POA Aussie invasion November 14th-21st

[shakaka]

Pre Cruise

Day 1 – Monday 9th Nov

Our party consisted of 3 Adults (1 Male) ranging from 23 to 32 and two 16 year old girls, all of whom call Australia home. After 7 months of planning and research (thanks to all contributors to Cruise Critic) we set off to our holiday of a life time. We spent 6 days pre cruise in Waikiki at the Aqua Waikiki Pearl - which wasn’t flash by any means but good enough to drop our bags and have somewhere to shower and sleep - and Waikiki Resort Hotel (compliments of Hawaii cruise outlet),. Our POA cruise was set to sail on November 14th and having arrived 6.30am on the 9th we had plenty of time to enjoy the wonders of Oahu.

Having flown out of Sydney International at 6pm Monday we went back in time and arrived in Honolulu at 6.30am (10hour flight) which didn’t do well for our bio clocks. The youthful exuberance of our teens made for plenty of noise and excitement, but no chance for sleep. So when we landed we headed straight to Thrifty’s to get out Dodge Charger which thanks to our Paris Hilton impersonating accomplice (Yes you Amanda) and 4 Females we needed to change from a sedan to wagon to fit all the luggage. Take the time to join reward groups such as Thrifty Blue Chip or similar and get a navigator – all the Hawaiian streets sound the same and share only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet.

Despite the large suitcases, to the girls’ credit the bags were fairly empty and light; however it took only 7 minutes for the girls to suggest we begin to fill them. We, as a group, agreed that we would take little to no clothing with us and re-stock our wardrobe in Hawaii. Comparisons in price to Australia were almost ridiculous and with the Aussie dollar holding strong we were able to make good use of the many shopping outlets that Hawaii had to offer.

After checking in to the Aqua Waikiki Pearl we had some time to kill as check in was at 3pm and we got there at about 9.30am. We were fortunate enough that despite the fact that our receptionist (who from his moustache and bowl haircut looked like he was waiting for a part in the Hawaii Five 0 remake) didn’t really look like he cared that we have been on a 10hour flight and were severely sleep deprived. A few of the girls managed to sleep on the lobby lounge, but I couldn’t wait to soak in Waikiki as it had been 10 years since I had last been.

The remainder of this day was spent catching up on much needed sleep, and shopping at Ala Moana Shopping centre (on of countless visits). Victoria’s Secret almost caused our budget to be blown on the first day – but the room was full of pictures of half naked women so I didn’t notice until it was too late and my wife was in a trance. Obviously we had to compare Aussie fast food to that of the US – Sorry but Australian Fast food is much better, but significantly more expensive – so I guess it evens out.

Day 2 – Tuesday 10th Nov

Today we managed to get up early despite the time difference and all agreed that we MUST swim in the beach – even though we are use to some the world’s best beached back Home. We took many photo opportunities and spoke to as many locals as we could to get some insight on where to visit.

After a few hours of sun and surf the instincts of the female began to surface and there were again calls to shop. We decided to take the lengthy journey to the Waikele Premium Outlets were we were able to fulfil our pre-trip pct to re-stock our wardrobes. Again the prices in comparison to Australia bought most of the girls to tears and unable to control themselves. We managed to spend approx 16 seconds together before we all split up and offered our American hosts an Australian Stimulus package which was sure to help the economy – but ruin ours. Polo Ralph Lauren, Adidas, Guess and some perfume company we the biggest winners.

Finally after 4 hours of shopping in an area no larger than a K –Mart store the girls were forced to stop – both from a lack of funds and the stores closing. We all agreed it was time to eat and went in to a neighbouring Chilli’s restaurant – wanting to compare to Australia’s, but after looking at the menu and see little that wasn’t greasy or fried we settled for ………………….KFC - GO FIGURE. I could never figure out the logic of the female mind. It was quite humorous though after being seated, we did the runner before we ordered and before we knew it we were trying to figure out how to read the US KFC menu.

 

stay tuned for more.......:p

[shakaka]

Day 3 – Wednesday 11th Nov

Today was to be adventure day with a no shopping promise made by all. We headed out to Waikiki beach to visit one of the many tour companies offering something adventurous. We settled on a Parasail and Jet Ski combo – which in hindsight we could have gotten much cheaper had we called around but we only had international cell phones and would have cost a fortune to call (we found out 2 weeks later that we got free local calls from our hotel room phone-Oh well we live and learn).

While waiting for our turn to book we were all quietly waiting our turn when what looked like a homeless man wearing an American cap, Army shorts, and backpack and holding an old basketball began to stare at our group. Unsure of what this man wanted he looked very annoyed at our group and continued to stare for what felt like an eternity. I whispered to the girls to ignore the man, as it was evident that the younger girls were beginning to get concerned and unsure of how to react. I was now getting uncomfortable with the stare and was trying to figure out what we had done to get this invasion of our space. Some of the girls soon became annoyed and began to try some Aussie humour and as we say back home ‘muck around’ with this man and ask him to pass the ball. I wasn’t as sure and told them to ignore him. Worried that our first few days in Hawaii were to be ruined by this very creepy man – he began to playfully pass the ball to the girls and my wife. He then walked away and when we thought we were rid of him he returned with a hat that was made by hand by one of the, many talented street merchants. He asked me which one of the women was my wife and after pointing her out he asked me to give the hat to her and look after her as she was a beautiful person on the inside. Shocked and unsure of how to react – this man who we thought to be both creepy and annoying was one of the more pleasant people we met on our vacation and clearly a man who had been ignored and ridiculed by many tourists, yet the playfulness of our party pleased him and made his day. I must admit this man with live in the memory of all our party for being a gentle and kind hearted man who made my wife feel very very special (she didn’t take this hat off for 4 days and only stopped wearing it because her silly sister broke it while trying to perform a cartwheel in our cabin on the POA – long story).

Back to our Parasail and Jet Ski adventure, unfortunately we were unable to get a tour on this day so we booked for the next day. What do we do now? When ever we weren’t sure of what to do – we ate. So we tried the much talked about Cheeseburgers in Paradise. After ordering with our eyes and not our stomachs or brains - we ordered way too much and had plenty left over but it was a very enjoyable mean made better by the very friendly waitresses whom were gracious enough to join us for some post meal photos.

We spent the remainder of the day just wandering around Waikiki and had dinner with friends from Australia who we ran into in the other side of the Pacific Ocean. We had dinner at Spada Bar & Restaurant which was both tasty and reasonably priced. The service was good and we were joined several time for stories about Hawaii and questions about Australia by the waiter.

Day 4 – Thursday 12th Nov

We woke up this morning and had to organise ourselves for a change of hotel and needed to move to the Waikiki Resort Hotel a few blocks away. We were given 2 complimentary pre-cruise nights at this hotel, which we were looking forward to as it had a pool. After the admin of checking in and out was completed we headed to the beach and waited by the Duke’s stature for our pick up.

We were picked up by extreme Parasailing and headed out for a few stops at other hotels picking up more passengers – before we arrived at the pier located near the Ward Centres and Mall. We all took turns of tandem parasailing taking in the beautiful surroundings and sites of Hawaii and taking snapshots of our feet from our disposable water cameras. As an extra the crew take some photos of everyone parasailing, which you can purchase for about by memory US$25. Everyone absolutely loved the parasailing and the warm water after being dunked in by the crew mid ride.

After the parasail we took a drive with a very friendly man (Sorry can’t remember his name) to our Jet Skiing part of the adventure. The drive was made very enjoyable by the humour and nice nature of our driver - -who earned his tip. The Jet Skiing leg of the trip was very funny and filled with close calls. The 16 year olds were together, as were my wife and I and we had the remaining loner. Throughout the 40 minute ski the girls grew and grew in confidence and eventually went full throttle much to my amazement. Amanda on the other hand managed to get worse if that were possible eventually getting too cocky and performing what she called a Fishy Tail and bumped her chin on the handle bars. I thought it was hilarious and eventually so did she, but didn’t like me continually asking her how she got the bruise on her chin and that she now looked like Jay Leno. We stopped several times trying to have a conversation with the turtle we occasionally cam across but scared off. After several reassurances to my wife that I knew what I was doing and her arguing that I was going too fast, I reminded her that I was an experienced Jet Skier…..then fell taking her with me. It didn’t help that I told her that I thought I saw a sting ray (The same creature that killed our beloved Icon Steve Irwin). My wife’s lack of arm strength made it difficult to reboard the ski but I managed to eventually get back on. Bu now we had everyone in stitches of laughter.

Being the last to ride the skis we were fortunate enough to hitch a ride back to the pier on the boat rather than in the truck. The ride was serene and filled with great photo opportunities. Looking at all the girls they were all smiling from ear to ear and laughing at their new found adventurist confidence, I even heard talk of trying Skydiving – with the threat of several unhappy parents whom entrusted their children with my care – that thought was shot down very quickly accompanied by many boo’s.

That night after many arguments of what we wanted to eat we all agreed to strike against any burger joints and eventually agreed to dine at a place called Buca di Beppo. Now we stumbled across this place by accident while going to the rest rooms at the ward centre – but started what would become a routine visit for dinner. Buca’s quickly became everyone’s favourite restaurant and highlight of our dining experiences. Unfortunately due to our severe hunger and our failure to properly read the menu - we learned the hard way that everything on the menu was design to be shared. So after ordering what we thought would be enough for us all, we again visited the menu and noticed that Buca small meant enough for 2-3 people and Buca large meant enough for 3-4 people – OOPS. The pasta, pizza and salads at this place were enormous and delicious – but the bruschetta was world class and soon became a necessity for every meal. This visit would become the first of many visits to this restaurant –HIGHLY RECOMMENDED – let me tell you. The restaurant looked like it was owned by a mob boss and used as a hang out for the mafia and could fit a lot of people.

