POA itinerary - no cruising by volcano lava flow???

[chives]

I am booked on the 9/19 POA. I have read about the amazing views of the lava flow at night from the ship. However, in looking at NCL's website, the itinerary for my cruise is a little different in that we do not cruise around the south side of the Big Island. I am assuming that we will be missing out on seeing the lava flow. Am I correct? Does anyone know why NCL has a few itineraries like this? Most of the dates do seem to cruise around the entire island.

 

Thanks for any help on this.

[born2cruize]

If your itinerary is not Hilo to Kona you will still cruise past the lava flow. The ship just turns around after passing the lava flow and heads to Maui. It's not like it's hundreds of miles from Hilo to Maui.

[kapoho2]

The ship does not always cruise by the lava flow. We were on the April 25th sailing which had a bit of a different itinerary. We went from Hilo to Lahaina and there was no cruise by the lava flow on that evening. I was surprised...there was nothing to alert us to this fact. In fact, there were many surprised and disappointed folks on our cruise. I do believe that NCL should have given everyone fair notice that the lava flow sailby was not going to happen on this cruise.

[cruzn single]

Anyone feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but, there is no cruise by the lava flow at this time for any ship. At the present time, the way that the lava is flowing, it cannot be seen from ships. I think it is going more underground, and therefore not visible. This was the last I had heard about the volcano sail-bys.

[kapoho2]

I must correct you. The lava is definitely flowing right now and entering the ocean in two places. It would be a great sight from the ship. From my house, I can see the POA sail by on its way to the lava flow. It passes my area at about 8:30 pm. I did see it go by very recently.

 

I went down to the area where the lava is flowing into the ocean last Sunday and had lunch. The two big steam plumes created where the lava hits the ocean can be seen during the day. At night, the red lava can be seen. Of course, no one knows how long this will last, but right now it is spectacular. If you are lucky enough to see this sight....enjoy!!

[BLK03GT]

Anyone feel free to correct me if I am wrong' date=' but, there is no cruise by the lava flow at this time for any ship. At the present time, the way that the lava is flowing, it cannot be seen from ships. I think it is going more underground, and therefore not visible. This was the last I had heard about the volcano sail-bys.[/quote']

 

As Kapoho stated, there are two lava flows currently. We sailed by two weeks ago and it was simply amazing, a once in a lifetime event IMO that I won't forget.

[born2cruize]

As previous poster have noted the ship does not do a lava sail-by if there is no lava flow. Currently there is, but only mother nature or Madam Pele will know if the lava will flow on your cruise.

[CC Help Michell]

I am booked on the 9/19 POA. I have read about the amazing views of the lava flow at night from the ship. However, in looking at NCL's website, the itinerary for my cruise is a little different in that we do not cruise around the south side of the Big Island. I am assuming that we will be missing out on seeing the lava flow. Am I correct? Does anyone know why NCL has a few itineraries like this? Most of the dates do seem to cruise around the entire island.

 

Thanks for any help on this.

 

There are certain sailings which do not follow the normal POA itinerary, and do not cruise by the lava flow (for various reasons -- a big one is the Iron Man Triathalon at Kona in October, but sometimes it's when other large ships (passenger or cargo) are due into certain ports). NCLA is not indicating that little tidbit on their website anywhere I could find. :( They USED to indicate "lava sailby" as an itinerary item, so customers could tell whether it was at least planned for their voyage. But NCLA has changed that, removing it from both of their itinerary options (Maui as first stop (most common), Hilo as first stop (the rarer one)).

 

It appears that a sailing where Hilo is the first stop will NOT have a lava sailby as part of the itinerary. That list is: 9/19/09, 10/10/09, 1/23/10, 10/9/10, and 11/6/10. That doesn't mean you will have a bad cruise, by any means -- for ours the lava sailby was planned, and three weeks prior to our cruise there was an earthquake on the Big Island, temporarily stopping the lava flow to the ocean (and anywhere else). It has since resumed, but even without the sailby we still had an amazing time.

