View from the Empty Nest: Hawaii; Part 2--the Cruise

When we first booked this cruise, we had expectations of cruising the islands and going off on excursions to see the interior. Hawaii is known for its volcanoes, waterfalls, surfing and luaus. As I mentioned before, we weren't able to get out and about very much. In fact, one of our 'biggest' stops was a free shuttle bus to Walmart where I was finally able to locate souvenir t-shirts for the grandkids! Of course, who did we see at Walmart but lots of ship crew members stocking up on the day-to-day essentials.

If you've cruised the Caribbean, the ports are usually surrounded by the big shops, like Diamonds International, that greet you at every port. The town is within easy walking distance of a few small blocks where you can find local shops and restaurants. Tourism is their number one income and there are taxis, tour guides, or vendors hanging around, ready to take you where you want to go.

When you visit countries with more active industry and shipping, the port for the cruise ship is not surrounded by shops. You can expect to hire a taxi or locate a shuttle bus to get anywhere, if you aren't planning on a ship sponsored excursion.

We always enjoy watching the 'business of the world'. Hawaii has a hearty shipping business. We watched the barges load and unload and tugs bring them into port or escort them back to sea. That is fun to watch, but the immediate area around the ports themselves had little to offer visitors like us.

Our Port Stops

The beauty of Hawaii is apparent as soon as you exit the plane. Lush greenery and exotic plants!

Honolulu

The main sights in Honolulu are Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, and Waikiki Beach. Honolulu is the state capital and there are plenty of historical places to visit. There is much Hawaiian history to learn here. Hawaii was initially a monarchy, ruled by a King. That in itself, makes its history much different from the rest of the United States.

We saw Paddleboarders at every port. This guy was in Waikiki beach, but at one port I watched a paddleboarder cross the entire harbor and go out to the breakers. Half an hour later he was still cruising the harbor on his board going from sailboat to sailboat.

Kauai

Kauai was the most picturesque port we sailed into. Rugged cliffs rise from the ocean. Because of the landscape, towns are scattered and development is centralized in small pockets. The island has imposed height restrictions on buildings keeping it free from towering hotels and protecting its tropical island feel. Kauai landscapes have been featured in more films than any other Hawaiian island.

The Lighthouse at the mouth of the harbor

Harbor Views

Kauai was once a major sugar player in the sugar industry, but the marked collapsed in the 1990's and Kauai is now known for its coffee.

The port itself is tricky to get into.

The ship has to navigate a narrow passageway between rocky seawalls, and then make a U-Turn into the dock!

Yep. Tugboats are handy!

As we were eating lunch, Larry noticed a large chicken, or rooster, strutting around the parking lot on shore. It was the first wild chicken we saw, but not the last. The Polynesians introduced jungle chickens centuries ago. After a hurricane in 1992, fighting chickens got loose from their cages and the hearty breed blended with the wild population.

One of the interesting things we learned was that Kauai has the only navigable rivers in Hawaii.

Kona

Kona, on the Big Island, was the port most like what I expected, because it has a small, shallow harbor and we had to be tendered in. That was interesting because the ship used lifeboats to take us to shore. We can say we've both been in a life boat!

Here is an inside view of the lifeboat. It says 150 person capacity. Our observation was that meant average sized women and children. While they wanted 4 people to a bench, that poor person on the edge would be spilling over the edge. But the boat rode well in the water.

The Pilot sat above the passengers to navigate the boat.

People may be tendered to shore, but livestock had to swim. In the not too distant past, when cattle needed to be shuttled back and forth, barges would park offshore, near the pier and cattle would have to swim!

Kamakahonu, a recreated Hawaiian compound including a restored temple is alongside the harbor.

Kona is a small, quiet town with some Hawaiian history. I saw this group along the road just hanging out and playing the didgeridoo.

Small shops and restaurants were nearby.

This shop was selling wind chimes and windmills made from local seedpods and feathers, along with the usual t-shirts.

Mokuaikaua Church, the first church founded by Christian missionaries in 1820, sits across the street from Hulihee palace, built in the 1800's and used as the vacation home of Hawaiian royalty.

Kilauea (Kill-a-way-a) is the volcano that is in the news right now and is on the opposite side of the island from Kona. However, there is another active volcano, Hualalai, that last erupted in the 1800's. Some experts say it is overdue. Yikes!

