Question- Revealed Guidebooks

[ehough]

I am contemplating purchasing several of the Revealed books for our cruise next September, especially since we intend to do all "excursions" on our own instead of from the cruise line.

 

However, seeing as how we'll be cruising in 2007, I'm worried about the books being out of date, since the latest editions I'm finding are from 2005.

 

I'm not very familiar with this series- will there be another edition coming out within the next year?

 

Do you think there will be many changes if we purchase a 2005 book for 2007? I just hate when you use a book that's a couple of years old and prices are radically different, attractions are closed, etc. Of course, we always allow for a little bit of variance, but before spending the money on several books I wanted to get some opinions on whether or not it's a good idea to purchase these books considering they will be 2 years old. In some places, two years makes a difference; in others, there's not a whole lot of changes.

 

Also, would you recommend purchasing the book for every island we'll visit, or are some more useful than others? The books in question would be the Big Island, Oahu, Maui, and Kauai.

 

Thanks for any info.

[Spikesgirl]

Take out the books there and read them - copy any info that you really are interested in and then wait to see if it gets updated. I'm thinking that it will probably update in five years, as that seems to be the trend. Because of the dependence upon the travel industry in the Islands, do expect lots of fluxes in prices and availabilty of attractions. Things that are red hot this year, fold the next. Restaurants, especially are prone to this, even the big name ones. This will also apply as to when you go, prices will be high in the peak months and then will fall around autumn.

 

As to whether to purchase for each island, again I would check out exactly how much info you are pulling from each guide. It may be that only a few pages will apply to you, like it did for us and Kauai, but we read the entire book for the Big Island (it was the only one we ended up buying). They really are great little books and tend to list attractions, restaurants, etc, that don't show up else.

 

Have a great time in the Islands - there's no place else like Hawai'i

 

Charlie

[piper28]

The various books do get updated periodically (if you look, you'll see that it'll probably say "Nth edition" on the cover). Also, check out the website for the publisher, http://www.wizardpub.com, because they'll also list what they consider important updates. Obviously for some of the tourism companies and stuff, those can change a lot, but the various sights around the island tend not to.

 

Check your library too, ours has had copies of the books, and that can give you a good of how they are (although obviously a library copy might be a little older). I'd probably look for a library copy now, and then when you get closer, see if an updated copy is available, and decide whether you want to purchase it then. Obviously, just treat any prices they show as a guideline, since those can change at any time.

 

IMHO, these books are the absolute best guidebooks for hawaii. Especially since you're on a cruise, you're probably going to find that they list more things to do then you'll ever find time to.

[sceptic]

I've compared a few editions, and the largest changes are in the restaurant reviews. Some disappear, some new ones appear, some get "Ono" when they didn't before, and vice versa. So too with accommodation reviews.

 

Regarding excursions and prices, even the most current edition might be a few months' behind-the-curve when it comes to pricing, which can change rather frequently. If you find an excursion you want (outside of the cruise line excursions) usually the best bet is to deal with them personally via web or email or phone.

 

There are a few changes to adventures that I've seen. So the good news is that updates really are updates. But most of the serious information really doesn't change much - unless you want restaurant reviews.

 

Personally, we have all of them but Oahu, where we just don't spend a lot of time. They're wonderful reading, in and of themselves, aside from their enormous utility as guidebooks on vacation.

[HawaiiFiveOh]

In the books (Have ALL OF THEM) he states (Yes I have read them cover to cover WITH little tabbies all thru them <G>) the books are updated every 2 years. Kaua'i Copyright 2005, Hawai'i,2006, Maui 2006 and Oahu 2005. He even states that he has updates on the website, as mentioned above, for any major changes. I have not viewed the website as I am still reading the Hawaii one. But the way he writes is really informative AND entertaining! I think that even if I wasn't going to Hawaii I would enjoy reading these books. Just from what he has written as far as legends and such, I want to live there permanently myself! :eek: :D :p ;)

[Callandre]

I bought 'em all for our upcoming December cruise, and I have a few points to add. The most important thing is to remember that although these books are tremendously comprehensive, you WON'T be able to see or do everything listed, in fact, if you could do one percent of what the authors have reviewed, I would be surprised. However, I like them for the sense of familiarity they are giving me...the more I read them the more familiar all the hard-to-pronounce names are looking. They also have a lot of "local knowledge" sorts of things, like precise directions to more secluded beaches and tips on where to park.

I do admit to getting a little panicky over the depth of detail they contain , vis-a-vis the very small amount of time I will have to cover each port.

I find that these boards contain a wealth of information, most of it very up-to-date if you have the time and interest to peruse them all. The books are nice because you have a more organized and structured outline of the different Islands. I did find that Amazon had them very reasonably...and after December mine will show up on eBay!

[Callandre]

I bought 'em all for our upcoming December cruise, and I have a few points to add. The most important thing is to remember that although these books are tremendously comprehensive, you WON'T be able to see or do everything listed, in fact, if you could do one percent of what the authors have reviewed, I would be surprised. However, I like them for the sense of familiarity they are giving me...the more I read them the more familiar all the hard-to-pronounce names are looking. They also have a lot of "local knowledge" sorts of things, like precise directions to more secluded beaches and tips on where to park.

I do admit to getting a little panicky over the depth of detail they contain , vis-a-vis the very small amount of time I will have to cover each port.

I find that these boards contain a wealth of information, most of it very up-to-date if you have the time and interest to peruse them all. The books are nice because you have a more organized and structured outline of the different Islands. I did find that Amazon had them very reasonably...and after December mine will show up on eBay!

[Iulia]

We only got 3 of them.. Ohau, Maui and Kaui... I chose not to get the Big Island, because we will only be there one day, and we might not go there in the near future.. Even if this is our fist visit to Hawaii, we plan to go back there again, and hope that the books will come in handy then... They were only $10 at amazon.com... they have really good maps.. and they are not to big to carry around... I will not sell mine after the cruise... I am sure during the cruise I will only have time to do one or two things in the book.!! there is so much stuff.. But when I will go back and stay on each island for a while, then I will get more use out of it...

 

You can also go and read them at BN and take notes.. I did that for the Big Island book...

 

However the board here pretty much tell you what is to do in each day, so I think you might be ok without them.. especially if you go through the shore excursions.

Juliana