11 Day O'Ahu Explorer Cruise Tour Review POA

[Kattus]

We're considering Mary Lou, for everything you get to see and STILL a lot less than the NCL excursion. :):)

[relic2]

Thanks for the info. If our group is larger than 6, I suppose we can get two vans as long as I book well in advance. I think the NCL price is nearly twice that amount.

[carmzav]

Thanks for the info. If our group is larger than 6, I suppose we can get two vans as long as I book well in advance. I think the NCL price is nearly twice that amount.

 

We're considering Mary Lou, for everything you get to see and STILL a lot less than the NCL excursion. :):)

 

The price difference is a big thing, but the difference between a small tour and a large tour when it comes to the total experience is priceless. The two smaller tours we did provided us with so much more information, and gave us the time to ask questions.

 

Big Island Aina Tours was the group we were originally supposed to go with, and I've heard really good things about them too. They do the same Volcano Tour as Mary Lou did.

[punkincc]

We're considering Mary Lou, for everything you get to see and STILL a lot less than the NCL excursion. :):)

 

Thanks for the info. If our group is larger than 6, I suppose we can get two vans as long as I book well in advance. I think the NCL price is nearly twice that amount.

 

We did Mary Lou's tour in Hilo last year. They had three vans going that day, Mary Lou, husband Ken and son Kyle. I think 6 people in each, but they might sometimes squeeze in another one or two. If you split up, just be aware you may not see the others during the tour. You will not all pull up and jump out at the same time. Because they offer a long list of things to see, depending on the interests of each group, you may not all be following the exact same itinerary. I would definately make some specific requests if using Mary Lou's again, substituting a few more scenic stops for a couple things like the coffee plantation or the Mac nut store. Worth researching the stops offered on the list to see the things that really interest you. They will accommodate you if they can.

 

They also do tours from Kona for that stop, but we did not use them there.

[scopewest]

Thank you for the info on your land package. We'd been thinking about doing this with NCL, and now we know the details!

[TMC]

To the OP... sometimes the little details that are posted can be so helpful to others. Thank you.

 

I just posted a question about the size of the sofa beds as I had seen two pictures showing them at different lengths. Another kind poster remembered seeing the info in your report. Would you mind letting me know about how tall your son is? Being able to keep the fold out smaller really helps make a little walkway.

 

Thanks so much!

 

TMC

[carmzav]

Thank you for the info on your land package. We'd been thinking about doing this with NCL, and now we know the details!

 

You're welcome! It was frustrating to find so little information before we left. I hope other people will benefit!

 

To the OP... sometimes the little details that are posted can be so helpful to others. Thank you.

 

I just posted a question about the size of the sofa beds as I had seen two pictures showing them at different lengths. Another kind poster remembered seeing the info in your report. Would you mind letting me know about how tall your son is? Being able to keep the fold out smaller really helps make a little walkway.

 

Thanks so much!

 

TMC

 

He is 54 inches tall. About an average size for a ten year old- but he sleeps curled up, so kids who like to stretch out might not be as comfortable. Then again, kids seem to be able to sleep in spots that most adults would find uncomfortable, so who knows! :D

 

I forgot to share a Tuesday thing- the laundry special! Such a great deal, especially if your cruise includes time on the islands before and afterward. I thought we had packed plenty, without OVERpacking, but I hadn't accounted for how the humid weather and different activities would make us want to change into clean clothing several times a day.

 

Here are the details of the laundry special:

 

 

And here's the beautiful bundle that was returned to us Thursday! The laundry bag isn't huge, but it held approx. 12 shirts and a few other smaller things.

 

 

Here are the dailies from Tuesday:

 

 

Edited September 6, 2015 by carmzav

[Shellbelle28]

Nice report. Thank you. I loved the lei making classes last time I did a Hawaii cruise. We were able to do a flower lei one day and the kukui nut on another. Of course, this was back when the ship (the Star) still went to Fanning Island.

We did the Star with the haul out to Fanning too. I enjoyed that, it was nice. I made a ribbon lei, still have it!

