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. 

Sea Day #2

No post right now as when I sat down to write tonight I found out two unusual and unexpected things:

*I can’t access the internet on my computer anymore. 

*I’ve been locked out my bank account - even on my app. 

Today was such a good day. But now I’m extremely stressed so I think it’s best I go get myself a strong drink or two and spend my night working on straightening things out.

Hopefully I can come back and fill in the details of today - and tomorrow. It’s going to a fun filled one. That is, if I’m not up all night. Ugh. 

MORNING UPDATE: SOLVED!

After spending much more should-be-sleeping time than I wanted to, I think I may be good to go. The computer issue eventually resolved itself on its own this morning (what's up with that?), and with the bank issue it seems the little birdie left at home had been involved. I was able to re-secure the account and now I'm good to go there. Whew.

So back to sea day #2.

As predicted, our weather did turn off a little rough. Where yesterday I had sunshine at breakfast, this day's view was nothing but clouds and rain.

Bumpy seas, too

As much as the ship was moving it wasn't surprising when I went to breakfast on Deck 16 aft I was the only person in the restaurant the entire time. Thankfully over the years I've been able to grow sea legs and they served me well today.

Yummy blueberry pancakes for breakfast

After breakfast I went to the presentation on Maui. I got lots of history but still don’t know the best way to get around the area. Ships still aren’t calling on Lahaina (my favorite Hawaiian cruise port) so we’ll be in Kahului which is more industrial. When we were in Kahului years ago we rented a car for a couple days but that’s not an option this time so we’ll see what I can get figured out. 

Love the clearly marked accessible spacing in the theater

I also attended a hypnotism for pain relief presentation. This wasn’t the typical spa pitch, but an actual enrichment presenter doing the session. Interesting, intriguing, informative. There are more full-on sessions over the next couple days I hope to get to. 

It was cooler outside and the pools were closed because of the rough seas so I spent my outside time out on Deck 7. 

Love the no-threshold doorway to the Promenade Deck

The chairs were all wet from the rain and sea spray and the front of the deck was closed but it didn’t stop me from rolling around to both sides. 

Aft view from Deck 7. The water is getting bluer!

I had another tasty lunch in the dining room (chicken with chimichurri - oops, forgot to take a picture), made an ok choice for dinner,

What would you choose?

Double Pork Chop for me

and once I returned to my cabin for the evening came back to a little buddy 

and flowers. 

Which leads me back to where things all fell apart and I about had a melt down. But all is good, at least for now. 

See you later for Sea Day #3.

Sea Day #1

There are pretty much three words to sum up my entire day. By noon all three of them had made an appearance.

In the past we've always know the first few days out from San Francisco to be cool, cloudy, and breezy. Being I'm in an inside cabin with no windows I didn't know what the day looked like so imagine my surprise at breakfast when I had this sunny view out the window.

My breakfast view

My breakfast choice. I passed on the hash brown.

After breakfast I tried to make my way to the seats I saw out the window but found the doorway had quite a high threshold, one where I would have to carry Scooter across. I passed. But I found another spot on Deck 16 and camped out in a lounge chair tucked out of the wind and in full sun.

It was in that lounge chair I sat instead of going to Speedy Sudoku. Instead of the Hula class. Instead of the crafts class. It was in that lounge chair I stayed and watched a movie on the big screen (Movies Under the Stars). Escape from Alcatraz, how fitting for where we just came from. It was in that lounge chair where I fell asleep for a bit. And got a sunburn.

Word #1 - Sunshine

After the outdoor movie I headed back to the cabin to cool off a little bit and started watching the movie Wicked on the TV.

Word #2 - Movies (Two movies in one day, even.)

And then word #3 made a grand entrance. After a filling breakfast, I decided to go to lunch to do a taste test. I'm not a big lunch eater so I typically stick to appetizers. More than once I've ordered the wrong spring rolls so today I decided to order both at the same time so I could decide which one is the one I've liked. Thai Spring Roll or Summer Roll?

The Thai Spring Roll is served hot

Summer Roll is served cold. Look at all those veggies!
I don't like veggies so this is the wrong one. 

I also wanted to check out the Colossal Fries. On the Discovery Princess the fries have an extra crispy coating and are tasty. Here on the Ruby Princess they are just plain fries with the dips. Won't be ordering these again here.

After lunch I finished watching Wicked and finished up with Word #2. 

But Word #3 popped back up at dinner. The restaurant manager was doing table side preparation of some pasta. OMG, so tasty. I'm glad I asked for just a few bites but I certainly could have made it my main dish.

Instead my main dish was a special one for the specific dining room I'm in. The land and sea had some of the tastiest shrimp and steak I've had in a while.

And I followed through with the dessert routine Ed and I established when we wintered onboard the Discovery Princess. Blueberry sorbet.

The lighting in the dining room is throwing the actual color off

So Word #3? That would be FOOD. Way too much food.

And yet...as I was typing this blog I had room service knocking on the door and delivering an order from a special friend. No need to leave the cabin for a midnight snack now. And more bottled water? Bonus!

Yep, Sunshine, Movies, and Food is how I spent the day. (I would admit I went to the casino, but like any gambler knows some secrets are better left untold.) I'm not sure what tomorrow will hold, but the Captain tells us we're in for some weather and rough seas. They've even gone ahead and cancelled formal night for tomorrow night, just in case. 

One more note - last night we had a sick passenger onboard and had to turn around and go back to San Francisco. The Captain kept us updated into the night until the Coast Guard helicopter arrived and completed the airlift.