An Exhaustive Review of Our Exhausting Hawaiian Adventure

[CruisingGoddess]

When you refer to the "review board", do you mean here?

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/

 

Just want to make sure there wasn't another place I wasn't aware of. Thanks!

[kwbound]

When you refer to the "review board", do you mean here?

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/

 

Just want to make sure there wasn't another place I wasn't aware of. Thanks!

 

 

Yes - under Member Reviews.

[Walt fan]

Hello Donna! I have been lurking here for three days trying to read your absolutely amazing travel journal and pretending to work at the same time! I feel like I have been on this journey with you and felt really sad at the end, like you do when vacation is over. I am originally from Houston, in the Bellaire area, and now live right up north from San Antonio. Hope you did well in the RnR Marathon! Any way, I give you a CC Emmy for this journal. Your photos were amazing, and your detailed descriptions won my heart over. I am so OCD when it comes to planning our annual family vacations, and I hope to go to Hawaii in three years for our 25th anniversary with my wonderful DH. Did you use mainly the books you mentioned to do your research or did you surf the web and CC boards, or what did you find to be your best source of info? Please share!

 

And again, many kudos for all your time, and thank you, thank you, thank you, take a bow!

[kwbound]

Hello Donna! I have been lurking here for three days trying to read your absolutely amazing travel journal and pretending to work at the same time! I feel like I have been on this journey with you and felt really sad at the end, like you do when vacation is over. I am originally from Houston, in the Bellaire area, and now live right up north from San Antonio. Hope you did well in the RnR Marathon! Any way, I give you a CC Emmy for this journal. Your photos were amazing, and your detailed descriptions won my heart over. I am so OCD when it comes to planning our annual family vacations, and I hope to go to Hawaii in three years for our 25th anniversary with my wonderful DH. Did you use mainly the books you mentioned to do your research or did you surf the web and CC boards, or what did you find to be your best source of info? Please share!

 

And again, many kudos for all your time, and thank you, thank you, thank you, take a bow!

 

Glad you enjoyed the review. And yes, we were sad when the vacation was over! DH and I did run the half in the San Antonio RnR this past weekend. I wouldn't say I did well, but I did have fun during the race and a wonderful weekend in SA. I wore the "Hawaii" running shirt I bought on vacation. People along the route would cheer "Go Hawaii!" I would give them the shaka sign. I'm not sure how people (especially runners) from Hawaii would feel about me representing if they saw my time! DH had a PR so he did well at least.

 

As for the books, I used all the ones I mentioned. Once I read about something that interested me, I would then do additional online research...operators' websites, TripAdviser, and of course CC. I also contacted the Hawaiian visitors bureau. They will send out free magazines.

 

If you are like me, planning is half the fun of vacation...and certainly lasts longer! Have fun planning your trip. I'll try to answer any questions you may have.

 

Aloha!

[Walt fan]

Donna: One thing I wanted to ask but forgot (happens more often past 40!); did you choose the POA due to it going in and out of Honolulu? Of the few Hawaiian cruises I have looked it, this seemed to be the only plus for this ship. I am leaning towards the Celebrity Hawaii cruise, but it goes in and out of San Diego, and includes Ensenada Mexico which I have no use for. What were your pros and cons in choosing POA?

[kwbound]

Donna: One thing I wanted to ask but forgot (happens more often past 40!); did you choose the POA due to it going in and out of Honolulu? Of the few Hawaiian cruises I have looked it, this seemed to be the only plus for this ship. I am leaning towards the Celebrity Hawaii cruise, but it goes in and out of San Diego, and includes Ensenada Mexico which I have no use for. What were your pros and cons in choosing POA?

 

POA seemed to be the best, most economical way to see more of the islands while taking fewer vacation days. The number of days we could take off were limited, and we didn't want to spend them on sea days. In that respect, I was very happy with the cruise.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

POA seemed to be the best, most economical way to see more of the islands while taking fewer vacation days. The number of days we could take off were limited, and we didn't want to spend them on sea days. In that respect, I was very happy with the cruise.

Also, the POA gives you the two overnights, which is much better than the other ships. I love my sea days, but we also have limited vacation time. Our priority this time was to see Hawaii. This way we are spending 10 days in Hawaii (4 total in Oahu and 6 in the other islands) instead of 5 days in the islands and 5 days at sea, such as on the one ways out of LA or Vancouver.

