Live (or Live-ish) from the Crown Princess Holiday Hawaii sailing

[cboyle]

On 1/5/2023 at 1:15 PM, Cruise frenzy said:

Anyone know the top 3 most traveled passenger numbers?  Thanks

First: 2,680

Second: 2,174

Third: 1,315

[cboyle]

9 hours ago, Jemnibabe said:

Are there any close (within walking distance) of getting off ship in Hawaii ports, that we can take advantage of without buying expensive tours?  Are tours readily available when we get off the ship?  Thanks for any ideas you can offer.

 

Judy from SW Florida

I did not see any tour operators offering tours at any of the four ports. 

[abbydancer2003]

Just now, cboyle said:

I did not see any tour operators offering tours at any of the four ports. 

Neither did I.  We did a lot of walking.  In Honolulu, buses were plentiful apparently.  

 

 

[LouChamp]

9 hours ago, Jemnibabe said:

Are there any close (within walking distance) of getting off ship in Hawaii ports, that we can take advantage of without buying expensive tours?  Are tours readily available when we get off the ship?  Thanks for any ideas you can offer.

 

Judy from SW Florida

Aloha. In Maui you can walk around Lahaina. Its a beautiful town. Of course there is much to do but Lahaina is a special place.  In Honolulu, there is so much…Pearl Harbor, Waikiki, the North Shore. Unfortunately every island is not cheap and I would suggest getting some ideas from shore excursions or other other passengers.  On the Big Island there are tours of various coffee plantations around Kona and of course Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.  Kauai is more rural and has some great beaches. Everything is so dependent on what you really want to do, how much you want to spend. I can go on for hours. Sorry but it is a robust state with diverse opportunities for fun, relaxation and touring. Enjoy!

[abbydancer2003]

5 minutes ago, LouChamp said:

Aloha. In Maui you can walk around Lahaina. Its a beautiful town. Of course there is much to do but Lahaina is a special place.  In Honolulu, there is so much…Pearl Harbor, Waikiki, the North Shore. Unfortunately every island is not cheap and I would suggest getting some ideas from shore excursions or other other passengers.  On the Big Island there are tours of various coffee plantations around Kona and of course Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.  Kauai is more rural and has some great beaches. Everything is so dependent on what you really want to do, how much you want to spend. I can go on for hours. Sorry but it is a robust state with diverse opportunities for fun, relaxation and touring. Enjoy!

The ship is currently not docking in Lahaina.  It's across the island, and there's not much in the immediate area, other than a shopping center and a narrow beach park.

 

I price Lyft to Lahaina, and it's not bad, but we'd done a lot of walking in previous ports so we just went to the local beach.

[Itried4498]

11 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

The ship is currently not docking in Lahaina.  It's across the island, and there's not much in the immediate area, other than a shopping center and a narrow beach park.

 

I price Lyft to Lahaina, and it's not bad, but we'd done a lot of walking in previous ports so we just went to the local beach.

Most of Princess’ Hawaii cruises are going to Lahaina.  This is one of the few that did not.  Lahaina is the gateway to the Kaanapali region, which has long been ranked as the go-to place in Hawaii featuring the best beaches in the world.  The other side of the island isn’t as nice but  was built up more with luxury hotels.  
 

The area where the ship docks is the turd of Maui.  Not sure if they have a rental car shuttle but it’s only a 35-45 minute walk to the airport to pick one up.  Or you could walk 10 minutes and take a direct city bus for $2pp.  Takes 90 minutes to get there although it’s a scenic drive.

 

[abbydancer2003]

10 minutes ago, Itried4498 said:

Most of Princess’ Hawaii cruises are going to Lahaina.  This is one of the few that did not.  Lahaina is the gateway to the Kaanapali region, which has long been ranked as the go-to place in Hawaii featuring the best beaches in the world.  The other side of the island isn’t as nice but  was built up more with luxury hotels.  
 

The area where the ship docks is the turd of Maui.  Not sure if they have a rental car shuttle but it’s only a 35-45 minute walk to the airport to pick one up.  Or you could walk 10 minutes and take a direct city bus for $2pp.  Takes 90 minutes to get there although it’s a scenic drive.

 

I think the Lahaina port is currently under construction.  I know my X cruises in 2024 go there, but I'd assume it's opening soon, so I guess it depends when your cruise is.

 

[Itried4498]

1 minute ago, abbydancer said:

I think the Lahaina port is currently under construction.  I know my X cruises in 2024 go there, but I'd assume it's opening soon, so I guess it depends when your cruise is.

 

Lahaina is a tender port.  Most Princess’ cruises stop at Lahaina.  While the CP went to Kahului, the Roy Princess stopped at Lahaina the day before.  And the Diamond Princess will be there soon. 

[LouChamp]

3 hours ago, abbydancer said:

The ship is currently not docking in Lahaina.  It's across the island, and there's not much in the immediate area, other than a shopping center and a narrow beach park.

 

I price Lyft to Lahaina, and it's not bad, but we'd done a lot of walking in previous ports so we just went to the local beach.

Yes they are working on the dock but Lahaina has some great little art galleries and shops. It’s very quaint.

[cboyle]

Hawaii Rental Car Issues

 

On this Christmas cruise to Hawaii, we planned to rent cars in our four ports. We had done this on a similar cruise in 2004 and foolishly thought it would be as easy as it was back then. In 2004 car rental agencies had regular shuttles to and from the various ports. Apparently the pandemic has drastically altered this. We saw a shuttle only in one port and that was only for one car rental group. Taxis were also hard to find in some ports as were Ubers/Lyfts. We had to scramble to do our planned touring via car. Here are our individual port experiences.

