Will be arriving in Honolulu on a cruise ship on 28 April. We leave from the airport to go to Maui four days later.

We will be staying at Waikiki Parc hotel. Are we able to book a rental car to pick up in Waikiki? If so, we would then organise transfers from cruise ship and back to airport.

I've looked at some car rental sites but most only have airport as pick up/drop off point.

I've also thought we could book car from airport and get transfer from ship to there? But we really only need the car for 2 days and I don't like the look of the route to Waikiki from the airport. Being from Australia we drive on the opposite side of the road and would be driving in peak hour traffic I would imagine (ship docks at 7 am).

Sorry for the long post, but any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Aloha Vaycee,
The rental car companies usually have shuttles from the pier to their offices. If I remember correctly, there should be some rental car places between the Pier and Waikiki, but not in Waikiki itself (rent is way too expensive). You'd probably do best to contact the rental car companies to ask. I have to do this in other destinations because, although they have offices in other areas, it's not listed on the website.

You'll probably disembark by 8 or 9 a.m. IF I assume right and the car company you choose is in the Ala Moana area, you then would drive straight along Ala Moana Boulevard to Waikiki. You wouldn't have to do a lot of stressful driving because it is a straight shot.

Thanks Melissa.

I'm thinking perhaps we could return the car to the Pier on our second day and take The Bus back to Waikiki as we would not need it for days 3 and 4 as we will be on tours. This way we would altogether avoid the freeway during peak hour ??? Though having done our circle island tour (thanks to Dusty's wonderful posts) we should be more comfortable driving on the right hand side.

You can rent a car in Waikiki.

There are many car rental agencies in Waikiki if you don't like the airport rentals.

I think any car rental agency shuttles from the cruise ship would go to the rental agencies at the airport.

So you might want to just take a cab to your hotel & get the car rental when you want it.

The Waikiki area is very walkable and you may find that you do not need a rental car nearly as much as you imagine. There is a Hertz rental place 1/10th of a mile from Waikiki Parc on Kalia or a Thrifty car rental place 2/10th of a mile on Seaside. As Dusty suggested you may want to grab a lift to your hotel and get the car later.

I've never rented a car for Waikiki, just get around on foot or using a combination of The Bus and taxis.

If you just want the car for 1-2 days, I'd wait and rent from a local place right in Waikiki.

Thanks one and all for your suggestions. Is the following doable:

Arrive 28th, transfer to Waikiki Parc, check out Waikiki on foot, dinner for anniversary.

29th hire car to drive up to Diamond Head and around island.

30th Arizona Memorial on tour and PCC on tour

May 1 inter island tour to Kauai.

May 2 fly to Maui

I know I'm trying to pack in a lot and have not booked anything yet, but I'd appreciate your thoughts.

I think trying to do both Pearl Harbor and PCC on the same day is a packed 1-day itinerary.

Personally I don't understand taking a day trip to Kauai when you have such a short stay on Oahu. Don't you want to see anything around Honolulu? You haven't left any time for that.

I am in complete agreement with suze's comments. There is lots to do on Oahu. I really don't think that a one-day tour of Kauai is a good use of time or money.

Thank you for confirming what I had suspected.

I'm also feeling that with the current rate of exchange AUD v USD I should abandon the idea of a visit to Kauai. (I have already abandoned visiting the Big Island)

I have re-visited the PCC website and they have a p/u at 12 noon so I had been thinking that half day for PCC and half day for Arizona might be the way to go.

All I have to do then is work out how long to hire the car for. If we drove to Arizona (yikes) is it easy enough to get up to Punchbowl on our own too?

Please tell me that driving outside Honolulu is not such a scary prospect ... I know everyone says Hawaii is very laid back, but the prospect of American traffic jams is a bit daunting not having driven on the 'other' side of the road for more than 30 years (in France)

Thanks for your help so far.

I agree that not going to another island on a day visit is the right decision. By the time you go to the airport, check-in, fly, get on your coach or whatever and reverse the whole thing it will most likely be very little time leftover to really enjoy the other island.

The Waikiki Parc is a neat hotel. However, it is not right on the ocean and the views are over other hotels. Not a reason to not stay there.

Driving in Waikiki traffic was not overwhelming - EXCEPT - get a good map. The ones from the rental car company and all the glossy free travel booklets at the airport are not very detailed. Many streets are not listed on them.

