Part 1: Discovering True Hawaii on an UnCruise Adventure

Aloha! 🌺 If you've ever wanted to island-hop Hawaii by boat, but weren't sure how without finding yourself in "tourist traps" or one of thousands, our small ship cruise vacation in Hawaii is the answer.

In Part 1 of this two-part series, we're taking you on an incredible UnCruise adventure through Hawaii's untouched beauty, describing exactly what makes UnCruise's Hawaiian Seascapes itinerary so magical on a small ship with 36 passengers & all-American crew.

Uncover how to experience untouched Hawaii and its serene landscapes alongside us, day by day. Discover what it's like to snorkel with sea turtles, encounter playful spinner dolphins, and the thrill of navigating the breathtaking Humpback Whale Sanctuary near Maui as the ship's "captain." 

We begin on Moloka'i and conclude on the Big Island, offering an intimate glimpse of the breathtaking sights & unique experiences that showcase Hawaii's true essence, far from the crowds of traditional cruising.

Here are additional resources that we touch on during this episode: 

• See the incredible views from Deck 3 during happy hour on our last day onboard.
• This is the bathing suit dryer on deck 3.
• See “Shark Fin,” a snorkeling location, on the UnCruise Hawaii Seascapes map.
• We never leave home for a trip spotting wildlife without our incredible binoculars.
• The Whale Entanglement Organization does vital work to save whales.
• Book a Manta Ray tour, which we touch on during this episode.

Chapters

• 0:35 Introduction to UnCruise Adventures
• 2:25 Explore Hawai'i with Us, the UnCruise Way
• 3:34 The Expedition Experience with UnCruise
• 4:44 Cabin Comforts and Onboard Amenities
• 8:37 Days 1 & 2: Hawaiian Seascapes UnCruise Begins in Moloka'i
• 11:14 Day 3 at Sea: Captain's Choice
• 12:58 Day 4: Shark Fin Snorkel & Private Island Escape on Lanai'i
• 16:25 Day 5: Maui Humpback Whale Sanctuary
• 18:52 Day 5: Turtle Town Snorkel (A Trip Favorite)
• 21:05 Day 6: Volcano Hikes & the Manta Rays That Weren't
• 23:58 Day 7: Kealakekua Cove Park and Seeing the Goddess Pele
• 26:13 Day 8: Fond Farewell to Safari Explorer & Aloha, Kona!

Transcript

Dan (00:35)

Hello and welcome to another edition of Small Ship Cruise Talk. I'm Dan and that's Mikkel. This, hola.

Mikkel (00:41)

Hi! Hola! Well, I don't know how they say hello in Hawaiian, but...

Dan (00:49)

We're going to Hawaii. Well, we're remembering our trip to Hawaii.

Mikkel (00:51)

We are going to Hawaii. At least we are. Yeah.

Dan (00:56)

Last week we had Noël on and we were talking about younger generations getting into cruising and what they should expect. This week we are talking about our trip to Hawaii pivoting just a little bit because we're gonna talk about an expedition cruise. And I know we've mentioned that in the past and we've talked about it a little bit,

Mikkel (01:10)

Yes.

Dan (01:14)

This cruise in particular was something so special, so remarkable that we still talk about it all the time.

Truly it's about what is an expedition cruise and what is UnCruise in Hawaii, right.

Mikkel (01:26)

In Hawaii. And if you are listening to the audio version, welcome. We're so glad to have you. We also want to mention that we have YouTube recordings that showcase our gorgeous faces. And you can see us on YouTube, our podcasts on YouTube, so you can add in the video factor. 

Today I am sporting my Lanai'i Adventure Park shirt that I bought during this cruise. I'm not like an apparel buyer for most situations unless we're doing shopping in Europe and it's things we can't find in the US, but this shirt spoke to me. And also, we are hydrating, might I say, with our Kona Big Wave beer. So cheers to that. Today, what else you can expect besides my beachy hair right now and my shirt and the Kona beer is talking about our UnCruise adventure, as Dan said - our small ship expedition.

So this is Part 1 of two parts on our UnCruise adventure in Hawaii. Today we are going to dive into an overview of UnCruise adventures and what kind of cruise line they are and what makes them so spectacular. It is an expedition cruise so keep listening if you are really curious about that or if you just want to reminisce and you've been on this adventure before.

