SanDiegoSteph
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2010
- Messages
- 270
Hello Fellow DISers and welcome to my FIRST EVER trip report. I note this so that you'll bear with me if I do stuff that is so obviously elementary or wrong!!
So, my family joined the other wonderful folks on the Inaugural cruise to Hawaii aboard the Wonder this past April 29-May 14. Since other trip reports have been started regarding the weather, onboard conditions, food, etc., I decided that I would focus my report on our port adventures in Hilo (Big Island), Kahalui (Maui), Honolulu (Oahu) and Nawiliwili (Kauai). We rented a car in each place and did our own thing - no DCL excursions, but some of what we did mirrored what DCL offered (just cheaper!)
First a bit about my family so you know just what kind of folks participated in these Hawaii port excursions...
I am a 45 year old University Administrator/Attorney from San Diego who LOVES all things Disney. I point this out not because it would be so much different from the rest of you, but because it is so much different than anyone else in my family including pretty much all those who travelled with me!!
Yep, I pretty much planned the whole cruise from beginning to end and just dragged the rest of them along for the ride. Hey that's what you get to do when you do the planning and pay the bill, right?!!?
I was joined by my ever patient 41 year old DH, our 5 year old DS (who is a Cars and ToyStory fan, but just not much of a classic Disney kind of kid). We also brought along my DMIL (77) and DFIL (77) because we just plain like them and, although they are pretty slow, they travel well - like well preserved luncheon fare!
So, let me get this ball rolling with an overview of our day in:
Hilo (the BIG Island)
Arrival: ~9am on Friday, May 4th, 2012
Temperature: ~68 degrees with light rain
Cost of Excursion: ~$150 for 4 adults and 1 child ($90 for car rental with tax; $45 for lunch with tip; $12 for gas and tips to Hertz shuttle driver; $2 for postcards)
None of us had been to this island before, so the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was a MUST. Here is how the day played out...
After much back and forth times announced by Captain Fabian, we arrived in port at Hilo Bay at about 9am. The port officials provided the wrong sized gangplank, so it took until about 10am for the first folks to disembark (I was number 4 in line)
I walked off the boat (okay, kind of skipped since I was happy to be on solid ground!!) and about 100 yards across the parking lot to the awaiting Hertz rental car van. Since I was one of the first folks off and we were at the very first port, I missed the lei greeting and photo opportunity that my family got later in the morning as they were still setting up. I did see from the photos later that they had the characters out on the pier for photos with families getting off the ship.
Instead, I dashed into the front seat of the Hertz shuttle van (just a white panel van with “Hertz” painted on the side) and the fabulous driver whisked me away to the airport to get our minivan that we’d rented for $80/day (USAA member discount). It was only a 10-minute ride and I took along my TomTom so that I could find my way back to the port to pick up my hubby, DS (5) and my DMIL (77) and DFIL (77). In case you need it, the port address is: 80 Kuhio Street, Hilo, HI 96720; 808-933-8850
My driver informed me that the shuttle would stop operations from the airport to the pier at 5pm that day (acckkk!!). We weren’t due back on the ship until 7:30pm. However, he kindly provided me with his personal cell phone number and said when I was ready to drop off the car at the airport to just call him and he’d come get me to shuttle me back to the ship.
When I arrived at the outdoor Hertz counter, they were SUPER friendly (gave me a fresh Gardena for my hair even) and directed me right behind them to the parking lot where my minivan sat not 30 feet away.
So, I walked right to it, jumped in and was on my way back to the port in just about 15 minutes after I had left. I called my hubby to tell them to start walking off the ship. When I returned to the port, I just showed my KTTW card and my driver’s license and they let me in right where I got the Hertz shuttle. Now, mind you, I had to play the “I have a disabled father-in-law that I need to pick up” card and I had his blue handicap placard to prove it. So, if anyone in your party has one of those, be sure YOU take it with you when you go to get the rental car.
So, about 10:45 we were on our way to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It only took us about 40 minutes to get there through the town of Hilo and south on Route 11. When you arrive, there is a fee for park entrance ($10/car), but my DFIL has a Lifetime Pass to the National Parks that only cost him $10. If you are 62 or older, you can buy one right there at the park entrance (can’t get it anywhere but at a park entrance) and it gets you and all your passengers in for free.
