Let the Islands Come To You ... Cruise Journal

[pattigay]

Thank you so much for including us in your log. I had heard some "not so nice" things about this cruise but really wanted to take it because I love the Islands so much! You have changed my mind and I am ready to book. Thanks again for taking the time to do this.

[bayou_babe]

I also have thoroughly enjoyed reading your journal. Our group departs on the PofAm on Sept 27, and reading your journal has really sparked my interest in the islands and all there is to see and do.

 

I am still amazed that you were able to keep this trip a secret from your DD until the day before you left. I would have loved to see her face when you told her about the trip.

[TreasureQuest]

I also have thoroughly enjoyed reading your journal. Our group departs on the PofAm on Sept 27, and reading your journal has really sparked my interest in the islands and all there is to see and do.

 

I am still amazed that you were able to keep this trip a secret from your DD until the day before you left. I would have loved to see her face when you told her about the trip.

 

Take lots of notes ... and perhaps you can write your own story when you get back.

 

As for the whole aspect of keeping this a secret, if you can stand a flashback, here's the scoop. In April of 2007, I booked a cruise-tour to Alaska. I'd been planning it for years. It is the only state I have never visited and I was so excited about it. I knew exactly what itinerary I wanted and exactly which ship. There was only one available sailing that didn't conflict with unmovable job commitments, so I was scheduled for the first two weeks of August

 

Then in September I started to hear about the fact that incoming high school band members would be committed to attend band camp in August of 2008. My DD was very committed to being in the high school band the following year. I kept hoping there was a way to go on the trip anyway, but by October, it was clear that something had to give. I couldn't ask her to give up something as important as high school marching band, so I started to research vacation options. I first looked into getting a condo in Daytona Beach. It was a really nice place, but I just couldn't get excited about it. Then I was returning to the car one day in a shopping center and across the parking lot I saw the AAA Travel agency. On a whim, I got back out of the car and walked over there to get a brochure on Hawaii cruises.

 

I took it home and when my DD wasn't there, I started to study it. I began to lurk on the NCL boards and then found the Hawaii board. I finally had to ackowledge that if I had to cancel a cruise, the only thing that would make me feel better about it was to book another cruise to replace it. I had done 6 Caribbean cruises, so it had to be something really different. It was Thanksgiving weekend when I finally called an on-line agency and booked the trip. By this time, I knew what cabin I wanted and had started to make some decisions on what I wanted to see on the islands. However, it was another 10 days before I called RCI and cancelled the Alaska trip. It's hard to give up a dream.

 

But having cancelled one cruise, I wasn't all that sure that everything would fall into place and we'd get to take this trip. I didn't want to have to tell people that the replacement cruise fell through too. So I kept it to myself. By the time I decided to quit vaccilating about it and book the airfare (that was certainly the point of no return), it was Febrary and I had decided it would be so much fun to surprise my DD.

 

Every time anyone would ask what I was doing for vacation, I would say "I found this condo in Daytona Beach." Then I'd steer the conversation away. As for my DD, she is pretty much oblivious to the mundane aspects of life. You would think she would wonder what I was doing on cruisecruitic every night, given that she thought we were going to Daytona Beach. In fact, when I got back in April from a business trip to a user conference at Disney World, I told my DD that I'd been to the Hawaiian show at the Polynesian Hotel and I asked if she would like to go to a dinner show on vacation. I then told her that Daytona was only about an hour from Orlando. She said that sounded like fun and I said I'd see if I could book a luau for us. Every word was very carefully chosen to disseminate misinformation without lying. Then I dropped the subject and she never bothered to ask about the dinner show ... until 6 days before we left. She asked if I'd been able to book the luau. I simply replied that yes, I'd booked the luau I wanted. Then 3 days later, she asked what park was the luau in. I hesitated a moment and then replied that the luau that my boss and I went to was at the Polynesian Hotel. And inside I was laughing, thinking "But that's not the one we're going to!"

 

My posts on cruisecritic were even very carefully worded to avoid giving enough information that someone who knew me would realize who I was and figure out where I was going.

 

I kept telling my DD that I could keep costs down by driving, so she was figuring that we were going to be spending several days on the road, starting Wednesday. She was saying she figured she would sleep much of the early part of Wednesday. "No you won't," I replied. "You'll be too excited." She blew me off, "I'm going to be sleeping. You wait and see." I just grinned and replied "I'm going to win this one. You'll be amazed." She shot back, "No. You're going to be amazed."

 

When Tuesday night rolled around, I was so excited. I couldn't wait to get home and spring the surprise. I'd rehearsed it so many time for months that I knew exactly what I wanted so say. "Honey, I never booked the condo. I booked a cruise!" Wow! You should have seen the excitement. She was beside herself. She jumped off the bed and ran into the hall to go grab her suitcase and drag it back into her room. The first addition to her wardrobe was her formal. It was probably about ten minutes before she came back for more details. "So what islands are we going to?" I just looked at her for a moment, savoring this experience I'd been picturing for so long. "We have to be at the airport at 4 a.m. tomorrow for our 6:00 flight. We're going to Hawaii." It was so cool. She was so excited. She just kept repeating "I can't believe it. This is my dream trip!"

 

And the following day on that first flight headed for Houston, I asked my very wide-awake DD if she was "amazed". She grinned and told me that I had definitely won this one. She wasn't sleepy, and she was amazed.

[TreasureQuest]

Thank you so much for including us in your log. I had heard some "not so nice" things about this cruise but really wanted to take it because I love the Islands so much! You have changed my mind and I am ready to book. Thanks again for taking the time to do this.

 

Please don't let people talk you out of something you want to do. I've been following the stories of the various ships doing the Hawaiian islands for years, ever since a friend went on the cruise 15 years ago (I think it was the Independence). I thought that would be such a cool vacation .. although she complained about the condition of the ship.

 

So when NCL was involved in the Hawaiian cruise operation, I figured that was sure to be a winner ... even though I've never cruised with them before. And I was right. I was a wonderful, wonderful vacation.

