Saturday, May 30 -
We (me and my grandmother) had to get up really early to catch the bus to Nashville with the tour group. The bus left Florence, AL at 4:30 am and when we got to Nashville we flew to Dallas-Ft.Worth to catch a flight to Honolulu non-stop! It was a long, boring flight with nothing to do but sleep or read. We got to Honolulu about 2:30 pm Hawaii time, which was 5 hrs behind us at central time, so by our body clock it was already 7:30 pm and we still had a lot to do before beddy-bye time! We took a bus to the port and eventually got on board the SS Independence. We found our cabin and wanted to crash right then, BUT... we had to eat some supper ( buffet style) and have a life-boat drill!! I died when I hit the bed.
Sunday, May 31 -
A day at sea and I needed the day to
recuperate.
I went to the gift shop on board and they asked me to be in a fashion show the next day. We checked out the shore excursions to see what we might want to do. Basically it was a day to relax and hang out around the ship. After dinner there was a show in the theater with "The Kennedy Singers". I was still feeling ikky 
from my sore throat and the ship rocking a little. Bed felt soooo good!
Monday, June 1 - Docked in Kauai. We went into Nawiliwili to look around. I bought postcards (and lost some of them)and walked around the area. The fashion show was on board at 3 pm so I went back for that. It was in the Hoi-Hoi Showroom and was a lot of fun! That evening was the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party with a champange cocktail..I didn't try that again. I hate champange!! The dinner was very good but then each meal was good.
After dinner there was another show called "Broadway on the Pacific" with lots of songs from Broadway musicals. Then I was ready for bed again!
Tuesday, June 2 -
We were on Maui. When we got there, we made plans to go to a luau that evening. The day was spent just relaxing until it was time for the luau. We left in late afternoon and pictures were taken when we arrived but my stupid camera was being a pain and the film was locked! We had roast pig, fried rice, poi and mahi-mahi fish and lots of other traditional foods. The dinner show was excellent, with hula dancers 
and men doing a fire dance. I loved it! Then it was back to the ship.
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Wednesday, June 3 - We decided to take the Hana Rain Forest walking tour, about 2 miles total, not too bad. Our guide, Lono, offered us some delicious forest treats to try, like fern, rose apples, some other kind of leaf, and some kukui nuts. The rose apple was OK, it tasted like a rose smells. We ate a more substantial snack of fruits and then drove to the waterfall/swimming hole. The water was ICE cold! I just stuck my feet in it and decided I wasn't going in! |
After the tour ended we went back to ship, where I cleaned the mud from my shoes and cleaned myself for dinner that night. It was 50's night and the music from the show was fun. After the show there was a lip-sinc contest. All the songs and skits were cute.
Thursday, June 4 - Hilo, Hawaii. Today we went to the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Farm (YUMMY!) and then to Volcanoes National Park.
On the way up there in the bus, my ears popped, we were going so high! At the Kilauea Crater, it was misting and very cold (brrrrr!) I thought a volcano would be HOT! The way the lava hardened was interesting. Later that night the ship sailed past
the volcanoes so we could see the lava flow. Really cool! That night the "kumu" Leilani told us the legend of the volcano goddess Pele.
Friday, June 5 - Kona, Hawaii. 
Sunbathed on the ship's sun deck in the morning. That afternoon I went snorkling for the first time ever in Kealakekua Bay. It was awesome! Lots of colorful fish and coral and the water was crystal clear. I didn't get to see any dolphins or turtles. :(
We had the farewell dinner that night..Aloha to the ship tomorrow monring.
Saturday, June 6 -
We were told to throw our leis in the sea and if they floated back to shore it meant we would return to Hawaii someday. We disembarked the ship and transferred to the Prince Kuhio Hotel on Waikiki Beach. We could not check in until 3 pm so we went shopping at a little mall nearby. After we checked in we flopped on the beds and rested until the luau that night! Germaine's Luau
was on the beach and was a lot of fun. The show was good and the food was excellent. We had poi (I tried it but no thanks!), mahi-mahi fish (good!), chicken long-grain rice, teriaki steak and the roast pig! The hordorves were called "poo-poos"!! Actually the poo-poos were pretty good....pineapple, chocolate cake, coconut cake and "coconut jello".