[tone1]

OMG. I'm exhausted :) finally finished reading this amazing review. Once i absorb all of the info, I may come back to ask questions. Absolutely loved all of your pics and tips.

 

Did you finish your photobook?

 

Do you have any information on Discover Scuba trips in Kona? Would you recommend it to go down further than snorkelling for fluffy people?

Edited November 21, 2010 by tone1

[kwbound]

OMG. I'm exhausted :) finally finished reading this amazing review. Once i absorb all of the info, I may come back to ask questions. Absolutely loved all of your pics and tips.

 

Did you finish your photobook?

 

Do you have any information on Discover Scuba trips in Kona? Would you recommend it to go down further than snorkelling for fluffy people?

 

Hey Tone1 - Glad you enjoyed the review. I'll try to answer any questions you have. Unfortunately I don't have any info on Discover Scuba. I'm not sure that going down deeper would necessarily get you any closer to the fish. And for the extra cost and trouble I'm not sure the payoff would be worth it. I found that the best views were in shallower areas, where it was lighter. The deeper you go the darker it gets. But I've never been scuba diving so I'm just guessing. If you want to snorkel, I can't recommend SeaQuest in Kona enough. If you do try the scuba, I'd love to hear about it.

Edited November 22, 2010 by kwbound

[kwbound]

Yesterday I received a letter from NCL in response to my request for a refund on the PanRaven photo book. I'm happy to say that they are going to issue a refund.

 

I'm doing my photo book on Mixbook.com. I hope to finish it next weekend. As soon as I do I'll post the link in this thread.

 

Aloha!

[sue402001]

Yesterday I received a letter from NCL in response to my request for a refund on the PanRaven photo book. I'm happy to say that they are going to issue a refund.

 

I'm doing my photo book on Mixbook.com. I hope to finish it next weekend. As soon as I do I'll post the link in this thread.

 

Aloha!

 

Great news kwbound, I can't wait to see the finished product.

[musicitul]

We are on the H2 now.... following your itinerary! Thanks for the coordinates!

 

In no time at all we were in the rental car and Homer had us on the highway (Homer loves highways - he gives a "Woo Hoo!" every time he directs you onto one) and headed to the North Shore. It is a lovely drive, as were all the drives on all the islands. You drive through mountains which give way to rolling open fields of pineapples and other crops we couldn't identify and then you see the Pacific up ahead. We passed the Dole Plantation visitor center. The parking lot was packed but with our limited time we decided not to stop. We were headed to Matsumoto's Shaved Ice in Haleiwa.

 

Highway to the North Shore.

 

Matsumoto's

 

 

 

In my ongoing quest to be a traveler and not just a tourist, and to try an experience places I visit as a local does, I ordered the Hawaiian flavored shaved ice WITH ice cream AND beans. BLECH!!! The shaved ice part was delish, but those beans...yuck. I was expecting some sort of sweet tasting bean, or maybe salty would have been a nice contrast. But to me they were just like regular black beans and I can't imagine who would have ever thought of adding them to ice cream and shaved ice. I had to toss it once I got down to the beans. Everyone else just ordered regular shaved ices and enjoyed them. They are good, better than snow cones, but we all agreed that they weren't ALL that. So if you go to Hawaii and don't manage to get a shaved ice, don't feel like you missed all that much. They are inexpensive tho, I will give them that.

 

This is the view across the street from Matsumoto's looking down towards the ocean:

 

Next - On to Turtle Beach...

[kwbound]

We are on the H2 now.... following your itinerary! Thanks for the coordinates!

 

LOL! Don't get the beans on the shaved ice!! Hope you are having a wonderful time.

 

Donna

[Iafarmer]

I started reading this thread a couple hours ago, and wondered how there could be 14 pages to it......now I see how & why! What a fun couple hours I've had vicariously vacationing with you!

We were on the PoA in January this year and while agreeing with many of your ship observances, I thankfully don't need to include roaches in that!

I so enjoy the reviews and information that people like you take the precious time & energy to share!

It is also such an encouragement to hear & read about like-habited creatures who plan, plan, plan for our cruises and take our folders with! I would feel lost if I had to go on a cruise w/out my binder and all the info I've prepared & accumulated! Yes, preparing & researching is alot of the fun!

