Donna and John’s Travel Blog Dec 26-30, 2011

Donna and John’s Travel Blog

Dec 26-30, 2011

Monday, Dec 26

Lat 19.44 N Long 155 .03 W

Hilo, Hawaii

We made landfall for the first time today at Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawaii.  We were off the ship by 8:30 to a wet and windy morning.  We could not see the mountaintops of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in the distance, due to the low clouds, but the warm weather is nice.

We had some difficulties with our Alamo rental car agency, who informed us that our car was not reserved until noon, which was totally unacceptable for us, as we had to return by 3:30 and we had prepaid for a whole day, starting at 9:00.  They finally gave us a pickup truck, which would do, but were unwilling to work with us for the next two days.

After a frustrating half hour of phone calls, we decided to take a drive around Mauna Kea, a route we had never experienced before.

Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa are separated by a mountain highway known locally as the Saddle Road.  Older maps advised rental car owners not to take this route, but we are experienced mountain drivers and ignored it.  The route from Hilo takes you up into a lava desert.  We passed up the side trip to the observatory, since there was snow at the top and it was fogged in. 

We drove to the small town of Waimea and the Parker Ranch. This Parker Ranch is largest cattle ranch in a single location in the country and it appears to also include much of the town. Donna needed a haircut so we drove into the Parker village and got the cut along with a few things at the super market. We laughed at the stop signs here as they were the same shape and color of a normal stop sign but since it was on the ranch they all said “whoa”.

We continued our drive around the NE side of Hawaii back to Hilo hoping to find an internet café but the only one we encountered was closed due to the holiday.

The evening was another lovely semi-formal one. There are 4 formal nights and 5 semi-formal dress nights during the 14 days so we are getting the opportunity to see lots of lovely evening outfits. That is definitely different than our normal attire, on the island at home, so it is fun to “play dress-up” so many times.

The show in the evening was presented by the ships’ singers and dancers and was very elaborate. We have seen lots of stage shows on ships but none as good as these. They could easily bring these shows to Broadway. The dancing, singing, costumes and sets are above anything else we have seen on board any ship. And the ambiance of this formal theater, with its box seats, dark woods and velvet seating simply adds to the beauty of the shows. It is nice to see everyone all dressed up for the theater every night.

Tuesday we will dock at Nawiliwili on the garden island of Kauai.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Lat 21 57 N Long 157 21 W

Nawiliwili, Kauai

This is our second port of call and we are visiting the island for the second time. After a fair amount of time on the phone with Alamo’s national phone number, we finally just went to the local office and picked up our car without any difficulty.

Since we had not seen the east and north sides of the island before, we decided to spend our day driving through those areas.  This was a wise choice.  What spectacular vistas!  The crashing waves and majestic mountains transfixed us.  We drove to the lighthouse at Kilauea on the north shore,  one of the last homes of the nene, the Hawaiian flightless goose.  This animal has no fear of humans, since it has no predators.  We also spotted countless seabirds, including albatross and shearwaters.

We pulled our car over to the side of the road, picnicked at a lovely beach and took a dip in the ocean.  An offshore reef protected us from the crashing surf.  After the swim, John could not find his watch.

We now understand why so many movies are made on this side of The Garden Isle.   The backdrops are truly spectacular toward the land and the sea.  The north shore town of Hanalei is a funky tourist town, complete with surfers, kayakers and a variety of independent tourist types.  It, of course has more than its quota of pizza places, tee shirt shops and tattoo parlors, no of which attracts us. 

Reaching the end of the highway, we turned around and headed the 30 miles or so back to Lihue, where John purchased a replacement watch (waterproof) and we returned our rental car and reboarded the ship.

The evening’s entertainment was first class, as we had come to expect from the Queen Victoria.  An excellent Nat King Cole impersonator nearly made us believe that Nat, himself, was still alive!  We had forgotten that Cole had only lived to age 46.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

At anchor

20 52 N, 156 41 W

Lahaina, Maui

We landed in Maui at the very busy port of Lahaina. Every time that we arrive in this port we are surprised to see just how much it has grown and how crowded it has become. When we first visited this town many years ago, in 1979 (half a life ago), it was a sleepy little village but now it is a bustling town with traffic and tourists everywhere.

