Our Hawaiian Vacation, April 14th - April 26th

[sue402001]

Thanks for the review. Enjoy reading very much. DH and I will be on POA Dec 2011' date=' so I'm still trying to decide what to do. How old are you two? (if you don't mind). Did you enjoy the RTH??? Was it too long, too much? Sounds like you had a good time.

 

I can't see the photos either. Wonder wassup about that. Just the red x. Thought it was me and my computer.[/quote']

 

LOL, I don't mind at all bigtoeswim'n. I just turned 50 and my husband is 57. I liked the RTH but my husband was not a fan. He's not a fan of heights so it almost put him over the edge <pun intended>.

 

At least you can see the red x, the rest of us just have blank spaces instead of pictures.

 

I'm going to try a different program to post my pictures but it will have to wait for tomorrow, we're going to see Kenny Chesney tonight. :D

[andianna]

Keep it coming Sue and thanks for the info on the walk to the market place. We also chose the Marriott before and after our cuise and are loking forward to it.

[sue402001]

We started our morning off at 2:15 as our tour left at 3:15. We were headed to Haleakala Crater for the sunrise. Coffee & Sweet Rolls were available for us on the bus. It was 45 degrees out but it felt much colder as the wind was brutal at times. I thought I was prepared for this as I had my ear warmers, hand warmers and gloves with me (so I thought) ( I found them later as we were packing up to go home). I used a pair of socks on my hands to help keep them warm, lol. It worked! What was neat was in front of us the sun was coming up with amazing colors and behind us we had the full moon. Awesome! After the sunrise we headed to the summit. It was neat seeing the cinder cones in the distance. We made our way down the mountain, seeing a lot of bikes along the way. We stopped at a little store where we got our first real bag of Maui Chips. (Thanks to Rebecca for mentioning them, if you get them get the ones in the clear bag) They were good and tasty. Soon we were back on the ship so we went up for breakfast. We decided to walk to town after deciding not to wait for the shuttle. There wasn't really anything where we walked to but we were told that if we walked just a “little bit further” there would be. By this time my hubby knew what that meant, and started muttering “we should've taken the shuttle”. We did get to a mall and saw a neat Polynesian Show. As we were watching the show I looked past it to the entrance and noticed a shuttle pulling up. We hightailed it that way and caught the shuttle back to the ship. The trolley driver told us where we could go to see sea turtles that were close to the ship. When we got back, one of my sisters and I headed over to check it out. We did see quite a few and had fun watching them for a bit. We checked out the items that were for sale inside the pier terminal, I got my hubby a “I survived the Road to Hana” shirt, then we got back on the ship. I had to laugh as when I gave my hubby the T-Shirt he gave me something he'd got for me, A Road to Hana shirt. Needless to say I took mine back and got it in a different color as I'd hot a Haleakala Crater shirt the same color as the Road to Hana shirt. So, after we at lunch we headed back down to exchange shirts. My other sister decided she wanted to see the turtles so we walked over to them again. This time we saw “sex on the beach”. No, no one was getting it on but two turtles were having fun in the water. We did get some more great pictures then headed back to the ship. Tonight we ate at Teppanaki, very good food was to be had by all. No show tonight as we were way to tired. I'm surprised we stayed awake as long as we did. :)

[sue402001]

