I'm biased -- always loved the Big Island the most.

just did the hoppa-on-hoppa-off as a quick downtown excursion. The Pacific Tsunami Museum was good with information overload. watch the movie minimally. Ate at "Kozmic Cones" for local food and busted our guts.

We didn't do anything touristy since we have relatives here.

places on this trip: Chinese food from Char Hung Sut (downtown Honolulu), dinner at Haliewa Joe's (Kaneohe), and dessert at Leonard's (Honolulu).

Took a non-Princess 2.5hr quick West Maui SUV tour (covers the northern end). Something we hadn't seen before. It was nice.

Ate local food at 808 Grindz.

Big time rain ruined any chance of a good port stop.

Took the free shuttle to Hilo Hatties (it's not supposed to be WalMart shoppers) and we did shop there and then walked next door to Walmart and resupplied. Last real chance to buy stuff at reasonable prices until the South Pacific.

Had a nice experience at Duke's although pricey (MaiTais, fish and chips, Hula Pie).

First ever being there without any prior knowledge.

Took "VJ's" tour bus (randomly selected from the port) to see the east end of American Samoa for $25/pp. Family run. Awesome tour with lots of cultural information. She even stopped at her own home. Highly recommended.

Even though it appears American Samoa is dirt poor, it's a cultural and lifestyle difference.

So eye-opening this visit and so different from French Polynesia.

Took a recommended "Patrick's Tour". Typical lagoon tour -- snorkel stop with reef sharks, snorkel stop with sting rays, snorkel stop at a small coral reef, Polynesian feast at their own little lagoon. Really nice and easy to do for all ages.

Next day took a cheap 4WD tour (not the full blown tour, just had additional lookouts) with multiple stops around the island. Sightseeing was incredible. Ended up at Bloody Mary's -- service was horribly slow and probably not do it again.

They had the typical island bus tours and lagoon snorkel trips off the stop. We really only wanted to do the Papanoo Valley 4WD excursion but apparently all available tour 4WDs were allocated to Princess. So beware!

Did the food trucks for dinner. The "food trucks" are really just mobile kitchens that serve you like a sit down restaurant. Beware that "water" may mean bottled water (bring your own). Great ambiance and perfect temperature. We had awesome Chinese fried rice that was enough for dinner.

Wouldn't care to visit Tahiti again.

We did notice that several people went from Bora Bora to Moorea, apparently skipping Tahiti and Bora Bora.

took "Captain Taina" lagoon excursion pre-booked. Family/friend run with their own family private island. It had 2 snorkeling stops (statues, rays and reef sharks), drifted around waiting to see rare turtles, and spent a couple of hours at their private island where they prepared an awesome BBQ and we relaxed afterwards by lounging in the waters. Highly recommended.

Moorea is the non-tourist version of Bora Bora. So spectacular and the calmness of just lounging around is incredible.

This was the crown jewel of the cruise and I can easily imagine people getting off at Bora Bora and immediately taking a ferry to Moorea.