pride of america in Hawaii

for our 25th anniversary we decided to splurge and do something we wanted to do for our anniversary.  go to Hawaii.  Crazy thing for July 2nd to be in the Hawaiian heat but we wanted to do it on our actual anniversary. we couldn't decide on just one island so decided to dig a little deeper into the pockets and go all out and go on the Pride of American cruise by Norwegian Cruise lines (NCL)  this way we will see 4 islands and if we never make it back we have seen a good portion of the islands in 9 days.

well i got really one one shot of the boat and that was when we were docked in kona



we chose an obstructed view room and the only time we could actually see anything other than the life boat was when they lowered the boats to do tendering in Kona.  but the room was just a room so it didn't matter to much to us.  during the day we were out on shore anyhow.



we got lei's and headed on board on the saturday before the fourth of july leaving from the port of honolulu



this boat is run by an all American crew and a bit of a different cruise because there are no at sea days



but they do have towel monkeys which i adore

this looks like yoda to me not sure what it is really suppose to be.



the crab was cute



and the monkey looked like he had a frog face to me



i think this was a pig

not to be confused with the real thing that was at the buffet one night


no i didn't have any.  hard for me to eat something that is looking at me.

well enough of the cruise ship on with the really fun stuff

hang loose and check out the next few days

home at last

the boat ride is coming to an end and the magic of the evening is felt by all



some of the christmas lights from the dockside



you can see some of the boats that are docked in the shadows of the lights



as 2010 is nearing its end we all should remember what joys the year has brought us




hope you enjoyed some of my shots from our little cruise to the north pole.  what are some fun things that your city does around this time of the year?

Leaving the north pole

Time to say goodbye to santa so he can continue to get ready for christmas eve.  By now we are soaked but enjoying every minute of it.

 

(note to self next purchase will be a camera hood to help keep the rain off it.  rain in the lens did give this shot a bit of a bokeh effect though that I liked)

santa says dash away dash away dash away all




even the animals come out to say good bye to us



as we leave another boat of boys and girls pulls in to say hello to santa

cruise to the north pole - santa

Santa greeted our boat from his house on the dock. 



He called out all the names of the nice boys and girls on teh boat.





and while we were visiting the elfs turned on the lights around the village so we could all enjoy them.

Cruise to the North Pole - fun for all

Cruise to the north pole


Several boats shuttle families from the docks on a 40 minute cruise to the north pole. we passed a couple of them along the way



with plenty of hot chocolate and charlie brown playing on the screen to make the trip fun.  And as the North Pole comes into view we all head outside of the cabin and brave the rain to see the sights.



will we get to Santa???

cruise to the north pole - leaving the docks

the coeur d'alene resort puts on a holiday cruise to the north pole every year and we decided to see what it was all about    was a lot of fun but a rainy day.



leaving from teh dock behind the resort



Grinch was even there to send us along our way.



the docks had lots of display to send us along our way 




more to come tomorrow


ps most of the pictures were taken in the dark, in the rain and on a moving boat so it was a challenge to try to take some good shots.  but  a fun challenge.

sunshine bridge

The sunshine bridge (taken as we were leaving Tampa from the dining room window) a beautiful bridge that we pass under as we sailed out to sea.

On our return we had a chance to be on the top deck as we went under it.
the ship was only a few feet under the bridge at its highest point.

It was a big hit as we went under it.


And as we are on the other side of the bridge we were back at our dinner table and I just had to take one more shot of it.

you can find out more information about the sunshine bridge here

entertaining?

There are usually many shows on a cruise. Lots of singing shows almost always a comedian usually a physical show like juggling (challenging even more while moving on a boat) and for us a hypnotist.

three of our group were on stage for the hypnotist. My sister-in-law Anne, Myself and my mother-in-law Peggy. the hypnotist is from Vegas and his name completely escapes me at the moment. So these aren't pictures taken by me but I just had to add a day of this because well if you can't laugh at yourself you can't laugh at anyone. If you have never been on a cruise before one of the fun things on the cruise is the acts done by the non-performers.

that is me on the end.
Me as a goldfish.

Later they had an R -rated show and I was NOT going to go on that show. the 3 person is one of the people that went on the cruise with us but she ended up not going under and was taken off the stage. I think she was glad later when they had to go looking for their nipples among other things. very funny show.

Homeward bound

Well to our temporary home at least

After a long day the boat ride to the island there were some of us like my mother who slept. Hit lots of waves on the way home but it didn't phase her one bit.

As our yellow boat docked the ships horn was blowing it was time for them to leave but with about 100 of us just getting off the mainland transport they were waiting on us. thankfully we booked our tour through the ship so we were guaranteed to have them wait for us. As we got closer to the boat we heard clapping the people on board knew they were waiting for our tour and were cheering us back on board.



Goodbye Cozumel. Sailing into the sunset.

scales of time

these creatures were all over the place. here are a few of my favorite shots.
there are so prehistoric looking. Perfect creature to have in the ruins
opps that isn't a scaly creature is it? Have no clue what type of bird this is but it was so sweet looking and the color was gorgeous.

sweet

Not the best picture but it was so sweet I had to add it. These are my inlaws Peggy and Gordon. they have been married 45 years and I loved the way he was holding her hand and looking at her in this picture.

tulum ruins

this was my the spot my husband was looking forward to the whole trip. It was a bit disappointing but that was only because the guide drove my husband crazy. you see hubby is a quiet kind of guy and someone that talks the entire bus ride there, while we were there and the way home was a bit much for him.
These are only a couple of the shots it was an amazing place. we wished we would have had more time to go down to the beach and enjoy that a bit but we were more interested in seeing all the ruins.
The sun was pretty powerful by mid day so the shots are what I would call good but we will remember the trip by them.


I guess up until maybe 10 years ago you could climb the ruins but that is no longer true, they are roped off to preserve them from the thousands of visitors each day. I would have loved to see the sunrise or sunset over the place I bet it would be magical.