Cruise to Hawaii in October

[maddogesq]

I am booked on Crown Princess for cruise to Hawaii out of Seattle beginning on September 30th. Our 4th stop is scheduled to be at Lahaina on October 9th.

Given the tragic situation on west Mauro, I am frankly a little upset that there has been no outreach from Princess to cruisers or travel agents as to plans for an alternate itinerary.  In fact, excursions on Maui booked through Princess have shown no changes, although I have notice some cancellations.  

[kefthecruiser]

According to Hawaii.port.com website, on 10/9/23 Crown Princess is scheduled to dock at Nawiliwili, Kauai from 7:00 to 17:00. 

[maddogesq]

Sure would be nice if Princess would have said something.

Original itinerary:

https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=3325N

[Cruising Caribbean]

@maddogesq I would be so bothered too! I think Princess Cruises has had enough time to notify guests of the changes. Sure, the cruise line can't control natural disasters but they can be better at communicating with valued guests. I'm glad that Crown Princess will still be stopping in Hawaii. Although it isn't Lahaina, it's still a beautiful spot in Hawaii. I would imagine you will receive a full refund for your excursion. Hopefully, you receive a notification and refund sooner rather than later. 

@kefthecruiser Thanks for confirming this. You always come through with great insight! 

[Rosemary]

I posted on this subject a few weeks ago re: hearing nothing from Princess Cruises. I was berated by responders about even going to Hawaii! My cruise is booked and paid for on December 4th from LA. The itinerary is still the same! I will continue to use the website mentioned above since Princess and my Princess agent are mute.

la

[maddogesq]

3 hours ago, Rosemary said:

I posted on this subject a few weeks ago re: hearing nothing from Princess Cruises. I was berated by responders about even going to Hawaii! My cruise is booked and paid for on December 4th from LA. The itinerary is still the same! I will continue to use the website mentioned above since Princess and my Princess agent are mute.

la

Hi Rosemary.  I read your post before I posted mine.  That said, my moral compass hopes there are no stops at Maui.  The County of Maui is under great strain right now, and IMHO cruises shouldn’t be goin there for awhile.  However, anyone who thinks we should not go anywhere in the state is misguided.

As we are seeing with these hurricanes etc., itineraries are changed all the time; that’s just part of cruising.  My beef is that Princess should have done outreach—even just a ‘hey, we are working on it”—far sooner than they have.  I had a text chat today with someone at Princess today, and all she could say is they would advise as to any changes between now and departure on 9/30.

There are a number of fine charities helping Lahaina in the aftermath of this horrible tragedy.  I urge you all to donate if you can.  

 

 

 

[3Sisters]

@Rosemary Sometimes it takes a while for cruise lines to respond to messages. It's not nice for Princess Cruises to leave guests hanging, but maybe the representatives aren't knowing yet. You still have some time before your cruise so I would remain hopeful that progress in rebuilding the area and more transparency from Princess Cruises will be coming your way.

@maddogesq I completely agree with you that Maui likely needs some time to recover and is really struggling right now. That's spot on, Princess Cruises should be better at communicating with future guests. Donating to Lahaina is a fabulous idea for those trying to help the affected areas. Thanks for sharing your perspective! 

In other news, Princess Cruises day to shift around Emerald Princess's itinerary to avoid Hurricane Hillary. Things happen and itineraries have to shift more often than you think! 

[maddogesq]

This news may be a clue as to what our ship will do.  That said, Princesscrealky needs to reachniut to us.

https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-to-resume-calls-to-destination-hit-by-wildfires/109783

 

[Kendall James-Vargas]

@maddogesq There certainly could be some foresight in that NCL article! I agree that Princess Cruises should be communicating with its upcoming guests regarding the affected areas in Hawaii. I believe if NCL is going to continue operating from Maui in September, then there is a pretty big chance your Princess ship will be doing the same thing. Please keep us posted once you hear word from the cruise line. I would imagine you are due for an email from them pretty soon!

[maddogesq]

Some more clues.  Maui wants visitors to return, but stay away from the effected areas.  
 

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-08-28/la-na-hawaii-maui-tourism

 

Come on Princess, is cruisers have plunked down thousands of dollars and deserve better communication than we are getting.

 

[kefthecruiser]

@maddogesq So, I went back to the  website I listed & lo and behold the link doesn't work. Here's another link to the same website:

https://hawaii.portcall.com/

This site is run by the Harbors Division of the Hawaii DOT, one assumes they will know were the ships are, unless of course the cruise line changes it again.

