Day 61 - Hilo - the last Hawaiian shop stop.

Almost as expected, the throat tickle developed onto a head cold or sinusitis but whatever, it is going to be with me for the next few days, so if anyone says I was being snotty, you can take it however you like. The first choice of the day was whether to take a Nurofen, Coldral or an antihistamine.  I opted for Coldral. The second choice was whether to have a cooked breakfast, my much loved sausage rolls or fruit.  Jill would be proud of me as I opted for fruit – and coffee.  I’m not sure whether the excess sugar from the pineapple is a good thing or not, but hopefully, the vitamin C will help.

Ship berthed on the starboard side.

One of our identical el Cheapo, $30 Vodafone pre-pay phones still worked, Paula’s of course…

As we’d been processed in SF, just a walk off.

There was a free Walmart shuttle.

I think there was a rather run down HoHo bus, at the port exit

We did need either a government ID or passport copy on our return.

Cruise cards checked on returning to the dock area and our bags physically searched.

Scanning on board of hand luggage on return and I presume, more liquor was found…

Once again, we couldn’t see any point in rushing off and this was also a repeat port for us.  There is more to see in Hilo or around the largest of the Hawaiian islands, (it is called The Big Island) and there is still an active volcano, so helicopter trips were a popular option.

Our option was to take the Walmart Shuttle, which in this instance was a 45 seater Robert’s coach.  Or to be more precise, there were two of them doing the 15 minute run to the semi industrialised shopping area.

Although this was a shopping shuttle, the driver treated it like a normal tour and gave a bright commentary, right to Walmart’s door.

This was the least Hawaiian feeling stop of all.  It could have been anywhere.  We dutifully went inside the massive Walmart store anyway, only to find a small McDonalds inside and a Hawaiian version of our daily Shed meeting going on.  Four locals were happily sitting at a table, playing their ukuleles, with most other tables occupied - several by early cruisers resting their feet.

I sat on the thoughtfully situated ‘boy’s bench’, just outside Macca’s, near the store entrance, opposite a massive stack of soft drinks.

It always intrigues me that we are usually charged upwards of $3.50 for a coke, on or off shore, yet here, we could buy a pack of 20 for $8.00. We could also buy a Hawaiian favourite, Spam – in different flavours(!) for $2.44.   I hadn’t realised that you could get garlic flavoured spam before.  I wonder if the Monty Python team knew that?

Paula mooched around but only managed a pair of sandals at $10.  Hardly enough to cover the shuttle cost.  We then crossed over the road and thanks to our informative driver, we knew that the Macey’s we could see, was just one end of a decent sized mall, so we went across.  Much to our surprise, the mall wasn’t really very busy and had a nice variety of middle of the range shops.  I managed a rare purchase, from a shoe shop, with another pair of Skecher’s (my first pair was bought in Nottingham and I found them very comfortable).  When Paula found the Macey’s ladies department, she bought another pair of shoes – for $11.   Not exactly Auckland prices at all on either count.

We got a little tired waiting in the queue for the shuttle back.  So when a (taxi) van arrived and several people piled out, 9 of us piled in, happy to pay the $3 a head to get back.  A couple of younger travellers had bought a takeaway picnic and were off to a beach as soon as they returned.

This may not sound like an exciting or venturesome stop, but as stated earlier, we’d been before and no doubt other blogs will be a bit more informative and interesting – and with much better pics…

Back on board, a very light late lunch of soup only, then an afternoon, trying to catch up with this blog.  (This is obviously written days later).

We were just about to rest our eyes with a nana nap when we got a phone call from Jo and Garry, who unusually (for them), were back fairly early and we happily joined them for a cuppa and a natter, down in the Atrium on deck 5.

We returned to the atrium at 6:45 for one of the orchestra’s very popular Dixieland sessions.  I finally managed to hand over my last double CD of the Barber/Ball, ‘Down Under Tour 2000’ album, to Tim, the Orchestra manager.  When I say last copy, I mean the last of the six copies I brought on board.  On every cruise to date, I have passed on an album, in the hope that although they are session musicians – and very good ones at that – getting some exposure to good jazz will be of benefit to them.

We had all opted for the buffet and I wasn’t feeling 100% anyway, so another very light meal.  Soup again.

We did go to the late show as it was an act totally new to us – and I suspect, Princess.  Billed as ‘Bande Artistique’, all anyone knew in advance (and that includes Cruise Director Mark), was that either they had performed at ‘Cirque Du Soleil’, or that it was a cirque type act.

