Pinkocto
DIS Veteran
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- Jul 22, 2011
- Messages
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It's A Small World - A Never-ending Pre-trip Report
- Thread starter dolphingirl47
- Start date
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
This was a considerable relief. Now I just have to pay for the flights back and some excursions.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
In just under 6 weeks, we will be onboard of the Explorer of the Seas. I can’t believe how quickly this is coming round. With everything that has gone on this year, I was not as excited as I should have been about this cruise, but this has changed as soon as we were paid in full for the cruise. I have now paid for the flights to Australia and the hotel in Sydney, but have yet to pay for the flights back. However, they are all booked and confirmed.
We were considering our options regarding how we get from the airport in city to the hotel and Graham suggested to take the train. I was initially a bit doubtful about this, but having looked about this, it does look like a great option. The trains run frequently, the hotel is less from 500m from the station and this will avoid the legendary Sydney traffic. Our hotel is ideally located in the middle to the Central Business District so everything where we may which to go is nearby. Strictly speaking even the port is within walking distance.
We now have our pre-cruise stay in Sydney covered. We booked a day tours into the Blue Mountains for our full day. I know that this will not even scratch the tip of the iceberg, but unfortunately our time is limited and I will take it. For what it is, I think we will enjoy it and get a good overview of what the area has to offer. We will depart from Sydney at the crack of dawn and our first stop will be Featherdale Wildlife Park where you can meet koalas and hand-feed kangaroos. Then it is on to Echo Point for a view over the Jamieson Valley and the Three Sisters. The tour itinerary mentions something about Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, but it gives no further explanation so this will be a surprise. Then it is on to Scenic World with admission to their three main attractions included in the cost of the tour. I have to admit, I would probably not consider paying for them separately, but as we paid for them anyway, I may as well have a go. The Scenic Railway is the steepest passenger railway in the world, covering a 52-degree incline. If this is not thrilling enough, the seats can be adjusted by up to 20 degrees. The Scenic Cableway is the steepest and largest aerial cable car in the Southern Hemisphere. It covers a distance of 510 meters and goes from the top of the escarpment to the bottom of the valley and back up again. My feelings on the matter is that I will probably take the train down and then the cable car back up. Then there is the Skyway, which at 270 meters above the valley floor is the highest cable car in Australia. It features floor to ceiling windows and a glass floor and covers a distance of 720 meters one-way. After our visit to Scenic World, we have one more thing to look forward, which will be a less thrilling experience: the Parramatta River Cruise from Homebush Bay to either Darling Harbour or Circular Quay. On the few we should get nice views of the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. This is where our tour will end and we will make our way back to the hotel, hopefully finding something to eat on the way.
The next day is the day we will get on the ship. Normally I am in a wild rush to get on the ship on embarkation day, but this time our plans look different. I do not really want to leave Sydney without having seen at least some of the city. There were 4 things I really wanted to see, but unfortunately the Town Hall and St. Andrew’s Cathedral are not open on Saturdays so I just have to make do with taking some photos of the outside on the way past. That is probably a blessing as this gives us more time for the other two. We are planning to get up reasonably early, check out and leave the luggage at the hotel. Our first stop then will be the Chinese Garden of Friendship. This opens at 9:30 and I am planning to be there for opening time. Once we have seen everything we want to see there, we will then push on to the Queen Victoria Building. I am fascinated by the architecture and I also have another powerful incentive for a visit. The local Pandora store is there. I really want to get the Southern Cross & Kangaroo Silver Charm and the Sydney Opera House Silver Hanging Charm. Once we have explored, taken plenty of photos and I have done my shopping, we will then head back to the hotel to collect our luggage and take a taxi to the port. They do phased check in by deck and we finally got our cruise documents during the week. Our check in slot is 13:30 to 14:30, which works out perfectly.
We really have to seriously look at excursions or what else we want to get up to at most of the ports. I had a couple of ideas for Noumea and reached out to one tour operator today to see if they could combine a half day snorkelling trip at Heritage Lagoon with a visit to Forest Park. Unfortunately they were not able to accommodate us on the day we are there,. I had also found a city/ cultural tour. Initially Graham seemed not too enthusiastic about this, but now that he had a closer look, he is up for this so this is probably what we are going to go with.
