The Grand Hawaiian Adventure. A trip report with Patters, Menus, Elvis, and ...

These are a couple of panoramas from the top, although I am not sure how well they will show up here.

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So, instead of spending $180 with Princess to climb Diamond Head, we spent $7 for the two of us for the bus ride and the $1 entrance fee.

On our way out, we stopped at Kahala Community Park, which is near the entrance to Diamond Head. Since it was Saturday, they had a Farmer's Market. We had hoped to get something to eat there, but they were already breaking down by 11:30. (I wonder who the pink shirt lady with the Princess Bag is that keeps showing up in my pictures[emoji849])

Princess also offered a beach break to Waikiki beach for $90 from the ship. In the interest of saving another $180, we walk back to Waikiki to have our own beach break. (About a 30 minute walk from Diamond Head).

In front of the zoo is a large banyan tree. I have a photo of our kids in front of this tree that I took in 1985, and it is amazing how much the tree has grown since then.

And what better way to start a beach break than a stop at Duke's

For Mai Tais

And Hula Pie. That's right, another Hula Pie. Dukes and Kimo's are part of the same restaurant group.

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Waikiki Beach is actually pretty small, but it is famous, and everyone wants to go there. It was a little on the cool side today, but it didn't keep people out of the water. So in the interest of showing more photos of an over photographed beach, here are a few.

Looking towards Diamond Head

Surfers wait for their perfect wave.

Statue of Duke Kahanamoku, the father of International Surfing.

They have surfboard rentals and lessons here. I learned to surf on Waikiki Beach in the 70's.

Looking Ewa along the beach.

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The 15th annual Spam Jam Festival is scheduled for the day we are in port. I saw this advertised before we left for our cruise, so it was something we wanted to see while we were in Waikiki. They estimate 25,000 to 30,000 come out for this free festival featuring entertainment, vendor, and of course, Spam. The official start of the festival is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

Around 3:00, it starts to rain, so we take refuge in the International Market Place. What they did to the International Market Place was a huge disappointment for us. If any of you have been to Hawaii before, you probably remember this area for the open air souvenir stands and shopping bazaar that was great to wander through and buy cheap souvenirs. It was one of the places that was unique to the Waikiki area and made it memorable. It has now been replaced by a Saks Fifth Avenue and other high dollar retailers, in a mall like you can find anywhere. This part of Hawaii has lost some charm, and newcomers will never be able to experience it. The only things that remain are the sign and the banyan tree.

The only thing that deserves a photo from here is the banyan tree with Don the Beachcomber's Tree House. And then, even the treehouse has been rebuilt.

The rain let up, and the vendors are getting ready for the start of Spam Jam. Kalakaua Avenue is closed to traffic. We ran into Gimer (Stan) there. He had given us this list earlier of the types of Spam creations you may find here.

They are assembling a mock outrigger canoe out of cans of Spam.

People start to pour in just before opening.

And by 4:15 it is shoulder to shoulder

Kenosha Cruiser was staying in Oahu that week, and he has posted several great photos from the Spam Jam Festival that can be found here on page 15, or starting around post 281.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2469441&page=15

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We caught the bus back to the ship and used our transfer we got when we boarded in the morning. The fuel barge was just coming alongside to refuel the Grand

We had a view of a beautiful sunset from our balcony.

No menu photos today. We just picked up a quick meal at the Horizon Court before heading to the Halau Hula 'Olana Show in the Princess Theatre. This is a group of children from about 6 years old to 18 that perform the Hula and other cultural dances. They did such a fantastic show, it is a shame some missed it because of the extended day we have in port.

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For any "old folks" that are interested in The Bus...bring your Medicare card, the fare for anyone with a Medicare card is $1.00. A real bargain.

I know. I left mine in the cabin. Still $2.50 is not bad, but I remember when it was only 25 cents to ride.

Oh no. Now I am starting to sound like one of those really old people.[emoji51]

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Sunday, April 30

Today, we are in Kauai. The Captain gave us another smooth ride last night as we covered the 93 miles from Honolulu to Nawiliwili. We are to be in port from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This is the start of our second week. In our first week, our trackers said we covered 79.58 miles, but our second week will show only 75.43 miles.

The lower amount is probably because we didn't do a "Climb Diamond Head" type activity this week. At 6:30, Kauai is visible in the early morning light as we approach Nawiliwili harbor.

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Mark, wow I was surprised to see Princess charged $90.00 per person for the excursion to climb Diamond Head. We climbed it earlier in the week and only paid $1.00 for the entrance fee since we walked in. We also used the bus to get there and back with our medicare cards. This was my 4th time climbing Diamond Head and my wife's third time. The views are fantastic. I kind of disagree with you on the new International Market Place. We liked it a lot, not so much the high end stores but the restaurants up on the third level and the beautiful nightly free Hawaiian culture show they put on. They did a beautiful job designing it and keeping the old banyan tree in place. We found a great place up on the third level called Flour & Barley Restaurant that was fun and had a daily happy hour we would go to. I don't know if you noticed, but a couple blocks down they had a large area where the old vendors are now set up selling their crafts and souvenirs, it was a very busy place.

Loving your photos & review, keep it going!!!

Cheers - Ken & Darlene

No time to write much more right now, so here are the Patters for Nawiliwili

Will post the shopping guides and port guides later

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Seriously addicted to this thread, love it!!!

So, instead of spending $180 with Princess to climb Diamond Head, we spent $7 for the two of us for the bus ride and the $1 entrance fee.

 

We did the Diamond Head climb as a family one year. The next year, we were with friends and my son and I "volunteered" to guard the car while they did the climb. Those killer stairs at the end was still a vivid memory (lol).

