Hawaii Cruise 10-Day Itinerary

10-Day Hawaiian Cruise Itinerary

We were able to visit 4 islands of Hawaii on this trip – Oahu, Maui, Big Island and Kauai. Our cruise with Norgwegian was a 7-Day itinerary, and we tacked on 2 extra nights in Oahu for a total of 10 days, in order to explore Oahu since the cruise departs and arrives from Oahu but doesn’t include time to explore.

Day 1: Arrive in Oahu, food truck dinner
Day 2: Pearl Harbor, explore downtown Oahu & Waikiki Beach, dinner at Duke’s
Day 3: Hike Diamond Head State Park (permit required), Lunch: Hana Koa Brewery, board & the Norwegian Cruise 7-Day Ititinerary begins; the U.S.-based ship Pride of America departs!
Day 4: Maui – Rent car, listen to Shaka Guide audio tour on the Road to Hana, stop for banana bread, Black Sand Beach in Waiʻānapanapa State Park (permit required), food truck lunch, quick hike in Haleakalā National Park, see Rainbow Eucalyptus at Keʻanae Arboretum
Day 5: Maui – Molokini Crater & sea turle snorkel excursion
Day 6: Hilo, Big Island – Bus tour to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
Day 7: Kona, Big Island – Kona by Land & Sea tour to Kona Coffee Farm & Chocolate Factory stop, Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park and boat cruise along the coast
Day 8: Kauai – Bus tour of Kauai to Waimea Canyon, Dinner: Lu’au Kalamaku
Day 9: Kauai – Rent car, listen to Shaka Guide audio tour, Lunch: Kilauea Fish Market (poke bowls)
Day 10: Fly home

Hidden Gems

Shaka Guide audio tour – We first discovered this tour for the Road to Hana. Excellent! We learned a lot and it was so convenient to go at our own pace. High production quality for only about $15. There are also tours available for the other islands in Hawaii AND Shaka has guides for most of the national parks. I’m a big fan!
Molokini Crater & Sea Turtle Snorkel Excursion through Pac Whale – The tour is led by grad students so it was educational and fun and they have lots of facts/information they shared about the whales we saw during the cruise. Molokini Crater is one of the top places to snorkel in the world because the water is clear and there is high visibility. We saw a lot of whales from the boat and while snorkling saw lots of fish and coral (but no sea turtles).
Poke! I ate poke bowls wherever I got a chance! the best Poke I had was at a food truck in Oahu. I also really enjoyed Poke at Kilauea Fish Market in Kauai
Norwegian Cruise 7-Day Itinerary – This was my first cruise and honestly this was just the best experience. I’m thrilled we got to see highlights from 4 islands and taking the cruise made the whole trip feel so easy. There were no days at sea so each night the ship would take us to a new city while we slept, and we’d wake up and explore for the day. I also liked how flexible your days could be. You could either book excursions through the cruise or rent a car/explore on your own for the day. All of the ports were close to places to rent cars. I thought I might be disappointed to have dinners at the cruise ship instead of eating locally and exploring but we had such full days of adventure that it was nice to come back and relax at dinner and then do the ship entertainment at night.