Dave’s Trip To, Around and Into Australia, Sept. 26 – Nov. 23, 2016

[erewhon]

Thanks for the report.

Were all the shops occupied in the Aloha Tower complex? The last time we were there, they were mostly all empty.

[Btimmer]

'm sorry, I have not learned the names of the Adagio players -- the pianist is a female, and the violinist is male, and both are good.

 

We haven’t been to a show yet, so I can’t answer how they are. We are early people, and just seem to find other things to do in the early evening rather than take in an 8 p.m. show -- and late evenings are beyond our ken, so 10 p.m. shows are for us not in consideration at all.

 

Dave

 

We've been to every show and all of the outside entertainment has been very good. The HAL singers and dancers performed Listen to the Music and Atlantic Crossing which we've seen multiiple times on other cruises.

Edited October 4, 2016 by Btimmer

[bluesplayer]

I asked the questions of the Ocean Bar staff. Joey, with 23 years’ experience on HAL and as such the junior bartender in the Ocean Bar, confirmed that the beverage packages have a limit of 15 drinks a day – that was one of the terms and conditions to ask your bar person about instead of all of them being printed on the flyer.

 

So far as the other question (can you pay to upgrade to Elite if you already have received the Signature as part of Explore 4, for example, or just had already bought the Signature?), Joey deferred. He said it was the first time that Maasdam has offered the different packages, and did not know for sure. So, I asked at the Front Office. The answer was “no” in both cases. For the first, a promotion package is not swappable. And in the second case, the answer was basically “decide what you want before you buy the package, because you cannot up/downgrade.”

 

Of course, as always, you should ask the staff on whatever ship you are on, because we have all seen changes happen quickly.

 

Dave

 

Odd they do not allow a purchase upgrade. The majority of cocktails are on the Signature Beverage package. Seems like wine is the only reason for an upgrade? We sailed on Celebrity in April and upgraded the standard package which was a booking perk for about 10.00 per day per person.

Certainly enjoying your posts. Very nice to see daily agendas and menu postings. Thank you for your time and efforts answering everyone's questions Very informative and will stay tuned... Wine drinkers matter

[dmg1956]

Big Bad Dave

Thanks so much for your running commentary. Love it. Also, thanks for the cabin photo and continued photos of the ship. Much appreciated. Any chance of a nice photo of you and Mrs. Dave?

Cheers,

Paul in St. Paul

[RetiredMustang]

Oct. 4, Kona

 

 

Today we visit Kona. We are making an early start, as we have booked the ship’s excursion to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is an all-day trip. We are looking forward to seeing pats of the Big Island on the drive, and of course visiting the park itself.

 

 

Here are the first four pages of today’s On Location:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Oct. 4, Kona (Cont.)

 

 

Here are the other two pages of the On Lication:

 

 

 

 

 

And, here are the pages of the Explorer sheet on Kona:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Oct. 4, Kona (Cont.)

 

In-room breakfast

 

 

There has been the usual card available each night if we wanted to order breakfast in our room for the next morning. Last night, we noticed that it had changed, into a folded card, with a design on the front page (blank back page):

 

 

 

 

 

But, the inside pages containing what can be ordered has changed a bit, and now also includes items that you can get if you pay for them:

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

We've been to every show and all of the outside entertainment has been very good. The HAL singers and dancers performed Listen to the Music and Atlantic Crossing which we've seen multiiple times on other cruises.

 

Thanks for the assist, Tim!

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Thanks for the report.

Were all the shops occupied in the Aloha Tower complex? The last time we were there, they were mostly all empty.

 

They were mostly empty. We had heard that the complex was now owned by Hawaii Pacific University -- there is a Univ. bookstore, and some meeting rooms, but there were also a lot of signs in storefronts offering them for lease.

 

Dave

[Alberta Quilter]

That's interesting about the new room service menu. I wonder if that will be going fleet wide... (I hope not!)

[bcummin]

Dave, I am delighted to see the Creme Brulee offered so often on the Dinner Dessert Menu.

Please enjoy one for me. :)

Barbara

[brainyblonde]

The new breakfast room service menu looks disappointing and wasteful. We always order the fruit, now will have to order yogurt and pastries to get the fruit. What is the reasoning in the charge for the salmon, when it is free in the Lido? We have been able to customize our omelet to add mushrooms, ordered toast or pastries as ala carte items. (One chocolate croissant for example.)

 

I guess we will just write in what we want and see what happens. If we end up with three complete breakfasts each, HAL has defeated its purpose.

[sambamama]

There is no fruit listed as separate items. I always get 1-2 grapefruit for breakfast!! What if you just want a bagel with cream cheese? I really don't like this menu and I almost always,have room service breakfast.

[tommui987]

Thanks for the report.

Were all the shops occupied in the Aloha Tower complex?

 

Haven't been down to Aloha Tower in years - though Gordon Berch (sp?), Hooters are still around.

 

As stated, Hawaii Pacific University bought the complex and busily converting it to dorms, teaching areas.

[brainyblonde]

Dave, would you please find out if the breakfast room service order can be modified to customize one's own request? (Like a Chinese restaurant, one from column A, one from column B, etc.) Is the alternative to order three different breakfasts and waste the food one does not want, to get the food one wants?

 

Thanks in advance!

[erewhon]

They were mostly empty. We had heard that the complex was now owned by Hawaii Pacific University -- there is a Univ. bookstore, and some meeting rooms, but there were also a lot of signs in storefronts offering them for lease.

