Review of Maasdam cruise to Hawaii, Tahiti & Marquesas, 25 March – 22 April, 2018

I kept photo and other files of our recent cruise, and will do a review with photos. We have been back for a couple of weeks, and I have organized my files and am writing an account, among the many other things I did not neglect since coming back. Here is my report (it may take some time for me to post it all, but I will persevere until finished).

We left San Diego on March 25, spent six days at sea and then visited Honolulu and Lahaina, Hawaii on March 31 and April 1.

We then spent several days traveling south (and across the International Date Line) to visit Fanning Island, Kiribati on April 5. The next day, April 6, we crossed the equator. The day after that, April 6, we went back across the International Date Line. Then came six islands in French Polynesia April 9-15, and then another six days at sea before arriving back at San Diego on April 22. Here is a map of our journey:

Upfront basic impression: Hawaii and French Polynesia are groups of beautiful islands, and even though we both had been to Hawaii, this was one of our bucket list cruises, so we could see the southern islands. We were not disappointed, because the scenery was fabulous and we enjoyed interacting with the people.

Since this cruise had a lot of sea days, I will do the review in different parts – first, a review of the ports and things we did there, as well as crossing the equator; second, photos and thoughts on the ship itself; third, some general printed info and then a daily compilation of When and Where pages, and dinner and dessert menus, for those who enjoy reading them.

I hope you enjoy the review,

Dave

Part I – Ports

Honolulu, March 31

Here are the port guide pages from the HAL brochure:

The map covers mainly the Waikiki area; the ship docked downtown, which is to the left of the main map.

We arrived early morning into Honolulu harbor, with some nice light effects on the clouds. We just hoped the clouds would disperse soon and not build into rain clouds.

There are two piers for cruise ships in Honolulu, pier 2, which is the official cruise port, and the Aloha Tower which used to be the main cruise port. We watched as Maasdam maneuvered into the pier by the Aloha Tower.

A short time after we arrived and moored, the Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America arrived and moored at Pier 2. That is the ship that does 7-day Hawaiian Island cruises round-trip Honolulu. Saturday obviously was the debark/embark day.

Since we had come from San Diego, with no stops, I did not think it would take long for Maasdam to clear and the passengers to be allowed ashore. In fact, it was indeed a quick time. We had gone to the outer deck so we could see that gangway, to see if there were people handing out the leis that we had received on previous visits. Yes, they were there:

More in the next post,

Dave

Honolulu (Cont.)

We have both been to Honolulu many times. DW lived there as a schoolgirl, I had visited often as an active duty U.S. Navy guy, and we and our sons visited for several days and stayed in Waikiki to do all the tourist things with them as well. So, we did not sign up for any shore excursions in Honolulu.

In fall of 2016, on Maasdam, we pulled into Honolulu pier 2 and followed the crew a few blocks to a pedestrianized shopping area called the Fort Street Mall, wherein were to be found a Walmart, a Ross Dress for Less, other stores, and some restaurants favored by the crew members. In January of this year, on Oosterdam at Aloha Tower, we took a free shuttle run by the Hilo Hattie’s to their store in the Ala Moana shopping Center, and after a quick visit and receiving a free lei of plastic shells, were free to wander the area. There is a larger Walmart near Ala Moana center, and a free shuttle was running there and back as well.

This time, we walked out from the Aloha Tower area, and directly across the street was Fort Street – from pier 2, you turn left on Ala Moana Blvd. and walk a few blocks to Fort Street – not far. We went down about 3 blocks to the Walmart, primarily to purchase items for the donation boxes the ship had set up for us to give things for the people in Fanning Island. Here are photos of the donation area they had on the Lido deck:

Since we had seen that someone had already donated a great many pencils, we decided to buy hand-held pencil sharpeners. We noticed a good many of our fellow passengers buying items as well for the donation boxes.

We wandered a bit more, had some lunch and returned to the ship. Not very exciting, perhaps, but we enjoyed the day. If you have never been to Honolulu, I encourage you to do more – go see the Arizona Memorial and USS Missouri, go to Waikiki, take a tour of the Dole factory, go on an island drive, climb Diamond Head, go to a luau, etc. All of them are good fun things to do, and Oahu is a beautiful island.

Up next, Maui.

Dave

Great start.

When we did our Hawaiian cruise a number of years ago on the Amsterdam, we never got any leis.

Lahaina, Maui, April 1

It was Sunday, April 1 when we anchored off Lahaina, Maui – in fact, it was Easter Sunday. Here are the port guide pages:

There was a mist over Lahaina in early morning as we arrived:

We had booked a ship’s tour called “Haleakala Crater & Maui Ocean Center” because we wanted to see the volcano, and are always up for visiting an aquarium. In January, we had gone whale-watching and seen many of them; there were still a few around in early April, but most of the humpbacks had already departed for Alaska. After a short tender ride to the pier, we were met by shore excursions staff and directed to our tour guide and bus.

The ship had booked with the Gray Line’s Polynesian Adventure Tours company, which provided us a small but brand-new tour bus:

It was a comfortable bus and well suited to the drive up a mountain and around and about on island roads.

More in the next post,

Dave

Good idea to get the hand held pencil sharpeners!!

Lahaina (Cont.)

