Eurodam Feb 3, 2019 San Diego/Hawaii Live Thread

[SanDiegian]

4 hours ago, Iris5383 said:

Hope the weather clears for your Kona trip and that you find something fun to do in Honolulu. Are ship officers doing anything to ease passenger frustration over the weather?

The crew is probably busy keeping the ship & passengers safe. Maybe they could give the guests free internet?  Don’t need any more problems. The last thing the officers want is leaving late and delaying next the next cruise. 

Edited February 11, 2019 by SanDiegian
Incomplete

[Bemis]

Looks like the Eurodam is currently moving over to the Pier 11 Cruise Ship terminal, likely to allow the Queen Victoria to take her place at Pier 2.

[SanDiegian]

The Queen Victoria is the ship allows your dog onboard. Caution, wet deck!

Edited February 11, 2019 by SanDiegian

[idiebabe]

9 hours ago, faerievert said:

We’re stuck in Honolulu another night. I’m very frustrated. Both of the ports I was most excited for are now canceled. Yes, all my excursions for those ports are or will be refunded. But it’s not about the money. It’s missing out on BEING there. 

 

I’ll talk about what we actually did today tomorrow. Too aggravated to narrate. 

 

Fingers crossed we can pull off some magic in the AM to salvage our flightseeing tour out of Kona. That one’s too late to refund (without filing a claim against our card’s insurance... which we’ll do if necessary). With our other plane tour canceled, it’s our last chance to tour the islands by air. 🤞

 

Sorry to hear about the Weather and having both Kauai and Lahaina missed!  Hope all goes well and you'll get to do your Flightseeing Tour in Kona.

 

How has the Weather been in Honolulu for your stay there?  I read where Oahu was getting bad Winds and had down trees, etc. 

[Mickb]

Queen Victoria does not allow dogs aboard.  You are perhaps thinking of her big sister Queen Mary which has proper kennels for pooches travelling the Atlantic in style?

Bad luck about the storm - hope it does spoil your fun

[ellieanne]

4 hours ago, Mickb said:

Queen Victoria does not allow dogs aboard.  You are perhaps thinking of her big sister Queen Mary which has proper kennels for pooches travelling the Atlantic in style?

Bad luck about the storm - hope it does spoil your fun

 

Even if they did, what's the problem? One of the best cruises I had was on the Oosterdam with a group of guide dogs (and their people). I never had any issues with the dogs or waste. There was an area of grass at the front of the wrap around Promenade. It was serviced regularly. The only complaint I heard was one person who was highly incensed that the dogs were in the water at the beaches on Half Moon Cay; apparently that's unsanitary.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Last week the news here in San Diego Historic storm hurls huge waves and 191 mph winds at Hawaii on the big island in the mountains , and rare snow hits Maui, We have a condo in Maui at Kā’anapali and called our neighbor to take pic for me. Was up in the mountains also.

So sorry your missing the ports, this to me is global warming. 

Denise😊

[skypig]

Yes we finally departed about an hour ago from Honolulu. Headed to Kona. On Sunday it rained pretty good most of the morning but around 1100 it stopped except for one short shower later in the day. The wind however was a different story altogether. I walked back from Ala Moana to the ship in the early afternoon the headwinds were intense, to the point that several times I had to grab ahold of a street sign to keep from being blown into the street. Today though was beautiful weather a little breezy but nothing like Sunday. There were a few tree limbs & lots of leaves scattered about downtown but I didn’t see anything major. 

[bennybear]

The waves have been insane in Kona and we have gotten off lightly.  So while  I understand the disappointment I am glad you are safe!  To tender into Kona today would have been impossible.  

I love to cruise but the Hawaiian islands are best seen from the land so you need to come again. 

Edited February 12, 2019 by bennybear

[Cruizer Bill]

I see from the daily schedules you are kindly uploading that the Happy Hour at 4 PM is in the Ocean Bar and Billboard Onboard lounges.  Have you noticed that one location is better than the other for a daily get-together for Cruise Critic people?  Thanks much!

