An Exhaustive Review of Our Exhausting Hawaiian Adventure

[kwbound]

While we enjoyed our snacks Capt Kyle was piloting us towards our next stop which was a secluded, inaccessible by land, black sand beach and TURTLE PARTY!!! Finally, the turtle bonding experience I’ve been waiting for was here, and I even have pics to prove it! (I told my son that the Honu accepted me as one of their own!) Do you remember in the movie Finding Nemo, where he meets the turtles and they all talk like surfer dudes and are all just swimming around, having a good time? Those are THESE turtles!!! Some people waded out of the water and onto the beach to check it out. Not me. I’m all about the turtles. These turtles were not scared of us at all. When they started to surface, if you were in their way they expected you to move, they weren’t going around you. Luv, luv, luv these turtles and thank you Capt Kyle for bringing us here!

 

Here are some pictures of my turtle tribe. (Aren’t they hams?!)

 

This is my favority Honu picture.

 

It's a race to the bottom!

 

One with the Honu!

 

 

 

This is the black sand beach:

 

 

All too soon we had to say goodbye to the turtles to get to continue our voyage. This time when we got back on there were packages of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies for all of us, two packs if we wanted, and more waters and juices.

 

Coming up: Capt Cook's Monument....

[kwbound]

kwbound, i am loooooving your review!! those pictures of the pilot whales and snorkeling are breathtaking. i cannot wait for the next installment (on the edge of my seat)!

 

thank you for posting amidst your busy schedule! mahalo! :)

 

Hey Scrappy! Glad you are enjoying it. I'm enjoying writing it. Stay tuned for more.

 

Donna

[kwbound]

Our next stop was Kealakekua Bay (Capt. Cook’s Monument) which is famous for its snorkeling and it did not disappoint. This was the best snorkeling I’ve ever experienced, even though there were no turtles. There were several boats when we pulled in, but most of them seemed to be packing up. I’m assuming our trip was timed so that there would be fewer people there when we were. Here are some photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again the snorkeling was over to soon, but not the adventure. Once back on board lunch was waiting for us – really good, stacked high Dagwood type sandwiches, Maui Style chips (honestly, I don’t this tour could have gotten better!), more cookies and unlimited chocolate covered macadamia nuts. To be a small boat, I was really impressed with the food and the presentation.

 

Coming up: Sea Caves and Blow Holes....

[kwbound]

Between each stop and on the way back Capt Kyle pointed out a lot of interesting things on the shoreline. We saw lava flows and lava tubes, went into sea caves, and saw grottos that honestly looked like a place mermaids or sirens would hang out. We saw regular blowholes and sideways blowholes. This tour was educational, fun, exciting, active and relaxing all at the same time and I would recommend it without reservation to just about anyone.

 

Here are photos of some of the shore sites we saw:

 

A sideways blowhole.

 

A mermaid's house?

 

A regular blowhole.

 

See the scary face made from lava flows and lava tubes.

 

Coming up: Back to Kona....

[kwbound]

This is me and some type of fish. I don't know what kind of fish. DH says it looks like a piranha lining up to be first at the buffet. Haha - funny guy!

 

[kwbound]

When we arrived back at Keauhou Bay, Grace with Mel’s Taxi was waiting for us. She gave us all time to go into the restrooms and change clothes before starting the meter. She was a super sweet young lady and told us a lot about Kona and the area on the way back to town. She dropped DFW and me off at the edge of the main shopping area so that we could shop our way back to the pier. She took DH and DFH all the way back to the pier so that DH could do an open water swim where the Ironmen do theirs. DFW and I went first went upstairs to Lulu’s for a pre-shopping drink. We then worked our way down the street and through the shops. We spent quite a bit of time at the farmers markets, which was more crafts and souvenirs than produce. There we picked up some coffee and a few other things. We went over to the Kona Inn which actually is a little outdoor shopping area with several good shops. We spent a lot of time in these shops. We both like toe rings (real ones, not the kind that pinch) and ankle bracelets and there was a shop there that had both. We both got sterling Honu (surprise!) toe rings and ankle bracelets with turtles, fish and shells. We spent longer here than planned because the toe rings had to be sent to the jeweler next door for sizing. The DH’s called and said they were upstairs at Pancho and Lefty’s when we got ready to find them. We headed down there and enjoyed a mango margarita with the guys before heading off to catch one of the last tenders. Of course we had to stop in one last shop where I managed to find another ornament, and some t-shirts for the nephews. And then all too soon we were sadly boarding the tender for the ride back to the ship.

