After a good night's sleep, we were ready to take on another day in Honolulu. It was going to be another rain-free day with scattered clouds, temperatures in the low 80's, and a breeze of 10.4 mph. What we did not expect were the "cherry-pickers" with guys painting the ship once again. The beeping nose began around 9am and must have driven the guests as well as the dock team crazy. On top of that, they were bunkering fuel from the pier and also taking on a heavy delivery of food and supplies. That equaled 4 times the beeping noises. It is unavoidable, so we were glad that we were leaving for most of the day. Later we did mention it to Mel, who seemed unaware of the commotion.
We left the ship around 10am and headed back in the same direction as yesterday. We hiked slowly to the Ala Moana Mall, which according to the map is a 2-mile walk from Pier 2. There seemed to be a nicer breeze at our backs today, making our trek more pleasant. We entered the parking garage near Macy's at the far end. We know exactly where the escalator is located to go up to the main level, but much to our disappointment, it was out of order. That makes at least two years in a row that it has been broken. Making it worse, the elevator nearby was also out of service. I hate stairs but we decided to walk the escalator stairs to the first level, but very slowly. Our knees don't like it so much these days.
It was a good time to head for lunch since we were down this end. Our destination was the California Pizza Kitchen, one of our favorite restaurants at home. That is, until it closed two years ago. We have been missing the BBQ chicken chopped salad with fresh, warm French bread slices. Then we shared their BBQ chicken pizza, cooked perfectly with an excellent crust. One of us had Sam Adams draft beer, and the other Coke Zero. Their sodas are bottomless and you really need a few glasses to cool down.
We had success with shopping for a new projection clock which we located at Target. Doing some simple Google research before we left the ship, we found just what we needed and where to find it. The clock we brought from home was an atomic projection clock, which was basically useless for setting the time automatically. It did not work in Alaska and sure did not work in Hawaii, as the signal only covers an area under 1000 miles. We have gotten so used to being able to see the time at night at home, that we like it on the ships as well. Then we needed some things at Longs and had luck there also.
Once again, we decided to taxi back to the ship, which was nice. The heat and humidity really can zap your energy, and we still have two more Hawaiian stops to make in the next two days. Have to pace ourselves.
Captain Thomas came on with his daily update at 5:30pm telling us his Staff Captain, Rakesh, would be taking the ship out to sea. We have a short distance to reach Kahului, Maui tomorrow at a speed of 11 knots. The current temperature was 74 degrees, and we had a 5-foot swell. We may have showers and the all aboard time was changed to 6pm, not 6:30pm. The Captain was proud to announce that there was a successful inspection by the Coast Guard, always good news.
We had a very scenic sailing out of the harbor with views of the city of Honolulu lit up at night. Although we did not see the sun setting, we saw the results of the setting sun on the glass towers of downtown. Being on port side worked for us tonight.
There were some good things on the menu we did not want to miss. We ordered two different types of salads and chicken appetizers. Our mains were the Huli Huli chicken with sweet soy glaze and macaroni salad. So, so good. Desserts were a chocolate tart and a few slices of watermelon. Quite refreshing.
On our way back to the room, we noticed the casino was closed again. Then we read in the Daily newsletter that due to gaming rules and regulations, it would remain closed until 6:30pm on October 25th after leaving Kona.
We missed the show tonight which happened to be a one-night singer by the name of Erwin Urbi, a Hawaiian native. We were told by friends that he was so good, that you could have heard a pin drop in the show lounge. He "wowed" the audience.
Tomorrow we will be in Kahului, Maui in rain or shine....who knows?
Bill & Mary Ann
