April 29, 2012 ~ Aloha! ~ Inagural Wonder to Hawaii-Part 4

[SanDiegoSteph]

Hello All:

Well, I just can't seem to stop myself from wanting to organize things!!

We are excited about taking an ATV tour with Kipu ATVs on Kauai, but weren't excited about the times they offered their 3-hour Ranch & Mountain tours (7am or 1:30pm).

Soooo....in talking with the owners today, they offered me the chance to tailor their 3-hour tour to the exact time that we would want for a morning tour if I had at least 7 folks interested.

We really like this group because:

Kids 5 and older can join their parents in their 4-passenger Rhino Safari buggies and enjoy the whole experience as a family; single riders (16+) can drive their own more traditional Can Am ATVs; or couples can double up on one of their two 2-seater ATVs! (http://www.kiputours.com/ranchtour.php)

AND, they will give us 50% off the 1st passenger in each multi-passenger ATV as an incentive to reserve by the end of March!

We're thinking about a 9am tour that would last until noon so that we can go back to the ship and grab our ILs and do a little touring with them before the ship takes off at 5:30pm.

We have a 7-passenger mini-van booked at the port already and could take another family of 4 with us or 2 couples. Or, if a bunch of folks want to do this, I can certainly try to arrange transportation like I'm doing for the luau.

So, anybody interested??

 

[paulcrsb]

They certainly didn't give any ponchos out for Alaska, when it rained in every port.

It rained everyday on our Alaska cruise and Disney was handing out Ponchos. They were most welcome!

 

[poohluv2u]

Hello All!!
Sorry it's been so long. I've still been trying to keep up with the board, but it's been very high paced and I don't have the time to read every page.
But I just wanted to check in and say hi

Oh and also, we finally got our cabin #!! We'll be in cabin 2016
We also got our ceremony date for the cruise! We'll be getting married May 1st on the deck 7 aft!
SO EXCITED!!!

Cant wait to see you all!

How fun

 

[castoff]

We are very familiar with the bus system on Oahu, and have found it to be very reliable. We are also going to use it to go to Waikiki

While I appreciate Woody coming to tell us about his Hawaiian cruise experience, we should also keep in mind that our cruise is for April/May, and Hawaii's dry season is Apr-Oct. Which is not to say we might not have a little liquid sunshine along the way, but it passes quickly. I take along an umbrella for protection from the sun, which also helps with the rain. Here's a picture of Jack holding my parasol

Hi Karen, I have asked this before but I still just don't get it and hope you can help me figure this out. I am taking a DCL tour in Oahu that ends at 3:15. Instead of taking the tour bus back to port........I would like to visit Waikiki Beach and do some shopping in Waikiki. Now isn't Waikiki like 40 min. from Pearl Harbor ? Is there public transportation right at Pearl Harbor ? Easy to find ? Also heard the traffic in the afternoon is just a huge mess ! Is it worth it to visit ? Thanks ! Oh I looked at the Oahu Bus thingy and I can't figure any of it out !

What a cute parasol.

 

[castoff]

Hello All!!
Sorry it's been so long. I've still been trying to keep up with the board, but it's been very high paced and I don't have the time to read every page.
But I just wanted to check in and say hi

Oh and also, we finally got our cabin #!! We'll be in cabin 2016
We also got our ceremony date for the cruise! We'll be getting married May 1st on the deck 7 aft!
SO EXCITED!!!

Cant wait to see you all!

I was at a wedding on the Wonder in 2010 and it was on deck 7. They did a great job making it so beautiful ! Congrats !

 

[poohluv2u]

Hi Karen, I have asked this before but I still just don't get it and hope you can help me figure this out. I am taking a DCL tour in Oahu that ends at 3:15. Instead of taking the tour bus back to port........I would like to visit Waikiki Beach and do some shopping in Waikiki. Now isn't Waikiki like 40 min. from Pearl Harbor ? Is there public transportation right at Pearl Harbor ? Easy to find ? Also heard the traffic in the afternoon is just a huge mess ! Is it worth it to visit ? Thanks ! Oh I looked at the Oahu Bus thingy and I can't figure any of it out !

What a cute parasol.

While you can catch a bus from Arizona Memorial area, if I were doing that tour I would just go back to the ship on the tour bus and then catch the public bus from the port. It will be quicker without all the stops The Bus makes and Waikiki is closer to the port.

What kind of shopping are you interested in? There are some good stores right at the port too, as it is an actual mall. They also have a HUGE mall just before you get to downtown Waikiki, and of course on the streets of Waikiki.

If you have your heart set on taking The Bus from the Arizona, I will look at the maps and help you figure it out.

