February 25 - Kauai

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

8:00 am to 5:00 pm

After the on and off rain we had yesterday, it was nice to wake up to clear skies! I was relieved when the ship was able to dock in Nawilliwilli. The entrance to the pier is narrow and requires that the captain do an S-turn around the breakwater and often the seas are too rough to make the maneuver. On our last cruise in 2024 the port was cancelled at the last minute for that reason. (Although missing the port wasn't a total loss since we got to sail by the Napali Coast instead.)

Today we had another Turo car rental but this time it was Bob who would be driving. The car was parked fairly close to the ship and even with my slow walking it did not take us long to get there. After taking all of the obligatory photos and uploading them to the Turo app as requested, we were off for the north shore.

These are such interesting trees!

A couple of months ago I had gone online and made reservations for the four of us to visit the Kilauea Lighthouse and wildlife refuge. The reservations were only $1 each but without them you had to view the lighthouse from a distance. I wasn't sure how long it would take us to get there so I played it safe with a 10:30 reservation. 

It was about 9:50 when we arrived so we parked at the overlook parking lot and spent some time taking photos of the lighthouse in the distance and doing some bird watching. Around 10:20 we drove through the gate. Normally the cost to visit (besides the reservation fee) is $10 per person but Bob's National Park pass covered all of us in the car for free. 

The Kilauea Lighthouse from the overlook parking lot.

A more zoomed in view of the lighthouse. 

And even closer view.
The lighthouse was being renovated at the time. 

The upper parking lot closest to the entrance was full, but I knew they had a golf cart available and we requested to be picked up so I didn't have to walk up the hill. The view from the cliff was incredible! We didn't see any whales as I had hoped, but one of the workers said they had seen some a few days earlier. We walked around the path circling the lighthouse watching for the many birds that call the area home.

A pair of nēnē, Hawaiian geese.

The nēnē is Hawaii's state bird.

Kilauea Lighthouse visitor center.

The lighthouse was undergoing renovations and for some reason I didn't take a close up photo. Here is a picture from the "Friends of Kauai Wildlife Refuge" website showing the lighthouse without the scaffolding and protective cover around the light.

From the lighthouse, we drove to Anini Beach where I had hoped to see some turtles that sometimes hang out on the beach. None were there, but it was beautiful. We followed the directions from the Guide Along app and drove until we reached the end of the public road.

Looking back at the Kilauea Lighthouse in the distance

Taro fields.

It was lunch time, but I didn't want to waste our precious time going into a sit-down restaurant so I asked Siri to find some food trucks in Hanalei. She directed us to a location that had several. Well, we might as well have gone to a restaurant because the Brazillian food truck where Michelle and I ordered our meal took nearly 30 minutes to fill our order. The chicken breast was dry and flavorless and the plain rice and green salad served with it was not worth the time or money we spent. Bob and Jon both ordered from a Thai food truck and enjoyed their meal.

👎👎👎

We followed Google Maps directions to get to Hanalei Bay but we ended up at the far end of the bay instead of near the iconic pier where I thought we were going. It was still beautiful and the waves were huge!

I zoomed in to get a photo of the Hanalei Pier.

Our port time was much shorter than yesterday in Honolulu which meant we needed to head back south so we wouldn't miss the all aboard time of 4:30. Traffic was very slow but I figured we still had enough time to stop at the overlook for 'Opaeka'a Falls. I knew it was just a parking lot with a distant view of the falls but probably worth a fast stop. Michelle and I were in desperate need of a bathroom so we jumped out of the car as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. A guy was waving Bob over to the side and when we returned I discovered that Jon had paid $30 for us to park there! What!? The guy was not dressed in any kind of uniform and I was sure it was a scammer taking advantage of unsuspecting tourists. I even went online and AI assured me that there was no entry fee. But on a little closer look I read where just a few weeks earlier Kauai had instituted the new fee for state parks in the area. The charge was $10 per car PLUS $5 per person. 

My $30 photo (and distant view) of 'Opaeka'a Falls. 😠

These boys need a little supervision at times. 

But going those few extra feet did get Bob a nice photo.

The sign we didn't see. 😠

Had I talked to the guy collecting the admission fee before Jon, I would have said "forget it" and just driven on. After all, you can see the falls from the highway so basically we paid $30 to use the restroom. We did take the time to walk across the highway to see the view of the Wailua River. 

