This was our first day in the parks! We started out in Epcot so we could get around all of the countries for the Festival of the Arts. Most of us had lists of the food and drinks we wanted to try. We were planning on starting our VIP Tour in Epcot the next day, so we were saving the big rides for that.
One bonus to this time, was they were also preparing for the Flower and Garden Show! We were able to see some topiary displays and they were beautiful. One side note…it was chilly at points during our trip, and they actually had to cover up some plants!
Some of the group did go on Soarin’ and Living with the Land. The Land was pretty bustling!
It was close to 11:00 a.m., when the World Showcase opened, so we headed directly to Mexico. We wanted to get a table at La Cava del Tequila so we could get some chips and queso and drinks. I just love the Mexico Pavilion! I love the ambiance inside.
We got in line around 10:40 a.m. and it was all the way up the ramp already. Here’s a Tik Tok I made poking some fun:
Besides all of the beverages available here, they have the best chips and queso! We waited about an hour for a table for 5 people. It’s a super small area inside, however, if you are just coming for a drink, you can order at the bar and leave right away. That wait is not long at all.
Just before we left, I mobile ordered one of my favorite snacks, the cookie from Karamell-Kuche in Germany, so I could pick it up on my way through the countries!
I saved it for later in the day and it was 10/10 as usual!
I only had one special food stand I realllllly wanted to try this year. This is probably good, because I was full from the chips and queso. This was located in the America Pavilion:
It was actually really good! I loved all 3 things…steak, potatoes, asparagus. The lines for all of the food stands were long, but moved quickly.
Another of my favorite pavilions is Japan. I love the shop here and the views!
We slowly made our way around and got back to the front of the park to catch the monorail. We had 3:45 p.m. reservations at The Beak and Barrel in the Magic Kingdom!
I was supposed to be at Beaches Turks and Caicos for a long weekend with some friends. Sadly, that was canceled, and we had to pivot quickly to decide what we wanted to do. Disney World was the perfect answer! Three of us celebrate birthdays in March, and I turn 50.
We booked a 2 bedroom villa at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, and the rest was history!
I had a super early morning flight from Newark. (Also let me say, a surprise snowstorm was supposed to hit the east coast on 2/22-2/23.). The flight was fine and we were on the ground in Orlando by 11:00 a.m. We took a Lyft and were to the resort by noon. Some of our group were already there, as they had flown in the night before. We met them in the main lobby building. To my surprise, our room was ready! I got the text while in the Lyft on the way to the resort.
I have stayed at Saratoga Springs numerous times. I love the 2 bedroom villas here! They are super spacious and clean. One drawback is the resort is HUGE! There are multiple bus stops and transportation times can be longer, so plan that in your travels.
Our section was the Grandstand. This section is right next to the lobby area, about a 10 minute walk to our room. It also has a nice pool and pool bar. I ordered lunch on the mobile app and took it with me to the room.
This was a fun surprise:
This is the living room area looking into the kitchen. In this room there is a pull down twin bed, and a pull down queen bed, sleeping 3 total people. Both are comfortable and NOT sofa beds. Having the fridge was nice because we placed a small grocery order.
This is the king bedroom that sleeps two.
This is the queen bedroom that sleeps 4.
There are two full bathrooms which was also nice, as well as a washer and dryer, and multiple closets.
This was my lunch. It got jostled a little bit while I was carrying it back to the room, but it was really good! (Mobile order at The Artist’s Palette in advance of when you would like your food! Hit I’m here before you actually get there. I found it to be super slow each time I used it. Also go check for it to be ready before you get pinged on the app. One time they forgot to ping me!)
Grilled Chicken and Rice Bowl–$13.49
After doing a little bit of work in the room, we headed down to the pool to get some sun and warmth while waiting for everyone else to arrive. I was actually surprised at how many people were at the pool in the middle of the day and not at a theme park!
It was nice to get out of freezing cold Pennsylvania!
