Our anniversary cake provided by our travelagent Mary.
War Memorial
Royal Hawaiian Garden
Alan and Karen enjoying breakfast ont4he beach at theRoyal Hawaiian with Diamond Head in the background.
Surfers at DawnDay Two: Honolulu/Waikiki-Partly cloudy, 81’
After a wonderful night’s sleep we got up at 2:30 wide awake. After all it was already 7:30am in Baltimore. We got dressed and decided to go for a walk along the beach. On the way we explored the hotel some more and discovered some peaceful areas where one could sit and read a book. The ladies restroom was so elegant with a glistening chandelier in the entryway. There were large paintings on the walls throughout the hotel depicting ancient Hawaiian Royalty. It was a exquisite morning and so peaceful. We walked through the Royal Hawaiian Buffet area where we were greeted by one of the waiters preparing for the morning buffet that wouldn’t start for another 4 hours. He offered us both a nice fresh cup of Kona coffee. We thanked him and headed outside. We passed through the ‘surf room’ where pictures of famous surfers hung on the wall along with movie star photos. This is where the photo of Shirley Temple hung. She looked as to be around 6 years old. We sat at one of the tables by the pool enjoying the warm ocean breeze while drinking our first cup of Hawaiian Coffee. Afterwards, we walked on to the sandy beach and touched our toes in the cool water. We frolicked in the ocean with the waves splashing our legs for several minutes. A man riding a tractor was plowing the sand making sure it was perfect for the visitors that would be basking in the sun later that day. The Royal Hawaiian has their own section of beach reserved for their patrons. There are lounges with large pink towels draped over them positioned underneath huge pink and white beach umbrellas.
After our playful ocean visit we walked through the hotel grounds and enjoyed the serenity of the Royal Hawaiian Garden. I imagined Princess Kawananakoa or Queen Lili’uokalani strolling amongst the tall palm trees and lush foliage, listening to the songs of the birds as the ocean greeted them during their morning walks. I even took my sandals off while walking on the grass so I could feel the lushness of the dew-moistened ground beneath my feet. Yes, this was the life! After our walk-about as the Australians would say, we went back to our room and got ready for breakfast. We decided to go to the Royal Hawaiian Buffet. What a spread they lay out! It was the best buffet we’d ever seen! I had fresh, ripe mango, cantaloupe, a small waffle with coconut syrup, grilled potatoes, and some scrambled eggs with bacon. The waiter served us fresh mango-pineapple juice and hot Kona coffee with real cream. We sat outside enjoying the fresh ocean air and listening to the sound of the waves. We laughed at the sight of some pigeons as they got reprimanded for landing on a table close by, upsetting some dishes causing some to fall and break. Poor things, all they wanted was their breakfast too. There were signs on the tables stating NOT to feed the birds and one could see why. They were trained quite well to wait until patrons vacated the tables before swooping down to eat whatever they could find. The little birds could flit in and out without any mishaps unlike the big, fat pigeons. We leisurely ate breakfast taking in the scenery with Diamond Head in the background. Our waiter asked if he could take our pictures when he saw what a nice camera I had. He was a bit of a camera buff so we took the opportunity to have pictures of us taken together. It’s hard for us to get pictures of the two of us together whenever were on vacation. He took three shots including one of us with the pink & white Royal Hawaiian awning and one with Diamond Head in the background even.
After breakfast we walked over to the International Market to see what kinds of goodies they had. I found a fabulous Hawaiian-print skirt and some flower combs to wear in my hair along with a pair of bright orange/red gourds used in hula. I had wanted a pair the last time we were in Hawaii but never bought them. I also found a Happy-Face Hawaiian sticker and placed it on the front of my scooter. We finished with our purchases and went on down the block to Starbucks for our frappacinos. I asked if they had any Hawaiian gift cards but they were all out. Marie, who works at the Starbucks in Baltimore, had asked me to look for one for her as she thought they were pretty. She had seen one of her customers with one so when she heard we were going to Hawaii she saw her chance of getting one. We saw a pretty black and white Collie tied to a tree outside Starbucks and he seemed quite happy lying on the cool grass. Even the dogs in Hawaii were happy and stress-free. We crossed the street to feed the fish at the seawall where we’d seen them on our previous trip. Since I hadn’t saved anything from breakfast to feed them I had Alan buy a biscotti at Starbucks. The fish thought that was quite a treat! Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel room to pack and drive to the port to check our luggage on the ship, then we could spend the rest of the day enjoying Waikiki. We found the port easily and it wasn’t long before a porter came to help us with our bags…especially since Alan knew the secret…waving money in the air.
