Monday, June 23, 2014

Cruising Pride of America in Hawaii

I certainly recommend flying into Honolulu several days prior to the cruise. It will help you to acclimate to the time difference and there is so much to see  on the island of Oahu. We stayed for 4 nights previous to boarding the ship which seemed about right.

Sailing with CruiseTogether.com in Hawaii

Having been on 15 previous cruises I was pleasantly surprised. I thought this ship was quite nice. It has a patriotic theme throughout.


The only Hawaiian decor was in the hall to our room.


Two of our shows were the best I have seen on a ship. The first night was a magician who not only did fantastic tricks but also danced and told jokes. Another night was a Jersey Boys act "What a Night" which was very enjoyable if you like Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons songs.

This is a casual cruise but they encouraged us to dress Hawaiian one day. The staircase is a nice place to have a picture taken.

 
Our first day of our cruise was in Maui where we rented a car, drove the 40 minutes to Lahaina where we shopped and then went 3 miles down the road to Kaanapali Beach and Whalers Village.

The Banyan trees are quite a sight.


We had already been to Chiefs Luau on Oahu but another great choice for a luau is Old Lahaina Luau on Maui. It is not a full Hawaiian experience without a luau.
 

Our second day on Maui we went to Ioa Valley and saw the "needle".


Not far from that we stopped at Maui Plantation. It was beautiful with many plants and flowers.
 
We also enjoyed going through a few little shops with handcrafted items.
 

I will continue sharing more in my next post on the cruise.
 
If you want any information on NCL's Pride of America Hawaii cruise send me an email and I will be glad to help you!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Friday, June 13, 2014

Reflections on My Time in Hawaii

Having returned from spending 4 days on Oahu and 7 days on the cruise to the other islands I will share what I believe to be the best to see and do. It all went very smoothly and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

First I would say that anyone who goes and spends time on one island is missing a lot. All the islands are very different and all offer so much beauty.

The six of us girls started off by having our driver take us to the airport which was a 1 1/2 hr. ride to Charlotte to get on our flight. That was a great decision as otherwise we would have had to take 2 cars for all of us and our luggage and paid for parking for 13 days. And when we came back after being awake for 24 hr. no one would have wanted to drive home. He was very dependable and prompt.

We stayed on Waikiki Beach at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach. It is at the quiet end with a view of Diamond Head.


Our favorite places to eat were about a 20 minute walk to the Outrigger Waikiki. We ate breakfast at the Hula Grill where I had yummy Macadamia nut and banana pancakes.


Dukes was also at this hotel where we had dinner. It was a bit  pricey but they had a huge salad bar and very good seafood. And we HAD to try their famous Hula Pie.


Expect to drop about $40 per person here.

One of my favorite things about traveling is experiencing the food.

Our view from the Hula Grill


The beach in front of our hotel was narrow so we walked down a few yards where we rented some beach chairs and saw these people taking surfing lessons.


I had previously made reservations for our first evening at Chief's Luau at Sealife Park. This included their bus picking us up at the Embassy Suites across the street from our hotel. They were prompt and we enjoyed the beautiful 40 minute drive along the coast.
  
 
We could see Rabbit Island from our luau. I thought the buffet dinner was good, especially the pork which was cooked in a pit covered with banana leaves. We also had fun learning how to do the hula.

One of the best tours I reserved included a full day starting with Pearl Harbor on our 25 passenger mini bus. We enjoyed  the museum and movie before departing for the Arizona memorial.


 
It was all very moving and worth the time to spend walking around the grounds and through the museum.
 

The Arizona has been leaking oil for 70 yrs and they expect it to continue leaking for another 70 yrs.


After about 2 1/2 hr here we continued on a Circle Island Tour which was 120 miles around the entire island. We went to Dole Plantation and got a Dole Whip (which was very sweet), a macadamia nut farm, went to the north shore and stopped for lunch. We saw every shade of green and blue in the ocean as well as mountains and even a ranch. We saw where many movies were made and even saw some cliff divers.
 


Our day had started at 6am and it ended at 4:45pm when the bus dropped us off at our hotel. It was a full day but very interesting. The tour was only $65 which I feel is a bargain for all we saw.

If you want me to plan any tours for you please email me  -  becki@cruisetogether.com