Honolulu Visit

Arriving in Honolulu on our Royal Princess.

We've found using the Hop On Hop Off buses
or trolleys a good way to get to know the cities.

We arrived early Thursday April 30th in Honolulu. It was a beautiful day. Scott went down at 8 AM (as requested) to pick up our numbered departure. It was 25! The morning dragged on and on. It was 11 AM before the first number was called! Before that it was people disembarking for good. Customs/Immigration was on the boat in the Vista Lounge. Finally we went up for some lunch. Then we were fed up - only on number 20 but we went down anyway. Had to walk all around the outside of the boat and when we finally got to the immigration, there was a huge line. But because we were U.S. citizens we got to walk right past everyone and were finished in just a few minutes! We could have done that ages ago but no one told us. We talked to people from the US and other countries later and many people didn't get out until late afternoon! 

Washington Place where Queen Liliuokalani
was arrested during the overthrow of the 
Hawaiian Kingdom.

The "Punchbowl" is the site of the National 
Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and had 
beautiful views of the city.

The beautiful statue of King Kamehameha in front
of the Hawaiian Supreme Court - the former seat of
government of the Kingdom of Hawaii

We made it out around 12:30 PM and got a free Hilo Hattie shuttle to the Ala Moana Mall. We had purchased a two day pass to the Hop On Hop Off Trolley which has four routes: Pink, Red, Blue and Green. We caught a pink one over to the Waikiki Mall where we found long lines for the other routes. We decided to do the red route but it was 40 minutes away so had a cup of coffee in the mall. We finally got on the trolly and enjoyed the guide and trip - Waikiki beach, Iolani Palace, and the Punchbowl War Memorial. He dropped us off near the boat. 

Iolani Palace - the only Royal Palace in the U.S.
It was completed in 1882.

We were very lucky we had canceled our original plans for a Luau at 12:30PM. It was over an hour away so we would have never made it! Instead we booked a dinner Luau. By the time we got back from our trolley tour, I was exhausted so waited down at the shuttle stop while Scott went up to change and bring me a dry top. We were supposed to be picked up at 4:25PM. Scott had several frustrating conversations with them while we were on the bus but it seemed OK. But when the shuttle arrived our names weren't on it. The fellow in charge said he'd come back if necessary and Scott called and they sent an Uber! We got there at 6 PM. But then all was great. Flower leis, lots of drink tickets and seats right up front. We downed a bunch of Mai Tais and all was well. The show was terrific. The buffet fine, not outstanding. Fun night. Scott volunteered for the hula lesson on stage and I got a great photo. We went back on the bus.

Scott gets a hula lesson up on the stage during our Luau. He's right in the center!

Our show highlighted the music and stories of all 
the Polynesian islands

It was called the Warrior Luau so lots of male 
dancers for a change.

Fires were everywhere during the final segment,
including fire walking!

Friday it was easy to leave the boat and we walked up to the public bus which took us down to the Waikiki Mall. The Green Line brought us up to the Diamond Head National Park. We transferred to the Blue Line and this was terrific with gorgeous scenery and lasted almost 2 hours. At the end the Pink bus took us back to the Ala Moana Mall where we had lunch at the Food Court, did some errands and bought lots of gifts. This was a lovely day! But now 5 more sea days before we get to Los Angeles! 

Waikiki Beach and the statue of Duke Kahanamoku , the father of modern surfing and a five time
Olympic metal holder in swimming.

We saw one fabulous beach after another on our Blue Line trolley tour

This spot was the only one on the tour where we
were able to get off and take photos

Otherwise I just snapped them from the trolley. We
really were sorry we weren't able to enjoy these
gorgeous beaches and have a swim!

Time Spent at Sea

The Princess Pop Up Chorus Performance - that's Scott on the far left in the Bass section. 

 I'll say right away that Scott and I have found the huge numbers of sea days a liability. Due to the Cyclone we missed a visit to American Samoa and therefore had five days at sea between Auckland and Tahiti. Then we had another five days from there to Hawaii. Next we'll have five more days to L.A. These stretches feel very long to us - activities and menus are repetitious. We enjoy the trivia games, but two of those a day are more than enough (there are many more). The "enrichment" sessions are few and far between and often turn into sales pitches for the art gallery or ship excursions for example. The musicians are very good but seating at the bars where they play is often difficult to procure. And we are not drinking much now. We didn't take the package thank goodness because we've often gone long periods without any alcohol due to our colds and even when we feel up to it, we might have one cocktail and/or a glass of wine. 

For this one we got to sit in the first
row and Scott got to dance with her.

Lisa Woodhouse gave two performances - both great. 

One highlight has been Scott's joining the Princess Pop Up Chorus. He attended four rehearsals and then they gave a performance in the Piazza. It was really fun and they were great!

Scott, Heather, Nina and Rhys celebrating Heather's 80th birthday!

But we have met some very nice people. And one couple, Rhys and Nina, have turned into real friends. We see them almost every day for a trivia session and a drink. As a team we've won two competitions - that's out of 200+ attendees! We finally celebrated my 80th birthday with them at Sabatini's - lovely night. But they are leaving the boat in Oahu - a big loss.  We mostly have dinner at a sharing table and enjoy meeting others, sometimes more than once. But so far that hasn't led to further involvement. 

We loved this performance of the Princess orchestra, which consists of all the musicians aboard.

The entertainment in the big theater. has been mostly good, occasionally great, often just OK. We loved Lisa Woodhouse, the Celtic Rau, and the Princess band and dancers. Jugglers, magicians and ventriloquists are not my usual preference but we have a lot of time on our hands so pretty much go to everything when we're well enough!

This salad illustrates the detail in 
presentation.

A selection of desserts

The food is always good and sometimes great. They do an amazing job really given the long times between provisioning. But our appetites have been affected by illness. And we're not alone. I think about 25% of the people on the ship are coughing! Loosing weight is nice but I'd rather we both were well! This is day 20 of our 33 - hopefully we'll both continue to improve and be totally healthy again. 

Right now we're in Honolulu and it's 11:30 AM and we are still not getting off the boat! They had to put the 800 passengers leaving us through immigration first and then the official tour groups (didn't get warned that would happen or we might have booked one of them). Two days in port and one of them is slipping away. Luckily our big booked event is a Luau tonight and the pick up isn't until 4:15 PM. More on all that in my next post.