This morning we arrived in Hilo. We have arranged a tour with Ricky's Tours for today. It was just our party of 4 for this tour as the other people that were supposed to be on it with us canceled. We drove down Banyon Drive and saw Liliuokalani Gardens. Our first stop was at Rainbow Falls. It was hard to see a rainbow today but we did get to see one. The weather today was iffy, meaning we didn't know if it would rain or not. The next 2 stops were supposed to be Mauna Loa Mac Nut Farm and the Akutsuka Orchid Gardens. Instead Ricky opted to drive straight to Volcanoes National Park. We stopped at one of the steam vents where I got a facial, lol. The Jager Museum was next. You could see a lot of steam rising from the crater but no lava was to be seen. We were going to do Thurston Lava Tube next but there was not parking available so we went on down the Chain of Craters road to the 1982 lava flow. We were able to get out and walk around on it and explore which was fun, you just had to make sure you didn't slip as the lava could cut you up pretty good. After walking on the lava for about 15 minutes we headed back to the lava tube. This time Ricky let us out and we headed in the direction of the tube. What a neat experience of walking through a lava tube. After leaving VNP, we headed back to the Akutsuka Orchid Gardens. There was a $200,000 orchid on display. Why one costs that much, who knows? Our last stop for the day was a black sand beach. No swimming for us here but it was impressive. We even saw a turtle in the water. All to soon our day was over. I would highly recommend Ricky's tours if you want a great day. Ricky is very personable and does a wonderful tour.

[sue402001]

Today we are on the other side of the big island in Kona.. This was the day we tendered day so we headed to Pinks Champagne Bar to try to get on the first tender to shore. We have our snorkeling adventure on the Hula Kai through Fair-winds.com and have to be their by 9:00. We had no problems getting on the first tender. We did not have a taxi pre-arranged and had no problems finding one to take us to Keauhou Bay. We arranged with our driver to pick us back up at 2:30. The office was hit hard by the Tsunami but they are open for business. It was sad to see all the devastation around that area. Everyone that had signed up for the tour had signed in way before 9:30 so we were able to leave on our adventure 10 minutes early. It took us about 40 minutes to get to the snorkeling spot beyond Kealakekua Bay. They do give instructions to those that have never snorkeled before entering the water. The water here was nice and clear and warm! I was afraid that I would be cold but I wasn't. We stayed in ths place for a while then headed even further down the coast. This was past the lava flows that had happened from the recent eruption. The water was much chillier here than the other spot but the snorkeling was fine. If you went around the corner you could see a sea cave both above and below the water. Here they fixed our lunch for us which consisted of angus burgers, teriaki chicken, pasta salad and chips. This tour lasted 5 hours and was well worth the price we paid. Be aware that if you do this tour the time it ends on the website and at the office do not match. We had another couple from the POA on the boat that didn't have a ride back to the ship as they had asked there cab to pick them up at 1:30. This got over at 2:30 so we offered to let them ride back with us as ours was a taxi van. We went to the Skyline for supper tonight. This was one night that I wasn't paying attention and left the restaurant before getting my key card back from our wait staff. I was not a happy camper that I had to leave the show and go get it. Needless to say, they didn't get a tip from me that night for our drinks we had.

[sue402001]

This was our first day in Kauai and we chose to rent a car through Thrifty. We took the shuttle to the airport at about 8:30. I used the promo code found on CC and got it at a good rate for the day. I also registered as a blue chip member so I'd be sure to get in the short line. For some reason the man behind the counter wouldn't let me do the rental in that line as I wasn't a blue chip member when I reserved the car??? I thought it was a crock of bull but whatever. Anyway, we got our car which was a black Ford Fusion. Why would they have black cars in Hawaii??? We had no specific plan in mind so we headed north towards Hanalei. Our first stop was the Kilauea Lighthouse. We saw some great views from their. At 10:00 the Kilauea Point Wildlife Refuge opened so you could drive closer to the lighthouse if you wanted. http://www.fws.gov/kilaueapoint/ It was $5 per person to enter. We opted to continue our drive to Hanalei instead so I drove on. We drove through Hanalei and just kept on going. This is where the road became interesting. I felt like I was back on the Road to Hana and I was the driver! There were a lot of curves and 1 lane bridges on this stretch of the road. We stopped at Wainiha Beach for a break. The water was warm and inviting. To bad we didn't bring our suits with us! We then contined down the road and ended up at Haena State Park. This was as far as you could go. It's a very popular park and there was no parking to be found so we just continued to the end and turned around. There is also a cave you drive by but we couldn't stop their either as there was no parking to be found for that either. We stopped in Hanalei to do a little shopping and found a Subway in a grocery store so we got that for lunch which was very resonably priced for Hawaii. We were going to stop at Opeka falls but we missed the turn. (The only map we had with us was the one in the book we got from Thrifty.) On the way to Hanalei we saw a place we'd like to stop at on the way back and we did. It was a outdoor fleamarket type place. Here is where we found our Red Dirt Shirts for a good price. Wailua Falls was next and we enjoyed that immensley. These falls were the ones made famous by Fantasy Island. Tatoo wasn't seen though, lol. We even saw some brave souls swimming in the pools below the falls, brrr... We left the falls and headed to our first trip to a Hilo Hatties store. You get a free shell lei when you enter so that was a nice touch. We shopped around a bit then decided to take a drive to Spouting Horn Park. We drove through the tunnel of trees to get their which remided me of home. The spouting horn put on a good show for us, I could watch that all day! I was able to get some great pictures. We decided not to go anywhere else so we took the car back to the airport as we only wanted it for the day.