 

Dave

 

Thank you for your reply.

[erewhon]

The room service breakfast menu is disappointing for us, for instance I would order scrambled eggs, but would never eat hash browns,sausage, or white toast.

[RetiredMustang]

Oct. 4, Kona (Cont.)

 

 

We were late getting off for our shore excursion, and what with that and traffic, etc., we did not get back aboard until about 5:45 p.m. I will organize my comments and photos and post tomorrow morning about the excursion.

 

We missed our early fixed dinner seating, so we just had something on the Lido. Although we did not eat in the MDR, I was able to get the dinner and dessert menus:

 

 

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[bluesplayer]

I agree the room service breakfast menu seems wasteful. i enjoy a croissant yet a basket of pastries would be wasted. Hope they will revert back.

[RetiredMustang]

Oct. 4, Kona (Cont.)

 

 

We reported to the show lounge a few minutes before the 7:45 a.m. meet time and got our tour stickers, along with dozens of other passengers on early ship tours. Then we waited … and waited. A member of the staff reported that we were still awaiting clearance from U.S. Immigration, which I thought was odd, not to say unnecessary, since we had all been cleared in Honolulu the day before.

 

At any rate, we eventually were cleared, and made it ashore about 45 minutes later. Our tour, to Volcano National Park, with lunch, had a lot of participants – we were loaded aboard three large buses. DW and I were on the last bus. Our driver, Tommy, gave a very entertaining talk on the long drive. It was just under 100 miles to the park, along a two-lane highway. We stopped en route for a restroom/snack break at a bakery, so it took a bit less than three hours to get to our first tour stop.

 

They had timed the buses so that all would not be at the same places at the same time. Our bus stopped first at the Thurston Lava Tube. This was formed when hot lava flowed downhill, the top solidified, and the hot lava then drained, leaving a tube. Subsequent eruptions followed the same path. The result was in essence a cave a couple of hundred yards/meters long, with water dripping down through the lava, and plant roots coming down from the ceiling. At only one or two points did I have to watch my head.

 

Here are some photos of the entry, inside and exit to the lava tube:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you take this tour, be aware that people with mobility issues may have difficulties with this portion. The path down is steep, with some steps now and then, the floor of the tube is somewhat rough and wet, and there are steep, uneven stairs at the end of the tube.

 

 

More later,

Edited October 5, 2016 by RetiredMustang

[RetiredMustang]

Oct. 4, Kona (Cont.)

 

 

Next for our bus was lunch at the National Park’s Volcano House restaurant. The dining area had large windows that overlooked the Kilauea volcano caldera. Here are photos of the view from the restaurant to the caldera, and one of the windows from outside:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had been given a sheet before the tour on which we were to indicate our choice of entrée for lunch – the choices being macadamia-encrusted mahi-mahi, Kalua pork, teriyaki chicken, and a vegetarian dish. When we entered the bush, we gave the paper to the driver/guide and he gave us corresponding colored slips of paper. When we arrived at Volcano House, we were told to go tour designated area and place the slips of paper by our place settings. Waiters came around with drinks (iced tea, lemonade, water, coffee, etc – beer and other alcoholic drinks were available but the cost was not included, and it may take some time to get.). Other waiters arrived with large bento boxes of lunch. I had the pork, and here is a photo of my bento box:

 

 

 

 

After lunch was our time to visit the Jagger Museum, and the closest viewing area to the caldera that was open – closer ones had been closed due to a relatively recent eruption. The Park Service has closed much of the road that circles the rim, and the Museum is not the closest you can approach. It was misty most of the time we were in the park, which is on the windward side of the island and so gets a lot of rain. We had a bout of heavier mist while at the museum, which made the steam a bit more impressive to the naked eye, but did not do good things for photos. (It also got on my lens, it seems, which may account for the bit of dazzle on some the photos) Here is one I got that shows the steam off the active crater:

 

 

 

 

We then got back on the bus and drove back the way we came to Kona, stopping en route for a restroom break at a shop offering samples (and selling) Kona coffee. Kona is hosting the international Ironman competition this week, and the main road by the tender landing was closed for a parade at the time we were due to arrive back. So, the bus was routed around to the back of a hotel, and we went through a gate in the fence and through the hotel to the tender landing. As I mentioned before, it was about a quarter to 6 p.m. before we got off the tender and were back aboard Maasdam.

 

So, this is a long day for a tour – it would be closer from Hilo instead of Kona – but we enjoyed it very much.

 

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Oct. 5, at sea

 

 

A day at sea, which we welcome after our long day yesterday. Here are the first four pages of the On Location:

 

 

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Oct. 5, at sea (Cont.)

 

 

Here are the other two pages of the On Location:

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[Yellow Lab's Rule]

Never heard of excursions from Kona to VPN. Would have been a lone day even before custom delay's and traffic. Did the bus turn around at the Thurston Lava Tube? If so that would have been disappointing. The most scenic is the drive down to the ocean. The variation in lava is amazing and beautiful. Especially the foliage that is coming back. Enjoy the rest of your cruise. I'm enjoying your travel reports.

[archery]

Thank your for your descriptive posts..Looking forward to joining you in Sydney.

Do you think the Caret or ^ on the menu signifies that the offering is a Chef's speciality dish and is similar to a Patent or Register mark?