Jim_Iain - B2B Sydney - Honolulu - Vancouver

[Maui4us]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

When I reached Ala Moana Blvd I turned right and off to explore. 

Ala Moana is a major street with lots to see and hear. 
 

 

Behind high shrubs is the Na Kupuna Malala’s Center -  It is an hidden secret-

Na Kupuna Makamae Center provides innovative, quality services and programs dedicated to our seniors, their families, and community that will empower, educate, enlighten, and entertain.

 

 

 

 

 

At the entrance to Kewalo Basin Harbor they have a Farmers Market on weekend and it a beautiful place to just relax and grab a snack at the many food trucks.

 

 

 

Mahalo Jim, I enjoyed your pics and definitely pictured Ala Moana Beach and my many days spent there❣️
-Kelley

[jelayne]

7 hours ago, MamaFej said:

How kind of you to remember, David. 

 

This is my first time back to CC since before my 12 week trip that started in early January. I apologize for the late acknowledgement. 

 

Yes, watching the TSE from the ship was amazing! Princess did an absolutely remarkable job of making the experience as fantastic as possilbe, and they succeeded! From the scientists onboard giving fantastic talks (available later on-demand for the rest of the cruise), the Captain answering 68 unique written questions in.a recorded on-demand program, the captain recording another program the night before, showing the weather forecast, and how he planned to get us into a spot with 4% cloud cover, as opposed to the 30% forecasted in surrounding areas, telling us 5 days in advance that the Starboard side would face the sun, so people could choose to stay in their cabins* and view from their balconies, reducing on-deck crowds, having crew walk around with sunscreen for folks to use, having radio silence during the entire experience, to having another Princess ship come within a couple of miles of us, to the ship's photographers capturing the other ship during totality, so the 360 degree sunset effect was in the background. They truly excelled.

 

Outside of the eclipse, the 360 dinner was phenomenal! It's a 6 course meal with paired cocktails and wine in a dining room that's sort of like interactive La Petite Chef on steroids combined with the Cirlcevision 360 attraction that used to be at Disneyland, plus smell-o-vision, and live music. Really amazing!

 

Apparently Steve Wozniak is a umbraphile, too. He was onboard and gave a talk the final day of the cruise. 

 

As for the rest of the cruise... it was too big of a (beautiful) ship, too crowded, too LOUD, with largely indifferent service (with a few fabulous exceptions) and totally worth it for the eclipse at sea experience. 

 

*We were on the starboard side, but chose to be on the very top deck, so we could experience the 360 degree sunset effect. PapaFej staked out the best spot on the ship at 5:15 am, nearly 6 hours before totality, because he is awesome. We took turns holding down the fort until the eclipse started around 9. 

 

We now return you to your regularly schduled Jim & Iain are awesome thread. 

Just randomly ran across your post.  We are on the Edge 6 days out from Honolulu. 😘

[awhfy]

Thanks for the many food locations in Honolulu. We’re taking the entire (14) family in June to Oahu. Most haven’t been so Arizona, Mighty Mo, Punchbowl are required trips. 

[Lastdance]

8 minutes ago, awhfy said:

Thanks for the many food locations in Honolulu. We’re taking the entire (14) family in June to Oahu. Most haven’t been so Arizona, Mighty Mo, Punchbowl are required trips. 

Well...what a nice thing to do for your family!

[Lastdance]

11 hours ago, jelayne said:

Just randomly ran across your post.  We are on the Edge 6 days out from Honolulu. 😘

 

Just now, Lastdance said:

Well...what a nice thing to do for your family!

How is your TP?  Had to cancel this and the following.

[larry_s_taco]

On 4/24/2024 at 1:26 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

We haven't been back since our last TP in 2012.   Yikes --can't believe it has been a decade.   The biggest disappointment and probably gotten worse is all the small mom and pop restaurants we once frequented have been bulldozed and replaced with Rodeo Drive type shops and expensive restaurants. 

 

I'm sure we will find all of the local foods in Downtown Honolulu and the Ala Moana Mall area.

 

I have to admit I was never a fan of SPAM. 

Please share with us the good local restaurants that you find. We are always on the lookout for local places when we travel. 

[raudacruise]

20 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Sacrilegious I say.  

SPAM is delicious.  Fried and served with eggs, made into a sandwich, cut into little cubs and used in fried rice, and who cannot like spam musubi.  My wife makes the latter with fried egg. 

 

As they would say in Hawaii -- broke da mouth. 

 

Reminds me of a line from an old TV show when the wife told the husband they were having sardines for dinner.  “I thought we were saving those for a special occasion.  Like a famine.”

[Maui4us]

21 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Sacrilegious I say.  

SPAM is delicious.  Fried and served with eggs, made into a sandwich, cut into little cubs and used in fried rice, and who cannot like spam musubi.  My wife makes the latter with fried egg. 

 

As they would say in Hawaii -- broke da mouth. 

 

I grew up helping my Mom stir the fried rice and our emergency rations still have bottled water, Spam & toilet paper! Once you live through a hurricane or dock strike in Hawai'i, you will always have these things!

-Kelley

[Covepointcruiser]

On 4/24/2024 at 6:51 AM, hcat said:

You are really going to be cruise hopping!  We are  interested in the Cunard leg..Which ship will you be taking.?

 

We took a short cruise on QM2 up to Canada, some years ago,  and enjoyed it.  We had .great meals for dinner ( not in the Grills), and we loved the tavern for lunch.  The  once per cruise afternoon tea was a treat. We met very interesting  people on board...most from  US.

 

  The shows had top talent...and they had classical music on board..Ian will enjoy.  The planetarium and library were very nice and the downstairs club was quite lively..

 

Hope we can follow that leg here   

I am confused.   The QM2 had tea every afternoon in the Queens Room on all our trips including Canada.   Did you not go to that venue?

