Aloha Hawaii! Our 10 Day Cruise to Hawaii on the Disney Wonder, September 7, 2015 Trip Report completed 07/31/2016 - Page 20 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I was really excited for Honolulu - 43 years ago, I lived close by in a small town (at the time) called Mililani. One of my sister's was born here as my father was stationed at the Army base. My only memories are few and vague (I can't even remember what I came into the room for sometimes!) but I was ready to make new and fresh ones with my own children...
By the time we were pulling into Honolulu, Dh had already been up top snapping photos. He was still experimenting with our smartphones, comparing cameras. I will take the time here to apologize. This segment will be photo heavy - we took hundreds this day! (Don't worry, I won't get too crazy )
This was taken exactly at 6:00am.
Diamondhead looming in the background.
The city waking up...
Another cruise ship in the distance. I love how the houses hug the mountains.
The World Trade Center Hawaii
Another, not so pretty port.
Docked now.
The sunrise on the clouds almost look like a painting
This is the view from our veranda. We are docked at Pier 2, Ala Moana Blvd.
Our trip among the islands.
After breakfast, we went down to wait for Waikiki Trolley ("HOHO - Hop On, Hop Off") that we booked to tour the city. We had to first take a quick trip to The Galleria Mall as this was the hub where we'd catch the Red Line "Historic Honolulu Sightseeing Tour". We could have booked through DCL, but it was less expensive to do it on our own (by half).
I can't remember which trolley we boarded to get to the Galleria, but along the way, we got to see some of the sights. (Boy I wish I would've had the time to journal while we were riding, but I was trying to soak everything in!) We sat on the top level of the trolley which was covered, but open. The driver pretty much told us something about everything we were looking at, from the small store fronts, to the high rise hotels.
We finally made it to the trolley depot at the mall. We were ushered through the mall entrance and downstairs to check in and get our tickets for trolley, the "Red Line: Historic Honolulu Sightseeing Tour". There are several different colored lines, one for shopping, one for more a more scenic route by the ocean, etc. We showed the person at the counter our confirmation number and we were to come back to queue up for the 12:05pm trolley.
It was pretty cool that we were in America, but many places, I felt like I was in Japan! There were many, many Japanese tourists. They even had their own tour buses and trolleys
While we were waiting I got in some more photos. I just loved all the brightly colored foliage everywhere.
The window displays were amazing!
We walked across the street to the stands selling things to look around.
Here's what the "trolley" looks like.
Apparently, Garlic Shrimp is a favorite local snack around these parts. Sadly, we never got to try any
We had time to look around inside the mall for a little bit (and find the restrooms )
Cute Japanese Kawaii stuff!
Artwork by the bathroom
There were more people, I just waited for a shot without them
Finally it was time to queue up for the trolley. We went back downstairs to sit in the correct benches. I was very impressed by the almost military precision they were running things! There were crowds of people that were waiting for 4 different trolley lines and they herded us correctly to the right benches. When it was time, they led us back out onto the street where our trolley was waiting. This was much better than bunches of people milling around, jamming up the sidewalks. I highly recommend Waikiki Trolley! (I had the feeling they only did this for tour groups or shore excursions. At any time, you could just purchase a ticket and go to whatever trolley stop you wanted to. This was just to keep us organized.)
We sat in those seats in the front in the top level.
I remember very little about our trip to Oahu in 1992 (but then again, I guess that is 24 years ago). I love those HOHO tours, as it gives you a great overview of a city.
So good to know all about the trolley, as the one thing we really didn't do during our visit to Aulani was spend time in Honolulu. We saw bits of it, but not much. The plan is when we hopefully go back next year is to spend our first night, maybe two, in Honolulu, so we can properly explore it, before heading back to Aulani.
I remember very little about our trip to Oahu in 1992 (but then again, I guess that is 24 years ago). I love those HOHO tours, as it gives you a great overview of a city.
Time flies, wow! The HOHO was so easy There's a new line that goes to Pearl Harbor now, the Purple Line.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
So good to know all about the trolley, as the one thing we really didn't do during our visit to Aulani was spend time in Honolulu. We saw bits of it, but not much. The plan is when we hopefully go back next year is to spend our first night, maybe two, in Honolulu, so we can properly explore it, before heading back to Aulani.
We were hoping very much that the Wonder would return to Hawaii, we would've been the first ones booked! We were thinking about just flying there next year, but we'll have to see. Aulani was just beautiful!
Wow - looking at your pictures makes me miss Hawaii, particularly Honolulu and Waikiki area! Brings back back memories... We love the trolley tours too... hoping to go back next summer (fingers crossed)
Glad to see the Trolley was so organized! Definitely makes it easier with so much going on
I will certainly check it out again if we have the chance!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcamozzi67
Wow - looking at your pictures makes me miss Hawaii, particularly Honolulu and Waikiki area! Brings back back memories... We love the trolley tours too... hoping to go back next summer (fingers crossed)
We were hoping to go back too, but no cruise next year, plus some other trips planned.
Honolulu HOHO tour continued: State Capitol Building
We climbed up to the top deck of the bus and me and the kids got seats together in the front. Pro: We got a clear view from the front of the bus to take headless pictures. Con: Not much leg room and with the sun shining directly onto us, it was hot! Everyone else had the advantage of a breeze from the open sides.
This is an ABC Store. It's one of many local convenience stores where you can buy food, souvenirs, and various sundries.
A Japanese trolley - see the whale fin on top? So cute!
Another Japanese trolley
The first hotel to open in Waikiki - 1901
It's a beautiful hotel, I wish I could've gotten all of it.
2 weddings!
Waikiki Beach!