That night we went to Wal-Mart to develop the photos which turned out to be of very good quality and at a cheap US$10 we got doubles and a CD of our photos – Cheap cheap cheap – I now love Wal-Mart. Being first time visitors to Wal-Mart you can imagine how interested we were and shook our heads several times when comparing prices – ITS NOT FAIR. :eek:

[Molokai-Chuck]

Looking forward to more.....you have a very good way of story telling....what a talent!

 

Also, don't leave out the info of the "cartwheel" doings in the room.

 

 

Chuck

[bronxite]

This has to be the most entertaining review I have read so far; can't wait to hear the rest.

[shakaka]

Day 5– Friday 13th Nov

Thanks for the feedback.

Now a good idea for anyone who plans a 6.30am tour – don’t stay up until 2am uploading photos on facebook and speaking to family on messenger. Unfortunately for some of the girls, my pet hate is being late to anything, so everyone got their wake up call at 5.30am from me impersonating hotel reception. I can’t understand why they couldn’t see the funny side of this prank. As part of the cruise package we purchased, a buffet breakfast was also included, so those who know me know that I also don’t like to miss a free meal. Weary eyed and half asleep to their credit the girls all rocked up to breakfast at different times and all managed to get a feed before out Oahu city and Arizona memorial tour. I was really looking forward to this trip to the memorial so that we could pay our respects and get a first hand look at what shaped history, particularly due its impact on Australian history.

The tour was conducted by Roberts Hawaii and we were picked up at the hotel lobby in what seemed like a bus made in Fred Flintstone’s era. The best part of the bus was the fact that it was half empty and we all could have two seats. Our driver was a classic; he was very small in size but distinct in nature. He pleaded with us not to call him ‘Hey driver’ or he would refer to us as ‘hey tourist’. Cousin Ted, as we had to refer to him, was now Ohana (family) and we spent the next half day .listening to his dry but funny sense of humour and reminiscing on of how he and his family migrated to Hawaii from the Philippines. Cousin Ted was clearly a popular guide and very knowledgeable, managing to get us in to the 8.00am tour at the memorial. Those who are going to do the tour on their own make sure you anticipate plenty of traffic. While we waited for our turn we all walked through the museum and took in the history and I must admit you cannot help but think deeply about the loss that the Hawaiian. American & Japanese people must have felt during this tragic event. One aspect about the memorial that I respected and really enjoyed was the fact that the memorial didn’t victimise any party in the war and made it just as much a memorial for the Japanese people that lost their lives as the Americans.

Walking through the several model replicas and actual parts that were recovered after the attack, We spent as much time as we had available soaking in the videos playing around the museum show actual footage and news reports at the times of the attack. There was a defining silence in the museum that showed how hard everyone was trying to not only respect the history but also to pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives so gallantly.

As we walked through the main entrance of the tour, I was evident that security was very tight and with all the renovations going on the place looked very busy and crowded. We all took our places in the theatre and watch the detailed documentary on the attacks which was enthralling and captivating. Again the documentary both showed an unbiased view of the battle and allowed the audience an opportunity, for that short period, to live through the attack and get a sense of the horrors that took place on that historic day. Being a history buff and thinking that I was rather well-informed, I must admit that I learnt quite a bit more about this day that I had not known before and was disappointed to notice that the 2 teenagers were fast asleep to my left. So in respect to those that lost their lives and to all the history teachers around the world I gave them both a nice smack across the back of the head which they both did not appreciate, but were smart enough to know that this was not the place to voice their resentment.

The next part of the tour was to take a leisurely boat ride to the memorial specially built directly above the sunken USS Arizona. There was nothing flash about the memorial site, but it was a nice tribute to those who lost their lives. We were blessed with a very sunny day and managed to get a more than decent view of the Arizona. Because of the nature of the tour and size of the, memorial we were back on the boat before we know it. We took some nice photos and for our memories and even learnt that oil still leaks from the Arizona even today – well there you go – All in all the tour was for about 75 minutes. As we say in Australia to fallen heroes of war ‘Lest We Forget’.

The next part of our tour was held up be the girls in our party who refused to wait in what seemed endless line to the female restrooms and went searching for other means (not in nature if that is what you are thinking). They ended up finding these means and off we were to visit the many sites of the Oahu city including the many homes of king kamehameha (try saying that five time quickly) and the many churches built by missionaries. Cousin Ted’s humour made this trip funny and a great way to see and learn about the city. We were dropped off at our hotel a little after mid day and decided to spend the rest of the day swimming. We all split up and went either to the hotel pool or the beach, some even found time for a much need ‘nanna nap’.

[shakaka]

After we regather the troops it was a very easy decision on where we were gong to have dinner – BUCA’s. This time we were better equipped to take on the menu so spent some time and decided that we were just as hungry as the last time so ignored the warnings of the waiter that we had ordered too much food. 2 Family Buca green salads, 2 Family Caesar salads, a large pizza and large bruschetta later we found it difficult to properly fit in our clothes. The worst part is that we were due to embark on our cruise the next day and we all knew as do all experienced cruisers that you never feel or look the same after a cruise-lucky they don’t weigh us for excess baggage around the waist. We spent the remainder of the night packing our bags gearing up for the much anticipated cruise on the Pride of America. We also took the opportunity to webcam with our kids back home, which was never easy as it was the fist time we left our little ones back home.

Day 6– Saturday 14th Nov – Cruise Day 1

We all met at the buffet breakfast in the morning and again I was pleasantly surprised at the discipline shown by the girls to make it in time before the buffet closed. All the girls in my party had one thing in common – they loved to sleep in. being an early riser by nature I accepted that we were different and made due with the extra time that I had alone. I needed to return the car so did so a jogged back to the hotel trying to rid myself of the Buca curse that I had brought on myself the previous 2 days.

We all spent the remainder of the morning wandering around the main malls in the Waikiki area killing time before the midday pickup by Roberts Hawaii to the pier for the cruise (also part of the cruise package – it wasn’t a bad deal when you think about the inclusions, will definitely still use Hawaiian cruise outlet when we do this cruise again).

Now this is the part I was not looking forward to - embarking on to the vessel, I had heard about some long waits and crowded piers but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t that difficult at all. We were there quite early maybe that had something to do with it but who cares. We arrived at the pier at about 12.30am and graciously thanked our drive for unloading our bags off the bus (poor man had unloaded close to 80 bags in the space of about 10 minutes) and told us that of the 40 or so people on the bus who were also joining the cruise we were the only ones who had thanked him. He told us that we were obviously raised properly and we again thanked him for his kind words. The disappointment was that I think the fact that he was Japanese made it easy for everyone to ignore him. Not being accustomed to tipping in Australia, I was surprised none of our fellow vacationers (who were American) did not tip this poor gentleman. It was fair to say that this driver had a sour taste in his mouth that we slightly sweetened.

After checking in our bags which took less than 10 minutes, after taking the pre-boarding photo with some dancer (who were very easy on the eyes let me tell you) we headed into the check in counters to get our cruiser ID’s and boarding pass. The wait for the check in was about 20-25 minutes but we were entertained by some Hawaiian dancers and singers. I suppose the excitement of being so close to boarding having just been handed our first Freestyle Daily made the wait bearable.

Once we boarded we spent almost an hour visiting the various offerings of the ship and for those who have asked previously we were welcomed with a choice of Champaign or juice on boarding. We walked around the ship like typical tourists taking as many shots of the ship as we could. After an hour or so of shooting hoops on the basketball court and sneaking in to all the specialty restaurants to see how they looked before the masses arrived, we headed to the very popular Aloha Café for one of many buffet meals.

By about 3.30pm all the rooms were ready except those on the 4th deck. Our party was split amongst 2 rooms, the 2 teenagers and friend in room 4059 an inside cabin or as we called it the Bronx and my wife and I were in a balcony room Port side – room 7542. We all ventured toward our Balcony room and were shocked at how spacious the room actually was. The room was in fact larger than our hotel room and it wasn’t until we had a look at the bathroom that we realised that we were given a room with wheelchair access. Wow this room was close to 75% larger than all other rooms and could have easily fit all our party comfortably. The shower was huge and as was the balcony, which my wife cheered loudly about.

When we heard the announcement that all rooms were now ready, we couldn’t wait to compare the girls’ room to our generous temporary home. We headed down to room 4059 to take a peak on what was the cheapest room on the ship and once we opened the door to the room, my wife burst out in laughter and cry from amusement what would become the joke of our vacation. Now this room which was without exaggeration as big as our bathroom needed to comfortably fit 3 girls with Paris Hilton like luggage. The girls jokingly commented that they could bust pimples while sitting on the toilet which was so close to them. My wife and I on the other hand could quite easily share the bathroom and have sufficient room to spare.

We all agreed it would be nicer to watch the ship depart from our balcony and headed up to our room, my wife could not hold back her laughter and it only got worse when we got back to the room. Almost as quickly as the door opened to our room my wife erupted into laughter again doing laps around our room as if it were a running track, this is where we all began to compare the rooms saying that we could do cart wheels in our room compared to the girls’ room. Desperate to see the funny side of this one of the girls decided to join us in doing cartwheels in the room and Molokai-Chuck this is when my sister in law broke my wife’s hat beyond repair that she was given as a gift on Waikiki beach by that weird but pleasant man.

