Kona: Place of Refuge AND Sea Quest?

[englishlady]

Looking for your valuable advice. DH and I will be on Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas in September, with a day in Kona. I have a Dollar rental car booked at King Kam and intend to try and be on first tender to pick it up. The schedule indicates we arrive at 8am. I'm assuming that's when the first tenders will be available? Our plan is to visit the Place of Refuge in the morning (no snorkeling) and then travel back to Sea Quest in Kona (Keauhou Bay) for a 12:30pm-3:45pm snorkel trip going to Capt. Cook's Monument. The lady at Sea Quest told me that it would take about an hour from King Kam to the Place of Refuge, and about 45 minutes from the Place of Refuge back to the Sea Quest location in Keauhou Bay. If that's the case, we'd have time to look around the park and grab a quick bite to eat on the way back. What I'm more concerned about is that the snorkel trip ends at 3:45pm, and we sail at 6:00pm. The lady at Sea Quest said that it would take about 15-20 minutes to get back to King Kam to drop the car off from Sea Quest. Is that an accurate estimate? What will the traffic be like at that time of day? And will that be sufficient time to get the car back, and tender back to the ship? I think we may have to be onboard at 5:00pm. I've considered the ship's excursion, purely for the luxury of not being anxious about getting back to the ship on time, but Sea Quest is a "steal" at $57 as opposed to the ship's excursion at twice the price ... $115! These are the two things we really wanted to do in Kona so I'm hoping to make it work. We can't do a morning snorkel as we don't arrive in Kona early enough. Thoughts? I've considered Body Glove, where the timing is more convenient, and we'd make a day of just that, but they don't go to Capt. Cook's Monument, and we'd have to forego the Place of Refuge. Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experience of Kona traffic. I read a post recently where someone said it took them 45 minutes to go 5 miles!!! That's why I'm a bit nervous and need to hear from you. Thanks in advance.

 

Alma

[Raison]

I have been investigating these tours as well.

There are a couple of companies that do similar tours I think, but leave from the pier where the tender boats come in - Captain Zodiac and Sea Hawaii Rafting. I have been looking at both for the convenience of departure and drop off.

Sea Hawaii has a morning tour leaving at 9 am, which would give more time to get there on the tender. Not sure if they have an afternoon tour, but if they did you could hire car in the morning and drop it off before the afternoon excursion. There tour may not be what you are looking for though, but it seems similar.

[vbmom87]

Kona had the most traffic of all the ports we were in, however, it wasn't bad for very long. I think it took us about 45 minutes to get from the pier to the Place of Refuge. I went in May when it is supposedly not as crowded. I know December can be very congested from what I have read.

 

Turning in the car takes no time at all. You just park it in the lot and drop your keys off at the front desk of the hotel. At least that is what we had to do in May. You will need to gas up unless you pay them for the tank ahead of time. We only used $11 worth of gas at Kona and we had a full sized car.

 

Typically you have to be on board 30 minutes ahead of time, but with tendering you have to allow for that.

 

You can always mapquest the times if you doubt what the Sea Quest operator has told you, but from my research, that is what I remember reading. We looked into Sea Quest, but in the end my husband didn't want to have to get up earlier and worry about getting a tender ticket. We don't often go with cruise ship excursions, but he liked the convenience for the snorkeling. We arrived at 7:00 a.m. and they have an 8:00 a.m. tour. My DH would have had to take a taxi there. It was just too much hassle for him. I wasn't going, so he did what he wanted.

 

I am quite sure your cruise ship will be offering a snorkeling tour. You might want to go with that in the morning and then drive over to the Place of Refuge in the afternoon. You will likely have to pick up your car first because they close at noon for picking up your car. For returns, you drop off your keys at the front desk of the hotel as I mentioned about.