[TreasureQuest]

It was a very nice morning. I slipped out onto the balcony with my embroidery and my blackberry. I shot a picture of the golf course across the canal and emailed it to the golfers back at the office. I answered a few emails and then sat there relaxing and enjoying this incredibly quiet time. At one point, several outriggers canoes went by on the canal and I had to note that it reminded me of the rowers that practiced on the Cuyahoga River. The difference was that the rowers in Cleveland were hardy souls who were on that river as early as March and practiced until well into October. Not exactly the same experience as these outrigger canoeists got on their Sunday morning jaunt in Hawaii.

Once the sun came up over the mountain, it was too bright to stay on the balcony, so I retreated to the room and waited for DD to tumble out of bed. Once she did, we decided to wing it for breakfast. There had to be something interesting nearby. And there was. We walked toward town and found the Saint Germaine bakery near the Aqua Wave Hotel. They boasted wonderful donuts and pasty. True, I wasn’t used to paying $1/donut, but we each got a couple of donuts and some juice and we were set for the morning.

This was our day to climb Diamond Head. I hadn’t made this climb on the first trip to Hawaii and I had this as one of my top five objectives for this trip. I filled our big insulated water bottle with ice cubes from the freezer and then added water. Next I slipped both of our hand-held battery operated fans in the backpack. I figured I’d want the fan, but the water was for my DD. Yes, I know. Everybody says to be sure and take bottled water, but I really don’t drink water very often. My personal philosophy is that water is for washing in or cooking in. If I’m going to drink something, it needs to have flavor!

We went down to the parking garage to go get the car. As we exited the elevator I realized with surprise that it had begun to rain. In fact, it was pouring! I hesitated, wondering if I should go back upstairs and get the ponchos (which, of course, violated my DD's sense of style and she wouldn't wear hers anyway). I finally nixed the idea, figuring that from what I'd seen of Hawaii's weather so far, all rain showers seem to be incredibly localized. It was a good call. The rain quit well before we reached Diamond Head. As a matter of fact, from the incredibly arid conditions of that immediate area, I'd venture a guess that they rarely see any rain.

For those climbing the trail, the parking area is located inside the crater. We drove through the tunnel about 9:30 a.m. and found that the line for the toll booth was moving rather slowly. I was pretty confused as to why it was taking so long to just hand the guy a five -- did everybody need to make change? We inched our way up there until it was finally our turn at the toll window. Mystery solved … the toll collector leaned outside his window to give us the sad tale that the lot was full and there was no available parking. This was certainly no surprise after the events of the past week. He gave us a choice of turning around and coming back later or pulling into a line up ahead and waiting for the next spot. We were pros by this time at the sport of parking space waiting, so we forked over $5 and pulled into the line. They have a pretty smooth operation here. There is a man stationed in the parking lot holding an umbrella over his head (not sure if that was for the sun or to increase his visibility to the waiting drivers). He watched returning hikers and when they vacated a spot, he would signal to the next car that they could pull into it. There were about six cars in front of us and we waited less than ten minutes before we got a spot.

I think it was about at this point (as we climbed out of the car and I told her to get the backpack and water) that it dawned on my DD that my stated objective to "climb Diamond Head" didn't include the car. Apparently she figured that we had climbed Haleakala and Kilauea via nicely paved roads in air conditioned comfort. She hadn't picked up on the fact that climbing this particular volcano involved hiking. I guess this went above and beyond what she was ready to consider recreational hiking. She read the brochure with dismay that this hike was expected to last 1-1/2 hours and (how do I put this nicely?) she expressed concern about the wisdom of the endeavor. I pointed out that this was on my list of top five experiences and we'd better get started.

The first part of the path is fairly level and nicely paved. This lulls you into a relatively false sense of expectation concerning what is ahead. By the time we'd left the concrete behind and the pitch increased, so did the frequency with which my DD was expressing her various discomforts. I finally told her that she would get rewarded tonight with a steak dinner at Duke's provided she managed to execute the walk with a whole lot more grace. It worked.

And make no mistake about it. This is a tough climb. To be sure, I've been on plenty of vacation hikes that took you over unlevel ground and involved steep climbs. What sets this one apart is the heat. There isn't very much shade. And while you can enjoy a nice breeze in some spots, you walk ten feet further and the breeze is gone. We didn't go very far before we pulled our fans out of the backpack. We might have looked a little strange walking up that path holding our fans in front of our faces, but we were the envy of the trail. Oh, and that bottle of water? So much for my personal philosophy. I reached for it every time DD pulled it out for a drink.

We kept a relatively steady pace, pausing from time to time in little shady spots. The stretch with the steps was actually one of the easiest for me. Much of it is in shade and I set a leisurely steady pace during the ascent. When you actually reach the bunker, there’s an awful lot of congestion involved in squeezing into the spot where the ladder is to allow you to climb out. But once you finally clear the crowd, the view out there is remarkable. We took plenty of pictures and chatted with a few of the other climbers who were enjoying the rest before beginning the trip back down. We got a special treat. Apparently one young man had brought his girlfriend up the trail to propose to her at the top. It was a classic, complete with him dropping down on one knee. I’m happy to report that when he produced the ring, she happily accepted. We all offered our best wishes.

We paid a $5 donation and each got a certificate attesting to the climb. Then we headed back down. The walk down is marginally easier, but I was still grateful for the fans. At one point, we stepped to one side to allow a group of about 20 young Japanese climbers go past us. I held out my fan and each of them with a wide grin and a grateful sigh leaned into its little breeze on the way by. We also saw a family resting in the shade and they were teasing a young man in the group who was complaining of nausea. That bothered me as I continued past them. I was trying to remember what I’ve heard about heat stroke and if that was one of the warning signs. But I really didn’t know, so I was in no position to offer any useful advice.

