Painting of actor Clark Gable with pretty hawaiian girls.One of many murals on the ship depicting various actors.
Karen enjoying the last hula which was a Tahitian one.
Hula to the song Where I live there are rainbows.
Everyone gave a good performance of 4 different hulas.
Karen getting ready for the hula class recital on ship.
Rainbow over the island of Molokai.
Alan getting us some pure cane frozen drinks. I had mango.
Sugar cane and fruit stand outside Lahaina.
Kulanaoka Beach outside Lahaina, Maui.
Breakfast at McDonalds in Lahaina consisted of spam, eggs, and rice. It was really good!
Artwork done on mulberry bark. 
Alan at Banyan Park in Lahaina. This is the largest banyan
Artwork done on mulberry bark. The process takes several months to complete.
Alan at Banyan Park in Lahaina. This is the largest banyantree in the country and covers an entire acre.
Day Eight-2nd day in Maui-Partly cloudy, 83’ Today, we decided to take a ride out to Lahaina so we grabbed our things and headed off to the car. I was so happy that I had my scooter as the walk to where we had to park the night before would’ve done me in. I opened up the map to see where we needed to go and soon we were on our way. It was a perfect day. This drive was a lot more casual then the one to Hana. It reminded us of the countryside in Oregon. Once again I had forgotten to grab one of the six CDs I’d bought but at least we could find a radio station to listen to. It didn’t take us long to reach Lahaina, about an hour. I charted out the walking tour so we could decide where to park. Before parking though a quick stop as Mother Nature was urging me that now was the time for a visit. We found a parking spot right down from the park and paid for 3 hours. Alan unloaded the scooter and away we went. First stop was to Lahaina Banyan Park where we saw the largest banyan tree in the U.S. We found out that each of the vines hanging from the tree could root itself and become an extension of the tree. This had happened so many times that this tree took over one-acre! Some of the limbs were so heavy that poles were placed to help hold them up. It’s amazing how one tree can look like many trees. They make fantastic shade trees. There were a lot of handcrafts for sale in the park. I stopped to listen to how an old woman made her craft of hand painted wares on bark from the mulberry tree. The process took about 2 months from start to finish. I almost bought something from her but since we’re downsizing I figured I’d pass this time. From the park we walked down the road by the water and took in the sights. It was already starting to get hot and Alan was getting tired so we stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast. In Hawaii Spam is a major food staple so I ordered spam and scrambled eggs. It came with rice instead of hash browns. It was quite tasty and it was nice to sit in the air-conditioned building. Afterwards, we went to Hilo Hattie’s to see if I could find any Hawaiian stickers to put on my scooter. It was a quick stop so we left to return to our car as time was running out. We almost didn’t make it in time and we didn’t want to pay more parking fees. We hopped in the car and drove on down to Kulanaoka Beach. In the distance we could see the island of Molokai. It was a pretty little beach with picnic tables and even a small inlet where the water was only about 2-feet deep, nice for small children to play in. We stayed there about half an hour while Alan took a walk around and then headed back on the road. Along the way we passed the Oowau Juice and Fruit stand so we stopped where I got a fresh cane smoothie. All the fruit looked so good, they even sold sugar cane stalks. Our ship would be leaving around 2:00 so we headed back to return the car. It was a good idea renting a car while here so we could take our time and do whatever we chose to do. So many times when you’re on a tour it tends to be tiring as it’s rushed.
Around 4:00 the ship would be passing by Molokai and Kalaupapa and then at 4:30 was the Hula Class Graduation Ceremony. I donned on my pretty red Hawaiian dress and wore the shell lei from our vow renewal ceremony and pretty flowers in my hair. There weren’t too many in the audience that I could see but I was busy making sure I did the movements correct. Alan did a good job of taking lots of pictures from different angles. It was a lot of fun and at the end of the four-dance performances we were given a certificate. I’m glad I took part of it, even if it wore me out. There was a platform on stage that I used to sit on between dances. The last dance was the Tahitian one and it about did me in. I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to say anything at the microphone when it was my turn but after letting most of the class go ahead of me I was able to say my name, where I was from and my profession. It was nice having my scooter close to the stage to get in after the ceremony. I would recommend to everyone to be a participator when on vacation and enjoy yourself.
After an exhausting performance we headed down to the main dining room as we had been told by the staff member that lobster and prime rib were going to be served. We had even made reservations for this night but what a disappointment when we opened the menu and didn’t see it. When we asked the waiter he said that it had been served the previous night. The couple sitting with us at the table was misinformed as well. Wouldn’t you know, the only night we didn’t eat on the ship would be the night that lobster was served. We definitely let the front desk know of our disappointment. Hopefully, the lobster was like the rest of the food that had been served on this cruise, not mouth-watering and flavorless. So I ended up ordering the Wahoo fish again like I had most of the nights. After dinner, we went to the Stardust Theater to watch Jeffrey Daymont, comedian/juggler. The only thing funny about him was that he couldn’t juggle; he kept dropping anything he tried to juggle. Talk about cutting expenses, NCL must have found this joker on a street corner with a sign saying, ‘will work for food’. He was so bad that we walked out on his show. We’ve only walked out of a show one other time in all the cruises we’ve ever taken. Usually, the entertainment on cruises is pretty good but this guy was awful!
After the juggling show was the Crew Talent Show but we didn’t even stay for that. It probably was good. So we went back to our cabin to pack our bags. I had bought so many new dresses that I was wondering if they would all fit in our bags along with all the souvenirs. I’m always good at packing and we were able to fit everything in our check-in luggage and carry-on bags. We set our bags out and one thing I noticed right away is there weren’t any Comment Cards. I guess the ship didn’t hand them out since they knew it would probably not be favorable. I did make a list of my comments to share with our travel agent and to post on the Cruise Critic board online. We knew this wouldn’t be one of the best cruises from the get go since it was NCL and then later finding out we would be on their last cruise before switching the ship’s name and itinerary. But even so there were some things the staff could’ve done to make it more enjoyable for the guests as well as themselves. All in all though we had a wonderful time on the islands and that was our main goal. We watched Rocky Balboa on TV for our last night on the ship and soon fell asleep to the memories of Hawaii.