[englishlady]

Thank you for your responses. I am looking at Sea Hawaii Rafting. They have a morning snorkel tour to Capt. Cook leaving the pier at 9am which is good for us as our ship's time of arrival is 8am, getting back to the pier at 1pm, which gives us time to maybe have a nice lunch somewhere, explore Kona a bit, or even take a drive to the Place of Refuge, which is what I really would like to do. We'd have to look smart in the morning though and get the car rental prior to the snorkel tour at 9am, but I think it might be doable!

 

Thanks again!

Alma

[annecolorgreen]

Have you thought about snorkeling off the Place of Refuge (Two Step)? I've heard it's almost as amazing at Captain Cook and you wouldn't have to rush around at all. That's what we are planning since we have other places we want to see as well (including coffee farms!). Just an idea.

[englishlady]

Have you thought about snorkeling off the Place of Refuge (Two Step)? I've heard it's almost as amazing at Captain Cook and you wouldn't have to rush around at all. That's what we are planning since we have other places we want to see as well (including coffee farms!). Just an idea.

 

Yes, that was our original plan, but I'm not very confident in the water, and have only snorkeled a couple of times. I wasn't comfortable with the idea at all, especially the "getting out" part. In the end I stuck with Sea Quest. I researched Sea Hawaii Rafting and they look great. The have a morning tour and pier. The only issue I had was that they get back at 1pm. By the time we go back to the ship to shower/change and grab lunch, there won't be time do go to the Place of Refuge. We'd probably have to spend the time exploring Kona, which isn't a bad thing, it's just that I wanted to do the two things on the one day.

[Reimer]

I am quite sure your cruise ship will be offering a snorkeling tour. You might want to go with that in the morning and then drive over to the Place of Refuge in the afternoon. You will likely have to pick up your car first because they close at noon for picking up your car. For returns, you drop off your keys at the front desk of the hotel as I mentioned about.

 

 

I'm going to be on the same cruise as englishlady and looked into dollar rent a car this morning. They told us that you can't drop the vehicle back off at the hotel and that our only option for dropping it off was at the airport and that would cost us a $50 drop off fee. Was she just blowing smoke up my ass to try and get me to pay the $50 fee?

 

Me and my lady friend are wanting to do something similar to englishlady. We want to go to place of refuge and then some coffee farms later on or vice versa.

[vbmom87]

I'm going to be on the same cruise as englishlady and looked into dollar rent a car this mroning. They told us that you can't drop the vehicle back off at the hotel and that our only option for dropping it off was at the airport and that would cost us a $50 drop off fee. Was she just blowing smoke up my ass to try and get me to pay the $50 fee?

 

Me and my lady friend are wanting to do something similar to englishlady. We want to go to place of refuge and then some coffee farms later on or vice versa.

 

I booked with Thrifty at the King Kam in May and at that time you dropped off right at the hotel. You left your car in the parking lot and left your keys with the person at the hotel's main desk, since the Car Rental desk closes at noon. The car rental desk is also in the Hotel Lobby, just in different section.

 

Did you call the office direct in Kona, or did you call the 800 number? I am guessing that if you were calling this morning, you talked with someone at the 800 number. YOu really need to speak to someone at the King Kam and you have a limited window of about 4 hours to call them. Check the time zone and call them between 8:00 a.m. and noon Hawaii time.

 

I just put in your date (Sept 24) that you will be in Kona and online it shows you can rent with both Thrifty and Dollar returning it back to the King Kam hotel. I ended up choosing Thrifty because for some odd reason Dollar will tell you the site is closed if you want to return it after 12:00 noon. I know many on this forum assured me I should just book it for a noon return and they would let me drop off the keys later in the day, but I was uncomfortable doing it. Thrifty, on the other hand, lets you book online and give your actual time of return for the car and accepts it. I just felt more comfortable doing it that way. Thrifty was a little more money, but peace of mind was worth something to me.

