Category: Hawaii & South Pacific Cruise

All posts related to our trips involving Hawaii and South Pacific Islands.

Disembarkation and Traveling Home

Tuesday, April 22 & Wednesday, April 23, 2025

A decorative illustration featuring the phrase 'Home Sweet Home' surrounded by flowers and foliage.

We arrived back to Vancouver with no delay, so we were up early. We needed to be ready to depart by 8:00 as that is when we would have to catch the HAL excursion Vancouver Highlights and Airport Transfer.

We started off with breakfast in a very crowded Lido. I got cereal and fruit. Chuck got eggs and sausage and fruit. He said that his breakfast was luke-warm/cool tasting. Have never experienced that on HAL before.

Once back in the room, we gathered up our backpacks and one carry-on and went to the Rolling Stone Lounge to wait for our number to be called. The Cruise Director called it promptly at 8:00.

Everything was going smoothly until one of the port employees stopped us and said the luggage for our group was not ready yet. I could see luggage lined up under our color and number, so I told her it was there. She said “no – I have not been notified so it is not there.”

Other people were pointing at it too, but she wouldn’t budge until another worker came up to her and said the luggage was ready. Sad that you are so rigid you can’t believe your own eyes.

Once we retrieved our other three pieces of luggage, we found that people were having issues going through Canadian customs. We had to wait for a couple in front of us to explain to the Customs officer why they brought back a whole fresh mango from Hawaii and where they purchased it – store, farm, roadside stand. I didn’t have as much trouble bringing my boxes of macadamia nut cookies since the boxes were sealed.

Once we were past all of the security, we found the tour guide for our excursion today. He led us to a different part of the port to wait for our bus to arrive. Took a while. But, the bus was nice and roomy, and they loaded all our luggage on it for us. We kept our backpacks with us.

He provided a nice narration as we drove through Vancouver.

A large mural featuring a flower design and hands on the side of a building against a clear blue sky.
A modern architectural structure with large glass windows and a rounded facade, set against a clear blue sky in Vancouver. Flags are visible in front of the building.
Public Librar y
Exterior view of BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, featuring event calendar and promotional banners.
View of the Concord Pacific building with a large spherical structure in Vancouver, surrounded by modern urban architecture and blue sky.
Colorful street graffiti featuring the text 'SMOKEY' alongside cartoonish character art.
A historic steam clock in Gastown, Vancouver, with steam billowing out and a decorative clock face showing the time.
A Steam Clock
A carved stone figure of a woman reading, positioned on the exterior of a modern building with glass windows.
A close-up view of an artistic mural depicting stylized deer with bold black and red colors on a utility box.

We only made one stop – Stanley Park. It was beautiful. If we ever have more than one day in Vancouver, I would like to explore more of the park.

View of Vancouver's skyline with modern skyscrapers and a harbor, featuring the Chevron building and a cruise ship in the foreground.
View from the park. Our ship is at the far left.
A colorful totem pole featuring intricate designs and a figure holding a circular object, surrounded by trees and natural greenery.
Two totem poles carved with intricate designs and colorful patterns, surrounded by greenery in Stanley Park.
A beautiful flower garden featuring vibrant orange tulips, yellow daffodils, and delicate blue flowers surrounding a textured stone.
A bronze statue of a mermaid sitting on a rock in the water with a scenic backdrop.
A vibrant flowerbed featuring red tulips and blue flowers under a leafy tree in a park.
A large, modern outdoor sculpture featuring a red circular element and a triangular base, surrounded by lush green trees and shrubs in a park setting.

We arrived at the airport at a little after twelve o’clock. Our flight was not until 11:00 pm (yes, 11:00) so we were not going directly into the airport.

I had booked us a dayroom at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport In-Terminal Hotel using DayUse.com. They only give you set times that you can book during the day, and I chose 11:00 – 7:00 pm. I wish they had offered a noon – 8:00 pm choice since we didn’t get there until noon.

We walked down the sidewalk and went into the hotel. We were greeted by a hotel representative who looked at our registration and then pushed the button to open the elevator. We walked down another hallway to the reception desk to check-in.