[faerievert]

Saturday 

 

Up at 8, skipped breakfast, and disembarked at 9. In the rain. Low 60s, gail force winds, and rain. We’re finally on land, and THIS is the weather we get? Sigh 😩

 

Photographers were out, despite the weather. I had a mini meltdown when the husband asked if I was ready to get our pictures because I guess the stress of the changes and weather finally hit me. I got myself together and truly did enjoy the rest of the day in Honolulu despite the weather... at least until we returned to the ship.

[faerievert]

Did the Hawaii Food Tours Hole in the Wall Tour. The only thing we pre-scheduled that has actually happened as planned so far! They pick you up in a large van/small bus. We were as big of a group as they do, and it was only about a dozen. Maybe 14? With two tour guides. Had a total of 5 dishes plus 3 fruits, I think? And stopped at 3 markets. All in Honolulu's tiny china town. Definitely worth it. The guides were excellent and very friendly. So immensely relieved this went well.

 

They advised Billy to try Saver's for aloha shirts. So he left the tour at the last stop instead of coming back to the pier with me. It was a shorter uber ride from where we already were. He found 7 great shirts for $75. More than half are Hawaii-made. One even has a "custom made" tag in it!

 

He grabbed an uber back to meet me onboard. We changed and resorted our bags for walking. Walked to the statue of the king (in the rain about half the way), then an uber to waikiki. We hopped out a few blocks early once we hit the shopping area. There were some downed trees snarling up traffic.

 

Checked out a few tourist shops. I got a cover of great "bathing suit cover ups" that I'll wear as tunics. Billy replaced the badly worn flip flops he was wearing. Bought three flavors of macadamias a drug store. Hit the Hard Rock Cafe for a drink so that I could use the bathroom. There are very few stores or even restaurants with bathroom access. Those that do, it's often down a creepy hallway and requires a key! Very annoying for me. I've never had such a difficult time finding places to pee. It continued to be an issue the rest of the day (and today). 

 

I got frustrated with tourist central. I didn't realize it would be SO high-end. We used the public beach access next to the Coach store. A couple blocks earlier there were a Tiffany's and Loubiton. Etc. Etc. The beach was a total bust. Like walking into a cold sandstorm. I stayed back at the pavement while Billy ran to put his toes in the water and ran back. The few folks out were bundled up and clearly there out of determination to get pictures on the beach. Dreams of sea-side cocktails busted, we went back to the street to find food. I refused to eat at the Thai place nestled upstairs from a store with purses that cost more than I make in a year and insisted we leave the main drag. Surely we could find more realistic food within a few blocks. 

 

Ended up at a sort of tiki-themed bar attached to a lesser hotel. Very lame decor (it was a lot more sad than kitschy-cute. But, they had locomoco on the menu which the guides had told us about and we really wanted to try. We got the spam variety. I'm kind of obsessed. Much larger portion than expected. We probably didn't need the seafood platter appetizer. Demolished the food, finished our single drinks, and started the long walk back to the pier. In hindsight, this was a bad idea for Billy to do in flip flops. But as I was in sneakers, I didn't think about that. The rain had stopped and I really wanted to enjoy our "one" day here. It was three and change miles back I think? By the time we got under two miles left, we'd become too stubborn to wimp out and get a ride. Around a mile left, it was now thoroughly dark, and raining fairly hard. Luckily, it had not gotten any colder. Half mile out Billy realized his feet were killing him, but why bother stopping so close to the end?

 

Returned to the ship eager to get to the hydropool. Had just walked into the cabin when the captain comes over the speaker. We're to spend the night here in safe harbor again and Kona is pushed back another day. Both Nawiliwili AND Lahaina are now canceled entirely. Lahaina was EXC excursions, so those are automatically refunded. But we'd moved our Kona flight from Saturday to Monday. Got ahold of the company, but they said they didn't have any availability to move us to Tuesday. Their cancelation policy is a strict 7 days, and they refuse to refund us (we'll be taking it up with the credit card). 

 

Forced ourselves to hit the 9pm crow's nest happy hour and go to the "aloha" show at the main stage. A little cheesy, but way better than I expected. The singer was decent, the hula dancers were very good, and they kept it moving along at a good pace. A wine spritzer and a boozy shake definitely helped. 

 

Realized maybe we could fly to Kona and still make our flight. Tried calling after the show, but it was too late to reach anyone. Found Hawaiian airlines flights and packed day bags ready to head to the Honolulu airport in the AM.

