Stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village both before and after the cruise. Nice property but way too many people. Check in both times took over an hour or more (crazy lines and slow check in). I would book my own hotel and transfers if I had it to do over. ...
Took a Princess excursion to shore and then the Pali. Had been raining hard but ceased when we got there. Went into Diamond Head. Did not know this was possible. Always wanted to hike up to top. Would have been disappointed to see a parking lot, vehicles and buildings inside at bottom of crater.
Returned to ship for lunch and then took a cab to Waikiki. Along the way saw numerous homeless ...
We have been to Oahu several times, so didn't feel the need to repeat tours we've already taken (Pearl Harbor, circle-the-island-tour, Punch Bowl, Bishop Museum, Art Museum, etc.) We took an Uber (easy to arrange) to Waikiki and had a pricey but elegant "tea" on the verandah of the Moana Surfrider Hotel, a grand Victorian hotel of the same vintage as San Diego's Del Coronado. Then we walked ...
The third port was Oahu. Again, the standard car agencies showed no availability of any vehicles sufficient to hold our group of six. Fortunately, we found Lucky Owl on the web and they had a six-passenger van. Lucky Owl is a family-owned business that rents cars and things like surf and boogie boards. It’s not at the airport like other agencies, but in a light industrial area. They provide a ...