Anyone know why the Star Princess Hawaii itinerary was changed?

[erin313]

I just booked shore excursions thru Roberts tours for my Mom who is taking this cruise on Nov. 20. I got an email that the itinerary has been changed. Roberts is changing the tours to accommodate the changes but I am wondering is this is typical. The stop in Maui has been changed to a different port as well.

Also, does the ship sail past the Napali Coast on Kauai, either upon arrival or departure?

Thanks

[Working 2 Cruise]

I just booked shore excursions thru Roberts tours for my Mom who is taking this cruise on Nov. 20. I got an email that the itinerary has been changed. Roberts is changing the tours to accommodate the changes but I am wondering is this is typical. The stop in Maui has been changed to a different port as well.

Also, does the ship sail past the Napali Coast on Kauai, either upon arrival or departure?

Thanks

 

The ship does not sail past the Napali Coast, sorry. The ship tenders in Lahaina, to the best of my knowledge and I have done this cruise four times... Does this email mention where the new stop in Maui is?

[Cruise Junky]

Interesting about Maui, is she docking instead in Kahului?

[Id rather be diving]

I'm on this cruise and have not recieved an email yet. Also the personalizer doesn't show a change yet. I'll have to keep my eye out.

[TheSmartOne]

Interesting about Maui, is she docking instead in Kahului?

 

Was going to ask the same, since that's the only deep-water port on the island. I just don't think it's as convenient/nice for passengers, unless they're booked on tours.

[Thrak]

Haven't received any notice about itinerary change for the Nov 5 sailing. I'd be very interested to know what the Maui change is. We are scheduled for the tender stop there and my son can't go ashore as he is in a wheelchair. If they docked on the other side of the island he could go ashore.

[FritzG]

I'd be thrilled if Princess started docking in Maui instead of tendering. It's such a hassle especially if you're renting a car.

[RDC1]

If they change from tendering at Lahaina to docking at Kahului it is quite a change. At Lahaina you can get off the tender and walk around a fairly popular tourist town. You are right at the Lahaina marina where a lot of excursions are available.

 

At Kahului the cruise ship dock is in an industrial shipping port. Not much close by. Really no services at all without a substantial walk through an unattractive area. It is on the opposite side of the Island from Lahaina.

[Thrak]

Still waiting for the OP to let us know what the change is...

[erin313]

this is the email I got from Roberts Tours this AM regarding the change in the Star Princess route for the 11/20 sailing. I do not know when the change goes into effect and my mother has not received anything from Princess about this.

 

Thank you for your booking your Hawaiian Island Shore Excursions with Roberts Hawaii in November. We have noticed that the Star Princess has changed their routing to the Hawaiian Islands –

 

Previous Schedule –

11/25/12: Big Island, Hilo

11/26/12: Kauai, Nawiliwili

11/27/12: Maui, Lahaina

11/28/12: Oahu, Honolulu

Schedule Updated To –

11/25/12: Big Island, Hilo

11/26/12: Oahu, Honolulu

11/27/12: Kauai, Nawiliwili

11/28/12: Maui, Kahului

It looks like a launch wouldn't be need on Maui with the change in ports.

[Waimea'sMom]

That is a real shame if they are docking at Kahului instead of tendering at Lahaina. That is one of the reasons I prefer the Princess itineraries over NCL's POA.

 

Kahului is similar to Hilo in that there is not much to do on your own without renting a car. Unless of course, you just want to take the shuttle to the mall or Walmart.

[it's5o'clocksomewhere]

When I was in Lahaina last We were told that there had been a bad boating accident just outside of the marina. This resulted in the locals putting strict regulations on the marina traffic which includes the ship's tenders. If there is more than one ship in port, as was our case, it can result in a slow tendering process. Of course Princess suggested that you book a ship tour with them so that you would not be disappointed in your time in port due to the lengthy tendering process. As we know, they take care of the tour people first. Or this may have been a case for trying to sell tours! :confused:

[bdjam]

I think I would wait for news from Princess, not Robert's Tours - although they are reputable, they are not the cruise line...I am typing this from Star Princess and our itinerary has not changed.

[highheel girl]

Just got off the phone with Princess

 

The reservationist does NOT see those changes for the Nov. 20th sailing

 

or the Nov 5th sailing onboard the Star Princess...

 

 

Nor has anything changed on the Princess website

 

and no notifications are in the bookings.

 

my mom is on a B2B so I wanted to check this out for her.

 

Mahalo.

 

 

I don't think the CSR's see much of anything do they? :eek:

Most have never even sailed on a Princess vessel.

[Whoo]

There is nothing on my Personalizer, and I haven't gotten an email. The itinerary is still the same. ??

[erin313]

OK, I just got off the phone with Roberts and they said they were notified by Princess 2 days ago about the change. They also said whatever schedule the ship is on they will be there if a trip was booked thru them. They did say the port has changed in Maui and there will be no tender since it is not going to Lahaina.

I am just going to wait and see if Princess notifies us that there has been a change. Hopefully, no matter which schedule, the tours will leave on time and there will not be any missed connections.

I just wish I was going on the cruise, not just booking shore excursions for my Mom . :)

[Thrak]

If they change the Maui stop for the Nov 5 cruise it would have a major impact for us. My son can't tender so we rented a much smaller car for Maui. We would need to change not only the car rental but also all of our on shore plans for that stop.