 

[faerievert]

Started calling Big Island Air at 7:05am. Reached them at 7:15. Even though they were keeping our money, they'd canceled our flight for Tuesday. It supposedly had one other couple, but since we canceled the flight was canceled entirely. Again, even though they still have our money. So if we grabbed an island hopper to Kona, we'd still be SOL. I was livid. But I don't want to be the ungrateful b*tch who complains about being stuck in Honolulu an extra day. It might be the part of Hawaii I was least interested in, but I'M STILL IN HAWAII. 

 

So how do we make the most of a bonus day on Oahu? 

[faerievert]

We grab a cab to Enterprise Rent a Car. The taxi driver doesn't want to do such a short run. And they wonder why people prefer Uber?! Luckily another couple wants to go to the same place at the same time and ask to share with us. The cabby completely misunderstands and thinks we're being dropped off and they will continue further. But agrees to take us. He's quite disappointed when we all get out at Enterprise, but we pay our metered fair.

 

Only to have our own disappointment inside. No cars available for single-day rental. Even though Billy had called this morning an hour earlier and been told they had plenty. No convertibles like we'd hoped for, but plenty of cars. Nope. Desk gal cannot rent us a car. But suggests we try the airport. We start trying to call other companies.

 

After sitting on hold with Dollar for a bit, I realize maybe she can check the inventory at the airport. Indeed she can! And they have lots of convertibles. Not risking disappointment again, I'm happy that she can book it for us instead of us having to call it in on the way. We grab a much friendlier uber the airport rental location. We check out inside and are presented with our choice of convertibles when we get outside. A camero. A bunch of beetles. Some mustangs. Billy asks if anything comes in red (his favorite). Several beetles, and a mustang. He chooses the mustang. After we finish the inspection and they move three cars to free it from the rarely-used parking space, staffer notices it's actually the fancy version we shouldn't get at this price level. Oh well. It's only for the day and he already went through all the trouble. Take the keys for no upcharge. Finally, something's in our favor!

 

We head north because going back across Honolulu at rush hour seemed like a huge waste of time. The north shore is very pretty. very quiet. and the beaches were a mess. The big surf warnings were no joke. No one is allowed in the water on the north side. On the east side we find food at a local restaurant (a fish burger and a swordfish special of the day). Too bad we weren't hungry when we passed the zillions of food trucks earlier in the day. Further along we finally spot surfers. Then a shaved ice truck. We split a pineapple / passion fruit "cone?" -- it was huge. Not really my thing. Maybe at one of the stands that uses fresh fruit I'd try it again. But I don't like icees/slushies either. I'm surprised I liked it enough to at least make a dent in the giant snowball. 

 

Took the tunnel into diamondhead, but turned right around and left without parking or paying. We'd rather head up the mountain pass to the overlooks instead. Hit them just before the rain returned. Had to put the top up to head back to the airport (going around Honolulu. not through. Found a gas station in a neighborhood that didn't require us to go down any of the nasty highway traffic. Definitely plan to be going the reverse of rush hour if you visit! When they say traffic is as bad as LA it's is no joke. Smaller scale, but smaller roads, too. Tried to get a lyft for a change, but we were too close to the airport for them to come to us vs the "airport pickup" location. Uber had no such restriction. This driver wasn't exactly personable, but was still better than the morning taxi guy. Quiet driver is fine so long as it's a clean car, and and you don't argue with me about where I want to go! He was even cooperative when Billy hopped out early and sent me the rest of the way alone. He realized we were passing the local indian motorcycle dealership and he wanted to stop in (he does this everywhere, his side hussle is a motorcycle touring business here in the Smoky Mountains). 

[faerievert]

Pier 11 isn't as nice as Pier 2, but has a much better location at Aloha Tower. Security was a lot more lax than I'd like. The couple in front of me didn't have her ID. She should have waited for him to go into the ship and retrieve it. Dude at ID check let her through. Sure, he vouched for her, but that could have been anyone. No cool Honolulu port security, not cool. 

