Sunday February 9th Kona

We are in Kona and it is a tender port again. Because we do not have an excursion we are not in a hurry. We had a quiet slow breakfast. One couple was from Kelona and the other was from southern California.
After breakfast we came back here and got ready to go ashore. The day was beautiful, just as you expect a day in Hawaii to be. We did not have to wait long for the tender. It was a bit rocky but not bad at all.

We walked around the shore and explored what was said to be a replica of the summer home of King Kamehameha.

There was a very nice beach just as we disembarked. It was busy, lots of people enjoying the soft sand and the warm water.

The area around the pier is really very beautiful. Again it is what you imagine when you think of Hawaii,.

The area around the beach has lots of black volcanic rock as well as beautiful soft white sand. What a contrast!!

There were lots of small shops. Some reasonable and some high end. I have been looking for an umbrella with Hawaiian flowers on it but I have not had any luck. I found one today. It was a small folding umbrella with lovely tropical flowers. BUT it was priced at 38 dollars US and I refuse to pay 50 dollars Canadian for an umbrella. So I will keep looking tomorrow when we are in Hilo. Or prehaps I will have to wait until we get to Bora Bora.

And would you believe they had a Maui Divers here as well??

By 2 o'clock we were both tired and we had sore feet so we made our way back to the tenders. We were on right away...no wait at all. A lot better that our late tender back to the ship.

We had lunch, I had a rest and Ken went topside to get some sun.

Soon it was time to dress for dinner. This is our night to dine at the new restaurant,,,, SHARE . This is a Curtis Stone dining facility.


A proper review will follow but to sum it up. If you love home cooking and comfort food this is not the place to go......HOWEVER if you enjoy trying new tastes and if you like having wonderful presentations and variety this is the place to go.

WE really enjoyed it and we would go again.





SHARE


It is tastefully decorated and it is in a perfect location. It is at the stern and is on deck 16. They do not overbook with only 8 or so couples served at any one time. So that made for a quiet relaxed atmosphere unlike the other dining venues on the ship.

One of the first things you will notice is the absence of place mats or tablecloths. The bare tables are made from magnificent blond wood. It could be white oak. Also there is no salt or pepper. You must ask for it if you want it. They tell you that everything is expertly seasoned already.

I tried to take a photo of the menu. I hope you can enlarge it to read . This netbook is so small it is hard to tell.

You are served 6 courses in all. They are small so that is how you can manage.
We ordered wine to begin our feast.
Then came the first course which was labeled STARTERS
We each ordered different ones so we could share and taste many different offerings.
Two choices were available so we each got a different one so we could share.
The  bread was so good and it was still warm just out of the oven. YUMMY

Second course SALADS,
Again there were 2 choices.

Third course was PASTA
There were 2 choices and there both had amazing sauces.

Fourth Course was Seafood

I had lobster and Ken had crab legs. There was another choice , It was a shrimp creation.

The fifth course was the main course.
There were 3 choices, one was steak and one was duck.
We decided to have the pork. It is intended to be shared by 2. There was enough pork for 4 or 6 people. We did not come close to eating it all.

The Sixth Course was dessert.
Of course Ken got the chocolate and I got the almond marzipan.Toffee cheese cake was the third choice.

The final touch was EXCELLENT coffee.

Just before we left our waiter Jerry offered to take our picture.

On the back was a vegetarian menu which we did not use.

So in conclusion:
Yes we had a good time
Yes we would go again and
Yes we felt it was good value for our money.

Nawiliwili?

Today we are in Nawiliwili and we spent the day relaxing. We had breakfast in the dining room and we met really nice people for breakfast. One couple had been with us for breakfast 2 days ago.
It turns out that the men had a lot in common and there was a lot of laughter. We closed out the dining room.

Then we came back here and relaxed until lunch time . I caught up on the blog and Ken got some sun.

We went to deck 16 for lunch. It was great up there.

I decided to go to shore to browse around. They have free shuttles to get to and from the ship.

Just on the other side of the shops is a beautiful beach. There were lots of Princess people enjoying the sand and sun.

The one thing I love to buy when I am in the islands is a wonderful lotion. The brand is Forever Floral. I went into the ABC store and bought one of gardenia and one of Plumeria. They are so fragrant. I really enjoy them. The scent brings you back to the island.

There was another outlet for Maui Divers. We cannot believe that they are on all of the islands and we had not noticed them on our previous trips..

We were back for dinner with our table mates and as usual we laughed and visited and were the last leaving the dining room. They are a great group.

The show was a Tribute to Celine Dion performed by Elisa Furr. She was quite good and she had an amazingly strong voice.

We walked in the moonlight on deck seven and then returned to our room.  Tomorrow we are at Kona on the Big island.

Maui continued

It really was a great day. The weather forcast said that it would be another dreary cool day but it was not. It was a wonderful sunny day with temperatures in the mid seventies and a slight breeze. Perfect!!

Our shore excursion was not until noon so we went to the dining room and had a great leisurely breakfast. We had a mother and her 2 daughters for table mates. All were seniors and they lived in southern California.


We had to wait awhile for our tender. I guess they are very busy on shore and only one tender can dock at one time. Plus it was a bit windy making it necessary to slow down. But we were aboard the tender soon enough and we got to shore with an hour to spare.

