DL and BEYOND (Hawaii !) pre trip (videoclip pg 4)

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

I'll tell you all EVERYTHING about green turtles soon !!!!!!!!!!

Laura

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

January 2008
The reason why the low cost cabins had disappeared was that NCL was making “synergies” … meaning that they were reducing to JUST ONE their ships cruising along Hawaiian islands.
At that point we discovered that the “Pride of Aloha” had been repositioned as well.
That was too much !!! DGH was “fed up” and so was I !!
We withdrew from the Cruise !!!!!!!!

By that time DGH had purchased in Hawaii many books and local magazines describing the beauty of the various islands, each having its particular “flavour”; this was very helpful in knowing what we “wanted” from our trip … AND it made easy for us to change plans again :
now we decided to spend one week in Waikiki and one week on Big Island !! WOW !!!!!!!!

February 2008
Our flights now are getting way more complex …
Marco decides to buy our tickets well in advance through Expedia; all flights are United Airlines ,so we can get a good price reduction making a complete roundtrip:
Chicago – LAX
LAX – Honolulu
Honolulu – Kona (code sharing with Aloha Airlines)
Kona – Chicago

February had been a not-so-good month for my ongoing treatment ;I even had to stay at home in sick leave !! While resting in bed I spent lots of time reading about Hawaii …. And I LITERALLY fell in love with a location /resort in the Big Island of Hawaii :

The hotel is directly built on tide pools – where you can spot GREEN SEA TURTLES and many different kinds of Hawaiian fish. Snorkeling is just a few steps away from the resort and on property you have remainings of ancient heiau ( Hawaiian sacred places ) …
You could say that

my HEART lives there , among all those gentle sea creatures !!!

Another hotel I LOVED at first glance was this one , located across the street from the entrance of Disneyland California :

Don’t you love it ?? don’t you feel like you were in FANTASYLAND ???
Which one is “my” hotel or …
my favourite “land” in all Disney parks ??? where I can “feel” that fantasy, nostalgia and MAGIC live ???

As I do believe that husband and wife must have hehe SAME rights … I let Marco decide about the third hotel we needed to find :

He chose this hotel , right on Waikiki beach - with a stunning view of Diamond Head !!
plus the hotel runs lots of Hawaiian activities , such as lei making , hula lessons , Hawaiian history talks and … EVEN a complimentary “Wow renewal ceremony” ( Oh no ! AGAIN ?!? This time we’ll be married for more than 30 years !!!! ) taking place on the beach !

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS of our staying on Oahu will be a tour up to famous North Shore :

and all kind of Hawaiian traditions , like the meaningful HULA dance :

Now … are we missing something ??
[Another / last update coming soon ]

laura

 

[diberry]

It's a shame about the cruise but 2 whole weeks on Hawaii sounds wonderful! The hotel in Waikiki looks lovely - and in a perfect location. I remember seeing the Camelot hotel in Anaheim - it does look very nice! I'm really enjoying reading your pre-trippie Laura - in 2 weeks you'll be on your way!!

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

Diana , did you spot the GREEN TURTLES basking in the sun in front of our hotel ?

laura

 

[diberry]

Yes I did - they look like they've been photoshopped into the picture!!! Please post a piccie of you swimming with them when you get back!!!!

 

[DGH]

Yes I did - they look like they've been photoshopped into the picture!!!

I just "greened" them a little ... but they are really there, it's a picture taken by a resort guest.

 

[diberry]

I was joking - didn't realise your photoshopping skills were really involved - as always, you did a great job DGH!!! LOVE this one!!!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

It all sounds very idyllic - I would love the hotel with the sea turtles! Not long to go now!
I have been on Waikiki beach once before - when I worked for Princess cruises - I remember expecting great big surfing waves and the sea was as quiet as anything - you could buy T-shirts with "hang loose gecko" on them just across from the beach and everyone was wearing them!

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

It all sounds very idyllic - I would love the hotel with the sea turtles!
I remember expecting great big surfing waves and the sea was as quiet as anything

I SO look forward to waking up in the morning with gentle turtles swimmimg in front of our room window !!

As far as I know the BIG HIGH WAVES are on the North Shore of Oahu - eg Banzai Pipeline ; we plan to go and see by ourselves , though the big waves,I'm told, are in Winter time ...

laura

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

12 days until we start our trip to CALIFORNIA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting VEEEERY EXCITED here !!!

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

SO … here we are !! Our visit with Mickey is booked , as well as the hotels on Hawaii islands .
We were happy enough – as it looked like we had all “major” decisions done !!!

I started to feel sooo excited ...
WHEN , suddenly, Marco had to tell me that Aloha Airlines had bankrupted !!!

What a shame !! we had reserved with UNITED AIRLINES also our flight Honolulu –Kona , but it was a code sharing with ALOHA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And NOW ?????????

