Kahului, Maui

Hello from Maui!

A beautiful day is brewing

View during my 16 minute treadmill session

I contemplated involving an island bus in my travels again today but changed my mind. Ed and I have been here several times as well so I really didn’t feel the need to venture out across the island. So I bypassed the lines for the ship excursions and the even longer line for the taxis

Me, choosing to be in a taxi like this? No thanks. 

and followed the convoluted path out of the port.

The fenced walkway was narrow in some places 

Once out of the port a right turn takes you to a stoplight. Cross the street to the left and you’ll find yourself in the Maui Mall Village, an outdoor mall with a collection of shops and restaurants and even a movie theater. 

A Regal Theater with a splash pad and palm trees? Oh, yeah. 

In the mall there is also a Long’s Drugs (haven’t seen one of those in years) and a Whole Foods. There’s plentiful outdoor seating and that’s where I encountered momma hen and her chicks looking for crumbs. 

Sorry, no food here

I did some souvenir shopping at Long’s Drugs.

Unique Japanese flavors I can’t find at home - matcha and kohaku

Had a personal-sized pizza lunch at Round Table Pizza. 

Strolled over to the guri guri place for a guri guri dessert. The frozen dessert similar to sherbet was so good I wish I had ordered a larger size.

Strawberry and pineapple flavors are all they sell.
The perfect combination. 

Rolled my way back to the ship for yet another nap. What is up with that?

Home sweet home

The nap and phone calls from home led into drinks before dinner, 

Lemon Drop martini

Angelo Azzuro martini, too sweet for me

which led into my dinner of appetizer-sized portions of roast pork tenderloin, wok-flashed shrimp, and a watermelon sorbet dessert. 

I also had the sweet longan fruit from yesterday. Peeling the hard outer shell revealed a soft semi-clear white fruit with a dark pit. 

We had some mighty 45+ mph winds howling as we left the breakwaters of Kahului tonight and had some very noticeable listing of the ship. (As a passenger I would call it significant but I’m sure it wouldn’t be in Captain’s terms.) Thankfully we’re getting into open waters for our short sail to tomorrow’s port of Honolulu. See you there!

Hilo, Hawaii

Hello from Hilo, Hawaii!

The ship’s Bridge cam shows a rainy start to the day 

Thanks to the weather I was almost certain plan A, B, C, and D would not happen. We were told to prepare for heavy rains today and were urged to take an umbrella or waterproof jacket. I remembered practicing driving on wet surfaces with Scooter in Isafjordur, Iceland and figured it meant I would have to stay on board today. 

I decided to kill time and walk on the treadmill - 15 minutes this session - while I decided what I really should do.

Treadmill view of the industrial area and Hilo airport

As the clouds started moving out I decided to take advantage of the break in the weather and attempt my plan. I thought it would be availability of different accessible transportation options that would determine which plan I’d do. It actually was the lines of people that held me back. No way you’ll get me in a line of 50 people deep to sign up for a free shuttle, scooter or no scooter.

Ed and I have been here many times before and have covered all of the island multiple times so today I retraced our trek to the Hilo Farmer’s Market. The island bus (like a city bus, but for the island) stops a little ways outside the port area every hour. 

The free, accessible, island bus you don’t have to sign up for is how I made my way to the market.

Hey, there’s my ship

Large banyan tree near the drop off 

I really only wanted a couple things from the market with number one being shave ice from a place Ed and I have gone to in the past. I chose a large coconut and strawberry but in hindsight should have gone with a small size of something that packed more flavor. There were lots of other options that sounded great. My mistake.

Since we spent the winter on a ship cruising Mexico we had Taco Tuesday every single Tuesday we were in Mazatlán. I missed tacos yesterday so I needed something to resemble Tuesdays in Mexico on a Wednesday in Hawaii. Tamales were my choice. Had them wrapped up and brought them back to the ship. These Peruvian tamales had chicken, carrots, peas, and corn in the filling.

Peruvian tamales from Hawaii eaten on a cruise ship deck

I did take lots of pictures at the market of fruits and vegetables I was - and wasn’t - familiar with. 

 

I asked a guest waiting for the bus about the longan fruit she purchased. She showed me how to eat them and even gave me a couple to take back to the ship. I’ll be trying them tomorrow. 

I had another well-deserved nap this afternoon and was up and out by the time we sailed away. 

Goodbye, Hilo

Then off to another round of pre dinner drinks (just one this time, go me!) before a dinner of the coconut shrimp appetizer

Presentation probably could have been better

followed by my standby dessert, sorbet. Another round of blueberry. 