 

Based on what I just observed on the website, there is no reason you should have to return you car to the airport. Perhaps you misunderstood each other? The airport is quite a distance from the pier and a taxi would be costly. My best guess is you had an 800 number Dollar agent. When you told them you wanted to return the car later than noon, his/her computer was showing the location was closed. Therefore they told you that you would have to return it to the airport. Always best to check with the local office direct and not the 800 number.

 

I would just go online and book it. It allows you to book it with a return to the King Kam. You do not have to pre-pay online.

[Reimer]

I booked with Thrifty at the King Kam in May and at that time you dropped off right at the hotel. You left your car in the parking lot and left your keys with the person at the hotel's main desk, since the Car Rental desk closes at noon.

 

Did you call the office direct in Kona, or did you call the 800 number? I am guessing that if you were calling this morning, you talked with someone at the 800 number. YOu really need to speak to someone at the King Kam and you have a limited window of about 4 hours to call them. Check the time zone and call them between 8:00 a.m. and noon Hawaii time.

 

I just put in your date (Sept 24) that you will be in Kona and online it shows you can rent with both Thrifty and Dollar returning it back to the King Kam hotel. I ended up choosing Thrifty because for some odd reason Dollar will tell you the site is closed if you want to return it after 12:00 noon. I know many on this forum assured me I should just book it for a noon return and they would let me drop off the keys later in the day, but I was uncomfortable doing it. Thrifty, on the other hand, lets you book online and give your actual time of return for the car and accepts it.

 

Based on what I just observed on the website, there is no reason you should have to return you car to the airport. Perhaps you misunderstood each other? The airport is quite a distance from the pier and a taxi would be costly. My best guess is you had an 800 number Dollar agent. When you told them you wanted to return the car later than noon, his/her computer was showing the location was closed. Therefore they told you that you would have to return it to the airport. Always best to check with the office direct and not the 800 number.

 

I would just go online and book it. It allows you to book it with a return to the King Kam. You do not have to pre-pay online.

 

Ya we gonna call the actual location, when it opens. The conversation I was talking about earlier was with someone at the 800 number. Since I'm on Mountain time we gotta wait until noon here. Ya I realize that the airport is a ways away thats why I thought the $50 fee and the cab fare were gonna be a bit too much.

 

What is Thrifty's price. Only reason we were looking at dollar is because we could get a promo code for it. I haven't seen one for thrifty.

 

edit: Nevermind, I got a promo code for Thrifty.

[vbmom87]

Ya we gonna call the actual location, when it opens. The conversation I was talking about earlier was with someone at the 800 number. Since I'm on Mountain time we gotta wait until noon here. Ya I realize that the airport is a ways away thats why I thought the $50 fee and the cab fare were gonna be a bit too much.

 

What is Thrifty's price. Only reason we were looking at dollar is because we could get a promo code for it. I haven't seen one for thrifty

 

Reread my reply as I edited it a bit.

 

I went through http://hawaiicruisecars.com/ for all my car rentals in Hawaii.

 

Thrifty will likely be a little more money than Dollar. Like I wrote I was just more comfortable being able to book the correct return time. I am a detail person and did not like booking it when the website said it was closed. Use the link above and you can compare both Dollar and Thrifty prices at Kona. Once you talk with the office direct, you can make a better decision for you. Let us know what you find out.

[englishlady]

Use the Thrify Discount #: HT14004118

[Reimer]

Reread my reply as I edited it a bit.

 

I went through http://hawaiicruisecars.com/ for all my car rentals in Hawaii.

 

Thrifty will likely be a little more money than Dollar. Like I wrote I was just more comfortable being able to book the correct return time. I am a detail person and did not like booking it when the website said it was closed. Use the link above and you can compare both Dollar and Thrifty prices at Kona. Once you talk with the office direct, you can make a better decision for you. Let us know what you find out.

 

Sounds good, I will let you know. Yah I noticed the dollar prices are a bit more, but they are still a lot cheaper than full price or paying extra fees and cab fares. Having the drop off location at the end of the pier is so convenient.