Suva, Fiji does not really inspire me. We have two days there. I would have loved to do a snorkelling trip to Beqa Lagoon on the first day, but the only tour operator that seems to run a suitable excursion has not replied to my email I sent a couple of weeks ago. Beqa lagoon is supposed to be the soft coral capital of the world and the it is actually an extinct grater. I would have loved to see this, but it looks like it is not to be. We have now come up with a couple of ideas for Suva. We will probably do the Jewel of Fiji tour on the first day. This includes a trip by longboat up river where we will have the chance to swim in waterfall pools. This is still on my bucket list and I hope that this time round, it will really happen. We then come back down the river on a bamboo raft before visiting a local village for some cultural presentations. I think that excursion sounds like a really nice mix. We were initially going to book this through Royal Caribbean as their prices are normally pretty fair. However, this time round we found that Viator is charging the same amount for two people that Royal Caribbean charges for one person. So we are going to book through them. On the second day, we will probably just take a taxi to the local rainforest park and have a wander.
Once we have sorted out the South Pacific, we can then switch our attention to Hawaii. For that I am waiting to hear where we will clear US immigration. It should be Kona as this will be our first US port, but with this being a tender port, I was wondering if they wait until Honolulu. After the mess with immigration in Boston, I will not risk making plans for the port where we clear immigration. The person I was speaking to yesterday thought it would be Kona, but he was not a 100% sure either. He promised to check with the ship and get back to me
Another question that I needed Royal Caribbean to address is the ins and outs of our drinks package. When we booked this in May, there was an offer for a complimentary Select drinks package, which was added to our cruise. This packages was discontinued in September, but will be honoured on bookings that were made previously. This package was supposed to include wines up to $8 per glass, beer, soft drinks and as I have recently found out non-alcoholic cocktails. There is just one issue with this. I have recently seen drinks menus from this year and the cheapest wines are now $9 and $10. As I am not a heavy drinker, I am not too bothered if I have to pay a couple of Dollars here and there. However, that kind of defeats the object of having a drinks package. The person from Royal Caribbean that I spoke to yesterday reassured me that there would be a selection of included wines for me to choose from. He did not go into any more detail than that. However, this still sounds encouraging. We do not have expensive tastes. So if I have a couple of white wines and maybe a rose wine to choose from, I will be happy. Graham would appreciate a couple of red wines. If there is a prosecco included, then even better. I love the idea of being able to have a glass of something sparkly before dinner. Graham likes Virgin Pina Coladas and he was delighted when I told him he can have as many of those as he wants. I am not going to turn down one of those or a Virgin Mango Daiquiri down either. I did not expect this to be included so this is a definite bonus.
The final question was if it is still OK to have magnetic decorations on the door. After the experience on our last cruise, I did not want to risk making magnets only to be asked to take them down again. Royal Caribbean is still selling magnetic decorations as part of their celebration packages. I was reassured that this would be perfectly OK. So I will make the magnets either this week or next week.
Speaking of making things, I have now got our embarkation shirts. The colours are a little brighter than they look in the photo. I really like how they have turned out.
I also ordered our lanyards and hopefully they will arrive this week.
Corinna
We were considering our options regarding how we get from the airport in city to the hotel and Graham suggested to take the train. I was initially a bit doubtful about this, but having looked about this, it does look like a great option. The trains run frequently, the hotel is less from 500m from the station and this will avoid the legendary Sydney traffic. Our hotel is ideally located in the middle to the Central Business District so everything where we may which to go is nearby. Strictly speaking even the port is within walking distance.
We now have our pre-cruise stay in Sydney covered. We booked a day tours into the Blue Mountains for our full day. I know that this will not even scratch the tip of the iceberg, but unfortunately our time is limited and I will take it. For what it is, I think we will enjoy it and get a good overview of what the area has to offer. We will depart from Sydney at the crack of dawn and our first stop will be Featherdale Wildlife Park where you can meet koalas and hand-feed kangaroos. Then it is on to Echo Point for a view over the Jamieson Valley and the Three Sisters. The tour itinerary mentions something about Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, but it gives no further explanation so this will be a surprise. Then it is on to Scenic World with admission to their three main attractions included in the cost of the tour. I have to admit, I would probably not consider paying for them separately, but as we paid for them anyway, I may as well have a go. The Scenic Railway is the steepest passenger railway in the world, covering a 52-degree incline. If this is not thrilling enough, the seats can be adjusted by up to 20 degrees. The Scenic Cableway is the steepest and largest aerial cable car in the Southern Hemisphere. It covers a distance of 510 meters and goes from the top of the escarpment to the bottom of the valley and back up again. My feelings on the matter is that I will probably take the train down and then the cable car back up. Then there is the Skyway, which at 270 meters above the valley floor is the highest cable car in Australia. It features floor to ceiling windows and a glass floor and covers a distance of 720 meters one-way. After our visit to Scenic World, we have one more thing to look forward, which will be a less thrilling experience: the Parramatta River Cruise from Homebush Bay to either Darling Harbour or Circular Quay. On the few we should get nice views of the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. This is where our tour will end and we will make our way back to the hotel, hopefully finding something to eat on the way.
