Overnight on the Big Island?

[suncityga]

Has anyone stayed overnight on the Big Island while on a Celebrity Cruise?

 

Celebrity Solstice arrives in Kona on 24 April and in Hilo 25 April... two separate ports of call.

 

The plan would be to disembark (tender) in Kona in the morning of the 24th and re-board (docked) in Hilo the afternoon of the 25th.

 

Interested in knowing how you set it up with Celebrity and what did you do with your time on the Big Island.

 

Thanks, :)

[Kamloops50]

Has anyone stayed overnight on the Big Island while on a Celebrity Cruise?

 

Celebrity Solstice arrives in Kona on 24 April and in Hilo 25 April... two separate ports of call.

 

The plan would be to disembark (tender) in Kona in the morning of the 24th and re-board (docked) in Hilo the afternoon of the 25th.

 

Interested in knowing how you set it up with Celebrity and what did you do with your time on the Big Island.

 

Thanks, :)

 

it's a violation of the Passenger Services Act . Celebrity won't allow due to the penalties involved . These penalties will be charged back to you .

Edited February 27, 2015 by Kamloops50

[CruiserBruce]

I don't think it is a violation, but the key point is Kona is a tender port, so it is possible you will not be able to get off there. Just two weeks ago a Cunard ship was unable to tender in Kona. Bad weather for tendering is a winter time problem, so April is a little less likely, but...

 

Princess regularly spends an overnight in SF. What is to stop people from staying overnight ashore?

Edited February 27, 2015 by CruiserBruce

[Kamloops50]

Are you on the cruise that is from Australia or the one that is going to Vancouver. In either case the PVSA doesn't affect you. April in Kona is the start of the storm season. If Kona is before Hilo you might be OK. if after then there might be a problem.

Personally I would tour the island Kona and do Hilo separately .

 

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[punkincc]

Has anyone stayed overnight on the Big Island while on a Celebrity Cruise?

 

Celebrity Solstice arrives in Kona on 24 April and in Hilo 25 April... two separate ports of call.

 

The plan would be to disembark (tender) in Kona in the morning of the 24th and re-board (docked) in Hilo the afternoon of the 25th.

 

Interested in knowing how you set it up with Celebrity and what did you do with your time on the Big Island.

 

Thanks, :)

 

No experience with Celebrity in Hawaii, but I know people have done this on the POA with NCL. The POA does those ports in the reverse order and dock at Hilo first and Kona the next day. The passenger informs the ship they will be "missing" the ship when it leaves on the Hilo day and will rejoin in Kona. The big draw in Hilo is Volcano National Park, but you can easily do this without missing the ship. Just curious what your reason for wanting to do this.

 

Of course you have to have a way to get over to Hilo to meet the ship. Taxi is not feasible due to the time involved. I understand a couple hours at least. So rental car or friends and family living on the island is solution for some. And of course there is always the possibility of the last Hawaii port being cancelled due to weather. I think this most frequently happens in Kona as this is a tender port. I doubt if there is as much risk of this happening in Hilo. Worst case scenario, you would need to fly to next port. With Kona being your first stop, if the ship misses the port due to weather, you just cancel your overnight plans.

[suncityga]

Thank you for all your replies... we appreciate it very much!!!

[suncityga]

Are you on the cruise that is from Australia or the one that is going to Vancouver. In either case the PVSA doesn't affect you. April in Kona is the start of the storm season. If Kona is before Hilo you might be OK. if after then there might be a problem.

Personally I would tour the island Kona and do Hilo separately .

 

Sent from my SGH-I317M using Forums mobile app

 

 

We are on both cruises (B2B)... 1st cruise starts in Sydney and the 2nd cruise starts in Honolulu & ends in Vancouver. We stop in Kona first and in Hilo the next day.

 

The thinking is to pick up rental car in Kona and tour the Big Island ending in Hilo the next afternoon to re board the ship. Lots more time to see the whole island and the lava flow at night.

 

Just part of the planning process... we are waiting for Celebrity's reply..

 

Thank you for all your replies!!!

 

 

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Edited February 28, 2015 by suncityga

[cccole]

Last November when I was on Hawaii I thought of renting a car in Kona and returning it in Hilo but the drop off fee was horrendous. If rental car cost is something you are considering you might check on this. I think it would be great if you can do what you have planned. Are you planning on taking a helicopter tour to see the lava at night? Depending on the flow it is often the only option unless you are a knowledgeable resident in the Hilo area. I hope you'll post what you decide to do. Cherie

[kapoho2]

Right now there is no lava to be seen at night...or daytime. Things are happening, but it is just not accessible for viewing. Of course, that could all change in a second!

 

Sometimes, the drop fee on the car is not bad at all. We had friends who rented in Hilo and dropped on Kona for a $40 fee. I got the impression that that may have been negotiable also. Always worth a try.