And we are also going to go day by day into what the eight days were like and what to expect. Part 2 next week, we are going to dive into things like what it was like to start in Moloka‘i and end on the Big Island. And if the reverse is better or what our firsthand experience and thoughts were. We're going to talk about food. Everybody loves food, including me. So we're going to talk about the food. The beverages. 

We're also going to get into some unexpected surprises, which might be a spoiler but it's good to know if you are considering booking this cruise. We're going to talk about the costs, what this cruise costs next week and wrap up with packing tips. So let's get into it today and talk about an overview of Uncruised Adventures.

Dan (03:34)

Jumping into it, let's clear up something that's a little bit confusing and still confusing for me at times is UnCruise. So UnCruise is the name of the cruise line. It seems counterintuitive, but stance on it is it's the polar opposite of a big ship, right? It's you're not winning in line, it's more of a personalized experience, and the size of the ships -

Mikkel (03:55)

Yeah.

Dan (04:01)

About 30, 35 passengers - really lends itself to that kind of specialized bespoke experience.

Mikkel (04:03)

36.

Also with that, UnCruise: I love that you brought that up, it's almost like the anti-cruise cruise. Exactly, exactly. So we were on a ship named Safari Explorer. It is flagged American, which we've mentioned in the past, but just to reiterate, and if it's your first time tuning in, that means that it has an American crew and it is American owned and operated in this case.

Dan (04:19)

Let's see on cola for cola drinkers.

Mikkel (04:39)

Very lovely man named Dan Blanchard owns Uncruise Adventures.

The cabins were actually more spacious than I imagined. We had one of the smaller cabins, which was plenty of space. Unfortunately, for me because I'm a snuggler, Dan and I had separate beds. They were like configured twin beds, kind of. Dan is 6'2", which we have mentioned before. But, uh, silly us, we didn't realize that if we switched beds he wouldn't have the same problem of his feet hitting the wall. The end of my bed I had nothing, and you had a wall at the end of yours, so that was kind of silly of us. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you had the closet. So they were more spacious than I thought. There was actually tiling in the bathroom, which a lot of these times on these expedition ships you'll find that if it's not, you know, an ultra-luxury cruise you'll find that it's a little more ...

Dan (05:15)

Right, at a closet at the end, yeah.

Mikkel (05:32)

I would say... the interiors are a little less fancy.

Dan (05:36)

Yeah, luckily there wasn't a shoilet. So that was nice. The shower and toilet were separate.  But the sink was outside of the bathroom. So that was kind of in the in the living space, let's call it or the the bedroom space.

Mikkel (05:39)

Right, the shower and the toilet, yeah... Right, they were separate, yeah. Right. Right.

Yeah, so the room was great. I know everybody's always curious about that. And of course, there's different cabin categories, even a ship with 36 passengers. And there were three decks of guest space, so three decks that guests could go to. So you walked in, there was a lounge and the restaurant. There was the bar.

On the next deck, there was cabins. And then on the top deck, on the third deck, there was a hot tub that actually is closed for the Hawaii season. It's only open for the Alaska season. But there's a hot tub. There's limited workout gear, but enough to pump some iron, if you will. And also, there was lounge chairs, what am I missing, anything?

Dan (06:34)

No, that was it. Well, what was that cool thing for the bathing suits, the spinner? Yeah, that was up there.

Mikkel (06:38)

Oh my god, I love that you brought that up. There was a spinner. Yes, every ship should have this, but most ships that we've been on do not. It's a drum that you put your bathing suit in and you close it for a couple seconds and it really quickly, it's like a salad spinner for your bathing suit. It spins your bathing suit to dry it and it was awesome because we snorkeled so much on this cruise and we were in the water a lot.

So don't worry that that hot tub is closed. You're not going to feel like you need it.

Dan (07:10)

The other cool thing was the open bridge policy, which I enjoyed for a brief moment in time. I pretty much thought I was the captain of the vessel.

Mikkel (07:13)

Yes.

Dan (07:20)

Well, you know, until the second mate was like, OK, we're done. ⁓

Mikkel (07:24)

Speaking of you being the captain, let's talk about the itinerary because you were the captain on a very specific day. We're being funny. There was no chance in hell, might I say, that either one of us, you were supervised, yeah, that we were like captaining the ship. "I am the captain now."