 

 

Tonight we at at the Lazy J Steakhouse where I had a 10 oz. New York Sizzler with Cagneys fries. I had to find out the story about the fries as this was a Lazy J and not Cagneys. Originally the Lazy J was to be a Cagney's but it didn't fit in with the theme on the POA so they changed the name. I guess they forgot about the fries, lol. This was a very good neal.

 

Next up, our Blue Hawaiian Helocopter tour

[sue402001]

Today is our day up in the air with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters. We took a short 10 minute walk to their office across from the Anchor Cove shopping mall. Needless to say, we were early for this too and sat through 2 of the mandatory videos you must watch before they take you to the flight. There were 6 of us on our tour and I was number 1. Guess who I got to sit next to? I think I had one of the best views on the flight sitting right next to our pilot, Kevin. I could take pictures out the front, side and bottom of the helicopter and I was a happy camper. Waimea Canyon was just amazing as was the Napali Coast. In fact the whole ride was an adventure. My husband is afraid of heights and he loved this! Just remember that they do record what you say during the tour. After the ride was over you head back to the office to pick up your DVD. Somehow ours was left behind so we had to wait a bit longer to get it. I had a coupon that I found on the internet and got ours for half price. While we waited for them to return with our recording we broused the shops. This is where we had our first shave ice. We got it from a stand close to the main road. They were huge and very good. Our DVD was ready after that so we were finally able to head across the street to Anchor Cove Mall and check it out. Of course we were that close to the beach so we checked that out too.

 

 

We left Nawiliwili Harbor around 2PM to the sound of roosters crowing. We sure heard a lot of that while in Kauai. The ship sailed by the Kilauea Lighthouse which was nice to see from the water. Soon it would be the famed Napali Coast. I started out watching the view from our balcony on the port side but soon decided that it wasn't good enough and I headed down to the rail side by the Cadillac Diner. Much better! After reading about floatyourboat and scrappydoo's finding the face on the Napali Coast I made that my mission this day. The views of the coast were stunning and I did find the face. I wasn't thinking it was the right one as I had it in my head that I was looking for a profile of a face. Duh! All to soon we were at the end of the coast and the ship turned back. This signaled that it was time for supper so we headed to the Skyline for our last dinner on the ship. It must have been good as I ate everything that was on my plate. We did go to the show tonight which was a recap of the shows through the week. Murray the magician was first, Tim Kaminski the comedian was next, the singing group was next and Toby Beau closed out the show with the Captain and crew coming on stage to join in.

[sue402001]

woke up early this morning so I headed up on deck to get some pictures of the sunrise over Waikiki. What a nice morning it was indeed. We ate our last breakfast in the Aloha Cafe then headed back to the room to gather our luggage so we could do self embarkation. We had talked to the excursion desk about getting a hotel transfer to the Marriott the day before so we booked that. It was $20 per person and we were told they leave a few times between 8:00 & 9:45. When we got off the ship and outside we kept getting the run around as to where we were supposed to meet the bus. Here it was going on 8:30 and we were still waiting. We were finally told that there is only 1 shuttle and it leaves at 9:45. There was not way in he** we were going to sit and wait until 9:45 so we walked back to the other end and paid $6 per person to get a ride to the Mariott from a independent company at the pier. It would have been nice if NCL had there facts straight when we booked it though.

