We woke up early, seeing the island of Ohau and it's lights outlined by the lightening skyline. 
It was 6:15 am, and the sun had not shown up for the day.
The disembarking process would begin at 7:00, with the docking of the ship and those carrying their luggage eligible to leave first. We were not in a hurry, so we selected one of the latest times for us to leave. Our flight was not until around noon, and our time to leave the ship was 8:30.
We went to the main buffet for breakfast, and found a madhouse. People were everywhere! Lines of people were at every food station, and the only tables available were the small ones for children. Even so, we found an empty table next to a wall, ate, and escaped to our room.
We had to pack the big luggage the night before, so we had only a few things to put into our carry-on bags. No problem getting the rest of our mess together.
Just before our time to leave, we went down to the gangplank and left the ship. The end of a cruise of a lifetime had come. A bittersweet moment for sure. Happy to move on to the last phase, but sad the cruise had ended. We had a great time.
Once inside the terminal, we had a short wait until our big bags were ready to pick up. We retrieved our bags, and went outside to get a taxi to take us to the airport. Even though we were in no hurry, our taxi driver drove like his hair was on fire! 55 in a 35 zone was not necessary, but attained... He was fairly safe, and traffic was light, so it was more entertaining than scary.
We were using Hawaiian Airlines, and their check in process was a bit different than usual. But it went well. We both were TSA Pre-check, so no undressing for this flight. There were no problems.
Our layover was about 3 hours, so we called friends and family to use the time more productively. Finally, it was time to board the plane, and we did. The flight from Honolulu to Kahului was short; about 20 minutes in the air. No problems at all.
We had reserved a car from Budget, so we caught a shuttle to the Budget rental agency. We had reserved a small, cheap car for a day so that we could drive to the summit of a dormant volcano to view a sunset or sunrise. The clerk at the counter asked if we'd like to rent a convertible, and of course we said sure, knowing it would be way too expensive. She shocked us by cutting the normal rate more than 50%. She made us an offer we couldn't resist. So, we drove away in a new white Mustang convertible!! 
Wow, tooling around in Paradise in a Mustang convertible was way too cool!
Then to our hotel, the Maui Seaside Hotel on the beach near the dock where we spent the second and third nights of our cruise. It is one of two hotels wholly owned by Hawaiian. Somewhat dated, but unique in this time of mega hotels. Plain, but with swimming pool and beach, it was comfortable and homey.
After checking in to the room, we left in our new wheels, headed to the tall crater. Although only about 30 miles away, what we found was a long, 30 mile climb, on a road that contained numerous hairpin turns and many, many curves. What fun in the convertible, tooling along with the radio blaring and the wind in our hair.
As we got onto the mountain, there was a heavy cloud cover obscuring the summit. We were both a little disappointed that we probably wouldn't see a sunset, but we drove on anyway, wanting to make the summit.
Climbing higher, what we learned was that we would climb through the clouds and emerge into bright sunshine. We would see the sunset after all! A little before the 10,000 foot elevation,we came upon a visitor center. Closed for the day, we walked around and found a trail headed higher and only 0.2 mile long. So, we went exploring to see what it was about.
As we walked, it was apparent that the air was thinner; we were huffing and puffing and needed frequent rest to get our breath. Finally at the end of the trail, it was readily apparent that it was worth the climb.
Beautiful Vistas overlooking a sea of clouds below us. Just beautiful...
Since we were not at the summit, and sunset was soon, we walked back down the trail to the car and drove to the summit.
At just over 10,000 feet in elevation, it was the highest point on the island. 
There were several observatories on another peak. This spot is the 4th best star viewing place on earth! Clear skies, low humidity, and no pollution slow it to be this good.
Man, what a view of the sunset. 
We were not alone; there were probably 100 or so others there to view the sunset. Most had cameras and were like us, running around on the ridge snapping pics. 
It was well worth the trouble, time, and expense it took to be there.
We took our pics and, as it was getting cold and dark, got back into the car and drove back to the hotel. We saw temperatures as low as 47
on the mountain, but was 79 at the bottom in town. 
Dinner at a little Mexican place that was OK, back to the room, and then nothing but zzzzs after that.
A great day!
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