There were nice shaded places to wait for the Whale watching tour.

The tour was great. We were topside with a good view. The sun was shining and the water was such a beautiful cobalt blue. We saw lots of whales. Some were breaching, we saw a baby slapping its tail and lots of show off males. BUT it was just about impossible to get pictures so I soon gave up and decided to just enjoy the moment.


When we returned to land we went looking for the Maui Divers outlet. Ken bought me the pendant that we loved so much yesterday. Happy Valentines to me.

Next we decided to get an ice cream. It was costly but good. $4.50 for one scoop. I got mango and Ken got Kona Coffee.

We also got a really pretty Hawaiian shirt for Ken..

By now it was time to join that VERY LONG line to get a tender back to the ship.  The lines are never short here but this was the worst ever. We stood in line for an hour and a half and got on board with only enough time to drop our parcels and head to the dining room. Even with that we were 5 minutes late.

Princess did their best to make a difficult situation less painful.

We returned to our room after dinner and the moon was beautiful. we sat out on the balcony and enjoyed the beauty of the night. Of course the camera does not do it justice...I tried:.(

Later in the evening we learned that our delayed departure was made even later because the port side  hoist for the tenders was not operating properly. Three tenders played in the moonlight while waiting for repairs.

We did not go out again. We called it a night.
Tomorrow we are in Nawiliwilli.

Maui(Lahaina) Hawaii

This will be where we are and what we will be doing today

Maui (Lahaina), Hawaii

Time in port: 7:00AM - 6:00PM

Maui has always occupied a special place in the hearts of Hawaiians. The great warrior King Kamehameha, who united the islands under his rule, chose to make Lahaina his capital and Ka'anapali was once the favorite playground of Hawaiian royalty. And no wonder - Maui boasts stunning landscapes and superb beaches. Mt. Haleakala, a dormant volcano, rises 10,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean. Once hailed as "The Valley of the Kings," Maui's Iao Valley is a tropical paradise dominated by the Needle, a volcanic monolith towering over the valley floor. Then there is Lahaina, once home to a royal court and a raucous port-of-call enjoyed by 19th-century Yankee whalers.

Haleakala means "The House of the Sun." To the Hawaiians, it appeared that the sun both rose from and set in the depths of its massive crater. Today, the centerpiece of Haleakala National Park, it is one of Maui's major attractions.

It is hard to choose an excursion when you have been here several times. For this day we choose to do a whale watching excursion.

Points of Interest

• Whale Watching
• Outdoor Adventures

Easy activity

Description

Your adventure begins at the pier where you board a vessel equipped with stabilizers for a smooth and comfortable sailing experience while viewing magnificent Pacific humpback whales. Your crew includes an expert naturalist who is on hand to provide facts and figures about Maui's whales.

You'll cruise around the scenic waters off Maui where humpback whales migrate from Alaska every year to mate and calve from December through May. Once whales are spotted, your captain will maneuver the boat to position it so you'll have the best views of these astonishing mammals without disturbing them.

Humpback whales are famous for singing to each other to communicate. During mating season, vocalization is used to attract mates or challenge suitors. These whales also possess a hunting technique called "bubblenet" feeding, which involves working as a group to capture schools of herring, with each whale having a particular role in the hunt. Indeed, they are highly intelligent creatures of the deep.

Land Ho!!!

After 5 days at sea we are docked along side the port in Honolulu
Because we do not have an excursion there was no need to rush. We had a leisurely breakfast.
We shared a table with a couple from Kamloops. It was very pleasant.

Then we gathered our things and headed off of the ship. It is a gray showery day which did not make Ken happy. Anyway we lined up to get a free shuttle into the city. There are choices including Hilo Hattie.

We choose the Maui Divers shuttle because it included a tour of a jewelry factory that specialized in black coral, and pearls and of course gold and diamonds. The presentation was very informative and seeing the workers in the factory was even more interesting.

I spied a beautiful piece that I would have bought in a flash....but I purposely left all credit cards on board in the safe. Ken did the same thing. No purchases were made.

After we left Maui Divers we decided to walk further rather than get the bus again. We walked to Walmart because we needed a couple of things. I needed ankle socks. The only ones I brought were long and black. I wanted short white ones. I also needed a hair brush.

Walmart had a shuttle that takes shoppers back to the ship and we availed ourselves of that service. They were checking everyone's ID so the line up was horrific!!

We had walked over a mile on cement so our legs were tired and we were hungry. So we had a quick lunch and then I had a quick nap. But Ken discovered a hockey game on the TV. This was his first glimpse of a game. Black Hawks against Bruins.

We dressed for dinner and joined Mary and Frank. Karen and Al are at an excursion..

We had our usual agreeable evening. Mary was feeling like dessert and she had two. Ken had the love boat and I had the swan cream puff.

We were too late for the early show she we marked time ( I did the blog) until it was time for the second show. It was a Hula show featuring students from a dance school. They were amazing. So talented and so cute.

Tomorrow we have a whale watching tour. The weather was cool and showery here today so I hope it is warmer and dryer in the morning.

ALOHA!!