 

More photos:

 

DH swimming where the Ironmen swim.

 

Dear DH - If you want to train for the Ironman in Kona, I'm here to support you all the way!

 

View across the bay from the tender pierl.

 

The sun sets on Kona.:(

 

Coming up: Day 6, Conclusion...

[kwbound]

Tonight we had decided to give the Skyline another try because it was lobster night. First though we headed off to the Napa Wine Bar.

 

TIP: Each night from 6pm-7pm is happy hour in the Napa Wine bar. Selected wines are $4.95 a glass. You can leave with the glass so you can get a glass of wine at happy hour prices at Napa and take it to where ever you are having dinner.

 

We enjoyed the Napa Wine Bar very much. We found the service here to be a notch above the above the other on board venues we visited and we enjoyed the atmosphere. We also very much enjoyed the entertainment here: “The Smooth Guitar Stylings of Butch O’Conner”. This is Butch O’Conner:

 

I hope this isn't profiling, but I didn't think he looked like a Butch O'Conner!

 

Even though he didn’t look like a Butch O’Conner, he did have some smooth guitar stylings. He did all types of songs, took requests. He was the perfect type entertainer for the wine bar.

 

At the Skyline tonight we were fortunate to get Waiter Michele and Asst Waiter Kyle and both were excellent, 180° from what we had experienced before. The food was still just ok, but we enjoyed Michele and Kyle so much that we counted the dinner a success.

 

After dinner we went to the Newbury Street shops for the first time to check them out. I thought they were better than most ship shops for variety, prices and presentation. There were a couple of things that I meant to purchase before the trip was over, but unfortunately we never got back to the shops. If you are a scrapbooker, they did have a lot of items you could use.

 

And that is the conclusion of Day 6. I guess this has turned into more a of travel journal than a trip review. I hope I haven't lost too many readers with all the details and personal observations.

 

Click here for all of the Day 6 Photos.

 

Coming up: Beautiful Kauai….

[KimS.]

I don't want your trip to end! I got goose bumps reading about the whales and turtles. Your review has really gotten me into the spirit of our upcoming trip. Were your whale and turtle pictures taken with the Fuji? If so, that's amazing! Again fantastic review! :D

 

Thanks for the info on how to print off your comments.

 

Kim

POA

2/19/11

[riofriotex]

OK, so what happened to the palm frond fish? Or was that another day?

[kwbound]

I don't want your trip to end! I got goose bumps reading about the whales and turtles. Your review has really gotten me into the spirit of our upcoming trip. Were your whale and turtle pictures taken with the Fuji? If so, that's amazing! Again fantastic review! :D

 

Thanks for the info on how to print off your comments.

 

Kim

POA

2/19/11

 

 

Thanks Kim. We didn't want the trip to end either! The whale and most of the turtle pics were taken with the Canon D10, but if you look at the albums there are several in the Place of Refuge section and the Capt Cook section that were taken with the Fuji. I think I tried to put those at the end of the sections.

Edited October 31, 2010 by kwbound

[kwbound]

OK, so what happened to the palm frond fish? Or was that another day?

 

That's coming up on the last day

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Those whale pictures were AMAZING! We had a whale swim under our boat in Alaska - I don't think I could have gotten the underwater shot there, though.:D

[GypRasc]

We got the car, picked up BFs and headed back to the hotel. We dropped them off in front of the hotel to pick up the luggage while we dropped the car off at the Thrifty drop off location a few blocks away. This is where I made an error in planning. I didn’t think that this particular Thrifty location would shuttle to the pier, but they would. It would have been easier to pick up our luggage and had Thrifty shuttle us all to the pier, or even return the car back and the airport location and be shuttled to the pier from there.