 

Kauai was our first stop. We arrived two hours late due to sea conditions and the port was a real zoo as far as acquiring our rental cars (two for our six person group since no agencies on Kauai indicated they had minivans or other six-passenger vehicles). There was long line of people trying to get taxis or mall shuttles. We actually saw perhaps two taxis and an occasional shuttle. What we did not see was a shuttle to the rental car agencies (which were at the airport—a three-mile walk) despite the fact that there was a sign that indicated where to wait for them. We tried Uber, but they were not responsive. After a wait of about 30 minutes and trying to decide what to do, a shuttle from Avis/Budget showed up and was mobbed. Our rental was with Thrifty, but we thought we could switch to Avis once we got to the airport since we had not paid anything. Avis had a long line and we could see the Thrifty shop nearby so we walked there. The Avis people were not happy with us. It turned out Thrifty also had a long (and slow) line. Due to personnel shortages, there was no expedited serviced for Thrifty Blue Chip customers (which we were).

 

We eventually got our two cars (about 30 minutes in line). We noticed minivans on the lot, but they said none were available to rent! We collected our groups and did a quick drive to the sights. We returned four people to the port and the two drivers drove back to the airport. The cars were dropped off and again there was no shuttle to the port (except Avis but we did not want to test their anger again). We finally got through to Uber and the driver said he was basically the only full-time Uber driver on Kauai. We also gave a ride to another guy who flagged down our Uber because he recognized the car. We split the cost with him. He had actually managed to get this same Uber (the only Uber!) from the port to the airport for his rental car earlier. Old web posts had indicated that car rental shuttles would be available; the pandemic seems have to have stopped that. Even so, Thrifty had regular and frequent shuttles to the airport (actually just a few minutes away). They could have sent an occasional one to the port for their customers! They told us to take the shuttle to the airport, where we might have been able to get a taxi to the port. What a convoluted set-up! Kauai is gorgeous but we had little time to enjoy it.

 

Hilo was the next port. No agency had six-passenger vehicles according to their web sites, so we again had two cars reserved. Based on our experience in a previous port, we did not expect to see rental car shuttles taking people to airport to find their cars and we were correct. We also did not see a plethora of taxis at this port. Our group of six tried to find one or two Ubers to get to the airport, but Uber could not come into the port area. We walked away from the port to the Keaukaha General Store parking lot. After quite a while, we actually succeeded in getting an Uber, but it could only fit three of us. We decided to take it and return in our rental cars to retrieve the rest of our group.

 

When we got to the airport, miraculously, there was no line. Even more miraculously, they said we could switch to an SUV that would hold six instead of getting two cars. (It turns out this was more miraculous that we knew. Two days later we spoke with other passengers who ended up spending hours at rental agencies at the Hilo airport and could not get a car at all. It seems out timing must have been perfect. Who understands the car rental gods?) Having has enough of miracles, Thrifty did not have information on one of us in their system so the other person got to drive. This was despite the fact that both were Blue Chip members.

 

After our drive, we had to reverse the process of dealing with the car. We dropped four outside of the port and took the vehicle back to the airport. It took a little while to find someone to check us in, but eventually we succeeded. We then got an Uber back to the port with not much effort. We did not see many taxis. There was no hint of any car rental shuttle back to the port.

 

The third port was Oahu. Again, the standard car agencies showed no availability of any vehicles sufficient to hold our group of six. Fortunately, we found Lucky Owl on the web and they had a six-passenger van. Lucky Owl is a family-owned business that rents cars and things like surf and boogie boards. It’s not at the airport like other agencies, but in a light industrial area. They provide a shuttle to and from the airport, but not from the port (none of the standard car places have a port shuttle either). Fortunately, taxis were plentiful at the Oahu cruise terminal, so two of us trundled off to get our car.

 

The vehicle was not showroom fresh, but the people at Lucky Owl took extensive photos and video to document the various dings and dents. They were really professional and nice. After our drive, we dropped four of our group at the port and returned to the Owl. We easily got an Uber back to the port.

 

Of our four Hawaiian ports on this trip, this was the easiest as far as car rental. However, Honolulu has big city traffic to contend with!

 

Our last Hawaiian stop was Maui. Our ship docked in the industrial port of Kahului instead of tendering into Lahaina due to construction work at the Lahaina dock. This was actually better for us. While Lahaina is charming, tendering is a pain and time consuming. Kahului is much closer for driving to the Road to Hana and Haleakala.

 

We had a car reserved with Thrifty (this was the only port we visited where national chains offered a six-passenger vehicle on any car rental web site), but they no longer provide a shuttle to and from the port. We did not know this prior to our trip, but this being the fourth port where we had planned to get a rental, we knew the hurdles. Fortunately, Maui is popular enough that there are plenty of taxis. There was a smoothly operating taxi line at the port (unlike Kauai and Hilo!) and we took one to the airport. There are actually a couple of car rentals places in close walking distance from the port, but we did not care to use them because of bad experiences in the past. On the other hand, there seem to be no good car rental experiences these days.

