Well, it's been a very stressful and busy week to say the least. I'm all packed and ready to go to the sunny beaches of Mexico (Nuevo Vallarta specifically) when some guy gets drunk on cheap tequila and french kisses a pig. I tell ya, I was less than impressed with this. I have been planning this vacation for 7 months.....7 MONTHS PEOPLE!!!!! We were suppose to leave this Saturday for two weeks of sun, sand, surf and sex. Just the two of us.....alone.
Monday: I get the phone call on from my wonderful, fantastic, love her till the day I die travel agent
Cori Bowman (C. Dawn Travel.....780-443-4437) letting me know that I have a postponement option available to me from Sunquest for my vacation to NV if I want. We talk and decide to wait it out. Later in the evening our friend Steve (aka Dillhole) calls and informs us that his cousin, who lives in NV has told him that all the hotels are telling their guests to stay in their rooms, the town is in lock down. All the stores are closed and nothing is going on, so we decide that maybe it's best if we postpone the trip because we didn't spend all that money to be stuck in our room.
Tuesday: Cori calls me and says it's official,
Sunquest Vacations has cancelled all flights going into Mexico until June 4th. So we have no choice but to postpone. We discuss the option of possibly going to Cuba or the Dominican instead but we would have to book a flight to Toronto because Sunquest only flies out from there at this time of year. But Cori doesn't want us to go there right now because it's still too close to all the N1H1 action. So she suggests Hawaii might be an option if she can find a reasonable rate....but it's not all inclusive and everything is relatively expensive. So I decline the option and say we'll just have to wait till February now. Darren calls me from work and confirms that we're going to wait but he decides to still take the next two weeks off work because he really needed the break. So when I got off the phone I started looking at possible vacations...like Vegas again. Don't really want to go to Vegas but I don't want him wasting his vacation time in our garage. I'm looking at
Westjet Vacations and they are offering 3 nights in Vegas for $700.00.....not that great. So I take a quick peek at Honolulu.....7 nights, air, hotel and taxes....$850.00....HOLY CRAP!!!!! WHAT A DEAL!!!! So I call Darren at work and ask him if he's interested in Hawaii, I give him the price and he agrees (now he actually thinks that this price is just flight and he still agrees.....can you say "desperate for a holiday"). So I call Cori and tell her about the package and she books it. She said it was a great deal but it probably wouldn't last because now everyone would be scrambling to make alternative holiday plans as Mexico was closed for business. So when Darren called me back at lunch and I told him about the holiday he was more than happy to find out it was the the air&hotel. Then Cori calls me back to inform me that because I was the only client of hers that didn't yell at her (I don't get these people, it's not her fault) she has paid for a "Lei Greeting" at the airport for us and our transfers to and from the airport/hotel. Now how's that for a travel agent. When I got home I called Darren's parents to let them know of the change of plans because they will be babysitting the noisy boys while we are away. When I looked up the package again to give them the name of the hotel it had already gone up to $1180.00....in 4 hours it shot up $300.00.
Thursday: I call Cori to discuss our rain check policy with Sunquest because Darren's mom keeps telling me I have to rebook and take my vacation by December 15th and I'm arguing that no, I have a year...that's what Cori told me. So when Cori called me today I get the confirmation from her. All other Sunquest travellers have until December 15th to rebook and take their vacations, if the package is more the traveller must cover the cost and if it is less they don't get a refund. My rain check as negotiated by Cori: I have up to a year to rebook and take my vacation anywhere Sunquest travels, if the package I book costs more they will cover the additional fees and if it costs less I will get a refund. Now how is that for going above and beyond for your clients.
So there you have the week of travel planned hell. Not as bad as some other people....I didn't have a wedding planned. But stressful none the less. So I will be spending a week on the Island of Oahu, in the City of Honolulu, in the area of Waikiki Beach at the
Ohana Waikiki West. Alone with my husband....Hawaii was never really on the list of travel destinations.....but I can't wait to see it now. And if anyone needs a really great, fantastic, and wonderful travel agent look no further than:
Cori Bowman at C. Dawn Travel 780-443-4437
Hawaii was nice. A lot like Vancouver except with tropical beach and trees. Lots of high end shopping like Fendi, LV, Bvlgari, and what have you as well as expensive food ($6.25 american for a hotdog) and drink. Numerous homeless people but they don't seem to bother anyone and more Japanese than locals. Apparently they love to come to Hawaii to kick back and shop and believe me they are catered to. Everything is definitely geared towards them....from very juvenile trinkets (Hello Kitty anyone??) to only size 0 clothes. Oh well, it's not like I was there to spend money anyway. I was there to relax with my husband and celebrate our anniversary. The hotel was nice and clean, and the staff was very friendly. For what we paid it was a great place. We didn't do much, mostly just walked around or sat on the beach. On our walks we saw these really cool trees called Banyans. They have roots that grow down from the branches and help the tree grow in a horizontal fashion. Apprently they can get pretty big as there is one on the island of Maui that is a few acres around. WOW! We also stopped at Fort DeRussy to look at the Military Museum. Interesting but it was more of a stop for some shade and airconditioning as oppose to education. We did take the city transit one afternoon to go to see one of the botanical gardens that looked oh so beautiful on the website. Boy was I mistaken. When you enter the park you are greeted by a homeless person or two. Followed by a stop at the public washroom where there is no paper if you need to use the facilities and the stall doors are so low to the ground that a child could walk in and have a look over to see you doin' all your "business". Then there are the gardens....no less than 3 mattresses were spotted dumped in the creek. One large tree stump covered in graffiti. Aerosol cans, clothes, garbage, more graffiti and homeless people. It was a site to see let me tell you. Then the 10 block walk from the gardens to find the bus that would take us back to our hotel. I spent most of that walk and the ride back apologizing to Darren. He was pretty good about it as I had no clue that this is what we were going to see. On the evening of our anniversary we went for dinner to the Hula Grill on the beach. We had swordfish and oh my God it was one of the best pieces of fish I've ever had. Even Darren loved it and he's not kean on fish. Overall it was a nice vacation for the price and if we don't have anywhere else to go and get a last minute deal like that I might go back. Anyway, here are some pictures from the trip. Enjoy: 
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