Aloha from the Sea Princess :) Hope you have been enjoying my updates :), and sorry for that this post is LONG. We are currently at sea today this is day 4 of our 5 sea days. We are currently heading for Papeete, Tahiti. Since I last posted an update we have been to Honolulu, Kauai (Nawiliwili), Kona, Maui (Lahaina), and Hilo, Hawaii. Honolulu, Hawaii - Saturday, 14 September: Clearing customs and Immigration in Honolulu was not too bad, it went a bit better than what I have read!, but it was an early start!; We managed to get an 8am time slot to see the customs and Immigration offices, (Thanks to some friends who are cruising with us), but we had to wait in a queue which when we joined it at 8 am, the queue was at the Atrium (Meeting the customs and Immigration offices was happing in the Vista Lounge at the back of the ship), it was not long after that that the queue was up to the Princess Theatre (I am sure there where people who did not get off the ship till 11am – 12 noon). After a 45 minute (aprox) wait in the queue we got to see the customs and Immigration officer, and we were processed in about 5 mins (They did not take our photos nor our fingerprints), after we did customs and Immigration (Was out of the Vista Lounge by about 8:45am aprox, we went and had breakfast and then we left the ship just before 10am. There were about 6 – 7 customs and Immigration offices processing us. Here’s a tip for anyone cruising (or even traveling) thought Honolulu, Hawaii, and looking for a shuttle or some sort of transport. If you want to waste an hour of your time use the “Free Shuttle” Maui Divers Jewellery put on, as they will take you to their shop and show you a an 8 min aprox movie of how they started and then show you around how they make the jewellery and then you walk thought their gift shop, then you will have it wait for a shuttle to take you either to Ala Moana shopping centre or Waiki or back to the ship. So I suggest you avoid them! If you want to waste your time in Honolulu, and pay a few $$$ to get on another shuttle/Bus (I think you could get a Bus / shuttle for about $2.50 US$ (Mind you need exact change for the bus), and I think there where a few others shuttles etc... outside the cruise terminal (Maui Divers where inside the terminal). After our unexpected stop at Maui Divers Jewellery, we went to the Ala Moana shopping centre and had a look around their for a while and then we meet up with some friends who we are cruising with and had drink and a snack at Mai Tai bar with them, then went to another shop (which I can’t remember the name off at this time, sorry), our friends found and had a look around it for a little bit. After we went to Ala Moana shopping centre and a few other shops, we meet up with some other friends who were staying at the Hilton – Hawaiian Village at Waiki they were getting on the Rhapsody of the Seas a few days later they are bring her back to Sydney (and I think they are still on the Rhapsody of the Seas at the moment) and we spent the rest of the afternoon / evening in Waiki with our friends. We had a nice day in Honolulu and would love to come back again. Kauai (Nawiliwili), Hawaii - Sunday, 15 September: In Kauai (Nawiliwili), we just spent the day with some more friends who live here, who we meet on our last Diamond Princes cruise, they just took us around the place and show us some of the sights and then they took us back to their place for lunch and drinks, great day! And when we left Kauai, we even had a dancing tug :-) (It gave our Auckland tugs a run for their money!, this one was a real show off!) Also would love to come back to Kauai (Nawiliwili) again. Kona, Hawaii - Monday, 16 September: Kona was our first tender port of the cruise. In the morning we just had a look thought the town; it was a very nice place!, would love to come back here again!. In the afternoon we did a Princess snorkeling tour, it was OK, but compared to what we saw in Apia, this had northing compared!, also latter that night we found out that the first tour fed the fish, we didn’t :(, next time we come here we are going to do our own thing. Also you can snorkel not far from where the tenders docks! (Mind you I don’t know what the snorkeling is like) Maui (Lahaina), Hawaii - Tuesday, 17 September: Maui (Lahaina), was our second tender port of the cruise. It’s another lovey island and again, would like to come back here again!, we did another Princess snorkeling tour in the morning, it was much better than the last one we did in Kona. Finley after many cruises up to the South Pacific I have swim with a Tuttle!! :-D, they were great fun to swim with!! We were meant to go Molokina crater (it’s a collapsed, submerged Volcano), but it was a bit too choppy for us :(. Does not matter, it’s another reason to come back!! :) I have one more port to write about (Hilo, Hawaii), and hopefully will try and get it up tomorrow.
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 11:33:10 +0000
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