 

Our taxi driver said we would have to take an airport trolley to the car rental mall, but we could see it as we drove past. We opted to walk/jog on the clearly-marked path to the car places reasoning that everyone of the trolley would be in competition for a spot in line at some agency (probably ours!). This was a good choice. The car places were less than five minutes away with our quick pace. There was already a substantial line at Thrifty and it got longer when the next trolley arrived. As was typical on this trip, there was no benefit to being a Blue Chip member (usually walk up and get in your car!). It took at least thirty minutes to get to the head of the line. Patience is a virtue except when you know the ship will leave you and you have things to see! I was also not happy that the agent tried to upsell me insurance for the car when my paperwork already indicated that my credit card covered that. After all the paper work, they told us to take any vehicle in row nine. There was exactly one SUV in row nine. The rest of our party had to walk some distance from the port to the Maui Village Mall to wait for us since private vehicles are not allowed into the port area.

 

After a nerve wracking traffic jam on our return to Kahului, we dropped off four at the mall near the port and two of us went back to the airport. There were plenty of taxis and we snagged one for our return. We actually recognized some other cruisers on the way back to the port. They were walking back from the car rental shops at the airport. It was probably a two- to three- mile hike. It was doable but would have required valuable time.

 

Car rental from cruise ports is no longer an easy thing to do in Hawaii. Maybe in the future as more workers are hired, shuttles will be available, and lines will move more quickly. Hawaii is such a great place to explore with the freedom of a car, but right now, it can be a difficult thing to do in the limited time of a port call.

[Itried4498]

25 minutes ago, cboyle said:

Hawaii Rental Car Issues

 

On this Christmas cruise to Hawaii, we planned to rent cars in our four ports. We had done this on a similar cruise in 2004 and foolishly thought it would be as easy as it was back then. In 2004 car rental agencies had regular shuttles to and from the various ports. Apparently the pandemic has drastically altered this. We saw a shuttle only in one port and that was only for one car rental group. Taxis were also hard to find in some ports as were Ubers/Lyfts. We had to scramble to do our planned touring via car. Here are our individual port experiences.

 

Kauai was our first stop. We arrived two hours late due to sea conditions and the port was a real zoo as far as acquiring our rental cars (two for our six person group since no agencies on Kauai indicated they had minivans or other six-passenger vehicles). There was long line of people trying to get taxis or mall shuttles. We actually saw perhaps two taxis and an occasional shuttle. What we did not see was a shuttle to the rental car agencies (which were at the airport—a three-mile walk) despite the fact that there was a sign that indicated where to wait for them. We tried Uber, but they were not responsive. After a wait of about 30 minutes and trying to decide what to do, a shuttle from Avis/Budget showed up and was mobbed. Our rental was with Thrifty, but we thought we could switch to Avis once we got to the airport since we had not paid anything. Avis had a long line and we could see the Thrifty shop nearby so we walked there. The Avis people were not happy with us. It turned out Thrifty also had a long (and slow) line. Due to personnel shortages, there was no expedited serviced for Thrifty Blue Chip customers (which we were).

 

We eventually got our two cars (about 30 minutes in line). We noticed minivans on the lot, but they said none were available to rent! We collected our groups and did a quick drive to the sights. We returned four people to the port and the two drivers drove back to the airport. The cars were dropped off and again there was no shuttle to the port (except Avis but we did not want to test their anger again). We finally got through to Uber and the driver said he was basically the only full-time Uber driver on Kauai. We also gave a ride to another guy who flagged down our Uber because he recognized the car. We split the cost with him. He had actually managed to get this same Uber (the only Uber!) from the port to the airport for his rental car earlier. Old web posts had indicated that car rental shuttles would be available; the pandemic seems have to have stopped that. Even so, Thrifty had regular and frequent shuttles to the airport (actually just a few minutes away). They could have sent an occasional one to the port for their customers! They told us to take the shuttle to the airport, where we might have been able to get a taxi to the port. What a convoluted set-up! Kauai is gorgeous but we had little time to enjoy it.

 

Hilo was the next port. No agency had six-passenger vehicles according to their web sites, so we again had two cars reserved. Based on our experience in a previous port, we did not expect to see rental car shuttles taking people to airport to find their cars and we were correct. We also did not see a plethora of taxis at this port. Our group of six tried to find one or two Ubers to get to the airport, but Uber could not come into the port area. We walked away from the port to the Keaukaha General Store parking lot. After quite a while, we actually succeeded in getting an Uber, but it could only fit three of us. We decided to take it and return in our rental cars to retrieve the rest of our group.

 

When we got to the airport, miraculously, there was no line. Even more miraculously, they said we could switch to an SUV that would hold six instead of getting two cars. (It turns out this was more miraculous that we knew. Two days later we spoke with other passengers who ended up spending hours at rental agencies at the Hilo airport and could not get a car at all. It seems out timing must have been perfect. Who understands the car rental gods?) Having has enough of miracles, Thrifty did not have information on one of us in their system so the other person got to drive. This was despite the fact that both were Blue Chip members.

 

After our drive, we had to reverse the process of dealing with the car. We dropped four outside of the port and took the vehicle back to the airport. It took a little while to find someone to check us in, but eventually we succeeded. We then got an Uber back to the port with not much effort. We did not see many taxis. There was no hint of any car rental shuttle back to the port.

 

The third port was Oahu. Again, the standard car agencies showed no availability of any vehicles sufficient to hold our group of six. Fortunately, we found Lucky Owl on the web and they had a six-passenger van. Lucky Owl is a family-owned business that rents cars and things like surf and boogie boards. It’s not at the airport like other agencies, but in a light industrial area. They provide a shuttle to and from the airport, but not from the port (none of the standard car places have a port shuttle either). Fortunately, taxis were plentiful at the Oahu cruise terminal, so two of us trundled off to get our car.