 

We were leaving the Islands the next day for home and I had several cold drinks left I knew we wouldn't consume before leaving so I suggested the boys take them with them for a refreshing drink at the top. Off they went with a cooler of six drinks. At the top they popped a can and a person came over and asked if they would sell them one for $1. Another person overheard the conversation and a bidding war started among three or four others. Being teenagers chasing the almighty buck, they let it continue and finally sold them for $5 each! Did they give me, the buyer of the drinks the money? Noooooooooo. I think they called it "labor charge."

So, instead of spending $180 with Princess to climb Diamond Head, we spent $7 for the two of us for the bus ride and the $1 entrance fee.

 

 

 

We did the Diamond Head climb as a family one year. The next year, we were with friends and my son and I "volunteered" to guard the car while they did the climb. Those killer stairs at the end was still a vivid memory (lol).

 

 

 

We were leaving the Islands the next day for home and I had several cold drinks left I knew we wouldn't consume before leaving so I suggested the boys take them with them for a refreshing drink at the top. Off they went with a cooler of six drinks. At the top they popped a can and a person came over and asked if they would sell them one for $1. Another person overheard the conversation and a bidding war started among three or four others. Being teenagers chasing the almighty buck, they let it continue and finally sold them for $5 each! Did they give me, the buyer of the drinks the money? Noooooooooo. I think they called it "labor charge."

 

 

Sounds fair to me if they had to lug a cooler all the way up. Maybe it was some kind of carrying charge. [emoji2]

 

 

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Here are the shopping guides for Nawiliwili.

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And the port guides.

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Thank you for all the info, we're booked on the Sydney-Hawaii round trip in 2019 so wetting out appetite a little.

The sun is shining brightly as we enter the port at Nawiliwili.

At 8:20, the busses start to arrive to take passengers on their tours.

Being use to many of the Caribbean ports, their port facilities are very nice. By contrast, the ports we have seen in Hawaii have that "abandoned warehouse" feel to them. Maybe it is because they do not see as many cruise ships as ports in the Caribbean. Surely, they could at least afford better signs.

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We had wanted to do the excursion to Tube the Hanamaluu Ditch System, and Princess had placed us on the wait list. Our Princess@sea account showed this as a purchased excursion, even though it was technically a wait list.

So we were reluctant to book anything else for this port through Princess, since we thought we would be receiving tickets for this excursion if they listed it as a purchased one. When that didn't pan out, we decided to pick up an independent tour once we got off the ship.

If you are a first timer to Hawaii, Kauai is the place to book a helicopter tour. I did that in one of my earlier trips, and there is nothing like seeing the Pali coast, waterfalls, and other spectacular scenery from the air.

We got off the ship and took the free trolley to the Harbor Mall.

The trolley driver was pushing their trolley tour offering on the way to the mall. This little mall did not have much to offer, and stores were not open when we arrived at 8:50. They did have a tour operator if you wanted to book tours. We initially inquired about the tubing excursion, but that had been sold out for months they said. We opted to do a highlight tour of waterfalls and Wailua. Noah was the private driver for the two of us.

Our first stop was at the Menehune Fish Pond. Built almost 1,000 years ago, Hawaiian legend is that the Menehunes built this pond along the Hulēʻia river in one night. The 900 foot wall along the river is now overgrown with mangroves.

Not far from where the ship was docked is the Nāmāhoe, a 72 foot Polynesian voyaging canoe. Although built with modern materials, it is Kauai's first voyaging canoe in the last 600 years. It launched last September.

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We had wanted to do the excursion to Tube the Hanamaluu Ditch System, and Princess had placed us on the wait list.

 

So we were reluctant to book anything else for this port through Princess, since we thought we would be receiving tickets for this excursion if they listed it as a purchased one. When that didn't pan out, we decided to pick up an independent tour once we got off the ship.

Rats!! I was looking forward to your comments and pix of the ditch.

We did it a couple of years ago and it was a blast. You've got to go back and try for it again! :D

Rats!! I was looking forward to your comments and pix of the ditch.

 

We did it a couple of years ago and it was a blast. You've got to go back and try for it again! :D

We had done white river tubing in Jamaica, and cave tubing in Belize, so we had hoped to do this one. I guess, better luck next time.

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Maybe the port authority should take sign making lessons from these people.

We made our way up to Wailua Falls.

Then to Opaekaa Falls

And the Wailua River

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I am going to jump in on Kauai-was on this same cruise-and recommend the "Jewels of Hawaii" shore excursion. It is docent guided through the Allerton and McBryde Gardens which are part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. There is also a stop at Spouting Horn, a blowhole. It was a 5 star excursion (my opinion) with a group of 23 from the ship.

I am going to jump in on Kauai-was on this same cruise-and recommend the "Jewels of Hawaii" shore excursion. It is docent guided through the Allerton and McBryde Gardens which are part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. There is also a stop at Spouting Horn, a blowhole. It was a 5 star excursion (my opinion) with a group of 23 from the ship.

Thanks Mary. I know there were better tours than the one we ended up doing, but this was my 4th time to Kauai, so I had been to lots of places here.

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We continued on to the Sacred Forest. It is probably not on many tours. It contained a Ganesha Shrine.

And a grove of Rudraksha trees. These trees have tall fin-like roots that sound hollow when you knock on them.

The trees bear blue fruit.

We made a final stop at the Wailua Reservoir. I know this would be on no ones tour stop, because it is just a typical reservoir. It did have a good view of Mount Wai`ale`ale today though. The Summit is considered one of the rainiest places on earth with over 426 inches of rain a year.

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We returned to spend a little bit of time at Kalapaki Beach and have a few refreshments.

And what did we find. A Duke's. So it is time for some Mai Tais[emoji41]

Some wildlife along the rocks.

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