Ahoy the shore from Hawaii (part 2 in a series)

Day 2 Saturday October 10:

Because of the 6 hour time change between Honolulu and Toronto and despite retiring after 24 sleepless hours, we were up bright and early on Saturday morning. We made our way to the Best Western Coconut lobby for breakfast, which was surprising good. Following breakfast we had the desk attendant on duty call us a taxi-cab to make the trip out to Diamond Head. No one noticed that the taxi driver had “forgotten” to switch the metre on, but his charge ($12) seemed within a reasonable range. Diamond Head is the crater of a long extinct volcano and hiking up to its summit is the number one tourist attraction in Honolulu. We wanted to arrive early, not only to beat the crowd but also to beat the heat. We began our ascent around 7:30, purchasing bottled water from the truck at the parking lot, to ensure we stayed hydrated. The hike took approximately three hours round trip, allowing for photo opportunities along the way. Parts of the lower trail are paved, others parts are rubble and dirt and parts of the upper trail require climbing up a flight of 74 concrete stairs, spiral staircases and a 225 long lighted tunnel. The vertical ascent spans 560 feet over a 1.4 km length trail with many switchbacks. The trail was constructed in 1908 as part of the US Army Coastal Artillery defense system.

Once we returned to the bottom of the path we purchased smoothies and shaved fruit ice to cool off. We had to wait 10 minutes for a taxi at the gate to make our return trip to the hotel. When one arrived it already had two passengers in the back seat so two of us had to overcrowd into the front of the vehicle (without seatbelts)! The driver, Lee, quoted a fare of $5 per passenger on top of what he charged his first pair of drop-offs (over $12 on the metre). Lee, upon hearing we would be boarding a cruise ship later in the day, also arranged to return to the hotel to pick us up and drive us to the cruise-ship terminal at 1 PM. It was after 11 PM when we got back to the Coconut. One of us was exhausted from our climb and decided to stay in the room and rest while we other two were intent on setting out to explore Waikiki beach.

After securing directions from our concierge, we set out on foot toward the beach, passing along the Kalakaua Ave exclusive shopping district enroute. We spurned stores like Cartier to shop for parrotwear at Jimmy Buffet’s Margarittaville. We were able to find some good quality t-shirts on the sale racks, ranging in price for $9.99 to $14.99 (plus 4.5% sales tax) and to also receive a third shirt free for every two purchased. Thereafter we cut thru to the beach beside the famous pink-bricked Royal Hawaiian beach resort. The pre noon-time beach was already packed with sun worshippers, bathers and surfers. We removed our footwear to walk barefoot thru the sand for a stretch then made our way up to a table on a beachfront terrace at the Westin Surfrider hotel and ordered refreshing Hawaiian punch cocktails before retracing our steps back along the sand to Kalakaua Ave. Outside the Royal Hawaiian shopping centre galleria on Kalakaua Ave. we paused to purchase some fresh-flowered leis from a kiosk vendor, before heading back to the hotel to rejoin the missing link in our travel party in time to go for a quick and refreshing dip in the hotel pool before Lee (or driver’s) arrival.

We checked out at the lobby just before 1 PM (having previously been granted a 1 hour extension beyond the normal check out time) and met Lee out front. Lee explained he was suffering from a bad back and required assistance loading our luggage in his town car trunk. The ride to the ferry terminal took around 15 minutes and we were promptly met by a bell hop upon alighting from our taxi. As we paid Lee the agreed on $20 fare the bellhop assisted with unloading our bags from Lee’s car and then escorted us to the initial security screening. Unfortunately the bellhop rushed on ahead with bags we intended to carry on (including on that contained a laptop) and one passenger’s boarding e-docs! Fortunately we were able to retrieve the latter in the nick of time (and the former wound up arriving at our stateroom undamaged sometime later). Once inside the terminal building we discovered tow lines-- one reserved for suites and latitude gold members and the second for general boarding. We joined the first inadvertently, not realizing we were Latitudes bronze and not gold members, but were allowed to pass through nevertheless. After the security screening, the next set of lines also separated into three forks-- one for the suites, one for general boarding and one for latitude members. We joined the third and although it was shorter, discovered it moved much more slowly because it only fed to two CSR positions. Nevertheless we were through all stages of the check-in process with half an hour and on our way aboard.

The gangway from the terminal building enters onto the 5th level grand atrium from the terminal building. We were handed our complimentary champagne as we entered and proceeded over to the dinner reservations desk immediately to make table reservations for the Lazy J Texas Steakhouse and Teppanyaki specialty restaurants (for which a $25 upgrade fee applies). Thereafter we proceeded to the elevators where we were informed that the staterooms would not be available until after 2 PM. So we were diverted onto an elevator heading up to the Aloha (buffet style) café on the pool deck to have lunch. It was after 2 PM when we finished our meal so we proceeded to our assigned stateroom (an interior cabin on the 7th floor aft). Thereafter, we conducted a self-directed tour of the ship (she made a “pleasantly surprised’ first impression) and attended part of the “shopping in ports” talk by the shopping consultant cum Latitudes hostess cum future cruise sales director (she wears many hats) in the Hollywood theatre before reporting to our assigned muster station (two levels directly below in the Skyline restaurant) for the mandatory safety drill (which was very painless but which did require passengers to fasten their safety jacket (which you have to drag to/from your room with you). We returned from the safety drill to our stateroom to find our luggage had arrived safely and proceeded to unpack. Closet and drawer space in the stateroom was ample.

After dinner we headed to the Liberty main restaurant for dinner at around 6 PM. We were seated without delay in a section near the aft window. Service was polite and pleasant but with long delays in food arrival between courses. Nevertheless the food temperature and quality was good. Among the entrees our party selected were jerk chicken with plantains and dirty rice, Mahi mahi and salmon from the everyday menu. Dessert selections included a banana soufflé and a Bavarian cream. We passed on coffee in order to make it upstairs to the upper decks to enjoy the “lights of Honolulu” sailaway. Thereafter, still acclimating to the time shift, we adjourned to our staterooms to retire for our first evening.

Still to come: Our day in Hilo at Volcano National Park