Hawaiian Islands Cruise - Maui

Hawaiian Islands Cruise - December 10 to 17

Part 1 - Honolulu & Maui
Part 2 - The Big Island - Hilo
Part 3 - The Big Island - Kona
Part 4 - Kauai - Day 1 
Part 5 - Kauai - Day 2

Aloha! We’ve just returned to Honolulu, Hawaii after a 7-day cruise of the Hawaiian Islands, with stops in Maui, The Big Island (Hawaii), and Kauai.

On our cruise, the largest group of travellers was from Australia, followed by Americans, and then Canadians (almost all from British Columbia). Most of the crew were American, although they also employed International workers. Although this is only our third cruise, it was by far the friendliest group of travellers we’ve experienced on a cruise, and our favourite cruise so far.

We left port at 7 pm, and started the cruise off right with a lovely sunset. This photo was taken from our balcony.

Our first port of call was to Maui for two days.

This bumper sticker, seen on a vehicle at a later island stop, represents what we didn’t see while visiting Maui. We didn’t see the high-rise hotels and beautiful beaches this island is known for. However, we did hear from many how land for the native Hawaiians has become unaffordable, as tourism and the expensive hotel chains have overtaken their island. They've been squeezed out by the resultant high cost of land ownership. Given that the size of our ship didn't allow us to dock near the usual areas developed for tourism, we didn't experience this first-hand.

As we approached Maui, the coastline was a stretch of large jagged mountains rising up from the ocean, mostly uninhabitable. The photo above is of the town of Kahului Bay, where our ship docked. As you can see, there was a fine early-morning mist, which resulted in some beautiful rainbows.

One of the many beautiful flowers seen
on the neighbouring island of Kauai

Based on doing an internet search before we left home, we decided to visit the town of Lahaina. The cruise excursions offered a coach there and back for $59 per person. However, we also knew public transit was readily available. It turned out to be about a 30-minute bus ride, with a day pass costing $4 per person.

We enjoyed our day out as it included good conversation with both local Hawaiians and fellow cruisers. However, the town itself was mostly a shopping district geared to the cruise travellers, with very little of cultural interest. We didn’t see any lush vegetation, or beautiful flowers, or any of the supposed beauty of Hawaii.

Maui was our least favourite island, but thankfully things improved as the week progressed. Next post will be of the Big Island, officially named Hawaii, where we visit Hilo and Kona.

Mahalo to all who encourage me to continue writing this blog. As you may guess, I learned one new Hawaiian word this week!