Hawaii Vacation - Day 04: Kualoa Ranch & Embarkation

The Kualoa Ranch.  It has been the setting for many TV shows and Movies.  You may recognize the scene above from movies such as the Jurassic Park franchise and the "recent" remake of Mighty Joe Young.  The ranch is beautiful, and well worth a visit.

But first....

Last night was my last night in Honolulu.  Packing my bags was an exercise for what I'll need to do a week from now when I return home from Hawaii.  And I didn't pack as well as I did when I was at home.  At least, I'll have more time to prepare for my next set of flights.  Next time, I'll have to pack as much as possible in my large bag without exceeding the 50 lb. limit - a task I'll dread the closer the time comes for me to do it.  At least, I have an accurate hand held scale to use while packing the bag.

Today, I knew what I had to do to have some food in my stomach before today's excursion.  To be safe, the night before, I had picked up a couple of bananas to eat if I couldn't get any food from the coffee shop in the hotel building.  And I was doubly fortunate that today's line was short enough to allow me to get a cup of black coffee and a breakfast turnover.  

So I left my large suitcase in the room for NCL to pick up and bring to the ship, then checked out of the hotel.  I was on the bus at 7:00 am, but we didn't get moving that early.  There was a "fun run" going on, and it got in the way of us going to the Kualoa Ranch via the normal route.  Instead, we had to go through an upscale residential district to get out of the Waikiki area and out of Honolulu.

The city of Honolulu is larger in area than I thought, and we made a stop at the Halona Blowhole Lookout.  This is a beautiful place to catch a view of the ocean.  But it was very windy there, as evidenced by the photo below:

I certainly don't look very attractive in this picture.  But I felt good, as people were accepting me as the female I wanted them to see.  

Our next stop was a Buddhist temple in the middle of a cemetery.  It was a pretty place to visit, but we only used it as an opportunity to make a pit stop for bio breaks.  Other than the small main area of the temple, there wasn't that much to see except for a bell that could be rung.

Of course, a chance to ring a giant bell is not enough to justify lingering at this place.  It was time to go to the Kualoa Ranch.  I wasn't sure of what to expect when I got there.  But I knew one thing - I'd get some beautiful pictures, like the one below..

One thing I've noticed in Hawaii is that almost every tour guide talks about is that few things on the islands are "pure Hawaiian."  In the case of human settlement, less than 2% of the people living in the islands are "pure" Hawaiian stock.  (Even the origins of "native Hawaiians can't be determined, as there were at least 2 waves of Polynesian settlers to the islands.)  In the case of plant and animal life, each group of settlers brought their own plants and animals to the islands (see images of "Canoe Plants" below) which squeezed out much of the native flora and fauna.

 

 
Arriving at the Kuoloa Ranch, we went through an "Educational Experience" about how outside plants and animals have changed the islands.  Sadly, I couldn't maintain any interest in the presentation, as I hadn't been able to have a bite to eat since 6 am and was falling out due to a low blood sugar level.  Luckily, the presentation was short, and a tasty box lunch was served a little bit before noon.  After this was the movie site tour of the ranch.

All too soon, our time on Oahu had to end.  We got back to Honolulu by 3:30 pm, and then embarked on the ship.  Arriving after the majority of people have boarded the ship allowed us to breeze through check in and security. At that point, we were able to get on the ship.

(Pardon the hokey picture.   I bought it to get a

discounted price on the pictures I really wanted.)

The Pride of America (POA) has an interesting history.  The cruise line that commissioned the ship went bankrupt.  NCL bought the unfinished ship, and had it towed to Germany to be fitted out for service.  Congress enacted a law to allow this ship (and another non American built ship) to sail as US flagged ships.  Although no other cruise ship sails under a US flag, POA does, and is able to make the 7 day Hawaiian Island round trip from Honolulu.

Once on the ship, the first thing one will notice is that the ship reeks of America.  The seal of the United States is on the floor by the grand staircase - which, itself has an "American" feel.

 

Now, it was time to find my room.  Although I was below the buffet area, I didn't notice much noise coming from above.  However, I did get a little upset that my large suitcase hadn't yet made it to my cabin. So, I ended up going to guest services to take care of this, finding out that my suitcase was in transit, and that it should make it to my cabin before we left port.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my dinner reservations taken care of at this time, as the crew was starting to get ready for the mandated muster drill.

 

Most of the ship seems a little bit dated, as this is a 20+ year old ship. Yet, everything is in good repair.  Unfortunately, the bathroom is a little cramped and does not have enough room to store a woman's toiletries.  (It must have been designed by an unmarried male.  No hotel designs bathrooms anymore without input from females.) Additionally, the shower stall is separated from the rest of the bathroom by a shower curtain.  Yet, I did not find that shower water would flow into the rest of the bathroom, unlike an accessible bathroom I stayed in at a land based casino/hotel complex.

After the muster drill, it was time to get comfortable.  By the time I was ready to eat, I decided to try out the buffet - a big mistake.  Unlike all other onboard buffet experiences, I could not find utensils or napkins at any of the tables - I had to ask an overworked employee for help.  Like cabin service, food service was understaffed.  In the "post Covid" environment, it's hard to find enough qualified American workers to staff this ship.

Around 8:00 pm, I had a decision to make: Do I go to the Solo Travelers gathering, or do I go to the LGBTIQ gathering?  I made the obvious choice: I decided to go to sleep for a while.  And sleep I did, as I didn't wake up until 1:30 am....

