Volcanoes park at Hilo canceled

[saphir]

Celebrity just canceled my volcanoes park tour for next September's a Hilo. Do you think k we can have a private tour?  Thank you. 

 

Dear Guest, In light of the recent volcanic eruption that took place on White Island in New Zealand, weve made the decision to cancel all tours that visit an active volcano. In the next 24 hours, you will receive an updated invoice advising of your full refund, which you can expect to see to your original form of payment within 7-10 business days. 

Edited December 13, 2019 by saphir

[Cruise Raider]

27 minutes ago, saphir said:

Celebrity just canceled my volcanoes park tour for next September's a Hilo. Do you think k we can have a private tour?  Thank you. 

 

Dear Guest, In light of the recent volcanic eruption that took place on White Island in New Zealand, weve made the decision to cancel all tours that visit an active volcano. In the next 24 hours, you will receive an updated invoice advising of your full refund, which you can expect to see to your original form of payment within 7-10 business days. 

 

You could definitely arrange an independent tour of the park.  I do understand why a cruiseline would cancel this type of tour.  I think they had canceled all float plane tours after a couple of planes went down in Alaska ...also understandable.  

But, if you still want to go tour Volcanoes National Park, you can pick up a tour with a local van right in town.  We've done it twice and it was very interesting. 

If you have any breathing conditions, be warned that the 'vog' is not very good for your respiratory system.  

[PTC DAWG]

[saphir]

I'm only leaving in September. Many things can happen... maybe celebrity will propose the excursion again... We ll see in a few months... thank you for your answers.

[hcat]

When we were there  quite a few yrs  ago...our excursion included a visit to the equipment that tracks activity 24/7 .It is not inactive, that's for sure! We also saw an area that was buried from prior eruptions/ flows.  At night the ship sailed where you could view active lava flow...from a distance.

 

 

[cruznjan]

We were there a few weeks before it erupted. They can blow up any time. If conditions warrant Celebrity cancelling a tour, the locals probably won't go either.

[hulamoon]

Hawaii Volcano National park has high standards for safety. While I have lost friends there, each one disregarded safety warnings.

 

I am sure there will be someone who will take you to the park, conditions change all the time. Be clear on what you want to see. Often the ships go by the lava going into the ocean and it's a nice show at night. 

[Cruise Raider]

Somewhat related ... my last time to Hilo, I was booked on a kayaking excursion to paddle up to the base of the waterfall.  Well, it was canceled because of so much rain and the conditions were just not safe.  This is when we booked a tour with a company that we've toured with in the past while in Hilo and went up into Volcanoes National Park.  We were just able to book it right there in the little tourist area.  We actually recognized the same driver that had given us a tour the previous time there.  

I didn't interpret the OP's post as whining (or even insensitive) in the very least.  I think they were just asking a question ... and even included a thank you.  I read nothing else into it.  

[bkbarrym]

Tours to any active volcano have been cancelled.  This morning, we received the same notification for a ship's tour we had booked to Mt. Etna for next summer. This was booked using OBC and it already has been removed from our cruise planner and credited back to our OBC.

[DrivesLikeMario]

We just rented a car and drove there ourselves.  Super easy.  Maybe you can hire a guide for the park in advance and meet him/her there?

[Kartgv]

Here's a link to the official park service website for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park:

https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm.   There's also this one:   https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/status.html that I think is more useful.  The Geology and History section is particularly informative.  

 

The park officials are very diligent about monitoring and reporting seismic activity, using sensors and overhead photography, updating warnings and closing areas that might be unsafe.   There was lots of activity between 1983 and 2018, but things have now calmed down and there is currently no lava flowing into the sea or easily visible from tourist areas.    There was one well publicized tour boat incident over a year ago, where the operator apparently went closer than the recommended safety perimeter, but I've not heard of any land-based tour incidents.   As far as I know (being a property owner on the Big Island for many years), the only other recent deaths and injuries in the park have been people who have ignored safety warnings or those residents who chose to stay behind and try to save their properties after being warned to leave. 

 

The other important point is that there are different types of volcanoes throughout the world.    In recent history, Hawaii has not had the type of spectacular, sudden huge eruptions that are experienced in some other parts of the world, especially New Zealand.  Hawaii's lava flows tend to be slower, almost 'oozing' flows, though there may be some smaller explosions or  bursts of activity in pretty predictable areas.    In 1983 visitors were allowed to actually walk right up to the lava oozing across and melting park roads.   

 

While it's always wise to do your own safety check anyplace you're planning on visiting, you should be able to safely visit the Hawaii volcanoes, either with a private tour (I'd ask about safety precautions before booking) or by renting a car and driving it yourself.   The roads are good, it's not too far from Hilo port, and it makes a very nice day trip.   