 

[poohluv2u]

Hi Karen, I have asked this before but I still just don't get it and hope you can help me figure this out. I am taking a DCL tour in Oahu that ends at 3:15. Instead of taking the tour bus back to port........I would like to visit Waikiki Beach and do some shopping in Waikiki. Now isn't Waikiki like 40 min. from Pearl Harbor ? Is there public transportation right at Pearl Harbor ? Easy to find ? Also heard the traffic in the afternoon is just a huge mess ! Is it worth it to visit ? Thanks ! Oh I looked at the Oahu Bus thingy and I can't figure any of it out !

What a cute parasol.

Tina, you asked if it was worth a trip to Waikiki, and my answer is a resounding yes! We love Waikiki, we've been going there for 30 years, so we may be a bit biased It is not a secluded beach, and at times it can be very busy, but it is iconic Hawaii, and is definitely worth a visit

 

[tig82174]

Hey All,

Just wanted to let everyone know that I came home from a trip to Fairfax, VA over the weekend with my cheerleaders cheer2:) to compete at Nationals and a box was on my porch-----the lanyards!! I have to say that I'm SO pleased with how they turned out (this is just the neck strap portion----Jason and I are still working on the design/layout for the name badges themselves and will be printing those up soon). Unfortunately for all of you-----I'm not nearly as nice as Val so I'm not going to post a picture of the lanyards on here......it will have to be a surprise....but suffice it to say that I think those of you who have ordered lanyards are going to be very, very pleased with them!

For those of you who have NOT ordered lanyards, even though we're past the official deadline, remember that I have about 50 extra lanyards in my possession-----so it's not too late! Check out the information in Post #1 on this thread and/or on the "lanyards" tab of the official google spreadsheet/roll-call for complete instructions about how to get your very own FREE personalized lanyard and name badge for the trip!!

 

[gdaneowner]

Tina, you asked if it was worth a trip to Waikiki, and my answer is a resounding yes! We love Waikiki, we've been going there for 30 years, so we may be a bit biased It is not a secluded beach, and at times it can be very busy, but it is iconic Hawaii, and is definitely worth a visit

Do you know if the On and Off Trolley would go near the beach? We opted to change our dophin experience excursion for the trolley so we could see more of the island.

 

[castoff]

While you can catch a bus from Arizona Memorial area, if I were doing that tour I would just go back to the ship on the tour bus and then catch the public bus from the port. It will be quicker without all the stops The Bus makes and Waikiki is closer to the port.

What kind of shopping are you interested in? There are some good stores right at the port too, as it is an actual mall. They also have a HUGE mall just before you get to downtown Waikiki, and of course on the streets of Waikiki.

If you have your heart set on taking The Bus from the Arizona, I will look at the maps and help you figure it out.

So is Waikiki is closer to the port ? I thought it was in the oppsite direction from the Arizona meaning it's further from the port. I will take your advice and take bus from the port. Do you know if I have to change buses ?

I heard there is good shopping in Waikiki, don't remember the name I do remember one place called the Aloha tower. Is that the one near the port ? There isn't one thing that I am looking for. Just want to shop.

 

[castoff]

Hey All,

Just wanted to let everyone know that I came home from a trip to Fairfax, VA over the weekend with my cheerleaders cheer2:) to compete at Nationals and a box was on my porch-----the lanyards!! I have to say that I'm SO pleased with how they turned out (this is just the neck strap portion----Jason and I are still working on the design/layout for the name badges themselves and will be printing those up soon). Unfortunately for all of you-----I'm not nearly as nice as Val so I'm not going to post a picture of the lanyards on here......it will have to be a surprise....but suffice it to say that I think those of you who have ordered lanyards are going to be very, very pleased with them!

For those of you who have NOT ordered lanyards, even though we're past the official deadline, remember that I have about 50 extra lanyards in my possession-----so it's not too late! Check out the information in Post #1 on this thread and/or on the "lanyards" tab of the official google spreadsheet/roll-call for complete instructions about how to get your very own FREE personalized lanyard and name badge for the trip!!

Your right Erik your mean !!!!! I am really looking forward to seeing them.

 

[castoff]

Tina, you asked if it was worth a trip to Waikiki, and my answer is a resounding yes! We love Waikiki, we've been going there for 30 years, so we may be a bit biased It is not a secluded beach, and at times it can be very busy, but it is iconic Hawaii, and is definitely worth a visit

That's why I wan't to go.

 

[EpcotKilterFan]

Hey All,

Just wanted to let everyone know that I came home from a trip to Fairfax, VA over the weekend with my cheerleaders cheer2:) to compete at Nationals !!