We had dinner reservations at Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ at 6:00 p.m. We decided to leave the room at 5:00 p.m. and take the boat. The boat goes directly from Saratoga Springs to Disney Springs. This was a longgggg process! We walked to the boat dock, which took probably 10 minutes or so. The line was super long. We weren’t sure we were going to make it on the next boat. However, we were the last ones to make it on and we were a party of 8! One of us had to stand. I haven’t been on the boat post-Covid since they started using them again. There used to be multiple stops at Disney Springs. Now there is only one! And it drops you wayyyyyyy over at the end near the Rainforest Cafe side. Once it drops you, everyone is funneled through security. Then we had to walk allll the way over to Homecomin’ on the clear other side. We got there right at 6:00 p.m.!
Homecomin’ is my favorite restaurant at Disney Springs. They have so many things on the menu that I like and I can never decide what I want!
I opted for the Fried Chicken Salad and split this with a friend so that we could order something else.
This was so good and the perfect amount splitting it with someone. They served it on two separate plates that you can see below which was super nice and I didn’t even ask for them to do that. I just told him we were sharing.
They have some of the best side dishes, and they used to have something on the menu were you could order 3 of them as a sampler. I didn’t see it on the menu but I asked and he said yes! We could still order it. We went with the Momma’s Mac and Cheese, Broccolini, and Creamy Mashed Potatoes.
All of this was SO GOOD! I loved the Broccolini the most. It had the best flavor! The Mac and Cheese was delicious and Mashed Potatoes were super good too. I would order all three again!
Of course we had to order some dessert! It was hard to decide but we got the Hummingbird Cake and it was massive. Definitely big enough to share with multiple people.
This frosting is AMAZING! And the cake was super moist. Delicious dessert that I would definitely get again.
After dinner, we took the bus from Disney Springs to the Polynesian Resort to check out Trader Sam’s. Since we were a large group, the wait was too long, so we sat outside on the deck and had a drink there. A musician was playing some tropical music for us and that was a nice touch. We got to see the Electrical Water Pageant, and the Happily Ever After Fireworks. They pipe the music in. It was the perfect end for our night!
We decided to monorail over to the Grand Floridian and check out the new bar in the lobby.
Sadly it was closed! So we decided to go to the Enchanted Rose. I haven’t had a chance to go here yet, so this was perfect. We were seated outside on the patio. I actually ordered a hot tea because I was starting to lose my voice. This place was packed!
We ended up taking a Lyft back to Saratoga Springs.
I came back to the room to it being decorated! Thank you to my wonderful friends!
That wrapped up our long day. I was super tired. I had been up since 3:00 a.m.
Posted at 4:55 pm by taryngirl, on September 8, 2025
6/15/25
Continuing on with our time at Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge, here is a flyer we received when checking in. Everything you could possibly want to know is here.
This is the lobby area:
Guest services for the lodge is located in the lobby.
You can see they had the ever popular jackets for sale at the store here! TIP! Don’t buy them at the lodge, get them at the souvenir shop on the Riverboat Discovery. They were significantly cheaper there.
This is the tour desk with very helpful staff members. They can answer any questions you may have about the land tour portion or even Fairbanks itself and things to do. It’s located just off of the main lobby area.
Here’s a quick little video showing Seasons, the gift shop and coffee house located in the lobby:
This was great for a quick breakfast, snack or coffee. They also had a great variety of souvenirs here.
It was 1:30 p.m. and we were getting hungry for lunch. We decided to eat at Trackers Bar and Grill in the lodge. (Erik was still out running around outside and would meet up with us later.)
My daughter and I split the Parmesan BLT and fries.
This was really tasty and we were glad we split it because we knew we were going to get dessert.
My other daughter had Chicken Fingers and Mandarin Oranges.
These were not tenders at all, but little nuggets. They were just okay.
For dessert, we ordered the Baked Alaska with Huckleberry Ice Cream.
This was really good! I loved the huckleberry ice cream with it!
We visited the Tour Desk because we wanted to get into the actual town of Fairbanks.
The Lodge had a shuttle for $10 per person round trip. It stopped at 4 different places…our lodge, the Westmark Hotel (which is the hotel that Holland America uses, and Princess may use as an overflow accommodation), the Morris Thompson Cultural Center, and Pioneer Park.
We decided to take the 3 p.m. shuttle to the Morris Thompson Cultural Center. The shuttle picked up right outside the doors where the Tour Desk is.
