My amazing, long awaited trip July 20 - 31

[smrtypnts]

We had enough time, so DH dropped the 3 of us off at the Hilton (pancakes here we come) and he took the rental car back (it was in Waikiki not the airport). We ordered the Mac Daddy pancakes (4 pounds of pancakes with fruit) with blueberries. They even put some sort of drizzle icing on the top. It was HUGE. The 3 of us shared this gargantuan feast. It was only $15. The 3 of us ate half and we took ¼ with us to give to DH, who ate it all. So in the end we still left 25% on the table. It was deeeelicious!!!

[smrtypnts]

Oh my gosh I just realized I never ate any hula pie when I was there. :( Does that mean I need to plan my next trip.:D:D

Oh yes--you won't be sorry!!! (And Hawaii will be great too...lol)

[Trip10]

Loving your sense of humor and all your details.

 

Clever thinking on the rental car, good for you!

 

Was worried we wouldn't get to read the complete trip report (been checking daily). Thanks for continuing...

[smrtypnts]

Thank you so much for saying such nice things TSUMom, Trip10, funcruiser, and Raison. And you too, AZ girl!! I am enjoying writing it!!

[smrtypnts]

We had previously scheduled Mark from Hawaii23 to take us to the ship. First he came to Askton Waikiki and picked up the 4 of us and all our luggage and stuff and then went next door to the Marriott Resort and Spa for DS & DN. He told us on the way there that he couldn’t pick us up as he didn’t have the right credentials to go there. No problem—we’ll figure it out. Time for boarding Pride of America!! Yeeehaaa!! We dragged all our bags and I stuck close to my DS…we somehow lost track of BF and BFH, but I sorta wanted to, because we were now in a suite and they weren’t. We knew we had special surprises coming to us and I didn’t want to flaunt it. We didn’t originally book a suite. We booked the 2 bedroom family suite which when we booked back in 2009 considered a mini suite. That’s ok, I wanted that balcony more than anything. In April of 2011 NCL re-categorized this cabin to be a suite—when I found out, I was dancing in my living room—doing the suite dance as I told DH. I was ecstatic!! Anyway, after giving away our bags and then giving our ID’s a couple of times, they gave each of us a lei—the women a flower lei; the men a shell lei. That was a pleasant surprise that I didn’t know about. The 4 of us took a picture together. I bought it. (I don’t have it scanned or I’d share it.) Then we were sent to a special room for suite passengers where we got to sit nicely on a couch while we waited our turn to check in. When it was our turn, we got to sit in chairs to check in. We were introduced to our butler-George, but another butler took us to a bar (can’t remember which one) to learn about the suite life. There, we were introduced to Thomas, our concierge. We had Thomas book us two nights dinners in specialty restaurants. We wanted Jefferson’s Bistro on Monday, my mother’s 70th birthday and Wednesday was Teppanyaki night. He had already told us by the end of the day every slot would be booked solid and since we didn’t want to eat at either 5:30 or 9:30, we wanted to book this quickly. It was to be the only dinner for all 10 of us. DB and DSil are supposed to arrive at the airport around 2:30—hopefully; fingers crossed. When we were in the bar learning about the suite life they gave us all a glass of champagne. I’m not a big fan of champagne, but I was in the mood to celebrate! Personally, I felt the whole thing was a big waste of time, but….I wasn’t going to be rude. In the meantime, DM and BF had both boarded and had been exploring the ship. DM was very impressed. She thought it was absolutely gorgeous! Anyway, when they were finally done explaining everything we went to Lazy J’s for lunch and by then we were very hungry. I got smoked salmon, which I thought we be some sort of lox, but in fact it was salmon—oh well. DN also didn’t care for his lunch. DH and DS both liked their respective lunches. DH had a turkey burger and DS had giant shrimp appetizer and something like a small piece of crostini bread with fresh mozzarella on top along with a roasted pepper. DS’s looked delicious. When we left the restaurant, we went in search of DM or BF. We found DM & DMH out at the pool. Mom had already had a drink, but DMH was the one that cracked me up with his “headband”.

 

He ordered drinks for the rest of us—pina colada for me—and we chatted until they said our floor was ready. About 30 mins before they had called 3 floors and when ours was called all the rest were ready. So off we all went to our respective cabins to check them out. Some of the luggage was already waiting for us and some still needed to arrive. DS and I had struck a deal long before we left for Hawaii—DH and I would get the main bedroom, DN would get the 2nd bedroom and she would take the living room.

