Very Long Review of Pride of America Nov 8-18, 2012

[hill6]

 

 

 

 

 

[hill6]

Monday, November 12th, Maui Day 2. One of the major things to do in Maui is the Road to Hana. They sell shirts that say I survived the Road to Hana. That is most certainly a true statement. We were up very early (around 5:30 am) and ate the buffet right after it opened as we had to meet the tour on the pier at 6:45. We booked this tour through the ship and it was worth every penny to have someone else do the driving. The bus held 21 folks plus the driver. We had 19 plus the driver. The bus was comfortable and not crowded as I have heard in other reviews. The drive to Hana makes the one up the volcano look like a walk in the park. It is over 600 turns and 50 one lane bridges (and that is just to get to Hana) then you have to make it back. If you rent a car, the car rental companies do not cover the “potential” damage to your car by driving all the way around Haleakala. The reason is the road is dirt in parts and extremely bumpy. The tour through the ship goes all the way around. Our driver was Eddy and he was very good. He gave us a map when we started out and marked our main stops (Hookipa Beach, Kaumahina State Wayside, Wai’anapanapa Caves, Black Sand Beach, Hana, Wailua Falls, Oheo Gulch 7 Pools, and Tedeschi Winery). We did stop at a number of other overlooks and places to see waterfalls and amazing views. We made it to Hana shortly before 11. The tour had a reservation for lunch for 11 am at the Hana Ranch Restaurant. We were the first in line for when they opened. They sat a number of folks from the bus together to conserve space (we did get separate checks). I had a grilled Mahi sandwich and DH had a grilled chicken sandwich. The food was fresh and delicious and reasonably priced.

 

 

Hookipa Beach

 

 

Hookipa Beach

 

 

Our limo for the day

 

 

Our wonderful driver, Eddy. Very knowledgable. He earned a very good tip.

 

 

One of the one lane bridges. They were built with the road approximately 1910-1912.

[hill6]

 

 

 

Black Sand Beach

 

 

 

Amazing Spider and Web

[hill6]

 

 

 

 

[hill6]

 

Seven Pools

 

 

 

[hill6]

 

 

Backside of Haleakala

 

 

One of the two areas that the back of the Haleakala crater collaped at.

 

 

 

[hill6]

 

One of the many double rainbows we seen there.

 

 

Sunset over the Maui mountains.

[hill6]

Some photos of the ship

 

 

Promenade area - lots of seating

 

 

 

Beautiful ship's library.

 

[imghttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8353/8263060910_a2ece058ab.jpg[/img]

[hill6]

Realized I missed posting part of the actual review for Road to Hana.

 

After lunch we continued around the backside of Haleakala. We got to see the two places where it collapsed towards the sea. We stopped at the Tedeschi Winery on the way back. I found the Garlic Maui Onion Chips in the little store across the street from the winery. They were delicious. We got back to the ship a little after 4 pm. On the pier they have cold cups of water to drink and cold towels to wipe your face off with. This was so wonderful after a long day - Another plus for NCL. The security in each port was located in the terminal not on the ship. It went quickly in each port and all you had to do when boarding the ship was ding your ship’s card in and out.

 

We had dinner that night in Lazy J Steakhouse. The dinner package my Mom gave included a bottle of wine with dinner. We don’t drink wine so they allowed us to each get a mixed drink of our choice in its place. They also did this in Jefferson’s Bistro later in the week. I did the upgrade for the lobster tail to go with my chicken dinner. The entire meal was very good and the wait staff there was tremendous. We collapsed in bed early that night as we had two very long days and our bodies were still adjusting.

[LOVECRUISING100%]

Great review.. loving all the pics...

[Molokai-Chuck]

Hill6 .......Still hanging on the edge for more of your review... on your tour to Hana and around the back side of Haleakala, did the tour stop at Charles Lindberghs grave-site?

 

Also was this on day one or two of Maui?

 

Thanks,

 

 

Chuck

[hill6]

Hill6 .......Still hanging on the edge for more of your review... on your tour to Hana and around the back side of Haleakala, did the tour stop at Charles Lindberghs grave-site?

 

Also was this on day one or two of Maui?

 

Thanks,

 

 

Chuck

 

 

We did Hana on the second day.

 

We did not stop a Lindbergh's grave but we did stop outside of the spot where it is. It is down a small road and I think the bus may have had an issue getting there.

[Molokai-Chuck]

Mahalo for the info....yes it is a very small road to it....and lots of overgrowth when I was there....many years ago.

 

Chuck

[Katemusical]

This is great. Thank you for posting about the Laua and the Road to Hana. I feel so great now that what we chose to do on our cruise this weekend with Maui is PERFECT! We had booked it exactly how you did...rental car on the 1st day with luau then ship's excursion to Road to Hana the next day. YAY!