Once inside the room, we were able to get the suitcases situated for the flight, take a hot shower, nap, and get a late lunch/early dinner from the Wendy’s at the airport food court. All too soon, it was time to check-out and take the elevator down to the airport. However, the room was great, and I wouldn’t hesitate to book it again.

We checked our luggage, went through US Immigration, and were at the gate in less than an hour. The really weird part was that we weren’t allowed in the sitting area of our gate. It was enclosed in glass and locked. There was a sign saying something about not being allowed to open until 30 minutes prior to the flight in the in-transit area. Why would they have all that nice seating and vending machines if you can’t use it?

We were able to get 2 seats outside of the area. Chuck ended up giving up his seat to a woman and he went to sit in another section. I made a couple of laps through the duty -free stores on my way to the restroom. I only bought some bottled water. The airport shops started shutting down at 10:00. At 10:30, we were allowed into the waiting room and at 11:00 we were airborne.

Why did we not get an earlier flight? We prefer direct flights on Delta, and this was the only choice. We could have gotten one-stop flights, but we would have arrived late at night. I even looked at staying one more night in Vancouver to see if a different direct flight would be available. Nope. 11:00 pm was it.

Another disappointment with this flight was that, even though I booked directly with Delta, it was actually a WestJet flight, which is a partner with Delta. There was no in-flight entertainment or WIFI. Chuck put his neck pillow against the window and tried to doze. I read my Kindle. I was glad I had my lightweight jacket as the plane was cold. They did serve some snacks, and I got some ginger ale and a cookie. Chuck was asleep. I was glad we ate a big Wendy’s meal. I did have some extra snacks in my backpack in case Chuck woke up.

We arrived a little after 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday. We didn’t have to go through Immigration again since we did it in Canada. But once we picked up our luggage, we had to take the bus over from the International Terminal to the Domestic Terminal to catch our shuttle home. That is a pain. I hope they extend the underground train over there eventually.

There is a lot of construction going on at the airport and today it was affecting the shuttle area. Normally, the hotel shuttles use one lane and the regional shuttles use the other. This morning, they were both having to use the regional lane.

The shuttles were backed up around the corner. The airport personnel were doing the best they could to keep the shuttles moving and helping people find their correct shuttle. Fortunately, they completed the work prior to 7:00 and the hotel lane re-opened.

Our shuttle arrived on time, and we were the only passengers. We were able to stretch out with the bench seats all to ourselves. Our driver was a very chatty woman but that didn’t stop me from putting my neck pillow on the window and snoozing until we reached the shuttle office.

On our way home from the shuttle office, we stopped by Walmart to pick up a few essentials. We then collected all the held mail and then braced ourselves for the scolding we would be getting from Pumpkin.

And scold he did. Loudly and All..Day..Long. Home Sweet Home.

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucius

Sea Days

Thursday, April 16 – Monday, April 21, 2025

Just as the sea days blurred going to Hawaii, they blurred coming back from Hawaii. Making matters worse this time though is that we would move our clocks ahead three times and we would be packing to leave on the last sea day.

One weird thing I was asked to do was complete a Hawaii Tourist Survey and return it to Guest Services. I thought it was a weird survey because it asked questions about “what we were going to do in Hawaii” and I was completing it after we left Hawaii. Anyway, I completed it best I could and turned it in.

Because of the time change, we usually slept late so my daily activities normally consisted of reading and going to afternoon presentations. It was beginning to get colder again so pool time was out for me.

We tried to play in the Casino during the day when it wasn’t as crowded. They gifted us with 3 big bottles of water. I appreciated them but I wish we had gotten those earlier in the trip, but we did manage to finish them.

We enjoyed pre-dinner drinks at the Ocean Bar. We went to a couple of evening shows on the world stage. We saw singer Emily Yates. She had a lovely voice and could imitate several female singers.

I really enjoyed the sand art show by John Thiering. He would create images in a large box on stage and his creations would project onto the large screen. All set to music. It was very unique. Chuck was not as impressed as I was.

