The Zaandam sailed into Hilo's harbor at about 8:00am after the long trip from San Diego. Hilo is on what is called the Big Island because the island of Hawaii is in the state of Hawaii and it is confusing somewhat to just say Hawaii because without context it can be unclear about which one is being talked about. We docked at 8:41 am, 41 minutes behind schedule. Boo, Captain Smit.We were excited. The first port on a cruise always is the most interesting one to me. New places, people, smells, shopping, attractions, and floral and fauna are really interesting after being cooped on a ship, even one as nice as the Zaandam is.
Seven and I delight in being Team Number 1 (from one of Seven's favorite reality shows The Amazing Race) and being the first one off the ship when we first get to port. We weren't Team #1 but we were the first in the Thrifty Rental Car shuttle. I reserved the car through Priceline at a decent rate of $ 39 including taxes and fees. If you wait until you get to Hawaii they might be out of cars or gouge, yes, Virginia, car rental companies do gouge their customers, the living daylights out of you. The car rental shuttles meet the cruise boats and are easy to locate. Tip: sit near the door so you can be the first one off the shuttle because the lines at the car rental counter can get long.
We chose a car because ship shore excursions started at $55 each and usually only went to one
place. The shore excursion to Hawaii Volcanos National Park cost $94 each and included lunch buffet which we really needed after four days of non-stop eating on the ship. We like the freedom to go wherever and whenever we want. We miss the tour guide's commentary but we can make up for that somewhat with diligent research. And we love adventure, controlled, planned adventure.In planning our own shore excursions, I first use the ship's own list of shore excursions to get a list of attractions we might want to see. Then I do a basic prioritization of these attractions. I follow that with google searches on each attraction then complete an itinerary based on that research. Finally, I plug it all into a Google Map and see if it is physically doable and make a map of where we will go and what we will see.
Sometimes in doing the research you get lucky and found out that someone has done it all for you. A good Big Island guide is found at Let's Go Hawaii Travel Planner. There are lots and lots of web pages devoted to Hawaii and you can find almost anything that interests you. Half the fun of traveling is planning. It is exciting to look at pictures, say, of the Kilauea crater and think, "man, I will be standing there in xx number of weeks looking at this baby". Mental drooling is what I call what I go through when researching.
We got a big surprise at the rental location. No, they didn't lose our reservations. After a cheerful 'Aloha', I casually and politely asked the pretty older lady behind the counter if they had any free upgrades available and the lady smiled slightly, punched a few keys on her terminal, and printed out my papers without saying a word other than a pleasant mahalo. I didn't look at the papers and we went to the pick up point and there sat a shiny white Chrysler Sebring convertible!!! I almost ran back to the counter and hugged her. Mahalo, mahalo, baby!!! It took us a bit to learn how to put the top down but we were soon on our way with fresh Hawaiian vog blowing through our hair or, in my case, across my scalp where there was once hair. We felt like teenagers again.
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