Our first stop would be at Hilo Hattie’s. As we entered the store we were greeted with shell leis and a refreshing cup punch. Hilo Hattie’s is known for their unique prints and fun shops throughout the Hawaiian Islands. They even have a shop in Huntington Beach, California now. I took advantage of some terrific bargains on some designer dresses. I bought one of their dresses 15 years ago and am still wearing it. Unfortunately, they discontinued that particular print but I found another one that was pretty close to it. Alan told me to go ahead and buy several dresses. Who was I to argue? I love them and they’re so cool and comfortable to wear at work. Alan and I even found a print that came in dresses as well as shirts. He bought a matching shirt to one of my dresses. The shirt he bought was a ladies’ shirt (it didn’t have a canoe on the tag signifying men) and we didn’t notice until we had gotten back to the ship. It ended up okay, as we were able to exchange it later when we returned to Honolulu from our cruise. I also found some dashboard hula dolls; one would go to a young man (Ben) who works at the Starbucks we go to in Baltimore. I found a matching man-woman hula set that held ukuleles to put in our truck. I also picked up a pretty calendar for my mom that I thought she’d enjoy, I could write down important dates on it for her. We took advantage of the coupons I’d found earlier and got some lovely free coffee mugs with pretty four different Hawaiian flowers painted on them. Inside Hilo Hattie’s was a stand where pearls from oyster shells were being sold. The salesman was so funny and the shell I chose, with his help had a beautiful black pearl inside. The salesman tried ever so hard to get me to buy an expensive setting for it but I declined. He wasn’t happy at all. I bought the pearl for $9 and thought I could have it put in the setting I already have that has a pearl in it. When I got home I put it somewhere and for the life of me can’t remember where I put it. I know when it was in my purse I put it in the zippered area but remember taking it out and thought I’d put it in my jewelry box but apparently I didn’t. I hope I can find it. Also missing are all the pennies I got for Diana at the International Market and I do remember putting them all in an envelope marked Pennies from HA. I sure hope I can find the pearl and pennies.
After visiting Hilo Hattie’s we drove on to Waikiki find local hamburger joint called Bigger Burgers at Teddy’s. The coupon map showed it being somewhere close to the zoo but for the life of us we kept going round and round. I was really starting to get hungry and told Alan just to find any old place, other than Jack-in-the-Box. We found a place that looked like it would fit the bill and the prices were really good but all the tables were filled up so we hopped back in the car and proceeded to look for Teddy’s. We were on a quest. We finally found where it should be; the next challenge would be to find a parking spot. We entered the parking lot for the Zoo and Park but they were full by then so we drove over by the beach area. God was with us as we found the perfect parking spot. Since I had my scooter with me the walk wouldn’t be a problem. There was some kind of festival going on at the park in front of the zoo so we decided to check it out since the signs said lots of food. I went four wheelin with my scooter through the grass, going over large banyan tree roots that stuck up from the ground. I was having a blast seeing what my scooter was capable of doing. If we couldn’t find Teddy’s maybe we could be able to find something there. But to our disappointment the food selection wasn’t anything we wanted so we left. We headed across the street and decided to start asking people if they knew where Teddy’s was and sure enough it was right there, just past Starbucks and kind of hidden. It was a cute little hamburger joint and we both ordered teriyaki burgers and fries along with a nice large drink. The place was decorated kind of like a 50’s place with music to match. The burgers were worth the search, I’m glad we waited.
