Pride of America 3/17-24

[sldcruiser]

Mon. 3/19 - Maui Day 2 - Today was my favorite excursion. We did the Haleakala bike tour with Mountain Riders. I was a little nervous about it since the company received mixed reviews on trip advisor. I chose them anyway because I wanted the guide and van following us and they were the only tour that went all the way to the beach. We didn’t go for the sunrise because I figured getting up that early would ruin the rest of the day for us! As it was, we met them outside the cruise terminal before 7:00. We stopped at a Starbucks to pick up 4 more passengers, then headed to their office to sign release forms and watch a safety video before making the drive up the volcano. The weather kept changing on this trip - first it was sunny, then a little rainy, then sunny again. We stopped for some pictures on the way up, dropped the trailer with the bikes off at about the 6500 foot level, then proceeded in the van to the summit, which is over 10,000 feet. We had some time to explore but it was pretty cold and windy up there so nobody wanted to stay too long. The views were amazing though - looking down on the clouds was surreal. I’m sure it’s beautiful at sunrise!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sldcruiser]

We rode in the van back down to the bikes and this is where the fun began! It was drizzling a little so they provided us with optional Columbia raingear and mandatory helmets. Two of the six passengers had arranged to go off on their own and meet us at the beach, but the four of us remaining rode down the volcano with the guide leading the way on his bike and the van keeping tabs from behind. This way we were able to ride on the road most of the time (as opposed to the bike lane) and didn’t have to worry about traffic. Although there was some pedaling involved, the ride was pretty much downhill, around curves, fast and so much fun! We stopped at a little store along the way for a bathroom break and/or snack, then got back on the bikes to ride through some cute little towns and ended up at a beautiful beach in Paia. I thought the 28 mile ride went by way too fast and I wanted to do it again! (It sounds so impressive saying we rode 28 miles, but honestly, there was no real physical exertion since 99% of the ride was downhill!) If you’ve heard horror stories of people getting hurt riding bikes down Haleakala, it probably happened before they stopped letting people ride from the summit, or the people either hadn’t ridden a bike before or were doing something they shouldn’t have been doing. I wouldn’t say this was a difficult or dangerous ride otherwise. It probably helped that there were only 4 of us though.

 

 

 

 

 

[sldcruiser]

Instead of being dropped off at the ship, we asked to be dropped at a restaurant that was recommended on these boards called “Da Kitchen”. We had a good lunch there and walked back to the ship. At this point, the sun was out and it was a beautiful day so we spent some time at the pool listening to the band and soaking up the sun. Since we’d cruised with NCL before, we went to the cocktail party for Latitudes members where we drank some good mai tais and listened to a presentation on new ships that will be entering the fleet. OK, I can’t tell you too much about that because mostly we were enjoying our mai tais and conversing amongst ourselves… In looking over my journal entries for this day, I realized we did go to a couple shows besides the Frankie Valli tribute - they were “Lights, Camera, Action” and the “Not-so-Newlywed Game”. The first was a typical cruise singing/dancing show, which was pretty good but nothing I would have hated to miss. The second is done on every cruise and cruise line we’ve ever been on and it’s always funny!

 

 

[PCWalton1]

Loving your photos with the review. Isn't it amazing how rain doesn't ruin a vacation when you are in a tropical paradise and having fun? :D

[cleophus12]

So glad to get your positive assessment of the Mountain Riders tour. My DH and DD are doing this and, I too, was a little apprehensive because of some mixed reviews but booked with them anyway. Glad to know you enjoyed the tour and had not problems. I also wanted them to have the guide and the van behind them. Seems safer somehow. Thank you for taking the time to post your cruise review. I am learning so much from you.

[sldcruiser]

So glad to get your positive assessment of the Mountain Riders tour. My DH and DD are doing this and, I too, was a little apprehensive because of some mixed reviews but booked with them anyway. Glad to know you enjoyed the tour and had not problems. I also wanted them to have the guide and the van behind them. Seems safer somehow. Thank you for taking the time to post your cruise review. I am learning so much from you.

