Category: Hawaii 2017

Forget the airport, time to go cruisin’

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Cruising is not everyone’s ideal vacation, but to do what we will do in the next two weeks without a cruise ship could require no fewer than six airport visits. Not only that, there is also the packing, unpacking, re-packing, boarding passes, bag checking and luggage hauling associated with each stop. The trade off is the length of stay at travel destinations. You rarely get to visit a port for more that eight to 12 hours. For us, cruising works, particularly to a warm location during a Canadian winter.

So, Tuesday we made our way to San Pedro and the awaiting Star Princess. At about 8 AM our luggage was picked up from our hotel room to be delivered to our stateroom.  Just after 11:45 we boarded a motor coach and by 12:40 we were in our stateroom. We had barely emptied our carry-on bags when our checked luggage was delivered. We grabbed a burger for lunch and Gail had her first chocolate ice cream cone of the trip. 

It is interesting to wander about the ship on embarkation day. You needn’t wait long to see the “deer in the headlights” look. There seems to be a conspiracy to confuse as many passengers as possible. Stateroom addresses use a letter to denote the deck and odd numbers for rooms on the starboard side with even numbers assigned to the port side. The elevators, or lifts if you prefer, denote floors by number. therefore, you first need to know that elevator floor 12 has room addresses beginning with “A” then 11 equals “B” and so on down. It seems easy but there will be some still working this problem on day 10. The antics when passengers leave the elevators is equally interesting. There are signs in every elevator vestibule indicating port and starboard sides and the correspondence with odd and even numbers, however there are three columns of elevators some of which face forward and others face aft. Passengers who have associated port with left find themselves quite lost for a moment when they leave an aft facing elevator. I leave it to you to work out why that might be so.

Dinner and the first evening passed quietly. the lounge musicians lill be quite enjoyable if the first experience is any indication. Having injured her left rotator cuff just prior to leaving home Gail is struggling to get it back in shape to dance. Before leaving home she paid three visits to the chiropractor and this morning, Wednesday, spent 30 minutes with one of the massage therapists on board. She managed to negotiate what we will just refer to as “a preferential rate” while we are in the port of Ensenada, Mexico.

We did not disembark at Ensenada but I did take a couple of photos of the dock area. There was only one lonely, perhaps, harbour seal on the rocks. We departed bound for Honolulu at 4:30 PM. There are more photos almost daily and the link is available on the photos page. You should find the link in the top menu. ———————30———————— 

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Why isn’t traveling fun, like in the good old days?

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Traveling was fun, once upon a time. There was anticipation and excitement, once upon a time. When did did air travel cease being fun and become what it is today. Not fun. One needs to be a logistics planner and that is just the beginning. 

There was a time when you could book a flight and wait for the departure day. So long as you arrived a few minutes before takeoff you were just fine. Today, a logistics nightmare. 

So the plane is to depart at 9:30 but you need to be there by 7:30 (they say) because you must check in and be screened by security and possibly an immigration agency. You will need to leave home by 6:30. Oh wait, what day will it be? Will I need extra time. And so it goes. When does the fun begin?

The day arrives and the plan got you to the airport. Now begins the game of snakes and ladders that could not have been anticipated because it has all changed since the last trip. The airport is filled with travelers lined up before kiosks. Most clutching documents such as passports , staring with puzzlement at the machines. There may be someone from the airline to assist, but makes very sure you understand s/he really shouldn’t because you’re actually in the wrong place. 

Finally, baggage is tagged for the correct destination and the electronic version you worked so hard to get is unacceptable in the “secure” areas. Really? Nevertheless, another ladder has been scaled. 

Now the checked luggage vanishes through one of the holes in a wall guarded by some folks making sure you really have a boarding pass. Next, you and anything you hope to carry onto the plane walk into the “secure area” to be screened. Here we are thankful we have our NEXUS privileges and are in a queue of 20 rather than hundreds and we are not required to disrobe. 

Now immigration. Where we formerly filled in a little card to certify we were not bringing contraband we now stand before another machine to answer the same questions. However, the machine takes our pictures and prints a card like the one we used to fill out but with a black and white facsimile of our faces printed beside our attestations.

Finally, the only real human turns out to be the immigration officer. We have found the ladders and avoided the snakes (I think it’s a different term these days, something bad about snakes I suppose). 

We have negotiated the game board and 

arrived at departure gate A14. It turns out that the entire departure lounge is a restaurant where every chair has its own 

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iPad to order food and be entertained, complete with a credit card transactor, yes, one per person. Fortunately, a young staff member from Moldova no less, was there to guide our first experience. The food turned out to be quite good although airport expensive.

Boarding was uneventful except of the bag than needed to be removed because its owner failed to board. How can that happen? After a shower from the de-icer, we were off to LA only 30 minutes behind schedule.

A Princess Cruises representative met us at the luggage carousel and escorted us to the location where we awaited the Marriott shuttle. It was very late, about 40 minutes late. The traffic at LAX was insane. This photo does not go it justice. You really had to be there.

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 We arrived at the Marriott LAX to discover a power failure had them manually registering guests. Rather than wait for a room we had the Bellman store our luggage while we went to the restaurant for lunch, Los Angeles time, almost dinner Toronto time. The day is now coming to a conclusion. The sun, yes the sun, is setting but when we were out walking it felt like the mid 20’s C. 