When you get back to the parking lot, there is a vendor in a truck selling cool things like shave ice. I was briefly tempted, but the main objective was to get back in the car and get the air conditioner going. Given how much of the shave ice of the previous day hit the ground, I wasn’t going to take one of those things in the car. We slipped into the car, turn the air on full blast and backed out. Meanwhile, the guy with the umbrella signaled the next car to take our spot.

Am I glad I did it? Sure I am. I guess I had something to prove. Would I do it again? Not on your life. Whatever it was, I already proved it.

We headed back to the hotel, both of us intent on spending the afternoon doing something that involved lots of water … like a whole ocean of it. And I was so hot and sticky, I even took a quick shower before we headed for the beach. I know that’s nuts, but I’m OK with that. Once we were ready, I put cash, credit card and room key card in my water wallet and we headed for the beach. We decided to have lunch at Duke’s (I love that salad bar) before swimming. Lunch was great, although we didn’t quite have the outstanding service we’d had on our previous visit.

After lunch, we went looking for a nice place to lay out our beach blanket. I buy a few of those flannel-backed tablecloths at the dollar store before a beach trip. They make the best blankets, because you pitch them (sand and all) before you leave the beach. We found a relatively clear spot behind the Royal Hawaiian for our blanket and put our cover-ups and sandals on it, along with our beach towels. Then we headed for the water. Just like the waves of the week before, Waikiki is great fun. The only difference was that there were an awful lot more people in the surf. Behind the HHV, there had been no worries about colliding into someone when the waves slammed into you. Here it was not uncommon. When several people entered the water with boogie boards, we decided we’d better move up the beach a bit rather than risk being hit by those things.

We played in the water for several hours. We had such a wonderful time. When we finally decided to leave, we walked back down the beach to find another one of life’s little surprises waiting for us. We hadn’t put our beach blanket far enough away from the water’s edge. The only thing that we’d brought down to the beach that was still dry was the cash in the water wallet around my neck. We picked up our sodden clothes and beach towels and walked them one by one back into the ocean to rinse off the worst of the sand and wring them out. I would hazard a guess that we were the entertainment of the afternoon for the various occupants of the nearby rented chairs and beach blankets. Everybody pretended to not look, but human nature being what it is …

We rinsed off the salt at one of the faucets near the walkway and walked back to our hotel. DD claimed the first shower and I spent the waiting time trying to rinse sand out of each piece of clothing. Then I took the finished pieces and spread them out on the balcony furniture. There was a nice breeze, so I clipped them in place with the clothes pins I’d been clever enough to pack.

While I showered, DD turned the TV back on and found that it was Shark Week and Mythbusters were using a mechanical shark to test various theories about shark behavior.

After we were both cleaned up, it was clearly time to go do our shopping. We had a shopping list of people back home to buy for and we hadn’t bought them anything yet. We headed for the International Marketplace and wandered around trying to figure out what to buy. DD was soon observing that I was wasting time. Every vendor had the same thing at the same price. So what was taking me so long to make up my mind? She was right, of course. So I stopped wandering, made my purchases and we headed to Duke’s for dinner. There was a one-hour wait for those of us who hadn’t made reservations. We wandered about in the nearby shops and did a bit more shopping while we waited. I had seen the menu and I figured we’d order a couple of virgin drinks for our last evening in Hawaii. I believe they were about $6 each. About 15-minutes before our table was ready I decided to go get the drinks at the bar, since I was getting pretty hungry. When I asked about the drink and noted I wanted it sans alcohol, the bartender said “Oh that’s just fruit juice.” He combined the desired juices and charged me only $2.25 ea. We were seated shortly after that and both of us had the teriyaki sirloin. My DD still talks about that steak. She believes it was the best steak she’s ever had. Was it the steak, or just the locale? It was certainly a very special night for both of us. We were just wrapping up a fabulous vacation. We’d had a wonderful time and made some very wonderful memories.

You see when we left Ohio, I had told her we were going on a quest. We were looking for wonderful experiences. We would visit volcanoes, view dances, swim in the ocean, snorkel a fabulous reef, view molten lava and walk cooled lava fields. Each of those experiences would form the basis of memories we’d bring back with us. My greatest treasures are the special times I’ve spent with various family members over the years, and we were going on a quest for treasures that would be ours to share and savor for years to come. My notebook holds the lists of each day’s treasures and on that final evening we were celebrating the success of our quest.

[jomc68]

Wonderful trip report! I have truly enjoyed it. I hope to someday take my own children on such a wonderful vacation.

[travelingla]

This has been a DELIGHT to share your wonderful trip!!! I've printed it out and it's in my folder for 2010 :eek: .....

 

We are just about ready to book -- we are looking at an inside and have no idea if that will be a mistake.....other kind posters on this board have tried to assure me that this IS the cruise for an inside if we have to do that..... at first I was inquiring for our friends who wanted an inside and now that I see the savings I am seriously considering it for us as well.

 

Since you have recently been - -what do you think?

 

Do you mind sharing your cabin number and what you think about the location.....

 

We are looking at the 2 center cabins on deck 9 but have no idea what is around us -- something noisy or maybe just storage...... I can't get an answer from NCL.

 

Well -- any 'professional' help you might offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you again for sharing your details and experiences - this is a wonderful guide for us all to have.

 

Lucky daughter!!!! :)

[jjduck]

TreasureQuest,

 

Your writing gives me chicken skin! What a wonderful and priceless gift to your DD. No matter how many times she re-reads this journal, I'm sure she will find something new to smile about.

 

Nothing in life is perfect, but you sure know how to execute the perfect trip. Thanks for sharing so many details for future visitors and for reminding others of what a great place Hawaii is.

 

All I can close with is "ho wow laulau". :D

 

Aloha,

Noreen.

[Hawaiian Mongoose]

What a great review. IMHO you have set a very high standard for all succeeding CC reviewers to meet. It was great to read, almost as if I was back there again. Like a serial book or show I couldn't wait for the next installment. Many thanks for sharing so much with us. Aloha!. :)

[1sttimeCruiser1]

What a wonderful story of your trip! Thank you! We are heading off in less than 2 weeks on the POA. Our first trip and the Ship life and excursions all sound fabulous. It is our 25th wedding anniversary - I hope our trip is as memorable as yours appears to have been. Thank you again for sharing this. Reading this story will help us make the most out of our holiday.

