Home away from home on Regatta’s passage to Polynesia Nov 2018

[rloke]

3 hours ago, ORV said:

Oceania must have got a good deal on that Serrano ham. It's been on the appetizer list for half on the nights on our cruise. A bit salty for me. 

 

Glad to hear that Regatta is not completely falling apart as another cruiser here would have us believe. 

Not completely falling apart yet...but there was a time last night, 10-11pm where hot water was shut off for regular maintenance as per Ray the cruise director.

 

[LHT28]

29 minutes ago, ipoh said:

Right, not a captain’s dinner. Just coincide with the captain celebration night...with some, I am guessing, slightly more luxurious dinner items.

not really  just one menu in the rotation

[Gnoelj]

On 11/14/2018 at 7:21 PM, ipoh said:

Not completely falling apart yet...but there was a time last night, 10-11pm where hot water was shut off for regular maintenance as per Ray the cruise director.

 

 

Hope that will not happen too frequently. We used to like Regatta but if we cruise with Oceania, these days, we'd try to avoid their older "R" ships , especially the Regatta. Their bigger "O" ships are newer and have not just two specialty restaurants, but four.

Talking about restaurants and food, as your user name is "ipoh", I could be wrong but perhaps it suggests you might have your origins from Ipoh, Malaysia - and people from that town really know how to enjoy good food!  Although Oceania's cooking is generally of a very high standard, their Asian dishes, especially their Southeast Asian/Chinese ones, were not quite so good . Their fantastic sushi at the buffet was an exception. Having said that, if you ever try their "R" ships on a future cruise, do visit the Red Ginger restaurant. The cooking may not be "authentic" Asian cooking, but it's a clever fusion of East and West or "Asian-influenced", ....and most of the dishes there are so innovative yet superb! For example, their Baked Seabass in Miso Sauce is lip-smackingly delicious !!!

Edited November 16, 2018 by Gnoelj

[rloke]

Arrived in Kahului, Maui right on schedule this morning.

 

Haven't been to Maui before...Kahului port is located in a industrial, working port. So not the pretty, made for cruise ship type Caribbean port.

 

There was one vendor in the “terminal” building selling t-shirts, hats and freshwater pearl jewelry.

 

We got off the ship around 8am and got on our pre-booked shuttle to the Dollar rent-a-car at the airport..for those interested in getting a rental, would definitely suggest pre-reserve and make sure the rental place send a shuttle to pick you up. Most rental companies would do it for free...but do check first because IIRC, Alamo may not offer a shuttle.

 

BTW, didn’t see any private vendors selling tours at the terminal nor outside the terminal. So those winging it may need to walk further down towards the town of Kahului to see if options are available.

Edited November 18, 2018 by ipoh
Added photo of terminal building as seen from port-side aft balcony

[rloke]

Quick drive to Maluaka Beach...and found a parking spot at the south end of the beach. There were around 10 spots in the “cul-de-sac”...and quite a bit more in a lot a few hundred feet away.

 

Nice and clean washroom facilities with an outdoor shower area to rinse off after a dip in the ocean.

 

Edited November 18, 2018 by ipoh

[rloke]

It was a bit windy at Maluaka Beach at around 9-ish in the morning. A bit cloudy as well and as it had rained the night before, snorkeling wasn’t the best as the water is a bit cloudy. Saw a number of fish, don’t really know the names of the species...a lot of black ones and yellow/white and black and white spotted sea-snakes. But didn’t see any turtles.

 

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by ipoh
Added photos

[rloke]

After an hour or so snorkeling at Maluaka Beach, we headed on further south towards Ahihi-Kinau nature reserve. It is a short drive from Maluaka Beach on a pretty narrow road where portions of the road are only wide enough for one car at a time. Lots of nice beachfront houses on this road though.

 

Unfortunately, it became a bit too windy and we decided not to snorkel here...the few people that went into the water earlier  did mention that the snorkeling here was awesome. So in retrospect, we should have headed here first.

 

 

 

[rloke]

The parking lot has ample of spots today as the weather is not the best.

 

The path leading to “the dump” Kanahena snorkeling beach is quite rocky and uneven.

Edited November 21, 2018 by ipoh
Added photo

[rloke]

Stopped by The Shops at Wailea on the way back, lots of high end stores here...

[rloke]

Also stopped by the Maui Brewing Company and had a nice lunch with excellent beer (pineapple mana was light and refreshing). The Mahi taco and pork belly bau was excellent.

 

Edited November 22, 2018 by ipoh

[Mrs f.]

On 11/13/2018 at 7:01 PM, ipoh said:

However, whatever physical activity we did today would be undone by the fabulous Captain’s celebration dinner at the Grand Dining Room later this evening.

 

Question....if we board the ship on Monday but don't leave port until tuesday.....which is considered second night...tues or wed?   Want to try not yo be in specialty restaurant that night. TIA.

[LHT28]

4 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

Question....if we board the ship on Monday but don't leave port until tuesday.....which is considered second night...tues or wed?   Want to try not yo be in specialty restaurant that night. TIA.

if you board the  ship Monday  that is the 1st  night  so Tues  will be 2nd & wed the 3rd  night

 

[JimandStan]

5 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

if you board the  ship Monday  that is the 1st  night  so Tues  will be 2nd & wed the 3rd  night

 

More importantly, why wouldn't you want to be in a Specialty on the second night?

[Mrs f.]

I thought there was a more special dinner on the second night.

[LHT28]

5 minutes ago, Mrs f. said:

I thought there was a more special dinner on the second night.

nope

The  menus  rotate  over  so many days   sometimes  they  do the same menu on the 1st & last night  of  a 10 or 12 or 14 day cruise  but inbetween may not follow the pattern

The Captain's cocktail party  will usually be the  1st sea day  or  the  2 day sailing  which may  be the Wed  on your cruise

[Mrs f.]

Thanks all.

[rloke]

As we had been on Oahu a few years ago, we decided to just walk around downtown Honolulu, have lunch at Chinatown and wander a bit around Waikiki.

 

Regatta docked at Pier 2 as seen from the Aloha Tower. 

[rloke]

Wonton soup and congee in Chinatown.

 

 

[rloke]

Took the #2 bus to Waikiki...$2.75 one way or get the day pass for $5.50...

[rloke]

Back to the ship from Waikiki via bus #42 (#19 and 20 would be a closer walk back to the pier) which stops at South Street IIRC which is a 5 minutes walk back to the terminal.

 

A nice sunset overlooking Sand Island from our balcony...

 

[rloke]

Sailing past Waikiki and Diamond Head on the way to Hilo...

 

 

[rloke]

Arrived at Hilo on time...again nothing much in the terminal nor the surrounding area. A small information desk is available with various brochures. Our prearranged tour was cancelled, so we dropped by the desk to look at options. There is a free shuttle to the farmer’s market in downtown Hilo in the morning and then a half day tour departing from the bus terminal near the farmer’s market at 11:30 operated by the shuttle driver at a reasonable cost of $35 per person in the 15-passenger minibus. We decided to do that...walk around downtown and then take the tour.

 

 

[rloke]

First stop is Akaka falls...about 20-30 drive from downtown...a quick “hike” on paved pathway with some stairs to the viewpoint.

 

 

[rloke]

And here it is...the falls...

 

 

[rloke]

Next up...the Rainbow Falls which is a really short drive from downtown Hilo with decent washroom facilities. No hikes required here. Viewpoint just off the parking lot. A short climb up some stairs to see the top of the falls.