We attended at least one set of the Rolling Stone Lounge band each evening. The night the band was off, we attended the sets in the BB King Lounge. We did not go to the Orange Party this segment. It was held in the Lido Pool area, so I heard there was more room to move around versus holding it in the BB King Lounge.

And we ate.

One day we went to the Mariner’s Luncheon and we each had the poached lobster appetizer, filet mignon, and the chocolate plate. We were fortunate to have one of the ship’s engineers and his wife join us at the table. He had some interesting stories. The ship doesn’t always offer a luncheon to recognize its repeat guests so I’m always happy when they do.

We had another Tamarind dinner and we repeated our choices of crispy duck and wasabi-crusted beef tenderloin. Other nights, we were either in the main dining room or the Lido. You don’t have to worry about us. We found food.

Then, just like that, our bags were packed and outside the room ready for pick-up in Vancouver. Good times flew by.

Tomorrow – Disembarkation and traveling home

Nawiliwili, Kauai

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

This was a new island for us today. On one prior trip, we had to miss it because of bad weather. On the other trip, the island was not included on the itinerary. I was looking forward to our tour today. As soon as we finished our room service breakfast, we headed to the world stage to wait for our tour to be called.

Our HAL tour today – Grand Canyon of the Pacific

About The Excursion – Experience one of Kauai’s most popular attractions, Waimea Canyon — often called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

From the lookout at 3,400 feet in elevation, take in the unsurpassed view of the 2,857-foot-deep canyon and the surrounding countryside. The canyon’s dramatic size combined with the reds and browns of exposed volcanic rock and the blues and greens of lush tropical vegetation truly create a magnificent sight.

Stop at Kauai’s Spouting Horn blowhole before your return to the ship and your guide will tell you the legend of who makes the sound and why.

This excursion is a popular one and there were several busses heading to it. We found our bus without too much trouble.

It was a nice roomy bus. Our guide, who also served as the bus driver, had lived all her life on the island so she had plenty of island information as well as personal stories about life on the island. Made the trip on those winding roads seem to pass quickly.

Our first stop was an area to see some active blow holes. One was very impressive – spewing water and mist high into the air every few minutes.

Our next stop was the Canyon. Even with all the tourists, we were able to find some nice viewing areas. It was very impressive.

I also couldn’t get over all the chickens that were zipping here and there. Our guide said they are all over the island, but they were not good to eat – too much muscle from running around. I also saw a sign that said not to feed the feral cats. I wondered if the cats thought the chickens weren’t good to eat. I didn’t see any of the cats.

On our way back to the ship, we stopped at a small town where we could shop or have a bite to eat. Chuck and I and another couple got some coffee at a shop. We chatted, drank coffee, and people-watched. Just before getting back on the bus, I wandered through a crafts market, but nothing jumped out at me that I wanted or needed.

Once we were back on the ship, I used the HAL Navigator app and ordered lunch from the Dive In burger restaurant. By the time we made it up to the area, my phone alerted me that our burgers were ready for pick-up. I like using the app for the New York Deli and the Dive In. Beats standing in line.

We were delayed leaving because of the need to do a medical disembarkation. I hated that the person(s) was having to be disembarked on the smallest of the islands that we visited. I hope everything turned out okay. They would be having a long flight back to the mainland.

Since we were leaving the state of Hawaii, the Casino re-opened and it was packed. We played for a while and then went to the Rolling Stone Lounge.

We had a late dinner in the main dining room. We each ordered the carne asada. It is one of my favorite meals in the main dining room, so I ate it before I realized I wanted to get a photo. Google will have to show you a similar carne asada meal. Chuck had never had it. He was not a fan.

Google Image

We went back to the Rolling Stone Lounge. After the next set was over, I called it a night while Chuck went to play some cards.

It was an enjoyable day and I’m glad we were able to finally visit the island.

Next- Five Sea Days back to Vancouver

Kona, Hawaii

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

The last couple of times we have come to Kona, we took a snorkeling tour out to Kaawaloa Cove and the Captain Cook Monument. The snorkeling is wonderful but we thought we’d do something different today.

