After leaving Oahu, our first cruise stop was Maui. But more than that, it was July 2nd, Peyton's 15th Birthday. Calib was not pleased with this, since Peyton seems to 'keep getting cruises for his birthdays'. (To be fair, it was just that one time he got to spend his 9th birthday on a cruise ship in Alaska). He also wasn't please since not only did Peyton get 'Fake Birthday' at home before we left, but everyone started celebrating Peyton's birthday at 6 PM Hawaii Time, since it was midnight on the east coast. (We then proceeded to celebrate Peyton's birthday until midnight Hawaii time). But, he did get over it. I mean, he ALSO got to be on a cruise ship, it just wasn't his birthday. And to be fair, I didn't pick the dates for the trip.
When we got up we were already docked in Maui. I asked Peyton if he wanted room service or Cagney's for breakfast, but he's not usually into breakfast, and his birthday was no exception.
But I can't pass up breakfast, especially if I know I'm skipping lunch (which we did most days on the ship, since we were always out and about at lunch time). A big breakfast, and most of us are good until dinner. Breakfast is my jam, and this ship had awesome breakfast food. In the Aloha Buffet, I could get a pancake, a waffle and french toast. It was amazing. Peyton, meanwhile, hung out on the balcony and enjoyed the Maui sunshine.
Most of the ports that the cruise ships sail into in Hawaii, are just industrial ports. There's only one stop where you can hop off the boat and shop or swim or whatever. Everywhere else you need to book an excursion, or rent your own car. For the most part, we went with renting our own car. It was the cheapest option for all of us to enjoy the islands. Asa often went ahead to pick up the car at nearby airports or hotels, and then he picked us up at the port.
For the most part we just had a normal car, the cheapest one we could get. But for Peyton's birthday we splurged. Everyone wanted a Jeep in Hawaii, so we thought it would be fun for the birthday festivities. Calib (who ALWAYS talks about buying a Jeep) was very excited about it.
I did a lot of research on what to do on each island, since we were there such a short amount of time. Maui's top sights included the Haleakala shield volcano/crater, and the Road to Hana. That road is windy, curvy and hugs the coast. But with my car sick tendencies, and Peyton's fear of roads that drop off into nothingness (stay tuned for one of those adventures), the Road to Hana was out. The crater involved more time in the car than Peyton wanted (and a hike which he was not excited about), so I looked around at some other options.
Enter, the Maui Ocean Center. It claims to be Hawaii's best aquarium, and one of the top 25 in the country. It's also an oceanography center, and it grows artificial coral reefs to replenish the waters of Hawaii where the coral has been killed off.
Over 20 percent of the fish in Hawaii are endemic to their waters, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world. We got to see a whole bunch of new fish. There were all kinds of different types of viewing: indoor and outdoor, from above, or from the side. Our first stop was at the open ocean display.
There was, of course plenty of displays, but there were also plenty of people who worked for the Maui Ocean Center to tell us about their efforts and systems. Fun fact: The pump all the water in and out to the ocean, and all they have to do is lightly filter it for their fishes.
Usually, Peyton is my aquarium guy. But Calib and Hayden also really enjoyed it. I think it was seeing so many different fish they had never seen before, and even getting lessons on them.
We discovered the cleaner fish, who just go around eating dead scales off of the other fish. And Peyton decided his favorite fish of all was the Hawaii State Fish, the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a Fish. In case you're wondering, he's a reef trigger fish. We never did get his Hawaiian name down too well, but Peyton did buy a shirt that I'll get to, which is pretty cool. (Side note: I lifted this picture from google so you could see the fish).
But, Hayden and Calib's favorite fish was the frog fish. Hayden laughed about this fish for a good five minutes, and Peyton and Calib both took pictures of it on their phones. (It's currently Peyton's home screen). He looked like an angry Muppet to me.
Back outside there were plenty of touch tanks full of starfish, sea anemones and sea cucumbers.
The place was very education focused and eco-conscious. (Apparently boxed water is a thing).
Peyton, however was very excited when he found a tank of baby sea turtles. Because, baby sea turtles!
The big ones were easier for viewing though, you could see them from above or below. I know it's not as cool as seeing them in the wild, but it's still pretty cool to see them that close up.
