Hogladyrider

@Travelicious WOW what a way to kick off your cruise adventure! Action packed for sure. I'd need a sea day or two to recover. Enjoying following your travels.

@Saint Greg....FINALLY some good reading material! Safe travels and have a FANTASTIC cruise!

@BermudaBound2014...we love sea days for sure! We often stay on the ship when in port as well depending on the port. We had this cruise you were on booked originally and I hesitated when I could not find water activities (guess I did not look in the right places). Plus I was hesitant that 35 days away might be a lot so we switched to 18 days San Diego to Hawaii the cruise before yours. NOPE 18 days was not too much. We had a great time!

WOW...thank you thank you for this report. We are water folks as well. Now I know we would love this cruise. When I tried researching, via reading fellow cruisers posts, I thought "naw not for us" but you have changed my mind 100%. We would rather be in the water! One of the many things we do love about cruising is just looking out from the ship at the horizon and how vast and huge the ocean is....wonders upon wonders.

Thanks for your reply, makes sense. Original deposit was on CC $3,500 after that I used $3,500 in HAL gift cards, each in the amount of $500. When I cancelled the cruise I was hoping to transfer the $7k out among my other 3 cruises I have booked however HAL would only apply the credit to one other cruise and refund the balance, which will be approximately $4k.

Good morning Dailyites and thank you for all the lovely reports. Thought and prayers to all in need, and I think that includes ALL of us! I read this thread every morning with my coffee. I so enjoy each and every posting. I do have a question and I know this is the correct place to find many good answers. Those seasoned cruisers do you book directly with the cruise line or do you use a TA? I follow many live cruise reports and while we are not wealthy enough to do a World Cruise we do love our cruising. Branching out to other lines now that we are retired and we love HAL has been an experience. One cruise I booked via online pricing and while it all worked out, I was not pleased with the customer service I received. I could never get in touch with the person to answer my questions. I look forward to everyone's opinions and I will value each one.

Question regarding a cancellation going back onto a gift card. Original gift card purchase amount was $500. Credit due for cancellation is well over $1K....I have been advised this credit will go back onto the original gift card. Is this possible to put that much credit $$ back onto a gift card? I do retain all the gift card #s and pins etc. TIA

Thanks!

@Travelicious..WOW that is a lot of food...that steak is huge and looks yummy! Was this on the menu as a meal for 2?

@BermudaBound2014..videos look great on my Chromebook - oh that water!

Girls just wanna have FUN....this is gonna be GREAT! Bon Voyage....excited to follow along!

@Travelicious...thanks for the "heads up" over on the Tribe thread....I'm all signed up to follow. This is gonna be GREAT!

@Haljo1935...fellow cat lady here. My vote is for closing the door and keeping your fur kid inside while you are away. Maybe leave a radio on for some sound. We were blessed with a wonderful pet sitter. Ask your vet for suggestions. I feel your kitty will be fine staying in the house while you are away. I agree with the fellow poster who said she may bring unwanted guests into your home and/or she may decide to hit the road looking for you....that would be heart breaking for you.

Recently on Koningsdam 18 day to Hawaii from San Diego and had Thermal Suite pass. I visited every day and never had any issues. There were some folks who were "napping" on the heated loungers, but I always found a free heated lounger. As for the pool, often I was the only one in there, and sometimes maybe a few others. Never crowded for sure. Steam rooms also never crowded. I never used the cold chill shower, not my thing. I booked my Thermal Pass ahead of time and it was worth every penny!

When we were on Koningsdam recently their was a Dining Reservations "desk" opposite Guest Services. This is where I went to change our dining reservations for Pinnacle and Tamarind. It was fairly easy. The struggle was getting a time that worked for us. All worked out great! FYI we also had HIA.

We are on our 9th workamping gig this summer and I am 71 and he is 69...we both love it and we so enjoy the people we meet! The funds go into the bank and some fund our cruising habit! Life is GOOD!

