Our actual vacation began a week before the cruise when we flew into Honolulu on April 23. On Oahu we stayed in Waikiki and we had pre booked various excursions. Our first day we decided to the Waikiki Trolley to orientate ourselves with the area so we did the Blue Line Ocean Coast tour which included Diamond Head and Hanauma Bay and as far as Sandy Bay. That evening we did the Blue Hawaii show which was very nice. Our second day we rented a convertible and headed north where we stopped at Dole Plantation then continued on to turtle Bay Resort to check out the golf course which was beautiful. We stopped at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck for lunch and the shrimp were as good as everyone on Cruise Critic had said!Our final stop of the day was at Kailua Bay Beach for some swimming before taking the Pali Highway back to Honolulu. Day 3 we did the Duck Tour of the Arizona Memorial. This was a very moving experience and we found a relative's name on the wall. We then visited a lagoon and we were introduced to some historical buildings in the city. In the evening we did the Don Ho show which I enjoyed but my husband didn't. Day 4 we spent the morning on Waikiki Beach and in the afternoon we were picked up for the ride to Paradise Cove for their luau. this was a wonderful memorable evening of entertainment and games. One of our favorite days.

Our final day before the cruise was spent at the Polynesian cultural Centre. We had purchased the Ambassador package and were very pleased. This is a place that 2 or 3 days could be spent touring the different villages. The canoe pageant was beautiful,the supper was very tasty and the evening show was amazing.

Our final morning we left the hotel at 11 am for the pier. there was already quite a line for embarkation. We were finally on board at 2 pm and our luggage was outside our room. We went directly to Lido Deck for a quick lunch then explored the ship to familiarize ourselves. Before returning to our room to unpack we visited the dining room to change our dining time to early seating. After unpacking we sat on our balcony relaxing before getting ready for supper. We really liked the layout of this ship compared to the victory which was more cut up. Our first day was spent in Honolulu and we decided to thank the BUS to the swap meet where we purchased a few items. We were back on the ship by early afternoon. We spent the evening at the show and casino. Read more