This is the route our cruise took.  15 days aboard the Princess - Island Princess.  LA to the Big Island (Hilo, then Kona), then to Maui, then Oahu (Honolulu), then Kauai, then a quick stop in Ensenada to meet U.S. Law restrictions and finally back to LA.

We had a pre-night at the airport Marriott in LA..  Here's the view of the pool outside our room.

Here's the entrance to our cabin.

Princess even puts this little card on your mailbox.  Although that could be bad if you're trying to hide from your friends (or enemies). 

Lots of storage.

Looking into the room from the door.

Another shot. 

The Island has a fridge and 2 TV's.

Looking in from the balcony.

A not-so-swift pic of the Balcony.  It was pretty roomy.

Decent shower and tub.

And the rest.

We took a waterfall tour while in Hilo.  This was our first stop.  Looking down from the bridge over the waterfall.

And the Bridge.

Following the stream out toward the ocean.

BIG Akaka falls.

This is seaside at a little park we stopped at for Lunch.

A rare instance of getting Patty in a shot.

There was a small boat launch here at the park.

Another shot of the Pacific crashing into the shore.

A tug with 2 barges in tow.  Note the tug to the far right.

This is Umauma falls as shown in the pic above.

We made a quick trip through some gardens right by Umauma falls.  

A shot as we pass the Kilauea volcano doing it's thing.  Sorry for the blur.  A night shot of lava off a moving ship with a handheld camera is a bit of a challenge.

A close-up shot as the lava hits the sea.

It was "Island NIght" on the ship as we cruised past Kilauea.  There was a big deck party in the top deck poolside.  This is a shot of the mast with our one Xmas decoration.

Line dancing (of course).

An ice sculpture was made as part of the festivities.

Here we are in Kona.  This was our cat that we took out to a snorkeling spot.

Here's a shot of the area we snorkeled at.  We went in the morning.   This was the afternoon trip I was able to catch from the ship.

A closer view.

They have it all in Kona.

Of course Wal-Mart.  The tour guides all said to catch the shuttle to Wal-Mart or Kmart to buy Kona coffee and other goodies.  Much cheaper than the seaside shops.

Here's the Pier we tendered to for getting into town.

A wider view of Kona.  

Here's the Island princess anchored off Lahaina Maui.

A closer shot showing the tender loading area.

Our room was just above the lifeboats.   Right above the nose of the lifeboat that's next to the white inflatable lifeboat.

Some shots of the park right in downtown Lahaina.

Looking left to right for the next 4 shots.

This is the Iao Valley state park.

Looking down from the Iao needle observation area.

The Iao needle.

A closer view.

Looking out through the valley from the needle observation.

A zoomed shot looking out through the valley toward the bottom left of Haleakala.

Some of the ruggedness to the left of Iao.

The tourist lady taking a picture of the tourist guy taking a picture of the tourist lady.  Well you get the "picture".

This is the view looking to the west from on top of Haleakala crater from the top (10,023 feet).

Click HERE for the full size panorama

And the easterly view.  It was windy and around 50 degrees.  Windchill guestimate was around 35 by how cold I felt.

Click HERE for the full size panorama

Looking down into the crater.

The view from the Marina in Lahaina as we waited for our tender.

A sailboat with a little problem.

Another tender of happy travelers returns to the ship.

Moon-rise over Lahaina. 

This is a shot of Hotel row.  Actually, the Kaanapali area on Maui.

Sunset over Lanai.

Here we are on Oahu.  This is the memorial at the Punchbowl cemetery. 

And what would a trip to Hawaii be without a visit to the Dole Pineapple center.    

Did you know that Thailand is now the largest producer of pineapples.  Followed by the Philippines and Brazil.  (2000-2002, per Food and Agriculture of the United Nations)

This was our rental car while were cavorted about on Oahu.  It's a Jaguar XK8.  Of course the top was only up because we had parked.  The rest of the time the breeze was blowing through our hair.   Errr, well let's say the top was down.

This is the famous North Shore area on Oahu.  Unfortunately the waves were pretty small this day.

A surfette hang'en on the beach.

Sorry, it's the only shot I have of the Aloha tower.

The park outside the Aloha Tower Marketplace decorated for Christmas.

The Aloha tower marketplace.  A nice collection of ships right at the Pier.

This was taken from an outside dining area at the Marketplace.  Like I said, it's right next to the pier.  :-)

I lied.  Not the only shot of the Aloha tower.  This is the base of it.