Yay!!!

But how did the cheerleaders do???!!??

Debbie

 

[socababy]

Does anyone happen to have the addresses of the Hawaiian ports handy? TIA!

 

[tig82174]

Yay!!!

But how did the cheerleaders do???!!??

Debbie

Thanks for asking!

It was a little disappointing....we had very minor problems the first day and were 4 points out of the lead, we KILLED it the second day (literally everyone in the arena was stopping us and our girls to say it was the best routine of the weekend)....but the scores didn't jump from day one to day two as much as they should have and so we came in second by less than 1.5 points...the team that won was a local team that won that competition for the 6th year running yesterday beating us by such a small margin....but the scoring didn't quite feel right. For instance, on day one we got a 2 out of 5 in one category of our tumbling because timing was off and on day two the girls NAILED that section and the same judge still gave us a 2 out of 5 but wrote in the comments section "much better than yesterday! gave me goosebumps!"------so our question was....if yesterday it was a 2 out of 5 and today it is "much better" and induced "goosebumps"...then shouldn't the score have increased? and maybe even to like a 4 or 4.5 out of 5? Because that would seem to make sense....and then even those additional points would have put us over the top for a 4th consecutive National Title (we end up entering a different Nationals competition every year basd on their timing, etc.).

All that said, however, my girls could NOT have done their routine better than they did on Day 2 of the competition (especially because we were down an entire stunt group because one of our flyers broke her tailbone about 5 weeks ago and so we ended up looking like a much smaller team than usual and we had to insert extra tumbling for her bases to do since they couldn't stunt). So we're still very, very happy with our showing because in our hearts we know we deserved higher scores (and probably the win) and that we couldn't have done any better......and we all understand that's one of the frustrating components of competing in a subjectively judged sport.

It just makes you a little sad as a coach because it would have been nice to send our seniors off of their final competition with our team with a National Title to reward them for all their hard work over the years----especially this one.....

....but that's not to sound like sour grapes. It was a great trip. We had a great time and a great performance and it was an end to a pretty great season for us. And so we'll take a week off and next weekend we'll start working on NEXT year's routines and skills and tumbling and start training and prepping the younger girls in the program to see who will be ready and skilled enough to pull up to Varsity in the Fall at tryouts so we can try for another great competitive season next year!!

 

[coconutsunshine]

Some of us have had great luck with kayak.com to rent cars at the ports very reasonably...mine both ended up being budget rentals but cheaper than budget site offered.

Port excursion, if still open, is the chance to spend the day at Aulani...that would be super child oriented. It costs $400 for the day and is for up to four people, but the things to do there are amazing. From what I have read you can see fish in ocean without snorkeling thru glass viewing...pools, beaches etc I am not traveling with a child but daughter and I both have physical limitations and there we can safely do all the things "Hawaiian" safely.

Thanks I'll check Kayak.com out for sure, Aulani would be amazing, not sure it would be in the budget though, we are actually sailing on the Fantasy in August and going to WDW for a week, so this is an extra bonus if we go! Have fun at Aulani

We are doing Disney excursions for 3 of the Hawaii islands - it works out fairly expensive for us to rent a car with all the insurances (non-US citizens) but in Oahu, we are using the public bus as we are very close to Waikiki. This would also be a nice port to just take a nice long walk in too. Its very pretty.

Have you been to Hawaii before? I'll check out the public bus, thanks for the advice!

First I'll encourage you to come! It would be great to have some more Canadians on board (we're from the greater Toronto area). Also, there are some onboard credits available now that weren't available when booking a year ago.

As far as bringing your own car seat, all the rental car agencies in Hawaii will provide them for a fee if you'd rather not lug around a seat. You can book ahead and reserve a seat while booking. As previously mentioned, the exercusions are largely tailored to older kids. Our DSes are 5 an 3 and for two of the days we're just renting cars and doing our own thing.

Hope you can make it!

We've had some problems with rental car seats in the past, twice it took us over an hour to install the car seat as the rental agents were clueless, the seat did not have instructions and we are used to a latch system which it did not have. I sat in the backseat pretty much holding the car seat every time we drove. We would much rather not take the car seat though, so we'll definitely consider renting the seat! I think doing our own thing with a car is the best way to go, that way if DS is getting cranky or we want to move on we can go at our own pace. DS is pretty wild, I'm not sure he would fare too well on the tours. I believe someone else mentioned you can hire a guide that would probably work as well! If we go, we'll have to meet up, not sure how old your DS3 is but if he's just 3, they could probably play together. DS is not fully potty trained yet and wouldn't be able to go to the clubs so he would be with us the whole time!

