Hawaii Anniversary Cruise: Oahu Day 2

On Thursday, we were all up really early at 5:00 am since it was 10:00 am to our bodies.  The Surf Lanai restaurant at the hotel opened at 6:30 am so we all met there for breakfast.  Having breakfast outside in Hawaii is one of my most favorite things!  We had a great view of the Diamond Head crater while we ate.

I got the famous Royal Hawaiian Pink Palace pancakes and they were soooo delicious!

Ben got the loco moco, a popular local dish.

Today was the day we picked up our car and drove to Pearl Harbor.  I had tickets for us to view the Arizona Memorial at 11:00, then the rest of the day was open until our sunset sail that night.  Jason and Alice were sleeping in from their long travel day, so we would meet up with them for lunch after Pearl Harbor.

We walked to Avis next door at the Sheraton and rented our car, a minivan that would hold all of us.  The agent gave us a map and instructions on how to get to Pearl Harbor and Ben put in the exact address from the national park website.

Despite all of this we still got lost and ended up in a huge traffic jam!  Driving on Oahu is no joke.

We made it to Pearl Harbor around 9:20 am and exchanged our 11:00 tickets for the 9:45 tour that was about to start.  We watched a 25-minute film about the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and it was really interesting with incredible footage.  Then we boarded the boat that takes you to the memorial over the sunken USS Arizona.

We got back to Pearl Harbor at 11:00 and decided to tour the USS Bowfin submarine.  The tickets came with an audio tour that was very interesting.  I don't know if I will ever get a chance to tour a submarine again but it was fun and we all enjoyed it.

Can you imagine living in this space with 79 other people?  I can't!

There is alot to see at Pearl Harbor but most of it is outdoors which was something I had not realized.  So it was really hot now and we were ready for lunch so we decided to go back to the hotel to meet up with Jason and Alice for lunch.

We walked over to Rumfire at the Sheraton and had a nice lunch.  It was fun to meet Alice and hear about their travel day from Boston and to talk about our upcoming plans.

After lunch, Ben, Jason, Alice and I spent some time at Waikiki Beach.

We all met back up at 4:30 pm and took a short walk on Waikiki beach to meet up with our Na Hoku catamaran for our sunset sail.  This company was not my first choice to go with but my first choice was chartered (most likely for Halloween).  But Na Hoku still had great reviews so I went with them.

We saw a beautiful sunset, the drinks were good and it's always fun to be out on the water.  The beautiful sunset was marred though by the terrible music the crew played--explicit rap and heavy metal.  This was not the melodious Hawaiian sailing music I was expecting!

I was pretty mortified and worried the family was now doubting my planning abilities!  But at least the scenery was beautiful.

Back on dry land, we talked about what we wanted to do for dinner.  I had not made a dinner reservation since I didn't know how tired everyone would be and thought we could just wing it.  But Halloween in Waikiki is pretty busy and the place I suggested was booked solid.

So we ended up at a nice seafood restaurant at our hotel, Azure.  They gave us a beautiful table on the patio and everyone enjoyed their meals but I was so tired, it was hard to stay awake!

After dinner, we went to bed with plans to all meet up the next morning for our drive of Oahu's north shore.

Hawaii Anniversary Cruise: Oahu Day 1

Can you believe it?  Ben and I have been married 10 wonderful years!  Only a lifetime left to go!  :)

For our 5-year anniversary, we went to Maui (and have been visiting ever since), so I wanted something different for our 10-year trip.  First I planned a two-island trip to both Maui and Kauai.  Then I decided, let's go to Tahiti instead.  I even planned the entire trip!

In the meantime, Ben's parents were also thinking of visiting Hawaii.  Since they enjoyed our Alaskan cruise so much in 2017, I suggested that they take the Norwegian cruise that leaves from Honolulu and visits all 4 of the major Hawaiian islands.  This way, they would get a taste of Hawaii and then if they enjoyed it, they could go back for a land vacation.

I joked to Ben that we should go with them and be their tour guide since we have been to Maui so many times, and I have done so much research on the other islands for future trips.

Well Fran and Harvey decided that was a wonderful idea and invited us to join them and invited Ben's brother Jason to make it a full family affair!  So the planning began in 2018 and the trip was finally here!

We would begin the trip by staying for 3 nights on Oahu in Honolulu, arriving the Wednesday before Halloween.  Then we would board the ship on Saturday, visit Maui, Hilo and Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, then Kauai and arrive back in Honolulu the following Saturday.

We would be on the Norwegian Pride of America for the cruise...

...and stay at the famous Royal Hawaiian on Waikiki beach for three nights before the cruise.  The hotel was built in 1927 and is considered to be one of the more "Hawaiiana" hotels in Honolulu.  I wanted everyone to feel like they were Hawaii right from the start!

Great pics of the hotel taken by Fran who is quite the shutterbug!

On October 30, Ben and I met Fran and Harvey at their house to take the shuttle to the airport. We had an uneventful flight, passing the 7-hour flight watching movies and reading.

There's Honolulu!  You can definitely see the Royal Hawaiian from the air!

We got to the hotel and were greeted with leis from the staff.  Fran and Ben handled check-in while Harvey and I sat with our mountain of luggage!

We all went up to our rooms and then met at 5:00 to go to dinner. I had made a reservation at the restaurant House Without a Key next door to our hotel.  This restaurant has live music, hula dancing, outdoor seating and great cocktails.  I thought it would be a fun way to spend our first evening in Hawaii.

Unfortunately, Jason and his friend Alice who would be joining us on the trip, did not make it to Oahu from Boston until almost midnight so they were unable to join us for dinner.  Getting to Hawaii from the east coast can be quite the ordeal for travelers.  I was sad they missed our first dinner but at least they didn't miss too much and had time the next day to recover from their long day of travel.

Ben, Fran and I all got fish and Harvey got prime rib.  I had mahi mahi which I love to have in Hawaii.  The rolls they served here were scrumptious!

The restaurant gave us coconut cake for our anniversary!

In hindsight, we were probably too tired to enjoy it properly but it was still a fun evening!  For us, the party was over after dinner and we all went to our rooms for the night.  Tomorrow, we would be visiting Pearl Harbor.