Calib was looking for sharks though, and while they had some little ones, there were no big ones to be found.
Moving on to the Living Reef indoor displays, we headed through the shark's mouth.
There weren't really any big sharks, just some little guys, but there were lots of interactive displays.
And pretty Jellyfish! We sat for awhile and watched the lighting change, so they appeared to be different colors.
The tunnel through the big aquarium was also very cool. The boys were rather impressed with the giant sting rays.
By the time we were done through the tunnel, we just has a few random outdoor tanks to go through.
Plus, you know, the gift shop. Peyton and Asa went halvsies on tons of hot sauce this trip, everytime I lost them in a gift shop, I'd just find the hot sauces, and there they would be, discussing which kind to get. I also offered to buy Peyton something for his birthday. I know he got his presents at home, but it just felt weird to have nothing to give him ON his birthday. He picked the giant stuffed sea turtle. I guess I never took a picture, but my mom bought me my favorite souvenir of the trip here too, a cute little blue crab bowl, where the claws slide out and reveal they are little spreading knives. It's adorable.
Back in the Jeep, we decided to take the front top off before we headed to our next adventure.
It was awfully windy, but Peyton loved it. So did Calib. My mom, not so much. I'd look back and she was covering her ears to avoid the wind noise. Also, my hair was not such a fan.
Our next stop was the Aloha Wow Wow Lemonade Stand. I guess there are a few of these all over Hawaii, and people really like them. (It's also all over Pinterest, which is where I found it). Peyton and Calib love their lemonade, so I thought this would be a fun stop.
The lemonade was really good. We got the Strawberry and Pineapple Lemonade, and the Blackberry Lavender Lemonade. We were split on which was better, but they were both delicious. And you get to keep the very cute mason jar glass!
Our next stop was a south Maui beach. It was once called Kaula'uo Beach, but I guess it is more commonly called Ulua beach these days. It's tucked down a side road along all kinds of fancy Maui resorts, with very little parking (a Hawaiian trend), but we were lucky enough to find a spot. Peyton was a little ancy to get back to the ship, but I had read this beach was good for snorkeling, and I thought if I could just convince Peyton to go, he'd be glad he did.
When we arrived, we could tell there were plenty of people snorkeling, and there was a nice reef that many fish would find appealing. While mom climbed on the rocks to check it out, Peyton and Asa put on their snorkels and went out to see what they could see.
The snorkeling here was a bit more challenging than Shark's Cove. The drop offs were hefty, Asa thought maybe 100 feet- and the area was not as calm, as it wasn't walled off from the open ocean. But the reward was pretty awesome, Peyton saw TONS of fish, a lot of them that he had just seen and learned about at the Maui Ocean Center. There were yellow tang, unicorn fish, and the Hawaiian State Fish, to name a few.
We still just had our three sets of goggles and snorkels, so Asa would come back and get Calib and Hayden and just not take them out very far. The waves were a little much for them, so they tried to stay where they could touch. There was some to see even if you didn't go far. In fact, mom saw plenty just wading in a couple feet deep of water. (Don't let these pictures fool you, the water was very clear- but it was easily stirred up).
But, eventually I decided I wanted to go out, just to see something. I put on the googles and headed out with Peyton and Asa. While I was out there we saw the one and only eel that we saw all trip. Peyton was super excited about, and while we were all treading water talking about how huge and awesome the black polka dotted eel was, a guy came swimming towards us. He said 'If you guys have masks on, look down, now!' We all immediately put our heads in, and floated, when I did I was directly above a sea turtle bigger than me! I didn't get a great look at him,, because by the time I went under we were about perpendicular to one another. But it was SO cool. Peyton and Asa got a better look, and even swam behind the turtle (keeping a safe distance, of course) for awhile.
I got major cool points from Peyton to bringing him to this beach. We had other good snorkeling sites, but this was his favorite (though I'm sure it helped that it was his birthday!) So, it was a great stop!
And we saw a sea turtle, which we all just thought was super cool!
Everywhere at the Maui ocean center, it said how it was a Federal Offense to touch one though, so I narrowly escaped prison, guys. It was so close to brushing up against me. I was just inches from it!
If you're in Maui, it's not a beach that gets a lot of hype, apparently, but we highly recommend it.
