Cruise to Hawaii - Hilo, Hawaii!

Aloha Hilo!

We arrived in the Port of Hilo just before sunrise and had about 8 hours to spend on the island before we had to be back on the ship.

The day started off with pouring rain but cleared up after a few hours. 

We rented a car and headed to our first destination: Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park - Mt. Kilauea.

Did I notice they were covering up the sign?  Nope.

  

Sidebar: Because of the National Parks: Every Kid in a Park program this year, we were able to get in for FREE because Will is in 4th grade. Winning!

First stop: steam vents.

 

Then onto the Jaggar Museum.

Will, chillin' in front of an active volcano. No biggie.

Next up: lava tubes. 

(And I'd be lying if the thought of the "Lost" smoke monster didn't cross my mind as we walked through the jungle!)

 
 Very cool experience.

 And very wet!

We left the park and headed to Rainbow Falls.

Once again, I didn't notice they were covering up part of the sign!

No sun, thus no rainbow, but all the rain made for some impressive falls!

 

 

 

 
By lunch time we were searching for some local eats and came upon the Hawaiian Style Cafe in town.

The wait was long but the food was delicious and there was plenty of it.  

I had the Seoul Bowl poke with raw tuna, rice and Korean chicken. 

Then it was a quick trip to Walmart because all the locals told us the best place to buy real Kona coffee was Walmart. So technically, we were doing something very Hawaiian, right?

Our last stop was to Richardson Beach Park to enjoy the views and spy on some sea turtles.

 Little turtle head peaking up out of the water!

 
 

 

 
Cool action shot of EG jumping off the ledge.

On our way back to the ship we spied her from up on a hill:

Despite the rain we had a lovely day on the big island of Hawaii experiencing some once in a life time adventures.

Mahalo Hilo!

Cruise to Hawaii - Five Days At Sea!

We began our five days at sea with the traditional sail away party!

Within minutes I found Eliza Grace up on the stage. (Her back is to the camera, white t-shirt with that says "The Hughes Family" and shows a map of our route.)

Eliza Grace met a friend, Lacy(blue shirt, facing Eliza Grace in the pic below), within the first hour of being on the ship and they both ended up dancing on the stage!
We then decorated our cabin door and took a long, deep breath of relaxation!

Over the next five days we would chug our way through the Pacific, avoiding the stray hurricane or two. For the most part the seas weren't rough but we still maintained our daily dose of Bonine as an insurance policy against motion sickness.

We all very much enjoy the "at sea" days.  Scott and I liked the relaxed vibe as we watched a few movies (Ant Man and Tomorrowland) and hit some of the trivia games in the bar scene.

I took a couple of hours to myself to read by the adult only pool...

...while the kids had the run of the ship.

Will is now old enough to check himself in and out of the kids program, so he would come as go as he wanted. 

A couple of mornings I was up at sunrise and enjoyed walking the decks of the quiet ship. 

  
 

My buddy joined me a couple of times and we'd visit his "secret" private deck on Deck 7.

 
Then we would kick the ball around and play some ping pong.

And search for hidden Mickeys.

Eliza Grace did a lot of fun stuff in the tween/teen club: trivia games, painting cartoon cells, dance parties, scavenger hunts, computer games, karaoke - there was always something fun going on. 

She also did her fair share of pin trading and lounging in porthole windows.

But her very most favorite thing she got to do was to see performances by and meet two real Broadway performers: husband and wife, Steve Blanchard and Meredith Inglesby.  

Steve played The Beast in Beauty and the Beast and Meredith played Ursula in The Little Mermaid. They were also both in the first travelling Broadway production of Newsies. Eliza Grace got to chat with them a bit and get their autographs.
Add to that the backstage tour of the theater, sets, costumes and production lifts and she was in drama geek heaven!

Throughout the sea days the four of us kept in touch via text using the Disney Cruise app and there were times when Scott and I would not see the kids hours at a time.  I never had to worry if they had a meal though - they definitely knew their way around Deck 9 and all the food. 

Late afternoons we would meet in our cabin to change for dinner and then go in search of some photo opportunities.

Our beautiful young lady.

Waiting for dinner.

Deck 3 chandelier.

Pirate night shenanigans. Aren't the shirts I made adorable?

That moment when Scott confessed to Captain Jack Sparrow that he drank all the rum.

"Take the picture already, Mom, gah!"

Hanging out with Remy.

Scott, me and a mermaid.

EG enjoying her plate of escargot!

EG and Walt.

After dinner we would head to the evening's entertainment. They had great Broadway style shows, as well as a magician, comedians, jugglers and a ventriloquist. And one day I took Hula dancing lessons!

No cooking. No cleaning. We were entertained. 

It was a real vacation.

Up Next: Land Ho!