The next day is the day we will get on the ship. Normally I am in a wild rush to get on the ship on embarkation day, but this time our plans look different. I do not really want to leave Sydney without having seen at least some of the city. There were 4 things I really wanted to see, but unfortunately the Town Hall and St. Andrew’s Cathedral are not open on Saturdays so I just have to make do with taking some photos of the outside on the way past. That is probably a blessing as this gives us more time for the other two. We are planning to get up reasonably early, check out and leave the luggage at the hotel. Our first stop then will be the Chinese Garden of Friendship. This opens at 9:30 and I am planning to be there for opening time. Once we have seen everything we want to see there, we will then push on to the Queen Victoria Building. I am fascinated by the architecture and I also have another powerful incentive for a visit. The local Pandora store is there. I really want to get the Southern Cross & Kangaroo Silver Charm and the Sydney Opera House Silver Hanging Charm. Once we have explored, taken plenty of photos and I have done my shopping, we will then head back to the hotel to collect our luggage and take a taxi to the port. They do phased check in by deck and we finally got our cruise documents during the week. Our check in slot is 13:30 to 14:30, which works out perfectly.
We really have to seriously look at excursions or what else we want to get up to at most of the ports. I had a couple of ideas for Noumea and reached out to one tour operator today to see if they could combine a half day snorkelling trip at Heritage Lagoon with a visit to Forest Park. Unfortunately they were not able to accommodate us on the day we are there,. I had also found a city/ cultural tour. Initially Graham seemed not too enthusiastic about this, but now that he had a closer look, he is up for this so this is probably what we are going to go with.
Suva, Fiji does not really inspire me. We have two days there. I would have loved to do a snorkelling trip to Beqa Lagoon on the first day, but the only tour operator that seems to run a suitable excursion has not replied to my email I sent a couple of weeks ago. Beqa lagoon is supposed to be the soft coral capital of the world and the it is actually an extinct grater. I would have loved to see this, but it looks like it is not to be. We have now come up with a couple of ideas for Suva. We will probably do the Jewel of Fiji tour on the first day. This includes a trip by longboat up river where we will have the chance to swim in waterfall pools. This is still on my bucket list and I hope that this time round, it will really happen. We then come back down the river on a bamboo raft before visiting a local village for some cultural presentations. I think that excursion sounds like a really nice mix. We were initially going to book this through Royal Caribbean as their prices are normally pretty fair. However, this time round we found that Viator is charging the same amount for two people that Royal Caribbean charges for one person. So we are going to book through them. On the second day, we will probably just take a taxi to the local rainforest park and have a wander.
Once we have sorted out the South Pacific, we can then switch our attention to Hawaii. For that I am waiting to hear where we will clear US immigration. It should be Kona as this will be our first US port, but with this being a tender port, I was wondering if they wait until Honolulu. After the mess with immigration in Boston, I will not risk making plans for the port where we clear immigration. The person I was speaking to yesterday thought it would be Kona, but he was not a 100% sure either. He promised to check with the ship and get back to me
Another question that I needed Royal Caribbean to address is the ins and outs of our drinks package. When we booked this in May, there was an offer for a complimentary Select drinks package, which was added to our cruise. This packages was discontinued in September, but will be honoured on bookings that were made previously. This package was supposed to include wines up to $8 per glass, beer, soft drinks and as I have recently found out non-alcoholic cocktails. There is just one issue with this. I have recently seen drinks menus from this year and the cheapest wines are now $9 and $10. As I am not a heavy drinker, I am not too bothered if I have to pay a couple of Dollars here and there. However, that kind of defeats the object of having a drinks package. The person from Royal Caribbean that I spoke to yesterday reassured me that there would be a selection of included wines for me to choose from. He did not go into any more detail than that. However, this still sounds encouraging. We do not have expensive tastes. So if I have a couple of white wines and maybe a rose wine to choose from, I will be happy. Graham would appreciate a couple of red wines. If there is a prosecco included, then even better. I love the idea of being able to have a glass of something sparkly before dinner. Graham likes Virgin Pina Coladas and he was delighted when I told him he can have as many of those as he wants. I am not going to turn down one of those or a Virgin Mango Daiquiri down either. I did not expect this to be included so this is a definite bonus.
