We just arrived back at the ship from out taxi tour $75 per couple + $10 tip. Enjoyable day - touring the island coffee plantation, federal park, Capt Cooks site where they killed him, etc. & still plenty of time to shop at the local flea market within walking didtance to the dock. We also took the free shuttle to Hilo Hatties for more shopping. If you do go to Hilo Hatties print a coupon for a free coffee mug before you leave home. Spend $25 & get a mug. All the shopping in Kona is close to the dock. We didn't have time to make it to the local Walmart but I'm sure we'll hit one before this trip is over. They're on every island & have the best prices for any gifts. They also run a free shuttle bus from the dock.
It looks fairly clear today so I suppose we might get to see the volcano lava flow tonight.

The weather is on the hot side so don't forget a hat like I did. Tonight is formal night & also the Captains repeater party at 6:30. Also a Island party on deck at around 9:30. It's a busy schedule & we have to get up at 2:30 AM to see the volcano. Good thing we have a balcony room so at least we don't have to get dressed.

I forgot to mention that we went south of Kona today on our tour & had great Verizon cell coverage. Even 20 miles from town in evey small village we had signal. I've got to check it out when sailing tonight. We're going south & should be within sight of land all the way to Hilo. I've got to see if anyone has Sprint, Nextel or t-mobil to see how good their service is.

Were on the way to Hilo about 12 miles off the coast & still have a decent cell phone signal. The deck party is sort of subdued as most people are so tired there already asleep. The air temp is mild but the wind on deck is blowing strong. We should be close to the volcano in another 3 1/2 hours. The ship is only doing 14 mph this evening which is the slowest since we left LA but fast enought to get us to Hilo by morning.

Hi RichC,


Hopefully by now, you will have seen the volcano. Must be quite a sight.

A word of caution. Our local paper reports this morning the Sun Princess just returned to Fort Lauderdale yesterday after 10 days in the Caribbean with over 100 passengers and crew suffering from norovirus like symptoms, diarrhea, cramps and vomiting. This is the third cruise ship to report similar conditions in the last two months.

Make sure you and your wife keep up with your precautions. Have a great day in Hilo!

Thanks for the heads up on the Sun Princess- It's the first I heard! Last night they just relaxed the safety precautions for dining. We were allowed to serve ourselved at the buffet & we had self serve bread & rolls on out table at diner- as well as salt & pepper shakers. I suppose they might do a turn around & go back to the strict methods.

Any way we did get up to view the volcano from our balcony at 2:30 Am last night & we got to see the lava from 12 miles away. It was clear enough to see the lave but not the steam as it hit the water. It was much to dark to consider taking a picture & we were rolling at the time so a time lapse photo was out ou the question. It was quite impressive to see for the first time- if we didn't have the balcony on the port side I doubt if my wife or I would have gotten dressed to go out on deck. At this point, were beat & are slowing down. They had a funny commedian on stage last night & both of us were fallig asleep during the show.

We're not 8 miles from Hile & it's a humid warm morning- They pormise rain sometimes during the day on this side of the big island so bring a poncho when you come. We're also signed up for a ships tour of the volcano which is something you have to do if it's a first visit. I'll post more detaile this afternoon about the trip. It's a 2 hour ride to get there; you spend 1 hour & another 2 hours back. It still leaves time for shopping (we'll be docked today)

We visited the Kilauea volcano in Hilo today & the weather was great. No rain sunny, high aroung 78 degrees. It usually rains here but we lucked out. We did the ships tour but it could be had for 2/3 the price on the dock with a private taxi. There's loads of shopping in Hilo with free buses to take you there. There's also a $1 bus that goes through the city with an explanation of all the highlights. We had cell service (Verizon) all through the trip (even at the volcano). Cingular service is also very good thought out Hawaii from what I heard.
Not many people on board have heard about the Norovirus on the Sun. It seems to be a secret as no one has read it on the Internet yet.

Hi RichC,

Great day in Hilo. I see you are off to Honolulu. Not certain, but I think I can make out the lights of the city on the webcam. Should be great!

I see you were about four hours on the bus yesterday to visit the volcano. Do the buses have washrooms? My wife is terrified of sitting in a bus for a period of time if there is no washroom for emergencies.

Have a great day visiting Waikiki (sp?) beach and all the other great sites in Honolulu.

I will be plowing my way through three feet of snow in our backyard to put up some more Xmas lights.

Enjoy!

Hi again,

About the Sun Princess, just run a google search on norovirus sun princess, and you should pick up the AP story out of Fort Lauderdale. That is the story that ran in our local paper.

Let's be careful out there!

There was no bathroom on ours but there were facilities at the volcano & other stops in the national park. The longest between bathrooms wasn't more than 45 -60 minutes. Gotta run- we're off to see the Arizona memorial- LONG lines I hear. Also NO PACKAGES allowed in the moorial so they'll have to stay on the bus except for money, camera, etc.
Another beautiful day & no snow predicted here.
More later...

We saw the Arizona memorial today & the lines were short. Also saw the mighty Mo. Real neat. It was a very long day - we also took a free trolly to Diamond Head beach & walked for hours. Lots of Christmas decorations to see. They're even singing Christmas carols on the trollies at night with everyone yelling Merry Christmas as you walk done the side walk. It's an extremely friendly Island unlike the others we visited in the Caribbean.
We off to a Christmas concert to be given by the local school kids onboard the ship & we're so tired I can't keep my eyes open.