Probably a reasonable description.  Male and female.  She sang – and talked a bit, danced a bit.  He clowned and juggled (well). The act started with him hiding under her massive ball-gown and part way through, he stood up, just showing skinny hairy legs, in boots, whilst she was obviously on his shoulders.  Visually, very funny.

Apart from a couple of times when the act was a bit flat (mainly when she was on stage on her own, talking), a good show but often quite visual.  He is also a very good juggler, bouncing up to 7 or 8 balls at a time, much better than the previous juggling act.  They got a deservedly good reception from the audience.

Many people did miss out on the show, as they were congregating on the deck as we passed (from a fair distance I might add) the lava flow into the sea.  It then started to rain anyway…

I didn’t feel too good, so bed after a Coldral.  Cold and flu medications seem to be in everyone’s travel kit on these cruises and I think I have needed them every time on the long cruises .

Probably a good time to try the 5-2 diet too, more of which tomorrow, as we really are heading for home now.  Strange, that Tahiti and Bora-Bora are seen by us as ‘nearly home’.  The truth is, that with just the two ports left, just makes it seem nearer home, but the reality is that we now have a run of 5 sea days then after Bora Bora, another run of 4.  So that is 18 trivia quizzes to go. Although we may have added (some) knowledge, so have all the other teams.

With no Salomon, (his contract finished) hopefully the ukulele players will still meet.

 

 

 

 

Day 60 - Lahaina, Maui

My distant cousin maybe?

Cruisers welcome.



Our 'other' water craft

Model for sale at $99...

As a tender port, we were safely anchored by 7am and the tenders launched.  These tender boats are in reality, our lifeboats, so at least they get a bit of usage throughout the voyage and all passengers are very familiar with them.  All that is except those who are wheelchair bound and cannot walk unaided to board them – and there are always a fair few of them, not to mention the wheelie walkers and those walking with sticks.

Ship anchored and numbered tender tickets issued, waiting in the Marquis dining room.

One of our identical el Cheapo, $30 Vodafone pre-pay phones still worked, Paula’s of course…

As we’d been processed in SF, just a walk off again.

No shuttles or HoHo buses as this is a small town.

We did need either a government ID or passport copy on our return.

Cruise cards checked on returning to the dock area.

Scanning on the ship of hand luggage on return, as there is no dock

As I over ate yesterday, just fruit for breakfast and a leisurely start to the day.  There is always a rush for the tenders and we had nothing planned, so we ambled down, just in time to get ticket number 900.  That was the last call for numbered tickets but we didn’t have to wait long, for our smooth ride to shore.  Bright sunshine and a deep blue sea, exactly what the brochures show.

We trundled through many of the shops and in addition to the souvenir shops, there were some very classy galleries.  As I hadn’t had a coffee, we opted to sit on a small deck, overlooking the beach and Paula’s mango smoothie was excellent and the coffee also very good.   Hawaii is the only US state that grows coffee.

Too late.  We've been shopping...

Although a fairly small place, it does have a lot of charm and we had heard of yet another ukulele shop here, so we had to look – not that we were buying any more! Some of the souvenir shops had $9.99 instruments, but as we’d been told, you get what you pay for.  I’m not sure that the +$2500 models would make us sound any better.

Jim and Marie sampled the local speciality of ‘shaved ice’ and enjoyed it.

We were back on board at 2pm, before the late rush as we didn’t fancy standing out in the sun, queuing.

Yet another portion of beef curry (strange that they have a daily curry in the buffet, but rarely in the dining rooms, which is why one of the tables close to us complained about the evening dining room food.  The food is fine, but the buffet seems to have far more variety, so they scan the menu and  choose whether to eat up or down.

A usual deck 11 sail away get together.

Dinner was very nice sliced fillet steak.  I should qualify that.  There are always about 5 choices, but I rarely have one of the two the fish choices  and even rarer, the vegetarian.

The late show was billed as ‘The Modern Gentlemen’, who are normally touring as ‘The Four Seasons’, backing the Franke Valli shows.  However, they were good to a point, but we felt that they really are a backing group and hadn’t the strength of a genuine lead singer.

