Thursday- Hawaii23 provides a smooth delivery to our hotel the Aqua Bamboo. I prefer smaller hotels and this one was perfect. We had requested a room with a view and were pleasantly surprised to find out our room had 3 balconies. Two had a view of the pool which Aqua has made into a relaxing oasis in the center of the city. The other balcony faced an apartment building but we just avoided going out onto that one. We enjoyed the Thursday "happy hour" by the pool. It was very friendly, a woman and her daughter got up and danced a hula and even the staff clapped when it was over. It was a quick 2 block walk to the beach and the hotel provided towels, chairs, and floats to make your beach experience more comfortable. It was very quick and easy to walk to places to eat and the bus stop and the staff was very helpful in directing you there. This hotel provides you with value for your money.

Friday- I definitely recommend the "Hole in the Wall Food Tour" to people who enjoy eating the local food. It was the perfect way to start our Hawaiian adventure. We ate a variety of local foods including a visit to China town. One of the best parts was receiving recommendations about where to eat late in the trip. We enjoyed watching the fireworks in evening.

Saturday- Diamond head took us about 2 hours to hike. We enjoyed the farmers market at the community college near by for food and souvenirs. We returned to the hotel to shower before we boarded the ship about 1. Latitudes line moved quickly. We at Skyline and by the time we were finished eating our room was ready and our luggage was at the door when we arrived. We changed and went up to the pool on the back of the ship because it is quieter. We decided to go to Jefferson's Bistro for dinner because they had a sampling of all the "extra cost" restaurants food. Although we had a nice dinner, it did not sell us on any of the restaurants. We decided to eat at Liberty for the remainder of the cruise. We had room service delivered every morning as our wake up call. Read more