We're landing at Kauai this morning in about 1 hour & have a 11:45 tour to Waimea Canyon. The weather is warm with clear skys. We dock right where the shopping is so at least we can get that out of the way early. Last evening they had a girls hula dance team put on a show for us in the Princess theater which was enjoyable. I am kind of dissapointed that there arn't more Hawaiian related theams on board- like different food dishes, Hawaiian music, decorations. Although the ship is decorated for Christmas, I suppose I expected something else.
Since we left Honolulu at 10:30 last night we had a chance to kill some time before eating & took a walk to see the Christmas lights which are a big thing here in Hawaii. They really do it up nice with a local Hawaiian flare. It's hard to explain but it was different with Christmas lights wrapped around the trees in all the parks & shopping areas.
Another thing about Hawaii is the lack of trash anywhere, either in the city or moubtain roads. The people take a real pride in their state, unlike any other cities I've seen with the exception of Bermuda. No one would think of throwing a paper on the ground even in the big city of Honolulu. The only trash I noticed were cigarette butts in the gutter.

Hi RichC,
I'm really enjoying all your reports, especially since I'm doing the same trip in April. You've given me a lot of good insights already.
I was interested in you comment about not enough Hawaiian themes on board; I sailed Hawaii on Independence in 1994 and they "Hawaiian themed" us to death; lectures. music, art, dance, food: it was like, "Hawaiian total immersion"! Don't get me wrong; I like to experience the culture of the places I travel, but this was overkill.
Sorry! I didn't mean to go off like that.
Sounds like you're having a good time. Keep the reports coming.
Best regards.

We just got back to the ship from out Waimea Canyon trip. It's definitely woth thr time to see if you haven't been to Kauai before. We had a Princess tour & it was good except for the 30 minute stop to purchase more junk. I suppose they had to stop some where for a bathroom break befor going to the canyon. There were bathrooms at the canyon also. Very senic & worth the time. I also noticed that private tours can be had which include a stop at a waterfalls for $45 per person. A little more that the Princess price but you would have a van of only 4 or 6 people not 40. Again on this island there are free shuttles to Hilo Hatties, Walmart & local beaches (don't know which ones). There is shoping close by the ship within walking distance. LOTS of chickens & roosters running around on this island. If you want some close up shots bring along a few crackers to intice them- They got loose during a hurricane & have taken over the Island. One farm we passed even has job offers for live scarecrows to chase the away. $15 per hour to do nothing but sit there & chase them. We were told that retired Hawaiians take the jobs quite often. I think if I lived here I'd be eating a lot of chicken. These chickens have taken over the place & they don't know how to control them.
We managed to escape any rain today which is unusual. They get 450 incles of rain per year on parts of this Island.

At dinner this evening the Captain made an announcement that we would be leaving the Kauai port before sundown & wait past the breakwater for a load of passengers who didn't make it back from a tour (Princess) on time. They had to be tendered out to the ship. We later found out that in order to save money ($20,000) per hour they would rather tender the late passengers. I doubt if they would have waited if it wasen't a Princess tour.

Hi RichC,

How did you enjoy Kauai? I have never been to that particular island and am curious. I understand there are some pretty pricey resorts there where rich people like to stay.

I see from the webcam you are on your way to Lahaina. Beautiful place! How are you holding up? Seems like you have been on a marathon pace the last few days.

I guess after Lahaina, it's back East across the pond to tne mainland. My man at the weather office tells me you should have smooth sailing.

Enjoy!

It seems that there's no cheap housing on Kauai- I don't know about hotel prices but it must be expensive also. Appartment rental goes for approx $1,200 per month (Don't kow how big).
Quite windy this morning but it's still mild temp. We going to a vVolcano 10,000 feet high so I'm sure it's going to be a little cool. I haven't usen my sweatshirt yet as it's been warm each day & no rain.

We're finally back at sea & able to rest a bit aftr 5 days of runnig around. We didn't have any rain to speak of except a few drops on one day- pwefec weather in spite of what the weather.com had to report. I suppose it's a hit or miss with the island reports.
The volcano in Maiu is definetly something to see if you undiceded as what to do for the day. There were lots of independent tours avaliable on shore & next time I'll look into them. We took our sweatshirts & needed them because we climbed to the very top past the normal viewing area. There are loads of hiking trails throught the park for dedicated hikers. The sun was warm at the top as long as you could stay out of the 40 to 50 mph wind which was near impossible. Even people who had walking problems can do the trip as the bus take you almost to the top & no hikeing was necessary (there were bathrooms).
In the town area where the ships tenders dock there are loads stores to shop for the typical things & most tours leave enough time to spend shopping. The line of people waiting to get back on the ship was long but still moved along quickly. They check all packages on all of the islands before boarding as well as your picture id & cruise card. When you finally get on board all you have to do is enter your cruise card in the machine for a final count.
I had heard that people weren't allowed to get off the ship in Ensenada, Mx. but on this trip they do stop long enough to look around. We also received info on 2 tours- one for a city & shoping tor & one for a Mexican folkloric fiesta. ($20 & $35 respect) Neither sounds very exciting after visiting Hawaii & we'll probably just get off the ship to say we've been there, done that.

Hi RichC,

Hope you have a smooth ride to Encenada. Must feel good to have 5 days of nothing to do after your marathon 5 days in Hawaii. My weather man tells me you should have calm seas all the way in. Check out www.oceanweather.com/data/

Enjoy!

Right now we've got 5-7 foot seas according to out TV channel. It's rocking with some jerky motion, but not all that bad. I'm sure some people will be sick before long.

I forgot to mention that the Verizon cell service was excellent on every island which is remarkable considering all the hills & valleys. I don't recall a place where we didn't have signal- even at the 9950 foot elevation on top of the volcano. As a mater of fact I even had signal walking through an old lava tube below ground level! Cingular service was also excellent from what others told me.

Hi RichC,

I'm looking at the webcam, and your looking a little bumpy. How's it going?