Aloha! Live from the Radiance 9.8.17 Cruise to Hawaii

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Welcome to day 5 of our cruise. :D The official forecast is for partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 73-75 degrees F. [23-24 C] It was cloudy and a little rain this morning, but it is sunny now. I think we might try to go to the pool deck again this afternoon. We went there yesterday for only 30 minutes and decided it was too cold/windy for us.

 

After breakfast we headed to the next cruise office and booked a TA for next fall from Rome. We were concerned that the price would keep creeping up while we waited for the system to go back online.

 

We got a price we could live with and $300 OBC. Nice! By the time we left, there were lots of people waiting who had missed appointments [as we had] during the outage.

 

Today's movies are the Lost City of Z in the Cinema, Kong: Skull Island on the big screen by the pool, and a special matinee showing of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in the Aurora Theater at 2pm.

 

The lecture this morning was on Pearl Harbor. We have not gone to any for these, but those that have say they are excellent.

 

We were invited to a special Diamond plus "Meal with an Officer." I had always thought this perk came with more Crown and Anchor points than we have. However, we were pleased to be invited.

 

The menu is below.

 

 

 

The company was good, the food was excellent and the wine flowed. I was surpised that no officers sat at the tables. There was a line of 30-40 officers as we entered--but, most of them left. LOL But, a good time was had by all. ;p

 

The Captain had a session at 1pm in the Aurora theatre. I think this is what used to be called the Captain's corner.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We have found there is a lot of live entertainment around the ship. This afternoon I went to the Schooner Bar for a scrapbook class and saw this white board beside the piano. DH and I are going to check it out tonight.

 

 

 

There is a production show tonight called City of Dreams. The times are 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm. We will skip this one. However, our travel mates are going so we will give you their opinion.

 

There is a Rock On! Centrum Dance Party beginning at 10:00pm. One of the musicians they say they will feature is Neil Diamond. I wonder if the CD, John Blair, will sing that one. I have sailed with him before and he often does a Neil Diamond show. He is very talented. We plan to attend.

[travelgoddess1]

I just found you, thank you for giving me my Royal Caribbean/Hawaii fix! I was originally scheduled on this sailing, but had to cancel. I'm slowly catching up on your thread -- so far it sounds as though you are enjoying your sea days. :)

[DELTABLUE]

Happily following along and so glad you are enjoying your cruise. Lucky you cruising with John Blair as your CD. Is Katrina along too? If you have the chance to run into him up close and personal, please give him my best regards and tell him that I miss him on Grandeur. I'm sure he will remember me as we've done many cruises together and got to know one another a bit.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I just found you, thank you for giving me my Royal Caribbean/Hawaii fix! I was originally scheduled on this sailing, but had to cancel. I'm slowly catching up on your thread -- so far it sounds as though you are enjoying your sea days. :)

 

Glad that I can help. :D

 

I think of you often--although we have never met. As the OP of the roll call for this cruise you pop up every time visit that link.

 

I am sorry you needed to cancel this cruise. My thoughts are with you.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Happily following along and so glad you are enjoying your cruise. Lucky you cruising with John Blair as your CD. Is Katrina along too? If you have the chance to run into him up close and personal, please give him my best regards and tell him that I miss him on Grandeur. I'm sure he will remember me as we've done many cruises together and got to know one another a bit.

 

Yes, both John and Katrina are on this cruise. I remember them, too from our Grandeur cruises.

 

I think they are doing a good job. There is lots going on.

 

I will give them your best if I run into them.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I just want to give you an update on the evening entertainment. Our travel companions attended the production show. They both said it was OK, but nothing to get excited about. The husband said the music was good.

 

We attended to 90's dance part from one of the upper decks. The show was very good. They had removed all of the furniture from the centrum to give a large dance area. The singers and dancers moved to/from deck 2. It was a high energy show.

 

I had seen a 90's disco show on another ship that was not as good as this. If you are onboard you should drop in. Here are a couple of picture I took from one of the decks.

 

 

 

Here is the CD John Blair signing in the show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was not a sunset for me to photograph. But, we did see a rainbow as we passed through a rain storm.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Welcome to day 6 of our cruise. Today is the last sea day before we arrive in Maui. Yeah! We have enjoyed out time at see, but we can not wait to get to Hawaii.

 

There was a curious section in the Cruise Compass for today.

 

 

I had not planned to take dirty laundry ashore, however, we did plan to take beach towels, a beach bag, sunscreen and a bottle of water. I will have to find out how strict they are with this. :confused:

[travelgoddess1]

Glad that I can help. :D

 

I think of you often--although we have never met. As the OP of the roll call for this cruise you pop up every time visit that link.

 

I am sorry you needed to cancel this cruise. My thoughts are with you.

 

Thank you, that's very kind. I did feel bad about "abandoning ship," and the roll call.