 

I do have to say thumb's down to NCLA for not including the lava sailby as something they PLAN to do on certain itineraries, and omitting it from those where they don't plan to do it. We all know that stuff happens (like earthquakes) and they may not sailby even when it was planned -- but folks should be able to know when they are booking. If I could sail on Week 1 when it's planned, or Week 2 when it's not planned, I'd pick Week 1 -- and that's information I think NCLA should give customers.

[lambs2]

The sail by the lava flow (evening between Hilo and Kona) is definitely shown on the itinerary for the May 30 POA sailing!

[CC Help Michell]

The sail by the lava flow (evening between Hilo and Kona) is definitely shown on the itinerary for the May 30 POA sailing!

 

I can't find a May 30 sailing on NCL's site (probably because it's so soon), but when I do a search for all Pride of America cruises I get 2 groups of them. One has an itinerary with Maui as the first stop (the vast majority), and the itinerary link for those doesn't list a lava sailby. The other one has Hilo as the first stop and it also doesn't list a lava sailby.

 

Trying a search for May 2009, Pride of America resulted in "no results match" on the site. Just to see, I picked a date at random (it was 12/5/09) to make a "phantom booking" and clicked itinerary -- no lava sailby was shown -- http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/booking/cruisedetails.html?packageId=1610952

 

Whether I'm missing something or not, I think consumers are having to work WAY too hard to find this simple info on NCLA's site.

[chives]

Thanks for the responses. We are indeed starting out at Hilo and not Maui. I am sad that we won't see the lava flow but I know we will still have a great time.

[CC Help Michell]

Thanks for the responses. We are indeed starting out at Hilo and not Maui. I am sad that we won't see the lava flow but I know we will still have a great time.

 

I'm sure you will. :) Hilo was our favorite port on our cruise -- we loved the town area, as well as Volcanoes National Park. Have a wonderful vacation!

[lambs2]

I can't find a May 30 sailing on NCL's site (probably because it's so soon), but when I do a search for all Pride of America cruises I get 2 groups of them. One has an itinerary with Maui as the first stop (the vast majority), and the itinerary link for those doesn't list a lava sailby. The other one has Hilo as the first stop and it also doesn't list a lava sailby.

 

Trying a search for May 2009, Pride of America resulted in "no results match" on the site. Just to see, I picked a date at random (it was 12/5/09) to make a "phantom booking" and clicked itinerary -- no lava sailby was shown -- http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/booking/cruisedetails.html?packageId=1610952

 

Whether I'm missing something or not, I think consumers are having to work WAY too hard to find this simple info on NCLA's site.

 

 

I am referring to the 5/30/09 sailing. The itinerary is easily available on several of the travel agency's web site. I will cut and paste one below to show that the lava viewing is given in the itinerary (Jun 2 Kilauea Volcano Cruising).

 

ITINERARY

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART SatMay30Honolulu, Oahu, HI 8:00pmSunMay31Kahului, Maui, HI 8:00amMonJun1Kahului, Maui, HI 6:00pmTueJun2Hilo, Hawaii, HI 8:00am6:00pmTueJun2Kilauea Volcano (Cruising)WedJun3Kona, Hawaii, HI 7:00am6:00pmThuJun4Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI 8:00amFriJun5Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI 2:00pmSatJun6Honolulu, Oahu, HI 7:00am

[SANDYJABS]

I do not remember seeing the "Lava Flow" listed specifically on the itinerary, but from doing my research I knew which Itinerary to book. It is also confirmed in many of the POA Dailies that have been posted here on these boards. This link is compliments from CC member Tyra: Lots of great info!

http://www.scribd.com/share/upload/10725902/26fj9suunwojnqeor8ac:D

[auducky2]

We sailed past the lava flow (or lack there of), and of course, it wasn't flowing that night. Go figure. :rolleyes:

[SANDYJABS]

I went down to the area where the lava is flowing into the ocean last Sunday and had lunch. The two big steam plumes created where the lava hits the ocean can be seen during the day. At night, the red lava can be seen. Of course, no one knows how long this will last, but right now it is spectacular. If you are lucky enough to see this sight....enjoy!!

