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Hilo Hawaii Port


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Our Hawaii cruise departs LA in a month. Princess is not answering any questions regarding the condition of the Hilo port. We really don't know what to expect since the volcano is still erupting and they have had drastic storms, including a hurricane in the past few months. Any information you can give us will be appreciated. - Anita

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Our Hawaii cruise departs LA in a month. Princess is not answering any questions regarding the condition of the Hilo port. We really don't know what to expect since the volcano is still erupting and they have had drastic storms, including a hurricane in the past few months. Any information you can give us will be appreciated. - Anita

Gicen that the first Hawaii cruises don't begin till next month, I doubt anyone actually knows as yet.

Volcano National Park is open, albeit in limited areas. https://www.nps.gov/havo/2018-closure.htm

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My Hawaii cruise is in February and I received an e-mail last week that the shore excursion I have booked in Kauai has been modified. I cancelled it as it no longer goes all the way up the Hanalei, which was the reason I booked that excursion.

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The port of Hilo itself is fine. The question remains concerning certain shore excursions outside of Hilo, including the ever popular Volcanoes National Park. The visitor center was impactec by the eruptions. Roads have been destroyed/compromised by lava flows so some areas might not be accessible. It really is the shore excursion part, not making port there, that has been impacted.

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The port of Hilo itself is fine. The question remains concerning certain shore excursions outside of Hilo, including the ever popular Volcanoes National Park. The visitor center was impactec by the eruptions. Roads have been destroyed/compromised by lava flows so some areas might not be accessible. It really is the shore excursion part, not making port there, that has been impacted.

 

The main entrance Visitor's Center is open. It is the Jaggar Museum overlooking Halemaumau Crater that is closed (probably permanently). There are many other things to do on Hawaii Island (Hilo). You could rent a car and do the falls. Or drive to Lava Tree National Park in the opposite direction. Or take a nice drive along the Hamakua Coast (north).

 

It is still early in the cruise season. Hawaii Island is reassessing the damage. Hilo is NOT in danger. And it was only the bay front that was flooded.

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You would be missing one of the true treasures of Hawaii. The port is open.

 

My thoughts as well. On one of our non-cruise trips to Hawaii, we chose to spend several nights in Hilo and enjoyed it. It's more "authentic" than many other places one could visit in the islands.

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Gicen that the first Hawaii cruises don't begin till next month, I doubt anyone actually knows as yet.

Volcano National Park is open, albeit in limited areas. https://www.nps.gov/havo/2018-closure.htm

 

Not true. Pride of America sails in Hawaii year-round. We were just there a few weeks ago and Hilo is one of the port stops.

 

Hilo itself is fine. Nowhere near the eruption.

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Just a thought but you might want to check Robert's Hawaii's website- they run a lot of the Princess tours in Hawaii as well as independent tours and they are updating on what the current tours are doing. No guarantees of course, but probably a pretty good indicator of what to expect

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I just returned from a 10 day visit to the island of Hawaii and spent 7 days in Hilo. During that time there were two cruise ships that I noticed when passing the port so cruises are definitely going there, as others have said. We visited VNP one day and it was amazing to see the change since May 2018. There is a good video in the visitor's center and NP personnel are very helpful in giving information. We went to the vents and then drove to the Devastation Trail parking area where we walked about 1 1/2 miles to the viewing points for the caldera from this angle. This was a good view of the caldera but I think the best views we had were from the path in front of (or behind) the Volcano House. The caldera came 1 mile closer to the Volcano House and it was amazing. The Volcano House restaurant was not open for lunch but expects to reopen later this month. Yes, the Jagger Museum and Thurston Lava Tube are not open but many other drives are. On the way back to Hilo we enjoyed lunch at the Kilauea Lodge, an absolutely wonderful experience. There is no lava to view now but you never know when it will reappear.

 

Another first for me was going to Punaluu Beach. A drop dead, gorgeous beach past VNP. I don't know if cruise ship passengers have time to go here but it is fabulous. I wouldn't go if only to get off a tour bus, see the beach, take a photo, and get back on the bus, but there were many doing exactly that. There were many turtles. And, there are ruins of an old hotel that was destroyed in a tsunami if you cross a bridge, past the pond filled with water lilies. There is a bakery in the town of Punaluu that has great food to take back to the beach for a pic nic.

 

If you want a beach day in Hilo, we spent a day at Onekahakaha Beach Park. It is not too far from the port and there are more beautiful swimming beaches further down the road where you can take a pic nic lunch and enjoy a swim.

 

If you like challenges, and you have time, take a drive to South Point for a cliff jump. It is about 30 minutes past Punaluu and the two young adults I was with thought it was great.

 

I did not have time to show our friends Akaka Falls, which is a favorite of mine. We did a tour of Kuka'iau Ranch on the Hamakua Coast and in addition to the tour we planted koa trees in memory of those we love. It was great and Pat, a red headed Irishman from Boston, gave a fabulous tour. The trees have gps sensors so that you can check on the growth of your trees and revisit them when you wish.

 

Don't forget to get flowers at the farmer's market for your room. So, there are so many things to do in the Hilo area and I hope you have a good trip. Cherie

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The main entrance Visitor's Center is open. It is the Jaggar Museum overlooking Halemaumau Crater that is closed (probably permanently). There are many other things to do on Hawaii Island (Hilo). You could rent a car and do the falls. Or drive to Lava Tree National Park in the opposite direction. Or take a nice drive along the Hamakua Coast (north).

 

It is still early in the cruise season. Hawaii Island is reassessing the damage. Hilo is NOT in danger. And it was only the bay front that was flooded.

 

Although a good portion of VNP is now open, Lave Tree National Park is still closed.

 

I read the other day that this is the first time in recent years that there is actually No lava flowing within VNP.

 

Pride of America on NCL goes there every week. People on the 2 most recent NCL cruises said that there is no longer any lava flow to be seen by air or sea at this time. Things can always change, but as of now, Pele is quiet.

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If you like challenges, and you have time, take a drive to South Point for a cliff jump. It is about 30 minutes past Punaluu and the two young adults I was with thought it was great.
Please don't do this, people die doing this. It's also prohibited to drive on South Point Rd by the rental car companies.
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My Hawaii cruise is in February and I received an e-mail last week that the shore excursion I have booked in Kauai has been modified. I cancelled it as it no longer goes all the way up the Hanalei, which was the reason I booked that excursion.

Which cruise are you on? I'm on the Pride of America Feb 16th.

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I inquired about Lava Tree National Park and was told due to damage it is closed indefinitely. There are restricted areas and anyone going into those areas could be arrested. They were very detailed on the areas open & closed.

Information on the Parks :http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...
On 10/2/2018 at 2:13 PM, cccole said:

I just returned from a 10 day visit to the island of Hawaii and spent 7 days in Hilo.

 

Don't forget to get flowers at the farmer's market for your room. So, there are so many things to do in the Hilo area and I hope you have a good trip. Cherie

 

 

Cherie:

 

Thank you so much for your detailed and informative post.  I'm headed to Hawaii next month and I appreciate all of your ideas!

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On 1/8/2019 at 4:37 PM, rugerdog said:

 

 

Cherie:

 

Thank you so much for your detailed and informative post.  I'm headed to Hawaii next month and I appreciate all of your ideas!

You're welcome.  Let us know what you do while in Hilo.  Cherie

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