 

 

I hope they love it as much as we did! The guide in the lead on the bike had a walkie talkie and communicated with the van driver throughout the ride. If traffic was backing up behind us, he'd just signal to us to move over to the bike lane until the cars passed, then we went right back on the road. I am far from a daredevil and I felt very safe the whole time.

[sldcruiser]

Tues. 3/20 - Hilo - I’d read a lot of good reviews about “RickysTours” on these boards, so I booked this tour a couple months before we left. Ricky met us outside the cruise terminal at 8:30. As it turned out, we were the only ones on his tour that day, which was nice for us, but probably not so nice for him! He told us his website had gotten a virus and had been offline for a while, which really hurt his business. The tour was $60 pp, which included the $10 entrance fee to Volcano National Park. I thought this was pretty reasonable since the tour lasted around 6 hours. He showed us a list of the places he included in his tour and we pretty much stuck to his itinerary until we got to Volcano National Park.

 

The tour started with a drive around Hilo, down Banyan drive to Liliuokalani Gardens. Banyan Drive is a road circling the Waiakea Peninsula. It is surrounded by banyan trees (thus the name) that have been donated by celebrities. It was a sunny day and a really pretty drive. Our first stop was Rainbow Falls at the Wailuku River. We walked around a little bit and took some pictures, then headed to Richardson Ocean Beach Park with the black sand beach. We were hoping to see some sea turtles, but no such luck that day.

 

Rainbow Falls - see the rainbow in the mist? Me neither. :)

 

at the top of Rainbow Falls

 

river leading to the falls

 

banyan tree near the river

small black sand beach - no sea turtles

[sldcruiser]

After spending a short time at the beach, we started heading towards Volcano National Park. Throughout the entire drive that day, Ricky was telling us stories and giving us the history of the island. He was a wealth of information, with names, dates and places we’ll never remember! On the way to VNP, we stopped at the Akasuka Orchid Garden. Since we were the only passengers, we could spend as much or as little time as we wanted at each stop. There were some beautiful and unusual orchids there as well as a little gift shop, but we didn’t feel the need to spend too much time looking.

 

 

 

[sldcruiser]

Most of our day was spent at Volcano National Park. Our first stop was the Jaggar Museum and the overlook to the Halemaumau Crater. This crater has apparently been steaming for over 4 years now. Our next stop was the Thurston Lava Tube. We walked a narrow path through a rainforest before arriving at the lava tube. We met Ricky back at the parking lot and told him we wanted to hike the Kiilauea Iki Trail down to the crater floor (there was an entrance right at the parking lot). This was where it was nice being the only ones on the tour. He told us we could do whatever we wanted and take as much time as we needed. I wasn’t wearing a watch so I can’t even tell you how long this hike took. The terrain on the crater floor was interesting, with steam emitting from small vents in places and ‘ohi’a plants growing and flowering out of the lava rock There were markers throughout the hike that, had we been prepared, we could have gotten more information on some of the things we were seeing. Unfortunately, we weren’t prepared so we just enjoyed the sights without really knowing the significance of what we were looking at!

 

Halemaumau Crater

 

entrance to Thurston Lava Tube

 

exiting the lava tube

flowers growing on Kilauea Iki Crater

 

the crater floor

 

a better view of the terrain and the small steam vents

[sldcruiser]

 

 

 

 

 

Because we spent so long doing the hike, we skipped the 1982 lava flow and the Keanakakoi Crater (although Ricky did give us the option). I didn’t want to miss the MaunaLoa Macadamia Nut factory! We ended up eating a quick lunch of sandwiches we’d brought from the ship and bought some delicious macadamia nut ice cream at their snack bar. We sampled a few different kinds of macadamia nuts and ended up bringing home a bag of the honey roasted and a bag of wasabi teriyaki (which were great crushed with some bread crumbs as a coating for fish which I made when we got home). Of course I had to buy several boxes of the chocolate covered macadamia nuts for gifts as well.