Afterwards, we headed to the park area on the beach. On the way was an adorable American Eskie and I just had to stop and talk to the Eskie’s human friend. He told us his Eskie was a female and how expensive pedigreed dogs went for on the islands…$3500 and up. He said in China they go for as much as $8000! I was finding all kinds of neat statues to photograph including the famous surfer ‘Duke’. Alan enjoyed kicking back while my scooter and I went exploring. He was getting plum tuckered out trying to keep up with me; after all he did need to take it easy so. I told him to find a nice, shady spot to relax while I headed to the end of the beach towards Diamond Head. We had seen some kind of big building towards Diamond Head and wondered what it could be so away I zoomed, my Red Chariot and me. It was a gorgeous day and riding around on my scooter was great. Along the way I took some snapshots of surfers. I also discovered a hut selling food and cold drinks. I would definitely remember this place. I made it almost all the way down to the end when I came across a dead end with soft gravel. I thought I could get through the couple of feet of thick gravel…but I was wrong. I got stuck. I had to get off and pull the scooter to the sidewalk. At first I thought I had done my chariot in but luckily, it still worked. I made a mental note to myself, “Do not go on gravel”! The large building we had seen was some kind of hotel/condo and right next to it was the War Memorial Arch. Since I had my camera I took pictures of it to show to Alan. I could see people at the top of Diamond Head so I used my zoom lens and captured the adventurous visitors who had climbed to the top. The last time we were in Hawaii we took on the challenge and believe me, it is a challenge. I’d been gone about an hour so I headed back where I had left. Alan and told him all about my escapades. He told me he was wondering what had happened to me. It was quite warm so we headed to the little Snack Hut to get some cool drinks.
We got up and decided it was time to head back to return the car and hop on board the ship. It was nice arriving in Hawaii a day early and having 2 whole days on Oahu before embarking since the ship didn’t leave port until 8pm! When we returned the car we were given a ride to the ship in their shuttle bus. We embarked the ship around 6pm and went straight to our cabin (No.9040). What a surprise when we arrived. Sitting on the desk was a beautiful cake saying ‘Happy Anniversary’. Next to the cake was a note with the message from our travel agent, Mary. What a thoughtful gesture, too bad we hadn’t checked in earlier as it was an ice-cream cake and had started going to mush. There were huge strawberries on top of the cake weighing it down but we managed to scoop some of the tasty treat and enjoyed it before it melted entirely. I tried scooping the melted ice cream cake into glasses to save for later, however storing it in the refrigerator proved to be a bad idea. We figured the kitchen waiter probably thought we had boarded the ship when we dropped off the luggage around noon. Oh well, like the saying goes, “it’s the thought that counts”, right?
After eating our cake we went down to the main dining room for a nice meal. Since it was ‘Freestyle Cruising’ we weren’t assigned any particular time or table. We did end up sitting with other guests during our evening meals at the main dining room even though they were never the same people. The food at the main dining room wasn’t anything special so I usually ordered the Wahoo fish with Caesar salad. Chilled soup was served only once during the entire cruise, which I always looked forward to. Since I didn’t keep extensive notes on this trip I don’t recall what I ate on each of the nights at sea. We chose not to eat at the specialty restaurants, as their menus didn’t warrant the extra per person charge. The three specialty restaurants were: the Pacific Heights serving Mandarin & modern Japanese cuisine, the Royal Palm Bistro offering classic French bistro fare and the Kahili serving a combination of Italian dishes both classical and modern. Their menus never changed throughout the week as in most ships in their fleet. The menu in the specialty restaurants use to be offered in the main dining rooms so there was never an extra charge. The cruise line is making changes to try to off set their rising costs. I can understand this but seasoned cruisers won’t return when service goes down. Gratuities are automatically charged to guests’ onboard accounts, which does away to giving cabin stewards and restaurant staff what you think want to. The staff splits all the gratuities amongst them thus if someone is lazy they get as much as someone who works hard. We’ve seen service go way down since NCL this. Guess the cruise line expect business from first-time cruisers or people whose expectations aren’t high. With Freestyle Cruising one can get away with wearing about anything they decide to wear and never have to dress up. That’s okay if you like that kind of casualness but when taking a cruise Alan and I have always enjoyed dressing up, at least during evening meals. The formal nights were always fun too. We like to dress casual but that should be saved for daytime and when off the ship, not in the main dining rooms. NCL’s philosophy is ‘resort casual and they say guests find there are places for their style all over their ships, day and night. Daytime is basically fine since they know guests probably head for the pool or out for a fun shore excursion. Casual shorts, jean, tops and sundresses are welcome everywhere, including the main dining rooms. This was a bit much. Swimsuits can even be worn to the poolside grill or the buffet. NCL says resort casual dress can be worn in all the lounges. They say it’s the guests’ vacation and that guests can dress anyway they choose to. What ever happened to dressing up, at least for meals? It looks like NCL is taking the elegance out of cruising and making it a free-for-all. Sure it’s nice being able to dress casual but what is casual for one person can be risqué to others, lines need to be drawn. Since Alan and I disagree with NCL’s viewpoint on this we have chosen to sail with other cruise lines that do enforce a more conservative dress code. NCL is geared towards a whole different type of vacationer now, which is okay for some, just not us.