We picked up our rental car and decided that we wanted to drive to the Iao Needle so we headed up to the mountains. As the elevation increased, so did the rain and winds and by the time we got up to that area, it was clouded in, windy and the rain was heavy so we decided that the hike into the Needle would have to wait for a future trip and we headed back down to the clear and warm ocean. We drove out to Kihei, a place that has also become very touristy, but we had no luck in finding a parking spot at the beach parks so we proceeded up to the Kanaapali resort area to find a place to park and play in the waves. We found a nice beach and got the chance to get some nice beach and water time.

We are enjoying the relaxation that it usually so rare for us on board ship. Usually we have so many lecture shows scheduled that we don’t find a lot of time to kick back but with four different lecturers on this ship, we don’t have many days of work so we feel like we are actually on a vacation. Our last two lectures are not until Monday and Tuesday so we still have the weekend to relax on this lovely ship. We are looking forward to an elegant New Year’s Eve celebration and more nights to “play dress-up”. We are actually enjoying the opportunity to “dress to the nines” as we don’t get to do that much in our normal lives.

The musical show in the evening included both of the ship’s orchestras and the production vocalists and was again wonderfully presented. The evening shows in the main theater each night have been the best productions that we have ever experienced on ship board and we have thoroughly enjoyed each one. They add to the classiness of this elegant Queen Victoria.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

21 18 N, 157 52 W

Honolulu, Oahu

And so, we are going ashore this morning.   Our ship will be heading back to North America tonight.

After several days of driving, we decided to walk from the ship to Waikiki, a distance we thought would be fairly short.  Two hours later, we discovered that we had walked a total of five miles.  We were proud of our accomplishments and soon arrived at the International Marketplace, across from the Surfrider Moana. 

John was a bit hungry and stopped for some at the marketplace for Chinese food, which he later found was nearly indigestible. 

The beach at Waikiki was packed with holiday visitors from Japan and around the world and we decided to stay off the sand to avoid stepping on someone.  We were looking for an internet café, but due to the smart phones and other devices has caused these businesses to disappear, especially in developed countries.

We took the city bus back to the ship in mid-afternoon and enjoyed the beautiful weather relaxing on the Promenade Deck.  The evening program was put on by a Hawaiian children’s dance program, which all enjoyed. The ship stayed late and departed about midnight.

Friday, December 30, 2011

22 39 N, 152 22 W

at sea, 316 miles NE of Honolulu

This has been a sea day for us.  The weather has been pleasant and we have had some time to relax and take in all of the other ship’s activities, including Sabbath services and the wonderful evening programs, a production show about the late 1800’s called “Victoriana.”  Cunard does an excellent job preserving the British traditions.

Saturday, December 31, 2011

24 46 N, 144 19 W

at sea, 777 miles NE of Honolulu

New Year’s Eve was a day of celebration on board the elegant Queen Victoria. The ship was decorated with hundreds of balloons in the dining room and in huge nets hanging over the atrium and in the Queen’s Ballroom. They were ready for the big balloon drop at midnight.

During the day, we walked the decks as we usually do when we are at sea. We try to walk at least a mile or two each day on the promenade deck when the weather is good. If it is too windy, we walk inside. Today we were able to walk outside as the weather was windy by warm.

We had not been to high tea but once since we departed so we decided to participate in that daily activity today. This is a very nice formal event that many of the guests enjoy. It is very nice to see the white gloved waiters and waitresses and we feel very “British” as we are served tea, little sandwiches, cakes and scones.

This was another formal night and we enjoyed “dressing to the nines” again and seeing all of the gorgeous dresses, tuxedos and kilts worn by all of the guests. Definitely not something that we can do in our normal life.

Dinner included hats, tiaras and noise makers for the holiday so it was fun. Everyone got these and wore them throughout the night.