Off to bed after 11pm and yet another Hawaiian port tomorrow – Hilo, our last US port before heading south to French Polynesia.  Getting a slight tickle in the throat which doesn’t augur well…

 

 

Day 59 - Honolulu and Christmas Shopping

A fair night and once again, calm seas.  We can’t believe how lucky we have been on that score.  By the time we got up, we were safely berthed at Pier 2.

Ship berthed on the starboard side – bow in.

One of our identical el Cheapo, $30 Vodafone pre-pay phones still worked, Paula’s of course…

As we’d been processed in SF, just a walk off again.

See below regarding shuttles and HoHo bus.

We did need either a government ID or passport copy on our return.

Cruise cards checked on returning to the dock area.

Scanning ashore of hand luggage on return – and once again, there were several bottles of spirits taken.

Once ashore, it was a little confusing with regard to shopper shuttles, as passengers were issued with a sticker – if they saw the rep that is.  She was scuttling about and it wasn’t really made clear what the system was.  We gave up on that and opted for the HoHo instead, which was charged to our room, which we were more than happy with, as we are still trying to burn through our on board credits.  At $45, it wasn’t particularly cheap, though it did cover 3 routes and the Red route trolley only ran every 50 minutes, with the last trolley at 4:15pm.  A bit slack given that the ship wasn’t scheduled to leave until after 10:30pm.

We waited patiently though and once on the trolley, we only did about 3 stops before the DFS stop, where we could transfer to the green route.  The transfer station was quite well organised, though the 20 minute wait in an underground car park area was a bit depressing, but at least we had seating.

The Green trolley arrived and by the time we hopped on, there weren’t too many seats spare, as we headed out to Diamond Head, via Waikiki.

The commentary wasn’t the best (again) but neither of us had been inside the crater before.  Some walk up to the summit, but no one from our trolley got off to do it, but several people clambered on and had to stand.  The entrance to the crater is via a tunnel, reminiscent of the avalanche part of Universal Studio’s tram.  

The run back to town was easy enough and we passed the studios where Hawaii 50 is filmed and there were police cars and Garrett’s Camaro placed strategically by the gates.  We got off just before the changeover spot, as we wanted to go to the Ukulele Shop, on Lewers Street, #206.  They had a great display of instruments and once again, a massive range of prices.  We were tempted by the green uke that looked like a Kiwi fruit.  After a bit of discussion, Paula bought me a banjolele, but that is my Christmas present(s) for the next few years sorted.  Not cheap, but a nice sounding instrument.  Boy, is it heavy though…

We made our way to ‘The Cheesecake Factory’.  A hugely popular establishment and we’d heard good reports about it - but forgot that the portions are huge.  Although busy, we only had to wait 5 minutes for a table, but meanwhile, we’d eyed a raspberry and lemon cheesecake in the cabinet and were licking our lips at the thought of tucking in.

The establishment is massive, the service excellent and possibly the longest menu we have ever seen.   The lunch time specials were on page 8 of what was possibly a 20 page booklet.  Paula opted for an avocado and chicken toasted sandwich and I opted for the shrimp and sausage pasta.

Drinks?  OK, a milk shake and a coke if you insist.  Within seconds, they also brought along two pieces of warm bread rolls, one a ciabatta and the other a very tasty rye bread, plus butter and a tankard of iced water each.  Paula’s shake would have done as a dessert and we should just have shared the sandwich.  I cleared my plate and thoroughly enjoyed it but Paula managed a little over half of hers and even with me having a bit of the chicken, there was still some food left, along with most of the green salad.

We were too bloated to even consider the cheesecake.  The meals were $14.95 each plus the drinks and the inevitable tip and service charge.  Highly recommended though.

We staggered up to the changeover trolley stop and instead of the double decker that normally does the pink route, we ended up on yet another trolley and hopped off at the famous Ala Moana shopping centre.  We didn’t really cover it at all, but went out back and across the road and up the street to Ross, Dress for Less – but no purchases.  We weren’t at all sure about any of the shopper shuttles heading back to the Pier, (if they were still running) so along with several others, we caught a service bus back - $1 each, seniors rate, though the driver did not seem to be too worried about whether or not any were seniors.

It had been very warm outside (30 degrees again) so we were happy to get back on board.

Salomon was playing in the Atrium so we sat and had a cuppa - and handed over the banjolele for him to have a go on it!  He pronounced it a good instrument…

Although we went up to the buffet later, we didn’t eat much, as we were still full from that factory lunch.