We split our time on the remainder of the night celebrating on the South Beach Pool deck for the Sail Away party and having another meal this time trying the Cadillac Diner. We had to try the now famous Chocolate brownie, not being a big fan of chocolate I found a new friend in the New York Style Cheesecake – I can only think of Homer Simpson unbuttoning his pants and making that UUUGGGHHHH sound when I think of this cheesecake. As part of my therapy I am now admitting I am a cheesecake-a-holic – nice to meet you.

Excited about heading to Maui for our first port of call, we read up on some tours and discussed what we would do in Maui on the second day as we had agreed that we would first do the Road to Hana.

[shakaka]

Day 7– Sunday 15th Nov – Cruise Day 2 Maui

Not wanting to miss any port dockings I woke up quite early confident that it would be hours before the girls would be awake. Not that I was able to sleep much, as we had a very rough night at sea due to the very poor conditions, probable the worst I have experienced in my 3 cruises. I took out my camera on happily snapped shots of our docking at the Maui port. Unfortunately we gave up a very warm Aussie summer to be graced with cloudy and rainy Hawaiian weather – today was no different. The weather was not going to dampen our enthusiasm though, well not mine anyway, the girls had a summer day in the third and forth dreams respectively and were unwise to the fact that we had arrived at the world famous Maui.

I skipped away to the Aloha Café where I had breakfast everyday; I’m a sucker for scrambled eggs on toast and enjoyed trying the different cereals that the US had to offer. Caution – beware of the cinnamon cakes they are addictive – do you notice a trend here. The fresh fruit made me feel as though I was not neglecting all the major food groups even though I had eaten enough to get me to Hana and back.

I headed to the gangway and what would become a routine security check and reminder what time the ship was due to depart (today was an overnight stay in Maui). I waited in line with many fellow passengers and waited until our respective shuttles arrived to take us to the various car rentals on offer. Thrifty shares with Dollar on most ports – so be careful not to miss the Dollar bus if it arrives first. I pre booked online with Thrifty, making the most of my Blue Chip membership. Not needing a large car as there were no luggage requirements, we still needed room for the 5 in our party, so I booked the Specialty-Wild Car, which is where Thrifty pick the car for you based on their availability at the time. The Wild Car price is about 60 cents per day more than the compact car so it was worth the risk. To my shock and total excitement I was given a car I have wanted to drive for a while, a Chrysler 300 touring which retails at AUS$64K again pales in comparison to US prices – How do you sleep at night Australian car dealers and tax officers. The Chrysler 300 was in the Luxury category charged at US$72 a day not bad considering we only paid US$33. We paid the extra cover on insurance knowing that the road to Hana had has more than 600 sharp turns and 59 bridges and considered it a wise investment to again rent a navigator.

When I arrived back to pick up the girls they all looked hung over and exhausted – which was funny as none of them drank – but their eyes lit up when they saw the Chrysler 300 pull up past the security. We wasted no time and began the trek to Hana, by now I was an experienced drive on American roads (we drive on the other side of the road in Australian and drivers side is on the right side of the car. I managed to turn head on to traffic a few times in Oahu but I was more equipped for the road to Hana. Funny enough the locals drove as though they were navigating the roads in Australia and did not care much for traffic or rules for that matter and often sped past on what ever side of the road they fancied. Trying to fit in I adopted the ‘When in Rome mentality’ much to the dismay of the girls who begged me to slow down so that they could see out the remainder of their holiday. I jokingly suggested that Maui would be a great place to die – it was paradise. After several arguments and pitiful begging I agreed to slow down and enjoy the wonders of the vegetation and compromised that I would park anywhere I pleased.

Our first main stop would be the Garden of Eden - a beautiful, well-maintained botanical garden that has a few covered lanai, picnic areas and restrooms. There is a charge to get in of about US$10 per adult and US$5 for kids but we didn’t mind taking a look. Inside the Garden of Eden there were several beautiful areas to relax and enjoy the surroundings with breathtaking views, in particular the Puohokamoa Falls- a bird's eye view of the 30-feet waterfall from the Garden of Eden Arboretum. After feeding the ducks and laughing at one of the girls who slipped and fell in the many puddles of muddy water around the garden caused by our beautiful weather we got back into the 300 and rejoined the Road.

We stopped at several times at the many waterfalls along the way and even stopped at a local fruit grower and tried some banana apples and mangos which were delicious and cheap and combo I am never disappointed in. After several hours navigating the many hair pin turns and one lane bridges, we all decided to turn back and return to the ship. We stopped for some of Hawaii’s famous shaved ice and sang to entertain ourselves on the return trip. When we returned it was too late to have lunch and too early to have dinner so we settled for next best – room service. I’m glad I tried the room service early in the trip because it was rather enjoyable and would utilise this service a few more times during the cruise. We ordered cheese pizzas, Greek Salad, toasted cheese sandwiches and you guessed it Cheesecake. Now this is where I have my one of very few complaints about the POA. Added on to your room tab is the daily gratuity fee of US$12 per person per day, now call me old fashioned but I am a firm believer that you should earn a tip. I am not for one minute suggesting that most of the crew on the POA didn’t earn their tips but what incentive did they have to try harder or want to go that extra mile for the passengers. There on a few occasions that I felt like telling the staff that I wish that they only got a small share of the tip, but hey who am I to change things.

Not being drinkers, we all purchased the soda package worth about US$35 but once you add on the tax and again extra gratuity fee it is something like US$45. This is where I felt bad but not for long. I rather felt for the poor chap who had to deliver the 2 trays of food to my room and free soda thanks to the soda card (small sticker on room key) and not get a tip. Now that might sound rather stingy, but when you do the math from our party of 5 we paid an additional US$420 combined in gratuities to the crew and that is not including the generous addition to any drinks purchased. This method definitely favours the crew so I was not going to give any more than I had to, unless someone went that extra mile – it didn’t happen.

We spent some of the late afternoon shopping at the local mall, and then returned to look at the Sports memorabilia & Animation Art exhibition on display. To cap off they night we listened to a few songs with Toby Beau with his tribute to the Eagles then had an early night. This early night never eventuated, the girls ended up gate crashing our room and we finally agreed on a winner takes all, life or death game of monopoly that we got from the games room. After completely manipulating my way to victory creating division amongst the naive teenagers and an alliance with my wife’s cousin I dominated the board and ordered the losers to clean up the board – punishment for losing.

With the time difference in Sydney, it was a good time to talk to our boys back home so we purchased the internet package, which was about US$100 for 4 hours internet usage but came with a laptop that we could use in our cabins. After we attached our webcam we were talking to our kids back home again. We only had one day throughout the trip where we struggled to get decent connectivity to the internet-all other days were fine but slow even when we were out at sea. Not having anything really planned I suggested to the girls that it might be a good idea to have a little sleep in and save our energy for the Islands coming up that we had a fair bit planned.

[smrtypnts]

You have a wonderful way of sharing your experiences! Can't wait to hear more!! :)

[shakaka]

Day 8– Monday 16th Nov – Cruise Day 3 Maui

I was up at about 8am to return my beloved Chrysler 300 but took the opportunity to take it for one last spin around Maui, more due to the fact that I got lost on my way to Thrifty than because I wanted to drive. I boarded the shuttle back to the dock and had breakfast alone again in the Aloha Café. Now when I suggested that we all sleep in obviously I should have been more specific on the time as everyone but I was certain that a sleep in meant waking up sometime around midday. So I again impersonate ship reception to wake them all up basically suggested that we do nothing for the remainder of the day as it was almost over anyway.

All aboard was scheduled for 5.30pm for a 6pm departure from Maui, so that left us only 5 hours to do something meaningful in Maui. We heard from some of the other passengers that Lahaina Town was a nice little place to visit, so we thought we’d board the local bus at US$1 per head compared to the US$29pp the ship was charging for a transfer there. The only issue with catching the bus was that we had to do about 3 transfers to get to Lahaina, but at a dollar who was complaining.

We managed to get as far as Ma'alaea Harbor before we decided that we wanted to get off. Ma'alaea Harbor is where many of the tours depart from and return to and is where the Maui Ocean centre is located. We walked around the local craft shops and restaurants and tried to organise a quick tour or even a guided surfing lesson for the girls, but everything was closed for the day or tours just departed. The day was now looking like a total waste and disaster.

One of the locals suggested we try mini golf, which we at first laughed off but when we ran out of options decided what the hell. We walked the 800metres or so to the Maui Golf and sports park, which offered an attractively design theme park with pleasant water features and fish surrounded by waterfalls. The park offered an 18 hole mini golf course, X-treme trampoline (bungy cords attached to a trampoline to get extra height), rock climbing and BUMPER BOATS? Yes Bumper Boats, so from what was looking like a wasted day we took a gamble and probably had the funniest day of our total vacation. The weather was awful, cold, windy and occasionally rained on us. But as soon as we stepped into those Bumper Boats all hell broke loose. The Bumper Boats were not you normal Bumper Boats, they had water spraying guns attached to them and no one was dressed to get wet, but we all ended up getting absolutely drenched after we took turns ganging up on one another bumping the driest person under the waterfalls or spraying them with pour water guns. The world did not exist while we were in these Bumper Boats nor did we care for what people thought of us while we were on them but it was all out war and the park staff were in hysterics watching us go for our lives.