We chose to get off at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitor Center. It was a very short drive to get into town. The shuttle bus dropped us right near the front door.
Outside before we went in, was a little cabin. This cabin is one of the oldest structures in its original locations in downtown Fairbanks. You can see the timeline of it in the photo below:
We were able to walk inside and look around as well.
Once inside the main building, we were greeted with this sign. Almost 22 hours of daylight the day we were there!
This center had exhibits showing how the people of Alaska live, work and play in interior Alaska.
Besides exhibits, there was a theater with different showings throughout the day.
The different cultural objects and works of art were amazing!
Overall, we loved this visitor center! There was so much information and so many displays. It’s definitely worth a stop if you have time in Fairbanks. You can even walk here from the Westmark Hotel.
Right outside you can find an antler arch. This arch is made up of antlers collected from all over interior Alaska. It’s right next to the river. It was such a warm day and we saw several kayakers and tubers floating.
After leaving the visitor center, we decided to walk into the actual town and check out some shops on our way back to the Westmark Hotel. There were only a few stores and restaurants on our trek. It actually was pretty dead in the town! We did find a few very cool walls though.
We made it back to the Westmark for the 5:30 p.m. shuttle pick up. Once back at the lodge, we decided to eat dinner at Tracker’s again.
My husband ordered the Chena Nachos and they were fine.
My daughter and I shared the Tanana River Burger and Fries. This was also fine. It was kind of small for $19, but the taste was fine.
My other daughter ordered the Pasta with Butter from the kid’s menu. This was a super big disppointment for her! It was gnocchi, which is not typically the kind of pasta that comes in a regular restaurant. And the butter was literally on the side in a dish.
That concluded our day in Fairbanks! We were glad we got to see the “town” and learn a little bit more about the native culture to this area. The food was semi-disappointing at the lodge.
Posted at 3:55 pm by taryngirl, on August 25, 2025
6/15/25
Alaska has always been on my bucket list…especially as a trip to take with my girls before they were both out of the house at college and then on with their own lives. I decided on a Princess Cruise Tour which consisted of 4 days touring on land, and then 7 nights on the Coral Princess. I had done so much research on which cruise line, which ship, which cities to tour on land, which stateroom type, etc. etc.
This was our itinerary:
June 13–Fly into Seattle in the evening.
June 14–Tour Seattle. Visit the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, Museum of Pop Culture and Pike Place Market) In the evening, fly into Fairbanks.
June 15–Fairbanks (Check into lodge. Tour on own.)
June 16–Fairbanks to Denali (Riverboat Discovery Tour, motorcoach to Denali)
June 17–Denali (Tundra Wilderness Tour)
June 18–Denali to Whittier (Direct to Wilderness Rail Service, embark on the Coral Princess)
June 19–Hubbard Glacier
June 20–Glacier Bay National Park
June 21–Skagway
June 22–Juneau
June 23–Ketchikan
June 24–At Sea
June 25–Vancouver (Debark Coral Princess)
We decided to fly into Seattle one day prior and tour there since we had never been. From there, we had a 9:59 p.m. flight into Fairbanks, arriving at 12:49 a.m. (June 15th, the day the land portion started.) Upon landing in Fairbanks, we went directly to Baggage Claim. These smiling faces were standing, waiting for their passengers! Holland America and Princess share a desk in Baggage Claim. We gathered our luggage and then went to the desk to check in. Because we were landing technically a day before our official tour started, they did not have our packet there. Our packet was at the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge front desk. This was no problem at all though. NOTE! I did book an extra night here so we could sleep once we landed. That night is not included in your cruise tour. I wanted to get there a “day” early in case there were flight issues, etc. They did link that extra night with our cruise tour package though and we did not have to move rooms. The regular dates of the tour ARE included in the pricing of your cruise tour.
Here you can see the desk. And you can also see how hopping it was at 12:45 a.m.!
After checking in at the desk, they gave us luggage tags to put on our luggage. These indicated they were going directly to the lodge and we didn’t have to pull them with us. The Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge is about 5 minutes from the airport. The luggage went in a different truck from the motorcoach. You can see them gathering our luggage here:
Also, this was our first reality check for the daylight/night time sky! This picture was taken at 12:56 a.m.
