Maui - First Trip to the Islands

Day 1:

We got a direct flight with ATA to Maui and at a good rate.  The flight was pretty uneventful.  We did get to see Branscombe Richmond on the flight - you'll recognize him from such hits as Renegade and the Scorpion King. 

When we landed in Maui, it was windy as I expected based on some reviews (added note: it was only windy two days out of the 7 we were there) of Maui .  Our hotel package that we booked directly with Royal Lahaina included a rental car from Dollar Rent-A-Car   The gentleman talked me into getting a convertible upgrade.  He lowered his price from $80 to $40 then to $25, so I went with it.  I picked the PT Cruiser because I thought it'd be fun.  The space available in a PT is next to none.  The three of us had barely any room with our three bags.  

We didn't get a mile down the road when the oil and engine light came on.  The constant ding, ding ding made me turn around and return it.  The funny thing was, it was a new PT with only 20 miles on it.  I exchanged it for a Sebring.  After transferring the luggage in the new car, that didn't have much more room, I discovered the trunk would not close.  I had to exchange it again.  At this point, an "upgrade" was not worth it and I stuck with the original compact.  I will say despite my problems, the staff was extremely helpful and caring.  Chelsea, who was working the returns, was fantastic.

We stopped at the K-mart near the airport and bought a few items cheaper than we would have paid for them at the resort.  The drive to Royal Lahaina was not as bad as I thought.  I kept hearing it was 45 minutes to 1 hour away.  Actually, I don't know how long it was as I enjoyed the drive which is rare for me. 

When we arrived at the resort, I was extremely pleased with the property's appearance.  The pictures online of the exterior do not do it justice and they are outdated.  It is ideal for what I wanted in a Maui resort; the tropical landscape met my expectations.  The Royal Lahaina was recently remodeled in the tower rooms and they look GREAT! 

We loved our room and its  view.  It's not the best view in the hotel, but I can't complain (again, view my pics).  My only complaint about the room is the weak refrigerator in the room.  It doesn't cool like it should.  There is wireless Internet, but it is not 100% on property.  I've barely made this connection.  They are working towards getting Ethernet in the rooms.  I have had trouble getting an Ethernet cable from the staff.  We'll see how successful they are tomorrow as promised.

For lunch we went to the Royal Ocean Terrace Lounge at the Royal Lahaina.  My wife and I both had the seared tuna sandwich.  We were both happy and for the price, $12, it was not an outrageous price.

We were so happy with lunch we went back to watch the sunset from resort's patio while sipping on Mai Tais.  A Hawaiian lounge singer, Kauple, and a dancer provided entertainment.  The songs were very beautiful as well as the interruptive dance.  I found the experience quite relaxing.  We had the fish tacos for dinner ($12).  Coming from California , I was expecting more.  Not that it was bad, but I didn't expect fish fajitas as this is what it reminded me of.  There is a difference between the soggy cooked vegetable of fajitas and the cold crispness of cabbage paired with fish.

This is the first day and we've been up since 4:00 a.m. Californian time.  I planned nothing for the first day so we could get settled in.  I've been up for 20 hours now so I am going to bed.