Pictures

We now have a stable Internet connection. Enjoy pictures from the trip. Click on any of the pictures for a better view.

Home!

We made it! This has been an amazing adventure! I can hardly wait to see what is in store for Connor next.

Expect a few commentary posts over the next few days. The commentary will focus on cruising and Hawaii.

A very long day

This may have been our farthest trip yet from home. When you factor in travel and time zone changes, it was definitely our longest travel segment yet. We left the cruise ship at 8:00 AM Saturday morning and did not get home until 7:30 AM Sunday morning. We were moving the entire time. We had a two hour wait in Honolulu and a 45 minute wait in Los Angles. Other than that, we had our butts in a seat and we were moving.

We don’t want to leave!

Vacations are a lot of fun. We really enjoy the excitement of new places and new experiences. Something about this trip has been different. We DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE! Hawaii is amazing. We have only scratched the surface of all there is to see and do here. There is so much that we will miss. We will miss …
- The ocean, the scenery, and the Hawaiian attitude.
- Surfing. I have a feeling we will be getting surfboards soon.
- Chickens everywhere on the island of Kaua’i.
- Daphne, who has taken such good care of us at the pool.
- Pidgeon, the local language of Hawaii.
- Gemma, who has made all the cool towel creatures.
- The Aloha Café, where we ate most of our meals on the open back deck.
- The Freestyle Daily, a list of what to do each day on the ship.
- No cleaning or cooking.

We do love Hawaii. But, there is still so much more to see in the world. Hawaii is definitely on the very short list of places for a second visit.

Flip Flops

In Hawaii, flip flops are acceptable everywhere. We have fully embraced the Hawaiian attitude and are now a flip flop family. Notice the cool rash on our feet. We have been playing hard!

Espresso!

We tried coffee. It is the last night on the ship, let’s kick it up a notch. Espresso!

Na Pali Coastline

It was time to leave Kaua’i. One of the interesting details about Kaua’i is that the only way to go around the island is via water or air. Fortunately, we were on a ship. The coastline is simply amazing. Enjoy a few pictures from the afternoon at sea.

Tattoos

On the last day of the cruise, you could get a temporary tattoo. While relaxing by the pool, Connor asked Mary if he could have one. She agreed. Enjoy the tattoo while it lasts!

Dessert

We have done a good job of eating well on the cruise. However, we kept hearing about the dessert at the “Cadillac Diner.” Dessert was a warm brownie with ice cream and whipped cream. Of course, we did have dessert before we had dinner this night.

Tubing the Ditch (a.k.a Kaua’i Day 2)

We went on a ride called “Tubing the Ditch”. It was advertized as a lazy river inner tube ride through an abandoned sugar cane plantation. Well that was sort of accurate. Tubing the Ditch was a 2 – 3 mile inner tube ride through the underground irrigation system of an abandoned sugar cane plantation. You wore lighted helmets to see your way. 80 – 90% of the time you were underground. It was exceptionally cool. This was a great way to spend a morning in Kaua’i.

Kaua’i Beaches

The beaches we visited here are made of orange sand. The surfers did not seem to mind. However, the sand does leave an orange tint to everything it touches.

The Egghead Café

Lunch was at the Egghead Café. In Hawaii the weather is so nice, there is very little need for heaters or air conditioning. Most places just open their windows. The Egghead café was exactly like that. One of the benefits of open windows is the local creatures can join you for a meal. This bird was quite friendly and ate the crumbs from under our table.

Waimea Canyon

Waimea Canyon is called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. After a long drive, we finally found our way to the view point. It was very impressive. It was amazing to see how an island this small could have such a large canyon. The drive back was fun. It was like a roller coaster ride in the car. We had large dips and climbs, hairpin turns, and lots of animals to dodge.

Kaua’i with wheels

We skipped the organized travel today. Instead, we rented a car to enjoy our first day on the island. Connor asked what type of car we were getting. Seriously, this is Hawaii. We drove from one end of Kaua’i and back. It did rain on the north end of the Kaua’i. Eventually, we put the top up on the car.

Kaua’i

We woke up this morning to the thud of a tugboat on our ship. We arrived in Kaua’I sometime in the night. The ship had to wait until the port was open to dock. There were actually two cruise ships waiting to dock. Fortunately, the tugboat chose to dock us first.

Kaua’I is called the Garden Isle. Hollywood has filmed many movies here. So many movies, that you can even take a tour of movie locations on the island.

Lost Shoe

While exiting the tender boat, I managed to knock off Connor’s flip flop. In one of those amazing lucky instances, Connor’s flip flop managed to find the 1” crack between the tender boat and the dock. The flip flop fell straight into the Pacific Ocean. Fortunately for us, a quick thinking crew member found a hook and was able to save the flip flop.

Snorkeling

With excellent forethought (or just random luck), we decided to go snorkeling today instead of to the Volcanoes National Park. We hopped on the Body Glove boat had headed off to a reef. At the reef, we saw very interesting fish, coral, and other sea creatures. After snorkeling, the boat had a slide and high dive which we also took advantage of.

Kona on The Big Island

We woke up today off shore of the city of Kona on The Big Island. Yes, the name is actually “The Big Island.” The Big Island has an active volcano and is larger than all of the other Hawaiian Islands combined. When we were in port, the volcano was active and sulfur was in the air. There was so much sulfur; the Volcanoes National Park was actually closed. (It is a good thing we had decided to do something else today.)

