Eurodam Hawaii excursion help?

[fann1sh]

`I've just made the newbie mistake of seeing a deal, and booking it, without research - 17 night circle Hawaii, Eurodam, departing San Diego Feb 20.   

 

Great price through a well known travel agent discounter.  I signed up Monday.   Instead of 100% single supplement?  I'm taking a friend, along, as my guest.

 

And, all those sea days?  Those will be amazing. 

 

But, I didn't give a thought to shore excursions before booking.  How hard could it be?  

 

I'm an eejit.  This isn't the Caribbean. 

 

I'm visiting a US state, well known for its high cost of living.  The islands are much larger than the islands in the Caribbean. 

 

I know I could get a discount excursion package with Roberts Hawaii, much the same tours as HAL offers, but for less money.  But, I'd rather be in a small group rather than on a bus.  And, the tours they offer are pretty bland. 

 

I also know many, many cruise pax rent cars.  But,  both of us are women, and neither loves the challenge of unknown mountain roads in an unfamiliar vehicle. Maybe it's a genetic XX gene thing? 

 

Plus, I've also tried searching the Hawaii board without much luck.  For example, Valley Isle offers Road to Hana abbreviated tours to Pride of America pax, but not for Eurodam. 

 

So, do any of you have fond memories of cruise excursions, and/or names of tour guides you'd like to share?

 

And, to cap it off?  That BLASTED discount agency estimates it won't have  our booking number to book HAL excursions  for another 2 weeks!  The best may be sold out by then! 

 

HELP! 

 

Thanks in advance to everyone.   I am going to LOVE this cruise for all those sea days, but I promised my friend Hawaii. 

 

 

Edited January 17, 2019 by fann1sh

[OlsSalt]

We loved the movie location tour offered in Kauai - small bus. But you need to be of a certain age to have remembered most of the movies or TV shows that used this island as their backdrop - most recent was The Descendents - which was a pretty terrific movie set in modern Hawaii. If you did not swoon over Elvis in Blue Hawaii on his raft at Coco Plams this may not cut it.

[PSR]

If you thoroughly read the HAL tour descriptions, some of them may be "small group" size, but they are usually more costly than the bus tours.  

[fann1sh]

Thanks, PSR  I hope some are still available when I get my booking number. 

 

Old Salt?  I was still watching Disney when Blue Hawaii came out.  "Missed it by that much" as Max Smart would have said. 

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

Have you joined your roll call?

 

On our Hawaii, Marquesas & Tahiti cruise we had a ton of private tours.

 

the key is to join and watch and if someone has something that appeals, don't hesitate.  And to join in, as you will have a chance to 'meet' some others on the cruise and if you go to the Meet and Greet, a chance to connect with them.

 

We did all of our tours for that one other than Hilo on private tours and they worked out well (not counting wether in a couple of ports 😉 ) 

 

 

[Rowsby]

Don't panic....you will love the cruise (I have...twice)....and you can even wait and book excursions when you get on the ship....the excursion crew can answer all your questions....and will double-check things if needed.....

 

Don't rent a car....I lived on Oahu and have been there multiple times....it just isn't worth it....traffic is crazy....and there is a huge problem with parking.....plus it takes up precious time getting the car and returning it......

 

I also wouldn't plan on taking the Road to Hana....it's a two lane road that takes hours to get there and back.....not something you could safely do during the ship's timeframe....

 

On my last cruise....taking a family member who had never been to the islands......I did pre-book The Circle Island tour on Oahu...we were in Honolulu two days (Mon and Tue)...I wanted to be sure he could see Hanauma Bay....which is closed on tuesdays........all other excursions were made on the ship....

 

If you book Robert's...or one of the tour companies on Oahu.....arrange to have them pick you up at the Ilikai.....it's an easy cab ride from the cruise terminal and their first Waikiki pick-up point...... 

 

We enjoyed seeing Kilauea on the Big Island.....the closest I've ever been to an active volcano.....!!

 

Enjoy.....:)

Edited January 17, 2019 by Rowsby

[fann1sh]

Thanks so much Kazu!  Yes, I've joined the roll call and queried there.  No openings in shared tours - at least not yet.  The discounter probably just filled A LOT of cabins. 

 

Rowsby, I really appreciate the feedback and encouragement.  I need to relax a bit, maybe? 

[Rowsby]

6 minutes ago, fann1sh said:

Thanks so much Kazu!  Yes, I've joined the roll call and queried there.  No openings in shared tours - at least not yet.  The discounter probably just filled A LOT of cabins. 