[Reimer]

Use the Thrify Discount #: HT14004118

 

Awesome thanks a lot for that. Enjoy the cruise and your anniversary. I'm so stoked about this cruise that I already wanna book another one next year or plan a return to the Islands one way or another.

 

edit: Also sorry for Hijacking your thread a bit.

[englishlady]

Awesome thanks a lot for that. Enjoy the cruise and your anniversary. I'm so stoked about this cruise that I already wanna book another one next year or plan a return to the Islands one way or another.

 

edit: Also sorry for Hijacking your thread a bit.

 

No problem at all! Hope you get the car rental squared away. We finally decided to pick up the car at King Kam in the morning, do our drive to Place of Refuge etc. and then drive to SeaQuest for afternoon snorkel trip which gets back at 3:45pm. Should be plenty of time to return car to KK and get tender back to ship. Didn't think we'd get to do the drive if we took morning snorkel with Sea Hawaii, by the time we showered and grabbed a bite of lunch, knowing us, we'd probably at that point not feel like doing the drive.

 

Yes, I'm psyched for this trip too! I just hope we won't be too exhausted when we get home!

[Reimer]

No problem at all! Hope you get the car rental squared away. We finally decided to pick up the car at King Kam in the morning, do our drive to Place of Refuge etc. and then drive to SeaQuest for afternoon snorkel trip which gets back at 3:45pm. Should be plenty of time to return car to KK and get tender back to ship. Didn't think we'd get to do the drive if we took morning snorkel with Sea Hawaii, by the time we showered and grabbed a bite of lunch, knowing us, we'd probably at that point not feel like doing the drive.

 

Yes, I'm psyched for this trip too! I just hope we won't be too exhausted when we get home!

 

I noticed in another thread that you said you are staying in Honolulu for another two nights post cruise. Just thought that was kinda crazy as my girlfriend and I are too. Main reason we did it was because our flights back to Vancouver if we stayed 2 more nights were like $100 per person cheaper on the Friday. That was like a good fortune falling into your lap.

[Reimer]

Let us know what you find out.

 

Alright just contacted an agent at the Dollar car rental at King Kam and he said that yes they are only open until Noon but you are able to drop off the vehicle after noon. As you stated above you just drop off the keys and paperwork at the front desk.

[vbmom87]

Alright just contacted an agent at the Dollar car rental at King Kam and he said that yes they are only open until Noon but you are able to drop off the vehicle after noon. As you stated above you just drop off the keys and paperwork at the front desk.

 

Glad you were able to contact them direct. That is the best way. Well meaning posters like myself can only give you factual information for the time we travelled. Things can and do change, so it is always best to hear it from the source. Enjoy your time in Hawaii.

[englishlady]

Alright just contacted an agent at the Dollar car rental at King Kam and he said that yes they are only open until Noon but you are able to drop off the vehicle after noon. As you stated above you just drop off the keys and paperwork at the front desk.

 

Thanks for passing the info along. Good to have it confirmed and know it's current info. What number did you call them at? I like to have local numbers with me if possible.

 

thanks!

[Reimer]

Thanks for passing the info along. Good to have it confirmed and know it's current info. What number did you call them at? I like to have local numbers with me if possible.

 

thanks!

 

 

No worries, this is their number 808-331-0531.

[englishlady]

Thanks again!

[DAGVBSB]

The thing to remember is that tender tickets have a priority system.

 

They will make an announcement as to when tender tickets will be distriubuted and you need to be in line early to get the best ones.

 

Certain groups have priority on tenders:

 

1.) All ship sponsored shore excursions will be automatically moved to the front of the tender line when it is there time. (usually group is escorted by a member of shore excursion staff.)

 

2.) Those in the high end suites get tender tickets for whatever time they want.

 

Then it is simply by the numbers of the tender tickets....the earlier you are in the ticket distribution line, the earlier you get off.