I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t receive leis when we boarded the ship like our agent said we would, guess she didn’t know we wouldn’t. Here we pictured someone greeting us with beautiful leis and saying Aloha as we boarded the ship and then sailing off to the tune of ‘Aloha Oie’. Guess that only happens in the movies. Actually there are ships that do that, just not any of NCL’s. After dinner we went back to our cabin and unpacked. One look around the cabin and we knew the room would need to be rearranged. Alan proceeded to move the twin beds, loveseat, table and chairs around the room to give us more room for the scooter. It was hilarious. Alan wondered what our cabin steward, Kathy, would think but she told us we weren’t the first guests that had ever done that. It was hard work; first Alan put the couch on top of the beds and moved the beds not only over but also around, facing towards the door going out to the hallway. He finally did it. The closet space was small but I managed to arrange all our clothes. The bathroom didn’t have much room to put things; there was a lot of wasted space. It wasn’t very large but it wasn’t the smallest one we’d ever had either. It was kind of funny as thought there wasn’t a hair dryer in our cabin. The last day when I was checking all the cubbies and drawers in the cabin I found it inside one of the drawers, stuck way in back. This was the first cruise where we didn’t dress up in formal attire. Alan brought along a lot of nice Hawaiian shirts and slacks to wear in the evening.
After unpacking it was about time for the nightly production at the Stardust Theater called ‘The Welcome Aboard Show’. It gave everyone a taste of some of the entertainment that would be going on throughout the cruise such; one of the entertainers was comedian, Bill Hildebrandt. I admit he did make me laugh. The musicians and dancers gave a little taste of what to expect but Alan and I agreed their performances were below par from what NCL use to have. The singers seemed to be off-key and the dancing wasn’t anything special. Maybe this was a new production crew I thought until I recognized one of the dancers from a cruise we’d taken a year ago on another NCL ship out of NY City. Guess, we’re use to the Dancing with the Stars dancers and critics. The Hawaiian Ambassador for this cruise did some relaxed hula dancing to one of the singers who sang during the show. She was very good and a truly sweet person. Her name was Iune u’imau mahealani June Teruya. Now that’s a mouthful isn’t it? She said we could call her June. She was also in charge of the lei-making and hula classes. We went to most of the shows and enjoyed the entertainment most of the time. We missed out on the Hawaiian Cultural Show at the pool since we were having dinner. It was a Ho’okipa Aloha Show that combined hula and music and included interesting Hawaiian culture through the Ho’okipa Aloha, which translates to ‘Gift of Aloha’. It sounds like something we would’ve enjoyed had we known about it. That was something that happened a lot throughout this cruise, not getting the correct information to enjoy an activity that was going on.
When the evening show at the Stardust Theater was over we visited one of the lounges and ordered a drink for each of us. The bartender didn’t want to make any ‘noisy’ drinks (needing to be blended in a blender), as it would interrupt the singer even though the singer was background music. I think the main reason it upset Alan so much was that he was going through withdrawals from not smoking. Needless to say, we never visited that lounge for the duration of the cruise. We headed back to our cabin. Alan learned that getting upset like he did could have serious consequences. He ended up having to take a Nitro. It worked quickly and soon we were off to Dreamland.
