We are now just a few weeks away from departing on this trip. We are continuing to refine plans for the Hawaiian Island stops. It has become apparent from our research that we will be limited in what we will be able to do on some of the islands due to the slow driving speed limit on the winding roads. Although the islands are not that large, it has been clearly demonstrated by other visitors that it can take more time to get around than one might expect. Then, add in some time for actually stopping and exploring some of the sites, the typical “port time” does not go very far, so we won’t be able to either.
We have added a clock to the right in the sidebar of the blog. As we travel, we will be updating the clock to reflect our current time as we travel. At most for this trip, there will be a 6 hour difference to Eastern Daylight Savings Time, we will be 6 hours earlier. We have also added a link to the Sapphire Princess Bridge Cam, which normally provides a view out the bow of the ship. Currently, the Sapphire Princess is cruising in Alaska.
Here is the basic plan for each of the four Hawaii ports of call.
Maui
The island of Maui is our first stop in Hawaii. We visit the port town of Lahaina, which is on the southwest side of the island. This is a “Tender” port stop, so we will have to make sure we are in line as early as possible so that we can get off of the ship quickly. The scheduled time in port is from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. That morning, we will have to get on to a tender, walk to the Hertz rental office in the town, which is about 0.7 miles from the tender pier, rent the car, and be on our way.
The plan was to try and drive part of the famous Hana Highway, which is on the eastern half of the island. Unfortunately, since we port in Lahaina, it is about an hour drive to even get to the starting point of the Hana Highway, which is near the town of Kahului. The Hana Highway is a winding drive around the eastern half of the island, and can take around 10 hours to complete. Obviously, we do not have that much time in port, so we are thinking about doing the initial part of the drive, and retuning the same way. Although this involves backtracking, it might give us the opportunity to make some additional stops at some of the scenic areas. One of the suggestions from past travelers is to get an early start to avoid some of the traffic from fellow tourists. However, with the constraints of getting off of the ship via the tender, getting the rental car, and getting over to that part of the island, we will not be able to start as early as suggested. Therefore, we will probably run into some delays at some of the popular stopping places on the highway, which have limited room for car parking. If that is the case, we may be able to stop later at any of these crowded areas as we backtrack and make the return drive. We specifically picked the Hertz rental agency, which has slightly higher rental rates, because it is the only one within walking distance of the pier, which will allow us to return the car a little later than some of the more remote rental agencies that have shuttles. Apparently, the last shuttle run is about 2 hours before the ship’s departure time, so it further limits the time available for travel on the island.
We discussed an alternative to the Hana Highway route, which is to go to the interior of the eastern half of the island to drive up to the Haleakala Crater, which is approximately 10,000 feet in elevation. It is popular for either watching the sunrise or sunset, neither of which will be an option for us due to the scheduled port arrival and departure times. By popularity of past travelers, the Hana Highway is recommended over the Haleakala Crater, and we will be visiting similar landscape to the Haleakala Crater on the island of Hawaii.
Hilo (Island of Hawaii)
It is always interesting to me how the cruise lines intermix the port stop names. Some are listed by City, as is the case for this stop, some are listed by Island or a nearby destination. I guess it is a marketing ploy, using the name of the most popular or recognizable destination. Where as Maui is the first stop in the Hawaiian Islands, named for the Island and not the actual port (Lahaina), the second stop listed on the official Princess Itinerary uses the city name of Hilo, instead of the Island name of Hawaii. This is also the case for the next stop, listed on the itinerary as Honolulu, not the Island name of Oahu. However, we digress, so on to the plan for this stop.
