LIVE from the Island Princess

[Nrknits]

I forget to mention, last night we went to the Bayou Cafe for hubby's birthday. Excellent!! Welll worth the extra $. A nice treat, service and food were excellent.

[dixieva]

Thanks Desert Nurse! I did not realize that the ports were changed for different cruises. We will be on April 19th. I hope ours will not change because we are supposed to meet up with my sister who will be in Kona and Hilo the same days we will be there. Oh well, nothing I can do about it so I won't worry!

 

Sounds like you are having a great time. I sure hope you get your money back for the helicopter tour!

 

Thanks again all of you for posting so often!

[sunshine426]

Thank you everyone for posting. I am so excited about my trip coming up on the 19th!! Just wondering how the formal nights have been so far. Is one more formal that the others? Sunshine. And Dobie, oooohhhh, what a terrible experience. Hope the rest of the trip is fabulous for you.

[dobie]

We've only had one formal night so far. Not many guys in tuxes, most in sport coats or suits and ties. Cricket is right, they came up with a LOT of things to keep people busy today--even printed it up and had it delivered to our cabins within an hour!! Quite impressive. I, of course, did none of it, just hung out at the Lotus Pool and now I'm going to my balcony. Poor Cricket is going to have to train all new bar servers, or else trade bars, but then she wouldn't get to hear "Jack" every night!!! I'll check in later.....

[dobie]

It is now 10 PM. We are in Honolulu and everyone is free to get off the ship. The crew is very excited, they are going to party hearty tonight on Waikiki beach. I am going back to the cabin......lots of passengers were waiting for us to dock so they could go to the nightclubs. You'll have to get that info from them!! I'll check back tomorrow....

[kryos]

We had a private helicoter trip planned, don't know if we'll get our money back, they have a 24 hour cancellation policy. (4 of us, almost $700) Keep you're fingers crossed. I'll call again tomorrow, to inquire, we're out of cell phone range today.

I can't imagine you wouldn't get your money back. If it was so windy as to close down the port, believe me ... it was too windy to fly the helicopter too. Even if you had managed to get there, I bet they would have cancelled the flight anyway. Those outfits generally have some pretty strict safety policies.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Desert Nurse]

As mentioned, we missed docking in Kauai yesterday when the port authority closed the harbor due to the winds. The captain did a full circle around the island so we could see everything.

 

I had booked the Hawaii Movie Tour but only after confirming with them that I would not be charged if the ship did not make it into port. I called them on my cell phone yesterday as soon as the captain made the announcement and they couldn't have been nicer about it. Very professional. I wouldn't hesitate to book with them again in the future.

 

The ship docked about 930PM last night and was cleared about 1000PM. We got off after dinner and walked around the local area. It was a beautiful evening!

 

Off to Honolulu now!

[RvrCrzr]

If anyone attends the ONBOARD (luau-type) entertainment during the HONOLULU stop, please fill us in. I understand there is a very good deck party this night.

 

Thanks for your updates! :)

[dobie]

Got off the ship around 9 AM this morning. Cricket was going to climb Diamond Head with us but her knee was acting up so Rog and I went alone. Took a bus, then a taxi (because we waited for the second bus for about 40 minutes). Got to Diamond Head, climbed up, it was beautiful. Lots of stairs and uneven terrain so it was good that Cricket did not come with us. By the time I got to the top I was sweating buckets, it's humid here!! The views were incredible, took a lot of pics. After we climbed down and waited for the bus again it took us about an hour and a half to get back to the pier area (you have to change buses), but it only cost $2!!! Wandered around the Aloha Tower marketplace, had a beer and some chicken tenders at Hooters (there is a coupon for $5 off in one of the Oahu books you can pick up at bus stops). Just got back on the ship, and I'm off to the Lotus Pool. I'm going to have to read my Patter about an Island party tonight. There was one a few nights ago, but we have late seating dinner so didn't go. I'll check in later!!

[Nrknits]

Update about the helicopter tour - Jack Harter, by the way, We called again today to see how it is going to be handled. An Assistant Manager called me back and said they were able to fill two of our four seats and so we will be charged for the other two - $356.00 Ouch. I'm going to send a nice email pleading with them again and see what happens, but it sounds like the are sticking to their 24 hour cancelation policy. It was an expensive day at sea. I guess that's the advantage to spending more and taking a ship's tour. It never even occured to me that we would miss a port in Hawaii. Guess I'll know better next time.

