Book Hawaii Excursions or Wait?

[atexsix]

This is not a panic thread, we're not sailing for 5 weeks nor is it intended to be insensitive, safety and well-being of Hawaiian residents are far more important than our ability to sight-see; it's more of a practical question because we were seriously going to be booking our excursions today, but given the number of excursions that are located in mountainous zones where roads can be washed out, is it wise to book shore excursions or wait?

 

If getting refunds weren't such a pain in the butt I'd throw caution to the wind and just do it, but I recently had a couple of refund/return nightmares and I'm not in the mood for any more.

 

Just out of curiosity, because I usually cruise in the spring when this isn't an issue, but what do the ships do during weather events? Do they cancel the sailing? Or divert to other ports of call? Doesn't seem like there are any places close enough to Hawaii to divert to.

[CruiserBruce]

The sailing will not be canceled. The route might be altered, but you will still go on the cruise. Some excursions may be canceled, or altered, if damage warrants it.

[OlsSalt]

If you go to Kauai and they offer the "movie sets" tour, by all means think about signing up for it early as they are limited in number. A very fun tour.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

In a couple of days, we'll know the extent of the situation in Hawai'i regarding Hurrican Lane. So I would suggest waiting through the weekend, and making your excursion decisions on Monday. Just my two cents.

[Krazy Kruizers]

You certainly can wait a few days to see what the conditions of the islands will be like after the hurricane.

But HAL may still offer the tours and not cancel them until you are on the ship.

We happened to have cruised Hawaii the end of March and the islands had a lot of roads closed due to rains and flooding. We had booked several tours and 3 of them were cancelled once we were on the ship -- one even the day we were in one port.

[Rowsby]

I would wait to book excursions.....for at least a week....to see if there is lengthy or unfixable damage....

 

The U.S. Navy have removed all their ships and submarines....and headed north of the Islands for the duration of the hurricane....

 

The Pride of America....that normally circles the Islands in a week cruise.....cancelled the ports of Hilo and Kona.....they went to Kauai yesterday....and have headed north of the Islands today for safety.....they are due back into Honolulu on saturday....hopefully there will be no problem....

 

This is an unusual situation.....so fingers-crossed.....they get thru the next few days safely......

[RuthC]

If HAL cancels a shore excursion, the money is automatically refunded to you. You don't have to do a thing to get the funds back.

If you cancel, for example because you don't think you'll enjoy it as much because of damage, you may be refunded. The amount will depend on when you cancel, from full refund before boarding or (possibly) first day aboard, down to nothing back a few days before the port or later.

[knittinggirl]

I’d book the ones you don’t want to miss, then hold off on the rest. If they have to cancel a port, you’ll get port fees back for that port, and also shore excursions.

 

If you plan to do the WW II battlefields and ships, book soon. One of them is limited group. Also, keep in mind that prices increase.

 

 

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[Walfam]

This past spring, I had a shore excursion that was canceled at Half Moon Cay on the day of the excursion, after waiting 1 1/2 hours for it to begin 1 1/2 hours late. High winds was the reason given. All our money was refunded within 24 hours. Based on that experience, I would not hesitate to book a shore excursion now.

[BJzink]

On our most recent Hawaii cruise, we booked a ship's excursion on Oahu - a circumnavigation of the island with several stops planned. Unbeknownst to us, there was a major surfing contest on the North shore. And, once you are on that road, it is difficult to do anything else but proceed. We were in a traffic jam that rivaled I-5 in California. Not anything that the cruise tour agent could have predicted. We were almost an hour late getting back to the ship & there were several other passengers in the same situation. Luckily our driver was able to contact the ship, and they said they would wait for those of us who had booked with them......

[knittinggirl]

We did the Ship's Tour on Kawai'i about Hollywood sets. One stop was at the Coco Palms Resort. We had to all sign waivers before we could exit the bus. It was where they had filmed Fantasy Island. And I kid you not, it was a shambles, falling down, should have been bulldozed.

 

They also had set up one of the musicians from Fantasy Island, and he performed. Then we saw the dvds for sale. Obviously as set up so he could sell us his albums.

 

Our tour guide just bubbled over how great Coco Palms was. From the way she gushed, we though we were going into an upscale resort until we saw it.

 

On another Princess tour, we'd booked two shore excursions for Maui. Returning on the first, we decided not to attend the second exursion and turned our tickets into Shore Ex's box w/ a note about how rough the water was. No one was manning the desk, so we slipped our unused tickets in their box. We even had a man falling down the stairs on the tender and were sure they'd cancel the rest of the tours.

 

They didn't cancel anything, and we had to eat the cost of our second excursion.

[OlsSalt]

We did the Ship's Tour on Kawai'i about Hollywood sets. One stop was at the Coco Palms Resort. We had to all sign waivers before we could exit the bus. It was where they had filmed Fantasy Island. And I kid you not, it was a shambles, falling down, should have been bulldozed.

 

They also had set up one of the musicians from Fantasy Island, and he performed. Then we saw the dvds for sale. Obviously as set up so he could sell us his albums.

 

Our tour guide just bubbled over how great Coco Palms was. From the way she gushed, we though we were going into an upscale resort until we saw it.

 

On another Princess tour, we'd booked two shore excursions for Maui. Returning on the first, we decided not to attend the second exursion and turned our tickets into Shore Ex's box w/ a note about how rough the water was. No one was manning the desk, so we slipped our unused tickets in their box. We even had a man falling down the stairs on the tender and were sure they'd cancel the rest of the tours.

 

They didn't cancel anything, and we had to eat the cost of our second excursion.

 

You might be too young to know the history of the Coco Palms - of course it is now in shambles after getting severely hit by Hurricane Illiki a number of years ago, but in its heyday it was one of the few grand resorts on the island and played a starring role in Elvis Presley's life and film Blue Hawaii. Makes sense to not enjoy this tour if those old films and TV shows were not part of your own history.

 

Times and entertainment were much simpler then - the CocoPalms lagoon and the flower-bedecked raft probably was the romantic ideal for a wedding setting back then. Just like singing the Hawaiian Love Song in the Maui Fern Grotto or Don Ho endlessly singing Tiny Bubble was quintessential Hawaii for another generation. (Sigh)

 

You raise a very good point and I will be more cautious when recommending this tour in the future. ...mainly for those of a "certain age" will find this immensely enjoyable. Coco Palms apparently got a new owner and was being restored, however now it is next to a very busy highway which in the past was a very infrequently traveled road when there were only a few resorts and even fewer tourists visiting this more remote island ...back in the 1960's. In the days before high-rise Waikiki, when the only large structure was the pink Royal Hawaiian and the scent of plumeria dominated the night air in downtown Honolulu. (Sigh, again)

 

However, even without knowing the original films or TV programs set on this islands, the use of it as a back drop for settings that were pretended to be from settings around the the world, as well as the behind the scenes looks when chose as a "remote"jungle setting was technically fascinating. The fact there were multi-stpry condos a very short distance way from Gilligan's Island ship wrecked beach where the staff an crew would stay between takes shows the magic eye of the camera , even for those who never had seen the long running and popular TV program.

[Reagan0712]

Call HAL’s excursion office. They can tell you which ones are limited seating and which ones fill up fast. I did that for my last cruise and was glad I did, got into an excursion with only 16 people immediately.