What to do before Old Lahaina Lu'au

[Karmalady]

Cruising POA 6/13. We are excited but overwhelmed at what to do at each port. We are reading the boards and guide books and there is a lot of info to digest. :eek:

The only thing we have booked so far is the Old Lahaina Lu'au. We are planning on renting a car and are looking for suggestions for things to do along the way before the Lu'Au. Thanks for your input. :)

[TSUmom]

Since you have rented a car drive to Kaanapali Beach - also the town of Lahaina has some wonderful shops - parking can be tough but we enjoyed our day there....

[lambs2]

I am assuming you will be docked in Kahalui. After you pick up your rental car I would suggest you drive the short distance to see Iao Valley State Park and the Iao Needle. You will be glad you did! You will feel like you are in a scene from Jurassic Park. This stop may take less than a half hour and it is a free park.

http://gohawaii.about.com/od/maui/ss/iao_valley_2.htm

 

Afterward drive over to see Lahaina and the great shops there plus the "royal birthing" rock, Hauola Rock, and the giant banyan tree in courtyard square. Don't miss Kaanapali Beach, either.

[legalwife]

Cruising POA 6/13. We are excited but overwhelmed at what to do at each port. We are reading the boards and guide books and there is a lot of info to digest. :eek:

The only thing we have booked so far is the Old Lahaina Lu'au. We are planning on renting a car and are looking for suggestions for things to do along the way before the Lu'Au. Thanks for your input. :)

 

Hi Karmalady:

 

We want to go to this luau too but as in another post I have posted - I am having trouble coordinating car rental time and return. Even if we take taxi back to ship from car rental return place, you have to have rental car back two hours prior to closing which would be 8:30 and luau is not over. :(

 

Do you know something I don't know??? I sure hope so. I really want to do this one. Who did you rent with and is all worked out for you? Please let me know.

 

Thanks!

[Karmalady]

Thank you all for your replies! All of this seems simple but then there are so many questions on all the details. :confused: Like we want to be clean for the Lu'au and also maybe do a beach/sightseeing along the way. I'm thinking take a change of clothes and shower at the beach but I just didn't know the logistics for sure.

 

Legalwife, unfortunately, I know nothing you don't know! I was just ASSUMING we could keep a rental car over night planning on getting it for two days. :eek: I would think that would be possible but now I don't know. Will let you know when I find out.

 

Did anyone else out there do this luah from the shipped being docked in Kahalui?

 

Thanks Ya'll!:D

[legalwife]

Thank you all for your replies! All of this seems simple but then there are so many questions on all the details. :confused: Like we want to be clean for the Lu'au and also maybe do a beach/sightseeing along the way. I'm thinking take a change of clothes and shower at the beach but I just didn't know the logistics for sure.

 

Legalwife, unfortunately, I know nothing you don't know! I was just ASSUMING we could keep a rental car over night planning on getting it for two days. :eek: I would think that would be possible but now I don't know. Will let you know when I find out.

 

Did anyone else out there do this luah from the shipped being docked in Kahalui?

 

Thanks Ya'll!:D

 

You sure can keep the car longer if you book on your own BUT where can we park it if you keep it overnight? I have horrors of no parking place left if there even is a place to park. Does anyone else have an idea or know about the parking? Also, on NCL, car rental is for 8 hours if you go straight through them. Better deals elsewhere.

[Karmalady]

You sure can keep the car longer if you book on your own BUT where can we park it if you keep it overnight? I have horrors of no parking place left if there even is a place to park. Does anyone else have an idea or know about the parking? Also, on NCL, car rental is for 8 hours if you go straight through them. Better deals elsewhere.

LW that's why I need this board. I didn't even THINK about finding a place to park. OH my. :confused: I think I read on some other posts that Thrifty was the best place to rent the cars from.

 

Hopefully, someone who has been there/done that will let us know something on the parking. I think it's a bit different for our cruises because the ship's intinerary just changed from being docked on the Lahaina side to the Kahalui side.

[legalwife]

LW that's why I need this board. I didn't even THINK about finding a place to park. OH my. :confused: I think I read on some other posts that Thrifty was the best place to rent the cars from.

 

Hopefully, someone who has been there/done that will let us know something on the parking. I think it's a bit different for our cruises because the ship's intinerary just changed from being docked on the Lahaina side to the Kahalui side.