 

I only took pics of the main bedroom. :o

 

 

 

[smrtypnts]

The only bag that didn’t arrive was my smaller carryon luggage. It’s ok—I’ll take care of it when it does arrive. The 4 of us spent a bunch of time getting everything put away—plenty of space for storage. Plenty! Then the balcony—oh what a balcony! 5 lounge chairs, 4 regular chairs and 2 small tables….and PLENTY of room to walk around. It was a wrap around deck. It really was amazing. I never did take pics of the balcony, but DH took a "movie" with his phone--I'll try and post that another time. I texted DB and in fact their flight arrived on time and they were checking in right then. <phew> so glad they made it! I came to the wall hangings I bought 2 years earlier as I unpacked and I hung ours on our door.

Because we weren't part of a long corridor, but rather at the end of the ship and in the corner, there's no chance we could mistake our cabin for another, but it was fun to have the door hanging anyway.:p

When we were done hanging ours, we went down and hung my mother's on her door!:D

Mom thought it was cute, but she didn't make any great fuss over it or anything. Maybe she thought it was too corny but chose to be quiet rather than hurt my feelings.:o

[brunolvr]

Great info and review. and your pictures are beautiful!:) Which suite were you in?

[smrtypnts]

Great info and review. and your pictures are beautiful!:) Which suite were you in?

 

Thank you--we were in 9698.

[lv2bgoofy]

Love the door hangers....where did you find those or get them made? Can't wait to read all about your cruise - have loved your review so far.

[smrtypnts]

Love the door hangers....where did you find those or get them made? Can't wait to read all about your cruise - have loved your review so far.

 

Got them at oriental trading--it just took me forever to find them on oriental trading....input "door cover" on their search engine and you'll come up with plenty to choose from and most run about $16. They even come with things to use to "stick" them on the door--i had bought my own, but was sorry I spent the money even though I did like what I bought better.

[lv2bgoofy]

Thanks so much....I was going to make a bunch of stuff to put on my door but I may just go with this option instead. We are also at the end of the hall so it won't be hard to know which door is ours.

[smrtypnts]

It was getting to be close to the time for the pub crawl, so one by one we headed from the cabin to the bar we had to meet in for the crawl. We had paid for it earlier. You had to pick a name (not your own real name) and they printed it on a big piece of tape and placed it on your shirt. I was “smrtypnts”…wow…original. LOL BF was “sassy”, DB was “Dead Fish” because he’s a major Deadhead and also likes Phish. Anyway, a lot of people were some real risqué names like “Drug Dealer” “Easy” or “Big in the Pants”. There were a LOT of us!! I would guess 100 people or more who participated. It was a ton of fun, but mixing all those drinks was not good for the head or belly. They started with a beer. You had to repeat after the staff some sort of funny rant before you could drink. It took a while before everyone had their drink and if you were caught sniffing, sipping or anything else there was a “punishment”….like wearing a crazy hat or some other such thing. Five bars, five drinks, a lot of fun and silliness. A great way to start the cruise. The kids club didn’t open until 8pm (*****??) so DN joined us on our journey.

 

While still sober--left to right--DSil, DN, DB & DH

 

DN at about bar 3 or 4

 

The staff doing their "thing" at the end of the pub crawl

 

 

Some contests with the pub crawl participants afterwards.

 

DM & DMH watching from above.

[smrtypnts]

Oh, and I did run into a couple of cruise critic members when we were going from one bar to another—they recognized me because I had the smrtypnts piece of tape across my shirt. Anyway, back to the cabin and our balcony to watch the sun setting before dinner.

 

Not the best sunset pictures, but I promise they get better.

 

The last piece of luggage did arrive but I didn’t have time (didn’t feel like it?) unpacking, since I’m a little drunk, etc. We clean up, change clothes and go to one of the main dining rooms for dinner. Six of us meet. BF, BFH, DH, DN and DS. DM and DMH ate at a specialty restaurant. DB and DSil had eaten in the buffet before the pub crawal and so they were napping now. I never did get the two dining rooms straight. I ended up only have one meal in the upstairs main dining room—all other meals were downstairs where shorts were acceptable. Don’t really remember what any of us had to eat, but it was nothing to write home about. Not awful, just not memorable. No desert for any of us. After dinner, I was just plain tired. DS, DN & I went back to the cabin to sleep. DH wandered the ship before coming back to the cabin at who knows what time—I was sound asleep.

