Beagle Feels Sincere "Pride Of America" - A Lengthy Trip Report w/Pics

[Deb and Jack]

Hi Deb and Jack,

Leaving in two weeks? You are the envy of everyone!! Certainly me because I know how much fun your about to have.

 

Hopefully you can see all the pictures. I'm using Shutterfly. They show up on my PC and my iPad but they didn't show up on my work PC.

Doing the land cruise combo starting on the 16th. Traveling solo in one of the studios they added during the drydock. Planning for 2yrs. It's a bucket list gift to myself for my 60th. Hopefully I have as much fun as you did.

 

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[we b cruzin]

Thank you for such a great review. DW and I are doing this cruise for our 20th Anniversary in November.

[Beagleluv6107]

Day 1 - Continued

Where did I leave off... Oh yes bored on the airplane. I started playing golf.

Here is our first sighting of the Big Island... and a little bit of a rainbow.

Here is our first sighting of Waikiki beach. What a neat view of Diamond Head. By this point, I was so excited I started fidgeting and squirming in the seat. I was ready for the pilot to land this bird!!!

 

We touched down at 2:50pm Hawaii Time! It was 84 and sunny. Yippee. I arranged transportation with GO808EXPRESS. They had my cell and I received a text they were waiting as soon as I took the phone off airplane mode. It was great to be in communication with our driver because we did have to sit on the plane for at least 20 minutes. They could not get the door open. Yes, they really said those exact words. It worked out fine because when we got to baggage claim, our bags were already going around the carousel. Our driver Danny was right outside the doors so we were in the car and on our way at 3:35pm.

 

Danny was funny and kept mentioning how no one knows how to drive on the highway there and how it stays bumper to bumper for no reason. At this time, we were exhausted and thirsty and in no mood for traffic. We finally arrived at our hotel the Park Shore Waikiki.

 

What a welcome sight!!! I had booked this hotel back in September and got a really good deal on an Ocean View Balcony. I requested the highest floor and a view of Diamond Head. What we got was the best balcony view ever. We had room #1805 and it was breathtaking. It was 4:30 and all that exhaustion went away standing there taking pictures and selfies and wishing we could text the loved ones back home. I guess we could have but it was late so we showed restraint.

 

 

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

Then it occurred to us that our bodies knew it was really 10:30pm and they demanded to know why we had no beer flowing in the bloodstream. After all, we were on vacation.

 

Lucky for us, the Park Shore has LuLu’s bar and restaurant attached to the front of the building. Yeah us! We grabbed a quick beer then took a walk down to the corner where there was Tiki’s. Tiki’s is also an open air bar/restaurant that was hooked to another hotel. They had a 2 man band and two hula dancers so we stopped in to check it out. That’s when folks spotted a family ( Pod ) of whales. You could only see the spray coming up from the water but that really excited me for the week on board the ship. I thought, if I have only been in Hawaii 2 hours and had a whale sighting..... surely, I will see more. In case your curious… nope, we never saw another whale after that.

 

We ended up back and LuLu’s and had wings and pork egg rolls dinner aka midnight snack. I didn’t get a picture but nothing to brag about. It was something. DH fell asleep at 8 and I lasted all the way to 9pm before exhaustion took over.

Up next Day 2

[Deb and Jack]

Pictures are gorgeous, thanks again for sharing

 

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[Beagleluv6107]

Day 2 – Diamond Head, Here We Come!

 

I was up at 4am but laid there until I couldn’t stand it any longer and went and sat on the balcony. Waikiki is actually busy at that hour so there was a lot to watch. DH made coffee and joined me to watch the sun come up.

We could actually hear the animals down in the Honolulu Zoo. Here’s a picture from the balcony. The brown area was the Elephant pen.

 

 

We were really loving that balcony and people watching, but eventually our bellies growled and we needed to hunt down some food. The night before we noticed a sign at Tiki’s that read outdoor breakfast starting at 7am. We walked over and we were told it was a continental breakfast for $15.99. We passed on that and made our way back to LuLu’s. This was a great idea for several reasons. First off, take a look at the view we had at 7am.

The second reason was the pricing and the portions. They really redeemed themselves from dinner the night before. This breakfast was excellent. I highly recommend LuLu’s for breakfast if your in the area.

This is the Garden Isle Scramble

 

[Beagleluv6107]

We went back to the room and lathered up in sunscreen, grabbed a hat, and off we went to hike Diamond Head. We talked to the staff at the hotel and they suggested instead of taking a cab to the entrance, we hop on the trolley. The trolley pulled up right as we were asking so we jumped on. We weren’t sure how many times we would need the trolley, so we bought the day pass. I lost the receipt so I’m not sure how much it cost. Only a few dollars, I think.

We were dropped off out front and walked about a mile and half before we reached the base of Diamond Head. For those of you that drive up, the parking lot is much closer. If the parking lot is full, you have to sit in your car and wait for someone to pull out. They had an attendant keeping everything straight. I read many suggestions to get their early and I completely understand why. It’s more of a one lane path so the less crowded the better. Not to mention your hot and huffing and puffing by the time you reach the top. It was an incredible view and so worth it. I loved every minute.

 

 

 

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

A few more pictures from Diamond Head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a picture looking at our hotel. Pretty cool that just two hours before, I was taking a picture from my balcony looking at Diamond Head.

 

 

I'll try and get the rest of Day 2 posted tomorrow. Thanks for following along!!

[sharonsharona]

Are you coming back? Waiting to see if you got on the ship.

[slewiss1]

Thank you, is looks great! We're going in October 2018, and I can't wait to see the rest of your review!

[Beachiekeen]

Following! Wonderful pictures of Diamond Head.

