Hawaii, days 1-3 (getting there, Honolulu)

There were so many things that had the potential to go wrong for this trip. First off, because shore excursions are expensive, especially for 4 people, we opted to not do any as a family and rent cars on each island. If we had car problems and missed getting back to ship, then at least it was easy enough to get to the next port.

 

Then...we found out 2 weeks before the cruise that although Brandon, as a 16 year old, did not need a photo ID to get through security at the airport, he would not be allowed on the cruise ship without a government issued photo ID, and his school ID did not count. Cue panic. Brandon does not drive and has no desire to yet, so no driver's license. So we had to do an expedited passport. Well, the government would not take his original birth certificate and social security card as proof of identity, they wanted his school ID because it had a picture. Uh, ok. It was totally worth the extra $$$ for the expediting, because we had it back in 4 days. Crisis averted. Oh, and this was going on:

 

 

I was getting a little cranky at Rick for cancelling the trip insurance at this point. But all was well. And on a Thursday we flew from Houston to Oakland, CA and spent the night. The longest flight Jacob's ever been on, without changing planes and getting to walk around, was about 4.5 hours, so the non-stop flight to Hawaii seemed like it might not be a good idea. So we broke it up into 2 flights.

 

Thursday, August 14

And, oddly enough, vacation looks a lot like home:

Rick used some travel points to get us into the Hilton by the airport, and it was a super nice resort type hotel. So nice, in fact, that the pizza delivery guy asked what Rick did for a living because he had to go through a checkpoint to get in and deliver our pizza.

 

Friday, August 15

We flew Alaska Airlines (which is funny in itself), and got the inflight food service. I tried the Pork Yakishoba ( like a sweet and sour pulled pork), and Rick and the boys munched on snacks and the fruit and cheese trays. Also, I can mark Mai Tai off my list of drinks to try. Tasty, made even better by being free :) 

Jacob worked his electronics like a pro, alternating between iPad, old iPhone and mom's iPod, which he refuses to give back.

The Oakland--Hawaii leg was long, and after awhile I started taking pictures out the window (over and around Jacob's head) to amuse myself:

But it paid off with our first glimpse of Hawaii:

I was too busy ogling to grab my big camera, so the shots aren't the best, but I was too busy being in the moment, and I can live with that.

 (if you follow the dark blue water up the middle of the photo, then jog slightly right then back left, you see ----Pearl Harbor).

Cloud shadows and different water depths made for interesting sights:

We were waiting for Betty and Randy's flight to get in from Bismarck, so we hung out at the airport (with its cute signs) and ate some lunch.

 Brandon was less than impressed with the pizza (really greasy) and mom and dad's roasted chicken (which was actually pretty good), so he was pretty happy mom gave him permission to move straight on to dessert.

 We had a couple hours to kill, so Jacob watched videos and the activity out on the runways,

 while mom and Brandon played cards. Rick, of course, played Backgammon on his phone.

 After that we hung out at baggage claim for awhile before Rick tracked the other two down and we split up to go get our rental cars. Dollar Rent a Car was crazy busy, which led to this scene:

Luckily, Rick has an express membership and we got to go to the short line, but it still took more than a half hour to get the car, then the fun began, trying to get to the hotel at Waikiki Beach during rush hour and find the correct parking structure.

 

On the way, we kept commenting that we hoped this was a fluke:

 

 

After we got settled at our hotel (about 3 or 4 blocks from the beach) we walked down to Betty and Randy's hotel (they turned in travel points to stay at the Waikiki Hilton, you know, the one that gets given away on tv as a prize accommodation on game shows).

 

Their 35th floor view was considerably more scenic than our 9th floor view of a construction site, lol.

 

Rick had promised me pictures on the beach. I was expecting a little something different, but Jacob did deserve to be rewarded with a dip in the Pacific after excellent behavior on two 5 hour flights.

And Waikiki was really busy, so I was just pleased to get a few shots.  After they were done (and we were done watching someone fly a drone around), we headed back to their hotel for the guys to change then set out to look for some dinner. We decided on:

 Cheeseburger in Paradise :)  Rick and I split a Blue Hawaiian:

 And while the boys pretty much gorged themselves on fries, Rick had a cheeseburger

 and I had pretty much the best BLTA (bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado) sandwich I've ever had. Of course, I'm pretty sure it's the most bacon I've ever had in one sitting, as well.

