Waking up this morning, we saw that the ship directly behind us was a very large car carrier, and they began off-loading and loading cars and trucks all through the night and it appears, all day as well. The cargo ship in front of the car carrier also worked a 24- hour shift. And we never heard a sound from either of them. We came to the conclusion that since Honolulu is the capital, and the dock areas have the space, all of the vehicles arrive here, then are distributed to the other islands. Just a wild guess.
Today was even more humid than yesterday, perhaps due to the clouds holding in the heat. At some point today, we expect rain, but more than likely, it will be later. The big event of the morning was veranda cleaning on deck five between 9am and 11:30am. Although we need not be present, we can remain in our room. Or….if we wish them to come at another time, we were free to call guest services before 11pm the night before. The fellows simply go from room to room by opening up all of the veranda partitions, and clean all at once. It is most welcomed, and never a problem for us.
We had a new waitress in the Pinnacle Grill by the name of Aurora. She must be replacing Lois, who flew home yesterday. She is very sweet and is from Indonesia. The more we thought about our new waiter, Raj, from India, we seemed to remember him from the N. Statendam. Although he was only in the Pinnacle for a month before going home, we recall him telling us he was the only PG waiter from India, and proud of it. So we asked if he was one in the same, and he said yes, that was him. We did not expect him to remember us, but he seemed happy we recalled him. It appears that an effort is being made to keep this venue a bit more on the international side.
Catching up with report, photos, and emails, we left the ship by 10:30am. But right before leaving the room, we had our 2- week delivery of Cokes. We assume the flowers would arrive later. Always nice to get gifts. Refreshed by a good night's sleep, the walk did not seem as far today as it did yesterday. We headed back to the Ala Moana Center. Along the way, we ran across a nice couple from Canada, Larry and Jacquie, that recognized us. They explained they had been following our blog for a long time, and had met us briefly before this. We all agreed how nice it was to be back on a ship, and more so, on this itinerary. Some of the previous fears of the pandemic have dissipated somewhat as time goes forward.
Making our way through the covered parking lot, we located the escalator up to the first level. Starting from Macy's, we happened to come across their sportswear sales, and accidently found a couple of pair of denim shorts I had been trying to find at Walmart. That will save some time at home trying to find clothing out of season. Here in Hawaii, it is summer all year round.
It was time for lunch, and we had intended on going to Bubba Gump's, but discovered it was no longer there. But even a better alternative was California Pizza Kitchen, which was still there on the upper level 4 at Ho'okipa Terrace. An Olive Garden had replaced Bubbas, but the longer line was for CPK. One of our favorite lunch spots at home is CPK where they serve a salad/pizza combo. However, we did not see it on their menu, so we split a CPK BBQ chicken chopped salad, and also shared a regular-size Margherita pizza. Needless to say, we were in pizza heaven. So glad we waited with the buzzer outside for a table. Even though the restaurant was not crowded, there must be a shortage of wait staff. The service and food were both excellent.
We strolled each level of the mall, taking some photos of the fountains, ponds, and koi carp. Making our way to the opposite end where Nordstrom's is located, we tried finding our way out. It was a little tricky, since we had to go down to the street level. One stop we needed to make was at Longs Drugs (not CVS here). One of us forgot the extra tube of toothpaste, and we knew we could find it there. Wouldn't you know it, someone blocked the entire section, staring at every single box that was there. We waited, expecting the fellow to leave, but he did not. So we left. With three more stops to make in Hawaii, it will give us something to search for.
Exiting at Pikoi Street, we took a right turn, and walked down the Ward Centre area, which is undergoing a transformation. Only part of the old Ward Centre is there now. If memory serves us right, the Ward Centre was the first "mall" type shopping area in Honolulu. Now half of the street has been torn up, and a wall photo of the new area will include more shops and eateries, as well as a nice park. This is close to the new high rises going up.
Turning left, we re-joined the main drag, and made it back to the ship by 3pm. That first blast of air-conditioning once you enter the ship, has to be the best. Then finding a vase with a dozen yellow roses waiting for us in or room, was even better. Sitting on the veranda with a big fan and an ice cold soda topped that. One of us was industrious and worked on the computer, while the other one sat outside watching the car carrier load more vehicles.
Watching for another sunset was futile, since the dark clouds had covered the horizon, and the rain did begin to fall lightly after 5pm. Dinner was casual, which was fine, and the mains we ordered were supposed to be snapper and lamb chops. The snapper had turned into mahi-mahi, and according to Franz, the maitre'd, the snapper did not arrive with today's delivery. Many things did not arrive today he said. So they do their best to substitute items. All ended well with vanilla ice cream and banana frozen yogurt, and also one cappuccino – decaf with almond milk. Sure tasted good.
There was a movie in the Mainstage, South Pacific, 2001. Fitting for the area we are visiting. Exactly at 11pm, the car carrier pushed away from the dock, turned around in the basin, and headed out to sea, just as Captain Frank described. All aboard here was 11pm, and we will leave before midnight, and we did manage to get a few sailaway photos. There is a mere 93 nautical miles to reach Kauai tomorrow, so we bet the ship will sail slowly.
Bill & Mary Ann
