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Hawaii and Tahiti.....Welcome to Paradise with Bill & Mary Ann on the Statendam

WCB

By WCB,
in Holland America Line

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AlohaPride

AlohaPride

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Bill wasn't in search of "socks", they were looking for "slacks" as they forgot to pack them! :D

 

Oh good Lord. I obviously read that before my coffee this morning :p

 

Women's slacks could have been found at White House Black Market on the third floor by Nordstrom. I hope Bill and Mary Ann have better luck on Maui. :(

Edited by AlohaPride
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cruisun

cruisun

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Yes, but I am guilty of throwing flower leis as well. Of course I was careful that we were moving fast enough and that the apparent wind would land them in the water. After you have lost 2 loved ones and buried their ashes at sea, it can be comforting to throw them some flowers.

 

And can be dangerous for marine life:eek:

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TiogaCruiser "Live from...." Rare

TiogaCruiser

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Remember the old TV series Love Boat, at the start of the cruise the passengers were throwing all sorts of stuff overboard.

 

Streamers, right? Weren't they provided by the cruiseline?

I remember seeing a great aunt and uncle off in San Pedro back in the 60's when they took Royal Viking (sun or star I think) and getting to go aboard to visit. We all tossed streamers (pax and those of us left behind) as the ship pulled away.

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trikeman

trikeman

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Streamers, right? Weren't they provided by the cruiseline?

I remember seeing a great aunt and uncle off in San Pedro back in the 60's when they took Royal Viking (sun or star I think) and getting to go aboard to visit. We all tossed streamers (pax and those of us left behind) as the ship pulled away.

 

Yes, they all did until the EPA got involved. Like so many things that we found out were bad for us and the environment they went by the way side never to be seen again. :(

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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Streamers, right? Weren't they provided by the cruiseline?

I remember seeing a great aunt and uncle off in San Pedro back in the 60's when they took Royal Viking (sun or star I think) and getting to go aboard to visit. We all tossed streamers (pax and those of us left behind) as the ship pulled away.

 

 

Hey it's not that long ago:D We had streamers on my first two cruises (and the second was a HAL cruise);)

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

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Streamers, right? Weren't they provided by the cruiseline?

I remember seeing a great aunt and uncle off in San Pedro back in the 60's when they took Royal Viking (sun or star I think) and getting to go aboard to visit. We all tossed streamers (pax and those of us left behind) as the ship pulled away.

 

 

Streamers -- the cruise lines did provide them. We threw them over the ship in San Juan, Ft Lauderdale, New York, etc.

We were sailing on Cunard and Princess back then when we had them.

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kakalina

kakalina

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Please, please,please do not throw your leis overboard. It is against the rules. If you can not resist breaking the rules and absolutely must throw your lei overboard - I beg you to cut the string first.

 

It is the string holding the flowers together that can harm marine life. The flowers themselves will degrade.

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puddles'n splashes

puddles'n splashes

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At one time, on HAL, they had a ceremony where you would throw the leis in the aft pool. Big mess to clean up though. The first time we went to Hawaii and docked at the Aloha Tower, we were met by the fire boats. On several other trips, they did not give out leis, but last year they did. It doesn't appear to be consistent, but so nice they opened the bow area this time for you.

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Candiaccruiser

Candiaccruiser

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When Hubby and I cruised to Hawaii we snipped the threads on our leis and then made a little ceremony of standing on our balcony and gently tossing the flowers onto the water one by one and watching them float away. It remains a rather sweet memory for both of us.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Report # 10 October 12, 2013 Saturday Hawaii & Tahiti...Welcome to Paradise with Bill & Mary Ann on the Statendam

 

The Statendam did not have to travel far during the evening to arrive to the island of Maui around 8am this fine Saturday morning. Despite some heavy cloud cover, the sun did peek out enough to make it fairly hot and humid. Maui, the Valley Isle, is known for its lovely beaches, waterfalls, rain forest, and jungles. Not to mention their volcano, dormant now for 200 years, by the name of Haleakala. At 10, 023 feet, it is not unusual to see some snow up there during the winter months. Lahaina is a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of Honolulu. It is a lowkey tourist town for sure, filled with art galleries, old buildings, and great restaurants. If you head north of here, you would see the gorgeous resorts with golf courses and beautiful stretches of beach for the sun and fun crowd. And if you happen to arrive at the right time of year, humpback whales can be seen in this bay. Unfortunately, this is not that time.

 

Our plan for the day was to take our time with breakfast, then head over on the tenderboat when the bulk of the crowd was gone. Tender tickets were being handed out for those who wished to go ashore. They were calling groups with the numbers in the 20's at the time we were emailing from outside the Ocean Bar. Many other folks were cooling their heels in this area, waiting to be called. Some of them were becoming grumpy. One couple that we had met last week came over to chat. They had a bad experience with the trolley transfer they purchased through shore excursions while in Honolulu. Waiting for the trolleys that did not come as promised got them so frustrated that they had to take a taxi back to the ship on Thursday. After complaining, they were informed they would get a refund. Sure hope they did.

 

Being that we are 5 star Mariners, we had received a card stating that we had priority tendering, meaning that we would be able to board the boat without getting tickets. No waiting. It worked too, although by the time we left the ship, tickets were no longer required. Sometimes the boat ride to Lahaina can be rough with deep swells, but today it was pretty smooth sailing. What we did not anticipate was forgetting our wallets onboard the ship. Duh...this is not the first time that little slip-up happened to us. We discovered it soon enough that the boat we came over on was still at the dock landing, although we are sure the crew thought we were a bit looney. Well, at least we discovered our mistake before we went to lunch and ordered food. That would have been awkward, let alone downright embarrassing.