After about 3 turns on the Bumper Boats, we all took turns at climbing the rock wall – which again proved funnier than we expected. We all managed to mock the other person until it was time to do it ourselves and I was actually very shocked at the ability and stamina my wife showed to reach the top of the rock.

Our bus trip back to the ship also proved to be quite humorous, after we chased down the bus that only came every 45 minutes – thankfully the driver was thoughtful despite that fact the bus was full with little room left. The driver smiled as he said find somewhere to hold on and I’ll let you stay one. We managed to share a few laughs with the rather friendly bus driver and I think he was more laughing at us than with us as we laughed at every little thing that happened and shared stories with some of the locals. The driver was very amused when I mocked the girls for taking pictures of the trees asking them if they hadn’t noticed that we had trees back home, but that I took a picture of road kill.

When we returned to the ship we all agreed to shower and meet up to have our first dinner at the Liberty Restaurant. Unbeknown to us we were to become accidentally famous that night courtesy of one of the ships game shows….stay tuned

[shakaka]

After a nice a pleasant dinner we decided to make sure we were not late to the Comedy show that we heard a fair bit about from the crew. The company was called Second City long-running improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood. They informed us that in the mid-1970s, Second City became a source of cast members for Saturday Night Live and SCTV, which borrowed many of the writing and performing techniques pioneered by Second City and other improv groups-you learn a bit when you pay attention to things. Some famous Second City alum include Former Training Center students include Steve Carell , Mike Myers, Chris Farley, Halle Berry, Sean Hayes and Jon Favreau just to name a few. Not expecting much the Second City show was most enjoyable with many ****s that had everyone in tears of laughter and the fact that most of it was improvised and involved audience participation made it even funnier. I gave this show 8 out of 10 for comic value and 9 out of 10 for effort. The cast were even friendly enough to chat to passengers after the show and were quite down to earth.

After almost falling over each other due to the rough conditions we were having again this night (which was just our luck with this whole vacation so far) we thought it would be entertaining to watch the Not-so Newlywed Game with the ships director Silas & Sarah his assistant. We managed to beat the rush and get very good seats in the Mardi Gras and quietly giggled at the fact that we could now laugh at the expense of some long time married couples as I have seen this show on previous cruises and always made me laugh. For those unfamiliar with the game, couples volunteer to enter and they pick couples in the 0-5 years of marriage, 6-25 years & 25 years of marriage plus brackets and one wild card group. Each spouse takes a turn leaving the room while the other is asked a serious of personal questions. The team that matches the most answers wins a free session in the Ships spa.

The first couple was a young couple from Fort Lauderdale married only 5 days, the next couple was announced as my wife and I. WHAT!!!!! We looked at each other shocked and quickly noticed our travel companions laughing at the top of their voices happy that they had secretly entered our names into the competition-what choice did we have but to get up and join the competition. My wife isn’t the most confident person in a crowd of people she isn’t familiar with and the Mardi Gras was packed on this night with people standing to get a glimpse of this much anticipated game show. So there we were in the 6-25 years bracket and then two other couples, one celebrating 40 years of marriage and the other 15 years brought up to the stage.

The men were all escorted out of the room and sent to the ships chapel, while all the women were asked a series of questions. All us husbands had a good chuckle about what was about to happen and placed bets on who was going to remain married after the show. We all managed to have a good laugh getting to know each other very quickly and even found time to bag our in-laws (I said nothing-honey). When we were escorted back to the lounge I couldn’t help but notice that everyone in the Mardi Gras was laughing and that they were eagerly anticipating our response in comparison to our wives.

Question One – what is the first thing your husband touches when he wakes up in the morning? Upon hearing this question I began to laugh uncontrollable beyond a point that I was proud of or could control. Cruise Director Silas tried his best to keep the show rolling but there was no chance of me answering that question. I know very well that my wife is very modest and would never reveal anything that would outright embarrass me or make me look silly, but you can only imagine what the first thing that came to mind was. It took a good 5 minutes for me to compose myself and went against my original instincts and first thought and answered cell phone – which was correct for 5 points. Silas shook his head and only wondered what my original answer would have been. With only one question gone I had now developed a little fan club.

Question Two – What is the weirdest thing you have seen your husband doing naked? Now this was another long story and funny enough also involved doing cartwheels, but this is a story for another forum. Now knowing that telling the audience the correct answer would involve an explanation on how, when and why, my wife took the cheap and safe option of saying dancing. I of course answered truthfully and missed out on the points.

Question Three – What is the one thing that your husband does that irritates you? Being the perfect husband, there couldn’t possibly be an answer to this question and I again struggle to answer. Thinking back to the rare occasions my wife whined (please tell me you have picked up on the sarcasm) I thought that she always complained most when I left my dirty basketball clothes on the floor – WRONG – my wife answered that she most disliked my flatulence – Nice. Now not for one second am I denying that this is not a slight issue that may in fact annoy my wife, but I took great insult at the fact that she could so easily reveal this knowing full well that she was not totally innocent in this regard. Not being known as someone who will sit on the truth, I made it heard that my wife she practice what she preached and not be ignorant to the fact that her problem in this area was as bad if not worse than mine. To this day I am not sure why the audience found it difficult to contain themselves and why Silas had his face in his palm – it was the truth.

Now it was time for the Ladies to leave the room and our turn to get payback, oops I mean be asked the questions

[shakaka]

By now each of the husbands thought they were funny and ready to star in the upcoming Second City show. By now Silas, the Cruise Director, could barely look me in the eyes without laughing and almost lose concentration – I on the other hand held myself with total professionalism as I know the show must go on and I had to carry this inexperienced host (I do hope you know I’m not serious).

Question 1 – Where was your first kiss? Silas informed us that in the time they have been playing this game no one got this question incorrect – ever. I for some reason had a feeling that this record was about to be broken. We went 3 for 3 until the last couple did actually get this question wrong – well there is a first time for everything.

Question 2 – If there was one member of you wife’s family that you would hate to be alone with on a deserted island – which would it be? There were many options for this question and knew that my wife would struggle to guess which one I chose – so I went the safe bet and chose her sister. So when Silas asked what my response would be I tuned and pointed to my sister in law who was sitting in the audience. I rather enjoyed that the entire audience looked over and began to stare at my sister in law making her feel awkward and humiliated. It was fair to say that her face was red for the remainder of the show and that she was totally not expecting me to expose her like that.

Question 3 – If you were at the store and you wife asked you to go to Victoria Secret buy her a bra but at the time she was about to give you her size the phone cut out – What size bra would you buy? This are the kind of questions I did not look forward to as I knew my wife would never forgive me if I revealed her actual size. Now a few of the men were very confident about the answer, some even used hand gestures to remind themselves, I however had no choice but to find a way to get out of answering this question. When my turn came I calmly told Silas that if I was to answer this question I know my wife would die of embarrassment and he replied that I didn’t have to be exact and I could choose between the sizes 1 to 100 and the letters A to Z. I coolly looked him square in the eyes and answered 100-Z. Looking around for some sort of support I could see the pain in the eyes of the fellow contestant whom were supposed to be my new colleagues and companions in the war against the women, but they all looked at me with eyes that said – ‘I would hate to be in your shoes buddy!’.

The laughs from the audience went on way too long for my liking and Silas informed me that I would unlikely live this down. I wasn’t sure what he meant until I noticed that behind the bright lights of the lounge were cameras. The show was being record and I soon realised that it was going to be looped over and over and over and over on the cruise TV channels. What had I done?

Question 4 – Where is the weirdest place that you and your wife have made “Nooky” (I think that is how to spell it). Again I couldn’t see a way to answer this without making my wife give me the silent treatment for the remainder of our vacation. So I again decided to take the safe option. As Silas waited for my response, I turned and faced my no mortified sister in law and said ‘Her room’. That was it; I had now totally alienated all the females in the audience and knew that both my wife and her sister were going to give me the silent treatment. I also soon realised that women do in fact stick together and that when they do my fellow men were now where to be seen. I was stopped on many occasions by disgruntled women during the course of the cruise asking me how dare I say such things and how inconsiderate I was- that’s show business for you, one second your famous and the envy of all next thing your Britney Spears and no one wants to know you.

I was now famous for many reasons and was continually stopped and quizzed about my answers by many people and all other Aussie travellers would now stop us at every opportunity and ‘have a yarn’ as we would say back home. For the record my wife answered questions 1 and 3 correctly 0 go figure.

[gmcnulty99]

Your review is so entertaining! You are a great story teller....can't wait for the next installment.

[shakaka]

Day 9– Tuesday 17th Nov – Cruise Day 4 Hilo

We were not surprised to wake up and see that the weather was poor again, but today we were blessed with the cold as well as the rain. On today’s agenda was a tour of Hilo which included the Volcano National Park. All the girls were woken again by reception (me) for their daily wake up call and we all managed to have breakfast together for possibly the only time of the trip. Hilo & Knoa were the only posts that we did not hire a car as we had prearranged tours.

After doing my research on Cruise Critic, someone gave me the details to a lovely gentleman named Ricky Banasan [rickystours@yahoo.com], whose website is www.rickystours.com and offered one of if not the most reasonably priced tour of Hilo available. Ricky’s tours were more than half the price of the ships tours and personalized enough to make you fell rather special. Ricky operates out of a 14 seater van and visits all the must see sites in Hilo.