 

Although I realize you didn't take the Thrifty shuttle from the Waikiki drop-off location do you know whether there was a charge and, if so, how much it might have been?:confused:

[sceptic]

I just want to let you know that this is perhaps the finest review of a Hawaii cruise I've ever read. I especially like the comparison between what was planned and what actually happened. No day ends up being exactly as planned, and the ability to go with the flow is so critical in making a cruise (or any vacation) more enjoyable.

 

It does sound like one of those cruises where you long for a sea day, just to catch your breath!

[riofriotex]

Although I realize you didn't take the Thrifty shuttle from the Waikiki drop-off location do you know whether there was a charge and, if so, how much it might have been?:confused:

 

The Thrifty shuttle is free for Thrifty customers. However, when I picked up my car at the airport location, I was told that the shuttle does not go to the Waikiki location regularly as it does at the airport location; there would be a longer wait. Between that and having to pay a $30 drop charge for picking it up at the airport and dropping it off at Waikiki, we opted to return our car to the airport location and take the shuttle from the pier from there. The pier is pretty equidistant from both points, and between the possibility of a longer wait and the bad traffic in Waikiki and downtown, it also made more sense to us to use the airport.

 

Our hotel (Aston Waikiki Circle) held our luggage at no charge while we went to Pearl Harbor and Punchbowl that morning (and stopped at a Walmart), then we picked up our bags, dropped my parents and aunt and all our bags off at the pier around 3 PM. My husband and I returned the Thrifty rental car at the airport and took their shuttle back to the pier, arriving about 4 PM. As we are Latitudes members, it was a breeze boarding the ship, we got our bags into our rooms, and made it to our safety drill at 4:30.

[Browezilla]

..Just wanted to say the "what we planned" and "what we did" is a great idea for those of us doing our own planning...

kw, excellent report. I like this idea as well, but what I would LOVE to see added to this is "Knowing what I know now, here's what I would do.". The reason is, I think many of us "planners" try to do too much. Of particular interest to me is "what you do now about Road to Hana". Would you do it again or spend time somewhere else. If you were to go, what would you restrict your trip to? You read so many mixed reviews of it, I wonder if it is because everyone tries to do too much. Also, would doing it in reverse make sense, i.e. travel through upcountry and then to Oheo gulch? It would be going opposite of traffic and maybe faster.

 

Thanks for the help. RTH is the one part of the trip I'm the most unsure of.

 

-- B

[sue402001]

I'm with all the others, I don't want your review to end kwbound!

 

I love your turtle pics, who won the race to the bottom? ;)

[scrappydoo]

P.S. I love the honu, too!! Awesome pics of the honu. I can't imagine what it must be like to be in the water with them!

 

btw, I know this is a random question, but since you guys have a lot of snorkeling experience, what kind of sunscreen do you use?? I didn't know if I had to get some sort of reef-safe type (and which one to get) or if my usual sunscreen would be okay?

 

Can't wait for the next installment! :D i might go through withdrawals when it's over.

[kwbound]

Although I realize you didn't take the Thrifty shuttle from the Waikiki drop-off location do you know whether there was a charge and, if so, how much it might have been?:confused:

 

The Thrifty shuttle is free for Thrifty customers. However, when I picked up my car at the airport location, I was told that the shuttle does not go to the Waikiki location regularly as it does at the airport location; there would be a longer wait. Between that and having to pay a $30 drop charge for picking it up at the airport and dropping it off at Waikiki, we opted to return our car to the airport location and take the shuttle from the pier from there. The pier is pretty equidistant from both points, and between the possibility of a longer wait and the bad traffic in Waikiki and downtown, it also made more sense to us to use the airport.

 

Our hotel (Aston Waikiki Circle) held our luggage at no charge while we went to Pearl Harbor and Punchbowl that morning (and stopped at a Walmart), then we picked up our bags, dropped my parents and aunt and all our bags off at the pier around 3 PM. My husband and I returned the Thrifty rental car at the airport and took their shuttle back to the pier, arriving about 4 PM. As we are Latitudes members, it was a breeze boarding the ship, we got our bags into our rooms, and made it to our safety drill at 4:30.