 

Sometime during the drive, Ricky told us the history of Hilo Hattie’s. On the way back, I asked him if there was a store near the ship and he said there wasn’t, but he’d be happy to take me there and wait for me. At this point, I think our tour had lasted longer than it was supposed to so I told him that wasn’t necessary. I was very impressed that he offered though. He was such a nice man and we gave him a good tip, but certainly not enough to make up for the lack of other passengers. His website is up and running again now so I hope business picks up!

 

We had dinner on the ship at East Meets West and there wasn’t a thing that we didn’t like! The hot and sour soup was different and much better than any I’d ever had. This restaurant was an extra $15 pp and we got our money‘s worth! Although the Freestyle Daily had a couple things I thought I might want to do that night, we were tired and decided to sit out on our balcony a while and go to bed early instead. No lava flow, unfortunately.

[PCWalton1]

We have a reservation with Ricky's this coming September. It is the only port we have a tour but it sounds like we made a choice. :)

[soxfan1495]

We are enjoying your review and especially your wonderful photos. Looking forward to seeing more!

When on the Road to Hana, did anyone need anything for car sickness? I have read some people's comments regarding their needing something because of the turns in the road. Should we buy something before the ride? Thanks again.

[debster818]

Thanks for the replies and the information on the Road to Hana.

[Ramblin73]

Here is a link to my Youtube videos of our excursions we took while on the POA cruise March 17th to the 24th. Had a great time.

 

http://ramblinstravels.blogspot.com/

[Ramblin73]

Here is a link to a Picasa photo album of our trip.

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/101247840324348026544/Hawaii2012

[debster818]

How was the Smith Family Luau? We are doing this in a few weeks.

[sldcruiser]

Thanks for the great videos and pictures! I haven't had time to continue my written review but I promise I'll get back to it. We went to the Smith Family Luau too and I thought it was great! We did the Roberts Tour so we wouldn't have to worry about driving after drinking the mai tais! The food and the show were really good, although we got behind some people going back to the bus who were not as impressed. Guess it's subjective, but I thought it was fun!

[debster818]

We are also doing the Smith Family thru Roberts since we will not have a car and want to leave the driving to someone else (yea Mia Tais)

[sldcruiser]

Wed., 3/21 - Kona - We booked the morning tour with Captain Zodiac in Kona. I was torn between this one and SeaQuest and decided on Captain Zodiac because of the convenience of meeting them at the Kailua Pier, which is where we got off the tender. We booked this on our own (captainzodiac dot com), but I think it’s also offered through NCL. As with most excursions, it’s cheaper to book them yourselves and this one is definitely worth doing that because they meet you at the same place and you get back in plenty of time so you don’t have to worry about the ship leaving you behind if you’re late.

 

I was a little nervous about the zodiac ride because I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy the “fast paced adventure”. I was afraid it would be rough and hard on my back. I’m also not the world’s greatest snorkeler, having only snorkeled a couple times before. I never seemed to get the breathing down right and my mask always seemed to fill up with water. Well, I’m happy to say that neither the ride or the snorkeling ended up being a problem and I had a blast! It was a fast paced ride, but the zodiac just bounced over the waves so it didn’t feel jarring at all. I rode towards the front of the boat but I don’t know if that makes a difference or not.

 

The ride to Kealakekua (Captain Cook’s) Bay took about an hour during which time we were on the lookout for dolphins, whales, etc. We did see several dolphins shortly after we left the pier, including some beautiful spinners. They swam right next to the boat, which was so cool! Unfortunately, we never did see any whales. That was probably my only disappointment about this excursion, but it certainly wasn’t their fault!

 

 

Dolphins were close enough to reach out & touch, but hard to capture in pictures!