We did cancel the hike we had planned today because of the poor experience we had on Maui. Our Plan B was just to walk the town and visit the HuliheÊ»e Palace, the MokuÊ»aikaua Church, and the Farmer’s Market.

Since we had no set schedule, we ate breakfast in the main dining room and then went out to the Sea View area to enjoy the nice day and have another cup of coffee. We ended up meeting a couple who remembered us from the 2022 South Pacific cruise. Small world.

Kona is a tender port. Since we had received no paperwork about priority tendering, we made our way to the BB King’s Lounge to pick up a tender ticket. When we got there and the greeter looked at our keycard, we were told that the priority tendering waiting area was down the hall in one of the conference rooms. We walked down the hall. Nobody else was there so we got a cup of coffee to wait. As soon as we sat down, the security woman announced that a tender was ready for us. No cup of coffee for us.

The tender was bobbing up and down so we had to be careful stepping from the ship’s landing to the tender. I was glad it was a short ride over.

At Kona, we were met by another security officer who said we had to be extra cautious stepping from the tender to the Kona landing as there had been several tripping incidents on earlier tenders. Luckily, nobody on our tender tripped or fell although one man seemed shaky.

The first stop I made was to the tourist booth to ask about the Farmers Market. Me – “Is the Farmers Market nearby?” Attendant – “Oh sorry, they are not open on Tuesdays.” Me – “Even with a cruise ship in port?” Attendant – “Sorry, they’ll be open tomorrow.” Oh well, strike one off the list.

We made our way down the street to the Palace that was the vacation home of the Hawaiian Royalty built in 1838. I was looking forward to the tour inside.

Pretty scenery as we walked down the street

Strike number two off the list. The Palace was under renovation. No tours.

We crossed the street to go to the Mokuʻaikaua Church which is Hawaii’s earliest Christian Church built in 1820. We were met at the gate by a very nice gentleman who informed us that the Church was closed for renovation, but we were welcomed to walk the grounds outside. Strike number 3 partially off the list.

Since I couldn’t tour any place today, I could do the next best thing – shop and eat.

There were lots of shops selling shave ice, but I saw a sign in a shop that was advertising Dole Whip. I missed my chance in Hilo to get some Dole Pineapple Whip, so I was glad I would get a second chance.

I went up to the counter. Me – “I would like a cup of Dole Pineapple Whip, please.” Attendant – “We only have Coconut flavor today.” Me – “No pineapple?” Attendant – “We have no pineapples, so coconut is the only flavor.” Me (looking at a line of fresh whole pineapples sitting on the market shelf outside of the window) – “Okay, I really wanted pineapple and don’t want coconut but thank you anyway.” Attendant – “Have a great day. Come again.”

This was really not my day. At that point, we joined the line for the next tender back to the ship.

When we returned to the room, we found a nice gift from the Casino. It was not Dole Pineapple Whip, but they were good. 😊

We spent another nice afternoon at the pool and participated in the sailaway party.

Good-bye Kona

We ate in the Lido enjoying their Hawaiian-theme night. We had ribs, fresh pineapple, and paella. They did not offer any Spam (which is a Hawaiian staple) but they did have a whole roasted pig on the carvery if you wanted to pretend you were at a luau.

We then went to two sets of the Rolling Stone Lounge band and then called it a night.

It had been a beautiful day for a stroll.

Tomorrow – Nawiliwili, Kauai

Honolulu, Hawaii – Day 2

Monday, April 14, 2025

Chuck is still congested but seems to be getting better. Several of his buddies have the same symptoms. He has been sharing our supply of DayQuil and NyQuil which is a nice thing to do. However, I started worrying that we wouldn’t have enough to get him through his bout and/or help me if I came down with it.

I suggested an Uber trip to Walmart. He agreed and after breakfast in the Lido, an Uber picked us up at the port and took us to the Walmart Supercenter.

When you walk into this Walmart, you are inundated with Hawaiian products and souvenirs. I was hooked immediately. Meds? What meds? There are macadamia nut cookies and candies and Hawaiian coffee to buy. I even talked Chuck into buying a very nice Hawaiian-made shirt.