 

The vehicle was not showroom fresh, but the people at Lucky Owl took extensive photos and video to document the various dings and dents. They were really professional and nice. After our drive, we dropped four of our group at the port and returned to the Owl. We easily got an Uber back to the port.

 

Of our four Hawaiian ports on this trip, this was the easiest as far as car rental. However, Honolulu has big city traffic to contend with!

 

Our last Hawaiian stop was Maui. Our ship docked in the industrial port of Kahului instead of tendering into Lahaina due to construction work at the Lahaina dock. This was actually better for us. While Lahaina is charming, tendering is a pain and time consuming. Kahului is much closer for driving to the Road to Hana and Haleakala.

 

We had a car reserved with Thrifty (this was the only port we visited where national chains offered a six-passenger vehicle on any car rental web site), but they no longer provide a shuttle to and from the port. We did not know this prior to our trip, but this being the fourth port where we had planned to get a rental, we knew the hurdles. Fortunately, Maui is popular enough that there are plenty of taxis. There was a smoothly operating taxi line at the port (unlike Kauai and Hilo!) and we took one to the airport. There are actually a couple of car rentals places in close walking distance from the port, but we did not care to use them because of bad experiences in the past. On the other hand, there seem to be no good car rental experiences these days.

 

Our taxi driver said we would have to take an airport trolley to the car rental mall, but we could see it as we drove past. We opted to walk/jog on the clearly-marked path to the car places reasoning that everyone of the trolley would be in competition for a spot in line at some agency (probably ours!). This was a good choice. The car places were less than five minutes away with our quick pace. There was already a substantial line at Thrifty and it got longer when the next trolley arrived. As was typical on this trip, there was no benefit to being a Blue Chip member (usually walk up and get in your car!). It took at least thirty minutes to get to the head of the line. Patience is a virtue except when you know the ship will leave you and you have things to see! I was also not happy that the agent tried to upsell me insurance for the car when my paperwork already indicated that my credit card covered that. After all the paper work, they told us to take any vehicle in row nine. There was exactly one SUV in row nine. The rest of our party had to walk some distance from the port to the Maui Village Mall to wait for us since private vehicles are not allowed into the port area.

 

After a nerve wracking traffic jam on our return to Kahului, we dropped off four at the mall near the port and two of us went back to the airport. There were plenty of taxis and we snagged one for our return. We actually recognized some other cruisers on the way back to the port. They were walking back from the car rental shops at the airport. It was probably a two- to three- mile hike. It was doable but would have required valuable time.

 

Car rental from cruise ports is no longer an easy thing to do in Hawaii. Maybe in the future as more workers are hired, shuttles will be available, and lines will move more quickly. Hawaii is such a great place to explore with the freedom of a car, but right now, it can be a difficult thing to do in the limited time of a port call.

 

Sorry to hear about your poor experience.  Car rental agencies discontinued their shuttles to/from cruise ports during the pandemic.  Avis very recently restored their shuttles, which is why we choose to rent with them.  If no shuttle is offered, you could take the city bus -- it takes about 30-45 minutes each way to get from the cruise terminal -> bus stop -> car rental facility and cost $2pp each way at Kauai and Kahului, $3 at Honolulu and no charge at Hilo.  Or if somebody in your group is able-bodied and wants to brave the weather, they can walk from Lihue (about two miles / 40 minutes), Hilo and Kahului (about three miles / 1 hour).  

 

FWIW, Uber was showing rates of $40-$70 at Lihue, Hilo and Kahului.  We didn't check Honolulu (we ended up walking into Waikiki instead, since we've rented a car on Oahu numerous times before).  I definitely wouldn't rely on Uber/Lyft...

Edited January 10, 2023 by Itried4498

[abbydancer2003]

4 minutes ago, Itried4498 said:

 

S

 

FWIW, Uber was showing rates of $40-$70 at Lihue, Hilo and Kahului.  We didn't check Honolulu (we ended up walking into Waikiki instead, since we've rented a car on Oahu numerous times before).  I definitely wouldn't rely on Uber/Lyft...

As you'll soon see, we actually took a Lyft in Hilo.  It did take 30 minutes to get, and we had to change location, but we did get one.  Originally, we were talking about renting a car on Kauai, but decided not to because there wasn't enough time with what we wanted to do.  It was much easier last time in 2012.

[abbydancer2003]

CrownDecember Day 7

 

Today is Hilo, and we were planing to run an errand  and then walk to two waterfalls.  

 

Our plan was to meet C & E at the international Cafe at 10, an hour after docking.  That should clear the line.  We arrived around 9:40 and grabbed coffee and a pastry.  At 10 they arrived, and a few minutes later we had to head out.  I realized I didn’t have Id, so I went up to the room and grabbed my passport.  As we were leaving, Carol couldn’t find her medallion, so she went back to her room.  

 

So we left the ship around 10:15 to head to Long’s drugs about a mile and half away.  Why were we going there?  Just before I left, I had two things happen.  One, I remembered I didn’t have my flu shot and I couldn’t get an appointment before I left.  Two, I had a potential issue with insurance getting a prescription filled early, and if that didn’t resolve, I had enough to get through Hawaii and I figured CVS could transfer the pick up.  

 

So I noticed that they had flu shot availability for today, and I thought our friends were going on an excursion, so I booked the shot. 

 

It turned out that C&E had cancelled the excursion, but they needed a prescription pick up there anyway, and it was on the way to where we were going so I decided to keep it.