After a wonderful night’s sleep we got up at 2:30 wide awake. After all it was already 7:30am in Baltimore. We got dressed and decided to go for a walk along the beach. On the way we explored the hotel some more and discovered some peaceful areas where one could sit and read a book. The ladies restroom was so elegant with a glistening chandelier in the entryway. There were large paintings on the walls throughout the hotel depicting ancient Hawaiian Royalty. It was a exquisite morning and so peaceful. We walked through the Royal Hawaiian Buffet area where we were greeted by one of the waiters preparing for the morning buffet that wouldn’t start for another 4 hours. He offered us both a nice fresh cup of Kona coffee. We thanked him and headed outside. We passed through the ‘surf room’ where pictures of famous surfers hung on the wall along with movie star photos. This is where the photo of Shirley Temple hung. She looked as to be around 6 years old. We sat at one of the tables by the pool enjoying the warm ocean breeze while drinking our first cup of Hawaiian Coffee. Afterwards, we walked on to the sandy beach and touched our toes in the cool water. We frolicked in the ocean with the waves splashing our legs for several minutes. A man riding a tractor was plowing the sand making sure it was perfect for the visitors that would be basking in the sun later that day. The Royal Hawaiian has their own section of beach reserved for their patrons. There are lounges with large pink towels draped over them positioned underneath huge pink and white beach umbrellas.
After our playful ocean visit we walked through the hotel grounds and enjoyed the serenity of the Royal Hawaiian Garden. I imagined Princess Kawananakoa or Queen Lili’uokalani strolling amongst the tall palm trees and lush foliage, listening to the songs of the birds as the ocean greeted them during their morning walks. I even took my sandals off while walking on the grass so I could feel the lushness of the dew-moistened ground beneath my feet. Yes, this was the life! After our walk-about as the Australians would say, we went back to our room and got ready for breakfast. We decided to go to the Royal Hawaiian Buffet. What a spread they lay out! It was the best buffet we’d ever seen! I had fresh, ripe mango, cantaloupe, a small waffle with coconut syrup, grilled potatoes, and some scrambled eggs with bacon. The waiter served us fresh mango-pineapple juice and hot Kona coffee with real cream. We sat outside enjoying the fresh ocean air and listening to the sound of the waves. We laughed at the sight of some pigeons as they got reprimanded for landing on a table close by, upsetting some dishes causing some to fall and break. Poor things, all they wanted was their breakfast too. There were signs on the tables stating NOT to feed the birds and one could see why. They were trained quite well to wait until patrons vacated the tables before swooping down to eat whatever they could find. The little birds could flit in and out without any mishaps unlike the big, fat pigeons. We leisurely ate breakfast taking in the scenery with Diamond Head in the background. Our waiter asked if he could take our pictures when he saw what a nice camera I had. He was a bit of a camera buff so we took the opportunity to have pictures of us taken together. It’s hard for us to get pictures of the two of us together whenever were on vacation. He took three shots including one of us with the pink & white Royal Hawaiian awning and one with Diamond Head in the background even.
After breakfast we walked over to the International Market to see what kinds of goodies they had. I found a fabulous Hawaiian-print skirt and some flower combs to wear in my hair along with a pair of bright orange/red gourds used in hula. I had wanted a pair the last time we were in Hawaii but never bought them. I also found a Happy-Face Hawaiian sticker and placed it on the front of my scooter. We finished with our purchases and went on down the block to Starbucks for our frappacinos. I asked if they had any Hawaiian gift cards but they were all out. Marie, who works at the Starbucks in Baltimore, had asked me to look for one for her as she thought they were pretty. She had seen one of her customers with one so when she heard we were going to Hawaii she saw her chance of getting one. We saw a pretty black and white Collie tied to a tree outside Starbucks and he seemed quite happy lying on the cool grass. Even the dogs in Hawaii were happy and stress-free. We crossed the street to feed the fish at the seawall where we’d seen them on our previous trip. Since I hadn’t saved anything from breakfast to feed them I had Alan buy a biscotti at Starbucks. The fish thought that was quite a treat! Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel room to pack and drive to the port to check our luggage on the ship, then we could spend the rest of the day enjoying Waikiki. We found the port easily and it wasn’t long before a porter came to help us with our bags…especially since Alan knew the secret…waving money in the air.