 

After that, we all headed back to our hotel rooms for the night. On the way back, my back started spasming (not a great start to a vacation) and I could barely move by the time we got to the hotel. On the way there, we passed a large group of people protesting, and I could hear them demonstrating all.night.long. The police finally cleared them out around 4am.

Saturday, August 16
The next morning, we got up early and grabbed breakfast at McDonalds (with free, absolutely delicious, fresh pineapple with every order) before heading to Diamond Head State Park. We were lucky to get the last 2 spots in the parking lot.

 We got about this far before Betty realized her hip wasn't going to be able to handle it and my back started acting up, so we started to head back down, and because Jacob wasn't willing to go up if I wasn't, he came along and hung out with us.

 So while we were visiting

and enjoying our first shave ice (lemon lime and strawberry):

Rick, Brandon, Randy and the camera were hiking, climbing and moving through tunnels:

 After our finding a t-shirt and taking the obligtory "I survived" photo

 we headed on to Pearl Harbor.

Now, we relied on the Google Maps app on Rick's phone, and to Google Maps, "Pearl Harbor" is the same thing as Pearl City, which was military base housing. Not really the same thing, and we made sure to give Rick a razzing about ignoring the actual signs and trusting his phone. But, after back tracking we finally made it there.

You aren't allowed to take any purses onto the grounds so I made the snap judgment to just take my telephoto lens, so I had to stand wayyy far back from things on some shots. We elected to not take any tours (time involved and making those not taking the tours wait in 95 degree heat). I didn't want to take the tour because I knew I would have been a sobbing wreck, which always upsets Jacob.

USS Missouri

USS California

USS Arizona

USS Bowfin submarine

 

 

After all the walking around, we were hungry for lunch. Rick pulled up a couple local places on his phone, and I do mean local. The food was plentiful, but very greasy, so I couldn't eat much. Jacob refused to eat any.

 

 

After that we drove around a little, and were rewarded with seeing some nice houses and even nicer views:

Then it was time to return the rental cars and take the shuttle to the airport, where we had arranged a car service to take us to the cruise terminal.

 We were given shell necklaces and it didn't take long for Jacob to steal Rick's for himself, and then to give me all of them. I was trying to take a selfie of my necklace collection, and Brandon noticed...

 ...and deemed a photo bomb necessary.

 

The car service let us off in front of the ship and we made our way through security, baggage drop off, another security checkpoint, picture checkpoint, actual check in (with a trainee), guest services to pay for the unlimited drinks options for the boys, another checkpoint, and finally, to our room. Since we waited until late in the afternoon (about an hour and a half before all aboard), the lines were almost non-existent, especially since our previous cruise aboard Norwegian earned us bronze member status and we got our own line. Awesome, because it was hot and I was exhausted and close to a literal and figurative meltdown.

 

About a month before our departure Rick had called customer service to alert them to Jacob's autism and find out if there was anything we needed to do or forms to fill out. That's the only reason we could figure out why we had a delicious plate of this:

 and an apology for the long check in process addressed to Jacob.

I had Rick take a pic of me with my flower lei, just in case it fell prey to Jacob. It's one of the few good pictures of me the entire trip.

 

We hung out on our balcony (my honey heeded my wishes and sprung for a balcony room) before heading to the emergency drill. We were a little concerned, because it was one of the things we were worried about (Jacob cannot be quiet on command, but is a little better when he has his ipod but electronics are not allowed). This emergency drill was completely different than the one on the Alaskan cruise. There, we grabbed our life jackets and  had to stand in rows for a long presentation. This time, our muster station was in one of the restaurants and we only had to sit for 10 minutes while they verified everyone showed up and then we were released.

 

Later we had our first meal in the Skyline main dining room. There was a set menu and a daily special menu for appetizers, meal and dessert. (I take a lot of food photos. You'll be seeing a lot of them)

 

French onion soup.

 Brandon couldn't decide between steak and salmon so I got the salmon so he could try some.

 Betty's Mahi Mahi with tropical salsa and couscous (which would have been my first choice). She didn't like it but I thought it was delicious.

 All the guys ordered sirloin, every time we ate at one of the non-cafeteria restaurants.

 Bread pudding (it was fair)

 Cheesecake with strawberry compote. Jacob seemed to like it.

 Rick's key lime pie. He's a fan.

 Brandon's chocolate raspberry mousse pie. "Delicious!"

 

After that, mom took another dose of Dramamine and we walked the decks to watch embarkation. We hung out for a little while, watching and listening to the Sail Away Celebration.

I thought they turned out pretty well for no tripod:)

 

After that we headed to bed (at 8pm, which was really 1am our time).