 

We got off the ship around 10:20, and google maps said about 50 minute walk.  So I arrived about 10 minutes late.  No issue I was told to wait, and after a few minutes of waiting they told me not to stand around but to go to the vaccination seat.  So I did, and a technician came by and quickly did my shot.    By that time Carol had picked up Eric’s prescription, and Glen and Eric, who were walking behind us had arrived, so we did a little shopping for things we’d forgotten (like sunscreen) and headed out.

 

The original plan was to walk to Rainbow Falls, and then to another falls.  Rainbow is about 45-60 minutes from CVS, and the other was about another hour past that.  Because it was so hot, we decided to just go to Rainbow.  Some flowers I saw along the walk:

 

 

We also saw this interesting building.  Turns out it’s a Buddest  temple

 

 

It took a little over an hour to walk, and we made two stops.  First was at a store (no-one bought anything) and then an ice cream place for a snack.  I had a small strawberry milkshake and Glen had a blue vanilla Icee.  

 

The falls were beautiful, and we spent a few minutes enjoying them. 

 

 

 However, we decided we didn’t want to walk the roughly 4 miles back to the pier.  On the way, we’d seen a pancake house near the pier, and we thought maybe we’d get cab or something there.  The only cabs we saw seemed to be waiting for people, so I tried Lyft.  After a few minutes they were unable to find a driver, though, so we started back down the hill towards town.

 

After about a half mile we reached a set of schools on the road, and thought that might be a better place to get the Lyft.  It took about 5 minutes but a driver was secured and 20 minutes away.  That was fine, as we weren’t in any hurry.  The driver took longer than 20 minutes, but we were in the shade and she arrived eventually.  She was friendly and drove us to Kens.  We decided to have a snack there.  They’ve been around for a while and were open, so we had a snack (I had some small pancakes and bacon).  After that, we walked back to the ship.  

 

I went back to the room and watched sailaway on the balcony.  Everyone was back more or less on time and we left for Honolulu a bit early.  I did check the milage and it was 4.5 miles to Rainbow falls via CVS.  No wonder I”m beat.

 

After that, Glen and I got dressed for dinner, and we headed to the lounge.  We did spend some time chatting with some of the officers - it’s kind of nice that they do pop by and chat with guests occasionally.  Carol and Eric joined us, and Carol said our plan for tomorrow wouldn’t work.  We were planning to take a bus to Diamond Head, and hike around there, and then go to Waikiki and a beach.  However, she didn’t know, and it wasn’t listed when she last looked, that you need a reservation and they were sold out.  So that’s out.

 

We were all rather exhausted, so when the party band, Voyager, started we danced a couple and then headed to dinner.  We were seated in Liza’s section again, which is what we requested, so that was good.

 

Here’s the menu:

 

 

I started with the sour cherry soup (pretty good) and Carol started with the poach pear with blue cheese crumble (would have been my second choice.  I tasted it and it was good.  

 

 

 

For my entree I had steak Diane, and it was quite good.

 

 

Carol and Glen had the shrimp and it looked pretty so here it is:

 

 

For dessert I had pineapple cheesecake :

 

 

One note for those going to Hawaii on Princess.  There is a lot of pineapple on the dessert menus.   The brûlée on Princess favorite has been pineapple every day, and either the flame, cheesecake or one of the featured desserts has been pineapple.  Just saying.

 

After dinner, Eric wanted to go to Hawaii trivia, so they left a couple of minutes before we did.  Glen decided to go back to the room, and I joined C & E for trivia.  It was true/false questions, and we did OK, but not great.  I think we got 15 out of 20.  However the winning score was only 16, so we did OK.  Sample questions: Hawaii is the western most state.  Hawaii has more coastline than California.

 

I’ll leave them there, and you can all guess.  Tomorrow’s post will start with the answers.

 

After that bed.  Long and exhausting, but great, day in the books.

 

[Itried4498]

I walked to the Hilo airport after security insisted Avis didn’t have a shuttle (they did, we used it on the return).  3 miles in the heat and I got burned even though I wore sunscreen.  Kudos to you for walking even further!

 

One thing about this cruise: there were A LOT of employees traveling with their families.  I assume they got these rooms at extremely discounted prices - Princess is having a hard time selling Hawaii (most voyages this winter are sub-$1000pp, with third and fourth person free)… there were also quite a few large groups from Australia and the UK, which I didn’t understand.  Surly they knew that this isn’t Florida…

[abbydancer2003]

CrownDecember Day 8

 

Before I start, both questions are false.  Alaska’s Aleutian Islands are further west, and California does have more coastline (it’s almost 900 miles according to Google maps, and I’ve driven all of it, although not at once).

 

So today was Honolulu.  We’re in port until 11pm and our plan was to do our own thing during the day,,

 

We were up early enough for breakfast in the dining room.  My thinking was that since we docked at 7

 by 9 am we’d be able to walk in.  We arrived, and Greg, who checks people in was there.  Apparently he does Botticelli at night, and DeVinci for breakfast and lunch. We had breakfast, and then back to the room to go ashore.

 

We gathered our stuff, put on the sunscreen that we got yesterday, and headed out.  Once off we decided to head to the  Aloha tower.  It was a nice walk, but it was starting to get hot.  It turned out that the Aloha tower is now part of Hawaii Pacific University, and most of it was closed.  Of course all the university offices were closed, but most of the restaurants and shops were also closed.  