First stop/drive by was the Banyan Drive, Liliuokalani Garden – where Ricky gives a great commentary through out the drive and knows all the vegetation by name-including their scientific names. For the average age of our travelling party not the most exciting aspect of the tour, but I suppose Ricky tries to accommodate for all travellers.

Next part of the tour was to visit the Macadamia Nut Co, where you get the opportunity to take a factory tour (outside viewing windows) and then taste test every possible way to utilise a Macadamia Nut in a snack. Again you need to be into this kind of stuff to enjoy it; this is also a good opportunity for a pit stop or a snack.

Next stop Rainbow Falls, where you get the opportunity to see one of the truly magnificent waterfalls, which was quite impressive on this particular day, mostly due to the heavy rainfall that seemed to follow us around – at least this was one benefit of the rainfall. Being such a famous group now since the ships game shows, we were approached by a lady who looked familiar for a chat, it didn’t take us long to realise that this was Terry the winner of the last Big Brother series in Australia – Hey Tezza how YOU Dooin.

Now the part of the tour we were all looking forward to, The Volcano National Park. As we approached the entrance to the National Park, we were stopped by the rangers and charged entry for each person – This tab was graciously picked up by Ricky and we were told it was all part of the package – Absolute bargain, still don’t believe it. During this part of the tour we saw the Steam Vents, which you have to see and feel to believe the true heat that the Volcano possesses. We also visited Jaggar Museum, Halamaumau Crater, Keanakakoi Crater, Kilauea Iki Crater, then hoped back in the bus to go see the Thurston Lava Tube. All these attractions make for great photo opportunities and are truly a magnificent site to see.

The final stops or the tour were the Akatsuka Orchid Garden and the Black Sand Beach (Richardson Ocean Beach Park). Now we weren’t anticipating much at the Black sand beach but we absolutely thought the beach was beautiful – maybe due to the fact that the sun finally graced us with its presence or because the surf was magnificent and we managed to see plenty of turtles that we quite playful.

All in all the tour set us back a ridiculously cheap US$50 per person for a full day of attractions and the fact that it was a small group made it fun and very personable. Ricky was a true gentleman and made the trip both enjoyable and educational. I can not say enough about the hospitality he showed everyone and the polite way he conducted himself. I even received a follow up email from him thanking us for joining him and wishing us a safe journey home – I can’t recommend enough that you go with Ricky – GO RICKY GO RICKY!

We were dropped back off at the pier with about an hour and a half before all aboard, where most of our group went to change into some warmer clothes; others went to Wal-Mart to get some stock and phone cards to call home.

That night we watched the very entertaining and extremely funny Comedy Show by Kermet Apio, who managed to make fun of himself and the size of the cabins better than any comedian I have watched before. I am a great fan of stand up comedy and Kermet more than held his own with some of the best in the world, funnier than you would expect on a cruise ship – put it that way.

We all organised that we would meet for a late dinner and be ready for the lava flow viewing at 9.45pm.Now all those husbands and fathers out there would know what happened next. We made it just in time for dinner before it closed at 9.30pm; we ordered and carefully studied our watches. We were the only people left in the restaurant except Silas the cruise director, Kermet the comedian and other senior employees of the ship. Hoping I could avoid being put on the spot, I tried to lay low but it didn’t work as I passed their party I was stopped for a conversation and I was told by them that I was now the star of the ship and part of possibly the funniest episode of the Not so Newlywed game that they had ever done. I modestly reverted the attention back on Kermit who was truly the star of the ship (well for tonight anyway) and continued back to my party. As you would expect our meals came out at 9.47, two minutes past the scheduled lava viewing, so we took turns in going out to view this true spectacular and nature at is wild best. No video footage or photographs can do this viewing justice it must be seen to believed. The ships lights on Starboard side are switched off and a running commentary throughout the viewing. The ship slows down for this viewing and you can see the lava for about 30 minutes or so (I wasn’t counting).

We went back to finish our meals and could tell that we had upset most of the staff who would have usually been cleaned up and finished by now – but hey it was our vacation and the customer is always right and at US$12 a day each you can wait until I’M READY. (I had to include that as a form of protest to NCL). The night was capped of by some very very poor Karaoke singing from the girls which I had to run away from and watch the replay of the NBA (switching channels only to see my ugly melon on the ships channel). But apparently the girls were very popular with the audience and everyone wanted to know what they were drinking-funny that.

[shakaka]

Day 10– Wednesday 18th Nov – Cruise Day 5 Kona

It seems as though this is a repeated message, but I again had breakfast alone and did not want to miss out on see what looked like a beautiful port. I managed to get on one of the first few tenders to shore (Kona is the only port that you tender off the boat) and was at the pier rather early. After walking around the town and tossing up between doing the Atlantis Submarine, hiring a bike or getting a jet ski – I found that having the Pride of America and Atlantis Submarine fairly close to the shore would allow for some great photo opportunities and a Jet Ski would allow me to get pretty close.

At US$100 I hired the Jet Ski for an hour and was greeted by a very friendly and laidback employee who shipped me to the pontoon a few hundred metres off the pier. I was briefly given instructions on how to ride the ski and where I could and could not go. I think I managed to break every rule that he gave me (unintentionally of course) and only got reprimanded by his boss who came out to monitor us because I was too close to the cruise ship-apparently there are new anti terrorism laws that prohibit you from getting too close to the ship, which is ironic because I had been sleeping in that same ship for the past few days. The employee of the company was more than gracious and allowed me to ride almost 20 minutes over the hour I had paid for and then waved me back in to return me to the pier. Most of the action and tours are located right at the tender drop off point so there isn’t much travel involved at this port; there are also plenty of shuttles to Kmart, Wal-Mart, Hilo Hattie’s etc.

With all that I had done there was still no site of the girls, so I walked around taking some really nice photos until about 11.30am, which is when we were scheduled to meet for our next adventure. We originally hadn’t planned to do much in Kona, but had heard quite a bit about The Captain Zodiac tour so were persuaded to give it a go. Those who haven’t heard much about the Captain Zodiac tours you ride in Rigid Hull Inflatable Zodiac vessels that are 24 feet in length. They are powered by twin outboard motors and produce a quick moving and highly manoeuvrable ride. The rafts are perfect for exploring the shallow coves, sea caves and lava tubes located along this coastline. Passengers sit on the side pontoons and each boat will hold up to 16 passengers. These are the same boats utilized by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Navy Seals.

The tour involves a four hour Rafting and Snorkelling Adventure, which departs from Honokohau Harbor on an exciting adventure to Kealakekua Bay. The tour covers 14 miles of these scenic shores, where you have the opportunity to discover sea caves, lava tubes and view amazing wildlife above and below the water. Probably the best aspect of the tour is that the captain and his first mate will entertain you with tales of Hawaiian folklore and history as you travel to pristine Kealakekua Bay. The most spectacular part of the tour was the snorkel among beautiful tropical fish living in the coral gardens, literally metres from the site where explorer Captain James Cook (First man to discover Australia) was clobbered to death.

Everyone on the tour had a blast, especially during the snorkel, which was very suitable for first time snorkelers. A bonus during the tour was the pod of dolphins that began to parade and amuse us all. The dolphins were riding the wake of the zodiac and also rode at the side and front of the vessel. Some of us were even lucky enough to get photos of them jumping out if the water. This was a truly memorable tour that should be experienced by anyone who enjoys the sun, water and is fascinated by sea life.

The ship charged about US$100-120 (can’t really remember, possibly more) for the Captain Zodiac tour, but we found it to be cheaper to book direct with them. They charge about US$97pp but if you book over the internet they give you a US$15 discount, which adds up if you have a decent sized group like ours. Those bargain hunters should keep an eye out for the This Week ‘Big Island’ magazine which also offers a discounted price. I called over the phone (Thanks again Ricky for letting me use your phone) and told them I had a voucher and they charged us US$85pp. Now that’s a fair amount cheaper than those who booked through the ship and we were all picked up from the same location (right at the pier tender drop off) and were actually on the same tour with people who booked on the ship – I’d be upset if I were in there shoes.

When we all completed our routine shower, shine and shampoo, we met for dinner at the Liberty restaurant again. Each night we managed to entertain ourselves sometimes with the waiters joining in and other time at the expense of those who showed no enthusiasm or enjoyment for their job.

After Dinner we walked in a few minutes late to the magic show by Fred Becker, which was Ok but not amazing. Don’t want to bag the bloke, he tried hard but I guess it just isn’t our thing – if your into magic I’m sure he would entertain you. We then headed to the Mardi Gras lounge for a game of Majority rules with the cruise director Silas and his assistant Sarah. Table #17 which was our party was announced winners of the game and we were handed an assortment of NCL equipment such as bags, cup holders, pens, and shirts etc as prizes. Directly after this game Cruise DJ Orlando conducted a scavenger hunt game which table #17 again came out on top as winners – more prizes – go team. We spent the remainder of the night being entertained by Orlando at the World Music Appreciation party, which played an assortment of music from around the world. Then it was off to bed to rest for the much anticipated port stop at Kauai.

[brissygirl]

 

– Cheap cheap cheap – I now love Wal-Mart. Being first time visitors to Wal-Mart you can imagine how interested we were and shook our heads several times when comparing prices – ITS NOT FAIR. :eek:

 

And you know what else isn't fair - Wal-mart is open 24 hours! We did the cruise 28th November to 5th December. We flew into Honolulu the day before the cruise so didn't have the amount of shopping time you all got to enjoy. But we were there for the Black Friday Sales, so I got quite a lot from Macy's and Sears. The prices were incredible. My half empty suitcase came home bursting at the seams. Love the shopping in Hawaii:), do you think the rest of America is as good?