Monday was Road to Hana Day—and more good stuff. We were doing this with BF & BFH. DB & DSil were also doing the RTH, but they had their own plans (or I should say, I offered for them to come with us, but I told them they were on my itinerary…so they declined—good choice). DM & DMH were also doing RTH, but they too had their own plans. We had my daughter rent us all cars. I had printed the rental for my DB and hand delivered it to his house long before the cruise. So we disembark the ship and I say to him, who’s your rental car with? He says—I assume it’s Enterprise. I say, don’t assume, let me see your paper. He hands it to me. I proceed to ignore the highlights that I myself put on there and I see the word Enterprise somewhere and tell him, it’s Enterprise. So off the 6 of us go together on the Enterprise shuttle. I get our car. My DB hands the guy at the counter his rental paper and the guy says—he’s at Alamo!!! ACK…I look at the paper and I highlighted Alamo!! UGH….no problem, we squish into our car and we give him and his wife a ride over to Alamo. We’re off!! But alas, before we truly get started BF already has to go to the bathroom. Alright….that out of the way, we really do get started now. Our plan of attack is to go straight to and beyond Hana to Oheo Gulch and stop there first and then make all our stops on the way back, because we’re on a time crunch as we have a luau in Lahaina around 6-6:30. DH and I are in the back seat. BFH is driving because I asked him if he would because I knew he’d be the best person to get us there as quickly as possible. He was doing a good job. A little way into the trip, long before the halfway to Hana banana bread stand, I am getting car sick. I have never been car sick in my life, but oh man, this is awful. BF switches places with me since I know being in the front seat is a little better—we forge forward! We come around a curve only to find some idiot immediately following the curve pulled over (but since there’s no real place to pull over, he’s really in the middle of the road—it’s a real hazard). I make a nasty comment to whomever is listening about this ***** and as we get closer, I can see the passenger door is open. I don’t see a passenger, but as we pass the car, I see it’s DMH driving!!! ACK—passenger is mom. She must be car sick like me!! Now, I’m laughing! We’re all laughing. Except about a half mile down the road—I scream!! DAVE—pull over –NOW….I throw open the door and I don’t actually get sick, but it’s dry heaves!! UGH Good grief, does this trip get any better! So now we’re all laughing because first it’s mom and then me. We make it to the Halfway to Hana stand, where everyone buys banana bread and DH buys me some ginger candy of sorts. I eat one—very chewy—not very good and doesn’t seem to help, but who knows, maybe I would have gotten worse. We keep going. Everyone’s getting antsy—we want to stop and enjoy the scenery. Finally, we’re now past Hana, but still not near Oheo Gulch and I’m talked into stopping at Wai’anapanapa State Park where there’s a black sand beach. We stay here for quite some time. Both couples doing their own thing. I have to catch my breath and feel better. DH & I head down to the black sand. I am thrilled that I get to see it, touch it, etc. DH picks some up and is so enthralled he drops it and is thinking (without me knowing) how can he take some home. He takes out a dollar bill and makes a pouch out of it. He puts some sand in it. He shows me from “afar”. (I am closer to the water talking to a woman there.) I simply shake my finger at him. He gives me a quizzical expression as if to say, what’s my problem. Again, I shake my finger and my head. He says why not? I tell him it’s bad luck and he laughs at me. I tell him people have been known to mail it back to a general post office in Hawaii their luck is so bad. He finally decides we don’t need any bad luck and empties the pouch. We walk around a bit…take a lot of pictures and head back to the car where BF’s are waiting.

 

Look how blue the water is--I mean is this stunning or what?

[smrtypnts]

We head out. We turn left outside the park so we can go to Oheo Gulch. Next stop is Hamoa Beach—supposedly one of the nicest beaches on the island, possibly the state. It was nice—off the beaten trail…we swam…it felt good, but I wouldn’t say it was THEE most gorgeous beach ever.

 

 

 

When we were done swimming again we kept going towards Seven Sacred Pools, but after about a mile, BFH/Driver decided we weren’t going there. We were going to start heading back and start seeing some sights—that is what we’re there for, right? So now it’s DH’s turn to drive. We pass the two places we’ve stopped and next on the list is Nahiku Road & Landing. It’s really out of the way, but really a nice viewing area.

 

 

 

On the road again, next stop—Upper Waikani Falls (Three-Bears Falls). It’s just a pull off on the road and we met people from NY and we took pictures with all the cameras for each other. I don’t know the rest of the stops we made—they were much less planned and very spontaneous.

