Booked Part 2

Last weekend I booked my sister and myself on a photography tour in Kauai. This tour is going to be her Birthday present from me. I didn't think she's want to do something like this but I showed her some of the example photos and she was inspired! I originally found Kauai Photo Tours by just Googling "photo tours Kauai" and after reading some review from Tripadvisor and Cruise Critic I was certain this would be a great tour for us.

I was very impressed with the fast email responses, especially considering the time differences. I decide to call to make my reservation ( international calling using Skype is amazing- so cheap) and spoke to Kris. He answered all my questions and gave me great instructions on where to meet the transfer bus.

One thing I love about booking all these tours was there is no money needed up front. Most just need your credit card info and charge you that day of your tour. This is great as it allows you to confirm your tour plus have some extra time to save!

Since booking I have read a lot more reviews on Cruise Critic and everyone seems to have a great tour.

Saving Money

As I've mention before we are on a pretty tight budget for this trip. While we are not one of those families that you see splashing money around on useless junk on holidays, we are also not those cheap people who wont even spend a dollar. We like to have fun but in a responsible way lol

Here are some money saving tips that we have found to be very useful.

Before your holiday

Save coins

As soon as I've booked a trip I start to collect my coins. At the end of the week by purse is usually full of coins. I used to only collect $1 and $2 but i found out the silver coins were adding up much faster. In about a year since I booked my cruise I saved over $450 in coins. 

Swap currency when you get 'extra money'

As we are venturing overseas we are going to have to swap our Aussie money for USA dollars. I like to travel with a bit of cash as I can track it better than credit card purchases ( and no nasty bill to pay off at the end of the holiday) So to take advantage of the excellent exchange rate I have been swapping a bit of money as I get it. I had a friend owe me about $150 and instead of spending it on stuff I swapped it into US dollars. This will prevent me from spending it before hand and I wont need to rush about nearer to the trip.

Look for deals and Groupons

The whole buying a voucher online is quite a new thing so I haven't used it on a trip before. At the moment I am looking for voucher for activities. There's heaps of food and drink vouchers that you can purchase. I know that in Australia we had some trouble with businesses not honoring the voucher so I wouldn't spend a lot of money on them. But for reputable businesses I wouldn't hesitate. 

During the trip

Eat out less

Eating out is nice on holidays but can add up fast. We like to go to a local supermarket and stock up on breakfast things like milk, yougurt and muffins. This only costs a fraction at the supermarket compared to a cafe or restaurant. We do like to go to nice restraints so we limit ourselves to either a nice lunch or dinner. Some places are cheaper if you have dinner before a certain time so make sure you know when that is so you can plan your day. 

BYO snacks and drinks

Bottled water or cans of soda are cheaper when you buy in bulk. We like to get those 24 packs of water and 20 cans of coda boxes and keep them in our room. When we go out on tour of walking about we just bring a bottle with us for when we get thirsty. This saves us at least $4 per drink and saves us getting ripped off in touristy places. Same goes for snacks. Those little packet of chips are a great little snack that takes up hardly any space in your bag. Its great for when you are in  between meals or your not hungry enough for a full meal. We also get some bags of lollies to eat during long drives or tours.

Port of Call-Maui

So on our cruise we have two whole days in Maui. I've been told this is the most nicest port by several different people! To make the most of our days there I went onto Google, Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor to seek out the best plan of attack. There were so many things I wanted to do in this port and not enough time!! Aaahhh!! What to do?? After comparing and researching for weeks we have finally decided!

Day 1 - Hana Highway with Valley Isle Excursions

I likes the sound of the Valley Isle Excursions. The buses are small and they only take 12 at a time. We recently went to Melbourne and did the Great Ocean Road day trip. It was fantastic because we paid slightly extra and went on a small bus of only 13 including the guide/driver. We could easily get off the bus in less than a minute and we managed to stay ahead of the schedule all day allowing us more time once we got to The Twelve Apostles.

We wont be hiring a car at all in Hawaii and this seemed like the best option of seeing a lot of different places and not worrying about taxis or bus timetables.

The Hana Highway looks amazing. The scenery looks beautiful and i love how big the windows on the bus are. Its a very long tour but doesn't bother us- Great Ocean Road was 13 hours and we could have easily gone for a few more hours! We looked at all the reviews and there didn't seem to be too many negative reports.