We had LOOONG –very expensive intercontinental calls with Expedia first – then , as it looked like they could not solve the problem !?! – we directly talked with United : on the KONA FORUM I had read that many inter-islands flights were sold out and people could not find seats to Kona ( unless they wanted to switch to non-reliable-small local companies …)
Never mind, commented Marco, we can always reach Kona swimming … ????????

… or maybe by local boats !!?!!

After MANY looong calls to UNITED they agreed to relocate us on another carrier … HAWAIIAN AIRLINES !! WOW !! We had our inter –islands flight again !!!
BUT …

April 2008
when we got the internet ticket … it said : PARTY OF FOUR !!! Oh no !!
New long calls , at the end of which I ... withdrew !
A very kind United employer convinced me ( making me count on my fingers ! ) that AFTER ALL we ARE four , meaning we need other two new tickets ??!!??
MMMMMMMMMM …….

AND a new change was … round the corner !!!!!
May 2008
Due to heavy financial troubles ALITALIA had to close most flights departing from MILANO – Malpensa !!!!!! our flight to US in fact is now departing from Rome !!!
this meaning we would need a connection-flight Milano-Rome ...

Here is something for you, dear Beckie, to dream of !!!

Maybe we won’t have time to take a stroll in Rome town – we’ll just “admire” 2 different Rome terminals !! hehe

OK !! Eventually it’s time to dream and plan every little detail of our trip : tours, places to visit, shows we wish to watch at , restaurants , souvenir-shopping …

June 2008
While reading an amazing on line magazine about Hawaii , Big Island … I discovered that
Kilauea was having a very serious , big eruption !!!!!
I had to learn about VOG (volcanic smog !) , ash fall ...

and AIR-QUALITY ALERTS !!
They say that Vog could cause - to some people – eye, nose or respiratory tract problems !!!!!!!!!!!
OMG !!

And …at the end of June … a very kind ALITALIA girl called Marco with “sweet” voice , announcing him that : We are sorry , but you have to depart from Milano the day before your US flight !! because it has been changed : now it departs EARLY in the morning from Rome (no time for connection from Milano !). Would this be kind of a problem, sir ???
I’m not sure what the “sir” answered … nor would I try to find similar “colourful” words in English … hehe

BUT reality is that now we leave Milano on Thursday , July 31st heading towards Rome and staying for the night in a very convenient hotel INSIDE the airport :

“Hey , are you complaining ?? – Marco asked me . After all we are “forced” to start our holiday ONE DAY BEFORE !!!!!!!! “

No, no complainings !! I just want to leave SOOOOOOOOOOOON, BEFORE any other change might happen !!!!!

EXCITEMENT is quickly building up : in 9 days we'll be on the plane !!!!

 

[Verity Chambers]

My goodness Laura! It all sounds very stressful, but you will be there soon enough and have a wonderful time!

 

[diberry]

All those problems are horrendous but hopefully it's all behind you now Laura and from now on everything will go completely smoothly and turn out to be the best holiday ever! I really hope so. Joining you in your SDD!!!

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

My goodness Laura! It all sounds very stressful, but you will be there soon enough and have a wonderful time!

CIAO Verity !!!
I bet that YOU too are very excited !!!!!!!!!!!

YOUR counter says 12 days until you all are going to WDW !!!


laura

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

... from now on everything will go completely smoothly and turn out to be the best holiday ever!

THANKYOU ! We have been dreaming so long !!!

YOU TOO must feel pretty excited NOW !!! You and Dave are nearly flying out to Orlando !!!


laura

 

[DGH]

I made a videoclip summarizing all the events.
A few titles are in Italian ... but only in the first screen

http://www.grumpymarco.com/mickeys_dreamers_g000004.wmv

Click the link and wait a few seconds for the start of the video

 

[Verity Chambers]

Hi Laura! yes, just 12 days, we are on the same flight as Di and Dave! We can't wait! Evie keeps talking about meeting Cinderella when she's in America, it's very sweet!

 

[diberry]

I made a videoclip summarizing all the events.
A few titles are in Italian ... but only in the first screen

http://www.grumpymarco.com/mickeys_dreamers_g000004.wmv

Click the link and wait a few seconds for the start of the video

very funny - and very clever as always. Let's hope there's no tsunami - and no cockroaches!!! It's a long long way to travel but it'll be well worth it - Hawaii looks really beautiful and the perfect place to rest, relax and "recharge your batteries!!"!

 

[Verity Chambers]

Only a few days left to go Laura, you must be so excited!

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

Only a few days left to go Laura, you must be so excited!

Oh YES !!

House is perfectly clean now !!
TOMORROW I'll start packing - so that during the week end Marco can add things and go asking 100 times a hour : have you got this ? have you forgot that ? where is my camera ??

I still cannot believe that in few days we'll be visiting with ...

NOT LONG for you and Diana too !!!

laura