We have registered with our Princess Cruises representative and our luggage will be picked up at 8 AM from our rooms to appear in our stateroom on the Star Princess, possibly before we arrive. Our bus is to depart for the San Pedro cruise terminal about 11:45 AM Tuesday.

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Good bye peaceful Honolulu, Hello Exhaustion

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Our last day in Honolulu was exactly what we wanted it to be—restful. The Hawaiian Village seems to specialize in, well making things restful.  After breakfast we moved our luggage to the storage centre and returned to our room for a leisurely coffee. As checkout time approached we abandoned the room and paid the bill, or at least transferred it to VISA. There are so many places to relax at the resort in the sun or in the shade. Places to shop are plentiful as are places to eat and drink or simply walk and enjoy the gardens of the resort and neighbouring resorts along the Waikiki Beach.

To pass part of the afternoon we booked on to a catamaran and sailed around the bay and visited Diamond Head. We managed a glimpse of several whales and paused as we returned to shore to allow several sea turtles to get a look at us. After a light dinner we picked up the key to a hospitality suite where we were able to shower off the beach sand and get ready for the marathon flight to Auckland and on to Melbourne.

Speedishuttle delivered us to Honolulu airport on time and the check-in, and security screening went smoothly. Once we were in the departure lounge it became evident that the Boeing 767 was going to be far from overloaded for its trip to Auckland. We actually departed Honolulu right on schedule and arrived in Auckland ahead of schedule. At 11 pm Saturday we took off from Honolulu, one hour later it became Sunday and about 4 or 5 hours later it became Monday. We did our very best to sleep through Sunday and a few hours of Monday but it was far from restful. The sunrise, however, helped us feel less tired.

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For some unexplained reason I was provided special meal service on this flight. It was not something I had requested but it did mean I got a nice fish dinner while the others had chicken and a reasonable ham and egg breakfast. It also resulted in our being served first. Oh well, thanks Air New Zealand. 

A few things went a bit sideways as we arrived in Auckland. First, we were unable to locate our checked luggage tags. Seems innocent enough, but nay, nay. Had we been certain our luggage had been checked through to Melbourne we could have used the International Connection route through New Zealand customs. Instead we had to go to the luggage carousel and make sure it did not come off the plane to be left stranded. It was about this time when the lost luggage tags were found, ah, but too late. Out through the terminal then back through a complete security screening—again. We arrived at our new departure gate with dignity our only loss, perhaps a bit of sanity too.

Our Boeing 777 was filled to capacity, unlike the previous flight. Once again we made good time and arrived early in Melbourne. By 11 AM we were in our new hotel room. Exhausted! Nay, nay again. To give up now would mean we would be out of sync for ever, or nearly so. Press on we did. We took a long walk through Melbourne’s China Town and did a bit of grocery shopping. Next we boarded the Free City Circle Tram and did one and a half circles of the Central Business District. 

We left the train for a while at Federation Square and figured out where to meet our Tuesday tour. Federation Square is a tourist hub with an information centre, several tour operators and access to the Yarra River bank where more food is offered and one finds river tours by boat. Looks like a possible activity for Friday.

It is now just after 6 PM Monday and we feel like we’ve been awake since Saturday. What do you know, we have!

Second Stop, Honolulu

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Today’s post is later in the day since we are stationary at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. We have enjoyed staying here before and there may be no better place to do our time zone adjustment. This morning we wandered the grounds with camera in hand and have posted the results for you to check out. Photos Today

West Jet got us to Honolulu 40 minutes earlier than scheduled. There was even a gate waiting for us. Both occurrences are rare in our experience. Our shuttle brought us almost to the checkin desk at the hotel which is possible because it is in the open, something you can do when the climate is warm and nearly the same year round. Our room was on the 10th floor of the Tapa tower, one of about seven towers now associate with the resort. Although there are hundreds of travellers the warmth, the lovely grounds and bubbling water features seem to create a relaxing environment.

Our stop here is a ridiculous combination of opulence and thrift. Sufficient to say there are no real “discount”rates at the Hawaiian Village and our Steak dinner tonight will doubtless carry a price tag we would normally avoid, breakfast and lunch are purchased in the local grocery store and consumed in our room or on the grounds, almost as economically as when at home. The shops are blended nicely with the palm trees, shrubs, ponds and flowers. Everything from Louis Vuitton to Starbucks to small kiosks selling inexpensive souvenirs. If inclined, you can blow the whole vacation budget on shoes, purses and clothes.

The resort services fit exactly with our plan. Two and a half days to recover from the six hour time change plus a great way to address our late flight to New Zealand. Tomorrow we check out and put our luggage into storage for the day. We access the resort’s services all day then have a hospitality room booked for 7 PM. Perfect to get cleaned up and ready for our 8:30 PM ride to the Airport.

I think we have found A requested souvenir for Val. There are a series of US quarters representing every state. Since arriving, we have had every store clerk searching for the Hawaii state coin. They have all been very accommodating and finally, we have it. Now if only we can put it where it can be located on our return.

Lunch is finished, sandwiches and fruit, so we will be off to splash around in the ocean and pools. After that, I suppose it will be time for a nap before dinner. After dinner we get to watch the Friday evening fireworks display. I will take the camera, perhaps a photo will be possible.

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