[Covepointcruiser]

On 4/23/2024 at 11:48 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

How different was Cunard.   I hear some gripes but we enjoy dressing for dinner so should not be a big issue for us.   It is very close to the price of flying Business Class -   I booked it on a Christmas Sale for $8,000 in Queens Grill.      I am guessing the room is in-between a Sky Suite and a Celebrity. 

Your suite on Cunard (Q5-Q7) is only 5 sq ft smaller than a Celebrity Suite but the balcony is to 50 sq ft larger.    

[Gracie115]

47 minutes ago, Maui4us said:

I grew up helping my Mom stir the fried rice and our emergency rations still have bottled water, Spam & toilet paper! Once you live through a hurricane or dock strike in Hawai'i, you will always have these things!

-Kelley

 

We live in Florida...and Spam is always part of our hurricane rations.  😀

[hcat]

21 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Thanks for the warm words.   I have a feeling that this is a a journey I will have to travel alone.  I decided to take the day to myself as Iain wanted to stay on the ship and get things packed up.   Can you tell who the organized one is. 

 

While I didn't make it into Waikik I walked down to Ala Moana Park and spent the day just releasing the energy of the past.    I'm not sure if any of you have been to this lovely mostly neglected spot of beauty.   I ended up walking 10 miles and finished my day by taking a plug in the beautiful azule waters. 

sounds like a great walk & lovely day!

[hcat]

58 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

 

We live in Florida...and Spam is always part of our hurricane rations.  😀

not for us.. paper supplies yes but spam no.. we do have a grill and cooler and friends with a generator 

[hcat]

21 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing..cannot pick a favorite!

[hcat]

1 hour ago, Covepointcruiser said:

I am confused.   The QM2 had tea every afternoon in the Queens Room on all our trips including Canada.   Did you not go to that venue?

On our  QM 2, cruise NY to Canada,  there was one dressy afternoon tea with music dancing, and  beautiful served items..It was not daily.. 

 

I have also enjoyed the tea at Chateau Frontenac, Quebec on a Celebrity cruise. with  ladies from our roll call...the guys went to the battlefields!

[Oville]

1 hour ago, Gracie115 said:

 

We live in Florida...and Spam is always part of our hurricane rations.  😀

I live in Florida and Spam is never part of our hurricane rations.  We all have different tastes 

Edited April 26 by Oville

[jelayne]

2 hours ago, Lastdance said:

 

How is your TP?  Had to cancel this and the following.

Excellent.  When we got 1 day out from NZ the weather improved. Captain Matt took over in Auckland, Giuseppe has been his usual funny self, food and entertainment all great.  Sorry you had to cancel.

[awhfy]

3 hours ago, Lastdance said:

Well...what a nice thing to do for your family!

Hubs 75th bday & our 55th anniversary. Great way to celebrate

[Jim_Iain]

15 hours ago, Maui4us said:

Mahalo Jim, I enjoyed your pics and definitely pictured Ala Moana Beach and my many days spent there❣️
-Kelley

Kelley,

 

Today was like going back in time.   We walked to Queen’s Surf Beach, with a walk through the Halekulani, Royal Hawaiian, and Sheraton Waikiki.   
 

So many fond memories 

[Jim_Iain]

15 hours ago, jelayne said:

Just randomly ran across your post.  We are on the Edge 6 days out from Honolulu. 😘

Joan,

 

Hope you are having a wonderful cruise.   We know so many on your cruise.  

 

It has been beautiful in Honolulu but a bit windy today.    You will love the terminal at Honolulu.   Beautiful done and very efficient - except for the final guard who was insisting on a Transit Card in addition to our SeaPass and our Photo ID.   We had specifically been told you only needed the Transit Card if going ashore prior to getting our new room key.    Oh well... we made it.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, larry_s_taco said:

Please share with us the good local restaurants that you find. We are always on the lookout for local places when we travel. 

 

Hate to say it but didn't eat while ashore.    We came back to Solstice for a Day 1 Lobster Roll.

 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Your suite on Cunard (Q5-Q7) is only 5 sq ft smaller than a Celebrity Suite but the balcony is to 50 sq ft larger.    

  I'll post a pix later but we are in 1615 and has a deck 2x that of our Royal Suite.   It is the diagonal deck with the extra space.     They have a lounger out there in addition to all the other ones.

 

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

On our  QM 2, cruise NY to Canada,  there was one dressy afternoon tea with music dancing, and  beautiful served items..It was not daily.. 

 

I have also enjoyed the tea at Chateau Frontenac, Quebec on a Celebrity cruise. with  ladies from our roll call...the guys went to the battlefields!

 

Will be interesting to see how it works out on QM2

[May B]

On 4/23/2024 at 11:45 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

 

I need to hire you as my social secretary.   You are of course correct -- Silhouette in November 16 from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale.    

 

In 2025 will be Equinox Nov 21 to Buenos Aires --- That one is really going to be an interesting trip.  Triple hitter --- Cunard, Oceania and the Celebrity.   That should be an interesting comparison.

People sometimes say you shouldn’t compare.

 

We like to laugh about the comparisons. As long as a cruise meets our expectations, we’re happy. If it exceeds, that’s even better.

 

And when we call a location on one cruise line by the name of another, we … just laugh! Laughter is good!

[Maui4us]

14 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Kelley,

 

Today was like going back in time.   We walked to Queen’s Surf Beach, with a walk through the Halekulani, Royal Hawaiian, and Sheraton Waikiki.   
 

So many fond memories 

@Jim_Iain, could you believe how much the Halekulani has changed? For that matter, Ala Moana SC too! I fondly remember the koi ponds that ran the length of the mall from Sears to Liberty House.

-Kelley