March 1, checking in in the cruise terminal.
March 1, checking in in the cruise terminal. |
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| With our ship not leaving until 7:00 PM and our boarding time scheduled for 2:00 PM (we had to schedule it weeks before the cruise, and that was the earliest time we could get), we had to spend some time today in Honolulu. |
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 Mei-O and I returned to the hotel around 12:45, and everyone thought we should get on our way to our cruise ship. We might be a little early and have to wait at the port terminal to check in, but that would be okay; we were all itching to get on board. Around 1:10, our Lyft driver, Nofoa, picked us all up in an XL van, and drove the 3½ mile ride in 20 minutes to get us to the cruise terminal. |
 Check-in was fast and easy. I was expecting that we would be given flowery leis, if not real, at least with fake flowers, but instead we were given these shell leisnote made of flowers, but they can be made of flowers, leaves, shells, seeds, nuts, or feathers. Leis stand as a quintessential symbol of Hawaiian culture, encapsulating its rich Polynesian heritage and the islands’ vibrant natural beauty. |
 Our rooms weren't ready yet, so we dragged our bags over to the customer service desk to take care of some important business; we needed to set our dinner time in one of the formal dining rooms for each night by making reservations now. We ended up with 5:30 reservations for eight in the Liberty Dining Room. Then we had to take care of even more important business, ... |
 ...lunch in the not very crowded Aloha Cafe (the buffet)! I started out with this, while Mei-O had this. Don't be fooled though. We both went back for more, ... and more, .... That's how the buffet worked. By the time we were done, an announcement was made that we could proceed to our rooms, that they were ready now, so off we went. |
 Our stateroom was pretty small. (In fact, the Pride of America was probably the smallest ship we've ever been on, and this is our 11th cruise. That fact will come into play later.) But the room was comfortable; the bed was supposedly a queen, but it was actually more like a king, and it was really great. As expected, yet still much to my disappointment, our obstructed view was pretty obstructed! The worst part? The tiny TV. To read our account information, we had to stand right in front of it. And watching a movie (trying to read the subtitles) was pretty difficult! |
 I found a mysterious brown envelop on our bed marked "For Your Eyes Only." If you didn't already read about what was in it on the Main page, you can check it out here |
 Once we got settled, around 5:30, Mei-O and I went out to check out the ship and the port of Honolulu. As we found out as the cruise went on, it was always windy on the open upper decks! Click here to see some of what we saw. |
 A little before 6:00 PM (our first night's dinner reservation was for 6:00. For the remaining nights, it was for 5:30), we went to the Liberty Dining Room for dinner. When we got there, we found out that the reservation time was meaningless; we had to wait in line with others who didn't have reservations. But eventually, we did get a table for eight. Here is the menu for our first formal dinner. (Here's a more readable version.) |
 Here are the things I had for this first formal dinner, starting with a Caesar Salad with anchoviesnote at first with anchovies which I love, but after realizing how the high salt content in them was af- fecting my body and my health, I just got the salad without the anchovies. |
 After dinner, Mei-O, Teresa and Steve, and Alay and Alfred headed up to the Aloha Cafe for some after-dinner snacks, mostly fruit. Not wanting to eat any more, I went out on the deck at the rear of the ship to just sit and... |
 ...star gaze! (see Orion?) It was a beautiful, clear night, and the crescent moon hung low in the sky, smiling like Alice's Cheshire cat at nearby Venus as our ship plowed through the waters of the Pacific Ocean. In the distance, I could see the lights of Honolulu as we sailed away and began our cruise of the Hawaiian Islands. Eventually, I went back to meet Mei-O, and we headed back to our stateroom to end this long and busy first day. |
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