Quantum & Ovation Plus - 30 Day Live (hopefully)

[snowdogsmm]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

We’ve been to Maui 3 times before on at least 1 week vacations, so we’ve “been there done that” for most things on the island. If you’re here, definitely go to the Old Lahaina Luau. Fantastic, but we’ve done it twice. We’ve driven the Road to Hana 1.5 times (daughters got bored halfway through our second time so we turned around). We’ve been to the top of Haleakala 3 times. We’ve ziplined (highly recommend Flyin Hawaiian), snorkeled, helicoptered (twice…Blue Hawaiian 👍), watched kite boarding at Ho’okipa (Wow). We’ve been to the Iao Valley and driven our rental car places that they are not supposed to go. 
 

So what do we have planned? Not much. We’re going up on North Star this morning at 10:30, figuring it would be better to do in port than at sea. We’ll then make our way to shore and go to Kaanapali. We’ll walk along the beach path and see what’s changed with the resorts in the area. We’ll do a little shopping in Whaler’s Village. We have dinner reservations at one of our favorite restaurants, the Hula Grill. We are very much looking forward to some fresh seafood. It will be good to walk on dry land, although probably with sea legs. 😁

I love Hula Grill!  Enjoy your dinner.

[bobmacliberty]

Lahaina waiting for us. And Kaanapali off in the distance 

 

[bobmacliberty]

Random thought while waiting for North Star. I’ve seen one of these pasta makers in every Jaime’s but I’ve never seen one being used. Are they purely for decoration?  
 

[crzndeb]

54 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

People on balconies do realize that their neighbors can hear everything they say to each other, everything they say on the phone, everything they watch on the internet, right?  RIGHT? 🤫

And this is why I don’t enjoy balconies. I like quiet, when I want to relax. While others may look down on me for liking interiors, it is perfect for my anxieties. 🤪

[cruising twosome]

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

We’ve been to Maui 3 times before on at least 1 week vacations, so we’ve “been there done that” for most things on the island. If you’re here, definitely go to the Old Lahaina Luau. Fantastic, but we’ve done it twice. We’ve driven the Road to Hana 1.5 times (daughters got bored halfway through our second time so we turned around). We’ve been to the top of Haleakala 3 times. We’ve ziplined (highly recommend Flyin Hawaiian), snorkeled, helicoptered (twice…Blue Hawaiian 👍), watched kite boarding at Ho’okipa (Wow). We’ve been to the Iao Valley and driven our rental car places that they are not supposed to go. 
 

So what do we have planned? Not much. We’re going up on North Star this morning at 10:30, figuring it would be better to do in port than at sea. We’ll then make our way to shore and go to Kaanapali. We’ll walk along the beach path and see what’s changed with the resorts in the area. We’ll do a little shopping in Whaler’s Village. We have dinner reservations at one of our favorite restaurants, the Hula Grill. We are very much looking forward to some fresh seafood. It will be good to walk on dry land, although probably with sea legs. 😁

We had reservations at Lahaina  Grill☹️  Maybe another time-darn Covid.

Enjoy.

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

My bigger issue is how separated it is from CK. CK therefore can’t use the lounge bar. Any drinks or specialty coffees that we ordered in CK get charged to us (ie use one of our vouchers). I really like how everything is in one place on Oasis class. On the plus side, service in the lounge has been great and Carlington has been an excellent Suite Concierge. We had a nice

talk with him last night about how his family grows coffee in Jamaica (Blue Mountain…yum) but he doesn’t drink coffee. 

 

 

 

 I initially had similar thoughts about the Suite Lounge on Quantum but the servers and Concierge there were really on top of things and the lack of a bar inside the lounge turned out not to be an issue.  I even managed to get service a few minutes, less than 10, after the official Happy Hour ended.    I had no problem getting a drink/glass of mine to take to dinner from the lounge.  

We never ordered any specialty coffee's in CK, but did get a number of Café Americano's which showed up as a $0.00 charge on our account.  Glasses of wine that we ordered in CK were charged to our vouchers.  
 

