On the Crown: 28 Days in the S. Pacific and it Wasn't Bora Boraing

Towards the end of the day we asked our guide if there was anything he would recommend we see and he suggested a visit to Wailua Falls. It was a drive through some beautiful country side to a very tropical setting for the falls. The falls are about 100 feet (although depending on who is measuring is can be a little less or a little more). You could hear the roar of the falls from quite a distance and once there you are treated to a wonderful rainbow - which, due to being surrounded by cliffs on all sides - never goes away. If the falls seem familiar to you it is because they were featured in the opening scenes from the 1970"s program Fantasy Island. In ancient times, warriors would leap from the top to prove their bravery, and some people still leap off the falls although it is now illegal to do so. By the way, these first three photos were taken by Jill with her new underwater camera - showing that it works just as well out of water.:D There are two trails down to the pool that people can take to swim in the cool water -something we elected not to do on this trip.

The water from the falls then winds down the Wailua River to the sea.

Next up - Maui.

While not as grand in size as the Grand Canyon I think in many ways Waimea is more beautiful with so many colors versus Grand which, while very striking due to its grandeur, is more shades of browns.

 

And to me all your photos are award-winning quality. I can't wait for your FP ones as we eagerly await our first cruise there this fall for our 40th.

I agree with you about the colors - it is very striking. What is FP? I don't want to disappoint but I have gone blank on that one. Maybe a senior moment.:)

FP is Cruise Critic shorthand for French Polynesia. Sorry about speaking in code... :- )

Our third port of call was Lahaina, Maui. This was our first visit to Maui and as we plan to come back in a month so we elected not to tour the island but to spend the day at beautiful Kaanapoli Beach - also known as Black Rock Beach. The beach is 3 miles long and is simply perfect. Conde Nast Magazine rates it one of the best beaches in the world. And the best part is that it is only a $20 cab ride from where the tender docked. With five us in the cab it worked out to $5 each to get to one of the best beaches in Hawaii. The beach also adjoins Whaler's Village where there are some very trendy shops in which to shop or get a bite to eat.

This first shot shows why the beach is sometimes called Black Rock, The snorkeling along the base of the rocks was great.

The fish in Maui were different than the ones we saw in Hanauma Bay and here are three pictures I took before I put the camera away and just enjoyed floating in the warm water.

FP is Cruise Critic shorthand for French Polynesia. Sorry about speaking in code... :- )

Thanks, I should have known that.

After the beach we strolled through the town and came across a man who was using his birds as backgrounds for people who wanted to pose for a souvenir photo. While we didn't have our picture taken, we did admire the birds.

Really enjoying the photos. By the way, the Old Town IS a great place to shop!:)

I passed your concurrence on to Jill - she says "Thanks."

Thanks for this -- I enjoyed it! I believe I am on the same Sept-Oct cruise you are (Golden Princess, right?).

This is Banyan Tree Park and is about the first thing you see when you get off the pier - but save it for last. It is a great place to relax or pick up last minute souvenirs before you get back on the ship. Built on the site of an old fort, it features musicians, artisans, and curios.

Jill picked up her last wood carving at this kiosk - just before I ran out of money. You can see our ship in the middle right.

This Banyan Tree was planted in 1873! It was 8 ft tall when planted and is nearly 50 feet tall and has 50 trunks. It is the largest Banyan tree in Hawaii and one of the biggest in the US. Some of the limbs are so long they have to be supported. A great place to relax in the shade and listen to music.

Banyan Tree Park is a really relaxing place to unwind from you hectic morning of whale watching :p followed by a furious lunch of fish tacos ;) & Longboard Beer! :D After what is a vacation for if not to unwind? :eek: Sailor Jack, Thanks for more wonderful pictures!

Just Mike

Your review and pictures are bringing back some great memories! Thank you for sharing!

The town of Lahaina is pretty much a tourist town and the main activities appear to be walking down the sidewalks and shopping - both very interesting activities. Of course there are a number of drinking establishments - all of which were pretty much full.

This is the first shopping area you see when you leave the pier. It is directly across from the park.

Row after row of shops.

There were some really amazing sculptures in this store - beautiful enough to lure me into it - something I am really loathe to do. As it turns out, many of these were actually made in Oregon! I wondered how many people who actually live on the west coast have purchased one of these and had it shipped home? In any event the items they had were fantastic.

A lot of the bars were upstairs. We had a great time up there people watching.

Thanks for this -- I enjoyed it! I believe I am on the same Sept-Oct cruise you are (Golden Princess, right?).