 

 

On arrival to the Marriott we thought we would have to leave our luggage with them so we could explore some more but our room was ready and we checked right in. We had time to relax for a few then we took a trolley to Todai, http://www.todai.com/new_todai/index.php. We were meeting up with a fellow Gas Buddy of mine who happened to live in Honolulu. If your a fan of seafood & sushi this buffet restaurant is a place to eat at. It was very good and filling. I even tried a baby squid, lol. We decided to walk back to the Marriott as it really didn't seem to be that far. Just a few store down the street we were able to find T-Shirts 8 for $20. Of course between the 4 of us we were able to pick out 8 of them that we liked. We continued our journey back to the hotel stopping along the way. My husband was getting tired of walking by then so we put him on the trolley and we continued walking on. Wouldn't you know that the next stop after he got on was the International Marketplace. We headed back to the hotel then and went and enjoyed some pool time. For supper we just went across the street and grabbed a burger from Burger King. Soon it was time for bed as we had our swim with the dolphins early the next morning.

[brunolvr]

When flying to Hawaii, sit on the right side of the plane (facing forward)and when you leave sit on the left. Of course you do need to sit by a window.

 

Thanks, Sue. I changed our seats so now we're on the right side flying to Honolulu and we'll be on the left when we fly back to Seattle.:)

[sue402001]

Today we had a tour scheduled through Honu Hawaii Activities for a Ko Olina Dolphin & Snorkel Adventure. We were supposed to be picked up at 5:30 in the morning for this tour. We waited and waited but no one came to pick us up. We finally called them just before 6:00 and they didn't have us scheduled to be on this tour. HHA had us on their list but Ko Olina did not. They tried to reschedule us for later that day but we could not go due to prior commitments. They also tried to schedule us for the next day but we couldn't do that either. So much for swimming with the dolphins! Needless to say we were very disappointed.

 

 

Since we now had no plans for the morning we went out for breakfast then decided to lounge around the pool. Later on we decided to take the free shuttle to Hilo Hatties. On the shuttle they had flyers which you could find a coupon for a free box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts with a $15 purchase. On the way back another stop at the International Marketplace was in order. We then headed back to our rooms to get ready for the luau which we have scheduled with Germaine's Luau.

 

It was about a 45 minute drive to where Germaine's is. When you drive up you think what can possibly be around here as it's by an industrial area. Germaine's is located right on the ocean and has a great view of a nearby lighthouse. We had our pictures taken on the beach then we were able to roam the grounds. 3 drink tickets were given to everyone which could get you a Mai Tai or a Blue Hawaiian. The drinks are small, about 6 oz. They do have complimentary pop/soda, tea, coffee & water. The show started out with the hostess singing to us. Shortly after they had the imu ceremony. The food was good and tasty. As for the show, the only part that I really enjoyed was the fire dancer. For the rest of the show, I could have done without. If I ever make it back to Hawaii I'm not sure I'd go to a luau again.

 

The actual date is Sunday April 24th

[sue402001]

This is our last full day here in Hawaii and we are heading to Pearl Harbor this morning on the Robert's Pearl Harbor USS Arizona / City Tour. The bus picked us up at 6:00. When we arrived at Pearl Harbor we were lucky enough to get tickets for 8:45. We had enough time to walk around and check things out. This morning there were 4 survivors signing and you could meet them and talk to them if you wanted. All to soon it was time to head to the theater to watch the 30 minute movie and before you knew it the boat was there to take us to the memorial. This is one place not to miss as it's a very emotional place. God even added his tears to ours this day.

