Day of Delirium #85 - Maui Day 1

I forgot just a little bit about our Embarkation Day. When we arrived at our room we had some letters waiting for us. I had letters from the Head Chef and from the Officer of Guest Services in regards to me requiring gluten free food. I also had a letter from the Excursion group for our lunch in Maui which told me there would be gluten free options available for me. But my favorite letter was from the Excursion group for our Luau in Kauai. They gave me a copy of the recipes for all of the food at the Luau so I would know exactly what I could and could not eat at the Luau. I will wait until that post to tell you my favorite item from that menu :)


Ok onto Maui Day 1:

We went to sleep with our curtain open in hopes of seeing the sunrise and we were not disappointed especially since we woke up at 5:30 am again :)

After watching our first Hawaiian sunrise on the ship we were off to have a delicious breakfast and get ready for our first excursion. We had three options for our first excursion: one that was 4 hours long, one that was 6 hours long and one that was 8 hours long. We really wanted the 4 hour excursion but it was sold out when we went to sign up, so we went with the 6 hour one and in the end were happy with that one since it added the Maui Ocean Center (aquarium) and that had great reviews. Also I have been to so many aquariums across the country that we thought it would be neat to compare this one.

We met our tour group and our driver Klaus and off we went to the Iao Valley first. This is considered a must see according to our tour books and it was quite beautiful. It is a historic site also and we had a gorgeous day to visit. They warn that the climb is long and difficult but really it was not bad at all. My Mom could not do it but I had no issue and it was worth the climb.

Then it was back on the bus and off to the Maui Tropical Plantation. Mom and I really enjoyed this stop. It was so beautiful and we learned lots about Maui on the tram tour of the plantation. They work very hard to maintain Hawaiian culture and local growings on the plantation and their restaurant serves only items grown on the plantation. They mentioned the current special was Macadamia pie so we hoped that it would be on our lunch menu there - alas it was not :( We also learned all about the sugar cane business that exists on Maui and how they burn the crop in order to harvest it. FYI - This information came back to us again on our next Maui excursion in dramatic form (next post).

 
We had lunch on the plantation and basically I could eat everything available but the bread for the sandwiches. The best part... the soup they served was made specifically for me to eat. It was cream of broccoli with bacon (which is one of my favorites) and they made it with cornstarch instead of flour. I thanked them numerous times for the kindness.

One of the highlights of lunch was we ate with one of the audience participants from the comedy show from the night before. The reason for the highlight? This guy stole the show from the comedian and he did it all on his own. He was not prompted and had no idea he would be part of the show. We loved him when we saw him in the show so it was fun to hear about it from him during lunch. The best part of his skit... he was supposed to sing the Cowardly Lion song from Wizard of Oz and when he got to the microphone, he sang The Love Boat instead. We laughed forever on that one.

Then it was time to move on to our last stop and after a short drive we arrived at the Maui Ocean Center.

 Do you see the heart shapes in the jelly fish?

Mom and I sat by this tank for a long time and were mesmerized.

It was dark, cool and they played the most ethereal music here. Just perfect.

In comparison to the many aquariums I have been to this one is quite gorgeous. It is easy to get around and there are many educational stops throughout. There are lots of different species and it helps you learn alot about Hawaii - Maui in particular of course. I highly recommend a stop here if you are into aquariums as it is one of the best in my opinion.

My overall opinion on our day in Maui was that I loved what we did but if I had to do it again I might choose the 8 hour Road to Hana tour as you see more of Maui the island than the tourist stops on Maui - BUT don't get me wrong I did love the stops we did see.

Then it was time to get back to the ship. When we got back to our room, this greeted us on our bed...

Sooo cute.

We had another yummy (gluten free without asking) dinner at the buffet and then we went to see the Aloha Hula Show. It was very informative and beautifully danced. We really enjoyed the show. Then we headed to bed since we needed to be up at 2:30am the next day for our Sunrise over Maui excursion!

Next post: The moving Sunrise of Maui excursion plus a surprise!!