Trouble Making Fair Winds Tour?

[jcsdirector]

Using all the great advice I''ve gotten, I fibbed and told Fair Winds we were at the Sheraton and booked my car through Dollar at The King K. hotel. Now I'm a little nervous...has anyone ever had trouble making the 9:00 departure time? We plan on being up and ready to get off on the first available tender but Dollar doesn't open til 8 am. Should I forget the rental and just rent a cab at the pier? I just don't want to miss this! :confused:

[TravelYoung]

I've heard that to. Im going in April and I've been seeing that we cant make it because we'll get there too late? I hope that I'm wrong. We would realy like to do this.

[beachchick]

jcsdirector: My DH and I always rent cars in the islands, land trip or cruise. However, this fall on our PoH cruise, we are arranging for a taxi at the tender pier and hauling our you-know-whats down to the Fair Wind right away. We plan to get the earliest tender tix we can. Some posters have reported that they did that and got there early. Fine by me--better early than late!

 

Will you make it with the rental car? Maybe, but I wouldn't bet the house on it. By the time you get the car and get going, it will probably be at least 8:15. I think they said to be there at 8:45. Technically, you could make it in that time, but that assumes that there's no serious traffic (and traffic around Kona can be a buggah at times), no accidents, no road construction, no whatever. We're not willing to take that chance. I'd rather sit around twiddling my thumbs because we made it with too much time to spare. Although it's by far more convenient to rent a car in terms of the rest of the day, we're willing to just walk the waterfront in Kona or maybe take the shuttle down to see Kahalu'u in the afternoon. Heck, we may be so pooped that we just wander a bit and head back onto the ship to relax. In any case, my vote for you: Get a taxi!

 

TravelYoung: Sometimes the ships can't tender at Kona because the ocean is to rough or something similar. Honestly, in that case, you probably wouldn't want to be out snorkeling anyway. Most of the time, the ships tender no problem. It's possible that they wouldn't be able to send tenders to shore (but would still be anchored off Kona), but that really isn't the norm. It would be more likely December through early March than in April. And even in the winter, it just depends on what the storm cycles are doing. There's no guarantee, but I'd say that as long as your ship is scheduled to anchor by 8 am that you will make it--just be sure to get tender tix for as early as you can.

 

When we booked it, we simply told them that "we don't know where we'll be staying..." You'll need to guarantee it with a cc number and the cancellation is 24 hours. Even so, it's possible that in the rare event that your ship won't make the port or won't be able to send tenders, you might know the day before and be able to cancel. If not, I say it's worth the risk. K-Bay is the one "must do at least once, preferably more" on our list that we've just not been able to schedule on previous land trips. This time, we are going for it. I can't wait.

 

Live dangerously! Book the Fair Wind because you'll regret it if it turns out that, like 90% of the time or more, you could have made it, but didn't book it.

 

beachchick

[spleen93]

I'd have to agree about the taxi if you're trying to make Fairwinds. I think a rental, even at the Dollar at the King Kam, may take too long.

 

Spleen

[jcsdirector]

Thanks all. Sounds like I'll cancel the car and get a taxi (which I assume there should be plenty of, right?). I will risk not tendering but would hate to miss the trip because of snafus at the car place.