The store was very crowded with both tourists and locals. We eventually leave the souvenir area and did buy the OTC meds we needed and a few toiletries. I was glad I had brought our own large plastic shopping bag because they charged for the regular plastic bags. I had remembered from a previous Hawaiian visit that stores charged.

Once we were back to the ship, we had a Lido lunch and then spent the rest of the nice day at the pool. The time passed quickly, and it was soon time to get ready for our Pinnacle Grill reservation.

As usual, the Pinnacle Grill did not disappoint. Chuck had the crabcakes, ribeye, and a warm chocolate stroopwafel cobbler with chocolate sauce and ice cream. I had the seafood bisque, braised beef short ribs, and chocolate ice cream. They also gave us a couple of macarons.

We almost waddled right off to bed after we finished, but we managed to rally to attend one session of the Rolling Stone lounge band. Then we waddled back to the room.

Tomorrow – Kona, Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii – Day 1

Sunday, April 13, 2025

I assumed that after the ordeal yesterday, we would wake up stiff and sore. We did not. However, Chuck woke up congested. There has been an uptick in coughing and sneezing around the ship. Luckily, I pack a mini-pharmacy for every trip. Time to break out the DayQuil.

We had arrived in Honolulu for our overnight visit.

We had a relaxed morning and an early pizza lunch at the New York Deli. Our plan today was to pay our respects at Pearl Harbor. There were many tours we could have taken there but we decided to take an Uber to and from the site and explore on our own.

In my opinion, you should have a reservation to go out to the USS Arizona. There is a stand-by area, but you are risking not visiting the memorial if no slots open up. For today’s visit, I got our tickets in January on the website Recreation.gov. I chose the 2:00 time slot.

We caught an Uber at the port at 12:30 and we arrived at the site before 1:00. That arrival gave us plenty of time to go to the restroom, walk through the displays, and watch a film describing the attack before our 2:00 reservation.

We had a slight hiccup before we went to the display area. I had gone into the little food mart to buy us a bottle of water. When I came out, I noticed that Chuck no longer had his ship’s keycard in his lanyard. On closer inspection of the holder, we could see a tear at the seam so it must have slipped out.

We weren’t sure if it had come out in the Uber or in the park. I suddenly remembered I had taken his photo outside of the park and, yes, he did have it then.

I told him we’d have to retrace our steps and hope for the best. So, we did.

Or at least he did. I did not follow him back into the men’s room. I thought it was a long shot, but he came out holding the card. Yes, it was in the urinal. Yes, he washed it thoroughly. No, he didn’t put it back in the lanyard. It went into a zipped pocket.

It would not have been a disaster if he hadn’t found it. I would have to go to ship security to have them come to the port entrance to verify that he could come back on the ship. Then we’d get another card at guest services. But it would have been annoying and time-consuming so I’m glad he beat the odds and found it.

Now we could wander through the exhibits without having that worry nag at us. For a small space, they had an impressive amount of artifacts.

Then we went into a theater to watch the film which included Roosevelt’s “Day in Infamy” speech. The film was sobering and heart-breaking.

Soon a serviceman could be heard announcing (bellowing) that the 2:00 tour should start lining up. We did as we were told and then presented our tickets before we entered the auditorium.

We listened to a park ranger explain the rules of visiting the Arizona. He also told a story about four friends from Detroit, all under the age of 18, who lied about their ages and joined the Navy. They were excited to go to Hawaii when they were stationed at Pearl Harbor – a great adventure for these city boys. Two survived and two died that day. Not many dry eyes in the auditorium.

It was a short boat ride over and the military personnel emphasized several times that we were visiting sacred ground and to not take photos as you entered the monument (you could take them once you entered and once you left) and to not post on social media while you were there. Once we exited the boat, a group at the memorial boarded the boat to go back to the pier.

We had plenty of time to contemplate what happened there and say a prayer for all those who lost their lives.

Just a small sample of the names

Once the next boat discharged its passengers, we took it back to the pier. We walked down the path toward the USS Bowfin. You can also tour it for a fee. We had accomplished what we had planned so we did not go to it.

