HAL-CC Hawaiian Cruise In Planning

[iluvcruzin]

It's been over 4 years since I cruised the Hawaiian Islands. We stopped in Kauai and it was beautiful. The overnight was in Lahaina. It started in Honolulu so I stayed there for 3 days pre-cruise. Hanauma Bay is beautiful. There was a admission charge but I'm sure it's not the same amount now.

 

Since Honolulu is an overnight stay, it's not a bad idea to do a Luau at this stop. There is Germaine's and a few others. We went to Paradise Cove and it was very nice. Other activites - Kodak show, Polenesian show (it's a drive), the Arizona memorial, Bowfin Submarine Museum (I thought this was a interesting tour) and the Missouri. Since most of the Pineapple is imported now, the Dole tour was a bust the last time we were there. One option would be to rent a car for the day. They aren't that expensive and the rental companies will pick-up and drop off at the pier. There are rental places in nearby hotels.

 

Don't take the public transportation as a means for touring. It's WAY too far from the pier and would take forever to get to the Arizona. Share a car rental with friends. I don't know much about cab fares.

[RuthC]

A cab for 25+?

Sure. Someone could sit on my lap. ;)

Greg, I'll bet there will be some support for a few of us going together, but I doubt everyone will want to do the same things.

Maybe we could get a van.

[RevNeal]

Probably have a few groups with options planned. Vic has the right idea ... let's put together some options that either are independent of HAl tours, or branch off of them. :)

 

And, Ruth, don't forget ... I owe you at least ONE dance. :)

[Vic The Parrot]

Maybe I could get a car.......

 

I'll hunt around when it gets closer. Figure a car for 2 days

should be a good buy.

 

And I'll even drive!!

Won't know where I'm going, but we'll get there!

 

 

 

:)

[Ziggy7]

Sure. Someone could sit on my lap. ;)

 

And, Ruth, don't forget ... I owe you at least ONE dance. :)

 

I'm sure its not a lap dance, being a man of the collar but thats what it looked like LOL :)

[RuthC]

Ziggy-----hush! :o :o :o

[RevNeal]

A lap dance ... hehehehehehe

funny!

:D ;) :eek: :)

[Himself]

Since you were last in Hawaii, the great Battleship Missouri is now tied up next to the Arizona and from what I understand, is open for tours. This is the ship where the Japanese High Command surrendered to the supreme allied Commander General of the Armies Douglas A. McArthur.

 

The Kodak Hula Show, yes I was there years ago. It was quite good. There were once a group of ladies who wanted marjuana legalized. They called themselves:

THE GRASS SKIRTS

 

 

I know, and they hang wallpaper.

 

Himself

[RevNeal]

If anyone would like to see photos of the Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri, click the link below:

 

http://www.revneal.org/hawaiicruise/honolulu.html

[Pudgesmom]

Pardon me Rev, but shouldn't you be busy writing a sermon or something? :D

 

Happy Easter!

 

Beth

[RevNeal]

Hmmmm ... if my sermon hasn't been prepared by 10:25 pm (ct) on Saturday night, I haven't been doing my job during the week.

 

My sermon prep normally begins on Monday mornings at 9 am when I first look at the Lectionary readings for the coming Sunday; I'm almost always finished and ready to go by Thursday at noon. This week being Holy Week, I had to prepare 4 sermons, not just one, but I was still finished and ready to go by Thursday at noon. :)

 

I long-ago learned that if I did my job, as it should be done, and didn't attempt to write "Saturday Night Wonders," my Friday and Saturday nights would be mine for going to the Symphony, the movies, plays, and other such. :) Or, as in last night ... surfing Cruise Critics.

 

Blessed Resurrection Day to you and yours!

[longtimecruiser]

Thanks Greg for sharing your beautiful pictures of Hawaii. Makes me wish the trip were not so far away. Adele

[Himself]

Rev Greg Neal:

 

Those pictures of the Arizona Memorial brought back memories more than two decades old. Thanks for sharing them. I have some questions on the Missouri but I will e-mail you off the boards.

 

I hope your sermon went well today. Christus Resurrexit!!!!

 

Have a Very Blessed Easter to you and to all who read this thread!

 

Himself

[Batinfla]

This trip sounds really great! I would be interested, but I don't think I could convince DH to go. We just returned earlier this month from a similar trip on a different cruise line. (HAL would have been my choice, but our friends wanted to go on the other). Anyway, since it only took 17 years to get him to go back to Hawaii after our first time, I don't think he would go again so soon.

 

We did not take the Arizona tour in Honolulu as we had already done it. Our friends took the ship's tour and said the lines to get in were very long. In fact they spent so much time waiting there that the rest of their tour had to be cut short and even so they were almost 2 hours later than the scheduled time in getting back to the ship.

 

I will keep this cruise in mind.

[RevNeal]

Batinfla, if you can convince your husband we would love to have you join us! Let us know if/when that happens!

 

If you want to see some price-range estimates, I'll be posting a few here on the thread this week ... they will be just for reference purposes so that we can have an idea of the price-range we're looking at. IF we get a group rate, I would hope the quotes will be a little less.