Waikiki has some one way streets that make finding things and getting to them hard if you don't have a good map. And some of the street names seem very similar or hard to remember to those not familiar with them. Having rented a vehicle at HNL airport and driven and stayed at the Waikiki Parc, I know whereof I speak.

Don't let this make you avoid driving. Since you have time before you go, get a good map, a highlighter and mark your way from the hotel to where you want to go.

Most of the island is easy to drive, after you leave Waikiki. We were more bored by the low speed limits than overwhelmed by the expressways.

Having said all that, we loved Waikiki and the rest of Oahu.

We feel nothing beats the freedom of having your own vehicle and being able to go where you want and stay as long or short as you like.

By the way, what ship will you be on? I remember driving by the dock where one of the ships was docked on the way from the airport to Waikiki. In other words, going to the airport and then to the hotel might be backtracking.

There are several shuttle services on Oahu that might take you from your ship to the hotel. Google it, is my advice.

Have a great time in Hawaii.

I want to reinforce the idea that you should not spend your limited time island-hopping. Oahu offers plenty to do in the short time you'll be there.

While I am not familiar with Waikiki Parc I am familiar with hotels in tourist destinations. First of all I would take a shuttle or taxi to the hotel. No sense in paying for a rental car simply to transport you from the dock to your hotel and then pay to park the car at the hotel. The Waikiki area is walkable and it's likely you won't need a car while exploring this area.

Hotels often have a rental car desk on-site or they have an arrangement with a rental car company to accommodate their guests. You could rent a car for a day or two if you decide you need one. The hotel will likely have an activities desk or certainly a concierge. The concierge is your friend. If I were you I would e-mail the concierge in advance of your trip asking about transportation options from the dock and also about renting a car on-site. Otherwise I would rent a car from either the Hertz or Thrifty that Suzie mentions since they are close to your hotel.

Understandably it seems you are a bit nervous about driving on Oahu. I do think you should rent a car for at least a day to go off exploring. Opt for the GPS if that will make you more comfortable. No sense stressing out on your vacation. Honolulu is nice but the rest of the island is nothing like the city and you should try to see it if you can. I don't recall that driving on Oahu was very difficult. If you don't want to drive in rush hour you can certainly avoid it, especially since the days will be fairly long at the end of April and you'll have daylight late into the day.

I would do the two tours on separate days. Rent a car and go to the Arizona Memorial early in the morning, then go from there up to Haleiwa, across the north shore, and then down the windward side of the Island and back to Waikiki. This can easily fill your day, and with a car you can stop and eat, swim or sightsee where ever you please.

You could instead go to punchbowl after the Arizona, then head across the Pali and circle the island in a counter-clockwise direction.

If you don't really want to circle the island (the PCC bus will take you by the windward beaches, but won't stop, of course) you could spend your day at the Arizona mem, then Punchbowl, then the Iolani Palace and Chinatown and even sneak in a stop at the Pali lookout.

The next day, take the bus tour bus to the PCC in the afternoon after taking a city bus out to Hanauma Bay or the hike inside Diamond Head for a few hours in the early morning. It takes about an hour or more to get to PCC, so you can nap if you got tired with your morning activities!

I think the car rental is a great idea, but it IS also possible to do everything you describe using a combination of shuttles, taxis, bus, and organized tours.

Thank you CWI - very comforting advice. We are arriving on Rhapsody of the Seas on her return voyage from cruising our summer season here in Sydney - so we should be more than relaxed when we arrive - don't want to spoil that do we!

Sharona, I'll keep in mind hiring the GPS but I do seem to have some good maps in my Oahu Revealed guidebook (which I got for Christmas and have not thoroughly investigated yet!)

Icuy - great thoughts. I do find planning for somewhere I don't know quite difficult because of a lack of knowledge of the timing of getting from one place to another. Of course we don't want to be rushed doing things. That's why I plan so far ahead so we can option up or down.

I like the idea of driving around the island and I've long since taken on board dusty's suggestions. So hiring the car when I get there might be the way to go.

Good idea to get in touch with hotel to see what they offer.

By the time I pay a return visit I'll have so much more down pat won't I?

Cheers from OZ

I just discovered this post and YES do contact the hotel with your questions re transportation. We have also stayed at the Waikiki Parc and they were VERY service oriented, arranged a tour for us etc...

Hotel is compact, central, has a peaceful pool area with cabanas, across street from beachfront sister hotel the Halekulani.

Thanks jojo. Will do