In October 2019, we met Darrell and Connie Carver in Eureka Springs to plan a trip to Hawaii. We called Norwegian Cruise Lines, the only cruise line that leaves from Honolulu and returns to Honolulu and visits 4 islands. All other ships leave from the west coast. We didn't want to spend 4 to 5 days going there and another 4 or 5 days getting home. This was the best option. Norwegian offered discount airfare with our cruise so instead of $900 - $1,000 each, we paid $399 each. Darrell and Connie decided to fly from Little Rock since Tulsa gets more ice and snow this time of year than Little Rock. They arrived at our house on January 29.
Thursday, January 30 - Honolulu, Oahu
Jason picked us up at 5:50 a.m. to take us to the airport. We flew to Atlanta, had a little over an hour to catch our flight and settled in for a 10 hour flight. It was a L-O-N-G flight and we arrived in Honolulu about 3:45 pm. (There is a 4 hour time difference.) We called Charley's Cab Company to pick us up. We had a very friendly driver who talked to us on the way to the Hotel LaCroix. We got to the hotel, checked in and got our first lei.
Arriving in Honolulu Conrad, Linda, Connie
& Darrell - Hotel LaCroix
After breakfast on Friday morning, we headed out to explore the city. We walked down towards the beach. The alleys leading to the beach had surfboard storage spots.
We spent a little time at the beach just looking at the ocean and watching the people and surfers before moving on down to the next beach. Waikiki Beach wasn't at all like we expected. One of our tour drivers told us that the sand at Waikiki is imported in from Australia and some comes from Louisiana! There are lots of statues all over the state of Hawaii.
Surfboard Alley
This statue is Duke Paoa Kahanamoku
He was a Native Hawaiian competition swimmer who
popularized the ancient Hawaiian sport of surfing. He
was also a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming.
View of Diamond Head from Waikiki Beach
Waikiki Beach
Linda and Conrad at a big banyan tree
Connie & Darrell at a big banyan tree
We walked through several of the stores, including Dylan's Candy Bar. Dylan is the daughter of Ralph Lauren. It is said to be the largest unique candy store in the world with over 7,000 candies from around the world. We've been to the one in New York City also. It's an interesting place. We stopped for lunch at Yard House. Then it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready to go to the luau.
We passed Aloha Stadium several times during our
time in Honolulu.
We got a shell lei here and while waiting for things to start, we watched a guy crack open a coconut and he gave out pieces of coconut to eat. They were also making headbands from leaves. We sat at a table with Joe and his girlfriend from Denver. He was real interesting and talked a lot but she was quiet and shy. The poi was awful but the other food we had, including the pig, was interesting, but pretty good.
Here we are!
Making the headbands Cutting the coconut
The pig Our food
Saturday, February 1 - Honolulu, Oahu
Saturday morning we were up bright and early.
Saturday morning we were up bright and early.
We were greeted this morning with a rainbow.
We saw lots of them in 12 days.
After breakfast we repacked our suitcases to get ready to board the ship. We had some free time so we checked out of the hotel, stored our luggage, and asked the clerk which bus would take us to the state capitol. He checked his computer and kept looking. He asked again where we wanted to go, looked again, then asked if it was a restaurant! We finally explained state capitol and he told us which bus would go there.
The capitol didn't look anything like a capitol. It was completed in 1969, ten years after Hawaii became a state. Unlike other state capitols modeled after the United State Capitol, the Hawaii state capitol's distinct architectural features symbolize various natural aspects of Hawaii. Among them:
- The building is surrounded by a reflecting pool, symbolizing the Pacific Ocean.
- The two legislative chambers are cone shaped, symbolizing volcanoes that formed the Hawaiian Islands.
- The columns around the the perimeter of the building have shapes resembling royal palm trees. There are eight columns in four rows at either side of the building, representing the eight main islands of Hawaii.
- The Capitol is built with an open air design, allowing sun, wind, and rain to enter, the central atrium opens to the sky and rainbows can sometimes be seen inside the building when it rains.
- Four kukui nut trees (Hawaii's state tree) are a numerical reference to the four main counties in the State of Hawaii and the four major Hawaiian gods.