[TreasureQuest]

The morning dawned clear and beautiful. I greeted my final morning in Hawaii with another interval on the balcony. I checked my emails and found that the golfers had arrived at the office several hours earlier and were responding to my photo emails of the day before with the appropriate amounts of admiration and envy. I responded and we exchanged several emails filled with lively banter. My DD checked on me out there and I was a bit surprised to find her up already. I went in and we began to pack the suitcases. I was a bit concerned we wouldn’t get everything in, but I needn’t have worried. We hadn’t collected too much stuff. And the addition of the rolling NCL bag solved the last of our issues. We went back to the bakery for another breakfast of donuts and made one last foray into the International Marketplace for a couple more items that I’d thought about over the course of the evening before and had finally decided that I’d be sorry if I didn’t buy them.

By this time I had a pretty clear picture of how the marketplace operated. Most of the standing stores are set up to display a price. You see it, you check out the price, you make your decision to either buy or pass. The game is apparently different at the kiosks. The folks that run the kiosks have been trained by the Mexicans that manipulate cruise ship passengers in the Caribbean. I was startled the first time I asked the price of an item at one of those little carts and the reply was “Normally, that goes for $xx.00, but for you I can let it go for $x.00.” I cringed. I know that lots of folks consider this sort of bargaining great fun. I’m not cut out like that. To be sure, if you walked away, they were either accepting or made an attempt to continue the persuasion. Not once did I get berated, like I’ve experienced in Mexico. But even so, it was an unpleasant reminder of the type of shopping that made me choose the on-board shops to do most of my shopping on my last cruise.

But the things I wanted were on a number of the carts. So I steeled myself for the ordeal and approached one of them to start the process. I kept it mercifully brief. I paid less than the outrageous price he started at, but undoubtedly more than a hard bargainer would have paid. But I was comfortable that I had paid what I considered a fair price, and gave him enough of a profit that he could make a living.

We returned to the hotel and finished packing. I stopped at the desk to get the final bill and I slid the entertainment book across the counter. I told him I had only used a few coupons and hoped someone else could get some use out of it. The desk clerk thanked me and noted that he would give it to the couple who was just checking in. We then tossed our luggage in the car and headed out. The morning was being planned by my DD, who had chosen The Bishop Museum as our destination. I had carefully studied the maps and we were soon on our way there, by routes that paralleled, by never entered the infamous H-1. We had no problem finding the museum and we used a coupon out of the maps book from the rental car company for a discounted admission. I was a bit disappointed to find that the main Hawaii exhibit was closed for renovation, but there was a fair amount that we did get to see. One exhibit hall held an impressive display of tapa cloth. I stood there admiring the size and the artistry of the patterns. What would have been just an interesting display (soon forgotten) was made alive and real by the memory of the woman at the Old Lahaina Luau the previous week, who was pounding that piece of tapa in order to widen it out a few inches. The cloth I was looking at was several feet wide and I couldn’t imagine a kind of existence where your day consisted of incessant pounding to produce a piece of cloth. For the guys, there were plenty of weapons to gaze at. After an interval of about a minute and a half, I managed to tear myself away from the excitement of viewing those displays. Probably the most impressive piece on display was a magnificent cloak of yellow feathers like the ali’i wore that was presented to a British sea captain by one of the Hawaiian kings.

There was another hall with some Hawaiian carvings, but it was a bit limited. However, the really cool exhibit was a traveling exhibit on whales. The whales were animated and the exhibit did a great job of explaining how whales function. There were cut-out sections to show how they breathe and how they eat. Most amazing was the sperm whale. It has the largest, most complex nose of any animal on earth. Fully one-fourth of the animal is its nose! It can dive to about 3300 feet in search of its favorite food … the giant squid (picture a sperm whale with a squid wrapped around its huge nose). And it can stay under for up to an hour and a half.

When we left the whale exhibit, we both decided we were getting pretty hungry. We checked out the cafe on site. Its selections looked pretty limited and they weren’t air conditioned. We figured we could find something nearby that we’d be happier with so we got back in the car and headed east. Just one block away we found a promising shopping plaza. We tried a restaurant on the corner called Kenny’s. Not sure if it’s a local chain or just a stand-alone. In any event it was the perfect choice – a family style restaurant with nice prompt service and good food.

After lunch, we headed for the Pali highway. I wanted to cut through the mountain to the eastern side and then work our way back around the southern end of the island. I remembered there was some pretty dramatic scenery along there and I figured that would be a good way to spend the afternoon. We did make a wrong turn a one point and ended up cruising through a very nice up-scale housing development on the windward side of the island. We didn’t turn around right away since we figured it would be fun to check out how the very well-to-do lived. Many of the houses were very nice, but I was amazed at how small the yards were. Land is clearly far too dear to waste on lawn.

We skirted the end of the island and it was just as I remembered it. We stopped at a beach just east of the blowhole lookout and the place was packed. Once again, we had to wait for someone to back out to get a parking place (don’t these people have to work on Mondays?). I remember the sand as being surprisingly orange. We walked along the beach and marveled at the intensity of the waves. The water was full of surfers and I am still amazed every time I look at those pictures. The surf looked far too dangerous to be in the water, but there are plenty of black dots in my pictures that represent people’s heads. We walked to the western end of the beach where there was a fair amount of exposed lava rock jutting out into the ocean. I got some outstanding pictures here of the waves crashing on the rocks. We then moved the car as far as the parking lot for the lookout for the blowhole and took some more pictures here. This lookout offers incredible views of an island just offshore, as well as views of the surfer’s beach below. The wind whips up the cliff below and you would be well advised to leave any hats in the car before you walk along this wall.