 

 

 

At one point BF & BFH fell asleep in the back seat. We made it back to Pa’ia so “early” that we decided there was plenty of time to go back to the ship and shower and change. So glad we did! We met up with everyone on the ship and we all took our various cars and headed to Lahaina where we had reservations for the Feast of Lele luau.

 

[smrtypnts]

Oh, and I did run into a couple of cruise critic members when we were going from one bar to another—they recognized me because I had the smrtypnts piece of tape across my shirt. Anyway, back to the cabin and our balcony to watch the sun setting before dinner.

 

 

The last piece of luggage did arrive but I didn’t have time (didn’t feel like it?) unpacking, since I’m a little drunk, etc. We clean up, change clothes and go to one of the main dining rooms for dinner. Six of us meet. BF, BFH, DH, DN and DS. DM and DMH ate at a specialty restaurant. DB and DSil had eaten in the buffet before the pub crawal and so they were napping now. I never did get the two dining rooms straight. I ended up only have one meal in the upstairs main dining room—all other meals were downstairs where shorts were acceptable. Don’t really remember what any of us had to eat, but it was nothing to write home about. Not awful, just not memorable. No desert for any of us. After dinner, I was just plain tired. DS, DN & I went back to the cabin to sleep. DH wandered the ship before coming back to the cabin at who knows what time—I was sound asleep.

Monday was Road to Hana Day—and more good stuff. We were doing this with BF & BFH. DB & DSil were also doing the RTH, but they had their own plans (or I should say, I offered for them to come with us, but I told them they were on my itinerary…so they declined—good choice). DM & DMH were also doing RTH, but they too had their own plans. We had my daughter rent us all cars. I had printed the rental for my DB and hand delivered it to his house long before the cruise. So we disembark the ship and I say to him, who’s your rental car with? He says—I assume it’s Enterprise. I say, don’t assume, let me see your paper. He hands it to me. I proceed to ignore the highlights that I myself put on there and I see the word Enterprise somewhere and tell him, it’s Enterprise. So off the 6 of us go together on the Enterprise shuttle. I get our car. My DB hands the guy at the counter his rental paper and the guy says—he’s at Alamo!!! ACK…I look at the paper and I highlighted Alamo!! UGH….no problem, we squish into our car and we give him and his wife a ride over to Alamo. We’re off!! But alas, before we truly get started BF already has to go to the bathroom. Alright….that out of the way, we really do get started now. Our plan of attack is to go straight to and beyond Hana to Oheo Gulch and stop there first and then make all our stops on the way back, because we’re on a time crunch as we have a luau in Lahaina around 6-6:30. DH and I are in the back seat. BFH is driving because I asked him if he would because I knew he’d be the best person to get us there as quickly as possible. He was doing a good job. A little way into the trip, long before the halfway to Hana banana bread stand, I am getting car sick. I have never been car sick in my life, but oh man, this is awful. BF switches places with me since I know being in the front seat is a little better—we forge forward! We come around a curve only to find some idiot immediately following the curve pulled over (but since there’s no real place to pull over, he’s really in the middle of the road—it’s a real hazard). I make a nasty comment to whomever is listening about this ***** and as we get closer, I can see the passenger door is open. I don’t see a passenger, but as we pass the car, I see it’s DMH driving!!! ACK—passenger is mom. She must be car sick like me!! Now, I’m laughing! We’re all laughing. Except about a half mile down the road—I scream!! DAVE—pull over –NOW….I throw open the door and I didn’t actually get sick, but it’s dry heaves!! UGH Good grief, does this trip get any better??!! So now we’re all laughing because first it’s mom and then me. We make it to the Halfway to Hana stand, where everyone buys banana bread and DH buys me some ginger candy of sorts. I eat one—very chewy—not very good and doesn’t seem to help, but who knows, maybe I would have gotten worse. We keep going. Everyone’s getting antsy—we want to stop and enjoy the scenery. Finally, we’re now past Hana, but still not near Oheo Gulch and I’m talked into stopping at Wai’anapanapa State Park where there’s a black sand beach. We stay here for quite some time. Both couples doing their own thing. I have to catch my breath and feel better. DH & I head down to the black sand. I am thrilled that I get to see it, touch it, etc. DH picks some up and is so enthralled he drops it and is thinking (without me knowing) how can he take some home. He takes out a dollar bill and makes a pouch out of it. He puts some sand in it. He shows me from “afar”. (I am closer to the water talking to a woman there.) I simply shake my finger at him. He gives me a quizzical expression as if to say, what’s my problem. Again, I shake my finger and my head. He says why not? I tell him it’s bad luck and he laughs at me. I tell him people have been known to mail it back to a general post office in Hawaii their luck is so bad. He finally decides we don’t need any bad luck and empties the pouch. We walk around a bit…take a lot of pictures and head back to the car where BF’s are waiting.

