Chris-n-Shawn

1 minute ago, Chris-n-Shawn said:

Hoping your group is feeling better @Homer88 & the visual to  @BermudaBound2014’s reporting from marinetraffic.com:

 

 

The blue dot is the Kdam

Hoping your group is feeling better @Homer88 & the visual to  @BermudaBound2014’s reporting from marinetraffic.com:

So glad you’re posting a Live @BermudaBound2014!

Love your description & perspective - our new go-to is ‘well, the drink package…’

😆

11 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

The Koningsdam has entered the harbor.

7 hours ago, SonuvaBeach said:

We are on this cruise as well..which excursion did you take to Pearl? We are on the $149 pp tour...We took this for the same reason as you: HIA excursion credit, but we also have Arizona Memorial tickets for 9AM on the first day in Honolulu...we shall see.

Hi @SonuvaBeach if the question was directed to us, we’re on the 8:30 Pearl excursion on the first day 2/26 with Arizona tickets @10 and we’ll see what happens. Thanks again @Haljo1935 for your insights, and any day on a cruise is a good day!

On 1/9/2024 at 7:25 AM, Haljo1935 said:

@Chris-n-Shawn Pearl Harbor was THE must do stop for me on this cruise, so I decided to do the excursion through the ship hoping for the best experience. Surely they would use only vetted, reliable guides and put their "power in numbers" to work for the masses. Based on comments we heard, that worked for some people, but not our bus. Well, at least not for all but 4 on our bus.

Polynesian Adventures is the company HAL used, "Kama" was the guide.

The tour was sold out; our bus was not the only one that went, so many others had an opportunity for an experience that we did not. We were 20 min late leaving the ship as we waited on 4 late passengers that did not show. Unfortunately, that 20 min was not the only delay.

Tour guide immediately set the ground rules of "tight schedule, you have to be on time" which he himself had already broken and later would not honor. We waited 25 min after touring the Missouri for passengers which did eventually show. So now we were 45 min off schedule. This 45 min was completely the fault of the tour operator. 

Before and after Kama handed out tickets, he told us we had to "run to the standy line" if we wanted any chance of making it to the Memorial. He knew we would not make it - his time for us to leave was 1:45 to get back to the ship by 2. It is 45 min roundtrip for The Memorial shuttle & tour; it does not run between 12 and 1 (closed for lunch). He stressed that if we were on the 12:45 shuttle, we would not make his 1:45 deadline, meaning we had to be on one prior to 12:45. So, w/o a schedule change, we were iffy after the 20 min delay and assured of missing it after the 25 min delay. 

All tour tickets have a disclaimer that Operators reserve the right to change the order of stops. Had ours done that and taken us to the Memorial 1st, we would have made it. 

Making the experience even worse, we waited 30 min past his 1:45 deadline for 4 passengers who, you guessed it, went to the Memorial. An entire bus missed something that they may not have an opportunity to revisit and, sadly, did not have to be missed.

So, for you, I would recommend not using this tour company independently or through the ship. And regardless of the excursion you do select, go to the website and secure your own reserved time so you have a slot. We didn't know you could get reserved tickets and use them with the ship tour - you can and should. As you mention you're going through the ship, you might consider calling Shore Exc to see if they are using this Tour Operator.  If so, let them know you do NOT want that guide. I'm sure they can't arrange that in advance (you'llbe on record should somethingunfortunatelygo wrong), so I would strongly advise you ask when you're at the pier lining up and as you're assigned your bus - the guides are there - be sure you are put w/a different guide. 

Also, go to the Memorial 1st then the Missouri.

At the Memorial, there are 3 lines - left is the film, center reserved time tickets, right is stand-by.

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise and are able to do everything you plan. I would love to hear about your adventure and see any pictures you'd like to share. 😊

Thanks SO much @Haljo1935 for taking the time to share your experience - we’ve been on that bus, in another time and place. We book HAL small-group tours now, finding it mitigates bad guides/ bad tourists.

Knee-jerk yesterday, after reading your description and experiencing flashback, was to cancel our tour to ensure we have time to fully feel this important place. We do have Arizona Memorial tickets, hoping the time works - they were still available yesterday for 2/26 & 2/27: recreation.gov, USS Arizona Memorial, $2/pp.

But…we fell into the HIA excursion credit pit, again. Since this is our must-do, we booked it first and it (expensively) used our HIA credit. If we cancel, we’d need to book a different excursion, and there’s nothing left that interests us. (Last time HAL cancelled the excursion and we did choose Plan B (more like Plan F) and it was so-so - Polynesian Adventures sounds familiar.) Lesson learned.

So…we’ll stick with our small-group tour and hope for the best. We’re sorry your tour had frustrations and do hope you get the memorial again some day - and write about it! It would be great if someone takes the reins to share their/our adventures  next month; we go to French Polynesia too. We barely earned a C in creative writing, so not us, but if so and if appropriate, we’ll let you know how our excursion turned out.

Thanks again; cheers,

Chris & Shawn

5 minutes ago, Chris-n-Shawn said:

Hi Haljo1935 - about post #675 and the mentioned experience at Pearl Harbor; if it was people-caused negative energy, darn and no need to relive it 😕

We’re going to Pearl Harbor via the Kdam next month; if there were any scheduling /transportation/ etc snafus, we’d be interested in hearing.

 

Add our thanks for your fabulous writing and pictures, we’ve enjoyed your stories every morning (with laughing and head-shaking) and looking forward to your next live cruise report.

btw - we say ‘God winks’ meeting lovely Maddie on the way home 🙂

Meaning after dealing with the miserable yappers, there’s a service dog. Your sense of humor kept us laughing and HAL’s mistakes…(shaking head)…hopefully improved on everyone’s next cruise. Cheers,

Chris & Shawn

Hi Haljo1935 - about post #675 and the mentioned experience at Pearl Harbor; if it was people-caused negative energy, darn and no need to relive it 😕

We’re going to Pearl Harbor via the Kdam next month; if there were any scheduling /transportation/ etc snafus, we’d be interested in hearing.

Add our thanks for your fabulous writing and pictures, we’ve enjoyed your stories every morning (with laughing and head-shaking) and looking forward to your next live cruise report.

btw - we say ‘God winks’ meeting lovely Maddie on the way home 🙂

Thank you for taking us along and sharing your experiences @Haljo1935.

Question: if you find yourself on Deck 11/Sun Deck, would you please check if the aft is still closed to passengers?

Although we fully support having a space for the crew outside, we were hoping to make use of the Sun Bar (and could not when we were on the Kdam in April). HAL deck plan still shows it as a working bar…?

A very happy holiday to you!

Scuba Cruiser(s), your writing and pictures are wonderful - thanks so much for taking the time to post and reply 🙂

Amazing pictures scuba cruiser! Thanks so much for posting your tour and for Veteran’s Day.

We have an opportunity to go to Volunteer Point in 2025 and your report cements it…but…forgive an old-folks question, on your trip were restrooms available during the hours-long drive and at the parking spot? Thank you again,

Chris and Shawn