The start of a very long day. The final leg of my flight is on JAL, which means I am not able to be upgraded, so I’m flying economy. At least I have an aisle seat and a good neck pillow. They have us a pastry after taking off. I ate it later and it…
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2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 2 [… to Tokyo]
Today I continued on my flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo. I was able to get about 5 hours of sleep and watch 2 movies. I spent about 9 hours in the lounge. I explored a bit in the airport and made plans for my shore excursions for the cruise. My flight to Singapore boards…
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 1 [Houston to Tokyo]
Today will be a short day. My first flight departs at 0615 for Los Angeles [LAX] where I will board a flight to Japan that departs at 1030. I won’t get off that plane until after 3pm tomorrow, but it’s only about 10 hours from LAX to HND [Tokyo]. I left the house at around…
Checked in for the flight… Most of them anyways
This morning I was pleasantly surprised to receive an upgrade to business class on my flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo before checking in for the flight. Iwasn’t surprised about the upgrade – yesterday they had seven available seats in business class on the flight, just surprised it cleared before checking in. I have the…
First trip of 2020 – 12 day cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong
The ship sails in 5 days. My flight leaves in two. I only booked the cruise on New Year’s Eve. From the NCL app: I’m taking advantage of my status on American Airlines and hope to get upgraded most of the way there and back. I’ve been confirmed in business class on the return from…
Houston to NY…
The annual Festive season trip is under way. I was lucky enough to get round trip flights to Ithaca, NY for 29,500 miles yesterday, otherwise you’d be reading about a very long drive instead of the flights on United. I left the house at 4:50 AM. I parked at Parking Spot 2 at 5:42 AM…
Hawai’i Day 11 – Departure from Honolulu
This morning I slept in a little, then did some laundry since the room had a washer and dryer. After I put the clothes in the dryer I walked to the beach. I picked up a snack at Subway before heading back to the hotel to enjoy a couple of glasses of wine because I…
Hawai’i Day 10 – Cruise disembarkation [Honolulu]
Today was a sad day as I said goodbye to my new friend the Pride of America. Unlike other ships this is likely the last time I will be on it. After a causal breakfast (and a lot of packing) I took an Uber to the hotel. I booked an ocean view balcony room at…
Hawai’i Day 9 – Day 7 of cruise [Kauai]
This morning I got an early start. I left the ship at 7am and started to explore the north part of the island. The first stop was for a lighthouse. While driving back from the lighthouse to the main road I stopped for a few photos. while on the main road towards Hanalei pier there…
Hawai’i Day 8 – Day 6 of Cruise [Kauai]
This morning the ship arrived in Kauai at about 8:00 am. The view was spectacular as the ship was arriving so I quickly grabbed my GoPro camera and set it for a time lapse video and took some pictures as well. They started allowing us off at 8:30 am. I took the rental car shuttle…
Hawai’i Day 7 – Day 5 of cruise [Kona]
This morning was a good change in weather compared to yesterday afternoon. The weather in Kona was sunny and the water was very clear. I started the day lazily because I only planned to go snorkeling. The ship had to tender, and they used the lifeboats. I walked from the tender pier to the Mokuaikaua…
Hawai’i Day 6 – Day 4 of cruise [Hilo – Volcanos National Park]
This morning I arrived in Hilo. I took a few photos from the ship before taking a taxi to the airport to get the rental car. Another Jeep with removable roof. I drove about 45 minutes to Hawaii Volcano National Park. I’m getting use of my new National Park pass. I stopped at the visitor…
Hawai’i Day 5 – Day 3 of cruise [Maui – Haleakala National Park]
I thought about waking up at 1:30am for the Haleakala sunrise, but I was pretty tired from yesterday’s circumnavigation of Haleakala. I got a reasonable start to the morning. I attempted to order an Uber, but port security wouldn’t let them in. I took a taxi to the Maui Beach Hotel where I parked the…
Hawai’i Day 4 – Day 2 of cruise [Maui – Road to Hana]
Don’t try this at home… Well at least not the entire loop of Haleakala like I did today. Today I arrived in Maui. I took a taxi to the airport ($15) to pick up the rental car. I reserved an open air Jeep for the two days in Maui. After removing the top I started…
Hawai’i Day 3 – Day 1 of Cruise [O’ahu]
This morning I woke up early and went snorkeling in the lagoon at the resort. There were a few fish near the rocks that were cut for the lagoons. After packing and checking out I went to Pearl Harbor. Luckily yesterday I got tickets for the 11am tour. I arrived at 10:15 and was able…
Hawai’i Day 2 – O’ahu
This morning my first task of the day was to wake up and reserve tickets for the Pearl Harbor tour. I already made reservations, but it was at 2 pm, ending at 3:15 pm which would make it difficult to reach the ship on time. Luckily I was able to get 2 tickets for 11…
Hawai’i Day 1 – Houston to Honolulu
This morning I took the direct United flight UA 253 from Houston to Hawai’i…. After checking in and going through security at terminal C, I got a text message saying the gate had changed to E5…. not a slight change. This required a significant amount of walking and a train to change between terminals. Eventually…
San Antonio, TX
This morning I drove to San Antonio. I decided to visit the missions in San Antonio since I’ve only been to the Alamo. The first stop was Mission Espada. While I was there they had a mass in Spanish. Quite interesting that a church older than the United States was still being used, and that…
Doha, Qatar to Houston, TX
This morning I left very early 0630 flight. The corniche was closed due to a sporting event, so the Uber to the airport needed to take an alternate route. My seat to London… Picked specifically at the bulkhead to avoid climbing over someone’s legs or having them climb over me. The waffle was not very…
Hawaii Cruise Booked
Today I booked a Hawaiian island cruise. This cruise is special because it only visits Hawaii and no foreign port. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America is a US registered ship. Most other cruise ships are registered in foreign countries and are required to visit a foreign port due to the ‘Passenger Services Act’ which…