 

With Captain Zodiac, there is only one stop for snorkeling and that is at Kealakekua Bay. We used their snorkel gear, although you can bring your own if you prefer. For the first time ever, I think I got proper instruction on how to put the mask on and breathe. They said sometimes you can get too tight a seal and the mask leaks, which I think was what my problem has been. Anyway, I can honestly say I enjoyed snorkeling for a change! The water is very shallow there so the fish are up close and personal. The fish and the coral were beautiful!

 

 

 

This shows you how shallow the water is in certain spots

 

 

Unfortunately, the water was sort of cold and I had goosebumps most of the time, but it was still fun and I’m glad I did it. They gave us an hour and a half to snorkel but we could get on or off the boat as much as we wanted during that time. They provided snacks of fresh sliced pineapple, oranges, cookies and chips along with water or soft drinks. I went back to the boat much sooner than my husband (mainly because I was cold) but I’m glad to say he made it on time. He loves to snorkel and there was one excursion years ago where he lost track of time and they had to go looking for him. He will never live that one down!

 

After leaving the bay, we rode close to the coastline to look at lava tubes and sea caves, although we never actually went into any. We saw a lot of people cliff diving, which was fun to watch. We got back to the pier around noon so there was plenty of time left to explore Kona.

 

 

 

 

We went back to the ship to change clothes and eat some lunch, then tendered back to Kona with no real plans other than to shop and hopefully get some 100% Kona coffee. We went into a couple shops and walked up the street directly across from the pier (and I mean UP the street - it was a big hill!) There wasn’t anything of much interest up there until we saw the Walmart in the distance. I’d heard Walmart was a great place to get cheap souvenirs so I thought it would be worth the walk. As it turned out, the entrance to Walmart was much farther away than we’d originally thought, but since we’d gone that far, we continued the rest of the way. After all that, we didn’t buy a single thing! J On the way back, we discovered the Kona Brewing Company and stopped for some much needed refreshment. Once we were rehydrated, we walked back to the main street where there are a lot of shops and we found our Kona coffee. Mission accomplished! The last tender was scheduled to leave at 5:00 so we got in line around 4:30 and made it back to the ship in plenty of time for the 6:00 sail away, which we enjoyed from our balcony.

 

We ate dinner at the buffet and had prime rib, which was delicious! I think prime rib was also on the menu at the Liberty & Skyline dining rooms but we felt like going casual. We went to the early showing of “Oh What A Night” so we still had time to take in some of the other entertainment before our 10 to 10:30 bedtime (I’m telling you, this trip tires you out! J ) The Napa Bar had a sing-along and the Gold Rush had karaoke. We don’t sing, but like to listen to others who can! Unfortunately, we didn’t make it past the third karaoke singer before we were yawning and decided to call it a night. Another busy day to look forward to on Thurs in Kauai!

[madhatter262]

Loving your trip report! Can't wait to hear the rest!

[sldcruiser]

Thurs., 3/22 - Kauai - Today was the only day we rented a car. We used Avis and waited only a few minutes for their shuttle, then we were the only ones at the office so the process went very quickly. We didn’t bring our Garmin from home so we rented one for $8. They programmed in Waimea Canyon and some other sights they thought might interest us.

 

It was an easy drive to Waimea Canyon, although the speed limits were funny because they’d go from 50 to 25 and everything in between in very short intervals. It took us no more than a half hour to get to Waimea Canyon Drive. Renting a car is the best way to see Waimea Canyon because there are a lot of small pull offs along the road for photo ops. There’s no way a big bus would be able to do that. The main lookout point was “Waimea Canyon Lookout”, which had a big parking lot and restrooms available. (Side note - there are roosters and chickens all over the island of Kauai and they roam free. Waimea Canyon was no exception. They were everywhere and people came prepared to feed them.) The canyon view was amazing from this lookout and this was obviously the main spot where the large bus tours gathered.

 

pictures just cannot do this justice!

 

watch out for roosters!