I like to pick up some tips from previous travellers they are
• Wear old shoes that you wont mind getting muddy
• Bring snacks to nibble on. Lunch is included but its always nice to have a little something incase you dont like the food or start to feel light headed
• Bring some sort of travel sickness remedy. We thankfully dont suffer with motion sickness ( ignoring the time we were in a cyclone at sea and pretty much the whole ship was sick!)
• Bring water. Yes its included but I like to have my own 'stuff'
• Camera cleaning cloth. My lens is always getting mucky from the salt water splashes or sunblock. Bringing a little cloth to wipe the smudges saved me so many times ( also handy for sunglasses and glasses)


Day 2 - Haleakala Crater at Sunrise

I worried over this day for weeks! I wanted to do so many things. Finally I decided to visit the Haleakala Crater. I did plan on doing the day time tour but I got to reading so many reviews about the sunrise tour and somehow I managed to convince the others! So we are doing it. A 3am (or earlier) departure isn't really bothering me ( yet!) its just the coldness.

Temperatures can be as low as 2 degrees Celsius! Plus add in the wind and possible rain- what have we done! We've spent a week looking for thermal clothes to bring with us but where we live in Australia it doesn't really get that cold and there is nothing in the shops! I've Googled how to stay warm and what to bring and they've all said a down jacket - which isn't available in shops anywhere near here!

Here's the plan
• Jeans ( was bringing them anyway)
• Tights under the jeans ( was bringing them as relaxing clothes/ pyjamas)
• Long sleeve t shirt ( the thickest one I have)
• Cardigan ( was bringing one anyway)
• Hoodie ( was bringing it for the plane)
• Scarf, beanie and gloves ( will weigh nothing in my bag and take up no space)
• Bring a blanket from the ship ( hope they dont stop me!)

I'm also going to carry my camera and tripod with me. Am praying my hands dont freeze and I can still use all my equipment.

Originally it was just going to be myself doing the tour ( am going with NCL so everyone was happy I wasn't going to go by myself in the middle of the night) but then I showed my sister some photos and reviews and she decided to join me. Then we showed our dad and he decide to come, then my mum was going to be left by herself so she decided to come- yay! They wasn't impressed about the coldness or the departure time he he :)

Its going to be a crazy few days but hopefully it will be worth it!

Victoria- Great Ocean Road Trip- This size bus was perfect for us

Victoria- Great Ocean Road Trip- Nice country side

Victoria- Great Ocean Road Trip- Beautiful sunset

Victoria- Great Ocean Road Trip- The 12 Apostles 

Port of Call- Honolulu

I've been reading loads of cruise reviews for months now and have noticed something strange- well strange for Australians. It seems that lots of people do tours and activities on the first day of the cruise (the embarkation day) before getting to the port in the afternoon to check in and board the ship. This seems odd as this is not the norm on Australian ships. We usually start driving to the terminal at 9am and arrive at 10am to check in an wait. Its not just our family- its everyone. We all gather in the terminal waiting and waiting to be allowed on the ship. Boarding usually starts at 11am and everyone is on by 2pm at the latest. 

Another strange thing is the cabins aren't ready until the afternoon. That's the first thing we look at as soon as we board. I'm not knocking it, im just fascinated :)

With all that said and I think we are going to head to the terminal as soon as we can and get rid of our luggage. The Aloha Tower seems close by so maybe we'd go and check that out. 

We are super excited to cruise with a different cruiseline- after 9 cruises with P&O Australia we are ready for a change! 

Overseas Passanger Terminal- Sydney Australia

Portside- Brisbane Australia

Princess Ship going under the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Ship docked in Noumea New Caledonia

Why we are cruising

When we decided to go to Hawaii our first thought was to do a land based holiday with a few day trips to the other islands. I really wanted to visit Maui while the other wanted to see the Big Island. After researching these day trip and figuring out they were over $300 each to each island we soon began to search for other options. 

A 7 night cruse on the Pride of America seemed like the ideal cruise. Stopping at 3 different islands with 2 days in Maui and Kauai- perfect! And no days at sea! 

So without any delay we booked our cruise. We would have liked a balcony cabin but with so little time spent on the ship an outside obstructed room felt like a good choice not to mention very cost effective.

Cruising is the ideal way to travel. Food is included, its safe to walk around at night or by yourself, your cabin is only a few flights of stairs away, loads of people to talk to and something is always happening! 

We've done 9 cruises since 2004 so here are my tips

* The laundry room is great for unofficial news and gossip

• Start a conversation with people in lines or when waiting for the shows or activity to start

• Organise your clothes and day bag the night before- its loads easier waking up early when you know your camera is ready to go and your clothes are laid out

• Whenever you are in your room charge your camera batteries!

* If you plan on collecting the daily newspapers bring along a plastic sleeve. This will keep them neat and tidy in your luggage.

* Book your tours before you leave and seek out an alternative activity if it gets cancelled.

* Wait till the second last day to buy any photographs from the ships photographer- they often have specials that will save you money

*Bring a spare bag to store dirty clothes

* Wake up early to see the ship sail into port

• Always bring a light jacket for nights on the ship- the air conditioning can be really cold