Pride of Aloha nov 6-13

[pbinn]

We went on the Pride of Aloha and had a blast.

We did 4 nights precruise and highly recommend doing this. We saw and did so much stuff before we got on the ship it was amazing. Make sure you have breakfast at Dukes on the beach, only 10.95 for the buffett and a bargain compared to some other hotels right there. Never got there for a drink at night, but have heard it is amazing. We rented a van while we were there and went to pearl harbor one morning then went to climb Diamond head. Make sure you take water with you and wear comfy shoes. I did have to stop several times and had my self convinced i was going to have a heart attack..haha..but did make it up to the top and it in an awesome view. We also went to the polynesian cultural center all day saturday. This was an awesome day and we had a great guide. We were so glad to have gotten a guide, made all the difference. It is very hard to figure out when all the shows go on at the different places and he made sure we got there. If you get the ambassador plan with the coupon for the pineapple dessert, you can use them during the day, not just at the show. They were very good but big, so we were glad when we got one during the show at Samoa to share, then got another one at the show. We also spent a day driving up to the north shore. what fantastic views. We did get shave ice from matsumotos and it was the best we had had on our trip.

This was both our first cruises, but were with a group of 15 most of whom have cruised many times before. embarktion was very easy . They all did say the ship is small in comparison to others , no "mall type" stores onboard or casinos, and they kind of missed the "sea days" but this was an awesome trip and a great way to see the islands. We all thought it was great. We had an inside room and the others all had balconies, so i got to see both. The balcony was very nice to have, we sat on my sisters a couple nights, one to watch the lava flow which was awesome, but the two rooms were about the same in size and same bathroom. Take a pack of those cheap hangers from the dollar store, not much drawer space, but we hung most shirts and t shirts and had no problem. There is a small refridge in the rooms also which was nice. Went to kmart and got a 12 pack of soda to keep in there.

The islands were awesome and every tour guide we had was fantastic. We did the fern grotto, canyon tour in Kaui which was very nice. We did the 7 hour one and they also gave us a nice buffett lunch. 2nd day DH and i just walked off the boat and explored the shops there by the pier and sat on the beach. There is a Dukes at the hotel right there by the shops. When sailing past the Napoli coast line, make sure you on on an open deck for pictures. The pool deck is glassed in so we went to deck 6 which is all open. Deck 11 is also open at the front of the ship. This is such a beautiful site and we saw many rainbows also. Only problem was this was the roughest sea night of the trip. I took a dramamine in the mornings and one in the evening after dinner and didnt have a problem with seasickness, but you do feel the boat move a lot and it was a challenge to walk down the hall especially this night.

We did the volcanoes park ,rainbow falls tour on Hilo. It was also great, but a little overcast so no rainblows at the falls that day. Several people in our group did the hiking tour to see the lava and they said it was great, but a tough trip. Compared it to diamond head (which i thought was very tough) and said diamond head was like a mear 2 or 3 on a scale of 1-10 and this was a 10. They enjoyed it but i was glad we had decided against it. Think i would have slept for days after that one haha.

We did the Zodiac snorkle tour on Kona and it was a lot of fun. A little bumpy ride but not as bad as i thought, and i didnt have to have someone push me from behind to climb back in the boat either haha. Do the morning trip though, it did get very crowded towards the end of our snorkel time with all the other boats coming in to the area. The water was warmer than i expected it to be and very salty, but lots of beautiful fish and they take you along the shore line also and show you some caves . We even saw spinner dolphins on the way back which was very cool. Lots of neat stores at this port too. If you go to the right out of the pier there is a hard rock cafe and a bubba gump shrimp place. Great place to get a shot of the ship tendered also.

On maui, DH and I rented a car for the 2 days and ended up asking if they had a convertible left even though we had rented a regular car and they did for only $15 extra ea. day. We gota pt cruiser convertible and it was very nice to drive. Did the ocean center and Lahaina the first day, then drove up the Kahaleakaka ? crater to see the sunset. it was a long winding drive up through the clouds and very cold (47) but a beautiful site . The 2nd day we did the road to Hana which was also a beautiful drive but winding. I think my DH handled the roads and cliffs much better then i did. He laughed at me cause i gasped a few times when he went around a curve.Such beautiful views though.

AS far as the ship it was very pretty. DH and i ate most nights at the buffett and only complaint was there weren't enought tables in that area. We did figure out that if you go early and sit first, one can go through the line while the other holds the table. The crossings was nice, but the last night we did have a big group (16) and dinner took almost 3 hours. Of course we talked a lot which slowed down eating. Also dont miss the lanai buffet for breakfast on deck 11 on the back of the boat and the singing waffle guy. He was great. Just make sure if you are first in line in the morning, you are ready to catch your waffle, cause he throws it out with a big announcement of the first waffle of the day. Luckily iwas 2nd in line haha. Burgers at the longboard bar were good too for a quick meal. We never ate at any of the specialty restaurants so cant say about them. I can tell you i over packed. Since we only ate the crossing 2 0r 3 nights, i was in just shorts and tanks more than i though i would be. Didnt really need all the nice capris i packed for dinners. I ended up going to K mart one day for film and i picked up an extra pair of shorts there. And in case any one needs inexpensive gifts for people, i can tell you both kmart and walmart have a lot of the exact same things you can buy at the stores for cheaper. I had gotten a print short dress to wear over my bathing suit at the international market place and they had it at kmart, exact same tag and all for $3 cheaper.

All in all it was the best vacation ever so far for me. I loved everything about it ship and all and would go back in a minute, if the flight wasnt 11 hours. Do take the over the door holder, got mine at the dollar store, it came in very handy, and suction cup hooks to hang wet suits worked good. If you have a balcony, take clothes pins or clips to clip wet suits to the chairs so they wont blow off. No clock in the room either so take a travel alarm clock if you want one. only one plug near the tv, so a triple plug is handy if you have cameras to charge or cell phones.

I want to thank everyone on this board, I learned so much in the past year it was so helpfull in planning. My DH was surprised that i had learned so much about what to do, expecially in Maui when we had the car, it was a great trip. Anyone thinking about it, have a ball.

[Zeno]

Thanks for the review. I liked the excursion details. The singiing waffle guy sounds amusing.