by Bob Sparrow
Pride of America Golf Ahoy ship route
I left you last as we were just boarding Norwegian Cruise Line’s ‘Pride of America’ on Saturday afternoon in Honolulu. If I’m being honest, it’s not the best ship we’ve ever been on, in fact, it might have been the worst – it’s fairly dated, with small cabins and marginal entertainment and food. We’ve sailed on Norwegian before and have been very happy with the ship, but this one is a little tired. But that is made up for with the fabulous golf courses we will be playing over the next week and the fact that this ship does have the ‘unlimited drink package’, which in Hawaii, is a very valuable thing. Where else would you even try a Rebellious Fish, a Funky Monk, or a Sparkling Garden? Yep, I tried them all!
Interesting fact about Honolulu: Waikiki Beach is almost entirely manmade.
Sunday: We spend the night, apparently going in circles as Maui is only a short distance away, so when we wake up on Sunday morning, we are docked at Kahului Harbor, by the airport. Our driver meets us at the ship and we travel past the devastated-by-fire remains of Lahaina (so heartbreaking), on our way to the Plantation Course at Kapalua. As many of you know, the Plantation Course is where the PGA opens their season every year in January and it is a very difficult course, with lots of elevation. It seems I was really focusing on the beautiful views that day rather than golf, as I continued to litter the grounds with a number of my golf balls; at least I know they have a beautiful final resting place.
Monday: Our ship stayed in Maui and our driver picks us up at the ship in the morning and takes us to the other end of the island to the Emerald Course at Wailea. It was another beautiful day, on another beautiful, and more friendly, golf course. No balls put to rest on this day. After the mandatory ‘after-the-round-cocktail’ our driver picks us up and returns us to the ship. We have dinner reservations at Cagney’s Steak House on board and have a very nice meal. Entertainment was a little light, as we saw a comedian, who was sometimes funny.
Mauni Lani
Interesting fact about Maui: Maui is home to the largest dormant volcano in the world – Mt. Haleakalā
Tuesday/Wednesday: We wake up this morning on the Hilo side of the Big Island, so with a day of rest from golf, and nothing we haven’t seen or want to see in Hilo, we hang out on the ship. That evening, the ship sails around to the other side of the island to the Kona side, where we get off in the morning and play golf at Mauna Lani, a beautiful oceanfront golf course that is magnificent! Jack & JJ Budd, who are vacationing with their grandkids on the Big Island, meet us prior to our tee time. Another beautiful day as we are amazed by the homes on this magnificent golf course.
Back on the boat and we make the evening voyage from the Big Island to Kauai.
Interesting fact about The Big Island: Mauna Kea Volcano is the tallest mountain in the world from the sea floor at 33,000 feet (Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain on land is 29,032 feet)
Linda & me with Tracy Sanborn
Thursday/Friday: We awake the next morning in Nawilwili Bay on the island of Kauai, where we disembark and are met by our driver, who takes us to Poipu Bay Golf Course. The course and day are beautiful, but very windy, so golf takes a back seat to great views and putting some balls in their beautiful final resting place. We stay docked in Kauai for the evening and play Kohalani Ocean Course, with many holes right along the coast line. Yes, I put some balls to rest here, but they didn’t mind, it is a beautiful, tropical golf course. A bonus was that we were met after the round of golf by my cousin, Tracy Sanborn, who I hadn’t see in over 50 years (her mom and my dad were siblings); she just happened to be staying at her timeshare in Princeville with her son, daughter-in-law and their 6-month-old baby boy. Great to see them!
Interesting fact about Kauai: Kauai is the wettest place on earth, Mt. Waialeale receives an average of 450 inches of rain a year!
Friday morning we are back in Honolulu, where we disembark, head to the airport for our flight home, full of golf aches and pains, and some extra baggage at the belt level from that ‘unlimited drink’ package, but also filled with lots of great memories.
