Thursday, November 16, 2017

Aloha: Lovely Cruise

Every blog was titled after a Jimmy Buffett line, so I end this blog with one to summarize our trip... It’s been a lovely cruise!

Drink it up
This ones for you
It's been a lovely cruise
I'm sorry it's ended
It's sad but it's true
Honey it's been a lovely cruise

These moments were left with
May you always remember
These moments are shared by few
There's wind in our hair
And there's water in our shoes
Honey, it's been a lovely cruise

These moments we're left with
May you always remember
These moments are shared by few
And those harbor lights
Aw they're coming into view
We bid our farewell much too soon
So drink it up
This one's for you
Honey, it's been a lovely cruise
Yea baby, it's been a lovely cruise
Oh darlin' it's been a lovely cruise


One last round of shopping!
On this, our last day, I had to set an alarm so I could be sure to be up and ready to go to the gift shop at 7 when the PhotoPass station opened. I had a disc of photos to order! It was pretty quick to get all of our photos put on the DVD. While I was waiting I watched a woman scrolling through her sunset beach photos. They looked so nice! But instead she stood there complaining about how horrible they all were and she was so disappointed and she wanted a discount.  Seriously - this is what I hated when working at Disney ... when guests would pull tricks to try to take advantage of our Guest Service Recovery. I hope she didn't get anything special because her photos were beautiful. The photographer did a great job!  Anyway!

Shawn ran down to the Ulu Cafe so he could bring breakfast to the room. We figured we could all eat in the room while I packed up our massive haul of luggage. I did sneak down right after 8 so I could get my daily pool bracelet for the collection!

The early morning line for pool bracelets. Normally we never waited!
Just after 9 we were saying good bye to Aulani and discussing our return visit. It is truly a beautiful place. I can’t wait to go back! I've read people saying how they were so sad to leave that they cried. Listen, I totally get it! I was surprised at how emotional I felt. Aulani has something that Walt Disney World and Disneyland lack. I am still processing what it is, but there is definitely something about it. It has that certain je ne sais quoi.

Good bye to our 9th floor elevator area. I'll miss you.
We found a Costco easily on the way to the airport so we could fill the rental car tank. We only used 10 gallons on this entire trip.... nice to be on a small island! Plus we never even used the car for a few days since we had so much we could do at our resorts.

Finding the rental car place was not as easily. We ended up having to loop around and just figure it out ourselves because the annoying lady in my phone was a moron and just kept taking us to the arrival gate at the airport. Not helpful!


The airport was uneventful. We sent our bags through the agriculture check and easily got through security. They had their dog our smelling all of us, which meant less we had to do at the X-ray screening part. We grabbed some food and wandered a short while before we boarded our Hawaiian Airlines plane. I seriously love that airline!


She stole my seat.
And now the incident. We were all in our seats, thankfully belted in. Katura was in my lap, nearly asleep for her nap. It was our turn, we were all lined up on the runway and starting to speed up. You could feel we were quickly going to lift off the ground and then BAM! Screeching. The brakes were slamming. The entire plane (and this is a very big one!) was fish tailing. Katura started crying. I almost did. What the hell happened? Everyone sat stunned once we were sitting upright again.

The Captain came on, apologizing. There was an indicator there was a problem with an air speed something or other. We had to go back to our gate and have maintenance check it all out. Then the brakes were too hot so we had to wait that out. Over an hour and a half later we were finally airborne.

And then the epic “I need a nap” meltdown happened. Now I was in tears. Katura was having a major tantrum. It was mortifying. When you’re in a plane with “that baby” and “those parents” try not to judge. You might be mad that a baby is crying, but it’s way worse for the parents. Trust me! Nothing makes you feel more like a parenting failure than the huge tantrum in public while trapped in an airplane. This was her 8th flight and the first time anything at all has ever happened.


She did fall asleep soon enough, thank goodness. I kept her asleep until we had just over an hour to go! The people in the middle section next to us were very understanding, which I appreciated! We landed around 10pm, as opposed to 8:25pm as scheduled. So now I’m here at baggage claim with our luggage while Shawn gets our car and the car seat installed again. I’m ready to be home!

...Although I could have happily stayed in Hawai‘i even longer!

~ ALOHA ~


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