Once the motorcoach arrived, we took our backpacks with us and boarded. Everyone here was going to the same lodge. All of these people were beginning their land tour though on 6/14. So they had planned group excursions to go to 6/15. I did not want to do this for our tour, which is why I booked the extra night! I didn’t want to be a walking zombie. We have a 4 hour time change.
On the walk to the motorcoach, we were swarmed with mosquitos! They were everywhere.
A representative boarded with us and went over the packets and what was included.
The packet:
This packet is specific to the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge portion of the trip. The handout inside shows you any prebooked activities and optional tour information. It also tells you your motorcoach number. There will be multiple motorcoaches showing up to the lodge. Your departure information is listed as well.
I know the luggage tags that they give you are confusing. Here is a good description of them and pictures of what they look like.
We purposely packed two entire suitcases of JUST things we needed for the cruise portion. Our dinner outfits, shoes, etc. These you can have sent directly to the ship so you don’t have to transport them on the land portion from lodge to lodge.
Those who received their packets at the airport also received their room keys and could go directly to their rooms. The luggage was in the hotel lobby when we arrived. They beat us there! We were the only people checking in at the front desk of the lodge. I confirmed with her that our reservations were connected and we wouldn’t have to switch rooms.
The room was fine for 2 nights. We did have a clogged shower drain, as in the water would not drain AT ALL! So I called the front desk and someone came within 5 minutes to unclog it for us. It was a boy and a girl about 20ish I would say. They got the biggest hairball out of the drain, they couldn’t believe it!
One thing I wasn’t prepared for…
We were not prepared for heat! I had my family pack layers, winter coats, rain gear, etc. But we didn’t pack summer clothing per se. Needless to say, some shuffling amongst the “cruise” suitcases had to happen.
The girls and I slept. It was 4:00 a.m.ish our time at home and we were tired! It was basically daylight when we went to sleep. My husband was up at 8:00 a.m. and out the door exploring. He went walking all around, down the main strip of highway, and stopped into several of the local hotels and eateries on the way. Pike’s Waterfront Lodge was of particular interest to him. It was the start of the Iditarod in 2003 and 2015, as well as the start and finish line for the Iron Dog, which is a 2000 mile snowmobile race.
Around 9:30 a.m., some of us decided to eat breakfast at Edgewater Restaurant inside our lodge.
Breakfast ended at 10:00 a.m., but at 9:35 a.m., there were some things that were completely empty and they weren’t refilling them. If you want the full selection, definitely get here by 9:00 a.m.!
The food was okay and edible, not outstanding, but good enough. It was about 10:30 a.m. when we left the restaurant. We decided to walk around the lodge to check out what all it had to offer.
Another dining option for lunch and dinner:
This restaurant is completely outside on the deck. The views were amazing! We unfortunately did not get a chance to eat here.
Here you can see part of the lodge:
From there I walked out front since I didn’t really look there when we arrived.
Here’s a property map:
Overall, we were very happy to begin our vacation and get on a normal schedule.
Posted at 11:24 am by taryngirl, on March 12, 2025
12/15/25
We woke up at 7:00 a.m. with plans to leave the resort by 8:00 a.m. We were going to Uber/Lyft over to Portofino Bay.
The Lyft ride was $20 plus I gave an $8 tip. It was about a 30-35 minute drive.
I had booked this resort for the Unlimited Express Pass benefit. It would allow all 4 of us to have it on check in and check out days. If staying at a different category resort and purchasing Express Pass separately, it was over $300 for one day for just two people. This was an excellent value for us!
I first went to get our park tickets in the lobby. It was a very easy process. Then I went to check-in for the room and she mentioned we had received an upgrade to Minion Kids Suite. WOO HOO! I had booked the least expensive room available to us, so this was a pleasant surprise. The room was not ready, so we dropped our bags with Bell Services and proceeded to the park after taking some photos around the property.
The lobby was all decorated for Christmas.
This is the little courtyard area next to the lobby. You can see the blue awning, which is where the ticket desk is, and Avis rental car is at the red awning.
The walk on the way to the boat transportation:
These are rooms above the shops, etc.