USS Bowfin

We also did not tour the nearby USS Missouri although we talked to a number of people who did and were happy they did.

We walked back to the Uber pick up spot and we were back on the ship by 4:00.

We visited with people on the Sea View deck until almost 6:00. At that time, we headed for the world stage to watch a group of local singers and dancers perform some traditional music and dances. We enjoyed the show.

Afterwards, we opted to go eat in the Lido. When we finished, Chuck said his congestion was coming back. We called it another early night and hoped that the Nyquil would help.

Today was a special day. My deepest gratitude to all you men and women who have served and are serving to keep us free.

Tomorrow – Honolulu – Day 2

Maui, Hawaii

Saturday, April 12, 2025

Whale watching in Hawaii is a lot of fun and Maui is a great place to do it. The best months to see them are December through March. It is April so we did not research any tours. I wish we had.

We decided to take a 2-mile loop hike to see some waterfalls. There would be opportunities to swim or wade in if we chose to do so. Sounded like fun.

We started our day with a room service breakfast. Right on time at 6:45. We got to the world stage at 7:45 and we’re heading for the vans by 8:00

Our HAL tour today – Rain Forest & Waterfall Hiking Adventure

ABOUT THE EXCURSION – Walk to several waterfalls in one of Maui’s most popular rain forest valleys. The falls are between 10 and 40 feet tall, and all have large pools perfect for swimming or toe-dipping (there is time for a swim for those who wish to do so). This valley is unusual because it has so many waterfalls close together.

You’ll experience Maui at its best as you explore among gorgeous bamboo and tropical rain forests, freshwater streams, numerous waterfalls and pools, ferns, flowers and fruit trees.

The whole area is a playground of beauty and adventure, and there is nothing as refreshing and bracing as showering under a Hawaiian waterfall.

Your rain forest walk is enhanced by expert naturalist guides — these ‘walking encyclopedias’ can answer your questions about botany, ethnobotany, geology, culture and history.

The tour operator won Hawaii’s Eco-Tour Company of the Year award in 2010.

Notes: The hike is two miles round trip. Footing can be tricky since there are rocks, roots, streams and sometimes mud to navigate. This is not a strenuous hike, but participants should be in reasonable physical condition and should expect to encounter occasional steep inclines. Lunch, backpack, rain poncho, insect repellent (when needed) and bottled water are provided. Wear your swimsuit under your clothing; bring a towel, reef-safe/biodegradable sunscreen, light clothing to act as a full cover-up for further protection from the sun, and a hat. Wear sturdy walking shoes or heavy-duty sandals for the hike. Minimum age is 10 years.

So the van was comfortable, and the driver was also the guide. She liked to laugh at her own jokes. It wasn’t long before we arrived at the parking lot for the rainforest hike. The hike would be going through both public and private land.

We were directed to the porta-potties. Then she handed out our lunches – sandwiches, bottled water, chips, and a cookie to be carried in our backpacks. She also handed out some disposable ponchos. She offered everyone a backpack to use and a walking stick. We had our own backpacks. I took a walking stick to help with stability.

We started out on a level, gravel pathway. She stopped every so often to explain the different plants we were seeing. She would pick leaves or berries to let us smell or taste. Smell – okay. Taste – nope.

She was very knowledgeable. We soon left this nice public path onto the private farmland that this company has a contract with to provide hiking opportunities to unsuspecting tourists.

The path soon became more difficult. Now, we have hiked many places over the years and some much longer than 2 miles, and were used to roots, mud, rocks. But this path took it to a whole other level.

You just didn’t step over roots. You had to high step over the roots and there were lots of roots. You had to bend down and limbo under fallen trees. Any rock could move and trip you up, so I was always looking down and missed the scenery along the way. The mud just splattered everywhere on every step. Don’t get me started on the humidity. My hair ballooned out like a dandelion puff.

Then to add to the excitement, it started to rain. Really rain. Rainforest rain. We started scrambling to get our ponchos on which wasn’t easy when you are sweating. We were definitely in the rainforest.