It was cool (probably 60 degrees) and windy with a bit of rain when we arrived. We immediately stopped at the Park Visitor’s Center to use the restrooms and check out the the latest information on trails, ranger-led activities, road conditions, and safety precautions.
We also watched the free 25 minute film, "Born of Fire, Born of the Sea" It was well worth the time and even our DS (5) enjoyed it (lots of hot lava footage). It is shown on the hour throughout the day, starting at 9:00 a.m. with the last film shown at 4:00 p.m.
The Volcano House was still closed, but it is due to re-open in late 2012, so the October sailors might be able to stop there for a 1st view of the Volcano.
Instead, we left DMIL and DMIL in the Visitor’s Center while we took an easy one-mile (roundtrip) hike on the Earthquake Trail. The trail begins at the exit of the Volcano House parking lot and offers fine views of Mauna Loa and Kilauea Caldera.
We then drove counter-clockwise on Crater Rim Drive to the parking lot for the Steam Vents (they are on the left). Here, ground water seeps down to the hot volcanic rocks and returns to the surface as steam. While standing at the Steam Vents, we noticed that the area between the caldera's edge and the outer cliffs of Kilauea Caldera is basically a treeless plain. The ground just a few feet down is so hot that tree roots cannot survive. But shallow-rooted grasses and plants grow here.
There is an easy gravel trail leading from the Steam Vents parking area to Steaming Bluff, on the caldera's edge. The area is a grassy meadow with ground cracks and steaming concentrated in fractures along the caldera's edge. It loops back around to the parking lot with several signs explaining what you are seeing.
We then jumped back in the minivan and headed to the Kilauea Military Camp ahead on the right. Since my hubby is active duty Navy, we wanted to check this place out for a future visit to Hawaii. The cabins are basic but plentiful and clean. There is a great little playground for the kids, a bowling alley, fitness center and game room/recreation lodge, chapel, general store and cafe. MOST importantly though, it is right there in the Volcanoes National Park so you can stay there and enjoy a couple of days of exploring all the best trails without having to drive from Hilo. Rates run from $80-170/night for the 1-3 bedroom cottages for the most junior enlisted folks to $130-220/night for the same accommodations for the most senior officers. Reservations are accepted up to one year in advance and the maximum stay is 14 nights. http://www.kmc-volcano.com/images/FY10RateInsert.pdf
After our stop at the military camp, we continued our drive to Kilauea Overlook (on left approximately .7 miles from Steam Vents). Here we had a splendid overlook of the Kilauea Caldera and Halema'uma'u Crater. The view here is similar to that found at the Jaggar Museum, but is usually much less crowded. The caldera (a very large crater formed by collapse) is about 2 miles wide and more than 3 miles long. The highest point on the caldera's edge is near Kilauea Overlook. Halema`uma`u, the main pit crater within Kilauea caldera, is very visible from this point.
We finished up at the lookout and decided to go ahead and drive on to the Jaggar Museum (on left side) for another good view. This was one of the busiest locations in the park. It is a museum on volcanology with displays of equipment used by scientists in the past to study the volcano, working seismographs, and an exhibit of clothing and gear from scientists who got a bit too close to lava. There is also a gift shop with books, videos, cds, maps, and other special items for sale. The Museum has large windows which affords a sheltered (albeit crowded) view of the caldera and main crater, Halema`uma`u. The rain and wind started to pick up and so we all headed inside to check out the cool displays.
As you can see, the overlook outside the building offers an incredible view of the volcano when there are clear skies. There are also telescopes and interpretive displays about Kilauea around the perimeter. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is adjacent to the Jaggar Museum, but it is not open to the public. There were park rangers inside to answer questions.
Since the southern portion (between Jaggar Museum and Chain of Craters Road junction) is currently closed due to fumes posing a hazard to visitors down-wind of the new vent within Halema`umau Crater, we now turned around and drove back past the Visitor’s Center to Kilaueua Iki Overlook
This is where the trailhead for a 4 mile loop hike around Kīlauea Iki and across the volcano floor starts. Unfortunately it takes about 2-3 hours so with our DMIL, FMIL and DS (5), we decided this was just not a hike we could do this time (my hubby was TOTALLY bummed).