[relic2]

I still have mine too. Hanging in my jewelry armoire. . I had forgotten.

We actually lost a passenger on Fanning Island. A 40 something guy had a heart attack and died onboard. Very sad.

[Shellbelle28]

I still have mine too. Hanging in my jewelry armoire. . I had forgotten.

We actually lost a passenger on Fanning Island. A 40 something guy had a heart attack and died onboard. Very sad.

That is sad. I have great memories of our trip (in 2002). We were really lucky, the lava was active when we were on the big Island and our tour there was awesome. Fanning was unholy hot, but such a different place to go and be exposed to.

 

Edited September 6, 2015 by mbuenzli

[relic2]

You didn't, by chance, buy one of those Fanning Island daggers, made from a swordfish bill? We have mentally kicked ourselves for not getting one. We collect foreign daggers.

[Shellbelle28]

You didn't, by chance, buy one of those Fanning Island daggers, made from a swordfish bill? We have mentally kicked ourselves for not getting one. We collect foreign daggers.

Nope just a little woven basket with a shell handle (that I think I broke the law by transporting [emoji15] )

[Travelingboski]

Thank you for sharing your cruise experience with us. I am enjoying following along.

 

I just booked the San Francisco to Honolulu cruise for Mar 2016, now I wish it would hurry up and get here.

[bar1068]

Hi carnzac...real good stuff here in your review.

 

Quick question if I may. How did you determine to use Valley Isle Excursions for your Road to Hana tour over other company's tours? We've looked at a few others, we were leaning towards doing a similar tour with Roberts Tour, but what I'm seeing on Valley Isle's website, I may consider them, just thought I'd see what your thoughts were on decided to use Valley Isle.

 

Thanks.

[carmzav]

Wednesday- Kona!

 

Kona is a tender port. The tenders (at least four, carrying close to a hundred people each) started running right around 7 am. To get the tender, you were to report to the Hollywood theater, where I believe there was a line, but I have no other personal knowledge of that process. We were going on an excursion through NCL, so we were told to meet in the Mardi Gras at 9:30. We were escorted down the stairs and onto our tender as a group, and then directed to a bus, which took us to the Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm.

 

 

This was a short excursion. You started by washing your hands, then enter the farm as a group. There are certain areas (such as the nursery) where photography is not allowed. We learned about the creation and reasons for the farm, along with the process of breeding and caring for the seahorses. At the end of the tour, everyone gets to have a seahorse wrap themselves around your fingers.

 

 

After the tour, the bus took us back to the port, so we jumped on a tender to head back to the ship for lunch. When you are tendering back to the ship, keep an eye out for sea turtles swimming nearby! If you are claustrophic at all, try to get a spot near one of the open areas. They cram as many people as possible into that tender, and it gets hot and stuffy!

 

After lunch, we tendered back to the dock to visit the nearby Mokuaikaua Church (which is Hawaii's oldest Christian church), do some shopping, and get shaved ice.

 

We headed back to the ship to go to the ribbon lei class.

 

 

Cagney's was our dinner spot that evening. It was our anniversary, so the wait staff sang to us (horribly off key, but still very very sweet) and brought us a cake, which we took back to our room because we weren't hungry after such a good meal.

 

 

The dailies from Wed:

[carmzav]

Hi carnzac...real good stuff here in your review.

 

Quick question if I may. How did you determine to use Valley Isle Excursions for your Road to Hana tour over other company's tours? We've looked at a few others, we were leaning towards doing a similar tour with Roberts Tour, but what I'm seeing on Valley Isle's website, I may consider them, just thought I'd see what your thoughts were on decided to use Valley Isle.

 

Thanks.

 

I was really interested in seeing Lindbergh's grave, and it didn't appear to be included on the Robert's tour. Other than that, I don't really remember why I chose one over the other! I wanted to try a few different companies, instead of just relying on one. I read loads of reviews on here as well as on trip advisor before making the decision.

 

It's a beautiful area, and I think you'll be pleased no matter which group you go with!