[Cindy]

You might want to look at Mauka Makai and Ricky’s. Both are local companies that have excellent reviews and do tours of VNP. I understand why RCI/Celebrity made this decision, but I also think it is still possible to visit the park safely if you want to do it.

 

https://maukamakaiadventures.com

https://www.rickystourshawaii.com

[Pushka]

While we didnt book these excursions, so we havent been notified, but just checking our  Edge July Med Cruise there are some excursions that have now been deleted - an Adventure kayak and Volcano climb in Santorini (Might be others, thats the only one I can remember looking at as we have done this excursion before on Equinox) and now there are no offerings to Mt Etna in Siciliy, again another excursion we completed on Equinox.  

[txflood33]

I wonder if they will remove the Vesuvius/Pompeii tour 

[Pushka]

49 minutes ago, txflood33 said:

I wonder if they will remove the Vesuvius/Pompeii tour 

I’ll check. I did see Pompeii listed but as part of the general group and not specifically Vesuvius. I’m having trouble seeing the cruise on the IPad at the moment. Something has changed. 
 

I managed to get in again. There is no tour now to Vesuvius. Pompeii features in several.  So the three volcano tours on this cruise have been withdrawn. 

Edited December 14, 2019 by Pushka

[miched]

I heard this on the TV that  there are 169 active volcanos in the USA.   I googled it and came up with this site.  
 

https://www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/faq/how-many-active-volcanoes-are-there-united-states

 

hard to believe that there are that many.

 

On the subject of volcanos it always irritates me when they advertise the volcano in St Lucia as the worlds only drive thru volcano.  I tell them that they are wrong and ask if they ever heard of Yellowstone National Park.    Yellowstone is the crater of a volcano, you can drive thru it, and If it  erupts it would wipe out the American Continent.  
 

https://www.sulphurspringstlucia.com/

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

1 hour ago, Pushka said:

I’ll check. I did see Pompeii listed but as part of the general group and not specifically Vesuvius. I’m having trouble seeing the cruise on the IPad at the moment. Something has changed. 
 

I managed to get in again. There is no tour now to Vesuvius. Pompeii features in several.  So the three volcano tours on this cruise have been withdrawn. 

This got me curious about my 2021 Italy, Turkey, and Greece cruise. The Etna-including excursions on Sicily are gone as is the volcano hike and hot springs swim in Santorini (that was a fun one I did a couple of years ago through RCCL). 
 

Honestly I’m a bit pleasantly surprised Santorini is still there as a port given that the whole caldera was formed by that volcano which still has monitoring equipment all

over it. Akrotiri proves how destructive that one can be!

[goofysmom99]

The Canary Islands are all volcanic; I imagine there will be a lot of tours cancelled there, too.

[Lazz58]

13 hours ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

We just rented a car and drove there ourselves.  Super easy.  Maybe you can hire a guide for the park in advance and meet him/her there?

I would second renting a car.  You can get maps and information on line or at the volcano house in the park.  The drive down Chain of Craters road is fantastic.  

[bobndee]

I also recommend renting a car. We stayed in Hilo 20-odd years ago and drove to the Volcanoes Park. It made a nice day trip. It's interesting to drive from a rain forest to a desert in the space of a few miles. And I agree, the drive down Chain of Craters road is fantastic. The views are beautiful.  We also stopped at an orchid farm along the way.

[cl.klink]

17 hours ago, bkbarrym said:

Tours to any active volcano have been cancelled.  

 

ok … I'll say it.

 

Isn't this all a bit of an overreaction?

 

- Joel

[Fouremco]

This May 2018 article from National Geographic entitled Why People Live Near Active Volcanoes provides an interesting perspective on the issue:

 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/05/active-volcano-kilauea-hawaii-agung-mayon-community-culture/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=Compass_20191214&rid=241F8588B53E2154CCD27C09ADFF2933

[bkbarrym]

49 minutes ago, cl.klink said:

 

ok … I'll say it.

 

Isn't this all a bit of an overreaction?

 

- Joel

Perhaps. However, passengers from Ovation of the Seas were on tours to this volcano. So now being cautious. Likely losing a lot of tour revenue as a result though some may rebook on other ship excursions.

Edited December 14, 2019 by bkbarrym

[marieps]

17 hours ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

We just rented a car and drove there ourselves.  Super easy.  Maybe you can hire a guide for the park in advance and meet him/her there?

We did the same thing just last month.  If you rent with Budget, a van will pick you up at the ship and shuttle you to the airport to get the car.  The airport is on the same highway as VNP.  Very easy.  Ship tours we saw did not get to the Holei Sea Arch.  Driving to the sea to a must, IMHO!!  The park exceeded expectations.  Also, if you have any type of disability, including a documented hearing loss, you can get an National Park Service access pass.  Free admission for life to any national park.  nps.gov for more info.

[saphir]

Thank you all for your suggestions... it can still change By September.

 

I saw Carnival and Rccl maintain excursions to volcanoes