 

 

After we left Pearl Harbor we headed to Punchbowl National Cemetery. We couldn't drive up as far as they usually do as there was some sort of ceremony going on that day. A drive through Chinatown, by Iolani Palace, the State Capital and Washington place ended this tour.

 

 

We ate lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was very good and fills you up! The rest of the day was spent packing. Thankfully all our stuff fit in the bags we brought with us.

The actual date is Monday April 25th

[sue402001]

This morning we have a hike scheduled with one of my sisters friends and are meeting up with her at 9:00. My husband and I got all our belongings together then headed over to my sisters room with them. They had arranged to keep the room until 1:00 for an additional $20. Our hike today is to the tide pools by the Makapuu Lighthouse lookout. http://www.govisithawaii.com/2009/06/23/makapuu-lighthouse-trail/ If only I would have known what I was in for this morning, I'm not sure I would have chose to hike it. The views on the way were stunning and you had a good view of Koko Crater. We even saw a few whales not to far out in the ocean. You come to a big sign that says Humpback Whate sighting area and head down the side of a cliff (that's what it seemed like to me). It was a very strenuous hike as you were climbing over rocks, and old lava. You had to watch your footing every step of the way as there were loose spots. Once you got the the bottom it leveled out and you didn't have to watch where you were going as much. In the tide pools you could see all different kinds of fish, crabs, sea urchins and such. We spent about 30 minutes exploring then headed back up the cliff. Somehow it didn't seem as bad going up as it did going down. We made it back to the Marriott with minutes to spare as it was fast approaching 1:00. We had enough time to wash off and get in our travel clothes then we headed down to await our ride from Mark of Hawaii 23 to take us back to the airport.

Our flight back to Atlanta went off with out a hitch. I like how it takes less time to get back than when you fly to Honolulu. Or flight to Grand Rapids was delayed by 30 minutes as the plane hadn't arrived from it's previous destination yet. This is the day that the deadly tornadoes hit the south later in the day.

We actually arrived in Grand Rapids right on schedule. Boy, did I miss the warm temperatures as it was only 50 degrees out with a nice cool wind.

[sue402001]

I am so glad we had a chance to visit Hawaii. The highlights of our trip were Pearl Harbor, the sunrise at Haleakala Crater, Volcanoes National Park, The Hula Kai in Kona and our helicopter tour with Blue Hawaiian. The Pride of America is a great ship with very friendly staff. It was a little noisy at night being under the Gold Rush Saloon but nothing that I couldn't live through. I would give this trip 5 stars and hope to be back in Paradise again someday.

 

 

Aloha!

[jessrose18]

thanks for the review!

[ohsoblessed]

Thanks so much for your great review. We will be cruising POA in Dec. Your information is a wonderful help to us.

 

Thanks again,

 

Sheila

[Whippets]

Thanks for the wonderful, detailed review. We are traveling on POA next March. I have noted your positive experiences.

[sue402001]

thanks for the review!

 

Thanks so much for your great review. We will be cruising POA in Dec. Your information is a wonderful help to us.

 

Thanks again,

 

Sheila

 

Thanks for the wonderful, detailed review. We are traveling on POA next March. I have noted your positive experiences.

 

Thanks everyone, don't hesitate to ask questions if you have any.

You will love the POA!

[Bucky3]

We have been on the Fairwind in Kona several times but never on the Hula Kai. How easy was it to get in and out of the water from the Hula Kai? Sounds like that was a fun day.

 

Thank you for taking the time to write about your cruise to our favorite place.

 

Aloha!

[sue402001]

We have been on the Fairwind in Kona several times but never on the Hula Kai. How easy was it to get in and out of the water from the Hula Kai? Sounds like that was a fun day.

 

Thank you for taking the time to write about your cruise to our favorite place.

 

Aloha!

 

 

Aloha Bucky! The Hula Kai was real easy to get on and off of as there are stairs on the back of the boat that go into the water. I'm attempting to attach a picture of the back of the boat, we'll see if it works or not. :rolleyes:

[lv2bgoofy]

Thanks so much for the review....we are doing this cruise in February and I'm going to check out some of the things that you did....appreciate all the information

[Bucky3]

Sue - Thanks so much for posting that picture. Great boat design. Though we've always done the Fairwind excursion, I think next time we'll do the Hula Kai. Aloha, again!

