Hawaii Volcano Big Island

Just curious if anyone who is doing the 15 day Hawaii cruise has an update on the Kilauea volcano and how it affects your ports of call.

Thanks

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last update was ships still going in to Big Island. they had stopped for a few weeks but started back up again. Things can change though so it will be a challenge to have definitive answers. Best is to just make plans that you will not be heartbroken if not achieved and would make sure if booking independent that refunds are available even if it is a morning of change to ship not making port of call.

There’s a lot of good information on the Hawaii forum and debating about the actions of cruise lines.

Ships are still canceling Hilo & even sometimes Kona like NCL’s POA yesterday due to air quality concerns. The eruption has been steady for 4 weeks & getting worse with no end in sight. Unless things suddenly change there probably won’t be many cruise ship stops on the Big Island.

There are many unaffected areas where businesses are losing a lot of income however cruise lines have to consider all possibilities resulting in avoiding the Big Island.

Princess doesn’t return to Hawaii until the Fall & there’s no way to predict what the affects may be at that time.

Well if you have a virgin to sacrifice to Pele then maybe, just maybe thing might improve....but seriously you are talking 4 months from now.... there is NO way of telling what will be happening then...chill and have a nice drink...

Just curious if anyone who is doing the 15 day Hawaii cruise has an update on the Kilauea volcano and how it affects your ports of call.

 

Thanks

It's not affecting the other ports at all.:D

I am on the Big Island now. Hilo air quality is very good. There is no reason to cancel stops in Hilo if the concern is air quality. The trade winds take ash and sulfur fumes south and west of Hilo.

Just curious if anyone who is doing the 15 day Hawaii cruise has an update on the Kilauea volcano and how it affects your ports of call.

Thanks

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The next Princess sailing is October 4th. No one knows what the situation will be at that time.

Go sit at MUTS with a following wind and think about this -

https://www.ship-technology.com/features/polluted-cruises-bad-air-quality-ships/

There’s a lot of good information on the Hawaii forum and debating about the actions of cruise lines.

 

Ships are still canceling Hilo & even sometimes Kona like NCL’s POA yesterday due to air quality concerns. The eruption has been steady for 4 weeks & getting worse with no end in sight. Unless things suddenly change there probably won’t be many cruise ship stops on the Big Island.

 

There are many unaffected areas where businesses are losing a lot of income however cruise lines have to consider all possibilities resulting in avoiding the Big Island.

 

Princess doesn’t return to Hawaii until the Fall & there’s no way to predict what the affects may be at that time.

My brother lives on the Big Island and is a boat captain out of Kona. He happened to call me on his way to work yesterday. He said that the tourism is really being impacted even thought the good majority of the island and no issues. Some whole huge convention that was supposed to be staying at one of the bigger hotels just canceled. He is seeing a drop off in bookings.

I'm going to move this to the Hawaii boards.

Go sit at MUTS with a following wind and think about this -

https://www.ship-technology.com/features/polluted-cruises-bad-air-quality-ships/

Sorry, but the "studies" mentioned have some serious flaws in scientific method. There was no baseline air quality data taken at the ship (upwind of the stacks), only mentions of "comparisons" with cities far away from the ship. There is no mention of weather conditions, and whether or not the single data point on each vessel was taken at a specific time to maximize the possible pollutants. There was no mention of what ship operations were underway at the time the measurements were taken (for instance, were the diesels just being started, which even on low sulfur diesel causes particulate smoke). And finally, two data points are not conclusive.

Sorry, but the "studies" mentioned have some serious flaws in scientific method.

<snip>

And finally, two data points are not conclusive.

Thank you, chengkp75.

My husbands family is on the big island....for the most part air quality is fine (and most of the island is safe, obviously). Air quality can shift depending on the winds. In addition, no one can predict how long the lava will flow or where it will go. I would not worry about the lava, there is nothing you can do! Even if you miss Hilo, you will still see a lot of amazing places and have a wonderful time!

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We are sailing in the POA in a month. We got an email a week ago from NCL stating that Hlio is out but Kona is back in. Now I see an article on the internet saying Kona is out too, but my NCL account says it is still there. Not sure what to believe.

I did pay $600 for a tour of VNP by Lavaland, and hopefully when things settle down I will get my refund!

We are sailing in the POA in a month. We got an email a week ago from NCL stating that Hlio is out but Kona is back in. Now I see an article on the internet saying Kona is out too, but my NCL account says it is still there. Not sure what to believe.

 

I did pay $600 for a tour of VNP by Lavaland, and hopefully when things settle down I will get my refund!

What you can believe is the conditions in Kona can change daily & the forecasts are not always accurate.

Last Tuesday the Kona air quality forecast for Wednesday was for unhealthful air quality so the stop was cancelled. On Wednesday the air quality had improved but it was too late to change plans again. Cruise lines want to get passengers to shore but forecasting the changing conditions is certainly not perfect.

I never book any tour that does not provide a full refund when the ship is unable to get passengers to shore & hopefully Lavaland has that policy. Even if it’s not their standard policy during this emergency a full refund would be appropriate.

What you can believe is the conditions in Kona can change daily & the forecasts are not always accurate.

 

Last Tuesday the Kona air quality forecast for Wednesday was for unhealthful air quality so the stop was cancelled. On Wednesday the air quality had improved but it was too late to change plans again. Cruise lines want to get passengers to shore but forecasting the changing conditions is certainly not perfect.

 

I never book any tour that does not provide a full refund when the ship is unable to get passengers to shore & hopefully Lavaland has that policy. Even if it’s not their standard policy during this emergency a full refund would be appropriate.

Yep, they sure do have a full refund policy if cancelled more than a week out, and this is over a month out. So, I will be patient as I know they are dealing with enough! I am a TA, and would never book a tour w/o a good cancellation policy and also one that does not have a good reputation!

Yep, they sure do have a full refund policy if cancelled more than a week out, and this is over a month out. So, I will be patient as I know they are dealing with enough! I am a TA, and would never book a tour w/o a good cancellation policy and also one that does not have a good reputation!

Hopefully you’ll get to the Big Island because there is so much to explore. If not then because of the unpredictable situation hopefully Lavaland will provide refunds if the ship decides to skip a port.

Earlier last month after the Kahului overnight visit NCL’s POA went to Lahaina the next day to tender passengers into West Maui.

We are still roughly 10 months out before our March 11, 2019 cruise to Hawaii so much can change in that time or not. We will enjoy our cruise regardless but do hope we can make a stop at Hilo and if not hopefully it will change to Kona. We are at the mercy of Mother nature & our Earth and she will dictate the terms, we just need to go with the flow.