Dan (07:34)

I was supervised. Closely watched.

Mikkel (07:41)

So we started off in Moloka‘i and we ended on the Big Island in Kona and you can do that or the reverse. So of course when we got off the next cruise that boarded - those passengers were going from Kona on the Big Island to Moloka‘i. The Big Island is the island of Hawaii. Moloka‘i is another of the Hawaiian islands.

We love that this went to lesser visited islands you could say, but of course hit on some of the hits I would say. We were in didn't explore Maui, we more so were in the water around Maui. It's like hard to say multiple times quickly. It's a tongue twister. Anyway, and we ended on the Big Island, which of course is a really popular destination as well. But that's just to say that this cruise does not go to and it does not go to Oahu.

So started in Moloka‘i and did a pre-cruise on our own and a post-cruise on our own. We're going to talk about that momentarily. The next day we did a Moloka‘i snorkel and we also were able to talk to some locals and had a little bit of an adventure to go out and learn about the culture of Hawaii. And I really like this because it was a great way to start. Whereas if you do the reverse, this is at the end. But I was able to blow the conch shell. No, the leader did it. I did the offering. I did the offering. He put me in some

Dan (09:11)

Great, no you.

Mikkel (09:15)

Hawaiian clothes, I would say. Maybe I was the chosen one in the group. It was actually more so nobody else wanted to volunteer and be the guinea pig.

Dan (09:22)

Right, this particular excursion was we visited the house or the home of a, pretty much a historian, would you say? Like a local

Mikkel (09:34)

He was almost like the keeper of the stories of the island and told us about his ancestors and everything. Definitely a Native Hawaiian for generations, so that was really cool. But I think historian's a great word for it.

Dan (09:47)

Yeah, but it was really a great glimpse into the culture. And then also the day to day life of the people that are living on Moloka‘i.

Mikkel (09:56)

I also love that he was a farmer and also Sam, our amazing expedition guide, the lead guide, I would say, kind of like akin to the cruise director on some other ships, if you want to compare it. But he was able to take back some starfruit from the farm because they're at this man's house continuously over the cruise season. So they form a relationship, of course.

And he's very generous and was able to take some starfruit back to the ship. And we're going to talk about what he did with that starfruit when we get into the food discussion a little later in the episode. But it was just really nice to see how they kind of live with the land and the fruit trees and the taro stories that they had about the taro root when we were there. So that was cool. And of course, I can't I can't not mention my favorite part of this, which was Pudding. Pudding was their little brown hair dachshund and that was a nice surprise. 

They had a bunch of dogs and I like that. Hawaiian dogs all named after food, which is why that one was Pudding! So anyway, we started in Moloka‘i. That was the second day and at night we had a really special home cooked meal. So that was also a great entry and introduction, I should say, into Hawaiian

Dan (10:49)

Right.

Mikkel (11:09)

There was also a ukulele player and a ukulele singer.

Dan (11:13)

Right. Yeah. So day three was captain's choice. There was kayaking, snorkeling, and with the size of the boat, you can snorkel or swim right off the boat. So it made for such a connected experience the places we were visiting and especially to the ocean. Usually, when you're on a cruise, the water is out there and you're not participating with it.

Like if you're participating with the water, there's a problem. But on an expedition cruise, specifically in Hawaii, that's part of the cruise is really getting into the water and experiencing

Mikkel (11:47)

Yeah, that is one of the highlights that you can go right into the water from the back of the ship. And of course, there's crew. Another thing I loved about this crew that I just remembered was that they were in bright yellow rash guard shirts. So if you are a little scared of the water, but you do want to get in and try, they are very visible all the time. And some of those crew members are also in the water with you. 

So, I would say if you're nervous to get in the water, even if you can swim well and you want to get in and you're kind of like me and you're like, "I don't know what is underneath us. Is there a shark? Is there a whale nearby?" You know, just unexpected creatures that you can't see right there.

By all means - and this is any cruise or travel experience - tell your crew or your guide that you're a little anxious, but you want to try it. They were just so kind and so accommodating. And I really love that about them.

