cruisers would enjoy reading your live report here if that works for you. If you prefer to put it on the Princess board, I would be happy to post the links here so people checking here can access it. Thanks for taking the time on your vacation to keep us updated!

[mamapickle]

we are on HAL Zaandam March 7 r/t Hawaii. We will be in Kauai 8-5 and plan to rent a car. Any suggestions for us for sightseeing? Also, will we have time to drive north as you have suggested?

pat

[karatemom2]

we are on HAL Zaandam March 7 r/t Hawaii. We will be in Kauai 8-5 and plan to rent a car. Any suggestions for us for sightseeing? Also, will we have time to drive north as you have suggested?

pat

 

You should definitely have time to drive north if you get an early start. There are some beautiful places to stop on the way. There are a couple of waterfalls on the way and the Kilauea lighthouse is a lovely place to spend some time. If you take your time and stop on the way to see the sights, you can still make it to Hanalei and enjoy some time at the end of the road. Kee Beach is one of my favorite spots. It's like a little bit of paradise. Just be sure to allow yourself at least two hours for the drive back and to return your car so you don't cut it too close getting back to the ship.

[Sissy Ruth]

The suggestion to rent a car is a good one if it would be a comfortable situation for your DH. Kauai is very easy to navigate and a car provides the best opportunity to see the natural beauty and stop at places where you want to spend some time. If a Princess tour works better for you, those sound like good choices. I am sort of partial to the Kilauea Lighthouse myself. I love the drive north and the lighthouse and the area around it are gorgeous with amazing views.

Thanks for the advice. I wanted to thank Elsie also, but she is probably

frantically packing to leave. Anyway, my DH is in agreement that we

would probably have a better time if we rented a car and forego the

"geezer" bus tour. Some might consider us "geezers", but you know

what I mean if you have done ship tours in the past and believe me,

we've done a bunch, but the worst were on HAL last March!!

If we are going to rent a car, can you or anyone suggest a rental

company in Kauai that is reliable. Also, is there cell phone signals

when driving around as I know most of Kauai is the "boonies."?

I'll look into the guidebook suggestions Elsie gave me.

Thanks in advance

Cindy

[vjmatty]

Thanks for the advice. I wanted to thank Elsie also, but she is probably

frantically packing to leave. Anyway, my DH is in agreement that we

would probably have a better time if we rented a car and forego the

"geezer" bus tour. Some might consider us "geezers", but you know

what I mean if you have done ship tours in the past and believe me,

we've done a bunch, but the worst were on HAL last March!!

If we are going to rent a car, can you or anyone suggest a rental

company in Kauai that is reliable. Also, is there cell phone signals

when driving around as I know most of Kauai is the "boonies."?

I'll look into the guidebook suggestions Elsie gave me.

Thanks in advance

Cindy

 

You know, I actually went out of my way to make sure none of the tours we booked involved extended time on motorcoach rides. I even changed our horseback riding tour to Oahu so we would drive there instead of being on a 90 minute bus ride in Maui ;)

 

For rental companies I have heard that Thrifty is best for the islands.... I booked with them for Oahu, and here is a link comparing all of the companies with their pier procedures. Scroll toward the bottom and there is a chart for all the islands:

 

http://www.hawaiicarrentals.net/hawaii-cruise-ship-car-rentals.html

 

When I booked my Hilo tour, the guide told me that AT&T phones all work on all the islands but I didn't ask about specific areas. Most US companies include national roaming and Hawaii counts.

[karatemom2]

Thanks for the advice. I wanted to thank Elsie also, but she is probably

frantically packing to leave. Anyway, my DH is in agreement that we

would probably have a better time if we rented a car and forego the

"geezer" bus tour. Some might consider us "geezers", but you know

what I mean if you have done ship tours in the past and believe me,

we've done a bunch, but the worst were on HAL last March!!

If we are going to rent a car, can you or anyone suggest a rental

company in Kauai that is reliable. Also, is there cell phone signals

when driving around as I know most of Kauai is the "boonies."?

I'll look into the guidebook suggestions Elsie gave me.

Thanks in advance

Cindy

 

We rented from Budget on all the islands and they were great. Shuttle was always prompt and the rates were good. You can't really go wrong as most of the major players have rental services on each island. We are just used to renting from Budget and so that's sort of where our comfort level is. I've heard really good things about Thrifty as well. I think you will be happy that you decided to rent a car. It's the best way to see the island and you control your own schedule.

 

We use AT&T and had service the entire day we were in Kauai without any problems.

[Tahoe Boater]

We always rent cars in port if that is an option as well. In fact we haven’t been on a ships tour in years. Hawaii is an easy place to rent cars as they are well set up with all of the tourist cycling through.

 

The website I have been using for Hawaii car rentals is

 

: http://discounthawaiicarrental.com/index.htm

 

Hope this is of help to you.

[corvetmike]

Have you considered renting a car? The airport is relatively close and a shuttle will take you there. My husband just turned 79 and we are renting a car in each port (not Oahu) as we have done on our past 4 cruises to Hawaii.

 

We think that the driving is pretty simple. The road to Princeville is beautiful and you can take any number of side trips along the way. In the past we have used a number of guidebooks and have liked Fielding's Hawaii BUT the BEST is "The (Blue) Ultimate Kauai Guidebook" Kauai Revealed. It is awesome and will tell you which side trips to take.

 

Everything on Kauai is beautiful. It is not called the Garden Island for nothing. If you rent a car, I'd go up north and have a late lunch at the Princeville Hotel and enjoy the view of Hanalei. Gorgeous setting...decent lunch...If time permits you can continue farther north...we have made it all the way to Ha'ena and the Limahuli Garden but we bypassed alot of sites along the way (and lunch at the Princeville). Kauai is our favorite Island and I can not imagine taking a ship's tour of it! I know you'll love whatever you do. Elsie

 

Thanks for your suggestions. The DW and were trying to figure out which ship tours to take, so I just ordered all 4 Island Ultimate Guidebooks from Amazon. I can't wait to plan our own trip on each of the Islands.

 

Thanks again, Mike

[mamapickle]

VJ: I just tried to use hawaiirental website to reserve a car with Thrifty for Hilo and it said the rate was $56 a day.

[vjmatty]

VJ: I just tried to use hawaiirental website to reserve a car with Thrifty for Hilo and it said the rate was $56 a day.

 

That was the rate they quoted me for a convertible.... but that was on Oahu. I would try the other link posted above as well, from Tahoe Boater.

[chamima]

We will be on the Golden Feb.18 round trip. In Hilo we'd like to see Volcano National Park. I know it's easy to drive but we're on vacation and it might be more pleasant (and more informative) to let someone else drive.

There is a large price difference between these tours. Does anyone have knowledge of any of them?

Thanks