The outdoor dining area for one of the restaurants:
Looking back towards the hotel from the boat dock:
This looks like a scene right out of a movie! A quaint Italian town!
Even though we went to the park, I’m going to continue this post with our room after we checked in! The next post will be our time in the park.
As I said in a previous post, we were upgraded to the Kids Suite! It was so spacious!
Just inside the front door:
The view walking in the front door:
The bathroom:
The closet:
The King bedroom:
The kid’s room:
We LOVED the room! It was so spacious. This room also allows a rollaway to accommodate 5 people. We were sad we were only spending one night here!
General information in the room:
In_Room Dining was an option here. It was extensive, offering many choices for all hours of the day, as well as a menu for cats and dogs!
Overall, we had a great day! Up next is our first day in the theme parks.
Posted at 8:42 am by taryngirl, on January 23, 2025
12/14/24
This trip came about as a birthday celebration for my youngest daughter. We decided to let her pick a friend to join us. The night before we were flying to Florida, her friend suffered an injury in her high school basketball game. She arrived to our house in the morning on crutches and with ice packs! Ackkkkk! Since we were flying Southwest Airlines, I went into her confirmation and added a wheelchair to it. I had NO idea the extent of the injury, but I knew I wanted her to walk the least amount necessary!
Southwest was great! We checked in like normal and then went to a “wheelchair assistance” desk. They scanned her boarding pass and we were off to head through security. We went through a special entrance and there was no line. They also wheeled her to the gate and upon boarding, we all were permitted to preboard with her. Our flight was not full.
Once on the plane, she did have to get up every 20 minutes and take a stroll down the aisle to avoid blood clots. (Her crutches fit in the overhead bin.)
Now, let me do a preview…
We are Disney Vacation Club members. We had 3 day tickets for Universal Studios Orlando. So for our arrival day, we took a Lyft to Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, which I booked with our DVC points. My plan was to take the monorail around to the resorts and look at the Christmas decorations and gingerbread houses, wake up the next morning and Lyft to Universal.
Our Lyft from the airport to Bay Lake Tower was $50 plus tip.
We landed around noon and were at our resort by 1:00 p.m. Our room was not ready yet, so we checked our luggage with Bell Services, and went to get something to eat.
It was a beautiful day!
Bay Lake Tower is connected to the main Contemporary Resort by a Skybridge walkway. This is located on the 5th floor of BLT. The gingerbread display was located directly inside the Contemporary once crossing the Skybridge walkway.
I loved seeing this:
It was amazing in person! There also was a little stand set up where they were selling gingerbread goodies.
For lunch we went to Contempo Cafe, which is one of my FAVORITE quick service locations.
We mobile ordered. The menu:
If you do not mobile order, you can order at the cashier and then they will deliver the food to your table.
I ordered the Vegetable Flatbread–Zucchini, Red Onion, Roasted Red Pepper, Roasted Tomato, Asparagus, Mozzarella, Parmesan, and Pistou finished with Balsamic Glaze and Chives $13.29
This was actually amazing! The taste was so good, and it was a good serving size. I could not eat it all.
Chicago Style Italian Beef Sub–shaved Italian Beef, Mozzarella, Giardiniera, and Seasoned Au Jus $13.99
This was also really good! He ate the whole thing.
Kids Chicken Strips–Served with 2 sides and a drink $8.49
Fun fact, anyone can really order a kid’s meal at a quick service location. It’s a good portion size and comes with choice of 2 sides and a drink. Both girls got double fries and a water. They loved these!
Chili-Cheese Fries $6.99
We also ordered a side of the Chili Cheese Fries. These were also really good!
Here are some of the desserts that were available:
Overall, 10/10 meal here! It was super busy and tables were limited.
From here, we hopped on the monorail and headed out to check out the Polynesian and Grand Floridian. We all four had a backpack because we weren’t able to check into our room yet. So I had my laptop, others had ipads, etc. Security was crazy. All 4 of us were flagged and they had to go through our bags at every single checkpoint during this journey.
Our first stop was the Polynesian. This is one of my favorite Disney resorts! I love the vibe here!
This is the view walking in from the monorail:
The decorations were so pretty!
