Seas2mountains

We appreciate that NCL honors U.S. active duty military and veterans with a reception that is unique on each ship as the cruise director seems to decide how to conduct each reception. We look forward to attending these with military friends from Canada since I understand this benefit has been extended to them. Hopefully, it will soon include our allies from other nations as was promised. The officers and staff members greeted us. Military people are on time and it’s rare for some to arrive late like happens with the Latitudes party. We kept getting offered drinks and appetizers. We heard touching stories from current NCL employees on POA who served in the military. Then it was time to stand for the National Anthem. While the singer had an amazing voice, she didn’t know the words so she made up words. It wasn’t just a few words but many throughout the song. Ugh. That song can make me cry and it was so disappointing and disrespectful. I thought it was just me but my husband was so frustrated that he wanted to speak to someone to ask for this singer to never be asked to sing it again. I agree. We will put this in our comments. We got together for a grouo photo. Then all veterans were invited to speak. A few did and we had to leave for dinner reservations at La Cucina. Spoon appetizer of mozzarella and tomato with balsamic vinegar and a salmon appetizer. The tray has shredded red cabbage as a garnish that stuck to the spoon

We got back on the ship and had a wonderful lunch in Cadillac Diner. The servers worked well together as a team resulting in great service. Our food and my husband’s milkshake were really tasty. Caesar salad not pictured.

It was super peaceful and not “ Peopley” at all at the botanical garden. We got there at about 9:30am which worked out great as it was getting hotter as we were leaving and as more people were arriving. The steep walkway and stairs would make this difficult for anyone with mobility challenges. The last few miles to and from the botanical garden are on a one lane road at several bridges and there is one spot that is on the edge of the cliff hanging over the ocean. Yes, a little scary. Next, we went to Richardson’s Ocean park hoping to see more green sea turtles and maybe some seals but we didn’t see any. It was still neat to see the black sand beaches and watch the fish and crabs in the ponds.

Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Garden. It starts and ends with a very steep walkway. We wore athletic shoes and were careful as it was wet in some spots.

We tried breakfast at Cadillac Diner which is like the Local or O’Sheehans except the breakfast menu doesn’t have fruit. We had a spectacular visit to beautiful Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Garden. We took an Uber to the airport to get a rental car. I have photos to share for days. It costs $30/person plus we paid $15 for non-toxic mosquito repellent that they make or just sell. Before going to the botanical gardens, we saw the Banyon tree loop with banyon trees dedicated to different people.

Oh geez. It’s Hilo not Kilo. I wasn’t able to correct it.

Sailing in to Hilo

The ship is rocking gently as we sail towards Kilo. We went to Kilo last September on NCL Spirit. We rented a car from the airport and drove to Volcanoes National Park and Rainbow Falls. We highly recommend both locations when in Kilo. Volcanoes National Park and a Volcano tube. Rainbow Falls. We plan to get a rental car from the airport today but have different destinations in mind.

We purchased the Starlink basic WiFi package for the remainder of the cruise as we had remaining on board credit to use. It is a huge mystery as to why Starlink works so well on other cruise lines but has such slow speeds on NCL. 🤷‍♀️ Yesterday afternoon. This morning.

We enjoyed the Newlywed not so Newlywed game. Kevin the cruise director and the assistant cruise director did a fantastic job and it was funny as usual. The longest married couple were adorable farmers from Canada who were married for 62 (or was it 64?) years. They won. They couldn’t have been cuter. There was a young newlywed couple from Virginia who were married for a week. For the third couple, Kevin asked for the couple who had been married multiple times before this marriage. One couple who volunteered were each on their third marriage. The couple selected for the game had the wife on her fourth marriage and the husband was on his second marriage. They have been married for 14 years.

The sun was setting during sail away. Once again, a tug assisted during sail away.

Next, we had dinner at Moderno. We used a Latitudes dining voucher and did get a bottle of wine to take back to the cabin. Moderno has a fabulous salad bar and again the mixed salad greens taste so fresh. I’m not a big fan of the meat selection but this is one of my husband’s favorite restaurants. Our server was excellent! Lamb and bacon wrapped chicken.

The Latitudes party was nicely done. I liked how each officer or staff member introduced themselves. The appetizers were the ones served on spoons like shrimp and tomato and mozzerella.

Tuesday at 1700 hours.

We had a great stay on the ship day. We both found decent favorites in the buffet for lunch. The mixed greens when in Hawaii seem to taste so fresh. This afternoon we skipped the Wines Around the World as the time conflicted with pool time and lunch. Instead, we signed up for the Wine and Cheese tasting in the Napa Wine bar. It was $22/person plus gratuity and tax and had a discount for gaming the HBP (Hawaiian Beverage Package). It was about $46 for both of us. It was well done. The pairings were: Prosecco with Parmesan Chardonnay with Goat Cheese Cabarbet with Gruyère Port wine with Blue Cheese The salty blue cheese made the port wine taste really good. We enjoyed it and would do it again. Up next is the Latitudes party.

Thank you! It’s Tuesday night for us and I believe it is at 5pm. I’ll let you know the time when I can confirm it. We do plan to attend the gathering. We got the POA patch.

Thank you! 😀

It’s now 1pm local time. The pool area is not as crowded as it was at 11:30am. It did not take long to order a second drink at the bar. There is a tax charged on drinks when in port which is most of the daytime hours on this cruise plus the two overnights in Maui and Kawai’i.

Some of the officers hosted a “how to run a floating hotel Q and A” session yesterday afternoon. I missed most of it but did hear two questions and the answers. The average age of the cruise guests on this sailing is 59 years old. The officers present for the Q&A do like to go on cruises when they are on vacation.

After breakfast, we took our morning walk on deck 6 rather than getting off the ship to walk as there was a great breeze to keep us cool and the views from the aft of the ship were beautiful.