Hawaii Cruise Day 6: Kauai (Updated)

It's day 6 and we are going to be on this island for two days, so we got another Thrifty car. Blue chip rocks. Not so lucky this time, we ended up with a Mercury land yacht. What ever we saved using the they pick the car program, we just lost having to fill this beast up at $4.65 a gallon. Also no iPhone jack... bummer.

This morning the plan was to drive up to Weimea canyon and enjoy the views. Unfortunately we got a bit of a late start and it was much further than we thought. We had a 12:30 tour booked that we needed to be back in Lihue for, and by the time we got halfway up the canyon we had to turn back. We made it to the first overlook about 10:30 but by then the whole valley was socked in and we could not wait for the clouds to clear. Alas, I have to enjoy photos that others have posted of this canyon and have only one to share with you.

We must have pissed of Pele in Kona, or pushed the excessive luxury a bit too far because some guy from Alberta in a rental jeep then backed into our land yacht in the overlook perking lot. (I do have pictures of that, Thrifty!) So at 10:45 we headed back to tube the ditch. Later, when we returned the car, the lady back at the rental place was great. We filled out a form and were back on our way in no time. We'll see if it turns into a problem once the claim is filed.

Our next adventure was tubing the ditch. This excursion was worth every penny. Back in the late 1800's, miles and miles of irrigation ditches and tunnels were hand dug to feed the sugar cane plantations water requirements. The land that these ditches is on is still privately held (now by Steve Case, AOL CEO I hear) and is not accessible to the public. The tour takes you up to the top in one of those six wheel Swiss Army Puitzers and then you get to inner-tube all the way down. One of the tunnels is miles long and not much more than two inner-tubes wide. We were issued helmets with spelunking lights, but use of the light was optional. - Very cool.

At one point they stopped us in a tunnel as a group and we all turned our lights off while we were told a scary story. The whole thing is just one gigantic lazy river, but as the guide said, "we do have class five ripples!"

At the end we stopped in a beautiful meadow next to the river and were served a picnic lunch - build your own sandwich bar.  Jennifer our guide was funny, and Kahana a local girl in her 20's, told us about the mountain and the history of the plantation and camps.

As with the snorkeling, the pic's are on the water camera. - stay tuned.

Pictures updated below

We headed back to the land yacht and decided we would go to the Marriott we had passed on the way from the pier. This is a beautiful property and umbrella drinks at Dukes on the beach were in order. Once there we actually discovered the beach was about a 10 minute walk from the boat. We listened to the live music and enjoyed the early evening.

For Day 7 we scheduled helicopter tour and we found that check in place across the street from the little shopping center also by the ship, so we decided we would give the land yacht back to Thrifty early, as everywhere we needed to go tomorrow was a short walk.

We then headed back to the ship for showers and a quick dinner. By the time we ate - it began to poor - the only bad weather we have really had on this ship so far.  And pour it did - Apparently they don't call this the wettest spot on earth for no reason. Kahana said it rains on average 350 days a year on top of the mountain.

We went to the main (Liberty) dining room tonight and the staff was friendly and the food good. I do understand why some people don't like the freestyle dining thing that NCL does. If you go to the main dining room you get a different table, and different wait staff every time. As a result they don't get to know you like when you have a consistent waiter. They don't memorize your favorite drink, or greet you by name. Also, because this is a US flagged ship, the staff is all US (along with all the labor laws associated with that).

In our experience we found most everyone warm and friendly. They all seem to want to do a good job and if you spend a moment to ask them where they are from and show some genuine interest in them, they almost always show a genuine interest in you and the service is just fine.

The only difference I would be able to put a finger on is a lack of a Disney like 'on stage' presence from a few of the crew when in public areas and ear shot of passengars. We occationally heard chatting in the open with each other about this problem or that.  Also - (and this is my only pet peeve - growing up in the restaurant industry). The tables in the specialty restaurants and dining rooms just did not look vey nice. There were no napkin folds, silverware was in disaray & knives on several tables had the blade side out, table cloths with big steam iron machine creases running across the middle of them.... Ok, enough - I have to provide feedback on something - and thats my particular two cents.

From the entire experience thus far - out of 5 possible stars - I give them a solid 4.9

The clouds broke for about 30 seconds - other than that - we were socked in

View from the drive back down

The gardens at the Marriott in Lihue

More Marriott

The bay at Lihue

Only half the beach is sand, the other half is very comfortable grass

At Dukes with a boat drink

This guy wanted our crab wontons

These were the coolest pine trees

My next Harley

Colorado's also!

The coast line at Lihue

Here comes Mother Nature....

The Land Yacht and its bloody nose

(updated water pics) - Tubing the Ditch

Tubing the ditch - At the Start

This was a blast

One of the faster sections.

Coming out of a tunnel

Some had pretty low clearances

Good view of next entry

One of our guides, Jennifer

Tomorrow we fly the island in a helicopter (or not....)