Our next Royal Caribbean Cruise will be on Harmony and I am very much looking forward to the 1100-2300 bar service in the Suite Lounge. 

 

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, cruising twosome said:

We had reservations at Lahaina  Grill☹️  Maybe another time-darn Covid.

Enjoy.

☹️

[bobmacliberty]

42 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Our next Royal Caribbean Cruise will be on Harmony and I am very much looking forward to the 1100-2300 bar service in the Suite Lounge. 

Are you in a GS or a CLS on 17?  Other than the stairs in a CLS (which is a show stopper for many people), the deck 17 experience is great. One stop shopping for your suite, SL and CK. 

[luvcruzing]

 

Looks like a painting. Beautiful.

[Ozark_Kid]

Has cruising to Hawaii helped adjusting to the time difference?

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Are you in a GS or a CLS on 17?  Other than the stairs in a CLS (which is a show stopper for many people), the deck 17 experience is great. One stop shopping for your suite, SL and CK. 

We are in a GS.  We did the CLS on Alure and I had to promise my wife we’d never do a two story room again.  

[bobmacliberty]

2 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Has cruising to Hawaii helped adjusting to the time difference?

Absolutely. No jet lag at all.  If you’ve got the time, and like sea days, it’s a good way to go. 

[bobmacliberty]

Slightly painful tendering process to the island but we’re currently sitting at the Hula Grill Bar enjoying a couple of Mai Tais, while looking at the water. Bliss. 

 

We’ll do a little shopping at Whaler’s Village, home of a great Tommy Bahama store amongst other things, and then come back for dinner. You should always have a cocktail before shopping, right?

[DaKahuna]

23 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

We’ll do a little shopping at Whaler’s Village, home of a great Tommy Bahama store amongst other things, and then come back for dinner. You should always have a cocktail before shopping, right?

Before, during and after.

[bobmacliberty]

Good morning again from beautiful Lahaina. The tender boats are tendering. Looks like great weather again with a high in the low to mid 80s. Hawaii weather doesn’t change much. No firm plans for today other than dinner at the Lahaina Fish Company. 
 

We had a great day yesterday. More to come…

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

Internet problems this morning. Tried turning off and back on. I get this when I go to login.com????

 

Fortunately I’ve got cell coverage, although 5G only on our balcony. LTE everywhere else. Updates this morning may be slow. 

[bobmacliberty]

I left off yesterday having just enjoyed a couple of Mai Tais in Kaanapali. We then had a quick and successful shopping trip through Whaler’s Village. The Tommy Bahama store, one of my favorite brands, was fully stocked. I also found a great aloha shirt at Hilo Hattie. Micheline got a couple of outfits at Blue Ginger and a nice bracelet. I found, but did not yet buy, a nice pair of slightly more formal Olukai shoes. I love Olukais. We might not have enough room in our luggage so I’ll order them online when I get home. 
 

Although we didn’t do an excursion involving boats or helicopters, we probably spent more money on shopping. 😱

[bobmacliberty]

After shopping, it was time for dinner at the Hulu Grill.  We started with another round of Mai Tais. Boy are their Mai Tais good. We both got the seared Ahi steaks. Easily the best meal that we’ve had since this trip started. Fresh that day and seared perfectly with a great beurre blanc sauce. THIS is what tuna is supposed to look like:

 

 

We were about a half hour before sunset and the sun was peaking from behind the clouds for some great pictures. 
 

 

 

The sunset was getting better and better, and we felt guilty about staying at our table for another 30 minutes without ordering anything, so we had to get another round of Mai Tais.  We just relaxed, listened to the guitar player, and watched the sky continually change. Gorgeous. This is one of the many reasons that we love Maui. Maui nō ka ‘oi. 
 

 

 

 

 

There’s a lot of background noise in this video so it’s hard to hear the guitarist.  He had a a very chill Hawaiian vibe to his playing. Perfect for the show happening behind him. 
 