Onward to Kauai.  I only took this pic because if you can believe it, someone lives way back up in there.  See the white dot to the right in the center of the valley area?  That's an electrical transformer on a pole for the power heading back up into this persons house.

Picture says it all.

A three pronged waterfall off to the left side of the Canyon.  You can see it in the far left of the shot below.

There's the surfette girl again.  I think I'm  being followed.

A complete view on the canyon.

Click HERE for the full size panorama

Kauai has lots of chickens.  These are some of the resident birds hanging around the Canyon lookout area looking for handouts.  I thought they were quite beautiful.  (For chickens anyway)

I'm too lazy to type, so just read the sign.

Looking to the left of the blowhole up the coastline.

There she blows.

And again

Ok, I know I'm being followed now.

No sandy beach here.

Just another pretty flower pic.

We took a fern grotto tour on Kauai.  Flat bottom river boats (barges) take you up to the grotto and this is the path you walk on to get back up into the grotto.

Here' the fern grotto.  Unfortunately now as striking as it used to be.  It was impacted by Hurricane Iwa in 1982 and then major hit by Hurricane Iniki in 1992.  

Inside looking out.

Another shot looking out.

The fern grotto is actually a large opening of a lava tube.  This is a small little tube running up from where you stand.  That's only about a foot across up in there.

A flower along the path at the Fern Grotto.

Like the sign above said.  Opaekaa falls.

Some wildflowers near the falls.

The pier we were docked at.

A tugboat operator hoping we need some help as we depart.  No luck for him this day.

This is the Kauai Marriott, formerly the Kauai Westin, formerly the Kauai Surf hotel when I first was here in 1977.

Part of the two golf courses at the Marriott.

The Pilot boat coming to take our Pilot back to shore.

A Hawaiian Outrigger canoe zipping along the coastline at the entrance to the harbor.

A second canoe. 

The lighthouse (channel entrance marker) going into the Nawiliwili port where we had docked.

A full panorama of Nawiliwili, Kauai.

Click HERE for the full size panorama

The only wale we saw.  His/Her tail just barely breaking the surface.

Sploosh, back down.

Our seas were slightly less than ideal on the return trip back to LA.

Our last hurrah dinner. 

Some of our tablemates.

The reception area (pursers desk) on the Island Princess.

The center atrium. 

This was the spa pool area.  All enclosed for your comfort no matter what the weather.

Another shot.

A nice place to sit around the second level of the spa pool.

The ice cream bar aboard.  I didn't have any though.  I refuse to pay for ice cream on a cruise.

This was pretty cool.  They took a nautical chart and showed our course and then had all the officers sign it.  Then it was auctioned for charity at the end of the cruise.

The starboard side of the Horizon cafe at the front of the ship.  There was one on the port side as well.

A nice view look forward over the bow of the ship as you dine.

A bar and special event area in the Horizon cafe.  This is where the dessert shindig was held as well as things like a sushi bar once or twice.

The main pool with 3 hot tubs.  The upper level right was the grill where you could get burgers, dogs, etc.

Looking back toward the stern.

A little wading pool all the way forward on the very top deck.

Looking back toward the pool.  The windows below look into the Horizon cafe.

They even had a small golf  "course".

Yet another pool at the stern of the ship.  Used primarily by folks with kids.  This is where the kids play area was at to the left and right down the stairs.  See pics below.

The kiddie area.

And more stuff for the kids.  And ANOTHER pool.

The fitness center.  I preferred to walk 3 miles each day on the Promenade deck.

The ship has a self-service laundry area.

The Island Princess has two major event venues.  This one is at the stern of the ship.

Another view.

The hallway along the specialty restaurants on board.

The Bayou Cafe.  There was a $20 (I think) charge for the specialty places.  The Bayou served steaks, and seafood.

We chose to try Sabatini's.  Very good Italian food.  All 16 courses of it.

Inside the wheelhouse bar.

The entrance to the wheelhouse bar.

The main theater at the front of the ship.

The promenade deck area.  The went all the way around the ship. I believe it was 4 laps for a mile.  I did approximately 144 laps around this deck during our 15 day trip.

One of the two SAR (Search And Rescue) boats on board.

The internet cafe.  There were 2 areas like this.  One on each side of the ship.

Our service stop in Ensenada, Mexico.

Click HERE for the full size panorama

The welcome center (shops) at the pier in Ensenada.

           Finito!