The final question was if it is still OK to have magnetic decorations on the door. After the experience on our last cruise, I did not want to risk making magnets only to be asked to take them down again. Royal Caribbean is still selling magnetic decorations as part of their celebration packages. I was reassured that this would be perfectly OK. So I will make the magnets either this week or next week.
Speaking of making things, I have now got our embarkation shirts. The colours are a little brighter than they look in the photo. I really like how they have turned out.
I also ordered our lanyards and hopefully they will arrive this week.
Corinna
kittymamma
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2012
- Messages
- 190
Really like the embarkation shirt. And now the excitement builds and I look forward to hearing all about your journey.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
Thanks.
It is getting really close.
I am really looking forward to this. I am so glad that we will end up arriving in Sydney a day earlier.
It seems to be the cheapest and quickest option.
I have all but given up on this, but I am starting to get excited about the alternatives.
Thanks.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
Yes, they are and a lot more progress has been made since the last update.
Thanks.
I know the feeling. On paper, I have a lot more time now, but as I choose to spend a more of it doing other stuff, I actually have a lot less computer time. I will get caught up with a number of threads that I fell behind on, post the next installment of my trip report and if I still have time left over, I will post an update here.
Corinna
Paula Sedley-Burke
Proud to believe in Rainbows and Unicorns...
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2008
- Messages
- 7,756
Love the sound of getting the train. Sounds like you will do a good job to cram in some great sightseeing in Sydney how amazing.
Frijj snorkerling awesome.
Hawaii! Kona sounds nice if they do stop there. We liked it there went to the coffee planation. Really enjoyed it.
Love the shirts!
Frijj snorkerling awesome.
Hawaii! Kona sounds nice if they do stop there. We liked it there went to the coffee planation. Really enjoyed it.
Love the shirts!
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
I think this will be the easiest and most convenient option.
I think so. I have just found out something that will help to maximize our time even further.
Unfortunately this never came together, but I am pretty happy with the alternative.
We will definitely stop at Kona.
I would have liked to do something like this. However, the Royal Caribbean excursions were somewhat limited and with a good chance that we will clear immigration there plus the fact we have to tender, I wanted to play it safe and booked one of their excursions.
Thanks.
Corinna
Paula Sedley-Burke
Proud to believe in Rainbows and Unicorns...
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2008
- Messages
- 7,756
When can we expect a run down of gowns?
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
Once I have made up my mind which once I will take. At the moment, I just have "gowns" on my spreadsheet.
Corinna
Paula Sedley-Burke
Proud to believe in Rainbows and Unicorns...
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2008
- Messages
- 7,756
I will be patient then!
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
It should not be much longer. It won't make this update, but sorting out gowns, accessories and make up is near the top of my to do list.
Corinna
Paula Sedley-Burke
Proud to believe in Rainbows and Unicorns...
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2008
- Messages
- 7,756
Great idea to have a spreadsheet.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
Today it is the one month mark before we leave for our next adventure. Although I have not been on here much, I have definitely had a productive time. We have now sorted out what to do in all the ports.
Sydney:
There has been a slight change to our plans. I have found out that we can drop off our luggage at the port as early as 8:00 AM so we will check out of the hotel early, head to the port to drop off the luggage and then go sightseeing. That way we don't have to backtrack to the hotel before checking in for our cruise.
Noumea:
I have now gone ahead and booked the tour that I had found online and had the confirmation email. It looks like the credit card system in French Caledonia is a little temperamental so I will get some of the local currency before leaving and pay in cash.
Suva, Fiji:
Unfortunately the snorkelling excursion was just not realistic. So we have now decided to book the Jewel of Fiji excursion through Viator for day one and then we will get a taxi to Colo-I-Suva Forest Park the second day. They do offer guided tours by rangers so if this is available on the day, we may do this. Even if we have to do this under our own steam, this is definitely the kind of thing we enjoy. Colo-I-Suva Forest Park is meant to be great for bird watching, there are hiking trails and opportunities to go swimming in natural pools.