Our first stop would be at Hilo Hattie’s. As we entered the store we were greeted with shell leis and a refreshing cup punch. Hilo Hattie’s is known for their unique prints and fun shops throughout the Hawaiian Islands. They even have a shop in Huntington Beach, California now. I took advantage of some terrific bargains on some designer dresses. I bought one of their dresses 15 years ago and am still wearing it. Unfortunately, they discontinued that particular print but I found another one that was pretty close to it. Alan told me to go ahead and buy several dresses. Who was I to argue? I love them and they’re so cool and comfortable to wear at work. Alan and I even found a print that came in dresses as well as shirts. He bought a matching shirt to one of my dresses. The shirt he bought was a ladies’ shirt (it didn’t have a canoe on the tag signifying men) and we didn’t notice until we had gotten back to the ship. It ended up okay, as we were able to exchange it later when we returned to Honolulu from our cruise. I also found some dashboard hula dolls; one would go to a young man (Ben) who works at the Starbucks we go to in Baltimore. I found a matching man-woman hula set that held ukuleles to put in our truck. I also picked up a pretty calendar for my mom that I thought she’d enjoy, I could write down important dates on it for her. We took advantage of the coupons I’d found earlier and got some lovely free coffee mugs with pretty four different Hawaiian flowers painted on them. Inside Hilo Hattie’s was a stand where pearls from oyster shells were being sold. The salesman was so funny and the shell I chose, with his help had a beautiful black pearl inside. The salesman tried ever so hard to get me to buy an expensive setting for it but I declined. He wasn’t happy at all. I bought the pearl for $9 and thought I could have it put in the setting I already have that has a pearl in it. When I got home I put it somewhere and for the life of me can’t remember where I put it. I know when it was in my purse I put it in the zippered area but remember taking it out and thought I’d put it in my jewelry box but apparently I didn’t. I hope I can find it. Also missing are all the pennies I got for Diana at the International Market and I do remember putting them all in an envelope marked Pennies from HA. I sure hope I can find the pearl and pennies.
After visiting Hilo Hattie’s we drove on to Waikiki find local hamburger joint called Bigger Burgers at Teddy’s. The coupon map showed it being somewhere close to the zoo but for the life of us we kept going round and round. I was really starting to get hungry and told Alan just to find any old place, other than Jack-in-the-Box. We found a place that looked like it would fit the bill and the prices were really good but all the tables were filled up so we hopped back in the car and proceeded to look for Teddy’s. We were on a quest. We finally found where it should be; the next challenge would be to find a parking spot. We entered the parking lot for the Zoo and Park but they were full by then so we drove over by the beach area. God was with us as we found the perfect parking spot. Since I had my scooter with me the walk wouldn’t be a problem. There was some kind of festival going on at the park in front of the zoo so we decided to check it out since the signs said lots of food. I went four wheelin with my scooter through the grass, going over large banyan tree roots that stuck up from the ground. I was having a blast seeing what my scooter was capable of doing. If we couldn’t find Teddy’s maybe we could be able to find something there. But to our disappointment the food selection wasn’t anything we wanted so we left. We headed across the street and decided to start asking people if they knew where Teddy’s was and sure enough it was right there, just past Starbucks and kind of hidden. It was a cute little hamburger joint and we both ordered teriyaki burgers and fries along with a nice large drink. The place was decorated kind of like a 50’s place with music to match. The burgers were worth the search, I’m glad we waited.