Had a nice day in Honolulu - did the Arizonia Memoriale, Chinatown and a little Waikiki beach area. Off to see the hawaiian dancers, I'll check in later.

[DMorris]

Yesterday was Kona. We had booked the Fair Wind Catamaran snorkel sail independently. We got priority tender tickets and were on the first tender off, so we hit shore about 8:20. Caught a taxi to the Fair Wind, got there by about 8:45. It left at 9. There were dolphins in the wake, and a whole school of them coming back. The snorkeling in Kealakaua Bay was wonderful, beautiful coral, lots of fish. The boat had a slide and a high dive, they gave us all of the snorkel stuff, and inner tubes. They cooked cheeseburgers on a grill for lunch. We had a great time.

 

Your snorkeling adventure sounds great... do you have a web site or contact info for the company you used in Kona? I am interested in this excursion... thank you. Sorry you missed Kauai...

[BillMcAnally]

Update about the helicopter tour - Jack Harter, by the way, We called again today to see how it is going to be handled. An Assistant Manager called me back and said they were able to fill two of our four seats and so we will be charged for the other two - $356.00 Ouch. I'm going to send a nice email pleading with them again and see what happens, but it sounds like the are sticking to their 24 hour cancelation policy. It was an expensive day at sea. I guess that's the advantage to spending more and taking a ship's tour. It never even occured to me that we would miss a port in Hawaii. Guess I'll know better next time.

Had a nice day in Honolulu - did the Arizonia Memoriale, Chinatown and a little Waikiki beach area. Off to see the hawaiian dancers, I'll check in later.

 

I'm not real sure about this, but you might look into your trip insurance, if you bought it. it might cover this. Say Hi to Cricket for me.

[suziehmkr]

An Assistant Manager called me back and said they were able to fill two of our four seats and so we will be charged for the other two - $356.00 Ouch.

This got me thinking after your first post and I have emailed the tour company for a fun tour we want to take in Kauai... since we are sailing in December, we could have weather issues too. I had heard about Maui being missed, but not Kauai. That was Sunday night and I have not heard back from them. If they don't make allowances for ships missing ports, we may just go back to our original plans.... since the missed stop would cost us about $400.... ouch. Even a portion of a refund would be good. I am glad that you got some of yours back so far! That is good to know.

 

Being a dual business owner, myself I can see both sides on this one... they need to make money too.... it is a sticky situation.

 

Thank you all for your continuous Live from the Island posts! They are first posts I scan!! Your itinerary was completely reverse of what we will be doing!

[kryos]

If they don't make allowances for ships missing ports, we may just go back to our original plans.... since the missed stop would cost us about $400.... ouch. Even a portion of a refund would be good.

If the ship could not stop there ... and the vendor will not issue a refund for a missed excursion ... I would simply contact my credit card company and refute the charge. That's horse hocky! The fact as to whether a ship actually makes it to port is very easily verifiable. If the ship doesn't get in, then any excursion booked should be refunded in full ... even if that excursion is booked independently.

 

I always ask this question when I book something on my own, and in every case I was told by the vendor that yes, if the ship has to skip the port, there will be no charge. The only time a charge will be made is if the ship stops and for some reason, the passenger fails to show up to do the excursion. Then, yes ... I can certainly agree with the vendor in this case.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

Update about the helicopter tour - Jack Harter, by the way, We called again today to see how it is going to be handled. An Assistant Manager called me back and said they were able to fill two of our four seats and so we will be charged for the other two - $356.00 Ouch. I'm going to send a nice email pleading with them again and see what happens, but it sounds like the are sticking to their 24 hour cancelation policy.

Remind me never to go on an excursion with Jack Harter!

 

That's crap. Don't plead. Just inform them that your ship could not dock. They can certainly verify that fact with the port agent, and that you WILL NOT be paying for ANY seats. They could either remove the charge or you will simply refute it with your credit card company. Either way, they won't be getting paid.

 

These outfits deal with cruise ship passengers all the time. Clearly they realize that if the weather is bad and the ship can't dock, those passengers will not show up for the excursion.

 

I would imagine that if the Island could not dock, other cruise ships could not dock either ... or tender ... whatever. Another thing I find interesting is that if the weather was so bad as to prevent tendering, just how the hell did the helicopter fly? Wind is wind. If it's too windy for a ship's tender, it would probably be even more so for a chopper.