An impromptu dinner with Vicki, plus some vacation plans

 

Both Vicki and I enjoy Greek food.  So Vicki decided to treat me for dinner at the new Greek restaurant in town.  Since this would be a last minute decision for me, as I expected to be very tired after work, I had to provide for doing two things.  First, I'd have to call Friedrich to check up on the status on my AC service call.  And then, I'd have to change into something comfortable and pretty for going outside in this weather. (I dress more warmly for work, as the AC is cranked up to counter the heat coming from the computers and imaging equipment found at every desk.)

I met Vicki at 7, and we decided to eat at an outside table.  (Inside tables were all taken.)  We talked about many things, including our former loves.  (She'll always wonder about one road not taken. And I'll always wonder if a former love really knew what she wanted when she met me.)  One thing we both agreed on is that I was lucky to only have had a "minor flesh wound" caused by my former love - things would have been much worse had we been living together or had been married when her real personality finally came out in an argument.  But enough on that topic - she'll never admit that I had valid points in our dispute, and it would be pointless to argue with someone resistant to acknowledging alternate points of view.

- - - - - -

Lately, I've been looking at future cruise trips.  All of these involve cruises to/in Hawaii.  The first of these vacations is the shortest (10 days), yet the most expensive.

This is a 7 day cruise out of Honolulu, coupled with a 3 day tour of its island's (Oahu) most popular tourist attractions.  It is only offered by one cruise line (NCL), as it is on the only American owned, staffed, flagged, and built ship operating at the present time.  I won't go into the reasons why most ships fly "flags of convenience" here. But this route is the only regularly scheduled route restricted to American flagged ships, and why it is the most expensive option on my list at roughly $6,000 for a solo traveler. (It was priced less before the pandemic, but post-pandemic prices have zoomed upward due to reduced capacity and pent up demand.)  Couple this trip with airfare, excursions, taxes, port fees and gratuities, and I could be spending $9,000 for a trip I could have once taken for under $6,000.  Right now, there is one important advantage to this cruise - all passengers must be vaccinated for Covid-19 before taking this trip.

Next on the list is a 15 night cruise out of Los Angeles.  This is on Princess, and has a much shorter time in Hawaii than the first cruise due to its foreign flagged ship.

Do I really want to spend more time on a ship and see less of Hawaii to save a few bucks?  I could cut down the money I spend to roughly $5,000 - and I can afford that with little trouble.  However, some of Princess's cruises allow unvaccinated passengers on board, and I don't want to deal with the hassles these passengers may present.

Second to last might be the longest cruise of the choices on my list - 18 days.  I'd be flying in and out of Vancouver, and then cruising to Hawaii on Holland America,

This might be the best option, as it allows for an overnight in Honolulu before the trip back to Vancouver.  Next to sailing on a ship that is based in Hawaii, this provides the most time in Hawaii that I can find at a reasonable price - in the $6,500 range for the vacation. 

Lastly, there is the most interesting option, a cruise that combines 2 bucket list trips into one: Alaska and Hawaii, leaving from Vancouver, BC and ending in Honolulu, HI.

I'd like to visit Skagway again, as well as seeing Juneau and Glacier Bay for the first time.  But do I want to pack for both summer and late fall / early winter weather?  Then, there is the extra factor that I would be leaving from a foreign port, and that I would want to travel in Marian Mode as much as possible.  Do I want to put up with these hassles? This could be a $7,500 trip without any extra plans. But there is an option for this trip that I haven't mentioned.  I could take the train to Seattle, spend a couple of days there, then another train to Vancouver, and spend a day there before the cruise.  I expect that this will add another $2,500 or so to the cost of this vacation.

Which option would you choose, and why?  Since I prefer to travel as Marian, I'd like to hear what you have to say....

 

 

 

PS: I have 3 travel guides for places I'll never have the chance to visit:

1. Molvania
2. San Sombrero
3. Phaic Tan

I wonder what you might have heard about these places.  Would you visit them, just for the unreal experience?

Vacation planning is a pain this year.

I love New England and Atlantic Canada for vacation visits.  Sadly, Canada is closed off until America gets the virus under control.  As long as Trump is in power AND the GOP has veto power over any reasonable ways to deal with the mess the pandemic has caused, I will not be able to take a cruise to Nova Scotia.  Luckily, most of New England is still open to us New Yorkers.

On August 1st, Hawaii is open to visitors again.  However, people must have the results of a Coronavirus test taken within the past 72 hours - no testing will be done upon arrival.  This means that it doesn't yet make sense to schedule a Hawaii vacation.  Yet, I may consider doing the research to flying to Hawaii, stay in Honolulu for a few days, and then travel to the Big Island for some more exploring.  If I do it this way, I may end up spending as much money as I would have on the cruise, but have a more flexible schedule to work with.

If I schedule the cruise in the near future, I have a question yet to be resolved - would the woman I've been seeing still be with me at that time?  I plan to tell her about my bi-gendered nature in the near future, as she has a right to know this about me before we get physically intimate.  If this woman can accept me in both modes, this would be a perfect trip for us, as she has never been to Hawaii.

Right now, I'm assuming that the Census Bureau will start laying us off sometime in September.  If my employment ends around Labor Day, I'll try to make vacation plans for Provincetown, MA, and spend a few days there.  If it's a little later, I'll skip being near the beach and spend a few days in Upstate New York.  (I still want to get back to the Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as other museums that are open there.)  If Pennsylvania is off the 31 state New York quarantine list, then I might decide to see Fallingwater if that site is open.

TCL and I have discussed to trip to Cleveland a while back.  We'd stay with one of her friends, and then visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I would have to do all the driving on that trip, but it might be a nice thing to do if Ohio is off the quarantine list later in the year. There are may things we could see on the way out there and back, and we wouldn't have to worry about the expense of hotel rooms.

Hopefully, next year will be a better year for planning a vacation.