 

I've started noticing the liquor check desks. I almost hate to point this out, but HAL is totally working on the honor system in this regard. I really don't think the X-ray techs give a hoot or are bothering to refer anyone to that desk to pay up/have their liquor confiscated. I'm 99% sure I could have walked past with as much as I wanted inside my day bag and no one would have batted an eye. I think HAL should treat this more seriously if they're going to bother having the rule. We remember the old "carry on a case of wine for the room" days. Wine was fine, but liquor had to be checked. That the alcohol procedure hasn't changed since then despite the rules changes is a big oversight on their part. Oh well, not my problem. I've no interest in breaking the rules, even if they're failing to enforce them.

[faerievert]

Happy to report that we left approximately on time today and are on our way to Kona. Still boggles my mind that we would risk a tender port tomorrow, but HAL must have a reason ($$$) to prioritize them vs Lahaina or Nawiliwili (both NON-tender options, and closer). I give odds at 50% at best that we actually get on shore at Kona tomorrow. All reports have said that tendering would have been impossible on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. I refuse to get my hopes up too much that we'll get there tomorrow.

 

Despite the air tour debacle, we intend to call them one last time in the AM. Maybe we can squeeze onto a flight tomorrow after all. If not, I haven't the foggiest idea what to do in Kona other than the seahorse place. Nothing else looks interesting. We don't like Coffee. We're going to the volcano national park tomorrow and all the other major hilo-side sights on a full day private van tour. The high peak is too high for me (I get altitude sickness easily). The husband isn't allowed to swim yet (doctor's orders), so snorkeling is out. I'm bored to death after 30 minutes on a beach. I'll probably just wander around town on foot looking for some jewelry to buy and get a manicure. Maybe find a pizza place for a hawaiian pie. Recommendations welcome, just don't be offended that I'll likely ignore them all. We may call the rental car places and see if we can snag another convertible. There's no where that interesting to go it seems, but it would be pretty to drive around regardless. 

[faerievert]

Just now, Cruizer Bill said:

I see from the daily schedules you are kindly uploading that the Happy Hour at 4 PM is in the Ocean Bar and Billboard Onboard lounges.  Have you noticed that one location is better than the other for a daily get-together for Cruise Critic people?  Thanks much!

Billboard is probably better for a get together of more than 6 people, but we've only done the ocean bar so I could be wrong. Small groups have a fair number of seat options on the edges at ocean bar. 

[faerievert]

19 hours ago, Iris5383 said:

Are ship officers doing anything to ease passenger frustration over the weather?

 

So far, nothing but the canned apology that accompanies each announcement. Not even an hour of open bar (yet).

 

But I wouldn't expect any reparations until after the risk of further trouble is behind us (even under the best of circumstances, Kona tenders are always a gamble). I expect we'll all receive something, at least some free drinks, once we're done in Hawaii. If we're not offered any financial compensation (OBC), I have every intention of calling Seattle on our return to try to get some. Canceling a third of the cruise's ports and rescheduling another 1 out of 6 is an unusual level of disruption.

 

I can go with the flow well enough to make the best of whatever time I have here. The vacation isn't "ruined" but it's absolutely not the vacation I'd planned and I'm probably going to be bitter about that until we can return. Those for whom this is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Hawaii must be devasted.  

[cat shepard]

Faerievert - if you could stand a helicopter tour, I am in the process of booking with Paradise Helicopters out of Kona. Note: they also tour out of Hilo.

 

https://paradisecopters.com/

 

They have a variety of tours, so they might have an opening.  I have my TA working on the logistics of how to get to and from there. Ideally they would pick us up, but I am fairly certain that is not realistic.

 

I can not even imagine how disappointing this must be, even knowing that it was out of HAL’s control.

[tpwolfe]

On 2/5/2019 at 7:32 PM, faerievert said:

Discovered I can download the MDR menu each day! All the ones that are the same for the full cruise are below, plus today's MDR (first gala night). Rudi's is a pop up a couple nights in pinnacle on this ship. I've heard Pinnacle will also do a special valentine's menu on the 14th, but I haven't seen it yet. Note the MDR daily doesn't include the other half of the menu that's the same every day. 

menu-dinner-pinnacle.pdf

menu-dinner-mdr-20190205.docx

menu-lunch-divein.pdf

menu-dinner-rudisseldemer.pdf

menu-dinner-tamarind.pdf

menu-dinner-canaletto.pdf

I noticed the Dive in is offering milk shakes.  Is there an extra charge or included?

