Oahu - what can I say, I just love this place...

Ever since out first trip here last year, Oahu has been one of my favorite places.  The weather is perfect, the people are wonderful, magnificint mountains, beaches, warm ocean, great food and shopping... I could go on and on.

Today we grabbed tickets for the hop-on-hop-off bus just to get around the Honolulu-Waikiki area. We started our day with a ride up to Diamond head crater, then to Waikiki beach, some shopping, and finished up our afternoon in Chinatown for lunch.

We then went back to the ship to catch the Patriots/Falcons game.

Dinner tonight was a Luau BBQ on Lido deck and entertainment was a Hawaiin show.

Welcome to Hilo, Hawaii

Sorry in advance for the miss-matched look of today's blog.  i did it on the ipad vs the computer and the settings are much different.


Today we made it to Hilo, on the big island of Hawaii. I am happy to see land after 5 days at sea. Weather started out overcast and misty, but soon turned partly sunny and warm. We had a half day tour where we visited Rainbow falls.

   

We then went to the black sand beach which was formed from the 1990 lava flows.  

 

Pictures can not show how beautiful this beach really was.

After the beach we headed to Mckenzie State Park, where the lava flows met the ocean and made dramatic black cliffs.

 

 

 

Our last stop was to the Mauna Loa Macadamia nut factory. Yum! We left port and headed toward tomorrow's stop of Honolulu, by 6pm.  

The three day curse...

The three day curse... I have been on several cruises and it never fails that it takes me three days before my head and legs catch up with the movement of the sea.  This trip has been no different. Our first sea day, the seas were rough and I was not feeling so great.  Yesterday, our second full sea day was much better as I’m finally getting used to the movement of the ship.  Ty had better luck and has been fine.

Yesterday was the first time I got up and about from the cabin.  I went to a lecture on the formation of the Oceania Islands and how they were created from volcanos and the shifting tectonic plates.  It was very interesting.  

Last night was our first formal night, the Captain’s Reception, which was nice.  We received out first “pillow gifts”, gifts which are left on our pillows during formal nights.  Tonight’s gift was a shoulder bag which contained a small bag of travel essentials, band aids, liquid germ killer, Chap Stick, pepto, and aspirin.  The bag also included luggage tags, a Grand Voyage pin, maps and a leather bound journal. And our newest pet Hermit Crab.

 

 

Today is another sea day, the weather has been a consistent 73 degrees  and overcast.  Two more days until Hawaii.

Here is a picture leaving LA

Fresh flowers from around the ship



 

 

The smell of them everywhere is wonderful.  Two more sea days until Hawaii.  Can't wait!

So the journey begins...

Well the day has finally come.  It was a busy weekend for us.  We left Thursday night to take Tristan to Halloween Horror nights at Universal in Orlando. Our flight back home was early Sunday morning which meant catching our ride to the airport at 5:30 am.  Two days in a row of getting up in the 4 o'clock hours will be tough.  I am NOT a morning person... I was hopeful the adrenaline would carry me through.

After saying goodbyes to my family I tried to get a few hours sleep before we had to leave at 4am. After a quick wakeup and last minute packing we were off to the airport. 

We arrived at LAX a bit before 11 am west coast time. Everything went smoothly, our luggage (all 9 pieces, yes 9...as I shake my head in almost shame for willfully paying baggage fees for 3 extra pieces) arrived without any issues. We then headed for the shuttle to take us to the ship. We were on the ship my around 1pm.

We headed straight to our room to drop a few things then set out to explore the ship. I have been on many cruises, but never on Holland America.  My first impressions were overall very good.   While waiting in line to be checked in we were offered water, lemonade and cookies from servers walking through the line. Once on board I noticed (and smelled) fresh flower bouquets all around the ship. It is an older ship, very small compared to those I have been on but well kept. (I will post pictures once I have all my devices set up on the sat. internet). Our ocean view room (2713) is large and will work just fine.

We headed up to grab some lunch and explore the ship.  I was very happy to see a sushi station which served a different variety of sushi as well as chunk sashimi (love).  I know what I will be living on for lunch the next few months! When we returned to the cabin all of our luggage had been delivered and I started the huge task of unpacking as much as I could before  Muster drill. After muster we went up on deck to watch sail away for a bit for which they offered complimentary champagne and a signature fruity drink, nice touch.

We were both feeling the wear of traveling and being up very early and knew we would not make our 8pm dining time.  Instead we chose to grab diner up on lido deck where they were offering a poolside BBQ with beef kabobs, cedar plank salmon, chicken, cod, and all the BBQ salads, veggies and accompaniments you could want. We ate then headed back to the cabin.  It was now about 7:30 and we both were ready for bed so called it a day and passed out within 10 minutes.   The down side to that is I am now up and wide awake at 5:30 am (8:30 east coast time).  Enjoying a very good cup of coffee.  I don't think I've ever seen this hour willingly. 

We have several sea days until we reach Hawaii on Sat.  Seas are pretty rough this morning and the sky is overcast but starting to burn off.  Looks like it will be a nice day.