For you October sailors, if you want to tackle it, see pgs 194-196 in the Big Island Revealed book. The trail descends 400 feet through the rain forest, with native birds in the canopy, to the crater floor. Hikers will cross the still-steaming crater floor, past the gaping throat of the vent that built Pu'u Pua'i cinder cone, and return to your starting point via the crater's rim. The trail begins at the Kilauea Iki parking lot. You may go either way from the trailhead. Going left will take you to the Thurston Lava Tube parking lot and then down to the floor of Kilauea Iki. Going right will take you through the rain forest on the crater rim and down to the crater floor.
It was now almost 2pm and everyone was STARVED. So, instead of the hike, we headed back out of the park, past the Visitor’s Center, and took a left on Highway 11 back towards Hilo. Just a ½ mile or so out, at Old Volcano Rd, we took a left into the quaint (and very small) village of Volcano – no joke, that is the name of the town!!
TIP: There is a little post office on Old Volcano Rd between Kalanikoa Rd and Haunani Rd, just ¼ mile after you turn on it from Highway 11. We mailed our first batch of post cards from here and they all got a postmark from “Volcanoes, Hawaii” Cool huh?!?!
Just past the post office, we stopped for lunch at Kiawe Kitchen (19-4005 Old Volcano Road Volcano, HI 96785; (808) 967-7711. It was a kitchy little place, with just a dozen tables or so, but YUMMY, YUMMY pizza. I won’t lie to you it was EXPENSIVE!! I think our 16” thin crust pizza was $18, but it was delicious and we were too hungry to complain much.
The folks next to us got the salads and they were HUGE and included a bread basket of what looked like a whole loaf of their housemade sourdough bread.
With our bellies full, we drove back into the park and passed the Kīlauea Iki Overlook and went another ½ mile to the Thurston Lava Tube. Parking here is a bit of a crap shoot, so again THANKS to Pop-pop’s disabled parking pass – otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to find a spot!!
There is about a 15 minute-1/3 mile walk down a paved pathway and several uneven sets of stairs through a native Hawaiian rainforest, which includes ferns of all sizes and ohia lahua trees. You will then arrive at a lighted dripping lava tube, formed hundreds of years ago when scalding lava cut a tunnel through the rock. It is not very long, but if you only have time for one walk in Volcanoes National Park, go on this one. On the other side, it is back up a sloped, paved path to the parking spaces that line both sides of the road here. You can make a “pit stop” here, but the facilities are pretty stinky if not less primitive than elsewhere in the park.
After exploring the Lava Tube, we drove just a bit further along Crater Rim Drive to Pu’u Pua’I Overlook
At this point, we had planned on taking the ½ mile each way, 45-minute walk through the cinder outfall of the 1959 eruption of Kīlauea Iki on the Devastation Trail that starts just beyond the end of the Pu’u Pua’I overlook parking area. This paved trail is wheelchair and stroller accessible. However, it was now pretty cold and rainy and everyone was more or less done with looking at volcanic ash and that which grows around it, so much to my poor hubby’s chagrin
, we opted to head back to Hilo instead.
But, wait – we were in Hawaii and still hadn’t seen a Hawaiian waterfall!! So, off we headed back up Highway 11 to Puainako St and then out Komohana St just a ¼ to quickly check out Rainbow Falls. After a 45 minute drive we had arrived at one of the most accessible waterfalls near Hilo. We hiked a half-mile loop on a paved walking path through lush tropical vegetation to a scenic vista overlooking the Rainbow Falls cascading 442 feet down to the gorge below. Just don’t stay too long as the mosquitoes are BRUTAL!!
And, since we were so close to Pe’epe‘e Falls and the Boiling Pots, we decided a quick trip down the road to see them as well was well worth loading back up in the van for another 5 minute drive. Boy, we were not disappointed!
After a quick 4 mile/10 minute drive to get back to the port (filling up the gas tank on the way), I dropped off hubby, DS (5) and DMIL and DFIL back at the port just before 6pm and who should be right there dropping someone else off, but my wonderful Hertz shuttle driver, Mike!! I guess quitting time was extended with so many Disney cruisers still milling about!! I told him I’d follow him back to the airport with my drop-off and asked if then he could then bring me back and he said “sure.”
Drop off was a 3 minute venture and I was headed back to the Wonder. Made it onboard at 6:30pm and rushed up to meet the rest of the crew for our “early dining” seating. Our servers were so kind as to bring me dinner, despite being 45 minutes late, and I was so grateful since they only offered the unique Hawaiian menus on the port nights.
