Cruisin' Hawaii

In celebration of our 60th Birthdays, Ryan, Leanne, Abby and Charlie treated us to a 1st class Hawaiian cruise. Check out Leanne's blog for some great pictures

The view from the balcony of our ship "Pride of America" as we left Honolulu Bay

Our first stop was Maui where we docked overnight and spent two sun drenched days. Of course we rented a car and took the road to Hanna visiting the 7 Sacred Pools

Ryan watched from below as swimmers timidly perched on the rocks above for several minutes trying to get the courage to jump into the pool below. Then he calmly climbed the rock face and dove head first showing them just how it should be done.

We braved the road less traveled returning back to our ship by circling the island

Next morning we drove to Napili Bay to taste the famous macademia nut pancakes at the Gazebo Restaurant overlooking the water. Yum!

We spent the rest of the day soaking up some sun and playing in the surf

The next morning found us in Hilo where we took a gorgeous hike through the rain forest

And visited a beautiful waterfall... In the afternoon Ryan, Leanne, Randy and Abby took a helicopter tour of the Big Island and volcano while Charlie and Grammy hung out on land

Next day we arrived in Kona. You can see our ship anchored offshore. We spent a lazy day shopping and dining along the water front and spotted these monkeys in a tree

We entertained the passengers on the tender back to ship with our newly discovered Hawaiaan candy

Our ship then docked in Kaui for 2 days. In spite of stormy weather we took a catamaran out to the Napoli Coast to view the beautiful cliffs.

It was a wild ride to say the least with several passengers tossing their cookies. Thankfully, Charlie slept through the worst of it.

The afternoon of our second day in Kaui we set sail and took the "big boat" up the Napoli coast for a sunset view. This picture was taken from the balcony of our luxurious accomodation.

We got off the ship on Saturday but the party wasn't over. Ryan treated us to a night at the Turtle Bay Hilton on the North Shore. We enjoyed the beautiful grounds and swam in the pools.

Later in the day we visited the Polynesian Cultural Center, enjoyed a luau and saw the spectacular evening show.

What an amazing and memorable cruise! Thank you Ryan.