 

 

 

 

Is that the most amazing blue water you've ever seen?

 

[smrtypnts]

We head out. We turn left outside the park so we can go to Oheo Gulch. Next stop is Hamoa Beach—supposedly one of the nicest beaches on the island, possibly the state. It was nice—off the beaten trail…we swam…it felt good, but I wouldn’t say it was THEE most gorgeous beach ever.

 

 

 

When we were done swimming again we kept going towards Seven Sacred Pools, but after about a mile, BFH/Driver decided we weren’t going there. We were going to start heading back and start seeing some sights—that is what we’re there for, right? So now it’s DH’s turn to drive. We pass the two places we’ve stopped and next on the list is Nahiku Road & Landing. It’s really out of the way, but really a nice viewing area.

 

 

 

 

[smrtypnts]

On the road again, next stop—Upper Waikani Falls (Three-Bears Falls). It’s just a pull off on the road and we met people from NY and we took pictures with all the cameras for each other.

 

 

 

I don’t know the rest of the stops we made—they were much less planned and very spontaneous. At one point BF & BFH fell asleep in the back seat. We made it back to Pa’ia so “early” that we decided there was plenty of time to go back to the ship and shower and change. So glad we did! We met up with everyone on the ship and we all took our various cars and headed to Lahaina where we had reservations for the Feast of Lele luau.

We got there early enough to go into a restaurant/bar and have a drink before the luau. Then it was time for the luau. We had made reservations and paid before Christmas. As each person walked in they grabbed either a mai-tai or a alcohol free mai-tai. Those mai-tais were very strong! They sat all ten of us at a preset table in the front but sort of near the side. It was still a very good view and they set it up so that (hopefully) no one would REALLY have to turn around to see.

 

On the left from front to back--

ME, DMH, DM, DN & BFH

On the right from front to back

DH, DB, DSil, DS & BF

 

 

 

 

We had a chance to take some pictures of the sun beginning to set before they started serving food. They did not have the typical emu (pig in the ground). However, everything was 1st class.

 

 

 

[smrtypnts]

The costumes of the dancers, the dances themselves, the waiters and waitresses. All the drinks were included. They would serve 3 plates of food. They would tell us what each dish was. One was meat, one a veggie of some sort and one a potato of some sort. The first one was from the Islands of Hawaii and after everyone ate the dancers came out and did a typical Hawaii dance. Then they’d serve food from another island, like Somoa. Then some Somoan dances. I think we had a total of 4 or 5 dishes. There was a fire dancer.

 

 

Not the best picture, but I decided to share anyway

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had all originally planned to head off the ship at 3 or 4am to see the sunrise on Mt. Haleakala. One by one throughout the night as some of us drank too much or were simply too tired, we decided we couldn’t hack the idea of getting up in a few hours. It had just been too long a day. Desert was delicious. Then it was over. DM, DMH, DS & DN left before desert they were so tired.

[debster818]

This review is getting me so excited for my trip in April. The planning never seems to end....I just can't decide on what to do at each port and/or which tour company to use...or to rent a car.....ahhhh!

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

I think your luau pictures are terrific. Mine were horrible. So blurry you could barely make out the figures and the colors just didn't show. Be proud to show yours off cuz they are good.

 

It's funny you mentioned the black sand being bad luck as we had read about that too and even when someone offered us a small bottle of it, we declined his offer. Thanks but no thanks kind of thing.

[kapoho2]

I think your luau pictures are spectacular!

[Countrygirl44]

Good Morning Smrtypnts: I, too, have been enjoying your review and lovely pictures. I will be on the POA on September 15, 2012. Have noticed you have not posted since August 17. Do hope all is well and that you have just not had time to post.

[kwbound]

Enjoying your review and looking forward to more.

[Trip10]

Wow! Road to Hana and a luau all in a day!

 

Great pictures! Thanks again for taking the time to share.

[krkheffe]

Thanks for taking the time to write this review! It has been fun to read it and very helpful for those of us who are planning a trip...we get all sorts of little tips and ideas!! Enjoying your pictures too!