[shakaka]

Tell me about it brissygirl, my wife was like a drug addict who needed a Macy's fix everyday. We honestly bought clothes more than 80% cheaper that could be found in Australia. Macy's is where our group spent most of our money. Between My wife, her sister and I - we had a combined 47kg (with no carry on bags other than cameras and some snacks for flight) on the way to Honolulu. On our return flight we had 82kg checked in and all bought carryon bags from Wal-Mart that each weighed about 15kg - so you can imagine who much we bought and spent. We are going to plan trips back for a few days purely to shop for our kids as they grow out of their clothes.

 

Most of the locals I spkoe to were originally from mainland US and they say Hawaii is more expensive than most of the American Major cities - how depressing. We spent all night in Wal-Mart one night developing photos - love that it is open 24 hours. First thing I did back in Sydney was go to Footlocker (which is where I did most of my shopping) and left with a very sour taste in my mouth.:(

[shakaka]

Day 11– Thursday 19th Nov – Cruise Day 6 Kauai

From feedback on the Cruise Critic site I heard a lot of good things about Kauai and had done my research on what we wanted to see and do at this port. I was particularly keen on waking up early to see the ship dock and was not disappointed by the shear beauty of Kauai. We originally had an early helicopter tour of the island and an afternoon mudbug excursion and planned to have the second day at port open for something that took our fancy, however had to change the helicopter tour for the next day as they accidently confirmed us for the afternoon session and by the time we had realised all places were booked out. No harm, as we particularly wanted to do the helicopter in the morning as the early morning sun makes for much better viewing and nice rainbows.

I was not going to let my wife sleep in this morning so I made as much noise as I possibly could and apologised when I woke her-‘Oh did I wake you-sorry’. We had a quick light breakfast (by this stage of the cruise I had as much scrambled eggs on toast as I could take and started to think ahead and avoid a major weight lose regime when I returned home). I began to eat a disciplined breakfast of cereal and fruit, so that I could feel proud of myself. This disciplined diet lasted only about 8 minutes and I found that I again had a plate of scrambled eggs.

As we had the mudbug tour booked in for 12.30pm, we decided to delay the pick up of our rental car until 11.00am so that we could use it for most of the next day. My wife and I decided to take the shuttle to the mall, whose name escapes me I thing it was Anchor Cove or something like that. We spent the morning just wandering around and walking on the beach which is only a few minutes walking distance from the pier. After doing some internet banking and sending some emails we went to pick up our car. I was convinced to pay that little extra to get a four wheel drive, but found it to be less roomy than the charger or Chrysler 300 and went back in to try and get the charger. The very helpful lady at Thrifty gave me the keys to a luxury 7 seater with all the extras and turned a blind eye telling me to keep it quiet. Not sure if it was my devilish good looks, Aussie charm or the fact that they had nothing else and wanted to keep a Blue Chip member happy – but I was happy with what I paid for.

I went back to the ship and picked up the girls then made our way to Koloa town for the Mudbug tour. The Mudbug tour is not for the faint hearted, however is paced slow enough for those who might not be adventure junkies. The tour involves an adventure filled four-hour waterfall tour throughout Kauai's south shore, where you get the opportunity to visit unspoiled landscapes on 22,000 acres of land otherwise inaccessible to the public. You'll learn about Kauai's plant and animal life from knowledgeable guides, ride through a .5 mile cane haul tunnel and access major motion picture sights on fully automatic off-road vehicles. You also wind through thick vegetation and rugged terrain to two secluded cascades. Hike through a bamboo forest and swim in refreshing pools. I thoroughly enjoyed the swim in these pools which were deep enough to do bombs and belly busters at great heights. I don’t think I heard anyone on the tour say anything negative about the tour or not say that it was one of the best things that they had done on their vacation. Lunch at the waterfalls was a nice and peaceful way to sit relax and meet all the travellers and share stories. We managed to blow a tire which made the ride a bit rough for a while, but it did not take the crew long to drive out with a new tire to get us back on the way after lunch.

We paid US$30 for a disc full of photos that one of our guides took of us on the mudbugs and at the waterfalls throughout the tour. The photos were great quality shots and a great way to capture the memories without the hassle of taking the photos. Both teenagers were very happy as they were allowed to drive, as the minimal age limit for drivers was 16. One problem that we had is that we had to return back to the ship and get one of the passports for the teenagers as proof of age to allow her to drive. I wasn’t too impressed in doing the 90 minute round trip to get the passport, but did anyway, only to become more enraged after learning that my wife took a pit stop at the buffet for sushi, while we were all waiting in the car in a hot and humid day, knowing full well that we were all hungry. We got to Koloa town 25 minutes late after one of the employees told us we had until 1.00pm to check in – she was wrong it was 12.30pm. We were soon forgiven by the angry group that was forced to wait for us – if they only knew that it wasn’t our fault.

At the conclusion of our tour it took us a long time to wash out all the mud and was still doing so for up to 3 days after the tour. All in all we hired one mudbug (2 seater) at US$155 for the driver and US$135 for the passenger and one Ohana (4 seater) at the same price but obviously had 2 passengers. Nice tour and worth paying for while your on vacation and not probably something you would do twice but definitely memorable and not regrettable.

We drove back to the ship showered again and again, and then went to the local mall for more Macy’s and Footlocker. We managed to find some very good bargains at the Kauai Footlocker then went back to the ship for dinner and an early night as we had a 7.30am helicopter tour that we all were very excited about. We parked the car at the nearby scooter hire place on the same street as the pier for a hefty $20 a night, but what options did we have. We found it more convenient to park it there so that we did not have to waste time in the morning for the helicopter tour

[smrtypnts]

I never want your journey to end!! I have so thoroughly enjoyed your story!! It's like reading a good book. Thank you so much for sharing!

[shakaka]

Thank you smrtypnts, this is as much a diary for my own record as a story and review for all thos cruisers out there. I am a keen traveller and often forget names of places and tours that I have done, I find that taking a diary helps with refreshing the memory and often good for a laugh when our travelling party gets together to reminisce. This site help me save so much money and gave me great tips for my trip, this is also my way of giving back.

[shakaka]

Day 12– Friday 20th Nov – Cruise Day 7 Kauai

There were many weary eyed travellers this morning as we all got up at about 6am so that we could be ready for the Blue Hawaiian helicopter ride around Kauai. We had heard so much about this tour, so were all very excited and this was evident when everyone turned up to breakfast at the time we had agreed the night before – despite the fact that they were again woken by the room 7542 wake up call. The girls no longer believed that this was a cruise wake up call and would now answer the calls with rather annoyed tones on their voices – I can’t imagine why.

We all had a decent breakfast, some more than others and they would soon learn that a light breakfast is they way to go when you are about to embark on a helicopter joy ride. Maybe the fact that I was the only person who had done anything like this before should have been a reason to alert the possibility that motion sickness quickly remind and show everyone what they had for breakfast – but I guess that’s how memories are made and who am I to ruin a potential life lasting memory.

We made the short walk to the parking lot and picked up our car, then made our way to the address given to us when we booked the flight. Rather than use the navigator as I should have, I followed the instructions given to me by a shuttle bus driver the day before and headed straight to the airport. Once we arrived at the airport it didn’t take us long to realise that we were in the wrong place, so we called Blue Hawaiian and they informed us that we were to be picked up at their Harbour mall office where we were to be shown a safety instruction video and assigned seats based on our weight.

Unfortunately we were late again but it hadn’t affected the tour as they too were slightly behind schedule. After we were shown the safety video we were assigned seats and were we off to the airport. We waited at the helipads where there were numerous different companies flying out of the same area. Our helicopter was the only one yet to arrive and we were informed that was because the helicopters were housed in one of the few hangers available a fair distance away from the airport. It didn’t bother us though, quite the opposite it added to the excitement of the tour when we saw this shiny Navy Blue helicopter with sky blue strips whip around the mountains and onto the base making a smooth and almost rehearsed landing on the helipad. We were all instructed to line up in order of boarding and then we were strapped in by the ground staff. The helicopter we were in was called the American Eurocopter ECO-Star, the first helicopter designed specifically for air touring. Blue Hawaiian had an excellent safety record and very spacious seating arrangement which is why we chose them.

 

We were each given a microphone button, which if we pressed would allow us to be heard by everyone in the chopper and would make up the sound and commentary of the optional flight DVD that we could purchase at the end of the flight. It didn’t take long for our group to start acting like pilots and make every aeronautical call we could think of, including comments that we irrelevant and silly such as 10-4 captain if they agreed to something. The take off was very exciting and as we turned to head to the Hanapepe Valley, we could see the might Pride of America which would make for a great photo. The captain asked us to not speak into the mic’s until we cleared the first set of mountains as he needed to hear the instructions from the flight tower and as soon as we did we all ooohed and aaaahed to the magnificent views as the theme music to Superman played in the background.

Kauai Helicopter Tours are often described by most tourist as the finest on the Hawaiian island and it didn’t take us long to realise why. Your journey begins with a flight to spectacular Hanapepe Valley, and then continues on to Mana Waiapuna, commonly referred to as Jurassic Park Falls, because it was the falls that are seen in the opening scene of the movie Jurassic park. We barely made it to Mana Waiapuna when I noticed that both My wife and her sister were both looking like they were regretting their big breakfast and wish that we had not booked the full 55 minute flight package. I found it rather humorous and took plenty of photos for the memories and as all brother in laws should made as many dry reach sounds as I could trying to tempt fate-my wife was too nauseous to give me her usual death stares.