 

A couple miles after Waimea Canyon Lookout, we noticed some cars parked in a dirt pullout on the left side of the road. There was a dirt road with 4 wheel drive access on the right (we had a compact car so didn’t attempt to drive down it). I don’t remember what the sign said at the entrance to the road, but in researching it later, I’m pretty sure it was the entrance to Koke’e State Park, the Cliff Trail and Waipo’o Falls. Not knowing exactly where we were going, we started walking down the road. There was not another person in sight and when you have no idea where you’re headed, the walk seemed very long. We finally came to a sign directing us to the trail and falls (according to what I’ve read since, the walk down the road was a little less than a mile to this point - seemed a lot longer!) We finally encountered some people along the trail and it was a short walk to a pretty overlook. We really wanted to hike to the falls, but we talked to some people who had just come back from there and they said it was about a mile further and a little tougher hike. We decided not to take the time to do that since we were going to a luau that night and needed to get the car back by 3:30. I was afraid we’d run out of time so we hiked back up the dirt road to our car. Although we hadn’t encountered a single person on our way down the road, we saw lots of people and a couple jeeps as we made our way back up.

 

walking aimlessly down the dirt road

 

 

the payoff

[sldcruiser]

We were very thirsty after our hike and lamenting the fact that we hadn’t packed a cooler with some water. We didn’t drive far though before we came across the Koke’s Museum and a little restaurant/gift shop. We didn’t visit the museum, but we did stop and buy some bottles of water before continuing our drive to Kalalau Lookout. This was our favorite and I’m not sure the busses make it up to this point. This overlooks the Napali Coast and it is beautiful! I didn’t want to leave! If we’d had the time, I would have loved to hike the trails in this area. Just another reason to go back someday!

 

 

 

 

 

We made our way back down to the highway and stopped for lunch at the Shrimp Station (which I’d heard about from many people on these boards). We placed our order and sat at picnic tables to eat. My husband had the beer battered shrimp and I had the coconut shrimp, both served with fries. Greasy good food!

 

 

We had a little time to spare, so we went to Po’ipu Beach, which was one of the places they programmed into our Garmin. It was a pretty beach with lots of expensive looking resorts surrounding it. We walked around a bit and took some pictures, then headed back to the airport to return the rental car. We had to catch the Roberts Tour bus at 4:30 to go to the Smith Family luau.

 

 

 

[sldcruiser]

Smith Family Luau - We had a large bus take us to the luau, but it was probably less than half full. When we got there, they gave us all shell leis and had us board a tram that took us around their property, which was pretty big. The grounds were very pretty and peacocks, roosters, chickens and various other birds roamed freely throughout. We had about 45 minutes to explore on our own after the tram ride before the imu ceremony (unearthing of the pig). The one hint I can give you about this is to go into the seating area and put something down to save your seats ahead of time. They reserved tables for parties of 6 or more, but there’s quite a rush of people trying to get in after the imu ceremony. We saved a couple seats near the mai tai station and ended up sitting across from a really nice couple from AZ. They call you to the buffet line by table and we were near the end. I can’t tell you where they started because we were enjoying the drinks and the conversation with others at our table and the time went by quickly. In addition to mai tais, they had nonalcoholic fruit punch, beer , wine, and other mixed drinks. You could drink as much as you wanted, but they closed the bars right before it was time to go the show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked to another location for the show. There was stadium seating and we sat in the back but we still had a good view - not the best for picture taking, but fine for watching. The show consisted of different types of dances from various cultures. The show ended with a Somoan fire dancer who used flaming knives. I thought that was impressive! This luau was fairly expensive ($90/pp including transportation) but we felt we needed to go to a luau our first time in Hawaii and this was the only one that fit into our schedule. I thought the food and entertainment were both good, but I have nothing to compare it with since I’ve never been to a luau before. The show ended around 9:30, the bus was waiting for us where they’d dropped us off, and we were back on the ship by 10:00. Starting to get a little sad that our vacation is almost over!

 

 

 

Sorry, these aren't the greatest pictures but it was the best my camera would do from far away with no flash! I gave up after a while.