 

Welcome to day 6 of our cruise. Today is the last sea day before we arrive in Maui. Yeah! We have enjoyed out time at see, but we can not wait to get to Hawaii.

 

There was a curious section in the Cruise Compass for today.

 

 

I had not planned to take dirty laundry ashore, however, we did plan to take beach towels, a beach bag, sunscreen and a bottle of water. I will have to find out how strict they are with this. :confused:

 

They have made announcements in the past, which people pretty much ignored :D:D, so I guess they felt the need to put it in writing. It's a Customs restriction, which on the surface seems unnecessary. I used to send home unneeded clothing, using priority mail, from Maui or Kona. Then I had room to pack Hawaiian purchases. Now I guess I'll mail the purchases home and keep the clothing onboard. :confused:

 

I think the items you mentioned will be ok.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Thank you, that's very kind. I did feel bad about "abandoning ship," and the roll call.

 

 

 

They have made announcements in the past, which people pretty much ignored :D:D, so I guess they felt the need to put it in writing. It's a Customs restriction, which on the surface seems unnecessary. I used to send home unneeded clothing, using priority mail, from Maui or Kona. Then I had room to pack Hawaiian purchases. Now I guess I'll mail the purchases home and keep the clothing onboard. :confused:

 

I think the items you mentioned will be ok.

 

Thank you, that is good to know.

 

I sent home items via mail from our Alaska cruise for the same reason. Some of it was souvenirs. For example, I felt the ulu knives would be better in the mail than in my suitcase. [even in checked baggage] I used my hats and scarf to pack around the items. Since we stay a few days when we disembark I could still do this.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

The official weather forecast for today is partly cloudy again. However, it is sunny currently and the high is going to be 77-79 degrees.

 

DH and I ate breakfast on the back open eating area of the windjammer. That is one of my favorite places on the ship. It has been too cool/windy to go out there until today.

 

The movies today are Everything, Everything in the Cinema and The Mummy on the Big Screen on the pool deck.

 

The Headliner tonight is Puck. [a magician] and there is another event in the Centrum. this is an Intimate Jazz Cabaret with the Royal Caribbean Vocalists and musicians. Also, there is a 50's and 60's Rock 'N Roll Hop in the Colony Club.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I thought it might be useful to tell you want we have planned in each port. That way if you are interested you can ask questions [or give advice] before we arrive. That way I am more likely to get you the answer.

Thurs Sept 14 to Friday Sept 15—Lahanina, Maui. On Thursday we are taking an excursion with Mahalo tours called the Road to Hana. It is a private tour that I arranged from our roll call.There are only 10 participants. The excursion lasts about 12 hours. On Friday we plan to walk around Lahanina. We may decide to take a taxi to the beach. However, we have heard that Lahanina is a quaint location with lots to see, including a whaling museum and shops.

 

Saturday Sept 16--Hilo, Hawaii. We have reserved a rental car from Alamo. they have a shuttle to the airport and we plan to visit Volcanoes National Park.

 

Sunday Sept 17--Kona, Hawaii. We have purchased a ship tour called Kona Highlights. It explores cultural heritage/ history at 3 sights: Pu'uhonua o HonaunauNational Park, "the Painted Church,” Royal Kona Coffee store, and sample the island's world-famous coffee. We seldom do ship tours. However, this is a tender port and we have discovered that if I take a ship tour I do not need to deal with the tender process. they get us off the ship first.

 

Monday Sept 18--Nawiliwili, Kiaui. We have reserved a rental car and plan to drive to the Wiamea Canyan and maybe stop at a beach on the way back.

Tuesday Sept 19--Disembark in Honolulu. We have a rental car and a reservation at a timeshare for 4 night. Our flight home is at 9:30pm so we really have 5 days. We already have tickets for the Arizona on Wednesday. We also want to attend a luau, see Diamond Head, the Punch Bowl Cemetary and drive around the island to the north shore and see some of the beaches. We will play it by ear. If anyone has suggestions we are game.

 

[PCWalton1]

I see on Marine Traffic you have arrived in Lahaina. Hope you have a wonderful visit. I was hoping to catch a picture of the ship from the Front Street webcam but it's broke. :(

[zencruisers]

There was lots of entertainment last night. It was hard to schedule it all with dinner. We decided to go to the early show to make it work out.

 

 

There was a Headliner show with Marcus Terell and the Serenades. They were a pretty good show. They had lots of energy and great voices. They did mostly Motown and Pop.

 

 

Then we had dinner and made it to the Love and Marriage Show. I know it is corny, but it is always good for some laughs. It did not disappoint.

 

 

Finally, at 10:30 we went to the late night adult comedian, Bruce Gold. He was very good. His subject matter was definitely adult and he was hilarious. However, he managed to do the whole show without dropping a single “f” bomb.

