Diamond Princess -- LA to Hawaii

[jlh2_hawaii]

Hi!

My husband and I will be going on the 15 night cruise in April. We're trying to plan our excrusions and things to do while we're on the islands. Any advice to give re: good excursions and besides that, any recommendations for things to do on the islands besides that? (ie; restaurant recs for lunch, shopping areas, nice beach areas, etc...)

Are there lots to do around the areas where the ship docks?

Thanks!!

 

[Beryl]

I recently read a review of the Diamond in Hawaii and the reviewer mentioned what a waste of time the stop in Hilo was! Just in case you read it I want to be very clear that the stop in Hilo is definitely not a waste of time! It is the closest port for visiting Hawaii Volcanos National Park! Do It!! On the Big Island of Hawaii this is definitely the thing you absolutely must do. The person that wrote the review I'm speaking about missed one of the major attractions of Hawaii.

My other must do's for each island....

Hawaii, the Kona side....an excursion that will let you see a coffee plantation, Pu'uhonua o honaunau National Historic Park and The Painted Church. If you just want to stay in town visit the Hulihee Palace and The Mokuaikaua Church

Kauai...Waimea Canyon or alternatively take a drive up to the North Shore. Best beach...Poipu!! One of the very best things to do on Kauai is the Helicopter tour. It is well worth the $$$$ spent.

Oahu....this one is obvious! You must visit the Arizona Memorial. For more history how about a walk around Chinatown (great place for lunch), a visit to the Iolani Palace, get your photo taken by the King Kamehameha Statue and visit the Mission Houses Museum. Other options could include but are certainly not limited to.....a visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center (this is an all day event), a visit to the Byodo Inn Temple, snorkeling at Hanauma Bay or how about just a few hours on Waikiki Beach (eveyone should do it at least once in their lifetime)

Maui...always my favourite and if I had only one day I would rent a car and drive to the summit of Haleakala. Stop at Picnic's on the way up and buy a picnic lunch to eat at one of the roadside parks on the way back down to sea level. Or stop in Makawao for lunch. If you have time take a little side trip to the Tedeschi Winery. A word on Hana....while this is a wonderfully scenic drive it is a very long one over many, many, many one lane bridges and it is a road with loads of hairpin turns. It will take you all day if you stop to really enjoy all the beautiful sights along the way!!
These are my favourites. Of course the possibilities are endless and you will not have enough time to even scratch the surface of the wonderful things to see and do in Hawaii.

There is a really good site online at http://www.hawaii.com . They have lists of attractions for each of the major Hawaiian Islands. You might want to check it out!

Aloha!

 

[kev]

deffiniatly do volcano national park, waimea canyon, black sand beachs, ? too much to do aWWSOME trip thoughthumb

 

[bearanddollie]

I agree with other posts that the Volcanos are not to be missed. Also, in Hilo, if orchids are of interest, there are orchid growing nurseries to visit. The shore ex that we took included a visit to the Volcano Nat Pk plus stops at an orchid grower and a macadamia nut factory.

In Lahaina, we enjoyed a sitdown luau, the Feast of Lele. The luau started at 5:30pm and concluded about 8:30pm. Food and drink were excellent, as was the native dancing. If the timing fits in with your sailing schedule, you might want to visit the Feast of Lele website.

In Honolulu, you might consider Orchids at the Halekulani for a midday meal by the ocean. Lunch is served Mon-Sat. If your ship is in port on Sunday, you'll enjoy their "legendary" brunch.

 

[lyndabaker]

If you decide to do the waimea canyon, I would recommend you rent a car and not do the Princess tour. We spent way more time on the bus going to and from and it turned out to be boring. The time at waimea canyon was great, just not the bus tour. We made a few stops at some expensive tourist traps I could have done without. The volcano/lava tube tour we took was just great. This was also through Princess and I highly recommend it. Have a wonderful time; I'm jealous and want to go back. :thumb

 

[k_dfw]

I lived in Hawaii for 17 years. My favorite restaraunt is Roy's. There are 2 on Oahu, 1 on Maui, 1 on Kauai and 1 on the Big Island. Must have...the chocolate souffle. My favorite beaches on Oahu are Kailua and Ala Moana Beach Park. Not as touristy as Waikiki.
On Kauai, if the weather is nice head up to the North shore. If you like to hike...go to the end of the road and hike into Hanakapiai...2 miles into the beach, 4 miles into the falls. It's gorgeous...even if it does rain on you...I had that happen alot when I lived there but it's totally cool.
My favorite beach there is Hanalei Bay. 2 miles of gorgeous and not very crowded beach.
Enjoy!

 

[Flamomo]

I did this cruise in 2006 on the Island Princess, and it was just wonderful - we rated it the best cruise we've taken.
I agree completely that you need to go to Volcanoes National Park, Think about it this way - - how often do you get to be in the top of a volcano, and when will you have another chance to walk through a lava tube?
In Kona we took a pleasant but unexciting glass bottom boat tour. Near the pier there are some historic buildings - the first church built in Hawaii and the Queen's Summer Palace.
In Lahina we took a whale watching tour, and we loved that. It was exciting to see those huge creatures so close-up. Afterward we wandered around the shops on Front Street, which is very close to the pier.
On Kaua'i we didn't take a tour. Instead we took the free shuttle into town and went to Hilo Hatties. They have great Hawaiian merchandise. Afterward we took another free shuttle to the beach that is within a few blocks of the pier and spent a couple of hours relaxing there.
In Honolulu, one of the best things to see is the USS Arizona Memorial. We chose the tour that included a city tour. That also took us up to the Pali Lookout, where you can see the most beautiful views of the north side of the island.

I'm going again on the March 17th sailing of the Diamond. We are booked to take a "Highlights" tour in Hilo, and also one in Kona. We are going on the Little Circle Island tour in Honolulu, and the Wailua River tour on Kauai. We're not doing a tour in Lahina. We're going to take the local shuttle bus to Ka'anapali, where there is a lovely beach, the Whaler's museum, and a very nice shopping area that has some nice restaurants. After lunch we'll go back to Lahina and go back to the shops on Front Street.

Hope you enjoy this cruise as much as we did.