So to your point about snorkeling off the back or swimming or having fun in the water, I love that. They also had some swimmies, like floaties. I was wearing one of the flamingo... It's on our Instagram if you go back a couple of months. A little flamingo floaty device. And that made for fun pictures and a fun kind of silly kid-like time.

So day four, we were snorkeling Shark Fin. And if you go on the UnCruise website to look up these cruises, which we are linking in the show description. Shark Fin is not because there's a shark there and there's a fin there. It's actually just the shape of the rock formation. And because we had snorkeled the day before and we knew that there were more snorkel adventures ahead of us, Dan, you actually opted out of this one, which all the three, I would say that this was the best one to opt out of. 

It was fun, wasn't anything incredible that we saw there, but I just liked that. I personally challenged myself to go snorkeling again because I feel like a fish out of water in the water, even though I know that… I should go in and try it. So you opted to stay back. 

And I really like that you made that choice because part of what's great about these expedition cruises and river cruising in general is that it's really "build your own vacation." Just because there's an excursion doesn't mean you have to do it. And sometimes it's fun to be on the boat and watch everybody else go out and then welcome them back.

So we did that in the morning. And then in the afternoon, we went to Lana'i Adventure Park. So you could hike or bike there. Dan, you hiked, so you could talk about what that hike is like. I biked, so that was really nice. We biked around town and then kind of got to see the neighborhood a little bit. Or you could go to a cat sanctuary. We did the hiking and biking, so we can't speak to that cat sanctuary. But Lana'i is really interesting because it's 98 % a private island.

Dan (14:10)

Yep.

Right. It's an interesting aspect to be on an island that feels so manufactured, yet so wild at the same time. Right. Like it feels very urban planned, it doesn't have that many inhabitants to it.

Mikkel (14:43)

Yeah, and there are local, Native Hawaiians that live there. But if you go on the bike tour, you do see kind of a planned community. You didn't see that because you were hiking. You saw amazing views, but I saw from the ground, from the entry level of going onto the island, this planned community, which was really pretty and well done.

If you've ever heard of the Four Seasons Lana'i you actually go past it to get to the Lana'i Adventure Park. Actually, if you stay at the Four Seasons, it's kind of right there, and I'm guessing all your excursions are through Lana'i Adventure Park. We were talking to a friend recently who asked us some less touristy things to do in the Hawaiian Islands, and Lana'i came to mind because it is so private, yet there are things to do there. How was the hike?

Dan (15:32)

Hike was very interesting because they took us up on off-terrain vehicles back into the woods. So we picked up a hiking trail from there. And we hiked up to top of probably the tallest on the island, which was really interesting because we could see other islands from there. And so some great photo opportunities. But it was also fascinating to see the owner of the island is building let's say a sculpture park throughout the island. So randomly in the middle of

Mikkel (16:00)

Hmm.

Dan (16:05)

back in the woods was a sculpture. And so it was, yeah, it was this very surreal kind of thing where all of a two story tall silver thing. Okay, that's just part of the sculpture park.

Mikkel (16:08)

Wow, that's so interesting. Art! 

Dan (16:15)

Art!

Mikkel (16:24)

So the next day was the day that we were able our best whale lives because we were in the Maui Humpback Whale Sanctuary. This is an experience that you are on the ship and the ship is very slowly sailing through this sanctuary. There were just humpback whales to the left, to the

I have the Electric Slide... no, "...to the left, to the left, to the right, to the right," the Cupid Shuffle! Anyway, okay, back to Earth.

So we were able to see the whales and this is when Dan was in the bridge and with his binoculars at the helm with the help of Captain Tiffany - a female captain, might I say, which I loved about this ship. She was helping him navigate, let's say, and you were trying to spot humpback whales as you were the captain.

Dan (17:18)

I wouldn't say I was trying, I would say I was successfully finding all the humpback whales in the Pacific Ocean.

Mikkel (17:26)

To your credit, I will say that one of your special skills is you have the best "I spy" vision, I would say. You spot wildlife faster and more often than anyone else I know.

Dan (17:41)

Hmm. I've turned that into quite a lucrative career. 

Dan (17:47)

Thank you for that compliment.

Mikkel (17:48)

You're welcome. So that was really special seeing the humpback whales and we did see them breach once or twice. The thing about a whale breach is that you don't know when it's going to happen and it happens really fast. So we had our binoculars and our cameras ready to go, and we were able to catch the tail end of one. You see them blowing the water through their blowhole.