[diverearl]

Depending on how adventurous you are and your level of fitness do yourself a favor and disembark at Kona, overnighting on the Big Island then return to the ship in Hilo. This would be the perfect opportunity to enjoy one of two great bucket list activities that usually demand a land based holiday to check off, unless of course you live on one of the islands. The toughest thing I would have to do is pick which one I wanted to see the most.

 

The first and easiest outing of the two is Diving or snorkeling with the Manta Rays and as of late a mature female Hawaiian Monk Seal that randomly makes an appearance in the lights. Weather or water conditions can affect the dive but seldom ever does which makes this choice achievable almost every night. Given your one night only this fact becomes a great concern in my book, if you had more nights on the island you could be far more flexible of course. This adventure will rank in the top few adventures I've enjoyed on the Hawaiian Islands a definite DO NOT MISS unless it is to hike out to see the Red Hot Lava.

 

Hiking out to see the Lava especially at night is by far my choice of the two however weather could easily make this hike far more difficult or impossible. Most people on this board will tell you that you can't do it and every time I've been to The Big Island I've been told you can't see an active lava flow yet every trip I've hiked out to and poked a stick into Red Hot Flowing Lava. I hesitate to write about this hike because just like many other things (like being able to rejoin the cruise in a different port) people who live on the island or other tourist will tell you what can't be done and if you don't look into it farther you might be convinced by their opinions, but like anything worth doing do your own research before deciding what can and can't be done. Here is a link to recent trip advisor reviews about hiking to the active lava.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60583-d1924726-Reviews-Ahiu_Hawaii_Guided_Lava_Tours-Hilo_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii.html#REVIEWS

 

There are many places in the world to either dive with Manta Rays or see hot lava but the slow moving pāhoehoe lava currently flowing out of Puʻu ʻŌʻō is one of the safest to access.

 

If someone had not taken the time and effort to tell me the real facts about accessing the lava I would have been miss informed by people on this board and others and would never have seen this incredible phenomena of nature. One thing that would definitely affect the hike right now is the current deflation at the crater but that can change in a second either way.

 

Edited March 7, 2015 by diverearl

[kapoho2]

Sorry diverearl....I will keep my mouth shut from now on.

[cccole]

I haven't noticed any posts on this thread discouraging the OP from doing an overnight in Hilo. Some are just pointing out what may be obstacles in doing so. As far as diverearl's response to hiking out on the lava at night...he admits that weather can make it difficult or impossible. My son, who lives in Hilo, gets payed big bucks by photo and film crews to hike them out to active lava flows. Personally I would not recommend to anyone to take on the adventure without someone who locally knows the terrain. Like diverearl, we have been to the island of Hawaii many times and have some fabulous photos of active lava flows, even when the kids were young we were able to hike out close to the flows. There are reasons why individuals, whether local residents or tourists, are warned against taking on this "adventure" without knowing what they are doing. There are professionals that you can hire to take you on a lava hike. As others have posted, I hope OP is able to do an overnight in Hilo and enjoy the incredible adventures on both the Kona side and Hilo side of Hawaii. I hope Kopoho2 doesn't even think of not commenting on the island that is their home. Cherie

[agabbymama]

When we were on the Big Island in 2011, the road to the lava viewing was blocked with a guard shack set up. We started to walk around the road block and the guard came out and stopped us, telling us we could not go beyond that point. It just wasn't safe at that time. Signs would be posted when there would be a guide to take folks walking out to the viewing when it was safe.

 

We saw only the old lava flows. Nothing active, but that was enough for us to see the destruction caused by the lava flows and the way it engulfs everything.

 

We continued on to Hilo, with stops at the Zoo, Macadamia nut farm, Rainbow waterfall, Lyman Mission House Museum and ending with lunch before returning to our rental house.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60583-d154338-Reviews-Lyman_Museum-Hilo_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii.html

 

The Zoo was a pleasant surprise. We hadn't heard a thing about it, and it ended up being one of our favorite stops. It was free parking and free admission, with lots of flora and fauna. With a donation box set-up.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60583-d131359-Reviews-Panaewa_Rainforest_Zoo_and_Gardens-Hilo_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii.html

 

Just a word of caution to the OP, to be sure to check with Celebrity and get something in writing as to whether it is okay to debark in Kona. There may not even be anybody that can check you off the ship in that port.

 

Have a great trip!

Edited March 8, 2015 by agabbymama

[Susan-M]

 

If someone had not taken the time and effort to tell me the real facts about accessing the lava I would have been miss informed by people on this board and others and would never have seen this incredible phenomena of nature.

 

People who live on the Big Island and who post on this forum (and on Tripadvisor) aren't trying to misinform tourists ... they are trying to keep tourists safe and doing activities that are legal. I would recommend to anyone considering a lava tour at this point, to make sure that you've picked a reputable company and that what you are doing isn't illegal. The situation was much different a couple of years ago when lava was legally accessible via a 5-7 mile round trip hike.

 

diverearl ... perhaps you can suggest the name of a company that is currently doing lava hikes that are legally accessible?