- When standing in the center of the structure, the chandeliers from both legislative chambers, which represent the sun and moon, can be seen through the glass walls, while the area that is normally reserved for a rotunda in most capitol buildings is left open to the sky. It is said that the sky is Hawaii's capitol dome.
The Hawaii State Capitol Open on the bottom floor
One of the reflecting pools Looking through the top of the building
Behind the capitol is the 'Iolani Palace. Built in 1882 by King Kalakaua, 'Iolani Palace was the home of Hawaii's last reigning monarchs and served as the official royal residence and the residence of the Kingdom's political and social life until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893. It is the only official royal residence in the United States.
'Iolani Palace
After exploring this area, we got back on the bus and went to Chinatown. We looked around a little and had lunch there. We headed back to the hotel and retrieved our bags. The time finally came to head to the ship. We were on Norwegian's Pride of America ship.
Our itinerary for the week
We explored the ship for awhile, waiting for our deck to be ready. Of course, it was the last one ready! We got unpacked and pretty well settled in and then went to dinner. The entertainment that night was a variety show, short clips of what the entertainment would be for the week. Darrell was picked from the audience to help Charles Bach, the illusionist. He (not Darrell) did an escape from a straight jacket, hanging upside down.
Darrell and Connie boarding
The life boats look like Oscar Mayer hotdogs!
Our Room
Our Room 
Conrad in his favorite spot! One of the pool areas
The sunset from the ship Leaving Honolulu
Sunday, February 2 - Super Bowl Sunday - Kahului, Maui
Our ship - Our room is the second row up
and the second balcony from the left.
Darrell & Connie's room was to the right of ours.
We arrived in Maui about 7:00 a.m. Conrad had I had scheduled an excursion to Lahaina on the other side of the island. Darrell and Connie went on a whale watching excursion and then we met up in Lahaina for about an hour before time to head back to the ship. On the ride to Lahaina, there were a lot of monkeypod trees planted along the road where sugar cane plantations used to be. They made an umbrella over the road to provide shade for the horses that were hauling the sugar can. We saw lots of interesting beaches and the mountains (volcanoes) are amazing!
Shading more than two-thirds of an acre, measuring nearly one-fourth of a mile in circumference and reaching a height of 60 feet, the Banyan Tree has been a Laihaina landmark for more than twelve decades. The tree has spread over the area via aerial roots which, when they reach the ground, grow into thick trunks. The Lahaina Banyan Tree is the largest in the State of Hawaii.
This banyan tree was planted in Lahaina on April 24, 1873 to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first American Protestant mission. The tree was a gift from missionaries in India. A mere 8 feet when planted, it has grown to a height of about 60 feet and has rooted into 16 major trunks, apart from the main trunk, with the canopy spread over an area of about .66 acres.
Banyan Tree Banyan Tree
We ate lunch at Kimo, a place that was recommended by the travel books and reviews. The food was so good. We had fish tacos and chips/salsa. We had picked up a coupon at the Visitor Center for a free Hula Pie and it was delicious! It had an oreo-like crust, ice cream, chocolate sauce, nuts and whipped cream.
Fish tacos Hula Pie
Lahaina
The harbor in Lahaina
A view in Lahaina
View from the bus
Downtown Lahaina
Lahaina
Beach near Lahaina
We got back to the ship near the end of the third quarter of the Super Bowl so we got to watch the CHIEFS WIN!!! They had the Hollywood Theater decorated with lots of balloons and streamers and a huge TV screen in the middle with a smaller one on each side. Lots of people were watching and I would say most were Chiefs fans.
Decorations
Hollywood Theater
CHIEFS WIN!!!
They had quite a buffet set
up in the back.
up in the back.
Monday, February 3 - Kahului, Maui
This is the day Conrad and I were really excited about. We got on the bus about 8:00 to go to Molokini Crater to snorkel. Molokini is a crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater. It is about 150 feet deep. Marine biologists have observed over 250 different fish species in Molokini. It is also home to 38 unique coral species.