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/04/12/12-people-injured-including-one-critically-after-shuttle-bus-loses-control-near-honolulu-pier/?outputType=amp&fbclid=IwAR3Hv4mPoUmMg1McGZsfIlFIIb1nQVV6op3en91rGnfgKzOotIb1LLICy38_aem_AYo-2LNFwAsqXgIK8vRJOCb2YXKzUAaysU6V6NG67_-BEDqy5DNK17YA6rGuLgYVlTU-TFH4ZoIkHrFtirF37ATj I read this with my morning coffee, VERY sad. It hit home even harder because we were just in Honolulu in February on the Koningsdam with several other Dailyites. Welcome to all new folks. I can say that this is the MOST welcoming GROUP I have encountered anyplace. It doesn't matter if you are a lurker or a poster everyone is so kind unlike many other places. Prayers for all those in need. We have begun our summer workamping gig and we love it. Same place as last summer as we were asked to return. I have 3 cruises booked for 2025 that this summer gig will fund! Happy Saturday to everyone....remember memories last a lifetime, stuff does not!

FYI I will be 72 this year. My mom still lives in Massachusetts. You are correct the seal population has exploded on the Cape. Mostly the sharks have been seen off of P-town even great whites!

@RMLincoln how exciting a trip to Cape Cod my growing up "stomping grounds"! Even at Labor Day the traffic can be bumper to bumper so be sure and pack your patience in a LARGE suitcase! You won't find fresher lobster unless you travel to Maine. I highly recommend a whale watching excursion if it is in season. One of the best values and trips we took back in 2016. They excursions go out of P-Town and Plymouth. If you have never been to P-town it is an experience very different today than back in the 70;s for sure. The Atlantic ocean can be very treacherous and Cape Cod has had a reoccuring problem with sharks the past few summers so please be careful. ENJOY!

Good morning from a chilly 36 degrees here in Helper, Utah. We are back to work today after 8 days off and glad to be back, more cruise funds! @Haljo1935 Happy Birthday to your DH! I am so sad that they have not been able to locate the missing cruise passenger in Cozumel. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

While I have not visited Cozumel in several years, back then many of the employees lived off the island. I have read that the past few years crime has increased on the island, but again I have not visited Cozumel since 2018. My heart goes out to this family and I am still hoping and praying the gentleman is found safely and has not fallen into the hands of the wrong individuals. What does surprise me is what little attention this missing guest is receiving from the media.

While we were not on the 35 day roundtrip cruise, we were on the one just prior 18 days round trip San Diego to Hawaii. This was our longest cruise to day and we loved it. Yes seas were rough the 1st 6 days out of San Diego but we made the best of it. It was too chilly for us 70 degree weather chasers to sit on our balcony but we walked daily on deck 3. Our cabin was on deck 8 we simply enjoyed the activities during the day, coffee talks, etc. HAL has a good quantity and selection of free movies available on the TV in the cabins. IMO it basically depends on ones cruising style. I had a thermal pass and used it daily. We never dined in the dining room we ate all our meals on Lido, room service or two speciality dining. We missed our first port due to high seas and winds but the captain gave us a fantastic cruise by of the Napoli coast which we enjoyed with adult beverages while enjoying our balcony. As a previous poster asked, what was it about your previous HAL cruise that you did not care for? What is your cruising style?