Afterwards, we headed to the park area on the beach. On the way was an adorable American Eskie and I just had to stop and talk to the Eskie’s human friend. He told us his Eskie was a female and how expensive pedigreed dogs went for on the islands…$3500 and up. He said in China they go for as much as $8000! I was finding all kinds of neat statues to photograph including the famous surfer ‘Duke’. Alan enjoyed kicking back while my scooter and I went exploring. He was getting plum tuckered out trying to keep up with me; after all he did need to take it easy so. I told him to find a nice, shady spot to relax while I headed to the end of the beach towards Diamond Head. We had seen some kind of big building towards Diamond Head and wondered what it could be so away I zoomed, my Red Chariot and me. It was a gorgeous day and riding around on my scooter was great. Along the way I took some snapshots of surfers. I also discovered a hut selling food and cold drinks. I would definitely remember this place. I made it almost all the way down to the end when I came across a dead end with soft gravel. I thought I could get through the couple of feet of thick gravel…but I was wrong. I got stuck. I had to get off and pull the scooter to the sidewalk. At first I thought I had done my chariot in but luckily, it still worked. I made a mental note to myself, “Do not go on gravel”! The large building we had seen was some kind of hotel/condo and right next to it was the War Memorial Arch. Since I had my camera I took pictures of it to show to Alan. I could see people at the top of Diamond Head so I used my zoom lens and captured the adventurous visitors who had climbed to the top. The last time we were in Hawaii we took on the challenge and believe me, it is a challenge. I’d been gone about an hour so I headed back where I had left. Alan and told him all about my escapades. He told me he was wondering what had happened to me. It was quite warm so we headed to the little Snack Hut to get some cool drinks.
We got up and decided it was time to head back to return the car and hop on board the ship. It was nice arriving in Hawaii a day early and having 2 whole days on Oahu before embarking since the ship didn’t leave port until 8pm! When we returned the car we were given a ride to the ship in their shuttle bus. We embarked the ship around 6pm and went straight to our cabin (No.9040). What a surprise when we arrived. Sitting on the desk was a beautiful cake saying ‘Happy Anniversary’. Next to the cake was a note with the message from our travel agent, Mary. What a thoughtful gesture, too bad we hadn’t checked in earlier as it was an ice-cream cake and had started going to mush. There were huge strawberries on top of the cake weighing it down but we managed to scoop some of the tasty treat and enjoyed it before it melted entirely. I tried scooping the melted ice cream cake into glasses to save for later, however storing it in the refrigerator proved to be a bad idea. We figured the kitchen waiter probably thought we had boarded the ship when we dropped off the luggage around noon. Oh well, like the saying goes, “it’s the thought that counts”, right?
After eating our cake we went down to the main dining room for a nice meal. Since it was ‘Freestyle Cruising’ we weren’t assigned any particular time or table. We did end up sitting with other guests during our evening meals at the main dining room even though they were never the same people. The food at the main dining room wasn’t anything special so I usually ordered the Wahoo fish with Caesar salad. Chilled soup was served only once during the entire cruise, which I always looked forward to. Since I didn’t keep extensive notes on this trip I don’t recall what I ate on each of the nights at sea. We chose not to eat at the specialty restaurants, as their menus didn’t warrant the extra per person charge. The three specialty restaurants were: the Pacific Heights serving Mandarin & modern Japanese cuisine, the Royal Palm Bistro offering classic French bistro fare and the Kahili serving a combination of Italian dishes both classical and modern. Their menus never changed throughout the week as in most ships in their fleet. The menu in the specialty restaurants use to be offered in the main dining rooms so there was never an extra charge. The cruise line is making changes to try to off set their rising costs. I can understand this but seasoned cruisers won’t return when service goes down. Gratuities are automatically charged to guests’ onboard accounts, which does away to giving cabin stewards and restaurant staff what you think want to. The staff splits all the gratuities amongst them thus if someone is lazy they get as much as someone who works hard. We’ve seen service go way down since NCL this. Guess the cruise line expect business from first-time cruisers or people whose expectations aren’t high. With Freestyle Cruising one can get away with wearing about anything they decide to wear and never have to dress up. That’s okay if you like that kind of casualness but when taking a cruise Alan and I have always enjoyed dressing up, at least during evening meals. The formal nights were always fun too. We like to dress casual but that should be saved for daytime and when off the ship, not in the main dining rooms. NCL’s philosophy is ‘resort casual and they say guests find there are places for their style all over their ships, day and night. Daytime is basically fine since they know guests probably head for the pool or out for a fun shore excursion. Casual shorts, jean, tops and sundresses are welcome everywhere, including the main dining rooms. This was a bit much. Swimsuits can even be worn to the poolside grill or the buffet. NCL says resort casual dress can be worn in all the lounges. They say it’s the guests’ vacation and that guests can dress anyway they choose to. What ever happened to dressing up, at least for meals? It looks like NCL is taking the elegance out of cruising and making it a free-for-all. Sure it’s nice being able to dress casual but what is casual for one person can be risqué to others, lines need to be drawn. Since Alan and I disagree with NCL’s viewpoint on this we have chosen to sail with other cruise lines that do enforce a more conservative dress code. NCL is geared towards a whole different type of vacationer now, which is okay for some, just not us.