Another Canadian here. I was up in Ottawa couple weeks ago for work related diving. I wish we got the snow you had, it doesn't seem like a winter in southern Ontario.

Jon

Jon, sorry to tell you but the snow is all gone, double digits for the last few days and forecasted for the whole week, I for one am soooo happy the snow is gone!! My mom lives in southern Ontario as well!

We have been to Hawaii before so will be more laid back on this one, excursion wise. As mentioned, kayak had good car rental deals, there is a private luau being planned (see roll call spreadsheet), as well as the DCL one which would probably be fun for your little one (having Mickey & the gang there!), and last I heard there was still a custom shirt available in small!! Have fun planning - seems to me you can't go wrong in such a beautiful place, no matter what you choose.

Since you have been to Hawaii before, what are the must sees for us first timers?? Okay were would I find the roll call spreadsheet for the private luau. Is Mickey and the gang at the DCL luau, I didn't see that online?? Hawaii is a dream for us that we weren't even considering doing anytime soon so I know if we go anything we do will be amazing. I don't know what has got into us thinking about this so late in the game! I think we are crazy, but in a good way!

Hi,
I will also be traveling with my husband and four year old son. We are actually only doing two excursions through Disney and the rest on our own. Most excursions my son was not old enough or we were afraid the tours would be too long for him so for the first time in all our cruises we are going on our own.

Hilo- we are doing a private tour with Marylou's Big Island Tours. We figure if our son is not enjoying something we can move on and not disrupt anyone else's vacation. I was able to tell them our must dos and they will make suggestions and if we want to stop we will and if not we will move on.

Maui- we are renting a car and doing our own thing until the laua with Disney.

Oahu - We are doing pearl harbor on our own and then going to Aluani for the day.

Kauai- we are doing a tour with Wings Over Kauai in the morning and then walking to the beach that is by the port.

Good luck in deciding what to do.

Kristan

thanks I'm going to check out Marylou's Big Island tours. Is there anything special about the Disney Luau, is that the Luau on the site that is approx 200 per adult? Wow, Aulani, that is going to be amazing!! What is Wings Over Kauai? Thanks for the help!

Hope you can join us!

thanks!

Welcome You still have 7 weeks to plan so don't stress

Thanks! If we decide to go I'll try not to stress, but that might be difficult, I'm a stresser!!

 

[chip&dale&fun]

I just spent over a half hour with DCL on the change of time for the Arizona tour. I was told that the vendor changed the time and they are not doing an 8am tour at all. I told them that only a few of us got the call and there are others that are still on the 8. I was told that everyone should be getting a call. Not knowing any last names I could not confirm that I knew people on the 8am tour.

If you are on that tour I would check with DCL directly and not just check your on line activities

We are not on the tour but I am bumping this to the next page so all can see.

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Hello All!!
Sorry it's been so long. I've still been trying to keep up with the board, but it's been very high paced and I don't have the time to read every page.
But I just wanted to check in and say hi

Oh and also, we finally got our cabin #!! We'll be in cabin 2016
We also got our ceremony date for the cruise! We'll be getting married May 1st on the deck 7 aft!
SO EXCITED!!!

Cant wait to see you all!

A wedding on board, how special.

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Hey All,

Just wanted to let everyone know that I came home from a trip to Fairfax, VA over the weekend with my cheerleaders cheer2:) to compete at Nationals and a box was on my porch-----the lanyards!! I have to say that I'm SO pleased with how they turned out (this is just the neck strap portion----Jason and I are still working on the design/layout for the name badges themselves and will be printing those up soon). Unfortunately for all of you-----I'm not nearly as nice as Val so I'm not going to post a picture of the lanyards on here......it will have to be a surprise....but suffice it to say that I think those of you who have ordered lanyards are going to be very, very pleased with them!

For those of you who have NOT ordered lanyards, even though we're past the official deadline, remember that I have about 50 extra lanyards in my possession-----so it's not too late! Check out the information in Post #1 on this thread and/or on the "lanyards" tab of the official google spreadsheet/roll-call for complete instructions about how to get your very own FREE personalized lanyard and name badge for the trip!!

Thanks for the update....And I have now read about the tip...I'm glad Day 2 was such a great routine......

 

[valbob89]

The shirts are in the mails. and refund checks.

I am in the process of sending each of you who ordered a shirt, an e-mail with a breakdown of your order, accounting history and refund amount. Also, a copy of the USPS mailing confirmation and tracking info. Lastly, a copy of the final invoice from Becky.

Hope everyone likes them! I think we will look very grand. Val & Bob