[Iris5383]

6 hours ago, faerievert said:

They advised Billy to try Saver's for aloha shirts.

That's good to know. We're in the early process of booking another cruise that stops at Honolulu and need new Hawaiian shirts. (My DH was ill and we had to cancel the cruise you're on. We had splurged and booked a verandah. I guess we wouldn't have used it much.)

Please know that even though your vacation isn't what you planned for, your posts have value. I look forward to each one. Wishing sunny skies for you today in Kona. Also hoping there will be some compensation for passengers. Once we had open bar for an hour when something went wrong. Was very hard to weed through the crowd to order. We have got taxes/fees back when a port was cancelled. I'm sure passengers are spending more on board and that's extra profit for HAL. Maybe they will share some of that. Would be good PR.

[skypig]

Just a quick update for those following along. We are anchored off Kona & they have dropped one of the tenders & platforms but at the moment conditions are not favorable for tendering. Imagine that. 

[skypig]

Just now, faerievert said:

Pier 11 isn't as nice as Pier 2, but has a much better location at Aloha Tower. Security was a lot more lax than I'd like. The couple in front of me didn't have her ID. She should have waited for him to go into the ship and retrieve it. Dude at ID check let her through. Sure, he vouched for her, but that could have been anyone. No cool Honolulu port security, not cool. 

 

I've started noticing the liquor check desks. I almost hate to point this out, but HAL is totally working on the honor system in this regard. I really don't think the X-ray techs give a hoot or are bothering to refer anyone to that desk to pay up/have their liquor confiscated. I'm 99% sure I could have walked past with as much as I wanted inside my day bag and no one would have batted an eye. I think HAL should treat this more seriously if they're going to bother having the rule. We remember the old "carry on a case of wine for the room" days. Wine was fine, but liquor had to be checked. That the alcohol procedure hasn't changed since then despite the rules changes is a big oversight on their part. Oh well, not my problem. I've no interest in breaking the rules, even if they're failing to enforce them.

I had the opposite experience earlier in the day. The lady in front of me didn’t have her ID but husband did. The security guard would now let them go & held up the line for quite some time which was fine with me he was doing his job. There was also another gentlemen that had stepped aside & was waiting for someone to come back from the ship with his ID. The lady said that she hadn’t had it yesterday & the ship hadn’t told her she needed it! When I came back yesterday they were checking ID also so she must have gotten thru without. There are signs posted that you need picture ID. Frankly I would not leave the ship without my picture ID for a myriad of reasons. 

[idiebabe]

33 minutes ago, skypig said:

Just a quick update for those following along. We are anchored off Kona & they have dropped one of the tenders & platforms but at the moment conditions are not favorable for tendering. Imagine that. 

 

Thanks for all your Updates, Skypig!  Hope you all can get into Kona!  We board on the 20th and I'm really sorry that your Sailing hit such bad Weather!  

[BEAV]

7 hours ago, faerievert said:

Happy to report that we left approximately on time today and are on our way to Kona. Still boggles my mind that we would risk a tender port tomorrow, but HAL must have a reason ($$$) to prioritize them vs Lahaina or Nawiliwili (both NON-tender options, and closer). I give odds at 50% at best that we actually get on shore at Kona tomorrow. All reports have said that tendering would have been impossible on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. I refuse to get my hopes up too much that we'll get there tomorrow.

 

Lahaina is a tender port as well. 

 

I wonder if Nawiliwili was already scheduled with other ships calling and HAL couldn’t find an alternate day with a vacant dock?  We were there about 6 weeks ago, and although I’m no expert, it seemed to me Nawilwili can only accommodate one ship? Maybe someone more knowledgeable can confirm or deny that. I do recall the entrance to the harbor was small and narrow, and I’d be surprised if that port is able to accommodate one ship docked while having a second ship tendering in the small harbor?

 

I very much enjoyed reading of your adventures in Honolulu! It sounds a lot like the day we had there in December with regard to the weather. We were on a ship’s tour that had to make a lot of last-minute alterations due to the stormy weather.

 

Here’s hoping the weather clears and you can enjoy some drama-free time in port.