GASP!! Either:

A) You have me confused with someone else, or

B) You are the most clairvoyant person in the world!

We are indeed looking at the Golden Princess cruise, but we have not booked it yet and have not yet posted on the roll call. We normally do not book a cruise until after final payment - anticipating that there will be price reductions.

We are looking forward to the cruise, but the coincidence of your post is amazing!

Jack

All good things must come to an end and we head back to the ship. Here is the obligatory photo of the Crown.

The last tender makes it way back.

Our last look at the island. We had a great time in Maui. We wish we could have seen more of it, but you can only do so much in a day. We will soon be back.

On the third day out of Maui we crossed the equator and the ship held its "Crossing the Equator" ceremony. This is our third crossing and the event always draws a standing room only crowd.

To get the best spot for the ceremony you need to get there early. This shot was taken a hour before the ceremony and people were already lining the railings.

Overseeing the ceremony was King Neptune and his wife Aphrodite. Notice the King's assistants in back of him with the snorkel masks and long rubber gloves - a hint of what is to come!

Banyan Tree Park is a really relaxing place to unwind from you hectic morning of whale watching :p followed by a furious lunch of fish tacos ;) & Longboard Beer! :D After what is a vacation for if not to unwind? :eek: Sailor Jack, Thanks for more wonderful pictures!

Just Mike

LOL... we actually had a couple of Longboards before we got onboard! Glad you are enjoying the photos - it is kind of fun to share pictures with people who have been there also.

Jack

So, Sailor Jack, by chance did Sailor Jill take any of the pictures of the shops with the people in them? Are you by chance one of the people?

The Nurse and the Surgeon arrive - they will be performing a special "operation" later.

Followed by the Queen's Court.

These are the "enforcers". They will be the ones bringing the "criminal passengers" before King Neptune to be judged.

So, Sailor Jack, by chance did Sailor Jill take any of the pictures of the shops with the people in them? Are you by chance one of the people?

Jill took some of the pictures of the crossing ceremony, but, thank god, I am not in any of them!:)

Love the photos, and the chance to see it all again from another view. I found us in one of the pictures from the ceremony.:eek:

Thanks so much for doing this!

Joanie

The enforcers bring the passengers accused of a "crime" to be judged by King Neptune and the court.

After the charges are read, everybody shouts "GUILTY!"

Punishment is then administered!

Hello Sailor Jack

Im back from Gorgeous French Polynesia ...wow is all I can say ......beautiful place,crystalclear waters and very friendly people ...of course speaking their language helped plus making an effort to speak Tahitian ...simple words like hello ...ia orana,...thank you ....maururu and ...bye nana ..created big smiles ...they were wonderful

Thank you for your suggestion for Hiro in Moorea ...they were running late so they sent me to Moana ...something ...we went with Kahaa ..we had an awesome time ?he even took my sister on his back to see the fish ..she was scared of deep waters ....now thats service

At first I freaked out over the sharks but as I repeatedly swam with them ...i became more comfy and almost blase about ii. ohum there is a shark .shocking to be that relaxed ...why are they not hungry and mean like Caribbean ones ....i hear they do not like white meat ...so I was pretty safe although I was getting pretty tanned .....

Mahana in Bora Bora took us out to the ocean to swim with lemon sharks ...who are grey and big and black tipped who looked lemony to me but aren.t called that ...go figure how they decide to name them ....???

We did swim with a bunch of stingrays named Romeo,Juliette,Celine etc ...they were literally all over us ..soft gentle creatures but one liked to rub its tail on me ...twice ...did not care for that so I got back into the boat ...i felt those little sharp barbs ....I figured I had been warned ...Twice ...did not want to mess with those guys ....hey I know a warning when I feel one ...duh 2

In Nuku Hiva saw a family of manta rays that put on an aquatic ballet for us ...what a treat ..this huge one flipped and flopped right under our balcony ...amazing free show ...we are talking really big mama here ..but oh so graceful ...all it needed was Swan Lake to accompany it ...gee just remembered I had it on my Ipad ...oh well next time will play it for them .....Im sure they would follow the music

We did have rainy crappy days but in Fakarava got a tremendous free song and dance show performed by local troops .They pulled me up to dance ...got a lei as a reward ...i was delighted ...they smell sooooo good

Got pulled up again later ..got 2for that one ...I guess I had improved the swinging of the hips ...after all I can belly dance

Then I borrowed an old mans hat to pass around ...many people contributed and I gave it all to them ...got more leis and many kisses ..I looked like a Christmas tree with all those leis ..6 in all .over my raincoat ...I looked like a wet rat with lots of flowers .......I knew no one would cross the dance area to give a donation ...so I did it ...boy am I bold !!!LOL...Their smiles when I gave them the $$$ was beyond belief ..I think Im the first person who ever did that for them .The show was great and they deserved it all

They were an awesome treat ....in pouring rain ....lovely people

Cannot wait to go back there ...loved Bora Bora mountain ...always changing its look ...everywhere was magic

Will write a complete review soon

Thanks again Sir sailor Jack

Love the photos, and the chance to see it all again from another view. I found us in one of the pictures from the ceremony.:eek:

 

Thanks so much for doing this!

