all aboard the pride of hawaii

after taking my first cruise down the mexican riviera earlier this year, i learned a few things that other cruising newbies may not be aware of like . . .

• someone else tidies up your room not once, but twice a day!

• the ability to take a nap (or two) while traveling to your next destination

• never worrying about where to go for dinner. or breakfast. or lunch. or snacks (lots and lots of snacking opportunities abound on a cruise ship)

that being said, if you have always thought a cruise around the hawaiian islands would be fun then hele on over to norwegian cruise lines. it's not every day that you have the opportunity to travel on a brand spanking new ship, and, if you do your home work, you might be able to score a cruise on the pride of hawai'i (going on her maiden voyage this summer) for as little as $799 per person.

although your time ashore can be limited, with a little planning and research you can definitely travel off the beaten path and avoid the somewhat touristy & overpriced shore excursions.

bio-beetle to the rescue

the folks on maui always seem to be one step ahead when it comes to earth friendly technology. case in point: maui-based bio-beetle which has a small fleet of rental cars that run solely on bio diesel, a.k.a. 100% recycled vegetable oil. bio diesel is a renewable source of energy that is cleaner burning compared to petroleum, and since hawaii is home to one of the most abundant eco-systems on the planet this is a very good thing for the islands. plus they're super cute!

for some reason, even though the rental car market on oahu is huge, bio-beetles are not yet available there (although the company has recently expanded to los angeles). let's hope there will be lots of demand for green rental cars in hawaii and bio-beetle will offer their eco-friendly alternative to the rest of the neighbor islands soon.

lovely lavender

it's been years since i last visited upcountry maui but the next time i'm there a visit to ali'i kula lavender is on my list of things to do. it's the only lavender farm in the islands that i know of and they offer tours of their garden where they grow 45 different lavender varieties. until that day arrives, their website with offerings of everything from honey scrub to hawaiian beeswax travel candles will have to do.