[tdeyette]

Beagleluv6107,

 

looking forward to the rest of your review... We also did this trip to celebrate our 10th anniversary. (we actually went on our ninth but called it close enough)

We flew out of JFK direct on Hawaiian airlines... i remember it was a long trip!

After we landed and took a taxi to our hotel we were also bone tired.

We went to dukes and had a mai tai... just had to do it.... I'm surprised we did not just fall asleep in our glass...

but the excitement gave us enough energy to keep us up.

we had an awesome time ... something we will always remember and talk about... your review is making me think about the trip all over. :)

[kckitties]

Following!

[Beagleluv6107]

Are you coming back? Waiting to see if you got on the ship.

 

 

 

Hey Sharon,

Sorry for the delay. Hope to post more tomorrow.

 

 

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[Beagleluv6107]

Thank you, is looks great! We're going in October 2018, and I can't wait to see the rest of your review!

 

 

 

Hey Slewiss, I am so excited for you that your gonna do this in October!!!

 

 

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[Beagleluv6107]

Beagleluv6107,

 

 

 

looking forward to the rest of your review... We also did this trip to celebrate our 10th anniversary. (we actually went on our ninth but called it close enough)

 

We flew out of JFK direct on Hawaiian airlines... i remember it was a long trip!

 

After we landed and took a taxi to our hotel we were also bone tired.

 

We went to dukes and had a mai tai... just had to do it.... I'm surprised we did not just fall asleep in our glass...

 

but the excitement gave us enough energy to keep us up.

 

we had an awesome time ... something we will always remember and talk about... your review is making me think about the trip all over. :)

 

 

 

Tdeyette,

Glad you did this for your anniversary. And your right, when you first arrive adrenaline keeps you going. My advice for any east coast folks is to stay up the first night and get on the Hawaiian schedule right away.

 

This was a trip of a lifetime. Hope to post more tomorrow.

 

Here is one picture I wasn't going to post because it was zoomed in. The folks on the beach were practicingwith the fire batons.

[oncruisecontrol]

Thanks for posting your Pride of America review. I'm really enjoying reading it. I have one question, you may have already answered it and maybe I missed it but, how was the service aboard the ship?

[luvdod]

Ive been looking at this cruise...cant wait to read the rest of your adventure

[Beagleluv6107]

Thanks for posting your Pride of America review. I'm really enjoying reading it. I have one question, you may have already answered it and maybe I missed it but, how was the service aboard the ship?

 

Hey Oncruisecontrol,

We actually thought the service onboard was great, from the room steward, to the bartenders and wait staff. Everyone we encountered were nice, professional, and friendly.

[Beagleluv6107]

Ok, lets see if I can wrap up this Day 2. I think I left off as we had just finished up our Diamond Head hike.

 

 

We made our way back to the trolley stop and hopped on. We got off about a block or two from the zoo. The cost of admission was $19 per person. DH was skeptical because it looked very tiny from our balcony, but we had a great time. It is so much bigger when your walking every inch of the place. It was not crowded at all but at this point it was almost noon and sunny and hot. Most the animals were resting in the shade. The monkeys put on a great show for all of us standing there. I wish I could post my video. It’s hilarious.

 

 

 

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

We decided it was time for lunch. At the Park Shore, they had a place for sandwiches called Tucker & Bevvy. We stopped in and nothing on the menu looked appealing and the prices were high. I suggested we go to the Japanese restaurant on site called Yosh*tsune for sushi. We’ve been dabbling a little bit in the world of sushi. We walked in and there was a major language barrier. We finally got the waitress to understand we didn’t want to sit in the dinning room but rather at the sushi bar. Then we looked at the menu. Hmmm, this might have been a bad idea. We couldn’t make heads or tails of any of it. She even showed us a menu that was all pictures and apparently, we do not know our sushi. So, I said how about a California roll. We got that along with miso soup (at no charge) for both of us. They used real jumbo lump blue claw crab meat in the roll. Wow! It was by far, the best California roll we’ve ever had.

 

 

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

We made our way back to the room and it had not been serviced. The nice lady was right there and asked if we wanted the room done and we said yes thank you, we will get out of the way. So, we put our bathing suits on and went down to get towels from the front desk. They give you a towel card when you check in. The area right in front of the hotel is not good for swimming so I asked DH if we could go down the beach further. Nope :rolleyes: perhaps I walked him to death earlier and he just didn’t have the energy to find a clear section. We took a bunch of pics and had fun even though we couldn’t go out in the water very far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made our way back to the room after over an hour and it was still not done. No problem really but she was right there so we left again and went to Tiki’s. We might as well get a beer, right? They had a nice happy hour going on and the staff was super friendly.

 

 

After we finally got showers, we walked around shopping. All we had to do was head left down the street and there were tons of stores. I don’t know what’s up with the ABC stores but there is one on every single block. We eventually decided that the greatest spot to hang out was right on our balcony. After the sun went down, the King’s Hawaiian band started playing off in the distance at Kapiolani Park. We could hear them pretty good. Every Friday night, the nearby Hilton has fireworks and we could hear them but not see them. It didn’t last long so I’m glad we didn’t go out of our way to catch the show.

 

 

Here is a picture of the pool from our balcony and a random picture at LuLu’s that I just realized I had.

 

 

 

Tomorrow, I will finally get to the Pride Of America Review!!!

[sjudis]

Following and eagerly waiting for your next installment[emoji1]. Loving your review so far. I was trying to decide if the cruise was enough but your experience has helped me change my mind[emoji1]. Thank you and keep writing❤️❤️❤️

 

 

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[onelegcraig]

Looking forward to reading the rest. We leave in 10 days!

[alreadypacked]

Loving the review!!

 

Thanks for posting!