We arrived in the port at 8am. No excursions for us in Hilo but then again everything like the volcano tours were filled long before we got a chance to book one. It may not be a big loss because there is a low cloud deck and the mountains may be completely fogged in with light rain today. This morning was card games together on the Crows Nest and custom made small pizzas for each of us for lunch near the pool. Back to the rooms to change for Betty and Shawna to go to the mineral spa hydro pool while I go to the gym to work out a bit. Got to work off some of that pizza before afternoon snack and dinner. How many meals per day are there on a cruise ship. Five? Six? … Eight? The sun came out! It was after 2pm but yea! … I guess. Some people that went on excursions to see the volcano were turned back because of damage to the road from some mild earthquakes. Hoping for clear weather for our next port. Little did we know but the volcano Mauna Loa would erupt the next month to the day. Missed it! Oh well, maybe one day we will see a volcano erupting.
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Land Ho! After 5 days with no sight of land, it was good to see land this morning. Shawna and I have never been to Maui and it is pretty. The port not so much because it is an industrial shipping port but the mountains are beautiful.
After all those days of rest, it is time to get off ship and have some fun.
This afternoon, we all went on a snorkeling trip. We were bussed over to the other side of the island to board a huge catamaran. From the dock, we motored out to a reef to snorkel. It was great. We all did see a lot of fish and sea urchins. After a while, Betty went back to the boat but she saw a Green Sea Turtle. Shawna and I were in the water and it did not pass near us so we missed it.
There is a lot of emphasis on renewable resources. I saw lots of solar panels with most being on roofs, a Tesla battery system, and quite a few wind turbines which makes a lot of sense being right on the ocean.
We passed the Dr. Robert Ballard research vessel Nautilus on our trip to and from the dive area. Dr. Ballard is best known for finding and study of the Titanic.
The ship has been used on a huge number of scientific explorations. Here is the web site for the ship which includes all the research sites it has worked. https://nautiluslive.org
On our return to the dock, we had a problem. The captain announced that he was having a problem with one engine and we might get back to the cruise ship later than expected.
The wind and waves were building so he had some trouble getting the catamaran to the dock but the bus driver got us to the cruise port as quickly as he could. We were the last to board but they did wait to pull up the gangway until we were all on board.
After dinner, we enjoyed the comedian at the main stage. He was great.
Our last sea day till next week. We arrive in Hawaii about dawn tomorrow. Everyone is excited to see land. Weird isn’t it but after 2,500 miles of open ocean, we just want something solid under our feet.
Up for breakfast at 7am and then deciding what we will be doing today. Betty has an appointment at the spa for a massage. Shawna is off to the spa to visit the mineral pool (a huge fancy hot tub). I am going to the gym to walk the ship forward on the treadmill. Not that it really helps move the ship but with 50 of them at the same time maybe that is an idea. Sometimes, it looks like a bunch of hamsters going nowhere. Today, we had classes in the Hawaiian language. It was fun.
The Holland Ships have lots of puzzles in the Crow's Nest but someone brought this 2000 piece puzzle. Several people including Shawna have been working for several days putting it together.
We went to our last Mixology class until we start the return trip.
Dinner and then a walk around the ship. Betty headed to bed so we went to the 2nd floor to hear some music. The Rolling Stone music was fantastic. We love all the music onboard.
We woke to a pretty sunrise. Then soon after sea fog moved in and some rain. Time for breakfast. In the afternoon, we returned to the Mixology class. This time it was Mojitos and Margaritas. We love the class. Everyone has a great time even before finishing the last of our drinks. After four drinks, we were all glad we had nowhere we had to be for a while. Dinner tonight was a special Indonesian meal, Rijsttafel, at the Tamarind. As always the food was wonderful and the service exceptional. The menu was preset to showcase many recipes. We ate Urap, Madura, Pork Sate, Sambal, Ayam Jawa, Pepes Ikan, Beef Sumatra, Kentang, Buncis. Some was very spicy. The desert was Pisang (mango sorbet) PICTURES We all went to the show at the main stage called Tandem. The dancers were fantastic. Still the music was very loud(had our earplugs) but great. The comedian, Drew Thomas, was on again and was so funny.
Good morning! Another time change. It has been our third on the cruise so far. With most of the people on the ship thinking it is an hour later than it was for the breakfast schedule there were a lot of confused people at the Lido who could only get coffee for a while. It should be even more interesting on the return trip. This afternoon we decided to try the Mixology class. Today’s drinks were three types of martinis. The bartenders that teach the class are a lot of fun. Jennifer and Barney (Vincent) were great! Jennifer was our instructor. Barney is the manager of the Ocean Bar. He was having a wonderful time generously pouring our drinks. I checked and our ship speed: 21.00 mph SW at Lat: 35.391683 Lon: -144.461975. We are in the middle of nowhere of the Pacific Ocean.
The BBC show was fantastic. Lincoln Center Quartet played and the imagery from the Seven Continents was vivid and at times funny. They had the volume up way to much and it was distracting. Shawna had earplugs and we all used them. After the show, we enjoyed the BB-King band and then decided to relax in the Crow's Nest for a while before bed. I had a special drink, an Espresso Martini. It was very good and I may order it again when I need a pick-me-up.
