Silver Sweethearts

With all due respect, we believe you meant McGregor's Point Lighthouse instead of McKenzie Point.

As an alternative, you might look at doing Papeete-Papeete on the Paul Gauguin. You can get a non-stop flight from New York to Honolulu. Hawaiian offers a non-stop from Honolulu to Papeete every Saturday. You could fly in to Honolulu, stay there for a few days to get rid of any jet lag and then catch the Saturday HNL-PPT flight. One pleasure for us on that is avoiding going through LAX.

Speaking of photos - Has anyone seen the Green Flash at sunset yet?? We're seeing it almost every day (clouds permitting) here on Maui. Rather interesting.

At least for us, we feel when guests dress so casually it takes away from the special atmosphere the dining room creates.

Whale Watch tours on Maui may be found at Ma'alaea Harbor, about nine miles from where the POA docks. If you rent a car it will take about 20 minutes to get to Ma'alaea. Do check first though, as whale season may be over by the time you arrive here.

Sitmar Cruises was our favorite. The ships didn't have all the bells and whistles (unless you considered skeet shooting from an aft deck), but they had excellent food and a great staff. Hope HAL treats you well too. Bon voyage, BermudaBound 2014 and fellow sailors! Fair winds and following seas.

Thank you for the thank you. We have been following your progress and achievements on this roll call for some time now and it sounds like you have everything in gear. We wish you fair winds and following seas!

You can pretty much divide Maui into five segments, and we offer this as a general idea of what is where out there and is our opinion only. South Maui takes in Wailea and Kihei. Wailea is mostly upscale resort restaurants and smaller storefront restaurants. Mama's Fish House dominates the north side, though many like to include funky Paia and its casual vibe. Central Maui is more business than romantic places. Upcountry is casual and quiet. We do not list the west side (Lahaina, Kaanapali, Kapalua, etc.) because it has a lot of healing to do yet.

Can you be a bit more specific about the type of food you enjoy, your budget, general location and so on so the choices can be narrowed down? Mahalo.

You might try calling them at (800) 367-7060 between 12:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Hawaiian time any day except Wednesday and Sunday.

With all due respect, Swap Meet (not Maui Farmer's Market) is what is held next to UHMC on Saturday mornings. Google Maui Swap Meet for more information. A fun way to spend a morning.

Other than that, how did you like it?

Just a FYI: Super idea, but the earliest they open is 4 p.m. (5 on Sundays). Also, even if the excursion is a late one, Hollywood Boulevard is not the place to be at night.

The POA really isn't about what is offered with onboard activities. It is in getting guests from island to island so they can explore Hawaii in person and up close.

Those "years and years" have taken their toll on Haleakala, as scottca075 states it quite clearly. Things from visitor overcrowding to disturbing the environment to injury and death of Park animals, birds and so on all contributed to scaling back activities, and remember that you need reservations for admission to the Park for sunrise viewing. We're curious: What area is "a large portion of the bike route that was closed by the government"?

With all due respect, we encourage you to research further about bike riding down Haleakala - especially the bike tour websites. You should be able to get the information you seek.

Sincerely trying to be informative and not sour grapes, we were just in Paia this morning and it looked the same as ever - a sleepy tourist trap. Sounds charming, but you would just be killing time, and it would be a shame to waste your time on Maui on that. YMMV though...

What you may be looking for is Dramamine Non-Drowsy Naturals with Ginger (please Google them for complete information). They are made by the company that makes regular Dramamine but do not contain whatever makes people drowsy. We have used them (the capsules) many times with no side effects.

- Or you can just put everyone in a taxi from the port over to the car rental area at the airport (only three miles) and go from there.

Remember that the POA operates the same route every week. Other ships are infrequent visitors. Those other operators cannot count on the continuous income the POA usually provides for them.

If this is the excursion we have read about, most all you will be getting is a tour bus ride from Kahului to Wailea (about half an hour max) - and back to the ship about five hours later. Everything else costs extra. We encourage you to research this further.

On Regent, we were told that the system monitors the likes and dislikes of the patrons so they will be better able to serve them (that includes the staff being aware of food allergies too).

Have you given any thought to French Polynesia?

Since August, the only port available on Maui is Kahului, and ships will dock - not tender - there for the foreseeable future. Take this into consideration when planning your activities on the island.

They are the only game in town.