Next up, MAUI
So, my family joined the other wonderful folks on the Inaugural cruise to Hawaii aboard the Wonder this past April 29-May 14. Since other trip reports have been started regarding the weather, onboard conditions, food, etc., I decided that I would focus my report on our port adventures in Hilo (Big Island), Kahalui (Maui), Honolulu (Oahu) and Nawiliwili (Kauai). We rented a car in each place and did our own thing - no DCL excursions, but some of what we did mirrored what DCL offered (just cheaper!)
First a bit about my family so you know just what kind of folks participated in these Hawaii port excursions...
I am a 45 year old University Administrator/Attorney from San Diego who LOVES all things Disney. I point this out not because it would be so much different from the rest of you, but because it is so much different than anyone else in my family including pretty much all those who travelled with me!!
Yep, I pretty much planned the whole cruise from beginning to end and just dragged the rest of them along for the ride. Hey that's what you get to do when you do the planning and pay the bill, right?!!?
I was joined by my ever patient 41 year old DH, our 5 year old DS (who is a Cars and ToyStory fan, but just not much of a classic Disney kind of kid). We also brought along my DMIL (77) and DFIL (77) because we just plain like them and, although they are pretty slow, they travel well - like well preserved luncheon fare!
So, let me get this ball rolling with an overview of our day in:
Hilo (the BIG Island)
Arrival: ~9am on Friday, May 4th, 2012
Temperature: ~68 degrees with light rain
Cost of Excursion: ~$150 for 4 adults and 1 child ($90 for car rental with tax; $45 for lunch with tip; $12 for gas and tips to Hertz shuttle driver; $2 for postcards)
None of us had been to this island before, so the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was a MUST. Here is how the day played out...
After much back and forth times announced by Captain Fabian, we arrived in port at Hilo Bay at about 9am. The port officials provided the wrong sized gangplank, so it took until about 10am for the first folks to disembark (I was number 4 in line)
I walked off the boat (okay, kind of skipped since I was happy to be on solid ground!!) and about 100 yards across the parking lot to the awaiting Hertz rental car van. Since I was one of the first folks off and we were at the very first port, I missed the lei greeting and photo opportunity that my family got later in the morning as they were still setting up. I did see from the photos later that they had the characters out on the pier for photos with families getting off the ship.
Instead, I dashed into the front seat of the Hertz shuttle van (just a white panel van with “Hertz” painted on the side) and the fabulous driver whisked me away to the airport to get our minivan that we’d rented for $80/day (USAA member discount). It was only a 10-minute ride and I took along my TomTom so that I could find my way back to the port to pick up my hubby, DS (5) and my DMIL (77) and DFIL (77). In case you need it, the port address is: 80 Kuhio Street, Hilo, HI 96720; 808-933-8850
My driver informed me that the shuttle would stop operations from the airport to the pier at 5pm that day (acckkk!!). We weren’t due back on the ship until 7:30pm. However, he kindly provided me with his personal cell phone number and said when I was ready to drop off the car at the airport to just call him and he’d come get me to shuttle me back to the ship.
When I arrived at the outdoor Hertz counter, they were SUPER friendly (gave me a fresh Gardena for my hair even) and directed me right behind them to the parking lot where my minivan sat not 30 feet away.
So, I walked right to it, jumped in and was on my way back to the port in just about 15 minutes after I had left. I called my hubby to tell them to start walking off the ship. When I returned to the port, I just showed my KTTW card and my driver’s license and they let me in right where I got the Hertz shuttle. Now, mind you, I had to play the “I have a disabled father-in-law that I need to pick up” card and I had his blue handicap placard to prove it. So, if anyone in your party has one of those, be sure YOU take it with you when you go to get the rental car.
So, about 10:45 we were on our way to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It only took us about 40 minutes to get there through the town of Hilo and south on Route 11. When you arrive, there is a fee for park entrance ($10/car), but my DFIL has a Lifetime Pass to the National Parks that only cost him $10. If you are 62 or older, you can buy one right there at the park entrance (can’t get it anywhere but at a park entrance) and it gets you and all your passengers in for free.
It was cool (probably 60 degrees) and windy with a bit of rain when we arrived. We immediately stopped at the Park Visitor’s Center to use the restrooms and check out the the latest information on trails, ranger-led activities, road conditions, and safety precautions.
We also watched the free 25 minute film, "Born of Fire, Born of the Sea" It was well worth the time and even our DS (5) enjoyed it (lots of hot lava footage). It is shown on the hour throughout the day, starting at 9:00 a.m. with the last film shown at 4:00 p.m.
