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Hawaiian Cruise 2002 As many of you know, my husband and I just returned from a cruise around the Hawaiian islands, a trip that I earned from Close To My Heart. It was the trip of a lifetime! We sailed on the brand new Norwegian Star to several of the Hawaiian islands, plus a stop at Fanning Island, a tropical island which is 1000 miles south of Hawaii in the Republic of Kiribati. Close To My Heart pampered us all the way, with a welcome reception, a bottle of champagne in our room upon arrival, and little gifts every day such as chocolate-covered strawberries and gourmet chocolates delivered to us before dinner. There were 42 of us who earned the trip, and it was great fun getting to know everyone. Even the hubbies had a great time, and I am so grateful that Close To My Heart recognized all the support that our spouses give to us that they paid for them to come along, too! As Jeanette (our President and founder) said, "We realize how important they are to you." Yes, they are! Enjoy!
Here is the whole "crew" from Close To My Heart! This picture was taken on the helipad on Deck 13 on the rear of the ship. In the background you can see the tops of the pink water slides that are part of the kids area on Deck 12- they have their own waterpark! I know you can't see details very well here. Jeanette Lynton, our founder, artist and President, is in the front row in white, third from the left. To find me, locate the girl in the center of the first row in the blue sundress... I am directly behind her in a white shirt. My husband is to the left of me.
Here we are at the group dinner in the Aqua Dining Room. The ship features Freestyle Cruising, which allows you to eat in any of their 10 restaurants at any time you want. The Aqua features "contemporary" cuisine; other restaurants serve French, Italian, Japanese, Hawaiian, Pacific Rim, Sushi, Traditional food and more. Or, you can choose to dine at the on-going buffets, pool-side BBQ's, family-style restaurants or the snack bars. Deciding where to eat each night was the hard part, LOL! You'll also notice the name badges around our necks- these were another gift from Close To My Heart. They turned out to be quite handy, and they can be worn around the waist, too. They have 2 zipper pockets on the back which can be used to hold money, keys, etc. We used them to hold our room cards, which doubled as "credit" cards. It was all we needed to carry around since the ship is a "cashless" society. (And yes, we were careful what we "spent" using that card... knowing that the bill would come at the end of the cruise, LOL! One person-- not a Close To My Heart person, of course-- had 9 pages of "charges" at the end of the cruise! Yikes!).
As you can see from the picture, this is the USS Missouri battleship. I must admit that I went on this tour just because my husband wanted to, LOL (it's a guy thing). But it turned out to be very interesting! It was cool to stand at the very spot where the Japanese signed the surrender papers to the allies at the end of WWII. The Missouri is right next door to the Arizona Memorial that commemorates the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. You can't go there and fail to be affected emotionally. Even with all the people it is a very quiet place... no one talks because they are all absorbed in their own thoughts and feelings about the incident. Since September 11, absolutely NO BAGS of any kind are allowed inside either of these exhibits. That means NO purses, no camera bags, no fanny packs, etc, and they aren't kidding. Security will refuse you admission. And there's no place to check your bags, so you have to leave them in your car.
Our cruise ship, the Norwegian Star. You can't really get a good idea from this angle just how huge this ship is... it's as long as 3 football fields! We all had balcony suites, with sliding doors that lead out onto our own private balcony to watch the ocean.
Here we are approaching Fanning Island, which is in the Kiribati Republic and is 1000 miles south of Hawaii. There are just a few thousand natives who live here. We anchored here and spent a day lounging on the beach in this tropical paradise. The island is just a few degrees north of the equator, so you have to be VERY careful in the sun. The cruise line visits the island once a week now, and is one of the island's only links to the "modern" world. There are no airports on the island. Prior to the agreement between the islanders and Norwegian Cruise Lines, the only ships that visited were supply ships that came from Australia 2-3 times a year. The cruise line has also built a primary school on Fanning Island.
All the natives live in grass huts. This was one of the nicest huts we saw on the island; most were much smaller. We heard rock and roll music coming out of this hut, apparently from a boom box. I guess no place is safe from "modern life" for long.
Factory Outlet? I thought this was a funny sign, since the island is so primitive! The islanders did have a type of flea market, however, where they offered beautiful jewelry, baskets, and more... all handmade from shells and such.
Here is part of the Close To My Heart gang, leaving their kayaks after paddling several miles down Hawaii's only navigable river. From here we took a short hike to enjoy a catered lunch in a banyan tree treehouse, followed by a stop at a beautiful swimming hole and waterfall.
Here's the swimming hole/waterfall. The bravest among us climbed the rock face, grabbed a rope tied to a very tall tree, and swung out over the water. You could also climb up the rocks and then dive off of the top of the waterfall!
Here I am with Jeanette Lynton, our founder, president and sole artist. She is one incredible lady, and I was honored to meet her! (As you can see, we are both just a little bit pink from the sun, LOL!).
This could be you someday! If you'd like more information about becoming a Close To My Heart consultant, click here.
© Linda Harrison 2002
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