 

Personally, I think they are probably giving you a load of crap. They probably lost a lot of revenue that day because the birds couldn't fly. They are trying to make some of it up on unsuspecting cruise ship passengers who wouldn't have realized that Harter's helicopters couldn't fly anyway. Had you managed to tender into the port on that day, I'll bet Harter would have cancelled your flight due to weather.

 

Like I said ... personally, I wouldn't pay a DIME.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

If anyone attends the ONBOARD (luau-type) entertainment during the HONOLULU stop, please fill us in. I understand there is a very good deck party this night.

Wait a minute ... there is a luau on board the ship? Then why am I paying over a hundred bucks to attend the one at the Polynesian Cultural Center? Is there some difference ... other than the fact that the show might be a bit more elaborate there?

 

If there is a laua onboard, even if it is not as extensive as the Polynesian Cultural Center, I'd rather just do that one and book another, different-type excursion in Honolulu.

 

Could someone onboard the Island be kind enough to clarify this for me? I'd appreciate it.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Cruisin' Chick]

I agree it's ridiculous to charge someone because their ship missed your port. Doesn't he (the helicopter company) have some sort of insurance in case of bad weather? I remember my first time in Kauai, the helicopter tour that was included in our tour got cancelled because of the weather.

 

We also went to the PCC during that same trip -- back in 1990. So I don't know what it's like now but we did the luau as well as the show. In hindsight (especially after doing a better luau in Maui a few days later), the PCC luau could be skipped. You can just do the show or the show and the little tents (I don't know what to call them) outside beforehand.

[suziehmkr]

That was Sunday night and I have not heard back from them. If they don't make allowances for ships missing ports, we may just go back to our original plans.... since the missed stop would cost us about $400.... ouch.

I just heard back from the company that we wanted to book thru in Kauai...and they said that the 24 hour cancellation would hold even if the ship doesn't port. She did say that is the reason that many cruisers do not book directly with them... they offer special tours that can be booked thru the cruise line which will wait if the ship is late and not be charged if the ship doesn't port. At least I found out now! Just waiting for her to tell me what tours they do book with the cruise lines so I can look for alternatives if needed. Darn, I was looking forward to it too!

[cruznliz]

I realize what a bummer it is to be charged for something you didn't receive, but one thing to consider is that you are talking about Hawaii here. Cruise ship passengers are certainly not the majority of the tourist industry on the islands. I would imagine these tour/helicopter outfits get most of their customers from tourists not on ships. Therefore a cancellation policy of 24 hours sounds reasonable. It would be interesting to know for sure if the helicopter actually took off that day. If they said they sold 2 of your seats I would tend to believe them. Just because there is wind over the water doesn't mean there's wind on the land.

 

We were in Hawaii 3 years ago and booked a whale watching cruise independently. One in our party got sick and couldn't make it. We were able to call the day before and cancel one of the tickets. But those are the chances you take. On the other hand, my daughter really wanted to swim with the dolphins in Cozumel and the ship tour was full. We walked up to the desk at Chankanaab Park and got her on the dolphin swim with no problem whatsoever. 9 times out of 10 you can sign up for land tours on the spot, even helicopters, whale watching and dolphin swims.

[Aloha Me]

Did you book the helicopter through Princess or on your own?

[dobie]

I did not go to the luau show onboard, but can tell you that I would not pay $100 for a luau ANYWHERE!! We've done one, the Old Lahaina Luau, that was plenty. So check into what you are getting.

We were in Maui today. We booked the Pacific Whale Watch Foundation whale watch (independently, about $25 pp).

I'm going to copy an email I sent to my friends an family because I am tired and want to go to bed....

Well, yesterday we were in Honolulu. Somebody decided that it would be a good idea if we took a bus out to Diamond Head and climbed it. I think it was me. OK, it was really hot and HUMID!!! I am used to hot, but not this stupid humidity where you are sweating buckets when it is only 80 or so degrees outside. We did it, climbed to the top and got some incredible pictures but boy did I stink when we were done!! We were trying to get a bus back to the ship and I asked a bus driver if the bus went to the Aloha Tower. He said it did, then when we got on his bus Rog asked me if I knew what the Aloha Tower looked like. I asked him if he had been out on our balcony that morning. He had, but he had not noticed the HUGE tower with an observation deck and a clock that completely overlooked our room. I took pictures.....We left Honolulu last night around 11 and got to Maui this morning. We went on a Pacific Whale Watch looking for....WHALES!! We found a few.....a couple of moms and some calves, and then a couple of big groups of "competition pods" where about 8 whales compete over one female. I was really nice. When we were sailing out of Lahaina tonight there was a big rainbow over the mountains....I took some pics!! I'll check in with you all later....

