Day 21 -22 - 23 Kauiai & Maui

Day 21 - Day in Nawiliwili, Kauai Hawaii

Hawaii oldest island was first discovered by Captain Cook in 1778. It is a tropical paradise full of soaring ocean cliffs, emerald green valleys, pristine rain forests and cascading waterfalls, but we had seen all of these on an earlier trip so we elected to take the free shuttles down to first the closer shopping area that was on the beach. Later we caught the one to the big K Mart store where out the back door and up some stairs we found a huge outdoor mall full of shops and best of all we found that the mall itself offered free internet. By 11:30 we were back in our rooms. Phil went up for lunch and I started typing my blog for Sunday and Monday. At 12:30 Phil was down for a nap and I, with my computer, was on the way back, via a free shuttle, to the mall. How wonderful it was to sign on and not be worried about time. Actually got my virus program updated. Cleaned up my email, posted my blog,, which by the way is not easy right now as while I have been gone they have completed changed the program on me and I am having trouble doing my copy & paste and having it look right. I also found time to post a few pictures on Facebook. The one I really wanted to post was still in the camera so that one will have to wait till were home.

As I had promised Phil, I was back on the ship by 3 PM then we went to the Colony Club for a hour of time on the Wii game before finding our friends who had arrived to play the Trivia game…. Lots of fun but we still came in second. We thought we really had a chance to win as their were only 3 teams playing as so many were out touring.

Dinner again went very well and now we are getting ready to go up to listen to the Kamaina Hawaiian Trio play in the centrum before going to the County Western Dance.

Hawaiian music was good, but much to Philips dismay..no steel guitars in sight. Had a great time at the County & Western Dance. Stayed for about an hour.. did the line dances and played the games before heading back to our cabin for the night.

Day 22 – Wednesday, April 25, 2012

This morning, very early, we anchored our ship out in the bay of Lahaina. Because of this it was necessary to tender all passengers in by small boats. A long process when you have a ship with over 2000 guests wanting to visit Lahaina. We were fortunate that we had tickets for a ship sponsored Bus Excursion to visit the Iao Valley above the town of Wailuka, followed by a tram tour on the Maui Tropical Plantation. So this meant that we all had propriety when it came to boarding the tenders. During the trip to the Iao Valley the drivers kept us all entertained with stories and information about the island of Maui.

This was a four hour excursion so we had brought sandwiches with us from the ship and during the Plantation ride we were able to enjoy a light lunch. Found some beautiful items in the shops. Soon we were on the bus headed back to the town of Lahaina where we were free to explore before taking the tender back to the ship.

I had visited Lahaina in 1972 and what I remembered most was the huge Banyan Tree in the center of town. During these past 40 years it has expanded to the point where it covers most all of the Courthouse Square. It was hard to capture a good picture so I ended up buying my first post card of the trip. We saw a small guitar shop but it was closed so Phil has plans to go back tomorrow. Back to the ship .. Phil decided to head for the Wii game which was available right now for just a few hours, me, out came the computer and I worked on my photos till he came back and said “lets go to the movies” so we picked up some snacks and went to see the movie “The Zoo Keeper” pretty good. Right after that was over it was time for dinner. Enjoyed another nice meal with our new friends.

As many people where spending the evening in Lahaina going to Luau and other planned events we who have stayed on the ship will have to make do with the Movies and Musical selection all over the ship but no “Big” entertainment programs are being down tonight. We elected to make it an early evening and just enjoy cards & tv in our room.

Day 23 – Thursday, April 26, 2012

We were up by 7 AM but decided to just relax for awhile before trying to catch a tender into Lahaina for another look at the shops, especially the music store. Big Mistake.. it seems like everybody had the same ideal, plus we had another cruise ship in port so the tender boats were running very slow. People were standing all up and down the halls waiting for a chance to get out… We played some cards, took a walk around the outside, by then a new movie had started so we went into the cinema for awhile to watch one of the Pirates of the Caribbean… soon I said okay I’m not going so came back to the cabin sorted stuff from the suitcases, listened to the replay on the TV of the Enhancement Lecture by Cathy Eck (which by the way was very good & I plan to watch the new on today). This one was all about how the taboo’s came about during the development of the Hawaiian islands. Tomorrow it will be “The Curse of the Goddess Pele”.

I guess that Phil got off okay.. he promised to try and be back before 3 PM. But, I’m not going to get to excited about it as I am enjoying myself in my room. Went upstairs and brought a light lunch back to the cabin. Since the last tender is at 4:30 and we are departing soon after that I hope that he is on time. At 5 tonight we need to be dressed and at the Colony Club for a Crown and Anchor Member Appreciation welcome back reception with the Captain. After dinner tonight we have a headliner show of Delores Park, a singer whom I have never heard of but hope she will put on a great show.

At 10 tonight they will be having the Millionaire Gameshow and who knows maybe we will pull a lucky ticket and get to be on the show. It’s fun to watch anyway.
Will say Aloha from the Island of Maui…..