Wait Listed

[jeda]

Forgive me if this has been asked before, but as I am new here I will ask. My sister and I have started to book some tours for our cruise 4/22/07 Vancouver to Hawaii on the Zaandam. The one tour we wanted to go on, on Kona is wait listed. What is your experience with wait listing? Is the tour likely to happen if we wait it out, or do we think of an alternate plan?

Thanks in advance for your info..

[2bout2c]

I believe by waitlisting for a tour, they will know if they have enough for another bus. I was waitlisted once and didn't get the tour till the day before.

[RuthC]

You may or may not clear the wait list depending on whether or not HAL is able to get another departure of the tour arranged. Sometimes there just isn't the availability in the port to run another departure.

If you book an alternate HAL tour and your first choice opens up you can cancel your second choice. If you don't book an alternate and your first choice doesn't open up you could be left with little or nothing to pick from.

[ciska40]

Hi Jeda,

 

I love your dachshund I have one too but wiredhaired.

 

Love Ciska

[jeda]

Thanks for the info. There really wasn't another tour we wanted to do on Kona so I suppose we will just wait it out and see what happens. If it doesn't happen, then we will go ashore on our own and try to get there ourselves...I am not normally very adventuresome so this will be a leap for me :eek: Hopefully it will all work out..

 

Ciska! I love the wire hair dachshunds too! Keiko is a 4 year old smooth, small at 7 pounds. I will miss her dearly when I am on the cruise!

[St. Louis Sal]

I'm glad you asked the question about waitlisting. We are waitlisted for a tour in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. It was the only thing I wanted so I guess we will hope for the best and otherwise head out on our own.

 

I too am leaving my dachshund for this cruise. Fritz is a 9 month old black and tan smooth and 10 pounds of incredible energy. We travel a lot so he has already been in the kennel 3 times but I am a little worried about leaving him for so long (25 days). I know we are going to miss him like crazy. He is the most trainable dachshund I've ever had even though he can be stubborn when he wants to. He has just learned to put his toys away in a basket every night (my daughters didn't even put their toys away when they were young :rolleyes: .)

 

I love looking at pictures of dachshunds-even my calendar has dachshunds. Yours looks like a cutie.

 

Happy Traveling

St. Louis Sal

[O2B@C]

... There really wasn't another tour we wanted to do on Kona so I suppose we will just wait it out and see what happens. If it doesn't happen, then we will go ashore on our own and try to get there ourselves...I am not normally very adventuresome so this will be a leap for me :eek: Hopefully it will all work out...

 

Well, don't forget that Hawaii is part of the US, so it doesn't take all that much "adventuresomeness" (is that a word?) to explore there. Everyone speaks English; most Hawaiians are very friendly; the currency, driving rules, etc. are all the same; and the cultural differences are not huge - and all quite charming! One suggestion would be to rent a car for the day, get a guidebook and a map, and just go exploring on your own. There's lots of natural beauty to be seen within a fairly short drive from Kona - waterfalls, botanical gardens, etc. Just be sure to plan your time so you will have plenty of time to turn in the car and be back on board well before sailaway. Enjoy Hawaii - aside from cruising, it's my favorite vacation spot!

 

PS: Kona is a city, not an island, so you will be "in" Kona, not "on" it. What you will be "on" is the Island of Hawaii (known locally as the Big Island). Kona is on the rainier side of the island, by the way, so the weather may or may not be suitable for beach-type activities. Better not to count on it, and just go for a scenic drive instead.

[jtl513]

The one tour we wanted to go on, on Kona is wait listed. What is your experience with wait listing? Is the tour likely to happen if we wait it out, or do we think of an alternate plan?