The Volcano House was still closed, but it is due to re-open in late 2012, so the October sailors might be able to stop there for a 1st view of the Volcano.
Instead, we left DMIL and DMIL in the Visitor’s Center while we took an easy one-mile (roundtrip) hike on the Earthquake Trail. The trail begins at the exit of the Volcano House parking lot and offers fine views of Mauna Loa and Kilauea Caldera.
Early in the morning on November 16, 1983, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake shook a section of Crater Rim Drive into the caldera. Crater Rim Drive has been rerouted and the old cracked roadway is now this gentle paved walking trail that is suitable for strollers and wheelchairs. It took us about 45 minutes to make the roundtrip hike.
We then drove counter-clockwise on Crater Rim Drive to the parking lot for the Steam Vents (they are on the left). Here, ground water seeps down to the hot volcanic rocks and returns to the surface as steam. While standing at the Steam Vents, we noticed that the area between the caldera's edge and the outer cliffs of Kilauea Caldera is basically a treeless plain. The ground just a few feet down is so hot that tree roots cannot survive. But shallow-rooted grasses and plants grow here.
There is an easy gravel trail leading from the Steam Vents parking area to Steaming Bluff, on the caldera's edge. The area is a grassy meadow with ground cracks and steaming concentrated in fractures along the caldera's edge. It loops back around to the parking lot with several signs explaining what you are seeing.
We then jumped back in the minivan and headed to the Kilauea Military Camp ahead on the right. Since my hubby is active duty Navy, we wanted to check this place out for a future visit to Hawaii. The cabins are basic but plentiful and clean. There is a great little playground for the kids, a bowling alley, fitness center and game room/recreation lodge, chapel, general store and cafe. MOST importantly though, it is right there in the Volcanoes National Park so you can stay there and enjoy a couple of days of exploring all the best trails without having to drive from Hilo. Rates run from $80-170/night for the 1-3 bedroom cottages for the most junior enlisted folks to $130-220/night for the same accommodations for the most senior officers. Reservations are accepted up to one year in advance and the maximum stay is 14 nights. http://www.kmc-volcano.com/images/FY10RateInsert.pdf
After our stop at the military camp, we continued our drive to Kilauea Overlook (on left approximately .7 miles from Steam Vents). Here we had a splendid overlook of the Kilauea Caldera and Halema'uma'u Crater. The view here is similar to that found at the Jaggar Museum, but is usually much less crowded. The caldera (a very large crater formed by collapse) is about 2 miles wide and more than 3 miles long. The highest point on the caldera's edge is near Kilauea Overlook. Halema`uma`u, the main pit crater within Kilauea caldera, is very visible from this point.
We finished up at the lookout and decided to go ahead and drive on to the Jaggar Museum (on left side) for another good view. This was one of the busiest locations in the park. It is a museum on volcanology with displays of equipment used by scientists in the past to study the volcano, working seismographs, and an exhibit of clothing and gear from scientists who got a bit too close to lava. There is also a gift shop with books, videos, cds, maps, and other special items for sale. The Museum has large windows which affords a sheltered (albeit crowded) view of the caldera and main crater, Halema`uma`u. The rain and wind started to pick up and so we all headed inside to check out the cool displays.
As you can see, the overlook outside the building offers an incredible view of the volcano when there are clear skies. There are also telescopes and interpretive displays about Kilauea around the perimeter. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is adjacent to the Jaggar Museum, but it is not open to the public. There were park rangers inside to answer questions.
Since the southern portion (between Jaggar Museum and Chain of Craters Road junction) is currently closed due to fumes posing a hazard to visitors down-wind of the new vent within Halema`umau Crater, we now turned around and drove back past the Visitor’s Center to Kilaueua Iki Overlook
This is where the trailhead for a 4 mile loop hike around Kīlauea Iki and across the volcano floor starts. Unfortunately it takes about 2-3 hours so with our DMIL, FMIL and DS (5), we decided this was just not a hike we could do this time (my hubby was TOTALLY bummed).
For you October sailors, if you want to tackle it, see pgs 194-196 in the Big Island Revealed book. The trail descends 400 feet through the rain forest, with native birds in the canopy, to the crater floor. Hikers will cross the still-steaming crater floor, past the gaping throat of the vent that built Pu'u Pua'i cinder cone, and return to your starting point via the crater's rim. The trail begins at the Kilauea Iki parking lot. You may go either way from the trailhead. Going left will take you to the Thurston Lava Tube parking lot and then down to the floor of Kilauea Iki. Going right will take you through the rain forest on the crater rim and down to the crater floor.