 

We didn’t want to go back to the ship yet, and we couldn’t think of much else to do, so we decided to walk to Hilo Hatties. Why, you ask?  I’m doing the hula class, and the do a little show at the end (those of you who have done this cruise probably know that).  We were asked to wear tropical clothes if we have them (no coconut bras and grass skirts though).  While my bathing suit cover up is from Hawaii, it’s not exactly wearable for the show.  So I got the idea to see if I could get a skirt to wear.  I didn’t want a sarong, so I thought they might have something.  

 

I went to Google maps, and it was about 1.6 miles away or so.  We decided to walk it and see what we see.  We ended up on King street and passed the Iolani Palace. 

 

Also a famous statue, at least if you watch Hawaii 5 - 0.

 

 

Also a memorial:

 

 

 The building next door had all kinds of fun Xmas decorations, and we passed a mission area, with the first building in Hawaii.  

 

 

 

 

 

We continued walking and the directions took us to an ally that didn’t look great, so we went a further block.  Eventually we reached the Ala Moana mall.  It appeared Hilo Hattie was just past it.  We took the road that went through the mall, to the very long parking garage.  At some point it looked like it was in the mall so we went in, and that messed up the GPS.  We wandered back and forth through the parking lot, and out to the street to reset the GPS.  Finally we found it in the mall.  I went in and Glen wandered.  I did find exactly what I was looking for - a fullish skirt with a tropical print.  As I was purchasing, Glen came back.  He apparently decided he needed a new hat, and he found one.  

 

Once I was checked out, we plotted a route back to the ship.  We decided to walk along the Ala Moana park (Moana - great movie btw) and back to the ship.  As we approached the ship, my watch workout app announced 6 miles.  No wonder I was exhausted.  

 

 

When we got back to the ship it was around 12:30.  We decided we had time to go to Good Spirits for some virgin daiquiris.  We enjoyed those, and then headed back to the room to drop our stuff, and then go to the Horizon Court for lunch.  Highlight for me was a maple walnut cupcake.

 

After lunch, we went back to the room and hung out.  (One reason we get mini suites is we enjoy reading, etc with a great view), around 3, I went down and got a latte, Around 3:30 I went to the hot tub at the spa because I thought it would be good for my very tired muscles.  I was the only person at the pool, which was nice - I stayed for about 15 minutes.  It was pretty hot out, so I didn’t stay longer.

 

I went back to the room and I took a shower, and got ready for evening.  We went down to the lounge as usual.  I’d been ordering my clean banana drink for a couple of days (A bartender and I invented it on the Discovery Princess - a Dirty Banana but with simple syrup instead of chocolate).  One of the servers brought it but then said, before I tried, it, that she’d have to replace it because instead of no chocolate, they put in no banana.  A new one arrived soon.

 

Our plan for the evening was to attend an evening tour of the Iolani Palace, the only Royal Palace on US soil. It was open for evening tours for 3 days only to celebrate Queen Kapiolani’s birthday.  Carol had procured tickets, because we  were there one of the 3 nights.

 

Our tour began at 7:45 and we were supposed to arrive about 20 minutes before our tour.  We arrived around 7:30, and went to the front of the grounds, but the gates were locked.  We asked the people inside where to go, and they told us to the side entrance.

 

 

We walked around and were soon at the checkin tent.  We were given wristbands that said 7:45, but if you write it and turn it upside down it looks like a word I can’t say.  

 

The tour consisted of docents explaining that the palace was used by Kapiolani and her husband, Kalakaua, the last king of Hawaii.

 

Interesting fact - he died in San Francisco, at the Palace Hotel, where Present Harding also died, and Glen and I got married.

 

There was also music in some of the rooms.  Overall, very well done tour.

 

We left around 8:50, and had 40 minutes to make dinner in the DaVinci dining room (Botticelli closed at 9). We walked out and started our walk, walking briskly.  Here’s the decorations nearby (learned it was City Hall) at night:

 

 

 

We were making good time, but as we got to the port we noticed 3 buses unloading.  That was going to interfere with our plans.  It was about 9:15.  So we tried hustling ahead of people and as we got in line we said that we were trying to make dinner.and they graciously let us go ahead.  I got to security, and there was a guy emptying his pockets, and holding the line up.  So I went around him and 4 other people and threw my purse on the belt and went through.  I didn’t really delay anyone as they were all loading on the belt.  I joined Carol in line, and we were on the ship on deck 4 by 9:20.  We quickly arrived at the dining room and were seated, while we were waiting the head of the room joked about joining us.  Eric and Glen arrived at 9:25.

 

I didn’t get any pictures, but dinner was great.  I started with the lychee and watermelon infusion with star anise, candied ginger and cardamon.  For entrees, we all had Chateaubriand steak.  For dessert I chose pineapple flambee with rum raisin ice cream.  It came with vanilla, so our excellent server swapped it out.

 

After dinner, Carol and Glen went up to their respective rooms, and Eric and I got his midnight snack and then we took a quick walk around the deck to look at sailaway.  

 

I finished watching from our balcony and then bed.

[Jemnibabe]

On 1/9/2023 at 4:44 PM, Itried4498 said:

Most of Princess’ Hawaii cruises are going to Lahaina.  This is one of the few that did not.  Lahaina is the gateway to the Kaanapali region, which has long been ranked as the go-to place in Hawaii featuring the best beaches in the world.  The other side of the island isn’t as nice but  was built up more with luxury hotels.  
 

The area where the ship docks is the turd of Maui.  Not sure if they have a rental car shuttle but it’s only a 35-45 minute walk to the airport to pick one up.  Or you could walk 10 minutes and take a direct city bus for $2pp.  Takes 90 minutes to get there although it’s a scenic drive.