I pieced together what I found currently for your ship's timeframe: 10/6 Kona (Big Island); 10/7 Hilo (Big Island); 10/8 Honolulu; 10/9 Kauai.

Is this final? Probably not since Princess is not saying. With all the cruise ships jockeying for an open port, Princess may be 'waitlisted' somewhere and negotiating for a better port. Yes, Princess is dropping the ball with its customers. 

[maddogesq]

Its official: your info is correct.

My travel agent forwarded a notice from Princess with the same order of stops.  It also stated we would be refunded for any booked Maui excursions, of which I had one for day trip up Haleakala.  
I checked the excursion section in Princess App and my Kauai trip to Waimea was changed to 10/9 and I don’t have to change my visit to Pearl on 10/8 booked thru Viator.

Was thinking I’ll donate some of the Haleakala refund to World Central Kitchen to help the Lahaina effort.

 

 

[Cruising Caribbean]

@maddogesq It sounds like everything has been sorted out. Thanks for the update! I love the idea of donating a portion of the Haleakala refund to World Central Kitchen. That's a really thoughtful/helpful gesture. Thankfully Princess Cruises was able to send you all of these updates about a month out. That still gives you time to sort everything out without being clueless just days before you embark. Are you going to any new ports of call on this cruise? 

[kefthecruiser]

@maddogesq Woohoo! Enjoy the trip. I read that Kilauea volcano is currently erupting. Your new itinerary has you cruising around the Big Island (Kona to Hilo) and you should be able to see this and lava flows from the ship. I'm told it's rather frequent and stunning. There may be shore excursions to the top of the volcano, subject to cancellation due to eruptions and lava flow paths. Now I'm envious, almost 20 years since my last Hawaiian trip.

Very thoughtful to donate to the Lahaina relief effort.

 

[maddogesq]

Thanks for the support everyone.

I did indeed get the refund on Saturday and donated to WCK immediately.  

So far Princess is not offering and excursions at Hilo.  My guess is that we are in port only 9 hours, just enough time to get off the ship and pike around a bit.  Looking forward to the Kilauea show.

[3Sisters]

@maddogesq How awesome is that? It's unfortunate these things take longer than one would like, but at least all the refunds came in and you were even able to donate a portion. Give it some time, I'm sure there will be excursion options for Hilo! Although you could likely have a grand time exploring the area on your own, a special excursion could be nice too. 

I wonder if this one will become available to you! It sounds like a great excursion option. https://www.princess.com/ports-excursions/hilo-hawaii-excursions/hilos-waterfalls-and-gardens-experience/

[Rosemary]

We received our updated itinerary for our December Hawaii cruise. Instead of going to another island, sadly we are in Kona for two days. Last day is a Sunday, I understand nothing on the island is open. Anyone been to Kona on a Sunday that could give us a hint what to do? We are not beach people. Got some ideas?

[kefthecruiser]

@Rosemary I did some digging and found a 15d, 12/4 Princess cruise with an overnight at Kona and an overnight at Honolulu. Hard to believe that's all Princess could do, understandable your disappointment.

You asked about ideas on what to do in Kona. I suggest rent a car and sightsee, even drive over to Hilo. If you are into golf, plenty of golf resorts. I built a power project on the Big Island, but no longer have contacts so I can't arrange a tour (attempt at levity here). The big attraction on this island is Volcanoes National Park, otherwise it's rather rural. Much more to do in Honolulu - Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head etc.

Please go back through your previous thread, it had a lot of good info about finding things to do (any heckling aside). We're just a bunch of cruisers opining away.

One other thought, way outside the box, if you can still cancel without losing big money, is fly to Hawaii, pick your favorite island as your base and it's an easy flight to another island for a day trip or relocate to another island. Spend your 2 weeks like this and you'll see & do unforgettable adventures not possible from a ship. Yep, a lot to replan on short notice, just a thought.

[3Sisters]

@Rosemary Two days in Kona sounds pretty amazing to me! Since most things are closed on Sundays and you don't enjoy spending time at the beach, your options could be limited to spending extra time on the ship. I found this great article about things to do in Kona that may interest you. https://www.cruisehive.com/ways-to-enjoy-kailua-kona-hawaii-for-cruise-visitors/33202

@kefthecruiser Wow, after reading this I'm questioning Princess Cruises' ability to do better. Let's just hope the cruise line pulls through with some good excursion options for guests to fill their time.