Next it's up the Olokele Canyon before moving on to eye-popping Waimea Canyon, which we were informed by the pilot, was also known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Then, the sculptural masterpiece of the Na Pali Coast which has truly be seen in person to believe. We had the opportunity to sail past this magnificent coast line on the POA were fortunate enough to do so on our Port side balcony. Any photos of this wonder look as though they are photo shopped and the colours are incredible. The Na Pali Coast gives way to the Bali Hai Cliffs, and the unspoiled blue waters of Hanalei Bay and the Princeville Resort area.

Finally, we visited Wailua Falls and Mt Waialeale, the heart of the ancient volcano. This is the wettest spot on earth, with an average rainfall of 450-500 inches annually – based on the track record of our trip so far we were not disappointed – it seemed as though as soon as we entered are surrounding area of Mt Waialeale the rain bucketed on the chopper and it was as though we were in the middle of a typhoon. The pilot did not look too concerned, but by this stage both my wife and her sister had courtesy bags (better known as barf bags) held over their mouths like a hyperventilating anxiety patient. The rest of our party tried to ask as many silly questions as we could to get our value for money.

Flying into the centre of the crater with its 5000-foot walls towering above and its 3000-foot waterfalls surrounding you, was a truly awe-inspiring finish to our adventure over the Garden Isle. I could see sighs of relief as we closed in on our landing but by this time both girls were suffering from motion sickness but did not provide us with any lasting memories and reproduce their breakfast – how selfish. We were unbuckled by the ground staff and gathered in front of the chopper for some photos, then had a laugh at how fragile the two sisters were and began to mock their expressions during the flight. We all agreed that it would be worth paying the US$25 for the live DVD recording which is made of your actual flight and commentary as previously mentioned.

After I dropped the girls off at the ship I returned the car to thrifty and spent the afternoon playing basketball with other passengers and some crew before the all aboard at 1.30pm for the 2pm departure and Na Pali Coast sail by. We all spent the sail by on our balcony, taking photos while commenting on the sheer beauty of this coast, sipping on Virgin Pina Coladas and Banana smoothes – how wild are we? We all ordered room service because we were again in the middle of Lunch and dinner without realising it and didn’t feel like burgers or hotdogs. So ordered an assortment of foods from the quite extensive room service listing, which we rather enjoyed.

After lunch we spent some time lazing around the pools and spas killing time before dinner, which we would have at the Liberty again. My wife had not lasted long at the dinner before she returned to the room to recover from her bad case of motion sickness, but the rest of us carried on as troopers.

[pspercy]

Love the shopping in Hawaii, do you think the rest of America is as good?

 

Likely cheaper for most things.

[shakaka]

Day 12– Friday 20th Nov – Cruise Day 7 Kauai cont…

One of prizes for winning for winning one of the several game shows on the cruise was a special treat at dinner. We were not sure what this special treat was, but were informed just to hand it to our waiter before dinner and they will look after the rest. At the beginning of our dinner we handed to certificate for the special treat and were asked what the occasion was – we didn’t really have an occasion so we told her it was a family reunion. The waitress told us to make it more meaningful, so the girls told her that it was the wedding anniversary of my wife and I. Not knowing what to expect it became rather embarrassing when about 10 of the crew gathered around our table to sing a love song to me and my wife – despite the fact that my wife was back in the room suffering from motion sickness. I sat there in the middle of the restaurant, while everyone was looking at me and these people were singing at the top of their voices while I cuddled an empty chair – it was fair to say the girls found it difficult to contain their laughter.

After dinner there was an announcement that The Second City was to play another show, which was unplanned in the Mardi Gras lounge. This show was to be totally script free and based on the suggestions of the crowd and improvisation. One of the funnier skits included most of the cast leaving the room while the crowd screamed out famous quotes from legendary movies. These quotes were written on a piece of paper then the actors would play act a scene based on a situation that we made up. This made for a hilarious skit particularly as they screamed out “put another shrimp on the barber” or “Say hello to my little friend” in a totally unexpected and irrelevant passage of the skit.

The funniest part of the show for our group was when on of the girls in our party was called up and asked a series of questions to which The Second City would use the responses to recreate a dream in her life. Amanda was very funny and was encouraged by the other Aussies in the audience and often had to slowly explain some of her responses to the cast who were ignorant to Australian colloquialism. The cast then set out to recreate her dream mocking her love of Macy’s, Wal-Mart and strong Australian accent. I think the cast was rather pleased that they had picked Amanda who was very colourful and funny even to the cast itself. One of the funnier comments was when she was asked were she was going tomorrow, Amanda innocently responded to Honolulu-then looked out to the crowd and said aren’t we all going there tomorrow. The audience and other cast members broke out in laughter to this innocent comment that was clearly an obvious response to the question.

The only dampener to the night was the fact that we had set into the reality that the cruise was soon to be over. We had to have our luggage out in the hallway by midnight that night and we all scrambled after the show to complete out packing. If not we would be responsible for taking our language off the ship. We selected light blue tags which meant we were the last of the passengers to get off the ship. Not having any flights to rush to and a buffet available we decide to make the most of what little time we had left on the ship. This would be one of few nights I would not complain if the girls slept in.

Day 13 – Saturday 21st Nov – Cruise Day 8 Honolulu

We all had sombre looks as we headed to the Aloha Café for one last time, I swear I could hear sobbing as we slowly took in our final buffet for our vacation and the thought of having to start paying for the remainder of the meals for our trip. We reminisced about the fun we had on the cruise saying goodbye to the many friends we had made on the trip and then made our way back to the rooms one last time.

As we cleared out our rooms, we all managed to have one last laugh about the size of the girls’ room and made an oath never again cruise without a balcony, while the girls made mention of at least having a window next time. My wife and I had been on a cruise before but doing so with a group seemed much more enjoyable and I think this is how we will travel in the future. We made our way to the main reception on Deck 5 and noticed that there was a very big line. We were in no hurry, so sat down and waited for the right opportunity to disembark the ship for the last time.

Ship Rankings:

Cabins: 10 out of 10 – Mainly because we had the extra room, if not it would have been an 8 out of 10. Had all the necessities and the towel animals were a nice treat.

Cabin Service: 10 out of 10 – never an issue, always had towels when needed and would always be friendly when we made special requests and did a good job of making up the room.

Room Service: 10 out of 10 – considering it was a cruise ship it was better than in some 5 star hotels that I have stayed in. Didn’t wait longer than informed and food was more than adequate.

Embarking/Disembarking: 9 out of 10 not perfect but couldn’t complain at all.

Restaurants: 9 out of 10 for presentation, 8 out of 10 for food quality and variety, 6.5 out of 10 for service and 10 out of 10 for Freestyle system.

Specialty Restaurants: Only tried the Cadillac which we rated 7.5 out of 10

Pools and other top deck attractions: 8 out of 10 have seen better pools but the Basketball court was a winner for me.

Spa/Gym: would love to say we used these facilities but would be lying.

Shows, performances & entertainment staff: 9 out of 10 the best I’ve seen in my cruises, particularly Comedian Kermet & The Second City cast – magic show was so so. Cruise director, DJ and staff tried very very hard

Mardi Gras Night Club: This is what you make of it, weren’t too busy but those that were there made the most of it.

Reception Desk: 9 out of 10 no issues here

Shore Excursions: 3 out of 10 great tours but way over priced and bordering on rip off.

Internet Café: 4 out of 10 very well set up and able to use in your room but way too slow and often difficult to log in.

Library & Games room: 10 out of 10 More than adequate and a huge selection of books and games.

Teen Club & Video Arcade: 10 out of 10 as good as you could expect.

Newbury Street Shops and Art Gallery: 8 out of 10 would have liked more memorabilia type things to choose from but at least there was no over kill.

Photo shop and ship Photographer: 8 out of 10 however was definitely overkill and pricey but as you would probably expect – wasn’t much of an intrusion as I’ve seen.

Bars & Drink ordering: 5 out of 10, on most occasions you only got good service if you were buying big and smiles should be free but felt expensive.

Pride of America overall: 9 out of 10 we had a great time which could have biased our ratings but I tried to be as honest as possible.

[shakaka]

Day 13 – Saturday 21st Nov cont….

We headed out to the front of the pier once we had identified all our bags and made our way out the main door, with no real plan on how we were going to get to our hotel. I looked at all the rental shuttles and they all looked packed and we had 5 people with enough bags to fill the shuttles. Looking confused and with no real plan we were approached by a woman who offered to transfer us to our hotel for US$6 per head, considering that we would need 2 taxis anyway this turned out to be a fair price to pay. This shuttle dropped us off to the Aqua Waikiki Pearl for our final 4 days.

We checked in to the Pearl at about 11.00am and were informed that our room would not be ready until 3pm so we all agreed that now we were in the final stretch of our vacation we should complete our shopping and there was not time like the present. We called Thrifty who picked us up at our hotel within 30 minutes of us calling them and were a bit worried when we saw the line of people waiting for a car. The Waikiki Thrifty/Dollar rental lot looked more like a car wash with a little demountable room in the middle, but had a line of people that stretched out to the footpath. I walked up to a window on the side of the building and asked them where the Blue Chip members line up, fortunately for me I was the only one and was served immediately – The decision to join the Blue Chip program saved me what would have been hours of waiting. Once we picked up our Dodge charger (that they almost charged me luxury price for had I not checked the contract and was half empty on gas, but not so on the contract – Tip to all - read the contract before you leave the lot) we took the opportunity to go to Aloha Stadium and check out the swap meet.