 

When the ship ports in Lahaina, do the shuttle boats drop you directly downtown?

[Ladyshopper23]

On 1/10/2023 at 2:37 AM, Itried4498 said:

 

Sorry to hear about your poor experience.  Car rental agencies discontinued their shuttles to/from cruise ports during the pandemic.  Avis very recently restored their shuttles, which is why we choose to rent with them.  If no shuttle is offered, you could take the city bus -- it takes about 30-45 minutes each way to get from the cruise terminal -> bus stop -> car rental facility and cost $2pp each way at Kauai and Kahului, $3 at Honolulu and no charge at Hilo.  Or if somebody in your group is able-bodied and wants to brave the weather, they can walk from Lihue (about two miles / 40 minutes), Hilo and Kahului (about three miles / 1 hour).  

 

FWIW, Uber was showing rates of $40-$70 at Lihue, Hilo and Kahului.  We didn't check Honolulu (we ended up walking into Waikiki instead, since we've rented a car on Oahu numerous times before).  I definitely wouldn't rely on Uber/Lyft...

This is really helpful, thank you. We've booked a car at Hilo through Budget, as everything I'd read suggests that the shuttle was still on there.

At Kauai we need to get to the airport by 10am as we have a helicopter ride round the island booked. I'd assumed we'd easily be able to get a taxi/uber/lyft, but it sounds like not.

You've mentioned the city bus, do you happen to have a link or can point me in the right direction for the above two islands please (I've already managed to figure out the bus we need for Oahu). We're from the UK, so Google doesn't always bring up the best one! I have mobility issues, so wouldn't be able to walk 2-3 miles from the port to the airports.

Just trying to get another option in case the rental company shuttle that's supposed to come to Hilo port doesn't turn up or is mobbed!

Thanks so much. 

[BazingAu]

@abbydancerI see that you cruise with Princess and Celebrity. Do you have a preference between the two based on your recent experiences (assume that the prices are the same for the same category room for this question)? I’ve only sailed Princess pre-covid.

[abbydancer2003]

4 minutes ago, BazingAu said:

@abbydancerI see that you cruise with Princess and Celebrity. Do you have a preference between the two based on your recent experiences (assume that the prices are the same for the same category room for this question)? I’ve only sailed Princess pre-covid.

Because we sail in mini-suites, the prices are different.  On Princess, a mini gives you a nicer bathroom and more space (we like hanging out in our room, so that's worth something).  On Celebrity, it gives you a suite experience, with private restaurant, butler, and lounge with concierge.  So, they're not the same.

 

If I were going in a balcony, it would probably come down to itinerary and price.  As a rule of thumb - Celebrity for long cruises, Princess for short ones, since we live in California.  That said, we did this one to sail with our friends.

[cboyle]

Thanks again to @abbydancerfor posting her "live from." I am looking forward to reading the rest of her posts and I hope others who were on this cruise will be posting their reviews, either on the Princess board or in the "Cruise Reviews" section.

 

Taking my own advice, here is our review:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=694543

[BazingAu]

11 hours ago, abbydancer said:

Because we sail in mini-suites, the prices are different.  On Princess, a mini gives you a nicer bathroom and more space (we like hanging out in our room, so that's worth something).  On Celebrity, it gives you a suite experience, with private restaurant, butler, and lounge with concierge.  So, they're not the same.

 

If I were going in a balcony, it would probably come down to itinerary and price.  As a rule of thumb - Celebrity for long cruises, Princess for short ones, since we live in California.  That said, we did this one to sail with our friends.

That's interesting. Is there a reason why you do not sail in suites on Princess? It would be similar amenities to Celebrity (since it doesn't really have a junior/mini suite category).

[abbydancer2003]

50 minutes ago, BazingAu said:

That's interesting. Is there a reason why you do not sail in suites on Princess? It would be similar amenities to Celebrity (since it doesn't really have a junior/mini suite category).

We often book Club Class minisuites.  On Celebrity we do minisuites, called Sky Suites.  They are minis, ie one bigger room.  On Princess, the only real difference in ongoing amenities is the breakfast in Sabattini's or Crown Grill.  For lunch and dinner they have the same Club Class dining.  The Royal class ships do have a lounge, but only for full suites.  We occasionally book them, but only when the price works.  This cruise, we joined our friends who were in a regular mini suite, so regular dining for us.

 

[abbydancer2003]

Crown December Day 9

 

Today is Maui, and our last port before Ensenada.  Again we woke up early enough to go to breakfast.

 

After breakfast we gathered our stuff and headed off the ship.  We really didn’t have plans for the day, so we picked a nearby park to walk to.  We exited the ship and did quite a walk through the port, since it’s an industrial port and they carved a fenced in route between all the containers.  Apparently port information said it’s a half hour walk, which seems about right.  At the exit to the port, we noticed a shopping center with both a Whole Foods and a Longs.  We walked past those and found the park.  It turns out the park was just a narrow strip of beach, with a canoe club.  We walked along the beach for awhile.  Glen spent about 5 minutes watching a crab hole to get a picture of the little sand crab.  He succeeded.

 

We decided it was hot (although not as much as Hilo or Honolulu), so we walked back along the beach.  On the way back to the ship we stopped at Longs, so I could make a small purchase.  There were lots of ship people there.  

Ship from the shore.  30 minute walk back.