 

 

Here is the daily sunset—actually a series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I promise not to bore you with sunset pictures each day. ;p You can tell what I like to do in the evening. :D

 

 

Sunset pictures are always good!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Welcome to day 7 of our cruise. We are anchored off the shore of Lahaina, Maui. This is the view that greeted me when I woke up this morning.

 

You will not get many sunrise pictures from me. :D . . . and this was a little later than sunrise. But, it was a beautiful sight.

 

The Concierge, JD, had given us tender #1 tickets the evening before. Our friends are not diamond plus and we could not get them tickets. Also, we had another couple on our tour today that needed tickets. So, one person got in line at 6:30 this morning to get tender tickets. The crew began giving them out at 7am in the dining room on deck 5. The woman who stood in line said there were ~30 people in front of her. She managed to get tender #2 tickets. Yeah!!

 

Then it was time to hurry up and wait in the centrum to be called. We got to the dock around 9:20 am and the people in tender #2 were about 10 minutes behind her. Thus, our Road to Hana tour that we hoped to leave around 8:30 left at 9:30.

 

Have I mentioned that I do not like tendering. I understand the need, I just dislike the process.

[DELTABLUE]

Hope you had a good time in Maui. I have good memories of being there and visiting Haleakala. Brought huge pineapples from the fields there back to our hotel on Oahu. Sweet!:D

[Crazy planning mom]

I recommend getting an app Shaka Guide Waimea Canyon. Download it for $5. It was totally worth it. It's like having your own personal tour guide.

https://www.shakaguide.com/kauai

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Hope you had a good time in Maui. I have good memories of being there and visiting Haleakala. Brought huge pineapples from the fields there back to our hotel on Oahu. Sweet!:D

 

We tried some of the Maui gold pineapple yesterday. It was terrific.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I recommend getting an app Shaka Guide Waimea Canyon. Download it for $5. It was totally worth it. It's like having your own personal tour guide.

https://www.shakaguide.com/kauai

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I think we will do that so we know what we are looking at. :D

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Yesterday was a long day. I will share the places we visited in a random order. It is too hard for me to remember which was first, second, etc.. . . I know I am getting old.

 

I do remember our first stop was at a state park that is popular with the surfers. Some of them were spectacular.

 

 

It is just beyond the city of Paia. Our guide said Paia means noisy in Hawaiian. It got it name because the rowdy workers would come into the city after work and make lots of noise. Paia still has the old looking store front--but, the insides are all remodeled.

 

Next we passed the rainboe eucalptus trees. As they shed their bark the various colors are visible. The colors are fairly muted so I am not sure how well you can see them.

 

 

At first we just had glimpses of the ocean.

 

 

Then we saw the Ke'anae peninsula--first from the wayside and then we went below.

 

 

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We also passed this little beach. It is made up of small black rocks/pebbles.

 

 

 

 

We also visited a black sand beach at Wai'anapanapa State Park. The beach itself is called Pa'iloa Beach.

Edited September 15, 2017 by DragonOfTheSeas

[Husky1987]

Love the Road to Hana!

 

Just past Hana, Hamoa Beach is my favorite in all the islands.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Love the Road to Hana!

 

Just past Hana, Hamoa Beach is my favorite in all the islands.

 

I wish we could have gone there. Because of our late start we had to turn around at Hana.

 

Originally Mahalo tours said we could go all the way around and we would just miss the winery because it would be closed. But, with our really late start. The tour guide did not want to do this. You could tell because he told everyone how bumpy the road was, how uncomfortable it would be and that there would not be a rest room for at least 2.5 hrs. . . . so everyone said lets go back the way we came. I was really bummed!!

 

I loved the tour and the guide. But, I wanted to see Lindberg's grave and the 7 sacred pools. :(

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Here is a little more about Wai'anapanapa State Park and Pa'iloa Beach.

 

This is a close up of the "black sand" beach. As you can see it is all pebbles/rocks. I walked almost to the waters edge and slipped off my shoes to wade in the water. My feet sank an inch or two in the rocks. It was very hard to walk on and you would have to use water shoes. It really hurts your feet.

 

But, it is beautiful.

 

 

Here is a view from the top.

 

. . . and another one:

 

 

 

There were lots of feautures to explore. [caves and a lava tube]

 

 

 

This arch reminded me of Cabo.

 

 

There were lots of people camping in the park.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

There are lots of little markets and food/fruit stands all along the road.

 

We stopped at Aunty Sandy's and bought some banana bread. It was hot from the oven Delicious!

 

 

 

 

We also stopped at the Hana Farm Market. They had lots of unusual fruit and flowers.

 

Here is breadfruit and the short bananas they grow.

 

 

Some of the bananas are red in color.

 

 

This flower arrangement has several exotic flowers in it. We felt it to make sure it was real.