 

Is this area (lava flowing into the ocean) you talk about at the end of Hwy 130? I so badly want to see this! in doing my research I found that Hawai'i County has opened a Visitors Center here (end hwy 130) but the information listed said that you can only visit there from 5pm-8pm and this is too late for us because the ship sails at 6pm. :( Is there another area that is outside of the VNP that we can see this?

Mahalo nui loa, Sandy

[CC Help Michell]

I am referring to the 5/30/09 sailing. The itinerary is easily available on several of the travel agency's web site. I will cut and paste one below to show that the lava viewing is given in the itinerary (Jun 2 Kilauea Volcano Cruising).

 

ITINERARY

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART SatMay30Honolulu, Oahu, HI 8:00pmSunMay31Kahului, Maui, HI 8:00amMonJun1Kahului, Maui, HI 6:00pmTueJun2Hilo, Hawaii, HI 8:00am6:00pmTueJun2Kilauea Volcano (Cruising)WedJun3Kona, Hawaii, HI 7:00am6:00pmThuJun4Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI 8:00amFriJun5Nawiliwili, Kauai, HI 2:00pmSatJun6Honolulu, Oahu, HI 7:00am

 

 

Interesting -- I couldn't find the 5/30 sailing on any TA sites today (last night I had just checked NCL's site) but this makes it look as if NCLA gives TAs more information than they print on their own website about the itinerary. That makes it even odder to me that NCLA doesn't include that info on their own website itineraries.

[sceptic]

There are currently two ocean entries. One is outside the park (and closer to the viewing area at the end of 130) The other is farther west, and just barely inside the park boundary.

 

Sandyjabs, the orange glow at the ocean entries is visible only at night, after the time you must be back on board the POA. If the ship does't do a cruising view, you cannot see it.

 

The steam from the entries is visible from many places along the south shore, including a distant view from the end of the chain of craters road within VNP. However, as of now you cannot walk to the entries from either side:

 

You can't from the Kalapana side because the hike is over private property, even if made desolate by older lava flows. Somebody owns it, and you're trespassing. I've heard of some tours that (legally or otherwise) take you out to near the entry, but have no opinion on them. The county has determined how.when.where you can get to the viewing site, which is still quite a distance from the entry point.

 

And you can't get there from the VNP side, simply because the hike is too far for almost anyone in the time you have available (it's about 5 or 6 miles each way). That's a hike I wouldn't recommend to anyone, even those on land vacations. Yes, this hike would be legal, but it's like saying the hike to the top of Mauna Loa is legal - you simply cannot do it on a cruise.

 

IF there is no cruise-by, the only way to see lava flowing is from a helicopter excursion. They are a fine alternative.

[kapoho2]

The POA just cruised by again this evening obviously on its way to the lava flow viewing. It is a beautiful evening....such lucky passengers!!

[SANDYJABS]

There are currently two ocean entries. One is outside the park (and closer to the viewing area at the end of 130) The other is farther west, and just barely inside the park boundary.

 

Sandyjabs, the orange glow at the ocean entries is visible only at night, after the time you must be back on board the POA. If the ship does't do a cruising view, you cannot see it.

 

The steam from the entries is visible from many places along the south shore, including a distant view from the end of the chain of craters road within VNP. However, as of now you cannot walk to the entries from either side:

 

You can't from the Kalapana side because the hike is over private property, even if made desolate by older lava flows. Somebody owns it, and you're trespassing. I've heard of some tours that (legally or otherwise) take you out to near the entry, but have no opinion on them. The county has determined how.when.where you can get to the viewing site, which is still quite a distance from the entry point.

 

And you can't get there from the VNP side, simply because the hike is too far for almost anyone in the time you have available (it's about 5 or 6 miles each way). That's a hike I wouldn't recommend to anyone, even those on land vacations. Yes, this hike would be legal, but it's like saying the hike to the top of Mauna Loa is legal - you simply cannot do it on a cruise.

 

IF there is no cruise-by, the only way to see lava flowing is from a helicopter excursion. They are a fine alternative.

Thanks for this info. Our cruise WILL have a sail by so I am excited for this! I was just curious about the steam plumes and now I am thinking maybe we should do a Heli tour. :D