What does NCL really mean?

[gram4haley]

We will be on the Pride America next March. We want to rent a car in Maui. NCL has an excursion called Maui At Your Leisure in the details it says "Maui at Your Leisure allows you to tour Maui with your own personal vehicle for the duration of your time in port; keep the car for as little or as long as you want" But the description lists the duration of the excursion as 4 hours.

 

I want to drive the Road to Hana which will take longer than 4 hours.

 

I would prefer the NCL excursion just so we don't have any hassles in getting and returning the car. But which is it "During of your time in port" or 4 hours?

[noobcruiser]

I can't answer your question directly, but I can offer my opinion on renting a car in maui. Do It!!!

 

All of the car rental agencies in the area run shuttles to the pier where you dock. Literally, less than 200 yards.

 

Negotiate the best price with your favorite and get their GPS...well worth it.

 

Skip the NCL excursion....you'll get a better price by yourself.

[kruzkid]

Mabey James can elighten us??

[fin]

From memory, the drive to Hana took rather a bit longer than four hours.

[dtracker]

From memory, the drive to Hana took rather a bit longer than four hours.

 

It can take anywhere from 2 - 3 1/2 hours depending on how fast you drive, traffic, and how many stops you make. Around 2 hours to return.

 

DT

[14ersco]

We cruised the Pride of Aloha in 11/07 and had the overnight in Maui. At that time NCL was getting their rental cars from Hertz; so you still had to take a van from the docks to the rental car agency. So you might as well get your own rental car and for both days. The great thing about the two day rental is that you do not need to rush back from Hana. You could park the car at the docks overnight (check the Hawaii board to verify if this is still true). We were the first off of our ship at about 7:30 AM and had the rental car within 30 minutes. Spent the entire day and drove all of the way to the Lindbergh grave site. Did not get back to the docks until 8 PM. :) With the rental car waiting outside the ship we were able to get an early start the second day and saw Haleakala, Maui Ocean Center, and Iao Valley. As mentioned before find your favorite rental car agency; joining Thrifty's Blue Chip is very good for Hawaii. Also recheck the rental rates near your sailing date. I rechecked the Maui rentals a couple days before flying and found Advantage had dropped the price to about $20 per day; which got us a Toyota Corolla.

[EmmasNana]

We did the road to Hanna on day 1 in Maui. I booked us with a local who picked us up in a van just outside the fence at the pier. The road is very windy and DH likes to look at the view too and we thought it would be too stressful for him to drive it. We are glad we went with the local excursion. They picked us up, supplied pastries and coffee, also lunch. It took a good bit of the day. They then returned us back to the ship.

We rented a car the second day on our own and checked out the Maui winery and the Needle.

[tgptmp]

I cannot speak of Maui but last year when we were on another cruise line and going to make a stop in Cozumel. A few days ahead I went to the ships conserige and and told him what kind of car I wanted to rent and how much I want to pay. Within a couple of hours there was a note in my room that the car was being held in my name at this price. When we docked it was waiting for me.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Dittos to all of the above. just want to add that you shoud make sure to reserve a car in advannce. Cars are limited and there were some unhappy campers who had not made plans in advance.

 

We rented a car on all the islands through Thrifty. Got great rates online and reserved waaay in advance. You will get a seperate # for each rental. Be sure to sign up as a Blue Chip member. It will save you lotss of time as you can go to their special B Chip line and be out much quicker..

Enjoy - it's a beautiful place

[retired rascal]

you'll want to check times really carefully....it is really ambitious to plan to trip to hana in that short a time. first you have to get from lahaina up to the road to hana which starts on the other side of the island. you can't drive to hana in a rental car going east from lahaina. the road is very twisty and windy and narrow and can have various weather situations ranging from wet to foggy/low cloudy and your speed may be slowed based on those in front of you and then you have to at some point start back on the same road. granted it is incredibly beautiful, but alot of the beauty is in stopping and seeing the black sand beaches and the waterfalls and all the various flowers and sights. it is, IMHO, an amibitious day even if one is staying in maui. you may want to read more; i may just be a stodgy old bird. there are other gorgeous sights and some fabulous snorkeling.

[dixielandings]

Make your own car reservation. We sailed POA last May. DH made a ressie before we left for a convertible from Hertz. It was my favorite day of the trip! Getting the shuttle to the agencies is easy since like PP's said, they're all right there waiting. But DO make the reservation before you leave.

 

The trip to and from took at least 5 hours for us - including several interesting stops along the way.

[beachchick]

I cannot speak of Maui but last year when we were on another cruise line and going to make a stop in Cozumel. A few days ahead I went to the ships conserige and and told him what kind of car I wanted to rent and how much I want to pay. Within a couple of hours there was a note in my room that the car was being held in my name at this price. When we docked it was waiting for me.

 

If I'm reading it right, the car itself was at the pier when you docked? If so, I need to mention that in Hawaii, the car would not be waiting at the pier. Rental cars are not brought to the piers in Hawaii, not even for pax who book the NCL "excursion" car rental. It's not possible in terms of space, security, personnel, or logistics. Pax who book cars through NCL excursions in Hawaii do not receive any priority over those who made their reservations directly with the rental companies. They still have to wait in line for the shuttles; they still have to wait in line at the rental locations. IMO, there's no benefit in booking through NCL unless you decide at the last minute that you want a car the next day and there are any still available through the excursion desk.

 

In Hawaii, everyone takes shuttles to the rental car locations. This is typically the airports, but Kona is an exception in that the airport is about 30 minutes away by shuttle and the rental companies don't normally shuttle to the tender pier. Most cruisers rent from the small locations at the King Kamehameha Hotel, which is across the street from the tender pier. In Honolulu, there are both airport and downtown locations. Many companies only shuttle from the pier to the downtown loctations because they are closer than the airport. However, Thrifty shuttles from the pier to both their downtown and HNL locations.

 

gram4haley:

 

I can't tell you from personal experience, but I remember this question came up some time back (maybe last year). The answer was that the cars are actually rented for a 24 hour period, just as if you booked directly with the rental company. However, it's possible that things have changed and the rental period is only 4 hours. But that makes no sense at all and I can't imagine why NCL would think that is reasonable. I'm sure James will chime in with current information for you. Bottom line though is that I recommend you check directly with the rental car companies for the best rates and to have complete control of your rental car booking. (Online is easiest and simple to reserve/change/cancel with no penalty.)

 

Definitely listen to MagnoliaBlossom's advice and book your rental cars in advance. You're competing with land visitors for a finite number of cars. They often sell out weeks in advance, especially during busier times. If you're rentin in Kona from the King Kam locations, book as early as possible because those are small facilities that rent only to cruise pax and they usually sell out.

 

I know that's more than you need just for Kahului and the RTH, but I figured you might be renting at more than one port. You definitely will want to spend at least 6 and preferably more hours with plenty of stops to enjoy the drive--because that's the point of the drive, enjoying it at your leisure.

 

I hope you have a lovely time.

 

beachchick