 

Joanie

LOL...which photo - I will look to see if I recognize you.:D

Another type of "punishment" was meted out to another guilty passenger. It started when a member of the Queen's Court went to the "operating table."

She then laid down on the table and the guilty passenger was told he was going to have to nuzzle her belly. The guilty passenger is the one standing to the left of her with a white T-shirt and mouth agape!

After the passenger was blind-folded, the girl in the bikini left and was replaced with a rather large man.

The passenger, then (with gusto I might add) bent over and nuzzled what he thought was a very attractive bikini-clad woman. The look on his face when the blindfold was taken off was priceless. Unfortunately I was laughing so hard I forgot to take his picture!

Hello Sailor Jack

 

Im back from Gorgeous French Polynesia ...wow is all I can say ......beautiful place,crystalclear waters and very friendly people ...of course speaking their language helped plus making an effort to speak Tahitian ...simple words like hello ...ia orana,...thank you ....maururu and ...bye nana ..created big smiles ...they were wonderful

Thank you for your suggestion for Hiro in Moorea ...they were running late so they sent me to Moana ...something ...we went with Kahaa ..we had an awesome time ?he even took my sister on his back to see the fish ..she was scared of deep waters ....now thats service

At first I freaked out over the sharks but as I repeatedly swam with them ...i became more comfy and almost blase about ii. ohum there is a shark .shocking to be that relaxed ...why are they not hungry and mean like Caribbean ones ....i hear they do not like white meat ...so I was pretty safe although I was getting pretty tanned .....

Mahana in Bora Bora took us out to the ocean to swim with lemon sharks ...who are grey and big and black tipped who looked lemony to me but aren.t called that ...go figure how they decide to name them ....???

We did swim with a bunch of stingrays named Romeo,Juliette,Celine etc ...they were literally all over us ..soft gentle creatures but one liked to rub its tail on me ...twice ...did not care for that so I got back into the boat ...i felt those little sharp barbs ....I figured I had been warned ...Twice ...did not want to mess with those guys ....hey I know a warning when I feel one ...duh 2

In Nuku Hiva saw a family of manta rays that put on an aquatic ballet for us ...what a treat ..this huge one flipped and flopped right under our balcony ...amazing free show ...we are talking really big mama here ..but oh so graceful ...all it needed was Swan Lake to accompany it ...gee just remembered I had it on my Ipad ...oh well next time will play it for them .....Im sure they would follow the music

We did have rainy crappy days but in Fakarava got a tremendous free song and dance show performed by local troops .They pulled me up to dance ...got a lei as a reward ...i was delighted ...they smell sooooo good

Got pulled up again later ..got 2for that one ...I guess I had improved the swinging of the hips ...after all I can belly dance

Then I borrowed an old mans hat to pass around ...many people contributed and I gave it all to them ...got more leis and many kisses ..I looked like a Christmas tree with all those leis ..6 in all .over my raincoat ...I looked like a wet rat with lots of flowers .......I knew no one would cross the dance area to give a donation ...so I did it ...boy am I bold !!!LOL...Their smiles when I gave them the $$$ was beyond belief ..I think Im the first person who ever did that for them .The show was great and they deserved it all

They were an awesome treat ....in pouring rain ....lovely people

 

Cannot wait to go back there ...loved Bora Bora mountain ...always changing its look ...everywhere was magic

Will write a complete review soon

 

Thanks again Sir sailor Jack

Sounds like you had a great time! Your enthusiasm came through so vividly in your description that I couldn't help but feel a little envious.:) Sounds like you had a super guide so you didn't miss Hiro much. Moorea was our favorite snorkel spot just because the water was exactly as you described. In Bora Bora I took so many pictures of the mountains because every time you looked they seemed to change - what with the angle you were seeing them and the ever changing clouds. Sounds like we had a lot of the same experiences.

I look forward to your review.

Jack