We booked our cruise 20 months in advance. It was to be my "dream" vacation. Our final bill was to be paid in July and I called at least 6 times over a period of three days and each time left a voice mail message. When I did not get a return call, I called Mr. Stein Kruse, the CEO and with his help was finally able to pay the remainder of our bill.
Travel to San Diego was uneventful and booked through HAL. After my husband and I picked up our luggage from the baggage area, we left all four bags in the hands of the HAL representative. We were put on a bus to go to the pier and the bus had some unusable seats. The check in at the pier was chaotic and we stood in line (in a hot warehouse) for at least 45 minutes-1 hour. We found our cabin without incident and toured the ship while we waited for our luggage to arrive. Three of the four pieces arrived before dinner. The fourth bag (mine) was lost and HAL was never able to get it to me for the entire 15 days of the voyage. This particular bag contained 100% of my makeup, evening wear, shampoo, brush, comb, curling iron, toothbrush and paste, swimsuit, suntan lotion, creams, informal wear, and 50% of my shorts, capris, shoes, sweaters, etc. The first evening, I was given an "emergency kit" which consisted of a small toothbrush, small toothpaste and Scope. The next day HAL said they would give me $50 on board credit to purchase emergency supplies...I bought four items of the cheapest products in the on-board store (we were at sea for the first four days) and the total came to $56.42. Guest relations said they did not have the authority to approve the remaining $6.42! I was in tears and was then told to go down one floor to guest relations. Long story short, it was finally approved, through persistence and some begging. Same story when I asked them to approve a $39.00 shampoo and styling in the hair salon. The first day in port (Hilo) I again called Mr. Kruse. I was then approved for two more appointments in the beauty salon and a massage. The ship also charged my insurance company to cover any other on-board expenses that I might have.
Hilo was our first port. Nice city. Our excursion included Akaka Falls and the nut factory. It was okay, but far from outstanding. I spent the afternoon in Walmart, to purchase supplies that I would not have needed nor wanted if HAL had not lost my luggage: cost $104.00 The next day we docked in Honolulu. We did the excursion to the Arizona, Mighty Moe and the Punch Bowl. Well worth the time and money, although I did get sun burned. Our second day we did the Island Little Circle tour. It was a huge waste of time and money. Our fourth day in Hawaii, we dropped anchor outside of Kona and were getting ready to disembark when the earthquake hit. The ship really shook. Fortunately the captain, within minutes of the quake, told the passengers what had happened and that the ship was fine. Our tour was cancelled, so I cannot report on the volcano that we expected to see. Our last day was spent in torrential rain in Lahaina. Because of the weather, our glass bottom boat tour was also cancelled. The last stop on the last night of the tour was to be in Ensenada, Mexico. The port was fogged in with 0 visibility, so that was also cancelled.