The listed time for the stop in Hilo is from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. This port has a pier, so we will not need tenders for getting off of the ship. This should help us to disembark the ship as quickly as possible, but we will have to figure out the best plan for getting to the rental car location
We are again planning on utilizing a rental car to visit the sights on the island of Hawaii. The main focus of this stop will be to visit the Volcanoes National Park, which is not too far of a drive from Hilo. More than likely, we will be renting from Thrifty at this port stop. All of the rental car agencies are located at the airport in Hilo, so we will be taking the Thrifty Shuttle Bus to the airport to acquire the rental car. Unfortunately, due to space limitations some of the shuttles are limited to the rental car “driver” only, so “passengers” might have to wait at the pier. I am guessing this is to maximize the number of persons that can shuttle to the rental car location. The information we have indicates that the shuttles start operating at 8:00 AM, so we may elect to take a taxi if we are able to get off the ship before that time. In addition, if there is a limitation on the persons who can actually use the shuttle, we may be better off taking a taxi so we can both be together at the rental car location, and avoid having to return to the ship to pick up the “passenger”. We may be able to find someone to share the taxi fare with us, and be able to split the cost. Since the taxi’s are normally staged in a line, we have found that some are reluctant to take a short distance fare and give up their opportunity for a longer trip. We have found this to be the case in European ports, and the taxi drivers have a set fare to compensate, and do not use the meter. Hopefully, we will not find this to be the case here.
Once we get the rental car, the plan is to head over to the Volcanoes National Park, and spend most of the time there exploring the various roads and trails in the park. As of the date of this posting, there is some new volcanic activity with actual lava flows that started on August 3, 2011. However, anything can change between now and the time we arrive, so we will keep checking for updates on the Park website. I have included a link to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
If time allows, we may try and go to see the higher extinct Mauna Kea (13,796 ft.) or Mauna Loa (13,677 ft.) volcanoes on the island via the Saddle Road. Or, if we are running short of time after the Volcanoes National Park visit, we may go to one of the nearby beaches located between the park and Hilo, or even some of the nearby waterfalls such as Pe’epe’e Falls or Waiale Falls. Again, a lot of opportunities, but a limited amount of time in port.
Honolulu (Island of Oahu)
We are still going to follow the plan previously written up in the August Planning Update. We have not yet confirmed where we might try and visit in the rental car once we complete the ship’s excursion to the Arizona Memorial. We are in port from 7:00 AM until 10:30 PM, the late departure being used to provide passengers with the opportunity to attend one of the large Luaus. We may try to find a Catholic Church and attend the Saturday Vigil Mass since we will be on port for an extended amount of time, and that will allow us more flexibility for our stop in Kauai on Sunday.
Kauai
Our Last Port of Call in Hawaii is on the Island of Kauai. We dock in the port city of Nawiliwili. The ship is scheduled to be in port from 7:00 AM until 5:00 PM. This is a Sunday, so we may find that some of the shops are closed while we are in port, at least in the morning. We have a rental car reserved through Thrifty, with a back-up rental through Avis. All of the rental car agencies are located at the nearby Lihue Airport, so once again, we will either be taking a shuttle or taxi to the airport, depending on the shuttle arrangements (Driver only allowed), how many people are waiting for the shuttle, etc. There have been some reports of long lines at the rental desk once you get to the airport, depending on how many people are renting cars from the ship. That is why we have an alternate reservation at Avis, in case we find the lines to be longer at Thrifty, which has lower prices. If we also see long lines for the shuttle, or see that the shuttle will not be arriving until 8:00 AM, we may elect to save time and beat the crowd by taking a taxi.
Once we get the rental car, we will head to the south western side of the island to visit the Waimea Canyon Area, which has been suggested by previous visitors as preferable to visit in the morning due to the possibility of clouds forming in the afternoon. This is the area commonly referred to as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It is approximately 60 miles of driving distance from the rental car agencies at the Lihue Airport to the Canyon. There is roadway through the canyon area with several designated overlooks across the canyon. Here is a link to the Waimea Canyon State Park.
Afterward, depending on time, we also plan to stop at several waterfalls such as the Wailua Falls, the Opaekaa Falls and possibly visit the Spouting Horn Park, which features a “blowhole” along the rocky shoreline.
Well, that is all for this update. We will probably increase the frequency of the Planning Posts as the trip gets closer.