Kauai Helicopter

[cleobella]

Hi,

We are going to be in Kauai for 1.5 days in December with POA. I think we are going to do a helicopter tour. Any opinions on the cruise line tours vs the Blue Hawaiian tour? Also, does anyone know if it is possible to walk to the Harbour Mall from where the ship docks if we do the independent tour. Do you need to rent a car to get around to the beaches on this island? Any advice is welcome!

Thanks.

[vbmom87]

Hi,

We are going to be in Kauai for 1.5 days in December with POA. I think we are going to do a helicopter tour. Any opinions on the cruise line tours vs the Blue Hawaiian tour? Also, does anyone know if it is possible to walk to the Harbour Mall from where the ship docks if we do the independent tour. Do you need to rent a car to get around to the beaches on this island? Any advice is welcome!

Thanks.

 

When we were there in May, the cruiseship used Blue Hawaiin. The difference besides price was they picked you up at the pier if you booked through the cruiseline. If you booked independently you had to get yourself there which was a 15 minute walk max.

 

There are other helicopter vendors that will pick you up at the pier.

[LJH1]

When we were there in May, the cruiseship used Blue Hawaiin. The difference besides price was they picked you up at the pier if you booked through the cruiseline. If you booked independently you had to get yourself there which was a 15 minute walk max.

 

There are other helicopter vendors that will pick you up at the pier.

 

We too booked through cruise line as I didn't want to give my money to someone I didn't know in advance. By using cruise line it will only hit ob acct the week we do it.

[marym933]

I can't say enough about Island Helicopter of Kauai. They have the best prices! I gave our credit card number to guarantee our spot. They didn't charge anything on the card. They picked us up at the pier. When we got to the airport, we paid for the flight in cash. If you wanted to leave it on your credit card, they charged an additional 3% credit card fee. After the flight, we were taken back to the ship. The flight was awesome!! Our pilot, Isaac, was born on Kauai. He gave us a fabulous trip!

[saffy22]

Yes, exactly what I want to know. However I was wondering where do you get info about ship tours? On the NCL site you need to log in to get the info, but as I booked with an agent here in Aus I don't seem to be able to log on.

Thanks

[ancientciv]

We booked through Blue Hawaiian for August 5. It saved us some $$$ and I won't mind the short walk to Harbor Mall. I will post more info when we return.

[flipflops62]

Just did the Blue Hawaiian one last week. Loved it!. Booked it myself on the web site and saved $. We walked the 10 minutes to Harbor Mall but there is a free shuttle. There is a nice beach in front of the Marriott across from Harbor Mall. We even used the Marriott lounge chairs and no one said anything. People from our ship en=ven used the pool there. I'm sure Kauai has even nicer beaches, but this one was convenient.

For anyone booking own helicopter tour- do not use Sunrise(or is it SAunshine) people on our ship used them and due to weather the helicopter had to come back after 10 minutes. The company actually tried to charge them!

[want-to-cruise]

flipflops62, where did you see the shuttle? DH can't walk very far and using a shuttle would be great> Is the shuttle marked as to where it is going?

Thanks for any information concerning this matter.

[vbmom87]

We too booked through cruise line as I didn't want to give my money to someone I didn't know in advance. By using cruise line it will only hit ob acct the week we do it.

 

Actually I booked independently. I was just explaining the difference between booking independently and through the cruiseship.

 

I like to prepay some of my vacation expenses ahead of time so I don't go into heart failure when I get my credit card bill upon my return. ;)

[vbmom87]

flipflops62, where did you see the shuttle? DH can't walk very far and using a shuttle would be great> Is the shuttle marked as to where it is going?

Thanks for any information concerning this matter.

 

We had to be at the Blue Hawaii Office at 8:00 a.m. The shuttle was not operating that early. I forgot what time I was told it starts. Just email Blue Hawaiin or Harbor Mall (joanne@harbormall.net) to find out the hours.

 

We wanted an early tour as Kauai is known to cloud up as the day goes on.

 

Scroll down to see a photo of what the Trolley looks like:

 

http://www.harbormall.net/events.html

[flipflops62]

The shuttle was just as you exit the ship security check area. It is clearly marked "free shuttle to beach and anchor mall "(harbor cove is across the street). Last one back was 4 pm. Don't know what time they start, was running by 9:30 when we went.

[want-to-cruise]

Thank you very much for this information.

[englishlady]

It looks like you're set on Blue Hawaiian, but you might also want to consider Island Helicopters http://www.islandhelicopters.com/?gclid=COTcvPrc-KICFZNo5QodzV7imQ They get rave reviews and pick you up from the pier. No walking involved!

