Lessons learned, love shared: Golden Princess to Hawaii 3/27/13

[cr8tiv1]

Yes, you could have brought back the baskets made of coconut leaves. I did...it is a lost Hawaiian art. The vendor was trying to bring back this trade. She even goes into schools to teach the young ones. These vendors were plentiful in the old days. Glad to see them returning.

 

I, too, had to drive and hunt for the Rainbow Connection. I knew they were operational because I had just emailed them. They are way, way, way, in the back. They used to have a store front (closed building). I just happened upon someone walking around in the rain and stopped to ask them where it was. The factory was in full operation and I walked away with lots of goodies, plus some. I would never have found them if it weren't for the guy in the parking lot.

 

When I was there, there was a split waterfall since it had rained extensively that very day.

Edited September 7, 2013 by cr8tiv1

[terrific_surprise]

Yes, you could have brought back the baskets made of coconut leaves. I did...it is a lost Hawaiian art. The vendor was trying to bring back this trade. She even goes into schools to teach the young ones. These vendors were plentiful in the old days. Glad to see them returning.

 

I, too, had to drive and hunt for the Rainbow Connection. I knew they were operational because I had just emailed them. They are way, way, way, in the back. They used to have a store front (closed building). I just happened upon someone walking around in the rain and stopped to ask them where it was. The factory was in full operation and I walked away with lots of goodies, plus some. I would never have found them if it weren't for the guy in the parking lot.

 

When I was there, there was a split waterfall since it had rained extensively that very day.

 

After we returned to the ship in Hilo, we saw that same little girl -- the one for whom the basket was made at Rainbow Falls. We hadn't realized that she was a Golden Princess passenger. :o She still had her basket, but I wondered at the time if she was going to be allowed to bring it off the ship in LA. I wish now that we had decided to have a couple of baskets made for our girls. :(

 

I also wish we had been a little more persistent in pursuing the Rainbow Falls Connection lavosh. I should have thought of calling their phone number. :(

[Cruisin' Chick]

After we returned to the ship in Hilo, we saw that same little girl -- the one for whom the basket was made at Rainbow Falls. We hadn't realized that she was a Golden Princess passenger. :o She still had her basket, but I wondered at the time if she was going to be allowed to bring it off the ship in LA. I wish now that we had decided to have a couple of baskets made for our girls. :(

 

I also wish we had been a little more persistent in pursuing the Rainbow Falls Connection lavosh. I should have thought of calling their phone number. :(

 

As far as I know, you can bring plant material back on board, but you wouldn't be able to legally bring them off the ship in LA. An artist had made us a plant "sculpture" at a Waipio Point park. We did bring it to our cabin, but we knew not to even try to bring it off the ship. As native Angelenos, we've gone through one or two Medfly sprayings so we respect our government's desire to keep the agriculture safe here.

[cr8tiv1]

As far as I know' date=' you can bring plant material back on board, but you wouldn't be able to legally bring them off the ship in LA. An artist had made us a plant "sculpture" at a Waipio Point park. We did bring it to our cabin, but we knew not to even try to bring it off the ship. As native Angelenos, we've gone through one or two Medfly sprayings so we respect our government's desire to keep the agriculture safe here.[/quote']

 

I fly back and forth to the islands several times a year. Hawaii and California have very strict agriculture policies. You are not allowed to bring into Hawaii any plant or fruit that would cause harm to the produce grown locally. That includes pineapple, papaya, etc. You can bring in peaches, cherries, strawberries, and even artichokes. You just need to stop by the agriculture inspection station in baggage claim. Mushrooms/fungi need a special permit.

 

Returning to California, you may bring most leis (except the moanalua orchid lei). Gardenia, and all seeds/seed pods are restricted. You may also not bring anything that was rooted in soil even if it was washed off. You may bring in the plants and seeds that have a State of Hawaii agriculture inspection stamp that you buy at Walmart, Longs, or Hilo Hatties. California does not allow you to bring in anything citrus.

 

Everyone leaving by plane must go through the agriculture inspection station before preceding to the gate. I have brought back those commercial ready made plants, cut flowers, leis, pineapples, and even Maui Onions (and get very quizzical looks from the inspectors). The same would hold true for anyone getting off a cruise ship (although there are no inspectors at the harbor).

 

Dried leaves (as in the basket) are okay, but not the raw kukui nut you find on the ground.

 

On my last trip to Hawaii via plane, I brought back some red ginger flowers. I spent days getting rid of all those ants that love the plants so much. There wasn't a single ant left! It made it through agriculture just fine. It was the Maui Onions that they wanted to know what those round things were. The Hawaii Inspectors are also well briefed on what can be brought into California.

