Pearl Harbour, Welcome to Vegas and Cirque du Soleil! / USA and Canada 2024

I had a very stressful departure from the cruise ship, followed by an even more stressful tour of both Pearl Harbour and Honolulu. Then I had a long travel day to the next destination...Las Vegas!

Click here to watch the vlog or see below. 

I was very sad to wake up and have to rush as it was my last night on the cruise and I had to depart. I was ready to go, but it was so nice to be able to unpack and not have to repack or live out of a suitcase. I woke up and got ready, then headed to breakfast, before returned to gather my belongings. 

It was an absolute nightmare to get off the ship. As I said in the last vlog post, I kept my suitcase with me because I thought it would be easier. Well an hour before I was being picked up for my trip, I started to leave and then I was queuing for a lift for almost an hour. It was so so stressful as every single lift was completely packed and no one would let me on. We were all queuing and what pissed me off the most was that one couple then just came and jumped the queue and got on almost straight away when it should have been for me! I was fuming. As it was approaching an hour of waiting, I ended up really starting to panic and hyperventilate. I considered going down the stairs but with not feeling well, still being very out of breath and having a heavy suitcase, I didn't think I'd make it down 12 flights of stairs. Everyone then saw me panicking and just told me to start pushing on. 

I eventually made it on and thought I would finally make it to my pick up point on time and there was more queues to get off the ship. I finally built up the courage to ask if I could move in front of the people in front of me who were in a huge group and would take ages going through security and they said no. I was devastated and so sad and so embarrassed. 

I then ran through the terminal, racing to get to my pick up point on time and arrived 3 minutes late, with no sign of the bus, panicking they'd left without me. I waited a while, before calling the company to check and they told me they would call me back to confirm. After not hearing back, I called again and they said they were on there way still. I finally called a third time and they said they were still on their way and running late. It was a horrible start to the day. They finally arrived almost 2 hours late! 

I'm going to do a whole post on the tour experience with Daniel's Hawaii but I do not recommend. The tour took me to Pearl Harbour and then on a guided tour of Waikiki, which again I will do a full review of here. 

From there, I was left at a random hotel in the centre of Waikiki, then got an Uber to the airport extremely early before the flight. I had a very long wait and stay, with very poor food choices so it was very disappointing and I really should have just spent the 4 hours in Waikiki exploring, despite the suitcase situation. 

When I finally got on the plane, I hardly slept, so I arrived in Las Vegas to a casino welcome and made my way to the hotel. I'd contacted them well in advance to ensure early check in when I arrived but then they told me that the room wasn't available. I was not only frustrated, but emotionally and physically drained and knackered. I just wanted to lie down and sleep. 

I ended up going to a restaurant and having a big breakfast to hopefully kill some time, then trying again. Then they told me to come back at a later time so I ended up putting me suitcase into storage instead. 

I then went to the pool and was devastated to to find that the main pool and flamingo area had been closed for renovations due to infection or something. It was the main selling point of the hotel and there had been no notification it was going to be closed. Instead, just the small family pool was open which was still lovely but teeny in comparison and just not quite the same. I got the last sunbed I could see and settled down by the pool for a few hours hoping to nap. 

When I finally got into the room, I was absolutely shattered and so ready for bed but decided to to last minute book a Vegas show. I would have loved one of the famous singers and their residencies but they were so expensive and I'd already spent well over what I was planning. However, when looking I did find a great deal for a Cirque du Soleil show so decided to book that instead. Again, full review coming soon! 

I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast so I decided I should probably eat something afterwards, despite not feeling particularly hungry. I ended up going to Panda Express for the first time and it was absolutely delicious. I got the fried rice and the teriyaki chicken and I have been dreaming of it ever since. It was amazing!