 

Rio is right about the $30 drop off fee for dropping the car off at another location. We had transfers included in the package we bought, so I didn't ask the Thrifty shuttle driver too many questions about timing, frequency of runs or anything like that. If fact, we didn't realize there was a shuttle at that location and we had planned on walking back to the hotel to get our luggage and catch our ride. We saw the shuttle and asked if they could give us a ride back to the hotel. They said sure and the driver is the one that said we should have brought our luggage to the Thrifty lot and taken their shuttle. If I had to do it over again, I probably would have taken the car back to the airport location and saved the drop off fee.

[kwbound]

Thanks to everyone for your kind words. I'm happy people are enjoying the review. You can't just go on and on about your wonderful trip to Hawaii to all of your friends at home, but I feel like people are on these boards because they are interested, and obviously I'm taking advantage this by going on and on....

 

kw, excellent report. I like this idea as well, but what I would LOVE to see added to this is "Knowing what I know now, here's what I would do.". The reason is, I think many of us "planners" try to do too much. Of particular interest to me is "what you do now about Road to Hana". Would you do it again or spend time somewhere else. If you were to go, what would you restrict your trip to? You read so many mixed reviews of it, I wonder if it is because everyone tries to do too much. Also, would doing it in reverse make sense, i.e. travel through upcountry and then to Oheo gulch? It would be going opposite of traffic and maybe faster.

 

Thanks for the help. RTH is the one part of the trip I'm the most unsure of.

 

-- B

 

Browe - I do plan to finish up the entire report with tips and suggestions, things I would do different, etc. Regarding the RTH, I don't want to discourage anyone from doing it, because it is beautiful. However, now that I've done it I have to say that it may be something that is better done during a land vacation where you have time to do 1/2 one day and 1/2 another. I think that by trying to do everything the one day, we didn't get to enjoy any of it as much as we would have because we were always having to get on the road and head to the next place. If I had Maui to do over, one the first day I would probably do the Ioa needle, spend much more time in Lahaina and maybe snorkel at the Black Rock north of Lahaina. On the second day I would still do the Molokini snorkel trip on the Kai Kanani catamaran and then spend the rest of the day at Makena beach where they land. If my party wanted to do the RTH, I would probably go straight to Wai'napanapa State park and spend most of the day there, or if hiking were my thing, drive directly to the pools and spend the day hiking there. If the pools were the only thing I was trying to do, then going the opposite way would not be a bad idea, IF you have a really good driver who is not likely to get nervous being on the outside lane on narrow roads next to steep drop-offs.

 

I'm with all the others, I don't want your review to end kwbound!

 

I love your turtle pics, who won the race to the bottom? ;)

 

I was DQ'd for a false start!:mad:

 

P.S. I love the honu, too!! Awesome pics of the honu. I can't imagine what it must be like to be in the water with them!

 

btw, I know this is a random question, but since you guys have a lot of snorkeling experience, what kind of sunscreen do you use?? I didn't know if I had to get some sort of reef-safe type (and which one to get) or if my usual sunscreen would be okay?

 

Can't wait for the next installment! :D i might go through withdrawals when it's over.

 

Scrappy - When we are snorkeling we usually use a sunscreen called Mexitan. It is water resistant and SPF 30. None of us got a sunburn while we were there. It is available online at http://www.mexitan.com, or on Amazon. I didn't hear anyone on the snorkel expeditions say anything about having to use a specific type of sunscreen. It seems they may be more concerned about this in the Caribbean.

[Umbarger]

Okay, now that you have me throughly addicted......What am I going to do when your review is over???? :eek:

 

I think I could happily spend an entire week in Kona.

Edited November 1, 2010 by Umbarger

[kwbound]

Day 7 – Kauai

 

Our Originally Scheduled Itinerary:

Thursday, October 14 – Kauai

8am Disembark and pick up Jeep Wrangler from Thrifty

8:30a-9:45a Drive to far north shore

9:45a-1pm Hike a bit of the first part of the Kalalau Trail, just to see the view of Ke’e Beach and a little of the Na Pali coast. (See page 94 of Kauai blue book.)