[debster818]

We woke up nice and early this morning, 5 am! We were both wide awake so I sat out on the Lanai to watch the new day dawn. It was cool seeing the surfers head out to hit the waves and the city come to life. How nice it was to be able to be outside and not freeze your behind off! Soon it was time to meet the tour bus. We had to go across the street to the Aston Waikiki trolley stop to meet the bus. We had booked this tour with Roberts Hawaii months in advance. My husband and I were on the pick up list but my 2 sisters were not. Funny thing about this is that we both made our reservations through the same phone call! Thankfully they had 2 seats for them on this trip otherwise they couldn't have gone. Come to find out they had them booked the following Friday! When we started out we were told that there were only bathroom facilities every other stop so to plan accordingly. We started the trip out by driving by Diamond Head. We couldn't go the usual way as the road construction was going on. Yes, even in Hawaii they have road construction. Our first stop of the day was at Hanauma Bay. What pristine waters there were, just beautiful! Already there were a lot of snorkelers in the water and it was early. The parking lot was filling up fast. The next stop was the Halona “Blow Hole” lookout. It was okay but nothing spectacular, it was nothing like what we would see on Kauai! Next on the list was the Pali Lookout. Great views but not so great weather. It started sprinkling just before we got there so we had the chance of getting very wet. Awesome sights from the lookout, on one side you saw clouds and on the other you could see a great view. The rains let loose just as we got back on the bus. This was one of the stops where there isn't a bathroom available to use. Just in front of the where the bus parked was a stone wall that was wore down by people climbing over it to go behind a tree. I hear it's a very popular place to go! (I didn't). The Byodo-In Temple was our next stop. What a serene place this is. You could enter the Budda's temple after removing your footwear so I did. They have a bell that you can ring for inner peace and good luck. All of us rang it once and had our pictures taken ringing the bell. Next we stopped at a Macadamia Nut Farm store. They had samples you could try so we did. I liked the cinnamon mac nuts the best but I didn't buy any. I did buy some ginger candy in case I needed it later on in the trip, I still haven't opened it. We stopped for lunch at the Kualoa Ranch. You could eat at the buffet or order from the menu. They give you a $2 off coupon for the buffet if you choose to go that route. I had a chicken wrap and didn't eat it all, it was good though. My husband had the buffet and liked it. We next headed to the famous North Shore of Oahu at Sunset Beach. No big waves were to be seen that day, they were bigger in Waikiki! Drove by Turtle Beach but we didn't see anything. You couldn't get off the bus to go look either, the buses get fined big time if they let you off, I don't remember the reason why. The Dole Plantation was our final stop of the day. Of course it started pouring when we were getting off the bus. I just made a beeline for the door and didn't get that wet. I had a twist Dole Whip which was pineapple and vanilla flavored. Yummy! I'm glad I got one to try. We headed back to Waikiki in heavy traffic. Of course ours motel was the last stop so we did get to see where others are staying. We unwound for just a bit then walked to Burger King for a quick bite to eat, it's just across the street from the Marriott. We then walked down to the International Marketplace where I found a new Aloha shirt for the cruise. When we were done shopping Linda & I headed to the beach to see the HHV Friday night fireworks and Doug & Bonnie headed back to the motel. The fireworks show was short but good. When they were over we headed back to the Marriott, we had to have our bags ready by 8am so NCL could pick them up to take them to the ship. After much debate on just how many bags we would send, all of our bags were ready to go. To bed early as we have a 5:45 pick up by Mark of Hawaii23 to take us to Diamond Head for our hike.

Would you recommend Roberts Tour for Circle Island?

[genealogyfan]

Trying to decide what to do in Kona - will probably rent a car, but haven't totally decided yet. Thanks