 

I find it crazy that they would notify a tour company but not their paying passengers.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I looked up the 11/20 Star Princess cruise, and though the order of islands has been changed, Lahaina is still listed as the port for Maui and included the warning of limited access for wheelchairs. Whether this is all they've done or whether other changes are in the works like a move to Kahului, hopefully Princess will let all pax know soon! Lahaina is a resort town, whereas Kahului is a city. Pax would have to either take a tour or rent a car and drive 30-45 min. to reach the pretty beaches and towns, which would be a shame. I hope Princess stays in Lahaina!!

[Cruisin' Chick]

I was curious and I have the princess website up in another window and don't see a different port listed for Maui. If this is a change, it's unusual (has Princess ever switched from Lahaina?).

 

And I would think that if a tour company heard early this morning, wouldn't you think that TAs would have heard by now and started notifying their clients?

 

Anyway, hopefully people on the Nov. 20th sailing will be calling their TAs in the morning and find out if they know.

[Mindee]

Hello Everyone,

 

I just dropped in and see all the questions about the ports. I can tell you that on my cruise personalizer is this notice below...

 

 

ITINERARY CHANGE

Please be advised that due to ship congestion, the port order and call times

in the Hawaiian Islands have been amended. Star Princess will now call to

Hilo on November 25 from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, Kauai (Nawiliwili) on November 26

from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, Maui (Lahaina) on November 27 from 7:00 am - 5:30 pm

and Honolulu on November 28 from 7:00 am - 10:00 pm. Additionally, due to

operational consideration, Star Princess will now arrive in Ensenada on

December 3 at 4:00 pm and not 3:00 pm as originally scheduled. The revised

itinerary displays in full at the end of this notification.

 

This has been posted for some time, not sure if they will make more corrections or not. I have a cal into my TA about this. I would think that if they change the ports they would let us know as many of us have private tours planned and car rentals to change. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Can't wait to meet everyone ;)

 

Laurie and Don

[Id rather be diving]

Maybe I haven't recieved an email because we booked later than the rest of you????? We just booked this the beginning of October and what is showing now in my personalizer is what it's been all along. Though it is different than what the Roberts Tour email says. I sure hope we can get this figured out as we have cars rented in different ports as well.

[Thrak]

Checked for my Nov 5 cruise. No changes listed in my itinerary but it IS listed in the same order as your "new" order. Still goes to Lahaina though

 

 

 

HILO, HAWAII

ARRIVE 8:00AM DEPART 5:00PM

 

 

 

 

HONOLULU, HAWAII

ARRIVE 7:00AM DEPART 11:00PM

 

 

 

 

KAUAI (NAWILIWILI), HAWAII

ARRIVE 8:00AM DEPART 5:00PM

 

 

 

 

MAUI (LAHAINA), HAWAII

ARRIVE 7:00AM DEPART 6:00PM

Tender Required

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS LIMITED

[Mindee]

Hello,

I called Princess today myself and was told by Brenna in Seattle that there has been NO changes to our itinerary since July!

I also called Roberts Hawaii Tours and he was totally confused and said that he hasn't even received a schedule for the Star Princess and that he or his office has NOT contacted anyone about bookings or a change in itinerary!

I have not idea what is going on here, but I believe Princess when they tell me that to date, there has been NO CHANGES!

You are all welcome to call Princess at 1800-princess or Roberts Hawaiian Tours -Roberts Hawaii

680 Iwilei Road, Suite 700 | Honolulu, Hawaii 96817

Toll-Free: 1-800-831-5541

Oh yes, and Brenna also said to date there is NO CHANGE to docking in Maui. That we are scheduled to tender in.

They both think we are all the product of a hoax!

Love the Internet :)

Laurie and Don

[fairsky1984]

If they change from tendering at Lahaina to docking at Kahului it is quite a change. At Lahaina you can get off the tender and walk around a fairly popular tourist town. You are right at the Lahaina marina where a lot of excursions are available.

 

At Kahului the cruise ship dock is in an industrial shipping port. Not much close by. Really no services at all without a substantial walk through an unattractive area. It is on the opposite side of the Island from Lahaina.

 

Absolutely correct RDC1!! To some, Kahului might be more convenient because it's a dock stop versus a tender stop. But there is nothing there and nowhere to go without transportation. Very unappealing :p.

 

We winter on Maui every year for several months, and we've always felt bad for cruise pax who end up docked in Kahului rather than arriving to Lahaina on the other side of the island. Kahului is such an unattractive spot for such a beautiful island, especially for first-time or short-time visitors.

 

I'd take the brief "inconvenience" of a tender ride any day, although I completely understand reasons of the poster whose son is in a wheelchair.

[FritzG]

Absolutely correct RDC1!! To some, Kahului might be more convenient because it's a dock stop versus a tender stop. But there is nothing there and nowhere to go without transportation. Very unappealing :p.

 

We winter on Maui every year for several months, and we've always felt bad for cruise pax who end up docked in Kahului rather than arriving to Lahaina on the other side of the island. Kahului is such an unattractive spot for such a beautiful island, especially for first-time or short-time visitors.

 

I'd take the brief "inconvenience" of a tender ride any day, although I completely understand reasons of the poster whose son is in a wheelchair.

 

Also, when you only have a short time in port, and it takes over an hour and a half to get a rental car you're losing too much valuable time.

In Lahaina the car rental agencies only take one member of each party to a distant area pick up their vehicle, and the area in Lahaina is a major traffic nightmare. I'd take a quick ride out of the Kaului over the tender ride.