Sailaway at 11pm was the usual meet back on deck 11 and there was considerable interest from the uke players, well, one of the several Rays, wanting to see the acquisition, so I had to take it out.

Afterwards, a hot chocolate down on deck 5 with a couple of others, then happily to bed about midnight.

We like Honolulu, though it is busy and very commercial, but it does have an attraction.  Plenty to do and see and the water is usually warm.

Tomorrow, the third of our 4 Hawaiian islands, and a stop we are both looking forward to, Lahaina on the Island of Maui.  One of just two tender ports on this leg of the cruise.   We passed through it in 2007 in our hire car and regretted not stopping, so a chance to remedy that.

 

Day 58 - Nawiliwili - and dogs at sea

A fair night sleep before berthing at the Hawaiian bonus port of Nawiliwili.  We’d been here before in 2007 when we’d hired a car and seen what we wanted to see, so this time, we just watched as the people queued for the free shuttles.

Ship berthed on the port side.

One of our identical el Cheapo, $30 Vodafone pre-pay phones still worked, Paula’s of course…

As we’d been processed in SF, just a walk off.

See below regarding shuttles.

We did need either a government ID or passport copy on our return.

Cruise cards checked on returning to the dock area.

Scanning ashore of hand luggage on return – and this time, there were many bottles of spirits taken, to be returned the night before departure.

We watched from our cabin for quite a while, the long queues for shuttles.  Initially, the first shuttles were a free trolley to Anchor Cove, and a free van shuttle to the same place.  Many were leaving less than half full – then the K Mart shuttle arrived.  They left full, but the big wait was for the Walmart shuttle van.  The queues were very long, stretching half the length of the terminal building.

By the time we opted to go ashore, the queues were still long and it was a shambles.  We would have been happy enough with the Anchor Cove shuttles, but there was no organisation in getting people on, so they were still leaving less than half full.

We turned around and walked out to Anchor Cove – which was less than 10 minutes away anyway!

A nice coffee, then a wander around (there was free Wi-Fi available).  Paula found a couple of the colourful dyed, lightweight dresses she likes and then a container of fresh mango for $4.

The toy/model shop had ukuleles for sale, but they were expensive, ditto in another souvenir shop.

We kept bumping into Mal & Marie, Peter and Sharon and took over their table at JJ’s, overlooking the small, but popular beach, when they opted to go for a swim before their planned helicopter ride at 3pm.   Earlier in the day, M & M had got locked in their cabin for 40 minutes, which is a worry had the ship been sinking.

We had three burger sliders with chips which we shared and a coke each.

Some of the booze in the ABC shop was quite cheap, but nothing compared to what people brought back from Walmart!  The little card table they use for illegally brought aboard spirits was groaning under the weight of the 2 litre bottles.  Some people mistakenly think that the spirits are forfeited, but they are not, they are just held.

We’d planned a surprise for Roy at dinner, by placing my Alaskan husky hat in his cupboard.  Needless to say, this caused poor Roy a real shock and gave us yet another laugh when he opened it.  In fact, the $15 paid for the hat was probably worth it just for that.   

We had a couple of dances in the Atrium with Graham and Lynda before retiring.

Honolulu tomorrow, another port where we have been several times before but we cancelled a tour to the Arizona Memorial, as in 30 degree heat, a 2 hour queue, even on a ship’s tour, was less than appealing.  It is very warm out and I suspect that it will affect me in the reverse way that the UK used to.  There, I’d be out in the fresh air OK, but many buildings were stuffily hot inside which usually gave me a succession of chills and sinus problems, going from the cold to the heat.  Here, it is warm out and air conditioned inside, which at times, is almost too cool.

Sorry, not much in the way of pics of the island, but if I was at home, I could have added a few from 2007.

Days 56 & 57 - Sharing - and Cats at sea

The usual sort of morning with Shed followed by a losing trivia – though not by much.

The ukulele class was the advanced group, with Salomon this time, concentrating on the introduction to the Beatles song, ‘Let It Be’.  With 4 different chords on 4 beats, a bit too tough for us to master – especially me!   Some chord changes just aren’t possible, as I still don’t have enough active fingers.

Lunch in the buffet was a Mexican theme, but for some strange reason, they never seem to advertise the various themed lunches as they used to.  Our perceptions of this cruise are that some things are better than before and some things are not and that seems to be the opinion of most people.