I would say you can't beat the views, but I'd say that about most of Hawaii.
Back in the Jeep we had one more stop to make before getting back on the ship. Peyton wanted some Pokemon cards from Hawaii, so we stopped at a Target, and he got a tin and some cards. (Hayden did too, but to my surprise, they were all pretty good at not spending all their money in one place.)
Asa dropped us all off at the ship, and headed back to the airport to return the car. Peyton was immediately off to hang out with his friends from the ship, and told us he'd see us at dinner.
I may be fine with just having breakfast, but Hayden is not. That boy needs his lunch. Luckily, you can get food anytime you want it on a cruise ship, so back on board I took him over to the pool bar for a late lunch.
When Asa was back, we all met up for a trip to the pool. Most days when we got back from the beach we decided a trip to the pool would be easier (and funner) than all cycling through the one shower, so it became a habit. (I'll miss some things about Hawaii- like the tradewinds, and the pineapple- but permanently having ocean-water-salty-crusty-hair is not one of them.)
Back in the room we had our daily towel animal and snacks. I'm pretty sure someone took most of the chocolate covered pineapple before I took the picture.
We had a while to kill before dinner, so Asa and I sat out on our balcony. Those lounge chairs were super comfy, and almost always in the shade, which was lovely. Hayden meanwhile, watched Moana for like the millionth time. It was one of the few things he, Gwen and Garrett liked on the 'on demand' feature on the TV, so it seemed like it was always on.
For dinner, we went to Moderno's, the Brazillian Steakhouse. We ate at the same place on our ship in Mexico, and Peyton loved it. So when I asked where he wanted to eat for his birthday dinner, it was a no brainer. Cort's family went to the main dining room, since a steakhouse isn't exactly vegetarian friendly.
First of all, we got some very yummy Brazilian Cheese Bread.
And then we hit up the very awesome and unique salad bar, where we encouraged the boys to try lots of new things.
Peyton, however, stuck to plate full of sushi, while Hayden stuck to pickles and cheese.
At Moderno's a green card mean's keep the meat coming, red means you're all done.
Then they bring around skewers of meat after meat. Various kinds of beef and chicken and pork. It's all delicious, but we all got full very fast. Peyton and Asa did get seconds of their favorite though, the filet mignon.
They'll bring back anything you'd like, but at this point, I was totally full and turned my card to red. I had forgotten at the end they bring you pineapple that's been cooked in brown sugar and is warm and melts in your mouth, and the guy talked me into having some. Everyone laughed at me when I flipped my card back to green for the pineapple.
The kids all ditched us after the pineapple, even before they got to sing to Peyton. (Apparently our Butler had told them it was Peyton's birthday, and they were going to bring him desert and sing Happy Birthday. Peyton was not sad at all he missed this, as he hates the attention, but Peter, our Butler, was all sad that Peyton missed it!)
Anyway, mom and Asa decided they still needed dessert. There were four on the menu, so they talked me into also ordering a dessert. Mom got two, so we covered the whole dessert menu.
Mom got the rice pudding and the flan. She liked the flan, but was 'meh' on the rice pudding. I'm generally not a fan of either of the two, so I had like half a spoonful of each to say I had tried them.
Asa got some coconut cream chocolate cake which was one of my favorite desserts all trip. He even liked it, and he doesn't like coconut. But, everyone also enjoyed my papaya cream (which was basically just papaya ice cream).
One of the pros of the ship in Hawaii is that we had two nights where we stayed in the same port, and the boat didn't move, which meant I could actually enjoy the ship without fear of sea sickness. Maui was our first two-day stop. We went to the show, I put my feet in the hot tub, and hung out at some of the nice little nooks.
At 10:30 we picked Hayden up from kids club and they somehow still had room in their tummies for nachos at the Aloha Cafe. There weren't many choices past 9, but nachos and ice cream were staples. And you had to pass through on your way back to our room, so of course it was a nightly occurrence for them.
Peyton showed back up for bedtime, and announced he wanted to sleep out on the balcony. NCL might frown upon that, but I said 'go for it'. I mean, how often do you get to spend your birthday sleeping outside, in Maui, on your birthday?
That's it for our first day in Maui. One more blog down.
Next Up: Maui Day 2, and my quest for more sea turtles!
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