 

15 days to, in, and from Hawaii is rather more expensive than a shorter cruise elsewhere. :)

[richnorto]

I'm answering this without reading everything in between, so - Just back from the Zaandam Carribean - wonderful! If we don't fly to London in June or Sept. (both are possibilities)- count us in! Hawaii is our next trip. I need to figure out if this is a 1 way or 2 way as DH has places he wants to go - you know "places to go - things to do"(golf)!:D

[Himself]

Rev. Greg Neal:

 

the way they are signing up this is liable to have all 1440 pax be cc posters.

 

Himself

[mechcc]

Wish we could go with you but do want to share that if you are in Honolulu on Sat, Sun, or Wed mornings, the Aloha Stadium has a flea market on those days and you can get some good buys. Stay away from the jewelry but you can get 10 t-shirts for $20.00. You can mix the sizes but watch for seconds. DH brought back enough for his whole office 2 years ago. Also, if you are there on Sunday morning, the military hotel, Hale Koa, holds a sunrise service on the beach at the hotel. You won't be turned away if you are on the beach and can get there by going through the Hilton Hawaiian Village or on the other side of the Hale Koa. The beach is open to everyone.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Greg, I just want to give you fair warning that this group cruise planning thing is practically a full time job:o . Planning our group Caribbean cruise is barely underway and I can't begin to tell you the time involved! LauraS tells me it will get really crazy as we get closer ... especially if it grows at the rate it has been:) .

 

Remember, I don't work so have all the time in the world, but you may want to think about planning this an an "Individual Group" cruise and just have one big Roll Call. I'll let you know as we go forward about how it's going. There's a lot going on "behind the scenes" that gets a little crazy.

 

I sure wish you had planned this Hawaii cruise for another time! I would loved to have gone along with all of you!!!

[iluvcruzin]

Himself - the Missouri was there when I was in Hawaii and we took a tour. I can't get over how they bunked. They had these hammocks where there were mere inches between one person and the next. Makes one think twice about small cabin space :). Lots of interesting historic informationis given on the different wars the ship participated in. If not mistaken, the last time in service was the Gulf War. It's a must see.

[Himself]

Thanks for the information. I am a history buff. Earlier in my life I was a History teacher. You are correct about the Missouri seeing action in the Gulf War. I think it was "updated a little" in that it was using more modern technology when firing and I think the fire power was much greater in the Gulf War than it was during WWII or the Korean Thing. I had a cousin (a lot older than me) who was on the KIDD (A Destroyer) in the Korean Conflict. At one point they were escorting the Missuouri and he said when she would fire her guns the Kidd darn near got blown out of the water.

This ship was chosen because it was named after President Truman's home state and that is why the surrender was done there. It was in the same class of Battleship as was the IOWA>

Himself

[RevNeal]

[QUOTE]Remember, I don't work so have all the time in the world, but you may want to think about planning this an an "Individual Group" cruise and just have one big Roll Call. I'll let you know as we go forward about how it's going. There's a lot going on "behind the scenes" that gets a little crazy.[/QUOTE]

Thank you so much for the warning. I've gathered that there's a lot to do in this connection. I appreciate any and all advice you might have to give. From what we've got now signed up as at least interested, it looks like we'll have a small group of about 25 or so ... unless we get a whole slew of new sign-ups over the next few months. ;) Originally this began as just Vic and I coordinating some of our schedules to meet up on another cruise -- this time a Hawaii cruise. Then we saw the Caribbean Group, and that gave us the idea of seeing if others would like to join us for a "Pacific Alternative."


[QUOTE]I sure wish you had planned this Hawaii cruise for another time! I would loved to have gone along with all of you!!![/QUOTE]

Likewise regarding the Caribbean Group Cruise. Almost any other time of the year would have worked for me, but not over THAT weekend and not so close to the Hawaii cruise that I was already planning. :)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Well, Greg, if this cruise (and maybe yours, too) is a success I'm hoping that there will be more cruises we can all get together. HAL will never be the same!;)

I'll definitely let you know how it all goes and once we get our message board and booking/pricing plan up, you can check it all out and see what you think!

In the meantime, no matter how many you have it should be a great time for all who can go. We can never get everyone we enjoy on these boards on the same ship at the same time so we'll just do the best we can.:D

[RevNeal]

[QUOTE]In the meantime, no matter how many you have it should be a great time for all who can go. We can never get everyone we enjoy on these boards on the same ship at the same time so we'll just do the best we can.[/QUOTE]

My thinking EXACTLY. :)
And I think these will be a success ... be they formally a CC Group cruise or just coordinated arrangements, by-and-large our people here KNOW how to have fun, and DO have fun cruising! Why not do it together, from time to time?

[DFD1]

Greg+: Put us down as strong maybe's. Pty of 2. It's been about five years since were were in Hawaii and we've never cruised out there, so it would be a real treat. We have two other extended trips plus the CC Caribbean cruise in 06, so it will depend on how attractive the pricing is on this one.

Thanks for all your work....and if this is successful, there'll be tons more work. DFD

I'm [email="dfd@americainter.net"]dfd@americainter.net[/email] if you need it.