Kayakers on the Wailua River

I also learned that the new fee also applied to parking at Wailua Falls where we were heading next. Since we kept our receipt, we wouldn't have to pay again when we got there. BUT...when we arrived there was no sign of anyone collecting any sort of fee! The falls are right next to the parking area so we got some good photos and were on our way. By the time we got gas in the car, we were out of time. I'm not sure how my original plan included time for swimming and snorkeling at a beach!

 

Wailua Falls

With the early aboard time, we were able to watch as the Ruby Princess sailed away from Kauai towards our next port of Kona on the Big Island before we went to dinner.

We were able to make our usual 5:20 dinner reservation but we did skip dessert to get to the 7:00 show in the theater. The group, Company Men, were performing. The music was good and their energy was amazing, but both Michelle and I found ourselves falling asleep. There was no getting a late dessert after the show, no playing cards. It was back to our cabins and lights out early!

Kauai...Sort Of

 Monday, February 5, 2024

For the last several months, I had been booking (and re-booking) rental cars for each port through the Discount Hawaii Car Rental website. The website is easy to use, has the best prices available and also lets spouses drive for free. I kept checking prices and if I saw a better deal, I just cancelled one reservation and made a new one. For Kauai, I chose to rent from Payless because they are one of the few agencies that still run a free shuttle from the cruise port to their airport rental location. No money is required in advance so there is no risk if the ship isn't able to dock...or your plans change. My rate for a compact rental car was $66.15.

We could see the island of Kauai when we went to breakfast at the buffet. It seemed like the ship had stopped moving while we were eating and I wondered if perhaps the dock was on the other side of the ship and we were getting close. About then the captain made an announcement that the swells were too big and waves were washing over the breakwater in the Lihue harbor. The entrance into the harbor requires an S-curve and with the rough conditions it just wouldn't be safe to try and dock. Kauai was cancelled. 😢 (I was thankful I didn't have to worry about losing money on our car rental reservation.)

But the captain continued with his announcement saying that he wanted to try and make up for the loss of the port so he was going to go around to the other side of the island and sail past the Na Pali coast before continuing on to our next port of Honolulu. He had tried to find a way to dock somewhere else or get to Honolulu earlier, but there were no piers available for a ship the size of the Koningsdam.

Leaving Lihue and starting around the island towards the Na Pali Coast.

Since we were traveling clockwise around the island, the land view was off of the starboard (right) side. That meant the view from our port side balcony was...just water. The Koningsdam was due to reach the scenic coastline around 2 pm and I decided maybe staking out a spot on a public deck might be a wise move. So later on in the morning Bob and I went to the aft pool deck and found a couple of loungers where we could have a view of the Na Pali coastline as we sailed past. It was chilly and windy but we stayed put.

Somebody was cold.

It was comical to watch these ladies try to control their sunhats in the wind.

The southern coastline of Kauai.

Around 11:30, Bob went to the NY Pizza & Deli and got us each a Rueben sandwich for lunch. By the time we finished eating, the ship had rounded the southern end of Kauai and we were headed north up the western side. With the change in direction, the wind speeds dropped drastically and it got much warmer.

Once we reached the Na Pali coastline the captain turned the ship so we went back to our cabin thinking the view would be good from our balcony. But in a short time, the captain turned the ship again and continued sailing. Instead of going back up to the pool deck, we went down to the promenade deck (3) and had a great view from there (although there aren't any chairs or lounges and it was hard on my knee to just stand.) 

I am sorry that we weren't able to dock and spend the day exploring Kauai as we had planned, but at the same time felt very fortunate that we were able to see the Na Pali Coast. So beautiful!!

Promenade Deck

The Na Pali Coast is only visible from the water, the air or by taking a very long strenuous hike.

Bob stayed on the promenade deck and walked while I went back to the cabin to shower and dress for dinner. Shortly before we left the room to go for dinner I glanced out of the balcony door and saw a rainbow over the coastline. Although the skies had been blue over the ship all day, the island had been draped in clouds and haze...perfect conditions for a rainbow. I snapped photos as the rainbow just kept getting bigger and more vivid.

The beginning of the rainbow...

Becoming more vivid.

A full rainbow!

The rest of our evening was spent listening to the country hits set at Billboard Onboard followed by the Step One Dance Company performing Musicology...a show that we had seen previously on another cruise.

Before crawling into bed, I tried to get organized for our day in Honolulu. Bob continued on his sports movie binge by watching Remember the Titans while I updated my blog notes. The BB Kings band had the night off so we drifted off to sleep in beautiful silence.