They served us a continental breakfast on the way to the snorkel site. It was a 9-mile, 45-minute ride from the dock. We had banana bread, orange slices, pineapple and 1/2 danish. The water temperature was 77 degrees. It was kind of cold when we first got in but we adjusted pretty fast. We saw a lot of different fish than we hadn't seen before. Most of the coral looked dead. We had an hour to snorkel here before we headed to another spot, Turtle Arches, about 20 minutes away near Makena State Park. There wasn't much coral around here, mostly a sand bottom. But, the coral we did see was more colorful but not as many fish. We had wanted to see some turtles but we didn't see any. When we got back on the boat after about 45 minutes in the water, lunch was ready. They served grilled chicken sandwiches, veggie burgers, hot dogs, macaroni salad, mixed bean salad and chocolate chip cookie. You got one free beer or mixed drink and other drinks were unlimited.
We saw some whales on the trip. There were lots of whale watching boats out that morning.
This was our boat Molokini Crater
Whale blowing Caught a picture of the whale!
Turtle Arches Our view on the way back to the harbor
After getting back to the ship, we got cleaned up and met Darrell and Connie for dinner. The entertainment that night was "Lights, Camera, Music", a tribute to Hollywood musicals. We walked around some of the shops after the show. We discovered that the ship was heading back in to port. We didn't know what was going on.
Tuesday, February 4 - Hilo, Hawaii
We saw the room steward on our way to breakfast and found out there was a medical emergency last night and since we were only about 10 miles out (1 hour) it was best to go back than to send for a helicopter. A helicopter can land on the basketball court but they have to take down the canvas walls first, or the helicopter can hover and the patient can be loaded in a basket. We still arrived on time in Hilo.
Today we had an excursion booked to go to Volcano National Park. This was probably our favorite excursion and was #1 on our list of things to do. It was about a 30 to 45 minute bus ride to the park. The driver dropped us off at the Volcano House. It sits very close to the edge of the Kilauea caldera. What a great view!
We left the Visitor Center and went to the steam vents. The Volcano House Hotel where we first saw the caldera is to the left in the picture.
Our next stop was at the Kilauea Iki Crater, which in 1959 was a roiling lava lake spewing lava 1,900 feet in the air. The 1959 eruption of Kilauea Iki Crater was a relatively short lived event and produced some of Kilauea's most spectacular lava fountains of the 20th century. That's the last time it erupted.
We checked on the ship's channel on TV to
see that we were back on track.
Tuesday, February 4 - Hilo, Hawaii
We saw the room steward on our way to breakfast and found out there was a medical emergency last night and since we were only about 10 miles out (1 hour) it was best to go back than to send for a helicopter. A helicopter can land on the basketball court but they have to take down the canvas walls first, or the helicopter can hover and the patient can be loaded in a basket. We still arrived on time in Hilo.
Today we had an excursion booked to go to Volcano National Park. This was probably our favorite excursion and was #1 on our list of things to do. It was about a 30 to 45 minute bus ride to the park. The driver dropped us off at the Volcano House. It sits very close to the edge of the Kilauea caldera. What a great view!
View from Volcano House Hotel Kilauea Caldera
The Visitor Center had a great video showing the Kilauea Volcano erupting. Historically, Kilauea is the most active of the five volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaii.
The sequence of events over several days
On average, every 28 hours the ground at the summit collapsed. From May to August, over 60,000 earthquakes rocked the summit with 62 major collapse events. Kilauea is the youngest volcano (on land) of the Hawaiian hot spot and not only the most active volcano of Hawaii but at the same time also the world's most active volcano.
Kilauea Caldera
Amazing!
Steam vent
Kilauea Iki Crater Kilauea Iki Crater
Kilauea Iki Crater - You can Kilauea Iki Crater Cinder Cone
see people hiking down there.
This huge fern was along
the Kilauea Iki Crater trail.
Our last stop of the day was at the Akatsuka Orchid Gardens. There were more than 500 different orchids on display. I wish we would have had more time here. There was also a Thai food truck on the parking lot and we were able to get food and take on the bus.
Darrell and Connie were out exploring Hilo today and weren't back yet when we got back. So, Conrad and I decided to explore some of the other decks on the ship.
Adult pool area Love these chairs!
After dinner, we went to the show in the Hollywood Theater. Tonight it was Wonders - A Magical Experience. Charles Bach was the magician/illusionist and was really good.
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