You see the water, you know, the spout, and then you can kind of like, see where the whales are. It's a trick of how to spot them, right? So then we were kind of clued into where they were. But there camaraderie on the bridge with, it wasn't just the two of us plus the captain, there other officers there too. 

And there was fun kinship trying to spot them. We were all obviously trying to spot them because then if we saw one, they could get on the audio system on the boat and say, there's a whale off of the port side, off the left side, go here, go there, you know? So that was really fun. We were up there for a really long time, actually.

Dan (18:51)

Yeah, we were.

Mikkel (18:52)

And then the day got even better because in the afternoon on day five, we did my favorite snorkel of the entire trip, which was the turtle snorkel.

There is a dock wreck underneath the water because of some weather that caused the dock to collapse years ago. Is that accurate? So the turtles just hang out here and you obviously need to keep a safe distance and they brief you on that before you go in the water.

Dan (19:11)

Yeah, that's accurate.

Mikkel (19:21)

But you put on your snorkel gear, which I should say that they fit you the first full day for snorkel gear that you're going to go in the water. And that's provided by the cruise line and you have a locker, you put your stuff in and you put on your snorkel gear and they take you out on the skiff boats and you go off the side of the boat. Obviously the crew is there to supervise you and make sure everything is good and safe. And you just have this incredible time snorkeling so close again at a safe safe distance to these incredible sea turtles. I just had a moment with one of them and we were kind of like picking our heads above the surface and going under over and over again in sync. And it was just the most magical experience.

Dan (20:05)

was a lot of fun because everybody that was snorkeling in the area - it was relatively busy because there was other people that were snorkeling, but everybody just had a very respectful approach to the turtles. It seemed like everybody was helping other people. "Oh, there's one over here," and things like that. So it felt like a community while we were in the turtles' community.

Mikkel (20:27)

That's true because people can take an excursion on their own if they're staying on land in Hawaii and it's a very popular place. Another thing I really liked was that Sam was in the water, again our cruise director, if you will, and he is awesome at diving and snorkeling and he saw those nurse sharks at the bottom. They are totally harmless and they hang out by the

Dan (20:45)

Right.

Mikkel (20:48)

You could see them because it was relatively shallow. I mean it was like, I don't know, 20 feet maybe to the bottom. I wasn't going in - I mean, I am not a free diver, could see them and he pointed them out. I never would have spotted them if he wasn't there helping us. So that was day five. What was day six?

Dan (21:06)

The Big Island Volcano Tube Hike. So that was really interesting.

Mikkel (21:08)

Yes.

Dan (21:11)

How would you describe a volcano tube? It's like a cave, has gone through the earth and formed these tubes that you can then hike in.

Mikkel (21:20)

We didn't do it.

Dan (21:21)

But we did not do that.

Mikkel (21:22)

We hiked above the ground so actually we never saw the tubes. So this was the day that we first arrived to the Big Island, the island of Hawai'i. And we got off the ship and were led on an expert guide hike. This was somebody that lives on the Big Island and guides this hike. And we hiked, I would say above the clouds. It was so cool, we were able to see the boat in the very, very far distance and this gorgeous view of the ocean from the Big Island. It is written as the Big Island Volcano Tube Hike because of the tubes that the volcanoes form. 

However, because there was one gentleman on our trip that had a heart issue that the guide was very sensitive to and aware of, we actually skipped seeing the tube part of this. So the hike was incredible. I would say it was moderate. It wasn't too strenuous, but it definitely wasn't easy level. But it was great. And if you are cool with a moderate level hike, you should definitely do this and not miss out. And then after that, at night, we were scheduled to do the Manta Ray Snorkel, which I was very much looking forward to, as was everybody else, but...

Dan (22:35)

Unfortunately, the weather did not participate and it was a little choppy.

So the activity was canceled, but we did have a lovely evening on board. Sam played his ukulele for us and sang up on the top deck. So it turned into a fun evening, but right, we didn't get to see the Manta rays at night.

Mikkel (22:51)

Yeah, and our friends had gone on this cruise a few weeks earlier and they actually had their Manta Ray night snorkel canceled for the same reason. And then it happened to us and there were other passengers on our cruise who said the last time they went on this itinerary it was also canceled. So it sounds like it's common that this could happen. And the reason is because the weather actually churns up what the Manta rays come to eat at night. So when it churns it up, the Manta rays don't come.

