NCL Pride of America Cruise | Day 4 - Hilo, Hawaii | Hawaii Volcanoes National Park | Kilauea
As our shore excursion to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was in the afternoon, we decided to head out and explore Hilo. The good news is that here in Hilo at the cruise terminal there were some tour operators selling last minute tours, a hop on hop off shuttle and a free shuttle return service to the Hilo Farmers Market sponsored by Destination Hilo.
Once in downtown Hilo we checked out the Hilo Farmer's Market and an open air market across the street selling Hawaiian souvenirs.
Hilo town is really cute and retro. There are some great local cafes and shops here. We did explore a bit until it started pouring with rain.
We had lunch at Cadillac Diner which was the restaurant onboard the Pride of America that is open 24 hours a day.
We were then off on our Hawaii Volcanoes National Park shore excursion with Norwegian Cruise Line. Our first stop was at Big Island Candies where they make sweet treats including hand dipped shortbread cookies. Then we made our way to the Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park.
Our first stop was the Kilauea Viewpoint which is at the end of the road. This area was closed when I was here in December of 2019. The visibility wasn't the best as it was sprinkling rain and the volcano was smoking heavily. The smell of sulphur and smoke was heavy in the air today. The visitors center and museum that is also located here is closed as the building has begun to shift and fall into the crater.
The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day including holidays. So I would highly recommend coming here at night if you actually stay on the Big Island of Hawaii, apparently the glow from the volcano's crater is quite something, it's also easier to see the lava floes at night for obvious reasons if the lava is flowing.
We then continued onto the Steam Vents.
The Kilauea Visitor Center is located near the entry to the park. It's a great little museum with park rangers who give talks here and they show a video about Kilauea and the volcanoes that are active in this area.
Across the street from the visitors center there is a hotel called Volcano House. It seems like a really interesting place to stay for a night. There is a restaurant and if you walk through the hotel there is another viewing platform which is free to visitors. They also have a large gift shop here.
I would really recommend coming to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park if you've never visited. However I would recommend coming with a smaller tour company that offers a more in-depth visit to the National Park like I did when I was here in December 2019, or rent a car and come and explore yourself. I did enjoy our shore excursion with NCL, however I personally prefer excursions that have a much smaller group size.
It was then time to head back to the Pride of America and get ready for dinner at the speciality restaurant, Cagney's Steakhouse. This is another Norwegian Cruise Line favourite for me. I ordered the Black Tiger Shrimp Trio to start, followed by the Filet Mignon with a Chimichurri Sauce and Grilled Zucchini and Potatoes Au Gratin as my sides. For dessert I love the Raspberry Creme Brulee here.
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Пікірлер: 46
Visiting the volcano would be such a highlight! Thanks so much for sharing!
@WanderlustJourney
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks so much for watching! It was great to visit the volcano again! I think next time I’ll be exploring more of the park and checking it out at night!
Wow - Great footage of the Volcano National Park....
@WanderlustJourney
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks so much Robert!
The volcano area was very interesting & also the town of Hilo. The dinner also looked so yummy 😋
@WanderlustJourney
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching Gizella! Glad to hear you enjoyed your visit to the volcano!
Aloha! I'm happy that you enjoyed Hilo! Its been my home since 2018.
@WanderlustJourney
Жыл бұрын
Thanks so much for watching Zach! You have a beautiful home, you’re so lucky to live in Hilo!
@mk6455
Жыл бұрын
What would you suggest as the best excursion on Hilo.
Hilo looks really cute! Thanks for the video! I need to get to Hawaii one day..
@WanderlustJourney
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching! Hopefully you’ll get to visit one day!
just returned from POA cruise. We did the Volcano National Park excursion and it was a total rip-off. 15 minutes after leaving the pier, we stopped at the Cookie factory 'gift shop', then were bussed for a long way and then were simply dropped off at the Visitor Center Building to basically visit the gift shop, then a walk over to the restaurant to gaze out a large plate glass window at a view that was nothing but a brick wall, a few tree tops and very dense fog. That was it. Mucho money for a bus ride. TERRIBLE excursion. WOULD NOT RECOMMEND.
@WanderlustJourney
Жыл бұрын
Hello Mary, sorry to hear that was your experience on that shore excursion with NCL. Sounds like the weather was also a factor as you wouldn’t get to see much of the volcano if it was foggy :(
@mstark410
5 ай бұрын
What is the average cost of the tour per person?
Thank you so much for the menu for Cadillac Diner! Also, how many people were on that NCL tour?