 

Safe bet: Don't bring back any live plants with roots in soil or any kind of seed/seed pod. No citric fruit (oranges, lemons, etc). Everything else will be okay. As beautiful as those orchid plants are...they can not be brought into California (even if you are in transit to some other state).

 

Would you like my bowl? And I can always bring you back Lavosh when I go home.

Edited September 7, 2013 by cr8tiv1

[terrific_surprise]

I fly back and forth to the islands several times a year. Hawaii and California have very strict agriculture policies. You are not allowed to bring into Hawaii any plant or fruit that would cause harm to the produce grown locally. That includes pineapple, papaya, etc. You can bring in peaches, cherries, strawberries, and even artichokes. You just need to stop by the agriculture inspection station in baggage claim. Mushrooms/fungi need a special permit.

 

Returning to California, you may bring most leis (except the moanalua orchid lei). Gardenia, and all seeds/seed pods are restricted. You may also not bring anything that was rooted in soil even if it was washed off. You may bring in the plants and seeds that have a State of Hawaii agriculture inspection stamp that you buy at Walmart, Longs, or Hilo Hatties. California does not allow you to bring in anything citrus.

 

Everyone leaving by plane must go through the agriculture inspection station before preceding to the gate. I have brought back those commercial ready made plants, cut flowers, leis, pineapples, and even Maui Onions (and get very quizzical looks from the inspectors). The same would hold true for anyone getting off a cruise ship (although there are no inspectors at the harbor).

 

Dried leaves (as in the basket) are okay, but not the raw kukui nut you find on the ground.

 

On my last trip to Hawaii via plane, I brought back some red ginger flowers. I spent days getting rid of all those ants that love the plants so much. There wasn't a single ant left! It made it through agriculture just fine. It was the Maui Onions that they wanted to know what those round things were. The Hawaii Inspectors are also well briefed on what can be brought into California.

 

Safe bet: Don't bring back any live plants with roots in soil or any kind of seed/seed pod. No citric fruit (oranges, lemons, etc). Everything else will be okay. As beautiful as those orchid plants are...they can not be brought into California (even if you are in transit to some other state).

 

Would you like my bowl? And I can always bring you back Lavosh when I go home.

 

Thanks for explaining the do's and don'ts of the ag rules, Renee. I wish the "powers that be" would make this more clear so that we would not be afraid to get the handmade baskets, etc. They should have an information sheet they provide at the first Hawaiian port. (That could really help the local vendors too.) We did bring back one Hawaiian plant -- but I have good reason to believe we didn't violate the rules, even though it might not seem to go along exactly with the rules you provided above (I'll explain that when I get to our day on Maui).

 

Regarding the bowl/Lavosh offer, we would love to have the opportunity to take advantage of that. Hopefully sometime we can plan to meet up with you for a BVE or something. :)

 

Any chance you have a photo of one of the coconut-leaf baskets? I wish I had snapped a photo when we saw the one being made, but I didn't think of it. (It's funny how we sometimes take the most insignificant photos and forget to take some really important ones. But on the other hand we tried as much as possible to experience things through real life and not through the lens of a camera, so it's not always possible to get photos of everything that happens.)

 

Tim

Edited September 8, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

After discovering that the Rainbow Falls Gift Shop was closed, we decided to "just hang loose" around Rainbow Falls for a few more minutes. Crossing the street toward Rainbow Falls, we took the trail toward the top of the falls.

 

 

But instead of continuing to the top of the falls, we decided to hang loose under the canopy of the large banyan tree.

 

Terri shoots a double shaka under the banyan tree south of Rainbow Falls.

 

We continued on the path under the banyan tree until we found ourselves back at Rainbow Drive.

 

 

Walking down Rainbow Drive back to the car was much easier than walking on the stairway under the tree.

[terrific_surprise]

Driving on Rainbow Drive away from Rainbow Falls, we found our way back to Waianuenue Avenue, continuing west for five minutes or so until we reached the sign for the Wailuku River Boiling Pots State Park (experiencing a few light sprinkles along the way).

 

We took the opportunity to use the facilities at the park, which were surrounded by the most beautiful, colorful tropical plants.

 

 

Then we took the short walk to the end of the path, where we could view the Boiling Pots and Pe'epe'e Falls. (If you know how to use Google Maps Street View, you can walk virtually on this path!) The "pots" weren't "boiling" very much, due apparently to the less than average water flow.