Day Eight-2nd day in Maui-Partly cloudy, 83’ Today, we decided to take a ride out to Lahaina so we grabbed our things and headed off to the car. I was so happy that I had my scooter as the walk to where we had to park the night before would’ve done me in. I opened up the map to see where we needed to go and soon we were on our way. It was a perfect day. This drive was a lot more casual then the one to Hana. It reminded us of the countryside in Oregon. Once again I had forgotten to grab one of the six CDs I’d bought but at least we could find a radio station to listen to. It didn’t take us long to reach Lahaina, about an hour. I charted out the walking tour so we could decide where to park. Before parking though a quick stop as Mother Nature was urging me that now was the time for a visit. We found a parking spot right down from the park and paid for 3 hours. Alan unloaded the scooter and away we went. First stop was to Lahaina Banyan Park where we saw the largest banyan tree in the U.S. We found out that each of the vines hanging from the tree could root itself and become an extension of the tree. This had happened so many times that this tree took over one-acre! Some of the limbs were so heavy that poles were placed to help hold them up. It’s amazing how one tree can look like many trees. They make fantastic shade trees. There were a lot of handcrafts for sale in the park. I stopped to listen to how an old woman made her craft of hand painted wares on bark from the mulberry tree. The process took about 2 months from start to finish. I almost bought something from her but since we’re downsizing I figured I’d pass this time. From the park we walked down the road by the water and took in the sights. It was already starting to get hot and Alan was getting tired so we stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast. In Hawaii Spam is a major food staple so I ordered spam and scrambled eggs. It came with rice instead of hash browns. It was quite tasty and it was nice to sit in the air-conditioned building. Afterwards, we went to Hilo Hattie’s to see if I could find any Hawaiian stickers to put on my scooter. It was a quick stop so we left to return to our car as time was running out. We almost didn’t make it in time and we didn’t want to pay more parking fees. We hopped in the car and drove on down to Kulanaoka Beach. In the distance we could see the island of Molokai. It was a pretty little beach with picnic tables and even a small inlet where the water was only about 2-feet deep, nice for small children to play in. We stayed there about half an hour while Alan took a walk around and then headed back on the road. Along the way we passed the Oowau Juice and Fruit stand so we stopped where I got a fresh cane smoothie. All the fruit looked so good, they even sold sugar cane stalks. Our ship would be leaving around 2:00 so we headed back to return the car. It was a good idea renting a car while here so we could take our time and do whatever we chose to do. So many times when you’re on a tour it tends to be tiring as it’s rushed.
Around 4:00 the ship would be passing by Molokai and Kalaupapa and then at 4:30 was the Hula Class Graduation Ceremony. I donned on my pretty red Hawaiian dress and wore the shell lei from our vow renewal ceremony and pretty flowers in my hair. There weren’t too many in the audience that I could see but I was busy making sure I did the movements correct. Alan did a good job of taking lots of pictures from different angles. It was a lot of fun and at the end of the four-dance performances we were given a certificate. I’m glad I took part of it, even if it wore me out. There was a platform on stage that I used to sit on between dances. The last dance was the Tahitian one and it about did me in. I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to say anything at the microphone when it was my turn but after letting most of the class go ahead of me I was able to say my name, where I was from and my profession. It was nice having my scooter close to the stage to get in after the ceremony. I would recommend to everyone to be a participator when on vacation and enjoy yourself.
After an exhausting performance we headed down to the main dining room as we had been told by the staff member that lobster and prime rib were going to be served. We had even made reservations for this night but what a disappointment when we opened the menu and didn’t see it. When we asked the waiter he said that it had been served the previous night. The couple sitting with us at the table was misinformed as well. Wouldn’t you know, the only night we didn’t eat on the ship would be the night that lobster was served. We definitely let the front desk know of our disappointment. Hopefully, the lobster was like the rest of the food that had been served on this cruise, not mouth-watering and flavorless. So I ended up ordering the Wahoo fish again like I had most of the nights. After dinner, we went to the Stardust Theater to watch Jeffrey Daymont, comedian/juggler. The only thing funny about him was that he couldn’t juggle; he kept dropping anything he tried to juggle. Talk about cutting expenses, NCL must have found this joker on a street corner with a sign saying, ‘will work for food’. He was so bad that we walked out on his show. We’ve only walked out of a show one other time in all the cruises we’ve ever taken. Usually, the entertainment on cruises is pretty good but this guy was awful!
After the juggling show was the Crew Talent Show but we didn’t even stay for that. It probably was good. So we went back to our cabin to pack our bags. I had bought so many new dresses that I was wondering if they would all fit in our bags along with all the souvenirs. I’m always good at packing and we were able to fit everything in our check-in luggage and carry-on bags. We set our bags out and one thing I noticed right away is there weren’t any Comment Cards. I guess the ship didn’t hand them out since they knew it would probably not be favorable. I did make a list of my comments to share with our travel agent and to post on the Cruise Critic board online. We knew this wouldn’t be one of the best cruises from the get go since it was NCL and then later finding out we would be on their last cruise before switching the ship’s name and itinerary. But even so there were some things the staff could’ve done to make it more enjoyable for the guests as well as themselves. All in all though we had a wonderful time on the islands and that was our main goal. We watched Rocky Balboa on TV for our last night on the ship and soon fell asleep to the memories of Hawaii.
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