Kona:
I still have no clue if we clear immigration there or at Honolulu. So we have made our plans for both ports that they can work around immigration. With Kona being tender port and the spectre of immigration hanging over us, we have decided to play this safe. We booked a dolphin and snorkel tour through Royal Caribbean. So if immigration is in Kona, we get priority immigration and tendering and if it all goes belly up, we just get a full refund. I really hope that it won't come to this as I would love to do the tour. We will cruise for one hour with the chance to see spinner dolphins and spotted dolphins and maybe even whales on the way. Breakfast is includes as is lunch on the way back. We then get 2.5 hours to snorkel and again there is a chance that we see spinner dolphins. This is very similar to what we did in Oahu in 2012. We get back to the port at 14:30 and then will have a couple of ours to explore the village. Graham may well wish to check out Kona Brewing Company as he loves one of their beers and I am tempted by some shave ice that is rumoured to be among the best in Hawaii.
Lahaina, Maui:
We won't have the worry about immigration there, but this is still a tender port so we decided to go with another Royal Caribbean excursion just for the tender priority. I really fancied the Iao Valley And Maui Tropical Plantation tour, but during my research I found out that Iao Valley State Monument is currently closed due to damage suffered from heavy rain and flooding with no indication when it will reopen. Iao Valley State Monument was the reason why I wanted to do this tour. So instead we have booked a two hour whale watching cruise in the morning. This is something we will both enjoy, it was good value and gets us priority tendering. In the afternoon, we will probably get a taxi to Kaanapali Beach. The beach is very picturesque and the snorkelling is meant to be very good. They also have a daily cliff diving ceremony at sunset. We may well stay for this as the ship does not leave until midnight.
Honolulu:
Originally I had my heart set on visiting Aulani that day and I may regret changing my mind. However, the closest car hire is at the airport, the traffic in Honolulu is awful and the possibility that we will be delayed by immigration just does not make this practical. When we were at Aulani in 2014, I had planned a day in downtown Honolulu to see some of the historical sights and do a bit of shopping. This never happened. So I figured as we are downtown this time, this would be a great opportunity to see the areas that I had planned to see in 2014. The red route of the Waikiki Trolley stops near the port, at the Ala Moana shopping mall (for Disney store with some Hawaii specific merchandise), Honolulu Museum of Art and near sights like Iolani Palace, King Kamehameha I Statue and Kawaiaha'o Church. There is also a bunch of other interesting buildings in this area. So I think this will be a nice way to spend the day.
I am glad that this is all sorted. The rest of the planning is going well, too. The lanyards have been designed and ordered and are currently waiting at the local delivery office. I have the day off on Wednesday and have asked for them to be redelivered then.
The magnets are in production. I have 18 designs and they have been printed and 16 of them have been laminated and cut out. I have asked for two more designs as I can get 4 magnets out of one laminating pouch. So once I have received those, I print them and laminate the last 4. Then I just have to stick the magnetic tape to the back.
I decided with all the snorkeling I am planning to do on this trip, the time has come to get a prescription mask. Most of them are similar to drugstore glasses, but the one I ordered is being made to my prescription and is actually cheaper than the off the shelve versions.
I have my outfits pretty much sorted. I just need to decide which gowns to take. I also want to start getting together accessories and make up. This often takes me longer than the rest of the packing as I cannot make up my mind. As far as make up is concerned, I then often end up overpacking and only use a fraction of what I had packed.
The tickets for our flights to Sydney are now in the ticketing queue so hopefully I will have those at some point during the week.
So considering it took me forever to get started with the planning, I have made good progress.
To Do List
Finish magnets
Sort out which gowns to take
Sort out accessories
Sort out make up
Book Jewel of Fiji Excursion
Purchase photo package
Exchange currency
Print out documents
Sort out memory cards
Pack
Sydney:
There has been a slight change to our plans. I have found out that we can drop off our luggage at the port as early as 8:00 AM so we will check out of the hotel early, head to the port to drop off the luggage and then go sightseeing. That way we don't have to backtrack to the hotel before checking in for our cruise.
Noumea:
I have now gone ahead and booked the tour that I had found online and had the confirmation email. It looks like the credit card system in French Caledonia is a little temperamental so I will get some of the local currency before leaving and pay in cash.
Suva, Fiji:
Unfortunately the snorkelling excursion was just not realistic. So we have now decided to book the Jewel of Fiji excursion through Viator for day one and then we will get a taxi to Colo-I-Suva Forest Park the second day. They do offer guided tours by rangers so if this is available on the day, we may do this. Even if we have to do this under our own steam, this is definitely the kind of thing we enjoy. Colo-I-Suva Forest Park is meant to be great for bird watching, there are hiking trails and opportunities to go swimming in natural pools.