[cleobella]

Thanks for all the great info everyone. Ancientciv, I hope you'll post your experience with Blue Hawaii when you return from your trip 'cause I'm curious to see if it was good. Have a great time! Saffy-you have to get an access number from your travel agent and then you can log in and see your cruise details, book excursions, etc.

[CH_ca]

Yes, exactly what I want to know. However I was wondering where do you get info about ship tours? On the NCL site you need to log in to get the info, but as I booked with an agent here in Aus I don't seem to be able to log on.

Thanks

 

Saffy, you'll need to ask your agent for the Reservation Number. Just go to http://www2.ncl.com/ and click Register on the top right corner. Click "Yes" for Already have an NCL cruise booked? You'll be asked to enter your name, ship, and sailing date along with the Reservation Number. You'll go from there.

 

If you just want to look at the different excursions, you don't need to log in. Just go to the Destination tab on the home page and click Hawaii. Then click Excursions (the one besides Overview). You can narrow down your choice to individual ports rather than the whole Hawaii (which has 99 different excursions).

 

Hope it helps!

 

 

[saffy22]

Thanks for that.

I did manage to download descriptions of all the tours for our cruise. Printed out all 27 pages. However no pricing. So must work on the log on. We have booked Old Laihana Luau and Island Helicopters Jurassic Landing ourselves. Really interested in Mudbugs tour and maybe Captain Zodiac. But I think I have seen another operator that does a longer and later tour.

Planning this cruise is pretty overwhelming- especially as I have no idea how to pronounce most of the places we are going to, getting a handle on it all now though,

Cheers

Saffy

[CH_ca]

Thanks for that.

I did manage to download descriptions of all the tours for our cruise. Printed out all 27 pages. However no pricing. So must work on the log on. We have booked Old Laihana Luau and Island Helicopters Jurassic Landing ourselves. Really interested in Mudbugs tour and maybe Captain Zodiac. But I think I have seen another operator that does a longer and later tour.

Planning this cruise is pretty overwhelming- especially as I have no idea how to pronounce most of the places we are going to, getting a handle on it all now though,

Cheers

Saffy

 

 

Hi Saffy, I too feel very overwhelmed planning this vacation. Vacation planning used to be extremely fun and enjoyable. This time is that plus hard work. The names are not only hard to pronounce. It took me so long just to remember most of them. It's going to be a cruise and land vacation for us, so there are lots of planning to do.

 

As for the cruise excursions, the link I went to above (ncl.com) did have pricing (both adult's and child's plus duration and activity level) at the bottom of each excursion they list. Just give it a try if you really want to see the prices.

 

Have fun planning! :)

[vbmom87]

Jack Harter is another company with good reviews that picks up at the pier:

 

http://www.helicopters-kauai.com/

[cleobella]

I'm glad to find that other's are having challenges planning Hawaii. I always plan our vacations and generally get a good sense of what the itinerary should be pretty quick. I am spending weeks agonizing over this, trying to get it figured out. It's fun but I'll need my Dec vacation to recover from the planning effort!:D

[vbmom87]

I'm glad to find that other's are having challenges planning Hawaii. I always plan our vacations and generally get a good sense of what the itinerary should be pretty quick. I am spending weeks agonizing over this, trying to get it figured out. It's fun but I'll need my Dec vacation to recover from the planning effort!:D

 

LOL!!! Yes, it is hard work. Alaska was just as difficult. So much to see, so much to do, too little time.

 

It will pay off though. Good planning means you will see and do far more than those who just show up and then try to figure out each day not realizing all there is to do.

[englishlady]

Same here, overwhelmed by it all! Finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel though. Was just thinking we may do an Alaskan cruise next ... after reading the previous post though .... maybe I should rethink that ??? (Not!)

[SamLH07]

I am booked with Blue Hawaiian in Kauai for September. Does it matter what time you fly with them? I have an 11:00am flight and didn't know if it was better to fly in the morning or afternoon? I wouldn't think it matters...

[vbmom87]

I am booked with Blue Hawaiian in Kauai for September. Does it matter what time you fly with them? I have an 11:00am flight and didn't know if it was better to fly in the morning or afternoon? I wouldn't think it matters...

 

As anywhere, weather is a crap shoot. However, if you are going to go with what the "norm" is, you might want to book earlier in the day. Many posters have said that in Kauai it is very common for it to cloud up as the morning wears on.