| Carnival Spirit Hawaiian Cruise Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii - Day Two |
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii - Day Two
Today is where our great luck and incredible trip come to an end! We had
booked a shore excursion through Carnival for today. We thought that the
deal they were offering was a great value for one main reason, our luggage
would be stored in the belly of the tour bus we'd be on all day so we wouldn't
have to worry about keeping track of our luggage, we'd be able to have a fun
filled day and transportation to the airport. We had been given two sets of
tickets for our tour for this day. I never realized that there were different
times listed on each set of the tickets. We got up and finished packing and
headed up to get some breakfast. We no sooner sat down for breakfast when
they called our luggage tag to meet in the Lounge for our tour. So we scarfed
down some of our breakfast and ran to the cabin to get our luggage and went
to the lounge. We were the second group off the ship. We found our luggage
very quickly and took our bags out to go in the belly of the bus. We boarded
the bus after that. Once we were seated a couple passengers in front of us
asked the bus driver what time this bus was dropped off at the airport. The
bus driver stated that it would be dropping off at the airport at 12:45. We
knew then we were on the wrong bus and should have used the other set of
tickets that we had been issued that said 9 am instead of the 8:15 ones that we
had used to get on this bus. Our flight wasn't to leave Honolulu Airport until
7:20 pm and the last thing we wanted to do is hang out at the airport all day.
We got off the bus and retrieved all our luggage. We waited for the right
buses to come for our tour and we loaded our luggage again into the belly of
the bus. We left the port and went to Pearl Harbor. We found out we had 2
hours until our tour of the USS Arizona so we headed over to see the BowFin.
Then we came back and paid the $5 per person to do the audio tour of the
Museum. We also did some souvenir shopping. After we went to the USS
Arizona our tour guide took us on a tour of Honolulu. We saw the Punchbowl
National Cemetery, the Hawaii State Capitol and Iolani Palace. After our
tour our tour guide dropped us off in Waikiki at the International Market
Place. We did some gift shopping and souvenir shopping. At about 3 pm, 15
minutes until our meet time to go to the airport Scott asked me about when I
retrieved the luggage off the belly of the first bus. He asked if I had retrieved
our duffel bag that we had bought from the ship to bring home all of our
souvenirs (every single souvenir from the 19 days). My answer was no and
then shear panic! We went back to the driver of the bus and told her what
happened and she made some phone calls for me. I also got on the phone and
started calling around. I called the Aloha Tower Port who got the phone
number for Carnival's Port Agent. I called Dwayne the Port Agent who
contacted the Tour Operator's Supervisor. Lance, the Supervisor, contacted
Betty (Airport Supervisor for the Tour Operator). Betty came to find Scott
and I in the airport. At this point we were at the airport and had checked our
bags for our flight. Betty was able to find out from TSA that a bag had been
turned in to them and then to Lost & Found at about 2 pm that afternoon that
matched the description of our bag. Lost and Found however was closed! By
the time we finally found all this out we had just over an hour before our
flight so we went to go through security and grab a bite to eat as we hadn't
eaten since our half eaten breakfast that morning. We went home with the
hope that it was our bag and it would be mailed to us. The next day we got
home at 2 pm and at 2:45 the Honolulu Airport called and said they had a bag
that belonged to us! Betty would go and pick it up and Lance would see that
it was shipped to us on the Tour Operator's dime. The bus driver had NOT
followed policy. He was supposed to have off-loaded all the luggage and
whatever was not claimed put back on the bus. He did not do this, he drove
off. Luckily TSA picked it up. The bag has not reached home and therefore
we are unable to know if everything is still in the bag! As of 10/14 the bag is
in Sacramento, CA. I'll update the site as soon as we get the bag and I can
inventory it.
All and all, even with the bad ending this trip was a trip of a lifetime and we'd
do it all again tomorrow if we could! We had lots of fun with friends, family
and new friends!!! I highly recommend Hawaii to anyone! We especially
loved Maui and Oahu!