What tour is it? You might be better off just renting a car. A convertible! :D

Kona is on the rainier side of the island, by the way,

"The Kona Coast of Hawaii's Big Island is known for its excellent dry and sunny weather. Like most of the Hawaii, the leeward or western sides of the islands are generally warmer and dryer than the windward or eastern sides. In the winter the lows can reach the mid 60's. In the summer it can reach the high 80's. Most days average between 72-77°F. Afternoons can see some clouds, particularly over the mountains. Annual rainfall is about 10 inches. Kona is a popular residential area on the Big Island." Hilo's annual rainfall averages 129 inches, and rarely goes below 90 inches! :)

[RuthC]

Thanks for the info. There really wasn't another tour we wanted to do on Kona so I suppose we will just wait it out and see what happens. If it doesn't happen, then we will go ashore on our own and try to get there ourselves

I highly recommend a visit to The City of Refuge.

Whatever you end up doing I hope it's better than my last day there---they had an earthquake! :eek:

[serendipity1499]

Hi Jeda,

 

I love your dachshund I have one too but wiredhaired.

 

Love Ciska

 

Ciska & Jeda...We have one too! :) Brandy (my Avatar) is also a wire haired Dachshund...She is such a comic & a delight for us :) We miss her very much when we travel, but she is well taken care of & has another long haired Doxi for company..When we're on cruises, Brandy's Picture is on the Mirror..Our Grand children's pictures are still in our wallets..LOL :o

 

We've been wait listed on some HAL tours & they have always cleared..I think as another poster has said they do this to see if they have enough of us wait listed to pout on another bus..

 

Happy cruising all..Betty

[O2B@C]

"The Kona Coast of Hawaii's Big Island is known for its excellent dry and sunny weather." ... Hilo's annual rainfall averages 129 inches, and rarely goes below 90 inches! :)

 

OMG - :o - you are ABSOLUTELY right - don't know where my brain was when I said that Kona was on the rainy side - I know perfectly well (having been to the Big Island several times) that Kona is the sunny dry side and HILO is the rainy side. Sorry about that - my bad - thanks for the correction! And I was also thinking about Hilo when I suggested botanical gardens and waterfalls - probably too far to get there from Kona on a cruise stop - from Kona, it would be better to go to City of Refuge, as another poster suggested, or just go to a nice beach and snorkel!

 

We agree about renting a car being the best alternative to a HAL shore excursion, though!

[Grumpy1]

What tour are you waitlisted for? We've been to Kona by cruiseship and also for a three day stay. We have taken a ships tour and also have done the "rent-a-car and go everywhere" thing. If we knew what tour you were interested in, we might be able to steer you toward the locals that would offer something similar.

[jeda]

The tour we wanted to do in Kona was called A Taste of Kona. It went to a coffee farm and a chocolate factory as well as some other spots. I LOVE Kona coffee! Thanks for the info on the city of Kona, I appreciate it very much! ;)

 

Keiko (the dachshund :p) will be very well looked after by my son and hubby. I will be on this cruise with my sister and parents so was glad I didn't have to worry about her!

 

Only 4 weeks to go :eek:

[jtl513]

The tour we wanted to do in Kona was called A Taste of Kona. It went to a coffee farm and a chocolate factory as well as some other spots. I LOVE Kona coffee! Thanks for the info on the city of Kona, I appreciate it very much!

I'm not familiar with the chocolate factory, but with a rental car you can have your choice of a couple of coffee farms tours to the south of Kailua-Kona, and you could combine that with a visit to the Place of Refuge and St. Benedict's Painted Church. Snorkeling is very good in Keauhou Bay at a public park where you can rent gear pretty cheaply ($5 IIRC). You could build your own tour custom tour pretty easily, and be at each place with a lot fewer people than with a bus group. A fun car to have there is a PT Cruiser convertible!! :D (You don't want something big.)

[jtl513]

I just remembered the name of the coffee farm that we enjoyed visiting: Greenwell Farms It's a small place, with no place for buses to park, so you're not as likely to run into a crowd there as at Royal Kona coffee. Our tour had about 10 people!

[jeda]

Thanks John for all the info....Funny, I actually HAVE a PT Cruiser;) I love it!! It's not a convertible though, but a really boss car.