When we got back in the car we headed west again. I knew that the famous Hanauma Bay lay just ahead, but I chose not to attempt that stop. With my apparent skill at locating the most packed parking lots in the Islands, I certainly didn’t need to try my luck at the one spot that every CC poster advises has a problem with limited parking.

We were on route 72 at that point. As we approached Honolulu, it was clear that this road was about to morph into H-1. I didn’t have any route planned that would help me avoid the expected traffic snarl that was ahead, so I simply exited the freeway with the intent of looking for a parallel road that headed us in the direction of the airport. I knew that the roads between the freeway and the ocean were just as congested as the freeway, so the rationale was to stay between the freeway and the mountains. A second objective was to see if we could find someplace to sit down and enjoy an ice cream treat.

At some point we found ourselves on Lunalilo, which eased into School. This was a comfortable feeling. I knew School would lead us right back to that shopping plaza where we’d had lunch. We could quit scanning the passing roadside for a Dairy Queen. I distinctly remembered there was a Cold Stone Creamery in that plaza. It was just about 4:00 when we got there and managed to find a parking space right in front of the store. I got out and scanned the area, certain that I must have missed the handicapped sign this space should have had. Clearly this had to be the luckiest bit of parking I’d experienced in the entire vacation. We went in to view the selections and DD settled for something that promised plenty of chocolate. I decided that I had to pick something that was terribly Hawaiian. The macadamia nut flavor seemed appropriate, but I doubt I tasted it much, since I took it in a chocolate dipped waffle bowl and had them pour hot fudge sauce on it. In any event, it was terribly good and I finished every bit of it.

We didn’t have enough time to comfortably head off on any further exploring. I would have liked to have gone to nearby Punchbowl Cemetery for the views, but my DD had nixed that idea in earlier discussions. On the way back from the PCC two days earlier, I had tried to suggest the valley of the temples and when she realized there was a cemetery involved she had vetoed it. So we headed back to the airport to return the car. The airport has plenty of signs to tell you where to go for car rental return. These signs are worthless to the person who has rented from Thrifty. I am naïve enough to follow signs, so I spent a fair amount of time driving in circles (haven’t we been past this spot already?) until I finally pulled into one of the rental places and asked them where Thrifty was (in case you missed the point earlier – we’re girls; we don’t have a problem with stopping for directions). In fact, Thrifty had given us a map when we rented the car; I just hadn’t figured I would need it. The guy explained the various lefts and rights appropriately and we got to where we were going.

We transferred out things to the shuttle and headed for the airport. Before we got there, I realized I’d left my glasses behind in the rental car. The driver was nice enough to call the office and have them look for it. After dropping off the other passengers at their terminal, we rode back to the rental car place and collected my glasses as well as a couple other items we’d left in the car. Fortunately, we had allowed a boatload of time, since we’d eaten up a rather large amount of it in the whole ordeal of returning the car and getting to the terminal.

Once we finally arrived at the terminal, I found that the agricultural inspection operation was practically right in front of us. DD was a bit confused by this, but I was relatively well briefed on this step (Thank you, CCers). We fed our suitcases into the machine, got the appropriate stickers and then collected everything at the other end. As we clipped the suitcases back together I stood in confusion reading the sign that tells you about all the penalties they would visit upon you if you were in violation of their agricultural policies. The stark reality is that I didn’t have a clue what those policies were. Nobody had said a word other than to direct us how to get the bags scanned. Nobody had asked me to fill out any form making a declaration and nobody had told me what they were trying to protect the world from. The mystery continues to this day. Frankly I had a partial box of macadamia nut cookies in my backpack (is this true confessions?) that I’d forgotten about and I don’t know if that should have been confiscated on the spot. TSA didn’t find them either. I discovered them when we got back home. Am I going to be responsible for some terrible scourge plaguing Ohio? Are you going to be reading about me on CNN?

In any event, check-in was a quick process and we soon found ourselves on the concourse with an awful lot of time on our hands. We wandered over to the spot where you can look down on that lovely garden in the triangular walled off courtyard. It looked so appealing, we decided it would be nice to wile away some time in the garden. We took an incredibly hot, unventilated glass elevator down to the garden and began to wander its paths. And it was certainly lovely. There was no question that a real professional was involved in creating this beautiful oasis. However, you are unlikely to ever read a post that says “I settled comfortably down on a concrete bench to pass several pleasant hours in this sauna.” The walled off courtyard lacked any breeze to move the air and we quickly realized we needed to go find someplace a lot more conducive to creature comforts.

Honolulu Airport seems well designed for arriving passengers. You move through quickly, grab your luggage and are on your way. They don’t seem very well designed for departing passengers. These are people who will clearly spend more time in the airport. They have to arrive well in advance of their flight. They need a place to sit, to eat, and perhaps to shop. My usual mode of operation is to head for my departure gate and settle down in the waiting area. This didn’t work in Honolulu. The waiting lounge for the departure gate seemed to be a hermetically sealed container. You could peer in through the glass at a standard waiting lounge, complete with carpet and chairs bolted to the floor. And it was probably air conditioned. But the doors were locked. You had to go find a spot to sit in the chairs farther down that were in the middle of the concourse. You piled your carry-on stuff around you and effectively inhibited all traffic passing by. Further more, these open air concourses offered no cooling breeze, other than that which was generated by passers-by. We tried the small food court. If anything, the air there was even more stuffy. It too was part of the open air construction, but it was even warmer due to the lack of breeze and the proximity to the fast food grills and heat lamps.

I would have tried sitting in the waiting lounge of a different gate, but you were prevented from entering any waiting area unless you had a ticket for the departing flight. I began to wonder if this was hooked into those agricultural cops who are radiating your luggage without telling you why.