Then the sun came back out in force and decided we should all boil inside the plastic ponchos. We scrambled to get the ponchos off. They did not want to come off – you would get part of it to unstick from your skin or clothes and only to have it cling to another part. It was if a python had you in its clutches. Chuck finally ripped his off like Superman ripping off his Clark Kent outfit.

We finally got to our first waterfall. You could view it or you could jump in from the ledge and swim. We viewed.

Our next stop was a lunch break, and people could swim if they wanted. Several people took advantage of the pool ignoring the large crawly things with legs that were swimming along side of them. We did not swim. We sat on a log, not speaking, and contemplating our life choices.

Finally, we made it back to the public gravel path. We could choose to see the last waterfall or go back toward the rest area. I decided to see the waterfall. How much worse could it get?

Chuck decided to go to the rest area. I should have chosen that option. To even get to the waterfall, we had to walk into the creek on the slippery rocks. Once we got to the fall, I changed into my swim shoes (that I had packed for the hike) and waded into the pool for just a short way.

Now it was time for all of us to trudge back to the vans. We found Chuck enjoying the shade in the rest area and happily chatting with all the other happy people from other hikes who also chose to rest.

As we made our way closer to the van, after all the walking over all the roots, all the slippery rocks, and all through mud, one man in our group suddenly slipped on the gravel and hit hard.

He was really scraped up, but he said he didn’t hit his head. It was bleeding a bit, so I think he did. I was really surprised it was him as he was one of the few in the group who jumped in at the first waterfall and then swam at all the others. Very athletic. Gravel got him. Mother Nature can be cruel.

I was very happy to get back to the ship and get a hot shower. I had to really scrub to get that mud off of my legs. It was if the mud just wanted to come home with me as a souvenir of my time in Maui.

I’m sure the laundry personnel were going to take one look at our clothes and say, “what the hell happened here? I don’t get paid enough for this mess.”

The hike description said “not strenuous.” Others in the group did not find it strenuous but we did. So much so, that I cancelled a similar tour for Kona. Not going to go through this again. Really, I’ve seen better waterfalls less than 30 miles from our house.

I do want to say again that the guide was informative, attentive, and cheerful (so very cheerful). She tried to make the hike from hell a pleasant one but came up way short.

After our showers, Chuck went to the Sea View to describe in great detail to his friends the horror I put him through today.

I stayed in the room to read. I was done for the day and was not coming out of the room. When Chuck came back and asked about dinner, I said I was ordering room service. He said that sounded good to him too, so we both had club sandwiches, chips, and chocolate cake. We went to bed early.

I love whale watching.

Tomorrow – Honolulu

Hilo, Hawaii

Friday, April 11, 2025

We were not in a hurry this morning. We have been to the Volcanic National Park, Rainbow Falls, the Macadamia Nut Factory, and the Orchid Farm so our plan today was just to explore closer to the ship.

We were greeted as we came into port with a beautiful full rainbow. It lasted quite a while. Once we finished admiring the colors, we made our way to the main dining room for breakfast.

After breakfast, we walked out to the port area to ask about the pick-up point for an Uber. We just had to walk past the security area and go to a building up the street. Very short walk.

Our destination was the Lili’uokalani Garden, a 24.5-acre park that is named for Hawaii’s last reigning monarch, Queen Lili’uokalani. It was a mile and a half from the port.

Despite the high humidity, we had a pleasant 2-hour stroll through the park. One of the most interesting moments was when we met a young man with a dog. The dog’s name was Ula’ula which is a Hawaiian word for Red.

The dog was frantically searching the rocks for a mongoose. You could hear the mongoose chittering, and it was making the dog crazy. The young man said the dog always searches but can never catch one.

If the dog had been with us, he might have been successful as we spotted a mongoose running among the roots of the Banyan tree. But it did manage to elude two toddlers who tried their best to catch it.

We just strolled the paths looking at the plants and birds.

Zebra Dove
Finch
Pacific Golden Plover
Pacific Golden Plover
Nenes

Our next stop was Coconut Island which was just over a walking bridge from the park. There was very little beach, but the people were enjoying it. We walked the path that circled the small island.