Maui

The clouds hung low as we pulled into Maui, concealing the terrain beyond.

Maui is known for its beaches and in the winter is a good destination for whale-watching. However, it is an island with many facets from highland ranches and sugarcane fields, to winding mountain roads and hidden waterfalls. Maui is the second most visited island in Hawaii.

Maui was probably the first island to be settled by navigators from Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands. Although Hawaii was known for it's sugarcane fields, the sugar industry collapsed in the 1990's. The Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Co. on Maui, is the last operating sugar plantation in Hawaii.

I got off the ship and walked into town, about 3/4 of a mile through the shipping and industrial buildings. The path is almost comical as it winds between fences and guard rails. A guard referred to it as The Green Mile.

Once in town I found a nice outdoor mall that had a few local things.

As for my search for something for the grandkids, I was told my best bet for tourist stuff, like t-shirts, would be at our next stop in Hilo.

View from Downtown. There's a mountain in there somewhere!

One common sight in Hawaii is feral chickens. These two were scavenging in a parking lot, but they were all over.

Hilo

Hilo was on the opposite side of Hawaii, from Kona, and it was our last stop before heading to Vancouver. The harbor was very pretty and located downtown.

There was a park not far from the ship but after we took a shuttle into Walmart I knew, as pretty as it was near the ship, I didn't want to walk through the business district to get there.

The land gently rises from the ocean, green and grass covered.

Smaller boats, and catamarans were moored in this little harbor next to our dock.

The port is situated between two volcanoes that had their heads in the clouds, so it looked like a gentle island. Don't let that fool you. Excursions to Kilauea, and Volcano National Park start at Hilo. Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa lay beyond the bay at Hilo. If Mauna Loa sounds familiar, you are right. Macadamia nuts are a part of the diverse agriculture that has replaced the sugar plantations, as well as ginger, papaya, and orchids!

Agriculture may be a big part of the economy but while we were in port we watched as cars of all makes and conditions were loaded into containers and shipped out.

With the presence of volcanoes, legend has it that Pele, the goddess of the volcano, doesn't like it when people take lava rocks home with them. If you do, she will bring you bad luck. Whether it's true or not, it is a fact that thousands of pounds of lava rocks are Mailed BACK to the islands, each year! It sounds like some people found it was better to take a picture than take the real thing.

Ship Life

After visiting the islands it was time for our ship to leave the beauty of the islands behind and head towards Vancouver. It may take 5 hours to fly to Hawaii from the coast, but we were at sea for 5 days. We had anticipated some rough seas, but the trip was actually very smooth, and the staff kept us entertained with their creative towel animals.

Our Steward left this guy hanging from the rafters in our room.

These displays were advertising a Towel Folding Class.

There were a variety of activities for us to participate in. A marine biologist, Nancy, gave excellent talks on everything from Hawaiian history to whales. We didn't miss any of her talks. She also did nature walks in the morning, watching for marine life, and star gazing at night. It was pretty windy and getting colder as we headed north, so I didn't do that as much as I thought I would!

The entertainment at night was some of the best we've seen on cruise ships. That's not always the case. The troupe members audition for an agency and then are assigned to a ship. The cast meets on board. If someone transfers off or a new member is added they'll have to adjust accordingly. We found all of the singers and dancers were well matched in talent.

A couple of the comedians in the comedy club were hilarious. During the days, there were ballroom and line dancing classes, karaoke, a lip syncing contest and a 'Glee Club'. All of it was very low key, with an emphasis on having a good time. In other cruises we've been on, 25-30 people will join a 'ship choir', but on this cruise only a handful showed up. I guess that just shows there was plenty of other things to do.

The top deck had outdoor courts and mini golf. Casino's and shops kept lots of people busy.

The pool was quiet when we were in port, but busy when we were at sea. A covered roof helped keep it warm as we went north.

I joined the Glee Club. Normally, Larry would have as well, but he wasn't feeling up to it. On the last day of the cruise there was a show that included the Glee Club, 4 of the Ballroom dancing couples and a lip-sync sing off. We sang songs from the 50's and they needed a female soloist, and 2 male soloists. I stepped forward to do "Teenager in Love". One guy who likes to do Karaoke stepped up and did the other two songs. We weren't great, but we had a good time!