Ricky's Tours in Hilo....

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We are just back from our Hawaii cruise on the Zaandam. We had a tour with Ricky's Tours in Hilo. It was an excellent tour and we recommend it. Ricky is a great guide and a really nice person, too.

Thank you for confirming what we are hoping for. We are anxious to go with Ricky in May.:cool:

[sue402001]

Thank you for confirming what we are hoping for. We are anxious to go with Ricky in May.:cool:

 

And we are looking forward to his tour in April. Only 105 more days until we leave! :D

[NCTribeFan]

We were with Ricky on the Friday after Thanksgiving. We were the only three people in his van. It was great! Unfortunately, it poured for a good part of the day, but that's Hawaii! Pouring rain, then sun, then rain, then more sun.

 

It was an excellent tour.

 

I wrote a long review and tried to be fairly thorough talking about the excursions.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1321160&highlight=

 

There's also a link to my Webshots album near the end of the review.

[DocM4]

I am another very satisfied client of Ricky's Tours - we used him January 2010 and will again Feb 2011. He was waiting for us when docked - go us back around 4 and was a 'fountain' of knowledge - as I understand it, he was a guide at VNP. He is a very cheerful happy person and fun to travel with. His tour is INMO a gem at any price and his prices are great.

[crjj]

Several members of our roll call have booked Ricky's. I will post my review of Ricky's tour when I return from Hawaii on December 8... He seems legit, and very prompt with emails...

 

My famiy and I will be on the July 2nd POA cruise. We're also looking at Ricky's Tour. We'd appreciate your thoughts and insights reference your experiences with his excursions/tours.

 

Thanks,

chester

[Raison]

We have just booked Ricky for March 2011. I emailed an enquiry yesterday about lunchtime and I had a reply before dinner time. Given the time difference, I was very happy with his response time and his reply.

We did have a rental car booked, but I felt this would be a good place to have a guide with us.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We have just booked Ricky for March 2011. I emailed an enquiry yesterday about lunchtime and I had a reply before dinner time. Given the time difference, I was very happy with his response time and his reply.

We did have a rental car booked, but I felt this would be a good place to have a guide with us.

We will be with him in May. What did he say about lunch? I was wondering about that, too. I thought I read somewhere that you should pack a lunch from the ship.

[dleighb]

We booked with Ricky based on the reviews on this board (some in this post). We spent the day with him on Dec 21, 2010, and had a wonderful time. Well, not as wonderful as it could have been because it was raining and cloudy and overcast, but I can't blame Ricky for that! He did a couple detours for us because of the weather and such which was nice. The only issue that I had was that it was a tour and not everyone on a tour is prompt in their returning to the van. He was very knowledgeable and gave a lot of information. Also, I believe that some people expressed a concern about his being a licensed tour guide (based on the minimal website information). His license number was on his vehicle and the advertisements he had for his tours. I didn't actually call the tourism board to see if it was valid, but he had a good rapport with the port authorities, so I tend to think it probably was. It was a rough day because of the weather, but I am really glad that no one in our group was having to navigate the park or the unfamiliar roads.

 

Ricky told me that he also has contacts in Maui and Kauai, but we did not use them so I cannot review them. I will say though that we rented a car in Kauai after our tour with Ricky, and from the backseat, my brother piped up with all these questions about different things we were passing. My husband and I immediately started making up stories about trees, churches, bridges, etc. It would probably have been better though to have had a guide who really knew the truth behind them!

[dleighb]

Oh! Lunch! There is no lunch. There is a stop at the Macadamia Nut Factory and they have a snack bar. We did that factory last as we had just had a big breakfast on the cruise ship and no one in the group was hungry. But if you do it first, you could be hungry by the end.

 

We packed granola bars and crackers and had ice cream at the nut factory and we were fine. We got back to the ship around 2:30. Probably would have been 3:00 if it hadn't been raining. However, if you cannot do without a larger lunch, then definitely pack something from the cruise breakfast.

 

Ricky did provide bottled water for us though, so you don't need to weigh yourself down with that. Also, you were able to leave stuff in the van, so bring as much as you think you may need.

[Raison]

Oh! Lunch! There is no lunch. There is a stop at the Macadamia Nut Factory and they have a snack bar. We did that factory last as we had just had a big breakfast on the cruise ship and no one in the group was hungry. But if you do it first, you could be hungry by the end.

 

We packed granola bars and crackers and had ice cream at the nut factory and we were fine. We got back to the ship around 2:30. Probably would have been 3:00 if it hadn't been raining. However, if you cannot do without a larger lunch, then definitely pack something from the cruise breakfast.

 

Ricky did provide bottled water for us though, so you don't need to weigh yourself down with that. Also, you were able to leave stuff in the van, so bring as much as you think you may need.

 

 

Great info thank you! To be honest, I did not give lunch a thought. Now I will make sure we have some snacks with us just in case we get hungry!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Oh! Lunch! There is no lunch. There is a stop at the Macadamia Nut Factory and they have a snack bar. We did that factory last as we had just had a big breakfast on the cruise ship and no one in the group was hungry. But if you do it first, you could be hungry by the end.

 

We packed granola bars and crackers and had ice cream at the nut factory and we were fine. We got back to the ship around 2:30. Probably would have been 3:00 if it hadn't been raining. However, if you cannot do without a larger lunch, then definitely pack something from the cruise breakfast.

 

Ricky did provide bottled water for us though, so you don't need to weigh yourself down with that. Also, you were able to leave stuff in the van, so bring as much as you think you may need.