We booked this tour thru the cruise line as we had excursion credits to use. We love the water and snorkeling though it had been years since we had snorkeled (pre Covid). We visited in February 2024. We really enjoyed this excursion, it was worth the money for sure. We boarded the bus at the port and it was about a 30 minute ride to the pier where we boarded the boat that would be our trip for the day. We brought our own masks and snorkels though the ship included them as well as fins. We used the ships fins. The boat holds quite a few passengers and I'd say we were full. We wore rash guard shirts to avoid sunburn. Wet suit tops were available for $10. Hindsite is 20/20, in February the water was chilly, so I would recommend a wet suit top for sure. Once you get chilled it is tough to get warmed up. Our first stop of the day, Captain's choice, was turtle cove. OMG this was like swimming in an aquarium. We jumped in off the site of the boat ILO going down the stairs. Footnote: I am 71 female and he is 69 male so we are not kids by any means. One must be careful when jumping in from the boar and hold onto your mask and anything else you have in your hands. One gal jumped off with her I phone in hand and guess what, the phone went down to the bottom. One of the crew jumped in and went to the bottom to retrieve her phone for her. I will leave it at that. We absolutely loved this first snorkel stop! We were not the only boat there but it was not crowded everyone was evenly spaced out. Once back on board we were off to Molokini Crater. This is quite a boat ride out there and we were visiting during whale season so we were often stopping along the way to watch the whale activity. This was an added bonus to this excursion for sure. We saw so many whales and babies both going and coming from the Crater. We arrived at the Crater and once moored off the side we went. Honestly, we both only stayed in the water about 20 minutes as we were cold. This stop was nice but we liked the 1st stop better. The Crater is unique and I would probably return but during much warmer water temps for sure. Many folks got out early because of the current and the water temp. Lunch was served and one beverage was included. The food was plentiful and we were all hungry after our morning activities. It was a leisure ride back to the dock stopping several times for whale sightings. I would book this excursion again, thru the ship for sure, as the travel time to and from the excursion location is about 30 minutes. It was a fun exciting day and it could only have been improved with warmer water temperatures. Pacific Whale Foundation is a great outfit to do an excursion with.

We booked the 2 Hour UTV Tour via their website and we included the transportation to/from Hawaiian Hilton. Worth every penny. This was our first visit to Hawaii and we are not into bus tours or crowds, we like nature. Since we were overnighting in Honolulu I was comfortable booking this tour on our own. We have our own side by side and we ride often so we were very interested in Kualao Ranch, it did not disappoint. We got off the ship and walked to the city bus stop. We took the City bus to the Hawaiian Hilton and proceeded downstairs to wait for the bus. This is a local place where many tours are picked up and returned. A large tour bus appeared on time and checked our names on their list as we boarded the bus. It was approximately 45 minutes to an hour bus ride to the ranch on the other side of the island away from the crowds! Kualao Ranch is amazing! They are selfsustaining, raise their own cattle, over 4000 acres and offer all types of tours. We had lunch here and it was a bit disappointing but then it is a tourist attraction not a restaurant. We had numerous stops on our tour where we were provided information about the ranch and the geography in general. The scenery is spectacular and you WILL get dirty! For us we had no problems keeping up, some who had never experienced driving a UTV they took a bit longer to adjust to riding in a group. When our tour was over we were able to board a bus for the return ride back to Honolulu where we simply walked across the street from the Hawaiian Hilton and waited for the City Bus where we returned to the port and the ship. It was a full day for sure departing the ship at 9 and returning just after 5. Honolulu is very crowded, and there are many homeless living in the park downtown. We were very glad that we opted to venture out of the city and enjoy the beauty of the mountains and we would do a return visit to Kualao Ranch if and when we return to the island.

We took our first cruise to Hawaii this winter via HAL. We prefer low key and on our own. It was not easy researching what to do but we managed great. We booked the Kona Brewery Tour via their website and it did not disappoint. We picked the 1st tour of the day which was around noonish. We got there early. It is walkable from the port, uphill about a mile, but we opted for an Uber, about $6 plus tip. If you are a beer drinker this tour is a must. It is amazing the sustainability they have built into this new brewery. The tour is limited so it is not crowded. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about all kinds of beer. We were provided with 4 tastings, included in the tour price and a chance to shop. We would not hesitate to recommend this tour or to do the tour again if we visit Kona. We were also able to put some souvenirs right at the port pier at the local ABC store. Reminder prices in Hawaii are high. We felt that $25 for this brewery tour was a bargain! The brewery also has a restaurant where we had lunch, the pizza and salad was fresh and the beer was ice cold