[carmzav]

Thursday

 

Nawiliwili, Kauai

 

A few weeks before our trip, NCL changed the time we would be in port. This was frustrating for us, since we had an all day excursion planned with Roberts. I emailed them about the change, and they were wonderful with their responses. They emailed right back and said that they had just learned of the change as well, and were trying to figure out how to reschedule things. We ended up having to change the trip and only go to Waimea Canyon. I don't think we missed much by not seeing the grotto.

 

Since the new excursion was starting later, we had a sort-of leisurely morning on the ship. Breakfast at the buffet was a madhouse, since everyone was awake and waiting for the ship to dock. We went to the towel folding demo in the capitol atrium, but there were so many people milling around the lobby and the acoustics were so bad that I couldn't hear a thing that was being said. My husband and son stayed to watch and found it interesting. We did look forward to our towel animals every day.

 

 

Shortly after 10, we left the ship to find our tour group. The time change seemed to cause a lot of confusion since so many tours were leaving at once. We found our group and boarded the big bus.

 

 

IIRC, we made three stops. First, at the blowhole, where we had twenty minutes to walk around, use the bathrooms, visit the crafters' stalls, and reboard the bus. The shoreline is lovely - it reminded me a lot of the beautiful coast here in New England, especially Maine.

 

 

Next we stopped at a store, which sold souvenirs, snacks, and drinks and had lots of clean bathrooms. I usually don't like when bus tours make shopping stops, but I didn't mind this one because we weren't there very long, and the prices were reasonable.

 

The last stop was Waimea Canyon, which is beautiful. There is a somewhat clean bathroom at the lookout, and a stand selling fresh fruit, drinks, and snacks. If I had to do it again, I'd probably consider renting a car at this port, or going with a smaller tour group. We had half an hour at the canyon, but we only went to the one lookout. It would have been nice to have seen other parts of the canyon. (Although truth be told, by this point in our trip, I had developed a bad cold, and we had already seen and done so much that I was at that point in any long trip where you just need some time to absorb everything.)

 

 

After the Canyon excursion, we returned to the ship to swim, relax, and eat dinner (again at Cagney's.) Then called it a night!

 

Here's the daily ship schedule:

 

[carmzav]

Friday

 

Tube the Ditch!

 

We planned our excursion today through NCL due to the fact that we were leaving port at 2 pm. I did contact Kuaui Backcountry Adventures on my own, but they did not provide transportation, and we didn't want to rent a car. At the time, booking the excursion through NCL was not that much more expensive than going on our own, but as the trip came closer, NCL almost doubled the price of the excursion. If I had the chance to cruise to Kuaui again, I would definitely rent a car so I could see more of Waimea Canyon, and go do this tubing trip.

 

As soon as we boarded the ship on Saturday, there was a form in the cabin asking us to confirm our weights for this tubing trip. No big deal- I just wanted to mention it so nobody was surprised! It looks like they confirm height and weight for all excursions that have limitations in place.

 

Anyway, we met out group inside the port building. We were given waivers to sign. We thought the part about "You will get wet" was funny. Our tubing guides said they've had people who actually have complained about getting wet on the trip.

 

 

The NCL bus took us about ten minutes away to Kuaui Backcountry Adventures, where we were given gloves and helmets. We had about fifteen minutes of standing around. Our group was split in two, and we were in the second group, which explains the wait. When it was our turn, we got in a van and rode twenty minutes on a bumpy dirt road to get to the drop in point.

 

On the way up, our guide told us what to expect and talked to us about claustrophobia issues, etc. The tubing trip goes through 4 tunnels. The second is the longest and most narrow, but after that tunnel, there's a point where you can get out if you want.

 

We arrived at the drop in point, read some more rules and got some more safety info, then it was time to get into the water. Getting in and out of the tube is usually the most challenging, uncomfortable, and potentially embarrassing part of tubing, but this company was fabulous. They really know what they are doing! They explained how to get in and out of the tubes, and they were there to assist. One person lifts the tube forward to help you in, and the other stands on the side to help, as shown in the picture below. People of all ages, sizes, and shapes did this trip, and we all had a blast.