 

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by bobmacliberty

[Ozark_Kid]

30 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

I found, but did not yet buy, a nice pair of slightly more formal Olukai shoes. I love Olukais.

I remember you and I think Greg discussing Olukai awhile ago when I was needing new flip flops.   I ended up getting some Olukai.  I like the arch support. 

[Sea Dog]

21 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

I remember you and I think Greg discussing Olukai awhile ago when I was needing new flip flops.   I ended up getting some Olukai.  I like the arch support. 

 

I wore mine for the first time on our Symphony cruise. Loved them. Very comfortable and looked stylish in a variety of outfits.

[Tree_skier]

39 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

After shopping, it was time for dinner at the Hulu Grill.  We started with another round of Mai Tais. Boy are their Mai Tais good. We both got the seared Ahi steaks. Easily the best meal that we’ve had since this trip started. Fresh that day and seared perfectly with a great beurre blanc sauce. THIS is what tuna is supposed to look like:

 

 

We were about a half hour before sunset and the sun was peaking from behind the clouds for some great pictures. 
 

 

 

The sunset was getting better and better, and we felt guilty about staying at our table for another 30 minutes without ordering anything, so we had to get another round of Mai Tais.  We just relaxed, listened to the guitar player, and watched the sky continually change. Gorgeous. This is one of the many reasons that we love Maui. Maui nō ka ‘oi. 
 

 

 

 

 

There’s a lot of background noise in this video so it’s hard to hear the guitarist.  He had a a very chill Hawaiian vibe to his playing. Perfect for the show happening behind him. 
 

 

 

 

Oh man this has me so stoked for my November Hawaii cruise on POA.  We dock in Kahului but the plan is to head over to Lahaina for the day.  We overnight there as well. Hulu grill has just been added to the plan.  

[bobmacliberty]

We took a taxi from Kaanapali back to Lahaina. $17 one way. We took the Maui bus going to Kaanapali and it was very easy. $2 per ride, $1 if

you’re over 55. We planned to take the bus back but it would have been a 20 minute wait and there were already a lot of people waiting for the bus, so we jumped in a taxi. We were on the tender before we would have gotten on the bus. 
 

There was a Hawaiian cultural show on the ship last night. It was a large family with multiple generations who’ve been doing this show for years across Hawaii. The did songs and dance from many Polynesian countries and cultures. Very entertaining, especially the 8 year old buy and 9 year old girl. Already heavily into the family business!  I took several 15-30 second clips of most of the dances and quickly strung them all together:

 

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

45 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Oh man this has me so stoked for my November Hawaii cruise on POA.  We dock in Kahului but the plan is to head over to Lahaina for the day.  We overnight there as well. Hulu grill has just been added to the plan.  

Good plan. It’s a bit of a hike from Kahului to Lahaina…45 minutes if you have a car…but worth it. You can take the bus, the #20 bus (Lahaina Islander) from Queen Ka’ahumanu Center and it will take about an hour. If you want to continue to Kaanapali (where the Hula Grill and Whaler’s   Village are) you switch buses in Lahaina and take either the 25 or 28 bus to Kaanapali, which ever comes first. There’s a daily bus pass for $4. If you plan to use the bus, download the Maui Bus app. It has the routes and timetables. 

[bobmacliberty]

We always like seeing the Big L on the mountain above Lahaina. It’s been there forever. It represents, and is maintained by, the Lahaina High School. 
 

https://www.mauihawaii.org/l-lahaina/

 

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, Ozark_Kid said:

I remember you and I think Greg discussing Olukai awhile ago when I was needing new flip flops.   I ended up getting some Olukai.  I like the arch support. 

 

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

 

I wore mine for the first time on our Symphony cruise. Loved them. Very comfortable and looked stylish in a variety of outfits.

Since you guys are obviously men of taste, here’s the new Olukais that I plan to buy when I get home. 

 

Nothing says Florida quite like a pair of men’s slip on leather shoes!  🤣