Hilo VNP Lunch Tour

[sallycruiser]

We will be on the Celebrity cruise 9/28 with a stop in Hilo. One of the excursions is to VNP with lunch. Has anyone taken this tour at any time? Do you know what type of lunch they serve? I expect it is at the VNP.

 

Just wondering as we are trying to decided whether to take the excursion with lunch or without lunch. I know it's a little nuts but we like to know all the details.

 

Sally Cruiser

[Retired not Expired]

It's most likely like most of the ones with lunch. You will eat at the Volcano House which is buffet type and sits right on the rim of the crater. It's a decent buffet with a great view.

[Aussie Gal]

We were disappointed with the lunch excursion to VNP. We wished we had taken the tour that didn't include lunch. The cost was an extra $40p.p. and the lunch certainly wasn't worth anything like that, plus we had to start eating at 11.45am. It was a very basic buffet lunch with not a lot of choice.

 

The day we went it was raining and therefore there wasn't a view. I believe it rains on most days. Our friends did the shorter version of this tour without lunch and were back at the ship by 2pm. They saw everything that we saw and lunch was the only part that wasn't included in their trip.

 

Jennie

[KeystoneCruiser]

We took the VNP tour with lunch on NCL. It wasn't $40 extra on our tour but each cruiseline is different.

 

I have to disagree, I thought the buffet was good. A little limited in meat choices (chicken and ham I believe), but very good food. The hostesses were friendly and the view is nice of the crater. Of course, we are the type of people who like to eat early and 11:45 would be "late" for us. (11:15-11:30 is normal. My wife thinks you get "fat" if you eat meal later:rolleyes: .)

 

Just my opinion.

[alikim]

I too debated back and forth for a long time before deciding to go with Roberts Hawaii for their VNP & Rainbow Falls excursions. According to them it's exactly the same as NCL but no lunch.

 

I debated too if I should just do VNP without Rainbow Falls because the major consenses I got from here was extra $ was not worth the Rainbow Falls and lunch. I guess because of drought, Rainbow Falls is not like it used to be? If I'm wrong, please feel free to correct me.

 

Because of the convenience I was still going to go with NCL but for the same tour, NCL charges $89 where Roberts charges $30 without lunch. If it was just 2 of us, I might have just gone with NCL for the convenience but for 5 of us, that's extra $250 savings. Because I have teenager boys who'll be hungry on this trip, I asked Roberts if we are stopping for lunch and was told they do make quick stop for us to pick up snacks/sandwiches, etc.

 

Of course I would rather sit on the restaurant with beautiful view but with $250 savings, our family decided to deal with quick snacks to save money. Besides, my teenager boys rather be in amusement park so they wouldn't appreciate the extra $ I'm spending on them to eat nice lunch with nice view.

 

It'll be matter of your preference. If you think view/relaxation is worth the extra $59, then go for it.

[Retired not Expired]

Because I have teenager boys who'll be hungry on this trip, I asked Roberts if we are stopping for lunch and was told they do make quick stop for us to pick up snacks/sandwiches, etc.

.

 

It's a stop at a gas station with a quick shop. They do have a few hot items as well as sandwiches, etc. However, only two workers so it can slow the service if many are ordering the hot stuff. You may want to get one of your party in line to order while others use the restrooms. It's not a bad stop and there is enough to keep the belly full, even with teenage boys.

[alikim]

Thank you so much for the info. We'll just need little something so that we won't be STARVING until we get back to the ship. Hopefully I can also pack some little snacks in the backpack before our excursion.:)

 

It's a stop at a gas station with a quick shop. They do have a few hot items as well as sandwiches, etc. However, only two workers so it can slow the service if many are ordering the hot stuff. You may want to get one of your party in line to order while others use the restrooms. It's not a bad stop and there is enough to keep the belly full, even with teenage boys.

[Aussie Gal]

I have to disagree, I thought the buffet was good. A little limited in meat choices (chicken and ham I believe), but very good food. The hostesses were friendly and the view is nice of the crater. Of course, we are the type of people who like to eat early and 11:45 would be "late" for us. (11:15-11:30 is normal. My wife thinks you get "fat" if you eat meal later .)

 

We always eat late and were on late sitting so you can imagine eating lunch at 11.45am seemed like morning tea to us. Tell you wife, that we are slim so her idea of getting fat by eating early is not correct. It is the amount of food that you eat, that makes one fat!!

 

We were on the Tahitian Princess and the difference on our two tours was the one to the VNP with no lunch cost $49 and the one with lunch cost $89. We did go to the rainbow falls but there was nothing to see and we all ended up at the shops trying to fill in time until the bus left.

 

Even though our tour was a ships excursion it was with Roberts. In fact, every tour that was offered by Princess on the 3 islands was with Roberts.

 

Jennie