 

 

As I pointed out Peʻepeʻe Falls in the distance to the left of the Boiling Pots, I explained to Terri why the name of this waterfall is a case in which it becomes very important not to omit the letter ʻokina (joking that the facilities we had just visited are available for those unavoidable situations in which the ʻokina must be omitted).

 

After just ten minutes or so viewing the Boiling Pots and Peʻepeʻe Falls, we continued just a couple of minutes further along Waianuenue Avenue to Waiale Falls, which is unusual because of the way that the lower tier of the falls was modified with the construction of a wall for some unknown reason.

 

 

Waiale Falls, which is viewable from the Waianuenue Avenue bridge over the Wailuku River, seemed muddier than the other waterfalls. It was the last of the half-dozen or so waterfalls we had an opportunity to see on the Big Island that day.

 

At this point, just an hour or so remained until we needed to return the rental car, so we decided to take a few minutes for some shopping before returning to the Golden Princess.

Edited September 8, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

Heading back into Hilo from Waiale Falls, we decided to take a few minutes to visit Big Island Candies. The drive took a little longer than expected, about 20 minutes from the west side of Hilo to the area near the airport.

 

 

From what I had read, I thought that Big Island Candies would be one of the best places on the islands to pick up some goodies to bring home to share a little taste of aloha with our family and friends. I had also read good reports about their samples. Unfortunately, we weren't impressed. As Costco members, perhaps we are spoiled when it comes to samples. Or maybe at this point we were just too hungry, having had nothing to eat since the breakfast on our balcony on the ship.

 

For economic reasons, we tend to gravitate toward only the best deals. We usually pay careful attention to the price-per-ounce of food we buy, and we couldn't find anything at Big Island Candies for less than $1 per ounce, multiple times higher than our typical threshold. I would categorize most of what we saw for sale there as cookies, not candy.

 

We did spend some time at the large window inside the factory, where we had the opportunity to view their delicacies being made. But we found this to be significantly less impressive than the free tours at the Ethel M Chocolate Factory (in Henderson, Nevada) or the Jelly Belly Candy Company (in Fairfield, California).

 

 

We left Big Island Candies empty-handed, after only 20 minutes or so. In retrospect, I think our time would have been spent better at Hilo Hattie's (even if we hadn't bought anything there).

 

During our ukulele classes, Dave Soreff of Elua had told us about Hilo Guitars and Ukuleles, so with less than half an hour remaining before we needed to return the rental car, we decided to see they had any ukuleles we could afford. When we got there (after a five minute drive), we noticed that we weren't the only Golden Princess passengers in the crowded little store (which was literally stocked to the ceiling with ukuleles).

 

 

After 15 minutes or so of browsing, we decided to buy a fairly inexpensive model (not quite the cheapest one) for less than $50. According to the shop worker, the main difference between our ukulele and the more expensive models was the quality of the strings and the decoration around the hole. We didn't buy a case, but they gave us a $20 box to carry it home in.

Edited September 8, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

A gas station just a block down from Hilo Guitars and Ukuleles happened to be selling gas for $4.28 (which was cheaper than anything I could find on GasBuddy). Having driven less than 60 miles around the island, we were impacted little by the high gas price and it didn't take us long to fill up the tank.

 

It's true that we would have made better use of the rental car by making the trip to the volcano, but I think that our relaxed day of "hanging loose" was well worth this sacrifice. Even though I was the one who had timed the original itinerary so carefully, I found it to be a great blessing throughout the day not to have to think about how much time we had left (at least until the last hour before we returned the rental car).

 

Just ten minutes after we bought our ukulele, we were back at the Alamo office at Hilo International Airport, where a friendly local girl quickly checked our car in. (It was about 4:20, so we actually returned the car about 20 minutes later than we were told to return it, but we never had any thoughts of not making it back to the ship in time.)

 

Although we had reserved the car with a debit card, I said that I preferred to pay cash, so another girl quickly took our cash payment and released our debit card, and then called out to her uncle, asking him to hold the shuttle bus for us. (It seemed like the Alamo agency in Hilo was a family operation.)

 

Before the shuttle bus drove away, the driver asked one of the passengers what agency he rented his car from. When his answer didn't seem appropriate to the driver, the passenger changed his answer, now claiming that he rented his car from another agency. (Obviously he was hoping to get a free ride back to the ship, and obviously he wasn't entitled to it.) Realizing that his scheme had been discovered, he sighed and got up to leave the bus, shrugging "Well, it was a nice try, wasn't it?"