We looked in the shops and then got back on the monorail to go to the Grand Floridian.
This is the view when walking in from the monorail:
It was bustling with activity in here! The gingerbread house was up and there was a longgggg line waiting to buy some gingerbread goodies.
The cast members actually stand INSIDE the gingerbread house to serve the customers. It’s huge!
From here we got back onto the monorail to head to our resort. I had received a text that our room was ready!
Up next…Bay Lake Tour 1 Bedroom Villa, Dinner at Steakhouse 71.
Posted at 2:58 pm by taryngirl, on January 15, 2025
8/7/25
Today we docked in Kona. This is located on the same island as Hilo, just on the opposite coast. This port has a lot of shops and restaurants within walking distance.
We did have to take a tender to the mainland. I had to go pick up tickets early in the morning. From there, we had to wait for our number to be called, and then we could head to the tender.
I did some searching before the cruise. We wanted a beach day, but didn’t want to have to travel far in case my mom needed to go back to the ship. I found a cabana right at the end of the dock at Courtyard by Marriott King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel. It was $200.00 for a cabana from 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. I could pick exactly which cabana I wanted and I booked directly on their website.
We were off the ship and at the hotel by 9:00 a.m.
This was the cabana I chose:
Our attendant made up the area and brought us some bottled water and chips.
They did have chairs for hotel guests. We did sit in two of them, and our attendant said it was fine as long as our towels from the ship were not out. It never was full. The beach however, WAS full. You could rent individual chairs and umbrellas from a stand on the beach.
Also, if you didn’t want to rent any chairs, you could just come and lay on the beach. The beach wasn’t just for hotel guests. It was partly cloudy, so not the greatest beach weather!
As the day went on, this beach filled in entirely with chairs!
This is looking from the beach back towards the hotel.
The view from the cabana towards the beach:
This is the stand where you could rent umbrellas and chairs. This sign is for hotel guest information, but they did rent to anyone.
Overall our beach day was just okay. The weather was eh. It did sprinkle multiple times. We felt like we paid too much for the cabana since there were chairs for rent that we could put right on the beach. The beach area itself was super small and crowded. If we had to do it again, we would definitely go to a different beach! On a previous trip we went to Hapuna Beach and it was beautiful and fun.
We went back to the ship in the late afternoon and just relaxed some more. For dinner, my mom and I were going to eat at Moderno, a specialty dining Brazlilian steakhouse! I did make a reservation prior to getting on the ship.
Upon being seated, we met our waiter. He explained the process…we were given a little table marker where one side was green and one side was red. If the green side was up, that meant we still wanted more food.
We started at the amazing 43 item salad bar! This was SO GOOD. There were so many different vegetable options!
The meats were accompanied by Traditional Brazilian Sides…white rice, black beans, sauteed mushrooms, garlic mashed potatoes, fried yucca and Brazilian cheese bread.
The meats that would be coming around (sliced off of skewers!) were beef tenderloin, flank steak, top sirloin, parmesan crusted chicken drumettes, bacon-wrapped chicken breast, lamb top sirloin, pork loin, Brazilian pork sausage, pork belly.
I knew I wanted to focus on beef! I love any kind of steak, especially when I am not the one cooking it.
Here is where my picture taking went down hill! They were coming around so fast with every different kind of meat. Everything was DELICIOUS!
THIS! This was grilled pineapple but it had a sugar like coating. It was AMAZING!
By the time dessert came, I was so full!
Overall, this meal was excellent. I wish we could have eaten here every night, because I would have! Such a huge step up quality wise from the main dining rooms.
Posted at 9:45 am by taryngirl, on December 31, 2024
8/6/24
Today we docked in Hilo on the Big Island. This is where the volcano is located, and many were doing that excursion. We instead opted for a Hoppa On Hoppa Off City Tour due to my mom’s limited mobility. Also, my kids and I have been to the volcano before.
Here were the ship’s activities for the day:
Breakfast in the Main Dining Room:
Our tour departed at 9:30 a.m., so we were up early for breakfast. We got to the main dining room around 7:20 a.m.
Basket of Pastries:
I LOVED the raspberry danishes!
