It Really is the Small Things That Count
I just returned from a fabulous 12-day vacation in Hawaii. My sister had her 50th birthday this year and that’s where she wanted to celebrate. Who am I to argue?
Lots of planning went into making this the trip of a lifetime. From finding a hotel for the couple days we were spending in Honolulu, scheduling a tour of Pearl Harbor and the obligatory luau, booking our cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line and all the excursions we would do while in port (Maui, Hilo, Kona and Kauai).
From start to finish, we experienced what the Islanders affectionately refer to as ALOHA! We all know Aloha means hello and goodbye in Hawaiian, but it expresses so much more than that. It is said with a sense of importance that the person hearing it knows how special they are and that all that come to visit Hawaii are now ohana or family.
So how were we treated like ohana? Here are just a few examples:
- Two weeks before we left, I got a call from the director of sales at the Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki to ask if it was okay if she upgraded us to a suite with an ocean view for our three days we were in Honolulu. No additional charge. I said it was okay.
- While on the phone with her she inquired if we needed anything else. Next call I got was from the concierge who would make arrangements for our transportation during our stay.
- Alison has a great connection with Norwegian’s PR team. A heads-up that we were celebrating Sandy’s birthday resulted in the VIP treatment for the week we were on board. Many thanks to Dustin, the hotel director, and his team for going above and beyond our expectations.
- All our excursions were amazing. But Kirk, our guide from Nui Pohaku tours in Hilo, was the epitome of service. Originally from Scotland, he has lived in Hilo for 20+ years, is married with two boys. Not only does he thoroughly enjoy his job, he has so much pride in the Hawaiian culture and expresses this in everything he does. We should all have that much joy in our life.
And there were countless other things throughout our time there – from remembering our names when we sat down to dinner to knowing we like a slice of lemon in our water and lots of ice for our drinks, that guarantee we will be talking about this trip for a long time to come.