Swimming and snorkeling at Ke’e Beach and Tunnels Beach.

1pm-3:30pm Drive back to ship stopping where we want. Options include:

Kilauea Lighthouse

‘Opaeka’a Falls

3:30-4:30pm Clean-up and get ready for Luau

4:30-9:30pm Smith Family Luau – Booked through Roberts Tours to include transportation from/to ship. http://www.smithskauai.com/luau.html http://www.gorabbitgo.com/oahu/luau.php $85/pp

 

Locations for GPS:

 

In Hanalei HI – Ke’e Beach, Tunnels Beach

 

In Kilauea HI – Kilauea Lighthouse

 

In Wailua HI – ‘Opaeka’a Falls

 

What we actually did:

This was my second favorite day of the trip. But as this review is getting SO long, I am going to try and condense my descriptions for today a little (although that’s not easy for me!) and let the pictures do more of the talking.

 

As with all the other days we were off the boat as soon as we were allowed and picking up our jeep from Thrifty. We didn’t pack a lunch today but we did stop at a convenience store to pick up sodas for the trip to the North Shore.

 

Our first stop was the Hanalei Valley Lookout:

 

 

When you leave the lookout, you actually wind you way down through the valley on your way to the north beaches. We drove straight through Hanalei and didn’t stop until we reached the end of the highway and Ke’e Beach. We had been carrying our snorkel equipment with us on all our drives all week in case we came to a beach we wanted to snorkel at, and except for our excursions we hadn’t yet seen a place where the surf was calm enough for us to be comfortable in. So today we didn’t bother carrying in and wouldn’t you know it…The water was beautiful and definitely calm enough for snorkelers, and there were quite a few of them in the water. When we got to the beach all the parking spaces were already taken, so DH dropped us all off and went back about ½ mile to another parking lot. This was a beautiful beach and the view of the Na Pali coast – Awesome…better than any of the views on the RTH.

 

 

DFH could not do any of the Kalalau Trail, but DH, DFW and I were excited to hike at least as far as the first good lookout. It wasn’t terribly difficult but you did have to watch your footing and it did get the heart rate up. The views were definitely worth it. This is where I took some of my best “postcard shots”.

 

These are examples of the part of the trail we did. Some of it was wet and slippery. If you are going to do it, make sure you were good hiking shoes, or at least tennis shoes. Don't try it in flip-flops. And if you are going farther than the first lookout, to the first beach or all the way - Well you are super cool...but Be Careful! (Sorry - the Mom in me came out there for a sec.)

 

 

Some of the views from the Kalalau Trail:

 

 

Coming up: An afternoon in Hanalei...

[kwbound]

Okay, now that you have me throughly addicted......What am I going to do when your review is over???? :eek:

 

I think I could happily spend an entire week in Kona.

 

You and me both! In my mind I've already started planning my son's destination wedding in Hawaii, even tho he doesn't even have a girlfriend (or not one that I know about) and is no where near ready to settle down. I just hope when he finds the right one, she'll be ready to turn the wedding planning over to me!:)

[kwbound]

After our hike we rinsed off the sand and mud at the outdoor shower while DH ran and got the car. Next stop was Hanalei, which is a lovely little town. We spent some time in the shops and galleries and had lunch at Kalypso. It was good, but a little overpriced I thought. The waiter gave us directions to the beach at Hanalei Bay. If you want to go to the Hanalei Bay beach with the pier, the one you see in all the photos this is how you get there:

 

If you are in Hanalei, when you see the Kalypso Restaurant (you can’t miss it, it’s on a corner), turn there towards the beach. Go to the end of the street and turn right, go to the end of the street and the beach will be on your left. This is another great beach. There are restrooms and outdoor showers. Best of all, you can park on the this part of the beach so you don’t have to worry about your car being broken into in the parking lot, your car is right there within feet of you. If you want to rent paddleboards or kayaks, you can do that in Hanalei and bring them to the beach. We saw lots of both. This was our first view of Hanalei Bay. We would be lucky enough to see it again both from the air and the ship. Here are some photos:

 

"Downtown" Hanalei

 

Hanalei Bay Pier

 

Cars parked on the beach.