Passing through the casino to get back to my cabin I came across this sign. 

Interesting

Tomorrow we’re on the island of Maui. Unfortunately we won’t be making a visit to Lahaina and will be docking in the industrial area of Kahului instead. No plans yet (well, sort of) but I’ll see you there!

Just a sliver of sunset left

Sea Day #4

Today was such a relaxing day and I did so little I almost forgot to type this post. I can’t get to my computer so it’ll be short and sweet as I peck on my phone. Note to self - seriously consider the ramifications of scooter charging before booking a standard inside cabin. I am either blocking the bed, lamp, phone, refrigerator, or desk. It is a huge pain in the behind to move the scooter each time I need to get anything anywhere.

When I went to breakfast this morning I had my swimsuit on under my clothes so I could go straight to the adult pool and get started swimming. Unfortunately for me the pool was still drained.

As nice of a day as it was I decided to go ahead and get a lounge chair anyway. But the sun was so hot (Hawaii, duh) I only lasted a couple hours without the cooling off a pool would provide. I did rinse in the outdoor shower but it still wasn’t enough so back to my cabin I went to chill out. Literally. Then I finished watching Top Gun from last night and launched into Top Gun Maverick.

Of course heat makes you tired, and when you add in the go-go-go I’ve been doing the last few days I was really tired so I took my first proper nap of the entire trip. It felt so good! I even skipped lunch for it. An apple and peanut butter was a good substitute for the pub lunch they were having in the dining room.

I did make it to pre dinner drinks again.

Another lemon drop martini (or two!)

Tonight’s table side dinner preparation was another tasty pasta but it was a little too spicy for me.

The main was kalua pig. So, so, so delicious. 

Key lime pie for dessert

We set the clocks back one more hour again tonight in preparation for our first port tomorrow. I have an A, B, C, and potential D plan for the day, all based on which transportation option will allow me to take the scooter.

See you in Hilo tomorrow!

Sea Day #3

Today was all about keeping on a schedule. One of the things Ed and I like to do when we spend months at a time on a ship is….

Absolutely nothing. 

We make sure we have breakfast and dinner at about the same time but otherwise we do whatever we want whenever we want. We get the Princess Patter (it has the rundown of the day’s activities) and we never look at it. NEVER. But this cruise I’ve been working hard at putting myself in the shoes of those folks who do just one cruise and try and cram everything in. And today wound up being one of those cram-it-in days. 

Breakfast was another omelet. Here’s a tip about eggs when sailing on Princess…whether eating in the dining room or buffet, ask for your item to be made with fresh eggs. If you don’t, you’ll get the liquid “crap”. There’s a world of difference between the two. 

From breakfast I went to my secret seat on Deck 16

Don’t put baby in a corner? Oh, this one wants to be. 

where I watched a little bit of Top Gun at Movies Under the Stars. 

No dilly dallying there for long because my next appointment was quickly approaching. On some Princess ships (could be all but I haven’t been on all so I don’t know for sure) you could be one of the lucky ones to get an invite for a tour of the Bridge. If you’re staying in a suite or sailing for a special occasion like an anniversary or honeymoon, it never hurts to ask and you might get your chance. By the time I got up there the weather was just spectacular. 

Hawaii, here we come 

After the Bridge it was time to go back to the cabin and get changed for the Most Traveled Guest Luncheon. It’s a special lunch for the top 40 guests onboard with the most days sailed with Princess. I’m approaching a milestone and was congratulated by several staff members on the way in. (I’ll share the milestone on the exact day it occurs.) It was a good table of conversation for lunch so I somehow missed taking a picture of the appetizer and sorbet. 

Sea bass. I always choose the sea bass.

Too much chocolate for me

Back to the cabin again for another clothes change, this time into a swimsuit. The weather was amazing so back to my secret seat for some sunning. Then back to the cabin for another clothes change for formal night. I had planned on skipping dinner to have drinks with a friend. (You do shots with someone in Mazatlán and you’re instant friends.)

Lemon Drop Martini

After two martinis I thought it best to go to dinner after all. Since I had fish for lunch tasty beef was my choice for dinner. 

Then straight from dinner to the casino for the invite-only slot tournament. I sucked. It was my first slot tournament ever and I learned something for next time. Press the button FAST. 

With my tail between my legs I decided to try some fast spinning on a non-tournament slot machine. On $200 I won almost $400 and then a few minutes later this happened. 

$1759.20 of real money

A full, nonstop day. I’m so ready for yet another sea day where I plan to go back to doing nothing at all.