 

 

Once back at the ship we stopped at the IC for lattes.  From there, back to the room to drop our stuff and then lunch at the buffet.  The interesting thing today was that there wasn’t much that appealed so I went to the grill for a burger.  They gave me a beeper and told me it would take 10-15 minutes.  Apparently they are now cooking burgers to order.  About 9 minutes later the beeper went off and I got my burger.  It was way better than the burgers used to be, when they’d precook them and warm them.  

 

After that back to the room for a bit, and then I went to see The Secrets of Dumbledore on MUTS.  I watched about the first hour of it.  It was still somewhat hot, so I left.  I went back to the room and then decided to visit the Captain’s Circle host to see if Carol and Eric could be moved to our CC party on the 3rd. Glen went down with me and headed to the IC.   There was one woman talking to her and she seemed to have a list of about 10 things, most of which really should have been handled at guest services.  There was also a gentleman waiting.  After about 10-15 minutes with this lady still going, I finally asked if I could ask a quick question.  For some reason, the regular person wasn’t there, but the lady doing it wrote our cabin numbers down.  

 

On our way back from coffee, she was there without anyone, so we talked to her.  She’s in guest services, and said Vanessa was in a meeting or something and she wants to move into the role so she’s covering.  She recorded the numbers and said she’d get back to me.  She was very nice to chat with.

 

After that, I thought I might go to the hot tub in the spa.  I went up there and realized that Friday night services were about to start.  (Chapel is across the lobby from the spa).  I went over and said I didn’t think I was dressed  appropriately.  They said I was fine, so I went to the hotter, chatted with a couple in the tub with me for about 10 minutes and then went back over and listened to the service.

 

Then back to room to watch sail away from the balcony.  As usual, some people came up just after all aboard.  Then it got a little odd.  6:00 came and went, and they hadn’t pulled the lines.  They did raise the gangplank though.  There was also a guy standing by the ship with a clipboard.  At about 6:15 we finally left.  No idea what the delay was about.

 

After that, we went to the lounge.  We were joined soon by Carol and Eric.  They are now making my clean bananas.  

 

Tonights dinner was at the Crown Grill and it didn’t disappoint, although Glen had to have his steak recooked, because it was overdone.  Other than that, it was perfect.  I started with the onion soup (and I now know the Black part of the Black and Blue Onion soup, is from the Jack Daniels Black label used, and followed up with the ribeye with baked potato, mushrooms, asparagus and spinach.  For dessert I had the creme brûlée cheesecake.

 

There was a singer doing a show, so we tried to do that, but it was too crowded by the time we got there, so we hung out in explorers until it was time for We Play, You Say.  That’s their version of Don’t Forget the Lyrics.  We did OK, but didn’t win.  

 

After that, a quick walk on the promenade, and back to room for the night.  Next up, 5 sea days to Ensenada.

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

12 hours ago, cboyle said:

Thanks again to @abbydancerfor posting her "live from." I am looking forward to reading the rest of her posts and I hope others who were on this cruise will be posting their reviews, either on the Princess board or in the "Cruise Reviews" section.

 

Taking my own advice, here is our review:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=694543

Turns out we were staying a block away from you night before the cruise.

[abbydancer2003]

CrownDecember Day 10 Sea Day 

 

Today is our first of 5 sea days, and it’s New Years Eve. 

 

We started with a late breakfast in the buffet, which is our normal for sea days, as we tend to sleep in a bit.

 

After that back the room to work on the blog.  That was followed by lunch and then, the daily hula class resumed.    

 

Glen and I wandered around for a while, and then, after dressing for formal night, when to the lounge for a while.  Carol joined us, but not Eric, as he has a cold (Not Covid).  We decided to do a fun take on movie trivia - the questions were in the form of questions to Siri, and you have to guess the title.  For example:  Siri, is Mrs. Robinson trying to seduce me, and Siri, why did it have to be snakes?  (Answers tomorrow)

 

It was fun and we didn’t win, but came close as usual.  

 

After that, the three of us went to dinner.   We were seated in a different section than we liked, but it was not in the center of the room.  Since it was formal night, dining room was crowded.

 

The service was good, but a little strange.  First, when the waiter poured out water, he put it in wine glasses and told us they were out of water glasses.  OK.  When the assistant waiter refilled the water, he replaced the wine glasses with water.  They never introduced themselves though.

 

The dinner was great.  

 

 

For an appetizer, I had baked brie and beef carpaccio.  These are two of my very favorite appetizers, and I debated just ordering 4 of each and calling it dinner, but that seemed like overkill.  

 

 

For my entree, I went with surf and turf.  I’m not a fan of lobster, but I do like filet mignon a lot, so I got it.  ON the app, it said it had bernaise sauce, but on the menu it was Demi-glaze and melted butter.  I got the dish, but no melted butter.  Waiter said it was already there (baked in? Seems odd).  This dish didn’t really improve my opinion of lobster, but I did try it.

 

 

For dessert I had baked brie.

 

Kidding, I actually had  Cherries Jubilee.  Interesting that it was a special NYE dessert, since it shows up on Princess Favorites regularly, although the Favorites version doesn't mention kirschwasser and this does.

 

After dinner, Glen decided to head back to the room, but Carol and I wanted some walking so we walked some of the inside hallways, and then went to the Wheelhouse to listen to some music.  I think it was Elua doing a set.  They say Hawaiin, but it wasn’t that much different than any other set in the wheelhouse.

 

After that we said good night.  Went back to the room to wait for midnight while watching tv.  

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by abbydancer