So there is no reason to go out, which the thing that I appreciated was that they canceled it before we went out there because they knew that that was going to be the result. Whereas sometimes you could go out there and then, you know, the weather changes and they never come. So the nice thing was they pivoted and we listened to a very important talk on the conservation of whales and how an organization, which we will link in the show notes, is working to disentangle them from fishermen's nets and various trash really that endangers the lives of these whales. And this organization is working to save the whales.

All right, so day seven. Our last full day on the ship.

Dan (24:02)

Right,

Day seven, we were still on the Big Island and we went to...

Mikkel (24:06)

Kealakekua Cove Park. That's a hard one.

Dan (24:09)

Thank you. And there we snorkeled and went out on the skiff to try to see some whales and we saw - was it Pele, the water goddess?

Mikkel (24:19)

We saw Pele, the goddess in the water when we went out on the skiff too, but I just want to mention that Kealakekua Cove Park is a really famous spot to snorkel. You can only get out there with a very intense long hike from land or by boat. So by boat is obviously the more popular way. And that is where Captain Cook landed when he came to the Big Island. So that's kind of why it's famous, but there were incredible fish over there. Just incredible.

Dan (24:47)

Yeah, isn't that where we saw the spinner dolphins?

Mikkel (24:49)

Yes, yes! I'm very enthusiastic with my yeses today, but I love that you're remembering these things. We saw the spinner dolphins. That was one of the coolest things to see.

Dan (24:57)

Yeah, they're smaller and they are acrobatic. They just jump out of the water and spin all around really fun to watch. And we were pretty close to them because they were right off the boat.

Mikkel (25:08)

I am going to say that they were like Olympic figure skaters.

Dan (25:13)

Hmm.

Mikkel (25:13)

The base of where they were doing their triple axels was water instead of ice.

Dan (25:18)

Right, yes. But there was no Tanya Harding.

Mikkel (25:22)

Ouch, too soon? I don't think so. Not too soon. Many, many decades later. Oh gosh. So we had that in the morning. The afternoon, as Dan said, we were out on the skiff. And the reason we chose to do the skiff instead of kayak, which was also an option, is because you can cover more ground in the skiff.

Dan (25:26)

Right. Yeah, really relevant reference, Grandpa Woodruff. Thanks.

Mikkel (25:46)

Which is just like a little motorboat that you go out on. And there were 15 passengers on our cruise. So we were able to kind of go see if we could spot whales, which everybody on the ship wanted to do that. So everybody actually opted to do the skiffs. Nobody did the kayaking. So we were able to listen to the sounds of whales because they dropped an audio device into the water. And that was really special.

Dan (26:12)

Yeah, yeah, that was cool. And then day eight was, bum, bum: disembarkation day. But it was Kona, the western part of the Big Island.

Mikkel (26:19)

Waaa waaaa...

Dan (26:23)

Oh it was also my birthday that day. So I remember we went to Kona Brewing and then just kind of explored, went to the farmers market there in the square in Kona. It was a really fun day

Mikkel (26:25)

It was your birthday that day.

Dan (26:36)

There was a lot to explore in Kona. We were there a couple days.

Mikkel (26:39)

Yeah, that's true. So I'm going to leave a cliffhanger because our itinerary was so chock full of great things and information that this is going to be a two-parter.

Join us for Part 2 next week when we dive a little deeper into starting in Moloka‘i and ending on the Big Island of Hawai'i, and whether or not that's a positive thing or a negative thing or is the reverse better? We're going to tell you what we think and why. We're also going to get into the food on this cruise. The food was very good. So we're going to tell you exactly what we ate some of those days and some of the unexpected surprises to enjoy and look forward to on this cruise, which

I guess if we share them, it might not be a surprise, but it is a reason to book the cruise. And we are going to talk to you about the costs of the cruise and break down what's included, what is not included, and then end with those packing tips that you don't want to miss because you don't want to be ill-equipped to capture the wildlife out there. So definitely make sure you're subscribed and follow us. And we are looking forward to getting back into Hawaii with Uncruise Adventures next week for Part 2.