 

 

A rope holds everyone in the same spot so everyone can travel together. As soon as everyone was in, we were off. There were parts that moved a little quicker, but it was a slow float for the most part, in and out of the tunnels for close to an hour.

 

 

 

 

 

After the rafting portion, we got out of the water at a picnic area. We were given bottled water and granola snacks. There were port-a-potties and a small changing area. We were there for what seemed like a long time, but was probably just half an hour or so. There was a volleyball net set up, along with perhaps some frisbees or something. The van took us back to the NCL shuttle, which took us back to the ship around 12:30.

 

All in all, this was a wonderful excursion, and I'd definitely recommend it!

[carmzav]

Friday, continued

 

After the tubing adventure, we went back to the ship for lunch. All week, I had wanted to go to the Cadillac Diner, and now I am not really sure why. The service was atrocious. If it had been a restaurant on land, we probably would have gotten up and walked out. We were seated, and ordered our drinks from one person. Then another person came over, so we ordered appetizers. Meanwhile, still no drinks. Then we ordered our meal. Still no drinks. (We had just ordered ice water and lemonade.) We waited. And waited. Our meals were delivered, although it wasn't exactly what we had ordered. Still no drinks. Then our appetizers show up. Still no drinks, and no wait staff anywhere to be seen. Very frustrating. The food wasn't very good. Small portions. We finally flagged someone down and asked about the drinks. Definitely a disappointing experience! They seemed very disorganized. Hopefully this was just a fluke.

 

 

After lunch, we went to one of the origami classes. It was held in the John Adams Coffee Bar, which seemed like an odd place, since many of the tables were being used by people who were drinking coffee and eating. There was a decent sized crowd there to do origami. We ended up taking the supplies and going over to the atrium to attempt the project since there was no place to sit. This was another example of a time when being on a completely full ship was not ideal.

 

We also participated in the family cupcake decorating activity, which was held in the Aloha Cafe. All Aboard was early today, since we were leaving at 2 for the Na Pali coast, so the Aloha Cafe was packed. We took our cupcakes and went to the Gold Rush Saloon to decorate and eat them. I liked that there were so many activities geared to different age ranges, but it would have been nice for them to be held in venues that could accommodate the crowd.

 

The Rock A Hula show was campy and fun, so I'm glad we went. We didn't get to see many of the shows because we were exhausted from our full days of touring the islands.

 

We headed back to our room to relax and enjoy the Na Pali Coast from our balcony. Since we were on deck 10, we were able to hear the narration coming down from the floor above.

 

 

The early all aboard time on Friday is convenient, because it gives you plenty of time to pack up in preparation of leaving the next day.

 

We visited La Cucina for dinner that night. I'm not a big fan of Italian food, but the meals were good.

 

Edited September 10, 2015 by carmzav

[carmzav]

Disembarkation Day

 

Our original plan had been to get off the ship, take a taxi to our hotel, drop off our luggage, then take a taxi to the Bishop Museum, but after seeing the teeny bit of the Kualoa Ranch, we both really wanted to go back.

 

We almost always had good cell phone service, so we were able to make arrangements to rent a car after we left the ship. The Enterprise rental company, a few blocks from the pier, didn't open until 9, so we ate breakfast at the buffet, then left around 8:30. We hit a major crowd of other people who were walking off the ship with their luggage at the same time.

 

The crowd actually moved fairly quickly, but it was a struggle because families were trying to stay together, and everyone was dragging heavy luggage. The elevator to go down the three floors to ground level is tiny, and there was a huge crowd. I ended up taking our three suitcases on the elevator, while my husband and son walked down the stairs and met me at the bottom. It was a little bit of a maze to get outside- there didn't seem to be many signs, so we just followed the herd.

 

Once outside, we figured out which direction to walk in, and ended up at the rental agency just as they were opening. There were four or five people in line in front of us, but we managed to get our car and hit the road with just enough time to make our 11 am reservation for the movie tour at Kualoa.

 

If you are a fan of movies or tv shows like LOST, I definitely recommend a visit here. There are tons of activities and other tours- you could easily spend the whole day. I was really impressed with our tour guide, and although we weren't planning on spending the extra money to rent a car to come back here, I don't regret it one bit.