 

Looking across the pier and back towards town. The beach goes all the way around the bay.

 

Hanalei Pier taken from the helicopter the following day.

 

Hanalei Bay from the ship.

 

We played in the sand here until it was time to go back to the ship and get ready for the luau. Actually we stayed a little too long. We drove back to the Anchor Cover shopping center and paid $20 to park for the night, and then we waited for the ships shuttle, and waited, and waited…idk what the deal was, but I didn’t think we would have to wait that long for a shuttle. By the time we got back to the ship, we had about 20 minutes to shower, get ready and be back downstairs to meet the Roberts bus and go to the Smith Family Luau. Definitely the fastest I’ve ever gotten ready.

 

Coming up: Luau time!

[kwbound]

Note: That remark I made earlier, about condensing my descriptions, I guess you should go ahead and disregard that now.

 

I loved the luau! I expected it to be one of those things you do because that’s what you do when you’re in Hawaii, but you don’t really ever need to do it again. But I’d go back in a minute. This is how I felt about the Smith Family Luau – Have you ever been invited to a wedding where you aren’t really close to the couple but for whatever reason you feel you should go but you’re not expecting to have that much fun. But when you get there, the venue is beautiful, the flowers are gorgeous, the hosts are wonderful, the food is delicious, the entertainment is lovely, the bar is open and you meet some great people at your table. You have so much fun and when the event is over, you’re so glad that you went. That was the Smith Family Luau, and you don’t have to dress up too much, so that’s a bonus! When you arrive you are greeted and presented with a shell lei and photographed with some of the entertainers. Then you board a tram for a tour of the gardens which are beautiful. If I had one complaint, it would be that the tram went to fast and the guide spoke so fast that I missed some things while looking at others. When your tram tour is over you are free to explore the gardens, which DH and I did while BFs rested near the Imu pit. Soon you are directed to the Imu pit and Kamika Smith welcomes everyone. He was a wonderful host. He gave some history of his family’s land and explained the Imu ceremony and how the rest of the evening would go. Then two young men in native dress dug up the pig. It was really interesting. Everyone was then directed to the pavilion where the buffet would be served. DH had gone ahead and gotten us seats at one of the tables nearest the buffet, but they send the tables to the buffet in order starting at the far tables. But that was ok. The bar was open and we were enjoying talking to our tablemates, one of whom had completed the Ironman triathlon in Kona a few days before. There were three drink stations – a mai tai station, a station with sodas and water, and a regular bar. There were multiple bartenders and the lines went fast. If you wanted you could take a mai tai over to the bar for some additional “seasoning”. Kamika made his way to each table to greet everyone and welcome them. There was a band playing and some hula dancing going on. Kamika took the stage and invited everyone celebrating a birthday or honeymoon to come up on stage for a hula lesson. Kamika is also a singer! There were six buffet lines, so they went fast. We all agreed that the food was surprisingly good considering that they had to feed so many people. After dinner everyone went to the outdoor theater for the show. I don’t know how authentic the show was, but we enjoyed it. One thing that seemed really authentic to me and that I really appreciated was that all of the dancers did not look like bikini models. They looked like really people, the girls and the guys. Some of them were a little fluffy! Yay for Smiths!

 

Here are some luau pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the show was over, the entertainers were available for photos and the photos we had taken on arrival were available for purchase. We bought ours. One of the young ladies who had posed in the photo with us was also the one who sold the picture to us. I complimented her on the flowers in her hair. She took them out and pinned them in my hair. That is how everyone at Smith was...just warm and welcoming and really seemed to want everyone to feel comfortable and have fun. Our neighbors across the street had gone to Kauai over the summer and had told me to make sure we go to the Smith Luau and we were so glad we did.

 

All of the Day 7 photos can be seen here.

 

Tomorrow: A helicopter ride and Kalapaki Beach....