After a bit of a rough sailing from Kona last night, we arrived to the island of Oahu, and the capital of Hawaii…..Honolulu. Oahu is the most populous island, although it is only the third largest. Being the seat of government, many folks are employed in that industry. There is a large military presence here, but the number one industry has to be tourism. We have never seen so many hotels and resorts on one island. Downtown has so many high rise buildings, you cannot count them. Needless to say, Honolulu is a sharp contrast to our last two stops in Kauai and Kona.
There were several various tours here today. Number has to be a visit to Pearl Harbor and the Mighty Mo and the USS Arizona Memorial. That ran 6 ½ hours for $156. Even when we toured the WWII sight, there were restrictions on what you could bring with you. Usual stuff like purses, totes, bags, backpacks, etc. cannot be brought to the sight. Security is utmost number one here. The Polynesian Cultural Center was an all day tour for 10 ½ hours and $320. This tour and another one for a circle the island by bus for 8 hours and $146 were both sold out prior to this cruise. There's always the ho-ho bus for $86 or a ride to Oahu's North shore for $250 for 6 ½ hours, which included a lunch. Waikiki on your own sounded like a ride there and back for $50. You are dropped off for 5 ¾ hours.
After breakfast, we headed back to our room to find our veranda was being hosed down and the windows cleaned. Normally you are informed by a note the previous evening, so you can be prepared to shut your drapes. So far, we have not gotten any notice here….they just show up unexpectedly.
Anyway, it appeared that we were going to have a nice warm day with a small possibility of a shower. Good, we don't have to lug the umbrellas with us on our hike to Waikiki and beyond. We don't like the restriction on taking water with you on these hot and humid days. We see many guests going to town with drink bottles with something in them. Guess they are not checking everyone for food and drinks.
We kept busy this morning until after 10am. If there were flower leis being handed out, we never saw them nor would we want to wear them to town. Taking or usual hike from Pier 2, we passed local businesses and the Kewalo Basin Harbor where fishing and snorkeling trips can be booked. Some of the deep sea fishing might include catching Pacific Blue marlin, tallow fin tuna, wahoo, dorado, and spearfish. The boats take small groups out from 8 to 12 hours. The prices were not listed, but we are certain it is not a cheap excursion. One other option is a turtle snorkeling with 5 activities. Their all-inclusive package includes snorkeling, a trampoline, a slide, a stand up paddleboard, kayaking, and finally jumping from the boat. This package was $139 for adults and $119 for kids over 3 years old. It's a three hour tour by the way.
This is where the Ala Moana Beach Park begins. It is a public beach with convenient facilities and it is free. At one time in the past, there was a huge homeless population here, but they have been dispersed or placed elsewhere. There were a few encampments. But nothing like it used to be. Even at that, we saw a four man team of cops on ATV's patrolling the park grounds. This long stretch of park has its rewards, since we end up seeing many types of birds here. There were white pigeons, small doves, bright red-headed cardinals, yellow tanagers (like canaries), Java finches, and some shore birds. Always present, but in much smaller numbers were the white egrets and night herons. Actually we only saw one heron today, who was sitting with the egrets. These night herons are always along the canal edges waiting to catch the perfect fish. Then there are wild chickens along the way. They like to hide in the banyan tree trunks and usually have babies hidden in there.
This park ends when you reach the Ala Moana Shopping Mall, which is really nice with every store you can imagine. Now if we were cheating, we could have taken the complimentary Hilo Hattie shuttle that took folks from the Zaandam to this mall. They give you a sticker to show you have visited the store (hoping you bought stuff), and then you are free to go into the mall. With that sticker, you can get a ride back to the ship.. We figured it would save an eight mile walk. In the heat and humidity of Honolulu, most folks choose to take this shuttle.
Crossing the bridge over the canal, we came upon the first of the major hotels on the water's edge. The first tower was the Prince Waikiki, followed by Iliki Marina, and the Ilikai Hotel and Suites. The next big complex was the Hilton Hawaiian Village, where we could hear a loud ruckus happening. Was there trouble in paradise? We soon discovered the source of the noise was due to a strike by the Hilton Hotel workers, just like the same demonstration we saw while in San Diego. Only bigger and louder. The hotel union workers were striking for better wages and good benefits. We noticed there was chaos at the front desk and most all of the restaurants and cafes were closed down. They had no servers as well as cleaning staff for the entire hotel complex. We spoke with one of the strikers when we reached Waikiki Beach. He told us that most folks coming here did not know there was a strike in progress and they were getting ripped off with hotel charges. People were paying more for far less service since the management had to take over those jobs. The young worker we spoke to said he needed to take out a loan just to shop at Costco for his family. We did let him know we were not guests of the hotel, just passing through. He appreciated our understanding and support. Hope they settle this soon.
Waikiki Beach was busy with swimmers and sunbathers since it is a public beach. One thing for sure, there will be tons of sun-burnt people later today. The sun was intense like it always is, and if one is not careful, burning can happen quickly. Taking photos of the Atlantis boat and the beach, we made our way past the Hale Koa Hotel, Ft. DeRussy, and the US Army Museum. Then we turned inland passing the Royal Hawaiian Center all the way to the Hard Rock Café. Seated at a breezy table on the veranda level, we enjoyed ice cold Stella Artois beers, a Swiss cheese and mushroom burger with extra fries, and finally an apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream. Relaxing for an hour was priceless. The Rock Shop did not have a new city T, so we bought nothing.
Time to head back, we took our sweet time as we made our way back to the ship. The afternoon trade winds made our walk more comfortable. Tomorrow we plan to make our way back to the Ala Moana Center for some shopping and lunch, of course.
By the time we got back to the ship, it was well after 4pm. Long day for sure, it was wonderful relaxing in our room and downing at least two sodas on ice. Researching some pamphlets and flyers we had picked up along the way, provided a lot of info of the major sites in and around Honolulu. Photo-sorting took the rest of the afternoon. Before we knew it, the sun was setting, providing us with a perfect view. Two dinner boats went out of the harbor as the sky began to light up with the gold colors. As the evening lights of the city appeared, we had some passing clouds and a good drizzle cooling everything off. And the Aloha Tower lit up, turning it purple.
Speaking of dinner, some new appetizers popped up. One was a different shrimp starter and the other was their cheddar and beer soup. Caesar salads followed the starters. For the second evening in a row, the dining room seemed to have cooled down to the point we needed a sweater or jacket. So the hot soup was perfect. Mains were one linguini dish with Bolognese sauce and the other was the "blue plate" special, Club Orange buttered basted chicken. And for the first time since September, carrot cake was on the dessert menu. Our kind waiter, Sarif, suggested the cake needed vanilla ice cream on the side. Something tells us he likes to eat. Actually, he told us as much. Many times…..
There was a special local show with Drums of Polynesia at 7:30 and 9pm. We were still eating our dinner, so we did not attend. We saw this same show last year as well as in January while we were on the grand world cruise. The local singers, dancers, and drummers did a fine performance highlighting the music and dance of Polynesia.
One more day in Honolulu, and we sure hope it doesn't rain a lot. It's called liquid sunshine… right?
Bill & Mary Ann