Our afternoon trivia score was a pathetic 8/20, but, had we put down all our alternative suggestions that were discarded or overruled, we would have had 15/20!  Not enough to win, but a lot more respectable.

The early theatre show was billed as music/comedy.  Forget the comedy, it was just light hearted patter, but the music was David Pengelly on ukulele.  A tremendous performance including ‘Duelling Banjo’s’ – but playing both parts.  No mean feat.  We thoroughly enjoyed this show and it was a shame that one or two of the ukulele class missed it.  Sadly, he isn’t getting a second show, which is a real shame.

For dinner, a fair sized group from Cruise Critic (Pacific Circlers) invaded the new, Curtis Stone, ‘Share’ restaurant.  The idea is simple enough.  You can opt for the fixed price $39 per head meal, which includes 2 from the ‘Charcuterie and Cheese’ menu (9 options); 1 from the ‘From the Garden’ menu (3 choices), 1 from ‘The Oven’ menu (7 choices) and one dessert (3 choices).

Or, you can go a la carte, with the above lists at $4.50, $5 – $7:50, $7.50 - $15, $3.50 - $4.50 respectively.

We had a table of 10 and asked the staff to just bring a selection of dishes as appropriate and we’d just divide the bill – which worked out well enough, at $24 a head.  Bearing in mind you are being fed normally anyway, this is quite a hefty surcharge.  Macaroni cheese for 2 (supposedly) at an extra $7.50, even though it was nice enough, or potato gratin at $9, seems a bit over the top, but most nights, there aren’t many people dining and no one that we have spoken to, has been more than once, plus tonight.  The food was nice though and very little was left uneaten, and we certainly had plenty of variety – though no the crab leg at $15, deemed only enough for one anyway, so not really a ‘share’ dish.

Free bubbles though, courtesy of the Hotel manager, was a nice touch, but my Rekordalik strawberry/lime cider was a hefty $9.50.

Up on deck at 9:30pm, we had the ‘70’s deck party, with the Love Boat theme.  For those unaware, the ‘Love Boat’ TV series was in fact filmed on Princess ships and the original cast still do some promo work for Princess.   The dance music wasn’t really our cup of tea, so after a couple of laps of the deck, to settle the meal, we retired.

Clocks back another hour tonight, so another 25 hour day.  Passengers don’t seem to be affected by this, whereas moving the clocks forward certainly did.

 

Day 57 – Where did that cat come from?  

For our last day at sea before hitting the Hawaiian Islands, we very nearly scored a win in trivia – again, but managed just 19/20.  It was a Mark Turner (Cruise Director) quiz and our Western Australian and South Australian friends, will know exactly what I mean when I say ‘Bandi Bandi’ returned.  Had we got the correct century for the gunpowder plot, we would have tied for first place.  One digit wrong again.

Our final class with Salomon had a chord test!  He gave us 8 chords to fill in on the question paper and we managed a respectable 5/8.  That was the 1pm class, which then rolled into a Champagne farewell at 2pm, as Salomon gets off in Hilo.  We also managed competency certificates for the intermediate class.  (We would have got those even if we got 0/8…)  Sad to see Salomon go as he really has been an inspiration to so many people, especially if judged not so much on the numbers attending, but on the number who acquired ukuleles whilst travelling.

A very late lunch (and lamb curry…) followed by a NZ Natural ice cream.

For dinner, I opted yet again for the Curtis Stone belly pork, only because I didn’t fancy beef yet again.

About dessert time, we had one of those laughs of the cruise.  Assistant waiter Roy, went to his cupboard for the tea pot and knocked over a small metal dish, which crashed to the tiled floor.  His immediate response was a loud ‘meow’, as if the cat had disturbed it…  Very funny, but it gave me an idea…

We also celebrated Bev’s birthday.

We didn’t fancy the violinist’s second show, so we went to The Wheelhouse bar, but the party band’s music was just a bit too loud, so we retired early.

I seem to be a little behind with this blog, but hope to catch up soon.    

 

Days 54 & 55 - Heading for Hawaii and a trivia win.

Nothing of interest to report (nothing new there…) before the advanced ukulele class at 1pm, with Salomon.  As this was the advanced class, we were only really observers, and Salomon spent most of the time on musical theory.  A good session, but without either printouts, a white board or slide show, it was at times a bit too confusing.  Our musical theory knowledge is minimal, though my brother did do a fine job in explaining some of the basics a few years ago.  The notes in the different keys made sense, though I do remember playing the scales as a youngster, but without knowing what the keys, such as two sharps or two flats, actually were.