The swap meet was very disappointing and I remember it being much better the last time I was in Hawaii, but we picked up some useless stuff and shaved ice then proceeded on the Waikele Premium Markets. Along the way we stopped at Chucky Cheese to take a look as we hear it in so many American movies but had no idea what it was. We came out thinking how we could make it just as successful in Australia but with an Aussie twist.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon shopping at the outlet store and spending a lot of money before returning home to check in. Once we checked in we made our way to our beloved Buca’s for dinner and then called it a night (which meant calling home and updating facebook for the girls)

Day 14 – Sunday 22nd Nov

Throughout most of the ports we tossed up on many occasions whether to ride the Atlantis Submarine and decided that it was now or never. So we called up and made a reservation for the 12.30pm trip but had an entire morning to fill before then. I suggested that we go to the pier where we did the parasail and ride on the Honolulu Screamer – a high powered speed boat that does various sharp turns and donuts at high speeds thrilling it’s passengers. Unfortunately for us there hadn’t been enough interest on this day to make it financially viable for them to take it out to water – so we missed out. We still had a lot of time to kill so we headed off to the Hilton Hawaiian Village and soon realised that there was plenty to do there. This was truly a village of resort proportions. We spent the rest of the morning taking photos of their beautiful locations and set ups which included waterfalls, ponds filled with fish, penguins (yes penguins), turtles and even Flamingos – they even had their own private lagoon and part of the beach. Anyone wanting to splurge on their trip should stay here; I know I will be on my next visit to Hawaii.

When it was time we made our way to the Hilton Pier, which is where the boat that takes you out to the Submarine is docked. They take a photo of you as you board the vessel, but like most tours we were late and missed the photo opportunity. The trip to the Submarine was absolutely packed with glorious views of the ocean and Waikiki beach-the fact that it was one of the few beautiful sunny days made the view even more breathe taking. The ship goes through some of the famous Waikiki surf before heading out to the location where the Submarine is located. The crew of the ship move your attention to an area of the ocean where the as a rehearsed exhibit the Submarine emerges from the bottom of the waters. It is a truly amazing site as behind the series of bubbles up comes this vessel, with the customary Ooohs and Aaaahs of the tourists.

After a few minutes out come a succession of satisfied passengers who look as though they had just discovered a new world. As the previous tour boarded the ship an announcement for our group to board was made, then like school kids everyone made a mad rush to the gangway overly excited with expressions that read woo me. The rush to get on first was a total wasted effort as everyone had the same sized viewing windows and as it turned out would get to see the same views as the Submarine would often turn around so that passengers on the other side could see every attraction.

[shakaka]

Day 14 – Sunday 22nd Nov cont….

I did research the various YouTube clips and web reviews of the Atlantis Submarine and must admit I liked what I saw, but the real thing is way too overrated. Not to say that it wasn’t enjoyable, it is definitely a once in a lifetime experience but the entire tour felt like a Hollywood stunt and very much staged. The ships were purposely sunk for the dramatics of the tour and there was little to no coral to be impressed by. Maybe the fact that I have scuba dived in the Great Barrier Reef may have prejudiced my opinion but the other girls in our party were of the same opinion. The ships were nice, as was the plane wreck and the fish were very colourful – but the surface of the ocean was plain and looked like grave yard. At US$95 per person I did expect more but I will not say that we totally regret doing the tour. I think this kind of tour might be better suited in somewhere like Kona where the water is beautiful and there is an abundance of colourful fish.

When the tour finished we spent a few more hours on the beach and wandering around the resort. The resort charges quite a bit for parking in the hotel however when you validate your ticket with the Atlantis Submarine, they allow you 4 hours free parking-which we utilised completely. We returned to our hotel to shower and get ready for our final opportunity to dine at Buca’s as we had all agreed the final night would be spent walking around Waikiki. So we went to Buca’s and had our last dinner there and soaked it in as much as we could. The restaurant was completely full and looked as though it could hold at least 100 people, but this didn’t affect our excitement and or our appetite. Food did not take as long as you would expect to come out, considering how busy they were - We had some time to spare as the teenagers some how managed to convince me to watch The Twilight New Moon movie. I honestly have never in my life wanted more to poke my eyes out with a rusted fork than during this movie. The cinema was filled with scores of teenagers on heat, who giggled constantly throughout the movie. The movie itself put me to sleep and made me think that I could write a crappy script and someday a Hollywood mogul might turn it into a movie – There is hope for us all. Despite the wasted 2 hours of my life that I would never get back, the girls came out of the movie blushing with excitement asking me if I was Team Edward or Team Jacob – a question I had no idea how to answer. I looked at them both and plainly told them that they were Donkeys and that we had just wasted good money on a completely appalling movie. I was not spoken to by either girl for the remainder of the night – Was it something I said?

Day 15 – Monday 23rd Nov

Sadly we all woke up this morning with the reality that this would be our final full day in Hawaii, a vacation that we had planned for months and took what felt like an eternity to arrive – now it was to come to an end. We had planned to ride the Honolulu screamer today, but at the last minute asked the girls if they would consider going to Wet’n’Wild instead. I absolutely love water parks and quietly wished that we would go there but needed to convince the girls. Funny enough they all thought it was a great idea.

Unfortunately we missed the transfer from Waikiki wish would have saved us a lot of time, so we decided to take public transport considering it was about 45 minutes out of Waikiki. We were informed that we needed to take a bus to Ala Moana then transfer to the 40 or 40a bus which would take us straight to Wet’n’Wild. One thing that they didn’t tell us is that this bus would take over an hour and a half to get there. Considering that we left at 10.00am and the park would close at 4pm this wouldn’t leave us with much time to enjoy the park. One of the bus drivers was kind enough to instruct us to change to the “C” express bus then transfer at Kapolei (I think that is how you spell it) and then catch the same numbered bus to Wet’n’Wild. This advice cut off almost 45 minutes of the trip and lucky for us we were only charged for one bus fare – there are good people in this world you just have to stumble across them through the rut of bad ones.

When we arrived at Wet’n’Wild we were delighted to see that there weren’t many people there. We only waited a few minutes on most rides and never waited at all on others. We had a great day on the slides and even lazed around on the wave pool. A few of us took a turn on the Flow rider – an artificial sheet wave surfing environment that simulates a surfing experience- The crowd rather enjoyed the novalty of wannabe surfers wiping our right in front of them. I must admit it was quite funny until it was me at the other end of the laughs. I can surf, but this wasn’t the same and hurt more when you wiped out.

By 4pm we had tried every ride in the park, our favourite being the Tornado and almost every desert with the Cookie cake ice cream easily being the favourite, although it took all of us to finish it. We weren’t looking forward to the bus trip home but everyone took the opportunity to have a little nap and of course it was up to me to keep a look out for our stop. By the time we got home we all decided to finally make use of the kitchen facilities and cook our first home cooked meal for the trip which we all were craving. While doing so we all packed our bags ready for the early morning flight we had. I booked a stretch Limo to transfer us to the airport at 5.45am for our 8.00am departure.

Once we had completed all our packing and dinner, we all took to Waikiki beach for our final night and spent most of the night walking along the shops and beach. I spent the remainder of my US dollars at Footlocker using the excuse that I would loose to much value if I changed it back to Aussie dollars – My wife didn’t buy it but wasn’t arguing as she used the same excuse.

Day 16 – Tuesday 24th Nov

We arrived at the airport at about 6.30am and looked like B class royalty in our aged stretch Limo, but we enjoyed this little luxury. It turned out to be cheaper than a taxi, as we paid US$32 (I gave him $40) for the ride to the airport – again considering that we would have needed two taxis. The driver did extremely well fitting all our bags in the trunk and front seats. When we arrived to the airport a bell boy started to unload our bags, so I gave him a decent tip because of the size, weight and quantity of bags that we had. He was clearly impressed by this tip, as he took us to the front of the line where we avoided the very large checking in line – I wasn’t going to complain. The best part however was the fact that we were allowed through without paying for excess luggage despite being on average 10kg over weight and at $20 per Kg over the 20kg weight limit I was very concerned. When we boarded the plane, two hours delayed mind you we were again pleasantly surprised to see that the lady at the check in granted our wish for extra seats if the plane wasn’t full. She asked if we minded sitting at the back and when we told her we didn’t mind we found that we almost had a row of 3 seats each. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the flight which is rare for me and was even able to sleep for a few hours.

All in all it was a most enjoyable trip and filled with many many memories. Hawaii will definitely be a place that we would visit again and again if given the opportunity. As I have mentioned before this review is as much a diary for my recollection as it is to help the many people who use this site. If I have helped people plan their trips with a few ideas along the way, even better. If you have any questions or would like some hints for your trip, I am happy to help – just reply to this post and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Happy Holidaying and Mahalo.:D;):p

[Molokai-Chuck]

After reading posts on Cruise Critic for over eight years, I must say... your postings were the best ever! Fair... Fun... and very complete.

 

Thanks for the wonderful posts....and .... no more cartwheeling in small areas around crushable hats!!!!!

 

Chuck