It was a long wait before an agent arrived for our flight and we finally were able to sit in air conditioned comfort. The adrenaline rush of the vacation was clearly wearing off by this time and I pulled out my embroidery, but I was too tired to work on it. They finally boarded our flight and we settled in for the long trip home. You can’t really get comfortable in coach. I don’t think I ever dozed off for longer than 15 minutes at a stretch, but there were others around me who seemed to be doing a credible job of getting some sleep. But it was an incredible relief to finally arrive in Houston and get off that plane. The agent at the gate advised that our connecting flight would be from gate E-1, so we trudged off in that direction. It was early morning in Houston and the airport was bustling with lots of people who had gotten a good night’s sleep. I don't think anyone deplaning from Honolulu that morning was capable of bustling. We just wanted to stretch out in the waiting area at our departure gate and await our next flight.

After about an hour, I went in search of something to eat. I returned to find my DD collecting our things. She told me a Continental rep had shown up and told everyone that our flight had been reassigned to another gate. We were supposed to go down to gate C-something-or-other. We picked up our things and made the trek. This turned out to be one of those walks where you keep thinking it can’t possibly be much farther, but it always was. Frankly, I’m not even sure that gate was located in the same airport. We arrived to find that the gate proudly proclaimed that a flight to Washington D.C. would be departing from it at about the same time we were to leave for Cleveland. We were terribly confused. Another Cleveland passenger wandered over to chat with us and express his confusion too. We waited until a Continental rep finally showed up to board the Washington flight and were then informed that there had been no change and we needed to return to E-1. The agent was nice enough to call for a cart and the three of us rode back to our gate, where boarding was in process.

Why that guy sent us off to the wrong gate is another one of life’s little mysteries. Maybe it was his idea of a joke. Perhaps at one point in his life he laid some serious money down against the Browns and they surprised us all that day and won a game. Whatever. It doesn’t matter. But I was not amused. Let me take a moment here to send a little private message to this charming prankster … Sir, if you wake up some morning and find that the fleas of a thousand camels have indeed infested your armpits … I sent them!

The cart driver, however, was the polar opposite of the prankster. He was the type of person that it is a joy to just be around. He radiated joy and warmth and seemed to truly enjoy the task of helping people get quickly to where they needed to go.

So we boarded our final flight and headed home. I thought I would be dead tired by the time we deplaned in Cleveland, but I wasn’t. It was good to be home. The house and yard looked great, since my son had come by to cut the grass that weekend. The flowers looked fabulous, since my neighbor had kept them watered while we were gone. In general, it’s always good to come home and pick up the threads of your life. We got unpacked and I actually did four loads of laundry that evening and caught up on the mail that needed the most attention.

We had just had the vacation of a lifetime. And I had the best travel companion anyone could ask for. For those planning a trip to the islands, I wish for you rainbows and flowers, warm sun and gentle breezes, incredible sights and unforgettable experiences. Make your memories together and hold them close to your heart, for those will be the treasures you savor years later.

You have the choice to make it a trip, or make it a quest. A trip is something cool that you experience and the memories get pretty fuzzy with the passage of time. A quest is a journey with a purpose – and having achieved that purpose, it has greater meaning and the memories are much more vivid in later years. So go on your own Treasure Quest!

[TreasureQuest]

What a wonderful story of your trip! Thank you! We are heading off in less than 2 weeks on the POA. Our first trip and the Ship life and excursions all sound fabulous. It is our 25th wedding anniversary - I hope our trip is as memorable as yours appears to have been. Thank you again for sharing this. Reading this story will help us make the most out of our holiday.

 

Thank you for the nice compliments. And I wish you a wonderful cruise!

 

Many congratulations on your 25th anniversary. That is an incredible accomplishment. Be sure you go for a walk on the beach in Hawaii some evening -- and you have to hold hands ... tell your spouse, Treasurequest said so.

 

This has been a DELIGHT to share your wonderful trip!!! I've printed it out and it's in my folder for 2010 :eek: .....

 

We are just about ready to book -- we are looking at an inside and have no idea if that will be a mistake.....other kind posters on this board have tried to assure me that this IS the cruise for an inside if we have to do that..... at first I was inquiring for our friends who wanted an inside and now that I see the savings I am seriously considering it for us as well.

 

Since you have recently been - -what do you think?

 

Do you mind sharing your cabin number and what you think about the location.....

 

We are looking at the 2 center cabins on deck 9 but have no idea what is around us -- something noisy or maybe just storage...... I can't get an answer from NCL.

 

Well -- any 'professional' help you might offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you again for sharing your details and experiences - this is a wonderful guide for us all to have.

 

Lucky daughter!!!! :)

 

Thank you for the compliments.

 

I was in cabin 8676, port side, aft of the aft elevators. Outstanding choice for me. But everyone is different. I know the pricing has gone up considerably from what I paid last November. The inside portion of Deck 8 seemed to be crew work areas -- like perhaps the laundry. Your target cabins may have some noise going on during the day, but I really doubt there would be any in the evening. But that's just a guess.

 

For all those who followed my posts, I thank you for the interest and the compliments of those who posted. For me I won't really wrap up the trip till I finish my final edits (the private journal will probably take me another week or so). And it has been a labor of love. I hope you've had as much fun reading this as I've had writing it.

 

There will be one final post. I have my random thoughts and future cruiser tips. Those didn't seem to fit anywhere nicely, so I've been adding them to a separte document as I went along. I should finish going through my notes and preparing them to post sometime tomorrow.

 

Aloha ... and Mahalo.

[TreasureQuest]

TreasureQuest,

 

Your writing gives me chicken skin! What a wonderful and priceless gift to your DD. No matter how many times she re-reads this journal, I'm sure she will find something new to smile about.

 

Nothing in life is perfect, but you sure know how to execute the perfect trip. Thanks for sharing so many details for future visitors and for reminding others of what a great place Hawaii is.

 

All I can close with is "ho wow laulau". :D

 

Aloha,

Noreen.

 

Wow! I just realized you're from Honolulu. It must be rather weird reading about your home from the eyes of someone with such a limited experience of it.

 

Thank you for sharing your islands with us.

[jjduck]

Wow! I just realized you're from Honolulu. It must be rather weird reading about your home from the eyes of someone with such a limited experience of it.