 

Oh for some Maui chips......

Mahalo

Iowa farmer

[kwbound]

I started reading this thread a couple hours ago, and wondered how there could be 14 pages to it......now I see how & why! What a fun couple hours I've had vicariously vacationing with you!

We were on the PoA in January this year and while agreeing with many of your ship observances, I thankfully don't need to include roaches in that!

I so enjoy the reviews and information that people like you take the precious time & energy to share!

It is also such an encouragement to hear & read about like-habited creatures who plan, plan, plan for our cruises and take our folders with! I would feel lost if I had to go on a cruise w/out my binder and all the info I've prepared & accumulated! Yes, preparing & researching is alot of the fun!

 

Oh for some Maui chips......

Mahalo

Iowa farmer

 

Glad you enjoyed the review. I knew there would be other planners out there who could relate to my planning enthusiasm. (I find "enthusiasm" to be a better word than "obsessiveness"!):rolleyes:

 

If anyone has any luck finding those Maui chips on the mainland...please let me know where! I think I'm going to see if I can order some online for stocking stuffers!

[kwbound]

Well, I finally got the "condensed" review submitted on the members review board. The condensed version was a 38 (THIRTY-EIGHT!) page Word document. I knew I had spent a lot of time on the review, but I didn't realize how long it actually was until I had it all in one document. Getting it submitted took several days and emails to/from CC to get it to work but it's finally done. It may be several more days before CC reviews/approves and actually posts it.

 

My photo book is coming along nicely. I just finished day 5 and it is 53 pages so far (12" x 12"). I hope to finish it by Sunday so I can take advantage of a BOGO coupon I have. I'll post a link when it is finished.

 

Aloha!

[kwbound]

I finally finished the photo book for our trip. It wound up being 99 pages long. You can see it here.

 

Aloha!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Your book is FANTASTIC!!!! Wow! I love my photobooks and I think yours puts mine to shame. Love the backgrounds. Are they yours or do you get them off the photobook creation software?

Edited December 9, 2010 by Sunny AZ Girl

[Eileen G]

WOW that's really great. You are so creative!!

[kwbound]

Your book is FANTASTIC!!!! Wow! I love my photobooks and I think yours puts mine to shame. Love the backgrounds. Are they yours or do you get them off the photobook creation software?

 

WOW that's really great. You are so creative!!

 

 

Thanks yall! I enjoyed doing it. Most of the backgrounds came from Mixbook. The photo backgrounds were my photos that I cropped to fit using PhotoShop. The backgrounds with a watercolor look, and some of the embellishments came from a digital scrapbook pack that I bought online (about $5) and then uploaded to Mixbook. This is my first digital scrapbook, but I'm definitely going to do one for all of our future vacations.

 

Now that my review and photobook are finished, the trip is really over. I'm going to go into Hawaii withdrawal!!

[smrtypnts]

Now that my review and photobook are finished, the trip is really over. I'm going to go into Hawaii withdrawal!!

 

You're just going to have to start planning something equally as exciting...maybe Alaska or Austrailia (i know--very different).

[Queen of the Queen]

I finally finished the photo book for our trip. It wound up being 99 pages long. You can see it here.

 

Aloha!

 

We will be cruising around the Hawaiin Islands in February. After looking at your fabulous pictures I am ready to start packing right now!

 

 

Thank you for sharing your book.

Lorraine:)

[sue402001]

Great job on your photo book & another kudos for you on a great review. If only I can write one as well when I return from my trip next year. I only have 125 days to go until I leave. :rolleyes:

[tone1]

I am in awe...your photo book is incredible and inspiring. I can only hope to come up with something half as good.

 

Keep reliving all of those great memories.

 

If you're in withdrawal, you're just going to have to plan going back to Hawaii!:)

[kwbound]

I am in awe...your photo book is incredible and inspiring. I can only hope to come up with something half as good.

 

Keep reliving all of those great memories.

 

If you're in withdrawal, you're just going to have to plan going back to Hawaii!:)

 

I'm sure you can do a great book...check out Mixbook.com. It was really easy, just time consuming because there were so many pictures. We had 3 different cameras and I think there was over 3000 total photos to go through.

 

As for withdrawal, we're starting to think that a trip to Hawaii might be a good college graduation gift for our son in a couple of years...:rolleyes: