Oahu, Hawaii Grand Circle Island Tour Experience (Review)

With the change of cruise ship and agenda, I ended up getting a voucher of on board credit to spend on the cruise ship. I was tempted to use this when on the ship for drinks or for internet, but ultimately decided to use it for a trip organised through the cruise. I thought this would be easier because I heard horror stories about people being left at port when their independently organised tours were running late. When booked through the cruise company, if the trip is running late, the legally have to wait for you. Somewhat frustratingly, just before departure, the trip agenda changed again and we got an extra day at the port I had a trip booked for so this wouldn't have actually ended up being an issue, so that was a little annoying already as I had paid significantly more than retail price for it. To top it off, I received another meal saying that my start time had been changed and was now going to be departing an hour later, meaning getting back to the ship an hour later and pushing it tight to the show time I really wanted to see. 

I again, tried to start the trip with an open mind and was so excited to see the island. The Grand Circle Island Tour took you around the entire island and drove along the main road, around the coastline. There were a number of stops advertised that I was very excited for, as well as taking in the beautiful sights.

The trip started off poorly as we started off late, waiting for additional guests, but they never arrived. We first drove through Waikiki, taking in the beautiful sights of Hawaii. I was shocked at how built up the area was. We drove past beaches sure, but it felt like a normal city. Our first stop was at the Blowhole Lookout and it was stunning. Sadly, because we set off late, we were only given 10 minutes there which was a real shame. I would have loved to have walked down to the beach that was there and enjoy taking in the views. e also never stopped at Diamond Head Crater which was one of the stops I was most excited for, and apparently although described as a stop, it was only ever a drive by. 

We then drove around the coastline, taking a very brief stop at a supermarket. They sold this as a toilet break stop but it really felt like they had an agreement with the business because it was an extremely long break and completely unnecessary. It was like a service station with a supermarket and ice cream shop.  I even walked around the area for 15 minutes and because it was such a low vantage point, I couldn’t see the beautiful scenery which was very disappointing. It was in the middle of the valley so you couldn't take in any of the sights which was a real shame, and it was a petrol station! A stop of 40 minutes at a supermarket that was very run down was completely unnecessary and not what I paid a fortune to see on the tour.

We then moved on and whilst the views were beautiful, we were seeing them all from the bus. I sat on the right so saw a lot of the sea, but very little of the mountains which were beautifully seen over the top of people's heads. 

I was pleasantly surprised that lunch was provided as part of the tour and ticket price. This was a pre-booked restaurant and we had a 1 hour stop, where the food was supposed to be ready to be served. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a delay with the food but once ready, we were served quite quickly. I didn't know what we were getting beforehand, but I was thankful to find I quite liked the food to an extent. I had water, but they also provided lemonade and tea. Then it was a huli huli half rotisserie chicken, with rice and mac n cheese salad. The mac n cheese was ice cold and with mayonnaise so I didn't eat that, but the rest of it was nice. It would have been nice to have a little bit of an option, and a dessert, but alas. 

Again, we got back in the bus and made our way to yet another unexpected stop at another random location. This time at least the view was pretty, albeit the road was incredibly busy and a little  dangerous. It was a local shop selling coffee and macadamia nuts, also offering free samples, but neither of which I like. It was less than 5 minutes from where we'd had lunch so very unnecessary, and again, we were there for a significant amount of time. At least half an hour which was such a waste when there were so many other places that the majority of us would have much preferred stopping at. 

Our final stop was calling at the Dole Pineapple Plantation. I was excited for this one and driving towards the location was fascinating driving through all the fields. However, when we arrived it wasn't at all what I was expecting. The smaller educational areas were closed down and the guide said they had been since covid. The main building was just a huge shop selling every type of pineapple treats and merchandise you could thing of. We arrived an hour before closing and just missed the last of the chocolate making and pineapple demonstrations. We also missed the last train for the tour of the grounds, the last garden admission and the last maze admission. I was absolutely fuming. We had over an hour there and all you could do was walk through a very small part of the garden and buy merch. 

I just found this so frustrating because it was clear that this issue would have been resolved if the set off time hadn't had been changed to an hour later. I also found out later that they had 2 tours set off at the original time and it was delayed because of overselling of tickets. Given that I booked this tour over a year before, I was so annoyed that I was one of the ones that got moved. I also think, that it also could have simply been improved by doing the tour in reverse so starting with the plantation when it opened, rather than doing it last when everything had stopped. 

Overall, I was incredibly disappointed for the whole trip. It felt very much like I had wasted a whole lot of money for sitting on a bus. Most of the pretty sites we just drove through with no pre-warning of what was coming up. We had only 2 proper stops on the agenda, one of which was pointless as things were closed, and one was rushed as we set off late. The others felt like money making opportunities. I would never recommend this trip to anyone!