 

Thank you for sharing your islands with us.

 

TreasureQuest,

 

It was an absolute pleasure and honor to read of your experiences. It only made me appreciate this place even more.

 

So, you ate at Kenny's-at-the-Kam-Shopping-Center-in-Hawaii; that's how their advertising jingle goes. You gave me yet another biiig smile.

 

And you described the airport to the nth-degree. Cement upon cement and concrete and yep, hot-hot-hot. Not so inviting for departures. Maybe they made it that way so you'd be happy to get home. ROFL!!!!!

 

Anyway, glad to hear you guys got home safely. You must do more writing. You're good!

 

Aloha,

Noreen

[TreasureQuest]

Some basic tips for those planning on sailing on the Pride of America:

1 – Build up your upper arm muscles before the cruise. All doors take a huge amount of effort to swing open.

2 – If you’re having a conversation on your balcony, don’t for a minute believe that you can’t be overhead from balconies above, below and around you.

3 – The Aloha Buffet has a whole action station for juices, but they aren’t included in your cruise fare. This rather visible option left cruisers with the belief that there were no included juices. It took me until morning #3 before I found the included juices. Orange and cranberry juices are dispensed from the same machine that dispenses iced tea.

4 – Don’t load your schedule with so many “must dos” that you fail to allow for some flexibility. Every person in your party should be able to have some input into the plans for the day and if the master planner has a rigid schedule, you will rob yourselves of the rich experiences that present themselves along the way.

5 – If you have rented a car, before you hit the road you are probably going to study maps that will give you numbers of highway routes. Those route numbers have little or no value when you are actually on the road. The road signs for upcoming intersections advise you which way to go to get to various towns (“starts with Wau” or “Starts with Ha”). Rarely do they offer those route numbers. By the time your navigator has figured out which town that is and where it is on the map, you have already made the wrong decision and have headed in the wrong direction from where you wanted to go. On the rare occasions when they actually provide route numbers, you will be anticipating that since you want to go (for example) north, the upcoming intersection for your route will give you a choice of north or south. It won’t. It will say east and west.

Differences between NCL and RCI

Balconies – NCL has done a really nice job of design here. Where some ships have solid metal panels either all the way up to or partway up to the railing, the Pride of America had a solid metal panel about 6 inches high off the deck … just right for a footrest. The rest of the restraint consisted of a number of horizontal metal bars that didn’t inhibit your view of the sea below. I’ve only had two RCI cruises with balconies and one of them had an inhibited view, the other one had a glass panel. I really prefer their deck chairs to the ones on the Explorer of the Seas … much more comfortable.

Professional Photography on-Board – The photographers were less intrusive on NCL than they are on RCI. For the most part, they only showed up at the expected venues, like embarkation, formal night, formal dinner and ports-of-call. However, one thing that was clearly missing was the cruise video. On RCI they put together film clips of cruise highlights and did a pretty brisk business selling them to departing passengers. NCL had the clips, but they were only using them on NCLTV.

Embarkation/Debarkation – You can’t have everything. NCL wins debarkation, RCI wins embarkation. I felt NCL does a more customer friendly job of debarkation (and lack of customs clearance is a big help here). They allow you until 10:00 to clear out of your cabin so they can begin cleaning them. This leaves them with a 4-hour job that won’t be done when the new passengers board. As a result it’s going to be somewhere between 2:00 and 3:00 before all decks are ready for occupancy. RCI, on the other hand wants you out of the cabins by 8:00. This gives them the edge on embarkation day, since all decks are ready by 1:00. Early arrivals for the Pride of America find long lines that are going to consume an hour of their time. I expect that is due to the high number of people that have arrived at least one day ahead of sailing. The hotels have 11:00 or noon check-out and once we’re lugging all our bags, we have nowhere else to go but the ship. Every time I was an early arrival for RCI, I found myself with very short lines and was on board before noon. Additionally, the RCI sailings I was on, there was a service to check your bags until the 1:00 hour when cabins were made available for occupancy.

Kids – In many ways, NCL seemed more kid-friendly than RCI. Kids are allowed in the lounges until 11:00, giving them a chance to at least experience the start of some of the evening parties. RCI wants them out at 10:00. The specialty restaurants allow kids (even offering some reduced rates for them). On RCI, when a passenger ignores the rules and gets their kid into the specialty restaurant, it isn’t going to matter how well behaved that child is … there will be plenty of flaming on the boards. Both lines offer great kids clubs, and when she was younger, my DD was heavily involved in the RCI ones. A tour of the kids facilities on either line is always fun and the Pride of America certainly had the most impressive water play area for little ones I’ve ever seen on a ship. My DD instantly whined because life had robbed her of the chance to play in something like that when she was younger.

Dinner Seating – This was my first time to try a cruise line that doesn’t have assigned seating. Therefore in the months coming up to the cruise, I found it mystifying that NCL cruisers rave about Freestyle, but obsess about tactics for grabbing dinner reservations that lock them into dining times. We opted to interpret that Freestyle meant that when you get hungry and are done making yourself presentable, you go have dinner. This resulted in only one evening where we had to wait to be seated. For this itinerary, Freestyle was the right format for us. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t truly miss that wonderful chance to connect with a group of tablemates for the week.

Deck Chairs – NCL should make a substantial investment here fleet-wide. RCI has them beat by a mile. It was common to be unable to find a deck chair on the Pride of America.

On Board Activities – Here was a surprise. I’ve read posts that said the Pride of America didn’t have enough organized activities. The reality is that I’ve lined up the Cruise Compass from Explorer of the Seas (for a day in port) against the Freestyle Daily. When you toss out the fillers like “Last tender from shore”, the Explorer had one extra activity. What I suspect is that people didn’t get presented with something they were expecting, and neglected to substitute with something else. For my part, I missed the silly pool games RCI stages, but I never ran out of things to do.