Up for breakfast and then off to exercise for me. Shawna had a facial this morning.
At nine, I listened to the cruise director describe his life as a director of plays and musicals. He has directed Carol Channing and worked with her in Hello Dolly on Broadway. The naturalists gave a talk on the sea birds and sea life we may see. He also explained the different areas of the ocean we will pass through. The first was the coldest and rougher seas. As we passed to the next warmer area the seas became flat with almost no waves at all. As they say the worse day in the Pacific is like the best day in the Atlantic. By the time we reach Hawaii, the waters will be warm and tropical. Here is more of the art on ship.
Tonight, we have reservations at the Tamarind. It is our favorite restaurant. They serve a Pan-Asian Cuisine. It was fantastic! The food was wonderful. Here is the menu.
Mom decided to head back to her room so Shawna and I decided to go to see the show by a comedian, Drew Thomas, who was really funny. Definitely not a family friendly act.
Up early to the gym and breakfast. We will be out on the open ocean for over 2,500 miles. WOW! More spa visits by Shawna and Betty while I walked the ship including up and down up to 10 flights of stairs. We are regularly getting over 12,000 steps a day. There are some very unusual art on ship. Here are just a couple of examples. I went to a talk by the naturalists who told us his friends in Hawaii say they are already seeing whales which is early. Normally, they don’t arrive until early November. He also said we should get up early on the day we arrive to see spinner dolphins who almost always greet the ship. The entire back wall of the mainstage is made of huge tv screens that can show anything from a video presentation to the background for a stage show. In the afternoon, we had very nice Tea. Gala dinner tonight and Captain's Welcome where we all toasted with champagne to a good voyage. He passed on some information about the ship. We have 64,000 horse power engines moving us across the 2,600 miles of open ocean between Vancouver and Hawaii. The ship has a full load of passengers and we have noticed. It is so different from what we experienced on our cruises last January. We have 2471 passengers and 970 in crew. Everyone looked great and many were in tuxes and dress gowns. We had escargot and prime rib. It was a great meal. Tonight, we set our clocks back an hour. We decided not to take in the music tonight and just head back to the room.
Our ship has come in...
What a busy day. We had a long wait to get on board. For 2 hours we sat waiting for the ship to be cleared for boarding. It seems that part of the problem was that a group decided that the disembarking time was a suggestion and did not leave the ship. They had to be found a told to leave NOW. Finally, the ship was cleared. Wow! Some people are really selfish.
Next lunch in the Lido and then to the Spa for Shawna and Betty to get some times scheduled for massages and other fun stuff.
Once on board, we went straight to our rooms and our bags were arriving as we got there. Great! Attended the muster drill and check in with crew at our muster station.
Shawna had a hair appointment and treatment. So I went to the “Sail Away” on the rear of the ship.
Back to the rooms to unpack and get ready for dinner.
Dinner tonight was in the main dining room. The food was very good.
Betty was tired so after leaving her at her room, we were off to the music venues like the Piano bar, Rolling Stones lounge, and BB-Kings Blues Club. The music is GREAT on this ship. By 10pm, we were in the Crow's Nest relaxing and talking about the day.
By 11pm, we were headed back to the room to sleep. Obviously Holland cruises are only for old people. Ok, maybe it is but we still know how to enjoy rock and blues music. It was a long but great day.
We flew out of Amarillo via Dallas to arrive in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The flights were on time and Canada Customs was easy to navigate. The agents were all smiles and very helpful. I think they are so glad to not have to wear masks or verify covid test results. The rules were lifted 6 days ago. Pan Pacific hotel is very, very nice. We are on the 17th floor overlooking the harbor and the city. The room is more than twice the size of our whole RV. Everything here is pricey, but that is just the way it is these days. We will do a bit of walking and may visit the pool and jacuzzi this afternoon.
Tomorrow, we board the ship. It may be right outside our window in the morning. If it is, I will get a picture before we head out. We had time this afternoon to walk around the port and along the boardwalk. The weather was great as all the locals kept telling us. We were lucky to have such great weather. Normally it would be grey and misting if not raining most of the time. The hotel is very nice and being connected to the cruise port makes it special. The path is dotted with informational signs but this one really caught my attention. It was nice to walk and window shop and we never felt unsafe. On one side of the hotel, there is a float plane airport and the other side is a helipad. The city is very big with many skyscrapers. People... NOISE! Of course being a big city, there has to be some large and sometimes strange art work. The hotel is connected by underground passage to a food court. There are a wide range of choices from Tim Hortons, McDonalds, Subway, to a verity of oriental restaurants. We ate here often because it was far less expensive than the restaurant in the hotel. Breakfast was donuts. It seems that Microsoft has offices everywhere. For all the pressures to conserve power it seems that does not change the habits of people in large cities. We are supposed to change our thermostats and save power other ways but most of the buildings had entire floors or even groups of floors completely lit up. I noticed the same thing in New York. Whole buildings with all the lights on all night long. It would be nice if they could turn off the lights for the 10 hours a day since no one was even in the building.
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