Mushroom, Spinach, Onion Omelet with a Side of Sausage and Breakfast Potatoes
This was mine and it was very good!
Ham and Cheese Omelet:
This was also good!
Traditional Buttermilk Pancakes with a Side of Bacon:
My daughter liked these.
Sides of Toast:
We finished eating around 8:00 a.m. and went back to the room to get ready to debark the ship.
We booked our excursion outside of the ship tours directly on the THIS WEBSITE. (Keikana Tours, Hilo) The tour was good for all ages and was 2.5 hours escorted. The cost per adult was $42 each. We were to meet 20 minutes before departure time. The tour office was located 100 yards from the ship. They did provide a shuttle if you didn’t want to walk. Our departure time was 9:30 a.m.
We made our way to the tour office and it was busy! They offer a few different tours, and many were doing the volcano tour. We boarded our bus and were on our way. We drove on Banyan Tree Drive which is composed of a canopy of banyan trees with plaques noting which celebrity planted the tree. Just a few were Amelia Earhart and F.D.R. This route led us directly to Reed’s Bay Beach. We stopped here and were able to get out and walk around and take photos.
It was the most beautiful day weatherwise!
There were several people out boating and paddleboarding.
One of the banyan trees:
Here you can see our cruise ship in the distance.
Our next stop was Liliuokalani Gardens, the largest, authentic Edo-style ornamental garden outside of Japan. Queen Liliuokalani, donated the original five acres of land to create a public park in 1907. This beautifully landscaped park features arching bridges over fishponds, rock gardens, pagodas, Japanese stone lanterns and a teahouse.
We were given about 30 minutes to walk around on our own and then meet back at the bus.
This was a really nice stop! The grounds were gorgeous, and I really think my mom enjoyed it.
Our next stop was Big Island Candies Candy Factory. They were very welcoming! Right inside the front door we could taste the sample of the day. In this case it was, Macadamia Nut Shortbread Chocolate Chip Cookies (THAT WERE SO GOOD), and Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Crunch (THAT WAS ALSO SO GOOD).
This was an actual functioning candy factory and we could see inside the production room!
There was also a little snack bar with extremely reasonable prices. One daughter got a smoothie (really good), and the other got a hot dog.
I ended up buying both of the free samples and some gifts for family. This was a great stop!
Our next stop was Rainbow Falls.
This was a nice, short stop.
We also stopped at the King Kamehameha Statue, but I don’t have any pictures!
Our final stop was the Hilo Farmers Market. The bus stopped here, and if wanted to get off, we could take any bus back to the tour center when we were finished. They have a “blue line shuttle” that would take us from the tour center to the Blacksand Beach.
There were so many vendors here with both fresh fruits and vegetables, prepared foods, and souvenirs.
We shopped for a little bit and then caught a bus back to the tour center. From there we boarded a different bus to take us to the a black sand beach, Richardson Ocean Park.
Fun story…We had been to Hawaii about 8 years ago. We stayed on the Big Island in Hilo in a VRBO. Every day, we would walk across the street to this very same beach! At the time, we didn’t know how good it really was. There were tons of turtlesand people snorkeling.
Here’s the house we stayed in on our last trip!
We did a little photo shoot for the girls here. It was just breathtaking! We were slightly sad we didn’t wear our swimsuits!
We caught the shuttle back to the ship shortly after this. I have no other photos for this day! I think we ate at the buffet because we had given up hope on the main dining room. I know for sure we did our nightly sudoku and listened to some live music.
Overall, the day was great! We saw many sites in Hilo. It was beautiful!
Posted at 11:39 am by taryngirl, on October 3, 2024
8/3/24
After our morning tour, the bus dropped us off directly at the port around 2:45 p.m. The check in process was very easy. There wasn’t really a line at all to check in or get through security. Everyone received a shell lei. We were on the ship within minutes!
Here’s the Freestyle Daily for Day 1. This included everything for the day…dining options, entertainment, etc.
Because we were boarding later in the day, our cabin was ready and we were able to go directly there to unload our carry-ons. We were staying in an Inside Cabin. There were four of us, so two pullmans and two twin beds on the bottom. With this layout, it did not give us the option to have one queen bed on the bottom…probably because of banging heads!