This was unlike any other cruise I’ve ever taken. But after six Caribbean cruises, it was certainly time for something different. I’ve broadened my horizons and will expand my list of options when I start researching my next cruise. Change is difficult, so it’s easier to go with what you know. Accordingly, I’ve only sailed with Royal Caribbean. I suspect that in the future I will continue to lean toward Royal Caribbean, but I will certainly look hard at NCL.

[cruisintebo]

Hi - We are going on a Hawaii cruise in October. We are planning to rent a car in Hilo and are wondering how far away from the cruise terminal are the car rental agencies and if they are not within walking distance, how do we get there?

 

Thanks in advance for your reply.

[TreasureQuest]

Hi - We are going on a Hawaii cruise in October. We are planning to rent a car in Hilo and are wondering how far away from the cruise terminal are the car rental agencies and if they are not within walking distance, how do we get there?

 

Thanks in advance for your reply.

 

The car rentals are at the airport. They all send a shuttle to the pier. Just as soon as you walk out of the terminal, you wait to the left of the terminal entrance and the shuttle will pull up shortly.

[seafun]

What wonderful fun it's been this evening reading your entire journey! (Although by doing so, I will have to get up for work with only three hours sleep, lol. Oh well, I got some good rest today, got lots of chores done and this was a present to myself, and we all deserve those, right? :rolleyes: )

 

I'm fortunate to have been to Hawaii many times in the last 25 years, although I have never taken the circle island cruises. Well, I guess that will have to change **he said smiling.** ;) It was wonderful to be taken along on your cruise, so "Thank You."

 

I am also a firm believer in chronicling your journey through many (many, lol) written pages, so the memories can be revsited again and again.

 

Six months ago I completed one of my "journeys of a lifetime," by doing a 15 day tour of Egypt, including a 7 night cruise up and down the Nile. It included the Pyramids, the incredible Egyptian museum, Cairo, spectacular temples, as well as the simple joys of life along the Nile, and so much more -- well, just about all I could pack into my time there, lol.

 

I too have been inspired by the reviews I've read here on Cruise Critic, and found myself writing my notes not only for myself, but for all the invisible friends and readers I could feel "hovering" just over my shoulder, that I knew wanted to hear about everything. So I ended up writing about forty pages ( and yes, they're all in posts here on C.C. :rolleyes: -- see links below if you're interested.) I had no idea they would be read by thousands of people, but I've gotten some incredibly wonderful feedback.

 

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful impressions of Hawaii, and for sharing your idea to make each of our journeys a rich tapestry of life well-lived and a rewarding Treasure Quest! :D

[TreasureQuest]

Thank you for your response seafun! The boards have been acting up for several days ... I'm so glad they weren't this contrary in the last few days before I left. I admire your patience and determination to get your response posted. I probably would have given up.

 

I can't wait to follow your links and read your chronicles, too ... but, alas, must go to work. You can bet I'll be signing in at lunchtime though!

[snowbirdfromN.E.]

I cannot tell you how much my husband and I enjoyed your travelogue.

We are sailing on POA 10/04/08 We have read all the reviews ,( have enjoyed 5 prior with cruises With RCC and Disney) and still believe this is the only way to see Hawaii. I was however, beginning to get a little nervous :confused: until I read " Let the Islands come to you " You reminded me that you bring "YOUR OWN GOOD TIME WITH YOU" Thank you for taking the time to bring Hawaii to the CC readers.

[TreasureQuest]

I cannot tell you how much my husband and I enjoyed your travelogue.

We are sailing on POA 10/04/08 We have read all the reviews ,( have enjoyed 5 prior with cruises With RCC and Disney) and still believe this is the only way to see Hawaii. I was however, beginning to get a little nervous :confused: until I read " Let the Islands come to you " You reminded me that you bring "YOUR OWN GOOD TIME WITH YOU" Thank you for taking the time to bring Hawaii to the CC readers.

 

Thank you so much for the nice note. This one ranked as one of the very best vacations I have ever taken. But I knew before I left home that it was going to be. One of the great advantages to this trip was that there were very few unknowns. I had done my research on this web site and sorted through all the experiences of other cruiseres. I decided ahead of time what worked for me and that's what I built into my vacation plans. I had a hit list of "must do's" and a very large list of optional experiences. That gave us a core focus each day, but left plenty of room for flexibility and discovery along the way.

 

Go make your own discoveries and have a wonderful trip. As much as I love the Caribbean ... Hawaii is even better.

[legalwife]

Wow! Everyone else has said what I would like to say so......

 

All I can say is hurry up and go on another cruise so we can again live it with you! :)

 

Thanks and I will print for my POA 2009.

[snowbirdfromN.E.]

We are planning our itinerary for Maui and were wondering how long it took you to drive to the Haleakala Crater and then over to Lahaina?:confused:

We are also doing the OLL and want to follow your lead and get a good parking place for a QUICK:eek: exit after the show.

[TreasureQuest]

Thank you Legalwife, for the very sweet compliment. I had an awful lot of fun writing this. And would you believe, my DD hasn't read it yet? She's all caught up in the fun and excitement of being a brand new high school student. Life is a whirlwind of band practice, football games and after-game parties ... but I'm happy to note that she's keeping up the grades.

 

When she finally gets around to reading this I'm sure I will be in trouble for embarrassing her with some of my comments. Oh well. That's a mother's job, isn't it?

 

Snowbird, given that we didn't even leave the ship till after 10 a.m. (that's when the hula class ended), you'll have plenty of time. The drive up Haleakala was only about an hour. Give just over an hour for the trip to Lahaina. We arrived at the OLL by about 3:00. The only thing I would have done differently that day was snag a light lunch to take with us from the ship. That would have given us the freedom to wander around the sites of Haleakala a bit longer. But hunger pangs were driving us to lower elevations to find something to eat.

[snowbirdfromN.E.]

TreasureQuest Thank you for answering our question. We have bought 4 Hawaii Books...........yet we keep referring to Let the Islands Come to You! We sail next week....