Maui

Monday, 29th April,2013

Today we did our only Princess Tour for this cruise. The Maui snorkel cruise. On our way to our snorkel spot we were lucky enough to see some whales playing, this had everyone smiling and excited about our day.

This tour took us to Molokini Crater supposedly renowned for its coral and stunning array of tropical fish....well we do not think so... very few varieties of fish and the coral was mostly dead or colourless. We enjoyed being in the water but were left disappointed.

Our second stop was at Olowalu’s Turtle Reef, we got in the water and the turtles could be seen below us. One big one surfaced so many of us had a close encounter of the wonderful kind.

Kauai

Sunday, April 28, 2013.

Nawiliwilli Harbour was where we docked today. Six of us shared a 4 hour tour today with Pono Taxis. Our driver for the day was waiting for us at the gate at 8.30 as arranged and we set off for Waimea Canyon. This is considered the “Grand canyon of the Pacific”.

Kauai is a lovely little island and just for us it decided to sent in lots of low clouds...so  as you will see form the photos we saw a lot of cloud and no canyon.  Luckily we saw some of the lower areas and can only imagine how wonderful it would have been. The canyon spans 10 miles and is about 3000 feet deep.

Our consolation prize along the way was a good view of a waterfall. No matter the company and the scenery along the way was good.

Upon our return to the ship we ate before heading to the local Walmart for some shopping.

Tour cost....US$83 per couple

The Harbour

Cloudy view

Cold and damp and no view

We were in those clouds

Coffee factory.

Waterfall

Honolulu

 Saturday, April 27, 2013.

The 24 hours leading up to the port has had many passengers up in arms over the U.S. Immigration Inspections. Every Passenger was allocated a time to attend once we docked in Honolulu....our time 11am...not happy, we dock at 6 am. These time slots were not negotiable. Well as it happens everything went better than they planned and we were called earlier and were free to leave soon after 8am.

Diane and Ash shared a taxi with us to Pearl Harbour and we left the dock at 8.30 hoping for no delays so that we could collect our priority tickets by 9am at the latest....We made it ....

We had an hour til our tour of the Arizona Memorial which was to start at 10.00am. this was enough time  to have a quick look around. The Arizona tour took just under an hour...so we were standing at a bus stop by 12noon waiting for a bus to take us back to the ship for lunch.

After lunch Tony and I decided to bus it to Diamond Head. We waited ½ hour for a bus to Ala Moana shops.... time to transfer...... after an hour and still no Diamond Head bus...we gave up...I had a headache by now so after a brief look in the shops we stood at another bus stop...10 mins later... no bus so we found 4 other weary passengers and took a taxi back to the ship at the same cost as a bus ticket each.

Note to self.....if we do this trip again...do not leave the ship...two visits...two migraines...not good.

The oil slick is still visible after all these years

 

APIA

Monday 22nd April, 2013

 

Today we snorkelled in the Palolo Deep Marine Reserve. This fabulous snorkel spot is visible from the ship and only 5 minute walk from the dock. It cost us 4 Tala per person to gain entry. We did have to make our way out quite a way to get to the deep water, but what could be seen on the way encouraged us to keep going. Fish were abundant and the we enjoyed well over an hour ...probably closer to two hours in the coral gardens. The pictures do not do it justice.

NUKU’ALOFA

Saturday 20th April, 2013

We took a taxi to ‘Otuhaka Beach with Ross and Lesley. Here we had a lovely Snorkel just the four of us. We were out the water by the time the bus loads of those on the ship tour arrived. The water was refreshing, the fish were there to be seen.

We had lunch on the ship before exploring the town.

There is a new wharf now. It is at the end of the main street, no more docking in the industrial area.

Walking the main street of Nukuálofa

At Sea

Tuesday – Friday, 16 – 19th April, 2013

Time to explore, meet, eat, sleep and have fun.

The Atrium