 

Rowsby, I really appreciate the feedback and encouragement.  I need to relax a bit, maybe? 

 

I wish I was going.....:)

[knittinggirl]

Weird to have to wait so long for a booking number.  I hope that works out for you.

 

All on Princess.

We did the Volcano Crater tour in Maui w/ the goat cheese farm.  It was a van.

In Honolulu, we did the World War Two sites (8 hours) in a small vehicle.

 

On HAL.

We did the volcano tour, w/ their small group option.  We may do that one again.  We saw the volcano, place where lava flowed over the road in the 70s, and macadamia plantation.  We bought a big bag of nuts, and ate them all the way to New Zealand.

 

 

 

 

[OlsSalt]

OAHU: If the story of Pearl Harbor draws you to this site, there is a "VIP" tour version that takes you around almost chronologically to the various sites (and again WWII movie locations) which also  introduces you to personalities who played pivotal roles on that fateful day in American history. 

 

It includes a visit to an informal WWI "museum" and bar, that is really more a collection of artifacts from the relatives of deceased parents  who had a lot of WWII memorabilia and the children reallly did not know what to do with it -so this couple on a mission of love created this informal almost "shrine", where these small pieces, letters and photos can reside.

 

Very moving, because it is so personal.  That tour also includes lunch at the officers club on the near by Army base that became the high command for the Pacific War.  Again, maybe more for a certain age, but the Pearl Harbor  Memorial remains a surprisingly popular destination for all age groups. 

 

BIG ISLAND We loved going up to the Moana Loa observatory site on the Big Island too - it takes you past huge lava flows as you wind up to this cloudless location. 

Edited January 18, 2019 by OlsSalt

[mfanderso]

We did this cruise in November and used Tours by Locals at all the ports.  They were all very good tours.

[ithaca gal]

2 hours ago, fann1sh said:

 

I also know many, many cruise pax rent cars.  But,  both of us are women, and neither loves the challenge of unknown mountain roads in an unfamiliar vehicle. Maybe it's a genetic XX gene thing? 

 

 

 

I hope you and your friend have a WONDERFUL time, no matter what you choose to do.  However, I have to say that it not a genetic XX gene thing!  Different challenges for different people!  🙂

[Alberta Quilter]

We did use Roberts Hawaii for our tours and they were all small groups.  I think the largest was 20 and the smallest was 6 or 8.  So don't rule them out.  And they picked us up right at the port; we didn't have to cab it anywhere to meet them.  The one HAL tour that we did, in Kona, was the sea horse farm.  Expensive but really cool.  I recommend it.

[Rowsby]

7 minutes ago, Alberta Quilter said:

We did use Roberts Hawaii for our tours and they were all small groups.  I think the largest was 20 and the smallest was 6 or 8.  So don't rule them out.  And they picked us up right at the port; we didn't have to cab it anywhere to meet them.  

 

Oh good....I didn't know Roberts would pick up at the port.....super.....:)

[highscar]

Is pearl harbour open.  With the shutdown I doubt it 

[faerievert]

We're doing the same cruise Feb 3. 

My itinerary:

Kona -- Big Island Air airplane tour -- taking a taxi or rideshare from cruise port to airport

Tip: Plane tours, where available, cost less than helicopters and far have more generous weight restrictions. My husband would have had to pay 1 1/2 to 2x the price for an already crazy expensive helicopter tour. I'd rather take the longer plane tour anyway!

Honolulu -- Hawaii Food tours -- picking up across the street from the cruise port

Note: The Arizona platform is closed for renovations until at least March and who knows what else will/won't be open with the shutdown. I couldn't deal with the stress of planning around that so we're skipping the WWII stuff entirely in favor of a food tour (will try to do the military history site-seeing when we return in the future for a SCUBA trip).

Nawiliwili -- Airventures Hawaii Biplane tour -- picking up across the street from the cruise port. Yes, you can do an open cockpit biplane tour with old-timey aviator leather cap & goggles!! This is a birthday treat for my husband.

Lahaina -- EXC/HAL tours because nothing I wanted to do fit with the amount of buffer I like to give tender ports

Hilo -- Kamaaina Custom Tours private van tour -- picking up inside the port

Tip: Full day private tours at Hilo (and probably all the ports, but I didn't look) cost less than the EXC small group options, and there are several great private tour companies available! We picked this one because he was most amenable to my itinerary customization requests. If you talk to folks on your roll call, it's likely some would be willing to share costs on a private small group tour. 