Thanks! I am sure we will be fine. We'll just eat a big breakfast and pack along some snacks like you did. We can certainly wait until 3 PM to eat! After all, we'll be on a cruise. By then we'll be waddling anyway, LOL;)

[Working 2 Cruise]

Please take it from me, he is a wonderful tour guide... And, as mentioned before, a very nice person. I highly recommend him. As for lunch, I would not recommend taking food off the ship, for sanitary and legal reasons, but he does stop at the Macademia Nut Factory, where they serve some sandwiches and snacks...

 

I just emailed him to see if he could take us on another tour (not this one) when we return in November...

 

Happy sailings in 2011 to everyone! Aloha!

[CharlesCharles]

Hi - Just did the HILO tour last week. Ricky is great and we had a great tour. He is going away for a biopsy soon so he might not be replying to emails as quickly as usual but I would highly recommend him

 

Charles

[apeller]

Please take it from me, he is a wonderful tour guide... And, as mentioned before, a very nice person. I highly recommend him. As for lunch, I would not recommend taking food off the ship, for sanitary and legal reasons, but he does stop at the Macademia Nut Factory, where they serve some sandwiches and snacks...

 

I just emailed him to see if he could take us on another tour (not this one) when we return in November...

 

Happy sailings in 2011 to everyone! Aloha!

 

We did Ricky's "standard" tour in December 2009 and so enjoyed it we asked him to design a new tour for us this year. We did repeat our visit to Volcano National Park and the lava tubes because we had some people whio were not with us last year. We also visited Lava Tree State Park which was lovely. We did stop for lunch at a nice little restaurant. We had a great day.

[Kylie]

I emailed Ricky about our day in Hilo on May 31, 2011 but he won't be available. He is taking his family to Disneyland. Good for his family - bummer for us. Great that he is doing that though.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I emailed Ricky about our day in Hilo on May 31, 2011 but he won't be available. He is taking his family to Disneyland. Good for his family - bummer for us. Great that he is doing that though.

Our tour with him is on May 17. I'm glad we missed the Disneyland trip!:eek: It is nice he gets a vacation, too.:)

[MaryGladys]

Hey everyone! Where is Ricky's contact info? Thanks! And does anyone have any prices?

[afdds]

Aloha,

Here is Ricky's information. I emailed yesterday morning and by 6pm (in Hawaii) I got a message back with prices and a thumbs up that he had room on his tour for us.

 

http://www.rickystours.com/

 

The web site is very basic but there is an email address at the bottom.

 

Hope this helps....Aloha

[Laura-SF]

Hi - I just found this thread. Thanks!

 

Took the Cunard round trip LA to Hawaii over the holidays - it was FANTASTIC! Love, love this itinerary. We are going on the Princess in March - SF roundtrip Hawaii.

 

On our earlier holiday cruise, I took the ship tour in Hilo. What a waste. Am following up on the earlier posts about Ricky's tours in Hilo. I did not see a further review. Insights on tours in Hilo would be appreciated.

 

Otherwise, am thinking about going to the Hilo Farmer's Market (on a Saturday). It is supposed to be quite unusual. Anyone been there?

[apeller]

Hi - I just found this thread. Thanks!

 

Took the Cunard round trip LA to Hawaii over the holidays - it was FANTASTIC! Love, love this itinerary. We are going on the Princess in March - SF roundtrip Hawaii.

 

On our earlier holiday cruise, I took the ship tour in Hilo. What a waste. Am following up on the earlier posts about Ricky's tours in Hilo. I did not see a further review. Insights on tours in Hilo would be appreciated.

 

Otherwise, am thinking about going to the Hilo Farmer's Market (on a Saturday). It is supposed to be quite unusual. Anyone been there?

 

We have toured with Ricky twice and I cannot praise him enough. The first time we took his standard tour and the second time he planned different stops for us. I am not good about follow up or writing reviews, but I highly recommend him, and I know you will not be disappointed.

[Dbedros]

Ricky's web site is down does anyone have an email address for him?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Working 2 Cruise]

Ricky's web site is down does anyone have an email address for him?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Rickystours@yahoo.com. He is wonderful, this is will be our second time with him. Highly recommended!

[Dbedros]

Rickystours@yahoo.com. He is wonderful, this is will be our second time with him. Highly recommended!

 

Thank you very much. I sent the email and received a reply within an hour. I have spoken to Ricky and my tour is booked. I am sure that we will have a wonderful tour.

 

Also, Ricky's web site is currently down due to a virus.

 

Cruise Critic Member are the best.

[cruznbelle]

We had a very good tour with Ricky as well - he was excellent. Our personal favorite of that trip was the Maui Hana fly/drive - wouldn't hestitate to recommend either.

[AnnaDurbs]

We were leaning towards using Ricky's Tours in Hilo instead of renting a car. I went to Trip Advisor to see how they were reviewed and not a peep. It's like they don't exist. :eek: I remember seeing good reviews of them on Cruise Critic. So, for those of you who have toured with them recently, how did you like them? Were they prompt? Meet you at the dock? Get you back in plenty of time? I remember that the tours were in vans, not buses. Correct? Any info is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Dawn

 

Just back from Carnival Spirit and would highly recommend Ricki. He was at the dock when we arrived. Took us everywhere. Just a couple of notes. Dont rent a car. For the $60.00 we paid Ricki you get a lot for this without the hassle of picking up and returning. Be prepared to get on and off a lot. Bring a jacket as it is cool up at the Volcano. You will see ALOT in the 6.5 hours and I was beat when we got back. Do this tour if he has room. Well worth it.