We walked over to the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel and was able to summon an Uber back to the port. Coming back, the Uber driver was able to go through security and take us right to the pier entrance. We just had to show our ID’s and ship card to security.

We had lunch on the ship at the New York Deli and then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool.

Our evening was spent eating dinner in the Lido and then we went to the Rolling Stone Lounge to finish out the evening.

It was a very nice day for our first port in Hawaii.

Tomorrow – Maui

Sea Days

Sunday, April 6 – Thursday, April 10, 2025

When you have several sea days together, they seem to blend. You get into a routine of activities (or not), meals, evening activities (or not) – rinse, repeat.

We had 5 sea days before we reached Hilo, Hawaii. Those days consisted of

Coffee from the Grand Cafe.

Clock turning back 3 times before Hilo arrival.

Time in the Casino (slots now open 24/7 because the Casino will be closed while we’re in Hawaii)

Daily Activities – Many people went to the Hawaiian cultural ambassador events such as hula dancing, making bracelets, ukulele lessons, etc. I’ve done most of them before.

I chose to go to a future cruise presentation to see if there were any must-do itineraries coming up. I attended multiple lectures by Australian author Michael Adams –

I participated in the Lido games to win door prizes (I didn’t) –

And, I attended the coffee chats with Cruise Director Gage interviewing various ship personnel.

Cruise Director on Left, HR Manager on Right,

Chuck preferred playing cards or hanging out with his buddies on the Sea View Deck. Cruising has something for everyone.

We spent a lot of time eating or thinking about where and when we would be eating.

Here are some examples of our food during the times I thought about getting a photo before I started chomping away.

Evening activities – A band was brought in to play jazz music during the dinner hours in the Ocean Bar.

Ocean Bar Band

We spent some time in the Casino, but it was usually very crowded in the evenings so we never stayed long. And we went to both the Rolling Stone Lounge band and the BB King band sets.

We only attended one world stage show – Jose Sarduy’s second show (which I didn’t think was as funny as the first). Other shows by the HAL singers and dancers or the FlyRights we had already seen.

I even managed one day to walk 2 miles around the track on the Sports Deck. Small victory – probably burnt enough calories for 1/2 of a dinner roll.

The days actually passed very quickly to me and it seemed like we were reaching Hawaii sooner than I thought. But we were right on schedule.

Tomorrow – Hilo, Hawaii

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Saturday, April 5, 2025

Today was disembarkation for some, embarkation for others. For us, it was an in-transit day.

It was a bright sunny day but still chilly. We had no plans to leave the ship today so after a Lido breakfast, we made our way to the world stage so that all in-transit guests would be taken off the ship in a group – have our passports verified, and then you could either leave the ship or go back to the ship.

Once I was back on the ship, I took the time to go to the Specialty Dining Reservation booth to make a couple of reservations. I also had to go to Guest Services to show them that we were charged for our dinner last night at the Tamarind when we should have had it comped. I had tried taking care of it using the HAL Navigator app but the charge stayed on, so I had to go in person.

We had a pleasant afternoon chatting with new guests on the Sea View and enjoying the sun. We had to go to our muster station at 2:00, but we only had to have our cards scanned.

The sail-away party was at 3:30.

The Casino party was at 4:00. We received another Casino gift.

We were surprised to see that they had changed the times of the world stage performances from 7:30 and 9:30 to 6:00 and 8:00. We don’t know if this is a permanent change or just for tonight.

The comedian Jose Sarduy was performing his same show from last week, so we skipped it. We ate dinner in the Lido.

We went to the BB King Lounge to listen to the band. They started with a moment of silence for their friend. We stayed for the entire first set. I know it must have been hard for them to muster the energy to play.

We then went to the Rolling Stone Lounge to listen to their last two sets.

We decided not to wait up for the Casino to open and called it a night. When I hung up my jacket, I found that I managed to lose one of my gloves. Glad we are headed to Hawaii instead of Alaska. Will try lost and found at Guest Services tomorrow.

Also, Nathan the gnat is still with us. He has managed to elude our room stewards so far. I admire his spunk.

Tomorrow – Sea Days