As hard as it is to imagine, we reminded ourselves we would only stay long enough to welcome this new grandchild (sweetie!) visit for a time, and then get back to preparing for our Hawaiian cruise!

We know little Caroline Darlene is in great hands, after all. She received so many tiny pink outfits at her shower! After a wonderful time (thanks to a great planning partner in our son’s terrific mom-in-law Darlene!), and a tearful, smiling sendoff, we headed home to pack again.

I filled and emptied our suitcases several times, knowing I wanted to be prepared for everything. Being onboard 10 night’s means I’ll need at least 2 nice outfits for formal dinner, plus clothing for the on-shore activities we want to do, including walking shoes! The ship won’t leave port until evening - 8pm, but we have to cross so many time zones and make a plane change, so I have a local travel agent helping us reserve our flights. We plan to arrive in Honolulu the afternoon of departure, so we have to backtrack in time, to get the right flight out! Ugh! I miss the ease of driving right to port! After much shopping, packing, and re-packing, I think we’re ready.

We studied the itinerary for our ship, the Norwegian Wind, on Norwegian Cruise Lines’ web site, and decided we would need an extra night at the end of the trip, to properly enjoy Oahu. We booked this room ahead, also, and our tour of the historical sights there. Bob did some research, on the cabins and the layout of the ship, too. Our cabin was on the Atlantic Deck – nice to have a picture window and a room out of the traffic of main deck but not too far in. I recommend this kind of homework for any trip – I know we’ll be comfortable navigating on the ship as soon as we arrive.

Wanting to see as much of the islands as possible, we thought it out and did some more homework. After a bit of private research, I planned a great surprised for Bob - a helicopter tour over Waimea Canyon! I went through adventuresinhawaii.com, and it was a good thing I pre-arranged this. They use only 2 helicopters, with OPEN doors! I don’t like heights much, but I know Bob will love it, and we just can’t see it all without some help! I hope I can keep my secret! We also reserved a spot at the Old Laihaina Luau, after visiting their website. Couldn’t spend time in Hawaii without a luau!