Day 7 March 13 – Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

Day 7 Friday March 13……putting together the number 13 with the day of the week Friday should have provided us with enough information to realize this was gonna be one hell of a day. When traveling and specifically cruising it is known that you are at the mercy of the Gods of weather, politics, mechanics and illness. Sometimes things happen and you just have to make the best of it. I will start this post with these two letters we received this evening which were the *&$@(^%$ on top of the day’s ice cream.

The first letter is informing us of a port cancellation tomorrow in Kona because of the weather. It is certainly understandable since Kona is a tender port and today was hard enough getting off and back on the ship walking down and up the gangway with winds blowing rain sideways at 40mph in gusts.

The second letter is sort of informing us what I think all the passengers realize is coming down the road with the itinerary. I am thinking that it is 99.9% certain we are not going through the Suez Canal and will instead go around South Africa. It is certainly a bummer, but then again for safety reasons it makes sense. We were hoping to see the Middle East and will also miss the Taj Mahal where we have an extensive overland excursion booked. Fingers crossed now they would offer an overland in Africa which includes Victoria Falls and a safari.

In Honolulu today we had booked a private tour to visit the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. Leaving the ship this morning I think deep inside we knew that the transfer boats that take you to the battleship Arizona memorial were not going to run in this weather. The tour guide insisted that we had nothing to worry about. So, we leave from the ship at 9:30am in an open-air double decker bus. It became painfully obvious in the first couple of minutes the ride was going to be coming down a log ride at DisneyWorld or Six Flags as rain and wind swept through the open air bus. To make it even worse was that the bus made four stops to pick up additional passengers and we got to Pearl Harbor at 11:00am. The bus took us on the long route to see views of Honolulu which makes sense when you can actually see in the normal warm sunshine weather. But, on a day like today with your head down to protect yourself from the wind and rain, you do not see anything but your feet.

The Aloha Tower is a retired lighthouse that is considered one of the landmarks of the state of Hawaii in the United States. Opened on September 11, 1926, at a cost of $160,000 ($2,805,206 in 2024), the Aloha Tower is located at Pier 9 of Honolulu Harbor. It has been, and continues to be, a guiding beacon welcoming vessels to the City and County of Honolulu. Just as the Statue of Liberty greeted hundreds of thousands of immigrants each year to New York City, the Aloha Tower greeted hundreds of thousands of immigrants to Honolulu. At 10 stories and 184 feet (56 m) of height topped with 40 feet (12 m) of flag mast, for four decades the Aloha Tower was the tallest structure in Hawaii. It was built in the Hawaiian Gothic architectural style. The tower was located just outside the terminal exit from our cruise ship and this photo taken in between the rain squalls. The second photo of The Aloha Tower is from when we returned to the ship after noon. (copied from Wikipedia).

The “Aloha ‘Oe” bronze hula dancer statue is located at the entrance to the Aloha Tower Marketplace in Honolulu, Hawaii. Created by artists Pegge Hopper and Leo Rijn, this statue depicts a dancer welcoming visitors, serving as a landmark near the historic Aloha Tower.

On the drive to Pearl Harbor we passed near Waikiki Beach and was able to take a few pictures of the beach.

Picture Jackie took of me after a battle trying to put on a poncho while riding on the bus. In about a hour the thing was in shreds.

We finally arrived at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. It was pouring down rain and the wind was blowing hard with heavy squalls coming through. Back home in this weather we are boarding up and picking up outside furniture and plants because a hurricane is coming soon. The guide said not to worry the transfers would be running, but if they were not running it was the Navy’s decision. We quickly found out all tours to the Arizona were cancelled for the day. We went into a theatre to see a video of footage of the actual attack. You can see in the video how surprised and shocked civilians and soldiers were as many did not move and just stared in disbelief as the attacks were occurring. Looking at the weather radar and seeing no break in the rain coming throughout the day we grabbed an Uber back to the ship and were back on The Vista for 12:15pm. We grabbed a quick lunch and by 2pm we are taking a nap and waking up at 4pm to head out again to retrieve an Amazon order that we had placed. The last photo is of a warning Jackie received around 7pm when we were getting back to the ship.

To continue with our fun day we left the ship and headed for Whole Foods where our Amazon order was delivered. The issue was they did not have a record of the delivery and Amazon had never sent me a barcode for them to scan to find our delivery. The men were extremely helpful and tried their best but could not locate the order although my account indicated the order was delivered. Knowing that we needed some items we decided to Uber to Walmart and just as the Uber showed up, one of the men ran outside to let us know the order had been found. So, Jackie went to Walmart in the Uber and I went back into Whole Foods to get the delivery. The box was not large enough to hold everything and looking at the app, it showed some items still have not been received, but some items had been delivered on Thursday, March 12th. Of course, the items we REALLY NEEDED had yet to be delivered. So, I took the box and went meet Jackie at Walmart where we grabbed things we thought were not in the box. We did not want to open the box in Walmart, but our guesses were correct. We called another Uber and the Uber driver named Justin in a Tesla Model Y picked us up and brought us back to the ship. Why his information is bolded and in italics? Because we told him about this blog so he punched it in and was excited to see the homepage, so we said that we would place him in the blog. He was a super nice person. But wait the day is not over. We get into the cabin and unpack things when I start looking for my iPhone. We could not locate it and Jackie called the number and it never rang. I said damn!!!! I left it coming through security in the port entrance and ran off the ship. Sure enough, security had my iPhone and I made it back about ten minutes before our scheduled return to ship time. We ate in the dining room tonight.

Tonight, Jackie had Lombardy Salad, miso glazed black cod, mashed potatoes and chocolate baklava. The Lombardy Salad which we both had was fantastic!!! We could have made a meal out of the salad.

She said the cod was also good. I don’t remember any fish in her plate at the end of the meal.

Her Chocolate baklava was a disappointment as it was difficult to cut with fork, and she did not have a knife to use.

Lane had the grilled marinated mushrooms, the creamy artichoke soup, also had the Lombardy salad, the filet mignon for an entree with a baked potato and the Creme Brulee for dessert. The waiter talked us into getting each a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream.

This was a good appetizer. It was no large, but had some good flavor and I enjoyed it.

The creamy artichoke soup was also good. It had a different taste than I was expecting, but it was good and no complaints about it.

This filet was much larger than I expected. I ordered it medium and it was cooked medium well to well done. It had good flavor and I ate able half of it. I had a baked potato also and well the Oceania baked potatoes are always a bummer. This one was not completely baked, and half of the potato was hard. It was warm but not hot enough to melt butter and the only additional item offered was sour cream. No bacon bits, cheese or chives.

Both of the desserts I ordered were great. We wanted to try the ice cream to taste the flavor and will order it again if on the menu. The creme brulee was also very good.

Time to get some sleep. The ship is rocking and rolling tonight. Every once in a while, it feels like it has fallen off the side of a cliff as you feel nothing and then a large boom happens as it hits the water. Unexpected sea day tomorrow, but I already have my eye on the 3pm lecture series presentation. Also, since we are now five days at sea, I will go pick up a book in the library as Jackie had challenged me to read at least one book over the 120 days. I think there is a children’s section…..laughing