 

One of Godzilla's footprints.

 

Our wonderful tour guide. The tour is given on a big green school bus. There aren't any windows, so your view is perfect, and they make plenty of stops so you can see each site. Our guide was fantastic about taking a picture of each group at each stop. (How many times do you go somewhere with the family, and don't end up with a single picture that has EVERYONE in it?? This guy didn't let that happen.)

 

 

SO worth a visit!

 

The drive back to Waikiki was about an hour, but the traffic wasn't as bad since it was a Saturday. We checked in to the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani. It had mixed reviews, but the price was right. The hotel is older, but the staff was wonderful and our room was just fine. Best of all, the "resort fee" that *every* hotel seems to add on included parking AND breakfast!

 

The view to the left was nice:

 

But there IS construction going on, and they were up and working EARLY Sunday morning. We were up high enough that it didn't bother us one bit. I'm not sure what is being built here, but this is the site of the old international marketplace.

 

 

We cleaned up a bit, then went to meet our bus to go to Paradise Cove.

[Kalaki]

I am doing this cruise December 26th. Thank You for this comprehensive review!!!

I was wondering which side of the bus for the Valley Isle tour had better scenery?

How long was the tour?? Did anyone get motion sickness?? Was it bad for your back??

Thanks!!!

[carmzav]

I am doing this cruise December 26th. Thank You for this comprehensive review!!!

I was wondering which side of the bus for the Valley Isle tour had better scenery?

How long was the tour?? Did anyone get motion sickness?? Was it bad for your back??

Thanks!!!

 

The windows on the valley Isle buses are so large that you can see from either side. The driver stopped a lot, so we could get off the bus to get great pictures. I don't think one side was better than the other.

 

I think our tour was around 9 hours. The website says 10-12 hours, but I think ours was (thankfully) not that long. None of us had problems with motion sickness. I didn't think the roads were THAT twisty, or maybe we just had a good driver. No back issues either. I didn't think the chairs were overly comfortable, but they weren't uncomfortable either, and like I said, we got out enough that we weren't sitting that long at any one time.

[carmzav]

We met our bus at 3:15 to go to Paradise Cove. It's been a while now, so my memory is a little blurry. The pickup process was a little disorganized. They had two or three buses come to our pick up location, and they put some of us on one bus, and the other people on other buses. Then we went to the next pick up point, where they did the same thing. It seemed like a waste of time, since they could have put us all on one bus, then headed over to the luau, but whatever. I didn't figure out what the issue was.

 

We arrived at the luau, and our host gave us some directions. He did a good job of explaining how everything worked. He had us stay on the bus instead of standing in line, which I appreciated since it was so humid and the bus had AC.

 

Paradise Cove has many different activities, which are great for kids. We tried bowling and the canoe ride, but skipped the tattoos since the line was so long.

 

 

Even though the tables weren't all filled, the shave ice stand did run out of ice very quickly, which was disappointing. There were several stalls where you could buy crafts and jewelry. You could also pose with parrots and have your pictures taken for an extra fee. (Cheesy, yes, but it's actually my favorite photo from the whole trip.)

 

 

The food was better than I was expecting. (I wasn't expecting much though!)

 

The show was entertaining, but it was a lot shorter than we were expecting.

 

The ride back was the highlight of the evening, because that's when the host (in our case, Cousin Mo) turns on the charm. It really was a lot of fun for everyone.

 

 

All in all, I don't think the whole experience was worth the high price tag, BUT, it's one of those must-do things when you're in Hawaii!

 

We flew back to the east coast the next morning.

 

I hope this review helped! I'm happy to answer questions. :D

[TexasLadyBug]

Thanks for the review.

 

Helpful bit of info for those of us planning a trip to Hawaii!

[carmzav]

Thanks for the review.

 

Helpful bit of info for those of us planning a trip to Hawaii!

 

You're welcome! While I was planning our trip, I was always appreciative of all the information other people gave me. Have a great trip!