Hilo at least offers local tours that can be booked right at the terminal, but in Kahului, only ship tours and taxis are allowed to leave from the terminal area. Independent tours and Ubers must be picked up outside the port near Longs Drug Store, a hot, dusty 20 to 30 minute walk away. A sign at the taxi stand next to the terminal states that taxis are a flat rate $100 per hour (no haggling). For reference, Google Maps says Kaanapali is a 50-60 minute drive from the port, and the ship offers a shore excursion for $115pp called Kaanapali on Your Own, with about 4 hours of time in Kaanapali.
In short, berthing in Kahului has made Hana easier, Kaanapali much, much harder.
On the bright side, it was another bright and sunny day, and, after breakfast in the Botticelli Dining Room, we walked off the ship to scope out the opportunities for sightseeing, which, as we learned, are minimal and expensive.
Lots of fruit at breakfastOne of our options for today had been to rent a car from Maui ECO Car Rental, which rents from a building within walking distance of the port instead of at the airport (OGG). We set out to walk there first. It’s $150 a day for a gas-only powered Prius (don’t ask me) or a minivan. We got the application via email and this is an option for our next cruise.
One of the reasons we were interested in a rental is because, though we’ve spent days on Maui with a rental car, we’ve never driven the road around the northwest part of the island. But then we heard it’s not all paved and can be very rough in parts, not exactly optimal for a Prius. If anyone has current information on the condition of that road, I’d appreciate it if you’d send it to me.
We walked to the Longs Drug area where we got the information I shared earlier in this post, and then walked back to the ship. It was hot in the sun, and we didn’t feel compelled to leave the ship again today. Instead we enjoyed the views of the waves breaking on the reef and watched a car freighter loading and unloading behind the ship. This simple activity always entertains, and, 15 years later, we still talk about “lawn chair guy” in the freight yard in Aruba who apparently determined where everything was to be loaded and unloaded in that freight port. In Kahului, “lawn chair guy” is apparently called “golf cart guy”, but he’s the brains of the operation all the same.
We actually napped a bit this afternoon, all the sun and walking of the past few days catching up with us. There are a LOT of sunburned guests on the ship right now, a sure sign that we’ve had great weather. Then it was the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers followed by dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room for the first time in three nights and the production show Disco: Blame it on the Boogie in the Princess Theater. We took sweatshirts to wear in our first row seats but the theater didn’t seem as chilly tonight. Something tells me we’re looking as red as our fellow guests with a built in heater.
Unfortunately, after waiting an hour for the show to begin, there were technical issues that cancelled the 7pm performance. Fortunately, vocalist Erik Bryan, who performs in his own show Let Me Be Frank, as well as the role of the magician in Magic To Do, sat next to us, and we recognized him immediately. We chatted through all the delays as they tried to get the production show re-started and that kept us highly entertained (and if he was sorry he sat next to two of the few people in the Princess Theater who could recognize him from his shows last cruise, he hid it well). It turns out that he grew up right down the road from us, and has had singing and acting roles in our community, though he lives in London now (and what a change that would be!).
We were at a bit of a loss for what to do next and whether to try again for the 9pm show which we knew would be packed. We move clocks ahead an hour overnight, and I decided to call it a day, though, as of this writing, G is still sounding like he wants to go back out. Stay tuned…