 

The bus driver told us we needed to leave room on the bus for the security personnel to board at the port. The mention of the security check put us on edge, as we knew that Terri might have trouble getting back on the ship due to her missing driver's license. Taking out her only photo ID (a Six Flags pass), she hoped for the best, but I was ready to take out the other documents like birth certificates if she had trouble.

 

Less than ten minutes after leaving the airport, the shuttle bus turned left on Kuhio Street to enter the port, being stopped immediately by the security men, who boarded the bus, going from person to person to check everyone's ship cards and government IDs. When he looked at Terri's Six Flags ID, the security man gave her a funny look, but he continued on to the next person after only a brief pause.

 

The bus then pulled up a little further, where we were allowed to get off the bus and get into the line to board the ship.

 

 

Then we were told to have our cruise cards and IDs ready again, and to have everything out of our pockets. (That was a bit of a problem for me, because I tend to have a lot of change and stuff in my pockets, but no containers were provided for the things in our pockets.) After being scanned with a wand while we held our pocket items in our hands, we were allowed to put our things back into our pockets.

 

When we arrived at the gangway just a few minutes later, our cruise cards were scanned with the handheld scanners, but our photo IDs weren't checked. We breathed a sigh of relief that we had made it back on board without difficulty, having over an hour to relax before sailaway.

Edited September 8, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[catergirl]

been awhile...was hoping for more..an ending??:confused:thanks martha

[terrific_surprise]

been awhile...was hoping for more..an ending??:confused:thanks martha

 

Sorry about being absent from here again for a while. I have been distracted with our daughter's wedding, which was Sunday. It has been a bit too stressful to find time for CC (I think I have aged about 10 years in the last week).

 

My original intention in writing this review was to finish it in 14 days (the same number of days as the cruise). Obviously, that plan went out the window a long time ago, so now I'm in the mode where I write what I can when I can, which opens me up to the possibility of delays and interruptions. Nevertheless, I definitely want to finish this review, and hope there are other things I have yet to share which CC readers might find interesting. As you will see, CC readers themselves played an important role in our experiences on Oahu and Kauai.

 

So, if you can bear with me, I definitely want to continue this to the end. But exactly when that end will come is anybody's guess. (Hopefully it will end before our next cruise!) :eek:

Edited September 17, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[skiladyldp]

I have followed you from the beginning and will wait patiently for you to finish. Congratulations on your daughter's wedding.

 

Virginia

[silverbird]

Glad to see you back. I was beginning to worry about you and Terri.

[tequilasunrise]

Congrats on the wedding! We will enjoy your review, as you have time. Thanks for posting!

[melody hounddog]

Congrats!!!!

 

We'll be patient. I just love your review. Thanks so much for taking the time to put such detail into it.

[DoulaAnn]

Congratulations to your daughter and new son-in-law. The stress of weddings can be overwhelming at times, and then you add in having to write those checks and seeing those dollar signs, and -- well, it's a wonder you've recovered by now. Have loved reading your posts and will look forward to the next one, whenever it is.

 

Ann

[terrific_surprise]

I must confess that part of the reason for my delay in continuing this review is that I have been a bit embarrassed as I considered what to write about some of our beautiful (but very private) memories of what we experienced after getting back on the Golden Princess in Hilo. (Feel free to skip this post if you blush easily.)

 

The line to get back on the ship in Hilo was long, but somehow it didn't seem tedious to us, being surrounded by the romantic aroma of Hawaii. As we boarded the ship at about 5 pm (an hour before sailaway), security scanned our cruise cards, but they didn't check for IDs, so my wife's missing driver's license caused no further delay.

 

We hadn't eaten since our buffet breakfast (not counting a few small samples at Big Island Candies), so we headed straight to the International Cafe, where I had a shrimp salad and a Greek salad and Terri had a tuna sandwich. (In retrospect, that doesn't seem like much after such a long day, but by the end of the day we were satisfied.)

 

I didn't take any pictures of what we ate there. In fact, I neglected to take any more pictures after getting back on the ship in Hilo (although I would later wish I had taken some). ;)

 

As we dined at one of the little tables in the Piazza, CD Gavin Chandler stopped by to ask how our day was. When we mentioned meeting the locals who told us that it had been cold and rainy the previous week, he replied drily "I'm glad that was last week," then he went on to talk about how the weather forecast that day had been right on target. As we continued eating, we noticed Gavin greeting many others who were returning after their day in Hilo. In terms of friendliness, I would say that Gavin is a top-notch CD.

 

After our light meal, we headed back to our room to unload the baggage we had brought off the ship and our new ukulele. On our way to the room, I noticed the blue and white beach towels on the steward's cart in the hallway (if they had been there before, I hadn't noticed them).