One side of the cabin:
You can see two deep drawers here. The safe is up top behind that small door, and there’s a big shelf on top of that.
This is the other side:
Two deep drawers here, as well as a few shelves. The door at the top was our beverage cooler.
The huge closet:
There were shelves on both sides of the closet.
Overall, we were super happy with the room size! Compared to an Inside on RCCL, we felt we had way more storage and space. I would 100% book this same cabin type again on this ship.
Here’s a video tour of the cabin:
We decided to explore the ship some. We weren’t really hungry since we had a good lunch. These ship maps were near each elevator.
Once up on deck, my girls headed directly to the pool to find seats.
There really was no shortage of chairs on this ship.
After a spin around the outside decks, I checked out the Key West Bar & Grill, which had a small buffet set up. It was perfect for an afternoon snack while at the pool.
Next, we went inside to explore a little bit.
This is Deck 6, Pink’s Champagne Bar. This was a hot spot throughout the week, hosting musicians, trivia, and other activities.
Next I went to the library. This place was AMAZING! And huge! This is only one part of it! There was a whole other section bigger than this one.
The card/game room:
We spent every night in here after dinner doing the daily Sodoku that they had! A lot of people used this room for cards and other games. There were always other people in there when we were.
The Mardi Gras…a lounge and night club:
We also spent some evenings here for dance parties.
The Hollywood Theater…where we watched the shows in the evenings:
So Norwegian Cruise Line has a “dine when you want” policy. There are no set dining times, and no seat assignments. The Main Dining Room was open from 5:00-9:00 p.m. each evening. I’ve been on tons of cruises. I LOVE having a set dining time with a set wait staff. They get to know you and what you like, and they learn your pace. We went to dinner around 6:00 p.m. We didn’t have a wait at all. There are two Main Dining Rooms….Skyline Restaurant, and Liberty Restaurant. We went to the Skyline on the first night.
For some reason I did not take a photo of the menu! Gahhhh, I always take a photo so I can remember what I had. Our wait staff was very nice. It did take FOREVER to get our food. There was hardly anyone in the restaurant, so I have no idea what took so long.
This was my dinner:
I honestly don’t remember what it was. It was okay, but it wasn’t great except for the baked potato! We left feeling underwhelmed.
From there we went outside for the sunset. It was absolutely gorgeous!
Posted at 11:03 am by taryngirl, on September 29, 2024
7/6/24
When we woke up today, my husband was not feeling well at all. Apparently he was awake all night with stomach issues. The rest of us felt fine, so I thought maybe he was dehydrated from the day before. The girls and I went to breakfast and then went and got chairs near the beach.
Here you can see the vendors who walk up and down the beach trying to sell their items.
We walked down to the part of the beach where they surfed yesterday. It was not rocky in that area, so we felt safer going out into the waves with no water shoes.
This is looking back at that area. (There is public parking here so it was much busier. This is also the area where alot of the vendors were stationed.)
I found this beautiful starfish!
I also found this guy again on the wall right in front of our chairs:
And this interesting insect appeared on my bag:
I had gone back to the room to check on my husband a few times, and he was not better. He couldn’t get out of bed and didn’t anything to eat or drink.
It started raining again, so we moved into the restaurant to a table for some drinks and cards.
We didn’t really have a plan for dinner tonight. One family wanted sushi, and the rest wanted Italian.
The Italian restaurant was attached to the resort, so it was just a quick walk to get there. This is the kitchen area where they made the pizzas and pastas! It was open air, and right where the very limited seating was.
Here you can see the street and how close it was to the seats.
I had the spaghetti bolognese and it was so good!
This wrapped up our trip to Costa Rica! It was certainly a whirlwind. The next day we had breakfast and then boarded our private transportation to the Liberia airport, which was about 45 minutes away.
(My husband was still very sick. He didn’t go to dinner, but survived the trip home. After we got home, my sister-in-laws family all also weren’t feeling great. We think it was due to the water in Tamarindo (traveler’s diarrhea)! Not everyone drank bottled water. My two girls and I drank bottled water. Everyone was back to normal in about two weeks.)
Taryn Travels 