Word of the day – Tendering

Tendering refers to the use of small boats to take people to shore and back. In, Kona, the port does not have the capacity for a cruise ship to dock. So, the tender boats are brought out. There was a boat running each 15 minutes taking people to/from shore. It was amazing how many people each small boat could hold. On the outside of the boats the capacity was listed, 109 people when tendering, 150 people when lifeboating. You probably care a little less about how close you are to the next person when the ship is sinking.

Connor’s Gang

Gemma is the person responsible for our cabin. The cabin detail occurs twice each day. One afternoon, we stopped by the room and found a rabbit made out of towels wearing Connor’s sunglasses. Connor recklessly left the sunglasses around the room. We were thrilled. Over the next few days, Gemma continued to add to the animal collection. Each time we would come in the room, a new animal was there to greet us. Connor decided to call the animals his gang.

Goodbye Maui

It is really sad to say goodbye to Maui. We really enjoyed Maui. Maui is beautiful from both a land and water view. The port in Maui has a small protected area the ships stay in. Enjoy the views of the ship leaving port. It felt like we were going to scrape the sides of the exit on the way out. The captain did an excellent job.

The Road to Hana (a.k.a. – Maui Day 2)

For our second day in Maui, we decided to avoid the structured stuff. We rented a car with no agenda. At the rental company, one of the agents suggested we drive, “The Road to Hana”. Why not? The Road to Hana is a scenic road to a place of all things called Hana. Along the way, you see amazing views of Maui, waterfalls, and get to drive along some treacherous roads. There are bidirectional single lane roads, bridges, and blind turns. It is a good thing we had a rental car. We never made it to Hana. After several hours, we were happy with the experience and headed back to the cruise ship. Enjoy pictures from the day trip.

Hot Tubs

Hot tubs are a big hit on the ship. There are four hot tubs by the main pool and one hot tub by the back pool. Connor manages to find his way into the hot tubs every day.

Rash

With physical activities, you aren’t playing hard if you don’t get some rash. In Melbourne, the surfers avoid the beach if there are a few rocks in the water. In Maui, they surf in water that is only rocks. We all got a little rash while surfing. It was worth it!

Surfing, Maui Style

The Thomas’s are now officially surfers! Today we took surfing lessons in Maui. Wow! Unbelievable! This was the most amazing part of this trip yet. We are used to the ocean in Florida where you look out and see nothing but water. In Maui, your background is the ocean and other islands. Hawaii is absolutely gorgeous. Connor was easily the best surfer in the group. Connor got up on his first try and just kept going.

On the way back from the surfing lesson, we watched a group of humpback whales performing full breaches. Normally, you have to go to Sea World to see something like that.

Enjoy the pictures of all of us earning our surfing badge.

LAVA!

Last night, the ship passed by the Kilauea Volcano. Kilauea is an active volcano on the Big Island. At night, you can see the lava fall into the ocean. It is an incredible sight. The pictures did not accurately capture the view.

Dinner

One thing people love about cruises is the food. It does provide an opportunity to try lots of different kinds of food. The suckling pig looked particularly interesting. However, Connor was just not ready for this.

Weight Gain

One of the reasons we have never take a cruise before has to do with our fear of weight gain. A co-worker of mine once gained 10 pounds on a 4 day cruise. We have been working to prevent that from happening.
- We always take the stairs.
- We use the walking track daily.
- We work out in the gym.
- We swim in the pool.
- Connor plays a lot of basketball.

A Day at Sea

The late departure on the first day created an interesting scenario. We did not have enough time to make our first stop in Hilo. Instead, we got a day at sea. It was amazing. Instead of sitting in port all day, we cruised around all of the islands. The picture is of the island we saw when we first woke up in the morning. We saw all the islands, dolphins, and whales.

In the afternoon, we each did our own thing. Connor went to play basketball with some new friends in the enclosed basketball hoop on the back top deck. Mary rested by the pool. I fell asleep on the front top deck as the Big Island passed by.

Lack of pictures

I guess Utah and Hawaii are both behind the times when it comes to Internet connections. I will continue to try and add pictures the blog. However, it takes about 10 attempts at uploading to get 1 picture to actually upload. I will continue to update the blog, text first and pictures second. Any pictures that do not make it will be uploaded again when we reach the land of reliable Internet connections, Florida.

Structured Tour Operated Travel

Well that's just what is cruise is right? We have had fun on the ship. There is a lot to do and plenty of activities. However, the main reason we chose the ship was the ability to travel at night and see several islands during the day. Guess what, we finally departed 4 hours after our scheduled departure time. The interesting detail is, the ship was moving for almost 20 minutes before we were able to feel it. Enjoy the best shot possible of Oahu from the back of the ship. The late start is consistent with our "structured tour operated travel experience."

Connor's first coffee

After dinner, Mary had a cup of coffee. It looked good and I was tempted. As I went to get a cup, I asked Connor, "Would you like a cup also?" This picture is of Connor having his first cup of coffee.

New View

We have moved. One of the goals of this trip was to cover a lot of territory. This is the view from our room on The Pride of America, Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) ship. The view is excellent. While at port, we get mini air shows every few hours as the jets from the military base conduct exercises.

A bucket of beer

NCL has an amazing invention called "a bucket of beer". This is a wonderful thing to have while lounging by the pool. Daphne has been the most excellent waitress. When our first bucket ran out, she tracked down Connor, Mary, and I in the hot tub and asked if we would like another. I pulled out the charge key from my bathing suit and gave it to her. Connor was shocked, "You brought your key in the hot tub?" It still worked!