 

Gosh I didn't know about the docking change - not that it matters but there are alot of things that affect things on this, huh?

 

I did read on another post about discounthawaiicarrentals or something like that and it sent us to Thrifty and they did seem to have the best prices. Please let me know if you learn anything else about parking and I will do same!

[beachchick]

Aloha! I may be able to help a bit.

 

You sure can keep the car longer if you book on your own BUT where can we park it if you keep it overnight? I have horrors of no parking place left if there even is a place to park. Does anyone else have an idea or know about the parking? Also, on NCL, car rental is for 8 hours if you go straight through them. Better deals elsewhere.

 

Absolutely right about renting from the cruise line: IMO, don't do it. I have no information on the length of the rental, but I can tell you that you gain no benefit--none--by renting from the cruise line. NCL reps have even been known to claim that "your car will be waiting for you at the pier..." Completely, utterly, totally untrue. If you rent from NCL, you will have to wait in line for the shuttle and at the rental place with everyone else. You get no priority. You can almost certainly find better prices by checking online rates and choosing the cheapest for your date and car type. Nearly all the rental companies send shuttles from the airport locations to the pier.

 

Parking at Kahului pier can be problematic. There is some parking near (not at) the ship. There have also been reports that the Maui Mall or Kahului Center (the small shopping centers across 32 from the pier area) are now allowing cruise pax to park in certain areas of the parking lots--but don't quote me on that because I have no first-hand info on it. There have been a few posts about it lately. At worst, you can arrange to park your rental car overnight at the airport in the rental company's lot and shuttle (or taxi, if it's later in the evening) back to the ship and then shuttle the next morning to pick it up.

 

Word of warning: Do not under any circumstances park in a No Parking zone. Some people do thinking, "Oh fine, I'll just pay the parking ticket." That would be fine except that they do tow cars, so you get to pay the hefty parking ticket (approx $70 I think) and you have to go fetch the car out of impound. Not a good way to spend Maui time.

 

LW that's why I need this board. I didn't even THINK about finding a place to park. OH my. :confused: I think I read on some other posts that Thrifty was the best place to rent the cars from.

 

Hopefully, someone who has been there/done that will let us know something on the parking. I think it's a bit different for our cruises because the ship's intinerary just changed from being docked on the Lahaina side to the Kahalui side.

 

There is nothing wrong with Thrifty, but the "Thrifty is best for cruisers" happened here because (1) Thrifty is one of the few companies that will shuttle to both their downtown and airport locations in Honolulu, (2) they have a small rental location at the King Kamehameha Hotel in Kona, across the street from the tender pier (the Kona airport is 30 minutes drive from the tender pier and the rental companies don't send shuttles that far), and (3) there is a discount rental site that uses discount codes for Thrifty. All of a sudden it became "Cruisers should rent all cars through Thrifty because they are best." In our experience, this is not true. Sometimes Thrifty is best; other times, not. We've had perfectly fine rental car experieinces with virtually all the major companies throughout the years (mostly land trips; two cruises) with no significant problems.

 

There is a finite number of cars available, so do rent as soon as possible. Keep in mind that prices change all the time and it never hurts to check again. We always do online rentals to make sure we've got cars and then check prices from time to time. We've booked, cancelled, and rebooked (sometimes with the same company; sometimes with a different one) as many as six times before a trip. We've saved hundreds of dollars doing it that way.

 

Thank you all for your replies! All of this seems simple but then there are so many questions on all the details. :confused: Like we want to be clean for the Lu'au and also maybe do a beach/sightseeing along the way. I'm thinking take a change of clothes and shower at the beach but I just didn't know the logistics for sure.

 

Legalwife, unfortunately, I know nothing you don't know! I was just ASSUMING we could keep a rental car over night planning on getting it for two days. :eek: I would think that would be possible but now I don't know. Will let you know when I find out.

 

Did anyone else out there do this luah from the shipped being docked in Kahalui?

 

Thanks Ya'll!:D

 

 

You can do a 2-day rental, no problem. Cruisers do it all the time. Many people have gone to OLL from ships docked at Kahului. If you do an advanced search on this forum only for "old lahaina luau" you should get a ton of threads about it, including many that have information about getting to and from Lahaina.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful time.

 

beachchick