[faerievert]

8 hours ago, fann1sh said:

And, to cap it off?  That BLASTED discount agency estimates it won't have  our booking number to book HAL excursions  for another 2 weeks! 

2

The HAL not having your booking number right away thing is super suspicious. I personally wouldn't be willing to pay for anything non-refundable related to the trip until I could confirm with HAL that we really had a reservation! We booked through a cheapo Cruise website (our TA has been impossible to reach since the week after booking) but our reservation appeared in our online HAL account within minutes (so I don't care... I don't really need her for anything else). Same as the previous two times we booked via random websites. You ought to be in HAL's computer nearly instantly. What's your TA doing... writing them a letter?! 😱 A business day or two I might forgive, but two weeks is completely unacceptable.

Good news is most of the non-HAL excursions I looked at allowed cancelation with full refund until a week before the tour (if not later). Just in case your deal was too good to be true. 

[PSR]

8 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

BIG ISLAND We loved going up to the Moana Loa observatory site on the Big Island too - it takes you past huge lava flows as you wind up to this cloudless location. 

 

6 hours ago, Alberta Quilter said:

 The one HAL tour that we did, in Kona, was the sea horse farm.  Expensive but really cool.  I recommend it.

 

I concur with both of of these reviews. The 2nd one was on a larger bus; a sea horse farm sounds weird, but it is really neat! You can have a seahorse curl around your fingers if you're gentle. Amazing! 

[kazu]

11 hours ago, PSR said:

If you thoroughly read the HAL tour descriptions, some of them may be "small group" size, but they are usually more costly than the bus tours.  

 

And be cautious of them.

 

We booked a “small group” size tour and paid the price for it.

 

Turned out we were on a normal sized vehicle with many more people than the “small group” size was supposed to be.  This was in Hilo IIRC.

[fann1sh]

Thanks all.  Helpful!

 

About the booking number,  faerievert - many here TRAVEL WITH him, and he just sold almost all the remaining  inventory for this sailing. 

 

The delay won't be the booking, which is done.  They just won't give out booking numbers until all the individual emails are prepped, double checked, and sent. 

 

And, they have all kinds of other deals going on.  *sigh*

 

 

[Alberta Quilter]

42 minutes ago, fann1sh said:

Thanks all.  Helpful!

 

About the booking number,  faerievert - many here TRAVEL WITH him, and he just sold almost all the remaining  inventory for this sailing. 

 

The delay won't be the booking, which is done.  They just won't give out booking numbers until all the individual emails are prepped, double checked, and sent. 

 

And, they have all kinds of other deals going on.  *sigh*

 

 

 

Aaah.  I didn't realize that booking with him, one didn't get one's booking number for a while.  While I'm on the email listing, I've never actually booked with him - mostly because I'm still working (fortunately) and usually have to plan well in advance.

[drowelf]

The NPS Site for World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument (Arizona Memorial) does state that is is currently open during the lapse in funding, but the actual Arizona Memorial is closed until at least March for structural repairs to the boat landing dock. 

 

But there may not be any visitor services running and I doubt that the replacement harbor tour(s) would be running. So anyone on Oahu during the shutdown should carefully research their options before going down there. 

[fann1sh]

My friend Paula lost her uncle December 7, 1941 on Arizona.

 

Because of her, I have seen her vids and photos, and we have  cried together.  She also lost her dad due to USMC related duties, 30 years later.  

 

My dad  was on Juno Beach June 1944.  September 2, 1945, he was on 30 day home leave,  due to be dispatched to the Pacific.  From his family boat on the river, he heard the  bells of Windsor and Detroit chiming:  VJ Day. 

 

So, it's with reluctance I've decided  a trip to Pearl will not be part of this cruise.   My friend and travel companion Arwen  doesn't have family who served in WWII.  Due to the renovations, the shutdown, my friend's tepid interest, the short time in port..... those memories will belong to a future visit.

[faerievert]

3 hours ago, fann1sh said:

The delay won't be the booking, which is done.  They just won't give out booking numbers until all the individual emails are prepped, double checked, and sent. 

There should be no need to wait for an email then. If it’s really already booked, you can just log into Holland America’s website. It’ll be there in your future sailings list with a link to your passenger website for the check in form and excursions, etc. 

[fann1sh]

OH!  That's brilliant, faerievert!  Have now checked in, and have access to excursions. 

 

Thanks so much.