Kona:
I still have no clue if we clear immigration there or at Honolulu. So we have made our plans for both ports that they can work around immigration. With Kona being tender port and the spectre of immigration hanging over us, we have decided to play this safe. We booked a dolphin and snorkel tour through Royal Caribbean. So if immigration is in Kona, we get priority immigration and tendering and if it all goes belly up, we just get a full refund. I really hope that it won't come to this as I would love to do the tour. We will cruise for one hour with the chance to see spinner dolphins and spotted dolphins and maybe even whales on the way. Breakfast is includes as is lunch on the way back. We then get 2.5 hours to snorkel and again there is a chance that we see spinner dolphins. This is very similar to what we did in Oahu in 2012. We get back to the port at 14:30 and then will have a couple of ours to explore the village. Graham may well wish to check out Kona Brewing Company as he loves one of their beers and I am tempted by some shave ice that is rumoured to be among the best in Hawaii.
Lahaina, Maui:
We won't have the worry about immigration there, but this is still a tender port so we decided to go with another Royal Caribbean excursion just for the tender priority. I really fancied the Iao Valley And Maui Tropical Plantation tour, but during my research I found out that Iao Valley State Monument is currently closed due to damage suffered from heavy rain and flooding with no indication when it will reopen. Iao Valley State Monument was the reason why I wanted to do this tour. So instead we have booked a two hour whale watching cruise in the morning. This is something we will both enjoy, it was good value and gets us priority tendering. In the afternoon, we will probably get a taxi to Kaanapali Beach. The beach is very picturesque and the snorkelling is meant to be very good. They also have a daily cliff diving ceremony at sunset. We may well stay for this as the ship does not leave until midnight.
Honolulu:
Originally I had my heart set on visiting Aulani that day and I may regret changing my mind. However, the closest car hire is at the airport, the traffic in Honolulu is awful and the possibility that we will be delayed by immigration just does not make this practical. When we were at Aulani in 2014, I had planned a day in downtown Honolulu to see some of the historical sights and do a bit of shopping. This never happened. So I figured as we are downtown this time, this would be a great opportunity to see the areas that I had planned to see in 2014. The red route of the Waikiki Trolley stops near the port, at the Ala Moana shopping mall (for Disney store with some Hawaii specific merchandise), Honolulu Museum of Art and near sights like Iolani Palace, King Kamehameha I Statue and Kawaiaha'o Church. There is also a bunch of other interesting buildings in this area. So I think this will be a nice way to spend the day.
I am glad that this is all sorted. The rest of the planning is going well, too. The lanyards have been designed and ordered and are currently waiting at the local delivery office. I have the day off on Wednesday and have asked for them to be redelivered then.
The magnets are in production. I have 18 designs and they have been printed and 16 of them have been laminated and cut out. I have asked for two more designs as I can get 4 magnets out of one laminating pouch. So once I have received those, I print them and laminate the last 4. Then I just have to stick the magnetic tape to the back.
I decided with all the snorkeling I am planning to do on this trip, the time has come to get a prescription mask. Most of them are similar to drugstore glasses, but the one I ordered is being made to my prescription and is actually cheaper than the off the shelve versions.
I have my outfits pretty much sorted. I just need to decide which gowns to take. I also want to start getting together accessories and make up. This often takes me longer than the rest of the packing as I cannot make up my mind. As far as make up is concerned, I then often end up overpacking and only use a fraction of what I had packed.
The tickets for our flights to Sydney are now in the ticketing queue so hopefully I will have those at some point during the week.
So considering it took me forever to get started with the planning, I have made good progress.
To Do List
Finish magnets
Sort out which gowns to take
Sort out accessories
Sort out make up
Book Jewel of Fiji Excursion
Purchase photo package
Exchange currency
Print out documents
Sort out memory cards
Pack
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
Normally I just wing it, but having to keep outfits for 26 days straight with limited access to laundry is not an easy task.
Corinna
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
- Messages
- 108,006
Not long to go now. Looks like you're nearly all set.
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Disney's 'Hundred Acre Wood' Pin Series: New May Release
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Mario Motors Merchandise Inside Super Nintendo World at Epic Universe
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The Walt Disney Company Reports Second Quarter Earnings for 2025
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