Duke Kahanamoku Statue - Olympic champion, local hero, father of modern surfing.
Historic apartment building. I can't remember why
Canal.
Popular fabric shop, specializing in authentic Hawaiian fabrics
Mango tree. Right in the middle of the city, next to an apartment building.
Queen Ka'ahumanu Elementary School
Coming up on the State Capitol building
We got off the bus here to explore the building.
I'm not sure if was because it was the time of year or time of day, but we pretty much had the place all to ourselves
I think it was from Cheryl Pendry's awesome TR that I remembered the building was modeled after a volcano. This is the "roof" of the volcano from the middle of the building.
...the sides of the volcano.
"water"
Congressmen and congresswomen here.
Senators here.
Next: Honolulu city tour continued: 'Iolani Palace
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I'm loving all your photos of Honolulu, as we saw so little of the place. We did see the State Capitol Building, so I will take the credit for that information in your trip report, as I remember including it!
I'm loving all your photos of Honolulu, as we saw so little of the place. We did see the State Capitol Building, so I will take the credit for that information in your trip report, as I remember including it!
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Honolulu HOHO tour continued: 'Iolani Palace and more
We continued on walking towards 'Iolani Palace. I have to mention that it was pretty hot and humid, but we took our time so it wasn't that bad. When I got back from the trip, I began reading the book that I had taken with me, "Hawaii", by James Michener. I was reminded of all the historical sites and characters that I saw on the trip while reading.
Queen Lili'uokalani - The last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, first Hawaiian female author, writer of the famous song, "Aloha Oe".
Nice shaded parking lot
Looking up into the canopy
This is 'Iolani Palace. This was the royal residence of the kings and queens of Hawaii.
We didn't have time to tour inside, but that would have been really neat.
We rested her for a few minutes in the shade. We also had to decide if we should go on to Chinatown on foot or head back to wait at the bus stop. Waiting on the bus might've taken a long time, but less walking for Anne and Martha in the heat. Walking to Chinatown was easier and shorter time, but we weren't 100% sure where we were going. We ended up deciding on Google maps and not risking the bus.
Nearby was the Aliiolani Hale: the Supreme Court of Hawaii (King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center). Or more commonly known as the headquarters where the "Hawaii Five-0" tv series takes place The statue is King Kamehameha himself.
Someone spotted a hotdog cart and we shared some nice cold drinks. We chatted with the owner - he was a transplant from Pittsburg
We continued walking towards Chinatown and we started to see more people. I was really surprised that there weren't that many tourists. I guess that was an advantage of going to Hawaii in September.
I was practicing with the panoramic setting on my phone going "up". It took some practice to get it so that the lines weren't bowed out looking.
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Great pictures. We didn't go into Honolulu proper at all, just the outskirts to travel to Manoa Falls. It looks like we Ned to head into town on our next Aulani trip.
Great pictures. We didn't go into Honolulu proper at all, just the outskirts to travel to Manoa Falls. It looks like we Ned to head into town on our next Aulani trip.
Oh yes - so much to see and do!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
We loved the 'Iolani Palace, but sadly we didn't get to tour either, as it was closed the day we were there. We definitely will do it next time.
I've put so many things on the "next time" list!
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Honolulu HOHO tour continues - Chinatown
We've been to the Chinatown here in Washington DC, but it's pretty commercialized from what I've seen. I was looking forward to exploring this one. This one was pretty authentic!
I would love to know the history of those old stonework and brickwork buildings.
Wow - I don't even know what some of these things are!
Cool, yellow limes.
I think those green ones are jackfruit?
Lots of shops to explore. We didn't spend any time in them as we were now looking for some place to eat. Looking for an authentic Chinese food restaurant with 6 different appetites and tastes is difficult!
We finally found a place to eat. I wanted to be more adventurous, but I was outvoted for something more familiar.
This was going to be interesting! The manager/server/cashier knew about as many words in English as we knew in Mandarin (hardly any!) and this was a Cantonese restaurant! We managed to order what we wanted, except for Dh. He wanted "shrimp egg rolls". Apparently this item is not served here or she didn't understand. There were vegetarian spring rolls, but we could not get her to understand that he wanted shrimp instead. Finally, she ended up bringing literally shrimp, wrapped in egg roll wrappers and deep fried. Not exactly what Dh had in mind, but he said they were good
We had spent some time looking for a place that had lots of people eating there, I guess as a sign that it was "okay" to eat there. This isn't exactly what Dh had in mind, but I was totally open to trying it.
The kids ordered the steamed pork buns - they loved them!
potstickers
"Char Sui Fried Noodle" $7.75 (Delicious! It was so much we couldn't eat it all)
The best fried rice any of us had ever had. Seriously. $9.50, we worked really hard to finish this.
Leaving out. I had to zoom in to crop out the guy sleeping on the sidewalk out of respect. There were surprisingly, a lot of homeless people in Honolulu. It's always sad, but with all this paradise and beauty around it was a little jarring.
Bellies full and pleased with our little adventure, we started to head to the trolley stop.
I had seen this place on a travel show and I wish I could've explored inside
Fresh produce everywhere!
Vietnamese restaurant "The Pig and The Lady"
While we waited our bus, many more busses passed us by. We waited for a while actually, I think we must have just missed one when we got to the stop. (Isn't the whale bus cute?)
Our bus finally came, and this time, I made sure I got a better seat.
More people out now that it was cooler.
There's our boat
The gentleman with the microphone was the one that was giving us all the great historical facts while we passed by landmarks.
I was strangely filled with pride as other people gazed at "our" ship.
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dinner looked so good I love Hawaiian flavors! 
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The statue is King Kamehameha himself.
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