Paula went off for a massage at 2pm whist I tidied up some computer files, mainly video clips, either my own ex-YouTube.  The laptop struggles with any advanced video editing, so I don’t really try at sea – but when I get home, I never seem to have it high on my list of priorities.

At afternoon trivia, we finished equal first – but would have won if we’d stuck with Garry’s answer.  We guessed the wrong number of triple word score squares on a scrabble board and the other team got it right.  It was a fast guess as Renee wanted the first team to answer.  Ho hum.

The early show was Canadian comedian Scott Harris.  So-so.

At dinner, probably for the first time on this cruise, we felt it wasn’t up to standard.  The steamed pot-stickers were a bit doughy and undercooked.  Garry and I both had the vegetarian curry, but with a lamb shank on the top.  Last time, it was perfect.  This time, the lamb seemed to be a little undercooked and probably not as hot as it could have been.  Those who ordered the tempura, deep fried bananas for dessert expected the dish to be hot.  It was cold.  The meal elicited a few genuine complaints from people who don’t normally whinge.

Thankfully, the evening ended on a high, with the production singers, dancers and orchestra with ‘Save the Last Dance’.  It was a very pleasant surprise to see some brand new scenery, with built in coloured lights.   A thoroughly enjoyable show.

Clocks BACK an hour tonight, so now we get a run of 25 hour days.

 

Day 55 – Strings and things

We welcomed two newbies to the Shed.  Ed and yet another Ray.

Morning trivia, we WON! With 16/20, a bit of a surprise.  Sadly, we didn’t win a sheep station, just the least popular of all prizes – lanyards.

Intermediate ukulele, no theory lesson, but a couple more sheets of music for our portfolio, then to the buffet at 2pm.  A dollop of vegetarian curry plus a couple of pieces of what was supposed to be hot red Thai chicken. It wasn’t hot, but it was nice.

It was about time we had an ice cream.  So we did.

The early show was Salomon with half the violin duo ‘Fiore’, Maria.  They are an item, having met on the ship, but they did manage to put a show together, despite a minimal amount of practice.  As usual, Salomon managed to incorporate the Chicken Dance within a classical piece.  They got a huge reception from the audience and they really do want to continue to perform together, so ultimately, they’ll need to get their contracts aligned, as Salomon gets off in Hilo, having already had his contract extended twice.

Another formal night and the food was back to excellent.  Very nice fillet steak, so I ended up with 3.  My own 2 and 1 donated by Paula.

It was a real strings day, with the late show featuring an American violinist, Doug Cameron.  He played well enough, but it felt as though the concert went on a bit too long.

Afterwards, the music in the Wheelhouse bar was a bit too loud with the party band, so along with Ron and Angela, Lynda and Graham, we retired to the buffet for a late hot chocolate, just before they closed the coffee machine.

Clocks back another hour overnight and bed at midnight.

Half way through this sea spell and it is getting warmer.

 

Day 53 - Another half day in SF.

A good sleep, but we both heard a ‘ding’ at 4am.  Maybe someone on the bridge hit the wrong button for the change of watch?  No announcement followed.

We were up and about at 8am because our electricity was going to be off at 9am.

Once again, we wandered through Pier 39 and then up to 45, before a steady amble back.  We bought a small gift for a friend and Paula bought another fleece top.  Why not?  At that price it makes sense.

We were back on board 11:30 and to the lifeboat drill (again) at 12:15.  Straight after, we joined the rush to the buffet!  The chowder was NOT the best in the world, but OK, then to the sailaway, where there were free drinks.   That usually makes for happy passengers but was a small compensation for missing San Diego.

Trivia, we managed 24/26, so just missed out again as others did better.

The evening late show was one number by the dancers and orchestra and then, back by popular demand, Assistant Cruise Director Jamie.  Probably not the huge success of his first show in the Vista lounge, but still a very good show.

So, back at sea now for another 4 days before we hit Nawiliwili (that is the correct spelling, not the double ‘L’s I may have used before).  We were last there in 2007 when we did the 7 day Hawaiian Islands with NCL.  It seems a long time ago now, but that was my first ever cruise.

The weather will be warming up again now but as we have only had one wet port day since leaving Sydney, we have no complaints about the weather or the sea, as it continues to be very calm.

We now have a new captain.