Keep the review coming..it makes me so excited for leaving soon!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Mahalo for posting the review! I bookmarked the restaurant on Haleakala as it looks like a good place to watch the sunset. I was hoping to view the sunset from the top pf Haleakala, but am concerned about the drive down the mountain at night. This may be a good compromise.:)

[hill6]

Mahalo for posting the review! I bookmarked the restaurant on Haleakala as it looks like a good place to watch the sunset. I was hoping to view the sunset from the top pf Haleakala, but am concerned about the drive down the mountain at night. This may be a good compromise.:)

 

The food was really good and it was nice to stop after going to the top.

 

I did enjoy your review when you went last year

[hill6]

This is great. Thank you for posting about the Laua and the Road to Hana. I feel so great now that what we chose to do on our cruise this weekend with Maui is PERFECT! We had booked it exactly how you did...rental car on the 1st day with luau then ship's excursion to Road to Hana the next day. YAY!

Keep the review coming..it makes me so excited for leaving soon!

 

 

I will not have it finished before you go. My work is crazy and it took a lot to get what I have posted done. The review is almost done I just have to add some things to it and I just found the folder with the names of stuff that I need to add. So if a 90 percent completed return is ok I will send it to you if you want.

 

You will have an amazing time. I am trying to figure out when we can go back.

[hill6]

Katemusical, I realized after I wrote last night that I meant to give you my email address. If you want the review and photo link, please email me at hill6@aol.com

 

The trip was phenomenal. I wish we had the time/money to have done a back to back.

[Scarlett824]

I am loving this review Deb! This is now added to my list of must-do cruises! :cool:

[hill6]

I am loving this review Deb! This is now added to my list of must-do cruises! :cool:

 

Your welcome Dee. It is an awesome cruise. You see so much of the islands.

 

I know someone who has been there five times and they have come the closest to doing what we did on that cruise and we still visited more than he did.

[hill6]

Tuesday, November 13th. Hilo. We were up early again today and after breakfast in the buffet we headed off the ship to catch the shuttle to the airport to get our rental car. Today we got a Mustang. It was raining a bit so the top stayed up for now. We drove to Volcano National Park. It took about 40 minutes if memory serves me correctly. In the weeks leading up to our trip, the lava was getting closer to the ocean but unfortunately it did not hit the ocean until two weeks after our visit. All the more reason to go back to visit.

 

While we were driving to VNP, I looked in the glove compartment and found a receipt that someone left for admission into the park that was good for a week. So we saved the admission fee once again. Score!

 

 

We stopped at the Visitor Center and got maps and information on what to see/do. It was very chilly there and I didn’t bring my coat. So I bought a T-shirt and put it over my tank top and off we went.

 

 

Looking towards Mauna Loa Volcano. It is over 13,000 feet high.

 

 

We stopped and seen the steam vents and then went to the Jagger Museum and seen the crater that was spewing steam.

 

 

 

 

 

The middle one shows the constant siesmic activity at the volcano.

 

[hill6]

We drove the portion of Crater Rim Drive that was open. We stopped and walked the Thurston Lava Tube. They have some lights inside so no flash lights are needed.

 

 

Entrance to Thurston Lava Tube. You have to walk down a trail to get here.

 

 

Inside Thurston Lava Tube.

 

We also stopped and walked part of the Devastation Trail. The Devastation Trail goes from forest to nothing as it has not been long enough to allow for regrowth after an eruption.

 

 

 

[hill6]

From there we drove the Chain of Craters Road. It took more than an hour to drive to the end of the road as we stopped at least 10 times on the way down there. I found a guide map online that lists the key parts to stop at and the mile marker they are located at. There are a number of spots where lava flows have occurred along the Road. You can stop and look at them and climb on the mounds and walk the lava fields. They do have signs indicating when the lava flows occurred.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hill6]

 

We also stopped at the spot where the old road was covered by the lava flow. We walked down and took pictures there. It is probably about 14 miles down the road. It will be on your left side and down a hill.

 

 

 

 

As you drive the road you are getting closer to the sea and lower in elevation.

 

 

 

 

[hill6]

At the end of the road (Mile marker 18.3) there is the Sea Arch. What an amazing sight and definitely one of the highlights of the day. It is a lava tube that goes into the ocean.

 

 

After viewing the sea arch you turn around and this is the spectacular view that awaits you.

 

 

 

 

By the time we reached this point, the thermostat in the car said it was over 90 (it was about 65 at the Visitor Center). We put the top down on the convertible and the T-shirt came off. There is a ranger down at the end of the road. You can also walk another half mile or so to the point where the road was closed by another lava flow.

 

Volcano House has reopened near the Visitor Center and offering limited services. The gift shop was open and sold sandwiches and drinks. They had picnic benches outside to eat at.

 

We stopped at the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut factory on the way back. They have a self-guided tour where you walk and see the workers in their factory.

 

 

We then went into their store and bought quite a few nuts. They give out samples and the best ones were the Maui Onion and Garlic. We also had Macadamia Nut ice cream. Yummy! We returned the rental car without issue and immediately caught the shuttle back to the ship.