 

We walked the town, darting in and out of air-conditioned shops to cool off. A craft market was taking place under the shade of the town's famous massive banyan tree. This tree is the largest in the state, shading over 2/3 of an acre.

 

Making our way to Hilo Hatties, we were surprised to find the Lahaina Mall to be boarded up for remodeling. There was a bus available to take ship guests to the Whalers Village at Ka anapali. A few years ago, we remember an incident where the bus broke down, stranding the folks out there. So we chose not to go there today. The biggest difference back then was that we had to leave at 3pm, whereas today, we are not leaving until after 7pm.

 

We had to pick up a few of their beautiful 2014 calendars at Hilo Hatties and get our complimentary shell leis. From there, we headed for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Yes, we know it's not exotic, but the food, service, and ambience are always good.

 

Many shops along the way back have closed for business permanently. Hard to compete with the bigger stores. Everyone of them had sales, except for the bamboo specialty shop. They were offering free bamboo necklaces, competing with Hilo Hatties, we think, just to get you into the store. Many years ago, we were gifted really nice beach towels on a different luxury cruise line. They are made primarily of bamboo, and are surprisingly soft, silky, and extremely durable. To our surprise, we found these same type of towels to be very pricey. If they last as long as our beach towels, then they are worth the price.

 

We relaxed once back on the ship until dinnertime. It was interesting to listen to our tablemates and their adventures during the day in Maui. Some loved it, and others did not. What they all seemed to agree on was the fact they were not enthralled with the comedian entertainer last evening. And once again, we talked to a couple that laughed themselves silly at the same show. Go figure.....

 

Tomorrow, we will be in Hilo on the big island of Hawaii. Bet it will be cooler there, since we will be on the wetter side of the island.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

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WCB "Live from...." Rare

WCB

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Report # 11 October 13, 2013 Sunday Hawaii & Tahiti...Welcome to Paradise with Bill & Mary Ann on the Statendam

 

The port of call for today was Hilo, Hawaii, the capitol of this island. The island of Hawaii is actually twice as large as the five other islands combined. Two mountains dominate the island's center...Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Did you know that Mauna Kea rises from the ocean floor to the apex, making it the tallest mountain mass in the world? It measures 32,000 feet, and in our book, that is pretty darn tall. The landscape at these high altitudes resembles a moonscape. For that reason, in the 1960's, US astronauts trained for their lunar missions on this island.

 

Of course, the most famous of Hawaii's volcanoes, Kilauea, the world's most active volcano, is located in the center of the park. Unfortunately, the fact that it is a national park, it is closed until this current impasse with the government is resolved. Other areas of interest out of the Hilo area include tours to the orchid and macadamia nut farms. Kona coffee is big here, introduced by the missionaries back in the late 1800's. Some important agricultural products are oranges, papayas, and avocados. Cattle ranching is a huge industry as well.

 

Hilo is not a tourist destination in itself. We have, however, found it interesting enough to spend our time in port. The main attraction is.....Walmart. No kidding. It is the most popular store, especially for the crew members. And to make it easier for all of us, there was a shuttle bus running continuously all day to the store and to nearby Hilo Hatties as well. This is what we did last year. But we had also taken the free shuttle to the Farmers Market in old downtown Hilo. Kainoa had mentioned to us that the shuttle to the market would only run until 11am, and there really was not much to see there today, since it was Sunday. Much of downtown would be buttoned up, closed down.

 

So we opted to go snack and perhaps fabric shopping once again, and perhaps find someplace for lunch in the same area. Last year we dined at a small cafe called Hilo Bay Cafe, recommended in our AAA booklet. We were surprised to find it gone. So much for that. Now here is the funny thing. Across the street from Walmart is a Sears and Macys. That is all you can see from the side street. Last year, we walked through both stores, and found it strange that there was only a men's, children's, and home section in Macys. Today, we finally asked a store employee where the women's department was, and she said it was located on the other end of the mall. What mall, we asked? Well, going out a main door, we found this store was connected to a large, modern, air-conditioned mall with numerous stores big and small. How did we miss this last year? Guess the buses never went around the block where you could see the main entrance to the Prince Kuhuio Mall. Just for the fun of it, we strolled through Sears and found some "skinny" pants to buy. That is so funny, since we always make fun of those ads on TV . But hey, when there are no other choices, it works. Who cares if the color is tangerine orange....one of us will not get lost in the crowd since they glow like lava from a volcano!

 

There was no real restaurant in this mall except for take-away. So we concluded our excursion with a stop in Hilo Hatties, then off to Walmart. All of the crew kids were there, even some with huge ice chests that they filled up with chips and other necessary snacks. They know that the upcoming ports in French Polynesia will not have these items at the prices they have here. The shuttle bus arrived within minutes, and we were off to the pier, about a 5 minute ride one way.

 

There was no sailaway party on the aft deck, because the bar staff was setting up for "Aia la 'o Pele" or the 10:30pm sail by of Kilauea's possible lava flow , via lava tubes, to the sea. Note we said "possible". After dinner, we headed to deck 12 to get a place along the railing to see this site. On a past cruise, we did see this lava flow, and it was pretty cool. Not so tonight. We saw nothing but the possible glow of the volcano on the mountain top. There was absolutely no outside announcements, so we had no clue if it would be happening or not. In our humble opinion, we think the staff knew the lava flow had ceased, but there remained the need to provide a party atmosphere to sell special cocktails. Can't blame them for trying, we guess. They did go to a lot of trouble on the aft deck to set up cloth-covered tables, outfitted with battery-powered cycling lights under each one. Too bad the goddess Pele decided to suspend the fiery flow of lava tonight. Maybe next year........

 

The port for tomorrow will be the last one in the Hawaiian Islands......Kona, on the dry side of the island of Hawaii.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

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