I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t receive leis when we boarded the ship like our agent said we would, guess she didn’t know we wouldn’t. Here we pictured someone greeting us with beautiful leis and saying Aloha as we boarded the ship and then sailing off to the tune of ‘Aloha Oie’. Guess that only happens in the movies. Actually there are ships that do that, just not any of NCL’s. After dinner we went back to our cabin and unpacked. One look around the cabin and we knew the room would need to be rearranged. Alan proceeded to move the twin beds, loveseat, table and chairs around the room to give us more room for the scooter. It was hilarious. Alan wondered what our cabin steward, Kathy, would think but she told us we weren’t the first guests that had ever done that. It was hard work; first Alan put the couch on top of the beds and moved the beds not only over but also around, facing towards the door going out to the hallway. He finally did it. The closet space was small but I managed to arrange all our clothes. The bathroom didn’t have much room to put things; there was a lot of wasted space. It wasn’t very large but it wasn’t the smallest one we’d ever had either. It was kind of funny as thought there wasn’t a hair dryer in our cabin. The last day when I was checking all the cubbies and drawers in the cabin I found it inside one of the drawers, stuck way in back. This was the first cruise where we didn’t dress up in formal attire. Alan brought along a lot of nice Hawaiian shirts and slacks to wear in the evening.
After unpacking it was about time for the nightly production at the Stardust Theater called ‘The Welcome Aboard Show’. It gave everyone a taste of some of the entertainment that would be going on throughout the cruise such; one of the entertainers was comedian, Bill Hildebrandt. I admit he did make me laugh. The musicians and dancers gave a little taste of what to expect but Alan and I agreed their performances were below par from what NCL use to have. The singers seemed to be off-key and the dancing wasn’t anything special. Maybe this was a new production crew I thought until I recognized one of the dancers from a cruise we’d taken a year ago on another NCL ship out of NY City. Guess, we’re use to the Dancing with the Stars dancers and critics. The Hawaiian Ambassador for this cruise did some relaxed hula dancing to one of the singers who sang during the show. She was very good and a truly sweet person. Her name was Iune u’imau mahealani June Teruya. Now that’s a mouthful isn’t it? She said we could call her June. She was also in charge of the lei-making and hula classes. We went to most of the shows and enjoyed the entertainment most of the time. We missed out on the Hawaiian Cultural Show at the pool since we were having dinner. It was a Ho’okipa Aloha Show that combined hula and music and included interesting Hawaiian culture through the Ho’okipa Aloha, which translates to ‘Gift of Aloha’. It sounds like something we would’ve enjoyed had we known about it. That was something that happened a lot throughout this cruise, not getting the correct information to enjoy an activity that was going on.
When the evening show at the Stardust Theater was over we visited one of the lounges and ordered a drink for each of us. The bartender didn’t want to make any ‘noisy’ drinks (needing to be blended in a blender), as it would interrupt the singer even though the singer was background music. I think the main reason it upset Alan so much was that he was going through withdrawals from not smoking. Needless to say, we never visited that lounge for the duration of the cruise. We headed back to our cabin. Alan learned that getting upset like he did could have serious consequences. He ended up having to take a Nitro. It worked quickly and soon we were off to Dreamland.
