Cruise Report - Using Real Life

Wow. Hubby and I went on a shorter version of this cruise five years ago. Interesting what a change in the length of the cruise and the weather can do to the overall vacation experience.

We made it to our snorkeling excursion this time.

Last time:

• Fifteen-day cruise
• More kids
• More middle-aged people
• Better weather
• Except for a squall on Kona that prevented us from going on a snorkeling excursion, it was a dream vacation.

This time:

• Eighteen-day cruise
• Three kids (seriously--three)
• We were some of the younger passengers--funny since our cruise was to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.
• Rougher weather

We hadn't even been out a day when there was an accident on the stairs. Now, it takes time to get your sea legs, so it could have been that. I understand that a woman lost her balance and fell against another woman. The second woman ended up breaking a leg and sustaining a head injury, including bleeding from her ear.

They determined that they needed to turn around and connect with the Coast Guard helicopter so the woman could be transported. One of the ship's four doctors (he had the most trauma experience) accompanied her. Unfortunately, her husband wasn't able to come with her because the helicopter was too full.

Doctor or husband. What a choice. Her husband stayed with the ship and had to sail five more days before being able to fly home to be with his wife.

The seas had some good-sized swells anyway, and then the captain was trying to make up lost time so we didn't lose more than one day in Hawaii. We were traveling at almost top speed some of the time. Even the day before we got to Hawaii, we were still bouncing off the walls--literally.

I loved it. Fortunately, hubby and I don't get sea sick.

We arrived in Hawaii a day late. The cruise line did an incredible job of rescheduling the entire itinerary. They didn't just have to see how many port stops they could save but to try and provide the best experience while we were there--like not being in port at the same time as another cruise ship with twice as many passengers. That would have been an incredible press on the local excursion and car rental places.

There were complaints, of course. But, as the captain said, the woman's life was more important than our vacations.

The final stop, Maui, was a bust because of the weather. It's a tender port, meaning that they use the tenders (life boats--those orange boats in the picture to the left) to get passengers to shore. Um. No. Not with five or six foot swells that were bashing the tenders against the ship.

Because of the change in the itinerary, we got to see my daughter and her family. Kaua'i was supposed to be the last stop and it ended up being the second. We managed to see them before they went on their own cruise. And talk about drama! Their ship--finally--way late because of fog. Now, they're having to scramble to catch flights home. 

Moral of the story: anything can happen. Just take a deep breath and enjoy the journey!

We came across this place on Oahu by accident. Friendly, isn't it?

At the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu

Part of the procession of Polynesian cultures at the PCC. This group is from New Zealand.

The snorkeling excursion wasn't even supposed to be for whale watching, but holy cow! We saw two males doing battle over a female. There were also tons of dolphins. And check out how blue that water was:

Lighthouse on Kaua'i

 At Hilo, we visited the Hawaiian Botanical Gardens. It's an amazing place with a wonderful history--and it's all been done privately. You can see pictures of some of the beautiful flowers on my Pinterest page here.

These huge beauties were hanging from a tree.

Cannonball Tree

So, what about you?

Have you ever had some interesting things happen while on vacation?

Have you ever used any of your experiences in your writing?

I'll lead out because I have. In fact, at lot of Lyn's experiences on her  Hawaii days in A Change of Plans were inspired by my own on that first cruise we took five years ago.