@WanderlustJourney
Жыл бұрын
Thanks so much for watching Nancy. Our tours were a bit unique as we had specific hosted tours by NCL, most tours had a capacity of 50 people on each coach bus?
Our day in Hilo rained the whole day, so we got an Uber who took us to 2 places where with water falls, then the original Hawaiian King then back to ship
@WanderlustJourney
Жыл бұрын
Sounds like a lovely day in Hilo despite the rain! Thanks for sharing! 😊
@gloriachoy1591
Жыл бұрын
How much was the charge for Uber?
Love your channel! Suggestion: when you talk about the restaurants you ate, can you tell us uf you paid extra?
@WanderlustJourney
11 ай бұрын
Thanks so much for watching and happy to hear you’re enjoying my series. The specialty restaurants that I ate at were Cagney’s and Jefferson’s Bistro (Le Bistro) which I used my “free at sea dining credits” for, all other restaurants onboard I specifically dined in are included in the fare (Cadillac Diner, the two main dining rooms and the Aloha Cafe (buffet). The other specialty dining options (paid) were not quite open yet during my sailing, however are now open.
Hi 👋🏽 just found your videos. Curious about the volcano national park; are the lava tunnels included in this excursion?
@WanderlustJourney
3 ай бұрын
Hi there! Not in the excursion I did, as the lava tunnels are in a certain part of the park where a large coach bus cannot reach. You would need to chat with the shore excursions team to see if they have a small group experience or book something independently.
@karamiaone
3 ай бұрын
@@WanderlustJourney thank you for your response. Appreciate the info!
If there is lightning, everyone should seek shelter. It’s still at least fun in the cruise ship.
@WanderlustJourney
Жыл бұрын
Agreed, it was more heavy rain than a thunderstorm that we experienced.
Are you permitted to take fruit back onto the ship with you from the market? How about liquor? Do they check you when you get back on ?
@WanderlustJourney
Жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching! They do scan bags for alcohol and prohibited items at every port when you board the ship. If you do purchase liquor in port, when you bring it onboard they will register it and give it back to you on the night before you disembark the ship. If it’s wine, you can opt to pay the corkage fee and keep it either in your stateroom or enjoy it in the dining room with your meal. I’m not sure on bringing fruit back on to the ship as it wasn’t something we tried to do. Hope this helps.
How did you travel from the ship to Farmer Market?
@WanderlustJourney
Жыл бұрын
There was a free shuttle from the Hilo Cruise Terminal to the Farmers Market downtown Hilo and return. Visit the Destination Hilo information booth in the cruise terminal for more information and if they’re running it the day your ship visits.
Does The free shuttle go to and from the cruise terminal. If not where does it go? Thanks.
@WanderlustJourney
Жыл бұрын
The free shuttle at the time of my sailing went from the cruise terminal to downtown Hilo near where the farmers market was taking place. You can find out more information about the shuttle at the Destination Hilo table inside the cruise terminal.
Hello . Did you get to walk in the lava tubes on this tour?
@WanderlustJourney
Жыл бұрын
Not on this tour, but I have done them before. You will need to make sure of the excursion as any of the bigger bus tours cannot go over to where the lava tubes are due to weight restrictions on that particular road to see them. You will need to go in a smaller vehicle which they sometimes don’t offer on the ship or it sells out very quickly. Hope this helps.
Where is are you located for travel advice
What is the best excursion on Hilo?
What dates was this trip?
@WanderlustJourney
Жыл бұрын
This was filmed mid May 2022.
We would like to rent a car for the day we are in Hilo. What time did you disembark and go to hilo?
@WanderlustJourney
3 ай бұрын
Hi there, I would double check the time you’re scheduled to dock in Hilo with NCL. My cruise was back in 2022 so docking times could have changed since then. I believe we docked around 8am and ship was cleared shortly thereafter.
I’m hesitant to trust travel agents- how do I find a reliable agent out of USA?
@WanderlustJourney
Жыл бұрын
Ask for referrals through your friends or family. There are also ways you can find a trusted travel agent/advisor through websites such as Virtuoso.com which travel agent members need to keep to a code of conduct. I myself am a Virtuoso Travel Agent Member. Hope this helps.
Does the Pride of America have a casino?
@WanderlustJourney
Жыл бұрын
Hello! Unfortunately because the Pride of America only sails around Hawaiian Islands there is no casino onboard.
Please pan slower. It's hard to look at things when the camera moves so quickly.
@WanderlustJourney
Жыл бұрын
Thanks, it’s already something I’ve implemented in more recent videos.