Booking excursions on the ship

[number5858]

We are on the 4/23 trip to Hawaii on Summit. Because our itinerary changed completely very late in the game, we were never able to get back in to book any excursions. It looks like most of them will have to be booked on the ship. Can you book them on the TV system? If not, where doyou have to go to book them? We don't want to do anything outlandish. We just want to go on the trip to Volcano National Park on Hilo and the Arizona Memorial in Oahu. Does anyone know if there are outside vendors you can get for these types of trips at the dock in case the ship sponsored tours fill up? It seems like the main place where ship sponsored excursions could be a big factor is on Kauai. With all the rain, it is hard to know what will be available. I keep hearing things like the road to the canyon is washed out, etc.

[Brucemcdou]

Can you book them on the TV system? If not, where doyou have to go to book them? We don't want to do anything outlandish.

 

Does anyone know if there are outside vendors you can get for these types of trips at the dock in case the ship sponsored tours fill up?

 

Hi, Number - On Celebrity you can book your excursions through the interactive TV or by going to the excursion desk. We usually leave a couple of port stops open, and just book on board a day or two before depending on our energy level - we've never had a problem. If you know what you want the TV works just fine - in our experience they deliver the tickets to your cabin the evening you order them. In addition to the printed description of each tour you can pick up at the excursion desk there will be a continuous loop that describes most of the tours on one of the TV channels. It sounds as if you're mostly interested in the "normal" big sightseeing bus tours, so there is little chance that they'd be cancelled, which can happen with some smaller tours, usually the more active ones.

 

If you don't book a ship's tour, Hawaii is one of the places where it's probably more likely that you can pick up a good tour at the dock. Tours such as Volcano National Park from Hilo should be easy. It's also an option to rent a car and drive on your own if you have a guidebook. Just remember that the "highways" on all the islands except Oahu are two-lane state roads, and can be pretty pokey. It's charming to drive at 30 miles an hour through the sleepy small towns, unless you're trying to get back to your ship before it leaves!

[wvufan]

Aloha:)

 

We strongly recommend against ship tours.

 

We just got back from Hawaii on the Summit. We joined with another couple on our roll call and rented a car ahead of time through Thrify and had a great day at Volcano Park and other areas. Lots of info on the Hawaii ports thread. We went with the same couple renting cars in two other ports. One of those days we went to Waimea Canyon, which is not to be missed, but all of the ship bus tours were cancelled. A bunch of us from our roll call rented our own bus and went to the Arizona, Big Mo, over the mountain, Honolulu highlights, and Diamond Head cheaper than the ship tour.

 

With just a little research and effort, you can have much better time a lot cheaper and with much more flexibility than the ship tours.

 

Have fun

 

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

[palolake]

We were also on the Summit in January. We rented a Dollar van in Hilo for the National Volcano Park and at Thrifty in Oahu. Go on to the rental car sites and join their clubs. It makes it easier when checking in and out. Don't wait until you are in Hawaii to rent. It's much higher. You can also get some deals online. The rental places pick you up at the piers. We used Thrifty in Oahu because Dollar said they didn't pick up at the pier but their van arrived first. We weren't near as happy with Thrifty. (van very late, long time to check in, higher priced, etc.)

Hilo was a piece of cake. Come out of the rental area (at the airport) and turn left. After maybe a 20 minute drive (better check on that) turn right into the park. We would never drive again in Oahu. It's ok once you are out of the city but that is one big, major city. We had a hard time finding the rental place again but maybe it was because it was in the dark and we had a convertable with no dome light. Never again on that!!!! ;)