Here are pics from our last day in Hawaii:
Today is where our great luck and incredible trip come to an end! We had
booked a shore excursion through Carnival for today. We thought that the
deal they were offering was a great value for one main reason, our luggage
would be stored in the belly of the tour bus we'd be on all day so we wouldn't
have to worry about keeping track of our luggage, we'd be able to have a fun
filled day and transportation to the airport. We had been given two sets of
tickets for our tour for this day. I never realized that there were different
times listed on each set of the tickets. We got up and finished packing and
headed up to get some breakfast. We no sooner sat down for breakfast when
they called our luggage tag to meet in the Lounge for our tour. So we scarfed
down some of our breakfast and ran to the cabin to get our luggage and went
to the lounge. We were the second group off the ship. We found our luggage
very quickly and took our bags out to go in the belly of the bus. We boarded
the bus after that. Once we were seated a couple passengers in front of us
asked the bus driver what time this bus was dropped off at the airport. The
bus driver stated that it would be dropping off at the airport at 12:45. We
knew then we were on the wrong bus and should have used the other set of
tickets that we had been issued that said 9 am instead of the 8:15 ones that we
had used to get on this bus. Our flight wasn't to leave Honolulu Airport until
7:20 pm and the last thing we wanted to do is hang out at the airport all day.
We got off the bus and retrieved all our luggage. We waited for the right
buses to come for our tour and we loaded our luggage again into the belly of
the bus. We left the port and went to Pearl Harbor. We found out we had 2
hours until our tour of the USS Arizona so we headed over to see the BowFin.
Then we came back and paid the $5 per person to do the audio tour of the
Museum. We also did some souvenir shopping. After we went to the USS
Arizona our tour guide took us on a tour of Honolulu. We saw the Punchbowl
National Cemetery, the Hawaii State Capitol and Iolani Palace. After our
tour our tour guide dropped us off in Waikiki at the International Market
Place. We did some gift shopping and souvenir shopping. At about 3 pm, 15
minutes until our meet time to go to the airport Scott asked me about when I
retrieved the luggage off the belly of the first bus. He asked if I had retrieved
our duffel bag that we had bought from the ship to bring home all of our
souvenirs (every single souvenir from the 19 days). My answer was no and
then shear panic! We went back to the driver of the bus and told her what
happened and she made some phone calls for me. I also got on the phone and
started calling around. I called the Aloha Tower Port who got the phone
number for Carnival's Port Agent. I called Dwayne the Port Agent who
contacted the Tour Operator's Supervisor. Lance, the Supervisor, contacted
Betty (Airport Supervisor for the Tour Operator). Betty came to find Scott
and I in the airport. At this point we were at the airport and had checked our
bags for our flight. Betty was able to find out from TSA that a bag had been
turned in to them and then to Lost & Found at about 2 pm that afternoon that
matched the description of our bag. Lost and Found however was closed! By
the time we finally found all this out we had just over an hour before our
flight so we went to go through security and grab a bite to eat as we hadn't
eaten since our half eaten breakfast that morning. We went home with the
hope that it was our bag and it would be mailed to us. The next day we got
home at 2 pm and at 2:45 the Honolulu Airport called and said they had a bag
that belonged to us! Betty would go and pick it up and Lance would see that
it was shipped to us on the Tour Operator's dime. The bus driver had NOT
followed policy. He was supposed to have off-loaded all the luggage and
whatever was not claimed put back on the bus. He did not do this, he drove
off. Luckily TSA picked it up. The bag has not reached home and therefore
we are unable to know if everything is still in the bag! As of 10/14 the bag is
in Sacramento, CA. I'll update the site as soon as we get the bag and I can
inventory it.
All and all, even with the bad ending this trip was a trip of a lifetime and we'd
do it all again tomorrow if we could! We had lots of fun with friends, family
and new friends!!! I highly recommend Hawaii to anyone! We especially
loved Maui and Oahu!
Here are pics from our last day in Hawaii:
