Lahaina - Celebrity Eclipse Honolulu to Vancouver Land Cruise Trip - May 11, 2023

Today we arrived in Lahaina, Maui, which is a tender port.  I love tender ports because they give you such unique views of the ship and port and there is something neat about boarding a small boat to get to shore.  Before we left Hawaii, I found a way to take four sets of round-trip tender rides.

We were up early for the sunrise as we approached Maui and even caught them lower the tender boats.

These would be three of our tenders.  A crew member had climbed on top of each to assemble the benches for the upper part.

They were lowered to the water level by a crane and then a small boat of crew delivered a driver to each tender boat.

Island of Lanai

Island of Lanai

Island of Moloka'i

Our plans today were simple, taking a local bus to Whaler's Village and Kaanapali Beach.  We needed a lower key day after all the days of touring and the upcoming excursions in the days to come.  So we made a later start.  Paul and I stopped by Tuscan Grill around 8:00 a.m. for the Elite breakfast where I enjoyed complimentary lattes and even a Bellini along with some pastries and smoked salmon.  The aft view is amazing from this restaurant.

We then joined Paul's mom for a second breakfast in the Moonlight Sonata main dining room before taking a tender ride to shore and catching bus 25 which was a packed bus.  We managed to get Paul's mom the last seat but Paul and I had to stand for the 20 minute bus ride.

The distance between the ship and shore really wasn't that far but the Lahaina harbor is very busy and a bit tight so we spent some time waiting to get in.

Whaler's Village is an open air mall with restaurants and shops that is right on a gorgeous beach.  We rented an umbrella and a couple chairs and found a spot for Paul and his mom to sit on the beach for a little while while I walked and swam. Before leaving home, my dad had mentioned that he believes we stayed at the Sheraton right near Whaler's Village when I was an infant so I made sure to walk that direction.

I believe the Sheraton is behind me in this photo.

After enough time in the sun, we returned the chairs and umbrella and went back into the food court area of Whaler's Village.  Paul and his mom had pizza and I had amazing Hawaiian poke at Maui Poke.  I had the Maui Signature and it was delicious!

Then we caught bus 25 back to Wharf Cinema Center near the harbor in Lahaina.  Before heading back to the ship, we explored the huge banyan tree that is so large it takes up an entire city block.

I understand all these shoots into the ground can be traced back to the tree in the middle.

Right near the banyan tree is the remnants of a fort.

We then got in a line and caught the next tender back to the ship.

The Lahaina Harbor where the tenders dock

After dinner in the main dining room, I took a quick tender ride to shore just to experience it at night.  While on shore, I purchased a couple souvenirs just before the shops started closing and then headed back to the ship.

I made it back just in time to grab a drink at the World Class Bar and join Paul and his mom in the theater for the Drums of Polynesia show.