We have 5 more days at sea so I should be able to check in and answer questions....off to bed!!!

[Mbouck1]

Sorry to hear your problem with Jack Harter tours. We were on the Island just before you were and were able to take the helicopter tour with Jack Harter. I must say that it was one of the most spectacular tours that we have taken. The pilot was just great and the views from the helicopter over Kuaii was superb. I would also recommend them to anyone. That is one of the problems though with booking an excursion on your own and not with the ship. I certainly hope you don't get charged for thisw unfortunate event.

We did however book our whale watching excursion through the cruiseline. The excursion was cancelled due to high waves in Maui and was refunded the cost.

[Desert Nurse]

First, kudos to Dobie for arranging a great whale watching trip. What a great value! I've got a lot of photos of whale parts so I'll try to post them together to make one whale. The Pacific Whale Foundation is a nonprofit organization so I did some of my shopping there knowing that at least part of my purchase would go towards the whales and other sea life. My cabin mate and I walked around Lahaina after the trip, had lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise (great onion rings!) and then headed back to the ship.

 

We have been blessed with almost perfect weather this trip. We had a few spinkles in Maui yesterday but they felt great. The temps have been just right, not too hot. Just like Dobie, I'm used to the heat but not the humidity but it hasn't been as humid as I've experienced in Hawaii in the past. I did get a kick out of a woman in the elevator this morning who complained about the "artic winds" last night that made her cold. Makes me wonder how we could be on the same ship.

 

We are having a second wine tasting today with all the wine we have left over from our first one. The CC group is a fun one so if you add a little wine there are lots of laughs.

 

The movie Sideways is playing tonight. I'd love to see the movie but I just can't get myself motivated to see one on a ship. Other available movies have included Lemony Snicket, Ray, and Finding Neverland. I'll be scanning and posting the patters after I get home so everyone can see all the movie choices.

 

Dobie and I are going to apply for jobs as wine stewards. Yes, I know that Princess (read: Carnival) eliminated them a long time ago but we need them back. The wait staff is too busy to fill our wine often enough for our needs. We are going to convince them to leave the wine bucket next to us tonight so we can fill each other's wine glasses.

 

In Honolulu we took the free Hilo Hattie's bus to their main store, then the free shuttle they had to Waikiki. We had plenty of time, so why not? The shuttle only comes to Waikiki every thirty minutes or so. We got off at the Shearton Moana Surfrider and had a drink overlooking the tiny beach. The beach was only 10 feet deep at some points. I know it has to do with the time of year but last time I stayed there (in December) the beach was huge. I had their signature Mai Tai which tastes better overlooking the ocean than anywhere else.

 

After some shopping and a visit to the rather odd but loveable International Market Place, we had lunch at the Royal Hawaiian, again overlooking the ocean. I had heard that the International Marketplace was going to be closing this fall and wanted to visit one last time. It hasn't changed at all in the last 15 years.

 

My cabin mate didn't want to eat on the ship so we ate at the Gordon Biersch (sp?) brewery at the Aloha Tower. The salad is wonderful and very filling with a wedge of lettuce, covered with crispy bacon and bleu cheese. If I went again I would order the salad, garlic fries and beer(!) only. There are a lot of nice shops in the Aloha Tower for those that don't wish to venture too far from the ship.

 

I've really enjoyed my balcony this trip. There is a close by cigar smoker but it only bothers me when we are in port and makes it impossible to sit on the balcony. I think he must be down wind from me because it never bothers me while we are moving.

 

<-- Off to my balcony with a good book!

[dobie]

The problem with Cricket and I being wine stewards is that we would have to taste EVERY wine to make sure that our passengers were happy.....and then we'd have no time left to pour for them! I'm off to the Lotus Pool for a few hours until our next wine tasting!!! Another great day at sea....

[Hornet]

You girls are having way too much fun........................