 

We went to our private balcony to watch the ship start to pull away from the beautiful Big Island, and then headed up to Neptune's Reef and Pool for Elua's sail-away music. The deck chairs were covered with the maroon Movies Under the Stars cushions, but there were no blankets to be seen. The Movies Under the Stars screen simply showed the "MUTS" logo, with no other images (it seemed to me that there must have been something better they could have put on the screen).

 

The air was a bit chilly for Terri, but the warmth of the music was enough to motivate her to stay out until the last strains of Dave's steel guitar music ended. While she enjoyed the music, she asked me to walk around to see if anything else special was going on. Checking various locations around the ship, all I noticed was a piano player in the Piazza and lots of people in the hot tubs. But I think we were ready for more than what we could find in the Patter.

 

By the time I returned to the Lido Deck, Elua's music was over and the sun was setting over the Big Island, so with those romantic sights and sounds fresh in our minds, we headed back to our private balcony on the Baja Deck.

 

We had about an hour to kill until dinner, but before I could get ready, I found out that my wife had prepared a special menu for me on the balcony.

 

And that was it for us for the rest of the night. We missed dinner (sorry about that, tablemates). We missed Elua's evening concert. We even missed another performance from Alexander and Evgenia (which I didn't even realize until writing this review).

 

But it was totally worth it.

 

I can't imagine a better way to end our first day in Hawaii.

 

 

To view more photos from our day on the Big Island, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/94965522@N02/sets/72157633248892215/

Edited September 21, 2013 by terrific_surprise
added photo link

[tequilasunrise]

Sounds great! Those types of moments are one of the best reasons for cruising!

[terrific_surprise]

I forgot to mention one more thing about our day on the Big Island: although most of the day we were just "hanging loose" and not really watching how much time we spent at each location, as I looked back over my notes I discovered that most of my time estimates for the day's itinerary (which I explained in an earlier post) were fairly accurate.

 

These were the most significant differences between the time I estimated that we would spend and the actual time we spent:

 

Akaka Falls: I estimated 35 minutes, but we actually stayed there for about 55 minutes

 

Boiling Pots and Pe'epe'e Falls: I estimated 30 minutes, but we were only there for about 10 (including a restroom stop)

 

Lili'uokalani Gardens and Coconut Island: I estimated 20 minutes, but we were actually there for about 45 minutes

 

And of course, the most significant difference was that we decided not to visit Hawaii Volcanoes National Park -- obviously we couldn't have had such a relaxed day if we had done so. (And I think there is a connection between relaxation and romance, so the relaxed day we experienced was probably an important contributing factor for the romantic way it ended.)

 

Now, on to Oahu!

Edited September 22, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[cruiseman111111]

Great Photos.....

[MauiLvrs]

I must confess that part of the reason for my delay in continuing this review is that I have been a bit embarrassed as I considered what to write about some of our beautiful (but very private) memories of what we experienced after getting back on the Golden Princess in Hilo.

Nicely done...

Or did you have to have been there before to get it :o

 

... And that was it for us for the rest of the night. We missed dinner (sorry about that, tablemates). ...

Good thing you had that snack.

When crusing ... never pass up a good snack ;)

Edited September 24, 2013 by MauiLvrs

[Loreni]

Thank you for your detailed review and pictures. We are going in a few weeks. Please let me know if you noticed if they are still selling flowers at the pier in Hilo.

[yseone]

Loreni--I can answer that question since we were on this same cruise this past April.

The pier hanger is not open anymore to the public and there was no one selling anything when we were there. You walk along the outside of that building when you disembark the ship.

We found that quite disappointing since it was kind of nice to be able to browse the shops while we waited to get back onboard.

Hopefully they will reopen something in the future but it did not look like they were working on anything at the time.

:)

yseone

[melody hounddog]

I remember you saying that your wife left her driver's license behind but it wasn't a problem. Did they not require a passport for this trip? I'm asking because I just realized that ours our expired. I am going to have them renewed this week but am worried that we won't get them back on time, with the possible government shut down and all. Our trip is in Dec. Worried.:(

[Loreni]

Loreni--I can answer that question since we were on this same cruise this past April.

The pier hanger is not open anymore to the public and there was no one selling anything when we were there. You walk along the outside of that building when you disembark the ship.

We found that quite disappointing since it was kind of nice to be able to browse the shops while we waited to get back onboard.

Hopefully they will reopen something in the future but it did not look like they were working on anything at the time.

:)

yseone

 

Thank you!