It was now almost 2pm and everyone was STARVED. So, instead of the hike, we headed back out of the park, past the Visitor’s Center, and took a left on Highway 11 back towards Hilo. Just a ½ mile or so out, at Old Volcano Rd, we took a left into the quaint (and very small) village of Volcano – no joke, that is the name of the town!!
TIP: There is a little post office on Old Volcano Rd between Kalanikoa Rd and Haunani Rd, just ¼ mile after you turn on it from Highway 11. We mailed our first batch of post cards from here and they all got a postmark from “Volcanoes, Hawaii” Cool huh?!?!
Just past the post office, we stopped for lunch at Kiawe Kitchen (19-4005 Old Volcano Road Volcano, HI 96785; (808) 967-7711. It was a kitchy little place, with just a dozen tables or so, but YUMMY, YUMMY pizza. I won’t lie to you it was EXPENSIVE!! I think our 16” thin crust pizza was $18, but it was delicious and we were too hungry to complain much.
The folks next to us got the salads and they were HUGE and included a bread basket of what looked like a whole loaf of their housemade sourdough bread.
With our bellies full, we drove back into the park and passed the Kīlauea Iki Overlook and went another ½ mile to the Thurston Lava Tube. Parking here is a bit of a crap shoot, so again THANKS to Pop-pop’s disabled parking pass – otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to find a spot!!
There is about a 15 minute-1/3 mile walk down a paved pathway and several uneven sets of stairs through a native Hawaiian rainforest, which includes ferns of all sizes and ohia lahua trees. You will then arrive at a lighted dripping lava tube, formed hundreds of years ago when scalding lava cut a tunnel through the rock. It is not very long, but if you only have time for one walk in Volcanoes National Park, go on this one. On the other side, it is back up a sloped, paved path to the parking spaces that line both sides of the road here. You can make a “pit stop” here, but the facilities are pretty stinky if not less primitive than elsewhere in the park.
After exploring the Lava Tube, we drove just a bit further along Crater Rim Drive to Pu’u Pua’I Overlook
At this point, we had planned on taking the ½ mile each way, 45-minute walk through the cinder outfall of the 1959 eruption of Kīlauea Iki on the Devastation Trail that starts just beyond the end of the Pu’u Pua’I overlook parking area. This paved trail is wheelchair and stroller accessible. However, it was now pretty cold and rainy and everyone was more or less done with looking at volcanic ash and that which grows around it, so much to my poor hubby’s chagrin
, we opted to head back to Hilo instead.
But, wait – we were in Hawaii and still hadn’t seen a Hawaiian waterfall!! So, off we headed back up Highway 11 to Puainako St and then out Komohana St just a ¼ to quickly check out Rainbow Falls. After a 45 minute drive we had arrived at one of the most accessible waterfalls near Hilo. We hiked a half-mile loop on a paved walking path through lush tropical vegetation to a scenic vista overlooking the Rainbow Falls cascading 442 feet down to the gorge below. Just don’t stay too long as the mosquitoes are BRUTAL!!
And, since we were so close to Pe’epe‘e Falls and the Boiling Pots, we decided a quick trip down the road to see them as well was well worth loading back up in the van for another 5 minute drive. Boy, we were not disappointed!
After a quick 4 mile/10 minute drive to get back to the port (filling up the gas tank on the way), I dropped off hubby, DS (5) and DMIL and DFIL back at the port just before 6pm and who should be right there dropping someone else off, but my wonderful Hertz shuttle driver, Mike!! I guess quitting time was extended with so many Disney cruisers still milling about!! I told him I’d follow him back to the airport with my drop-off and asked if then he could then bring me back and he said “sure.”
Drop off was a 3 minute venture and I was headed back to the Wonder. Made it onboard at 6:30pm and rushed up to meet the rest of the crew for our “early dining” seating. Our servers were so kind as to bring me dinner, despite being 45 minutes late, and I was so grateful since they only offered the unique Hawaiian menus on the port nights.
Next up, MAUI
I would love to just up root the kids for a cruise they would be so surprised 
unless of course you count WalMart (sigh) – well, there was still two more islands to go!!