We drove from Lahaina, on the northwest coast of Maui, south and then east towards the town of Kahului, and then took a few turnings onto other roads and made our way to the town of Kula, for a rest and shopping stop at the store there. It had some drinks and snacks, but mostly had handicrafts and souvenirs:

We then headed uphill to the Haleakala National Park. Just past the entrance, we stopped at one of the park’s visitor centers, which was open and which had restrooms, a few displays and some books and things for sale, and an area just outside where we could get a close view of the Haleakala silversword plant:

Our guide told us that this plant had only been discovered on Haleakala a relatively few years ago, that it exists only on Maui, at high elevations, and that it was now threatened by an invasive species of ant. The plant sends up a stalk with a showy flower, and then dies.

We reboarded our bus and headed for the crater rim. We parked at the park’s other visitor center, on the volcano rim; this center was closed on Easter Sunday.

The center is at 9,740 feet elevation. There was another parking area at the summit, but our guide said the National Park Service had recently closed that area to buses and only allowed passenger cars to go there. Also nearby was the Pu’u ‘Ula’Ula Observatory, not as famous maybe as the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea on the Big Island, but still it has a pretty impressive site for observing the sky:

More in the next post,

Dave

Lahaina (Cont.)

Although we were not at the summit, we were very close to the crater rim, and there was a short (0.4 mile roundtrip) path to a higher viewpoint.

We considered taking the path, but were already a bit winded in the thinner air and did not think we had enough allotted time to do the path up and back slowly enough for rest stops for sucking air. Luckily, the crater rim was a short way away from the parking area, just to the left of the path to the upper viewpoint:

Fortunately, the mist had lifted from the lowlands, but unfortunately, it was streaming up the mountain and into the crater. Our guide told us that the trade winds blow to Maui from the direction of the Big Island, and that the constantly-erupting Kilauea volcano on the Big Island sends up a lot of volcanic dust, especially when hot lava hits the sea, which is blown towards Maui. Of course, as I am posting this thread, the volcano has erupted again and is destroying houses, cars and roads nearby.

On Easter Sunday, however, Kilauea was just doing its routine thing, and the mists were ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the mists would part and we could see into the crater floor. It was an eerie scene, with the harsh landscape coming into and out of view in the mists, which imagination could turn into steam and smoke from the underworld:

More in the next post,

Dave

Lahaina (Cont.)

After time at the crater, we then drove down the mountain and back toward the northwest part of the island. A few miles south of Lahaina, we stopped at the Maui Ocean Center. First, we had an included lunch at the Seascape restaurant at the center, which overlooked the sea:

The restaurant is used to serving tour groups, and we were given an abbreviated version of their menu from which to choose our lunch. There were several options, mostly of the sandwich and fries kind; we opted for cheeseburgers and iced tea. Soft drinks were included, but you could purchase beer or wine if you wanted. While we ate, we noticed the whale-watching tour boats going back and forth, and saw a pair of humpbacks blow, surface a couple of times, and then dive, showing their tail flukes. So, at least the folks on those particular tour boats were able to see some whales.

After lunch, we were led to the aquarium entrance, greeted by a marine biologist who gave us a quick overview of the place, and then we had some time to explore. As aquaria go, this one was very good, with lots of fish, rays, sharks, turtles, etc., but no marine mammals. A sign informed us keeping marine mammals in captivity was illegal in Maui. So, no seals, etc. But, the exhibits they had were very good. Here are some photos I was able to get of the grounds and some of the tanks:

Afterwards, we headed back to Lahaina, where we could catch a tender right away, or stay ashore to wander about some more. We decided to go back to the ship, clean up and rest a bit before our early fixed dinner seating. Others from the tour did stay back and sightsee or browse the many shops.

Next up, Fanning Island.

Dave

Thank you so much for posting this fabulous review. The Hawaiian and French Polynesian islands are among my favorite places to visit. Can't wait to read about you tour choices and see the photos of your other ports of call. Thank you again, Cherie

Thank You for doing this review.. We are booked on this trip in March of 2019 so following with great interest.

Enjoying your review and the great pics as well

This is a wonderful review! I am probably going to book this cruise now ;) Following along.

Fanning Island, April 5

We crossed the International Date Line from April 2 to April 4 – April 3 did not exist for us. I had a strange vision of being in a courtroom sometime in the future and a prosecutor asking me “where were you on April 3, 2018?” What could I say? That I was in an inter-dimensional time warp or something?

At any rate, the next day, April 5 west of the dateline, we pulled near to the entrance into the Fanning Island lagoon. Here are the port guide pages:

I would say we anchored, but I’m not certain if Maasdam actually dropped anchor at any of our tender ports and may have just maintained position with its thrusters/azipods. For ease of narrative, I will say we anchored at those ports. We arrived early morning, close to the entrance to the lagoon. Here is a shot of one of the first tenders taking things ashore:

Fanning Island is a flat atoll, larger than I expected.

I don’t know if it was a central mountain that eroded after coral started colonizing its sides, or if it was a seamount that coral colonized and eventually created the flat ring of land around the lagoon. The islanders are not Polynesians, but instead are Micronesians, a different ethnic group. Kiribati is part of the Federated States of Micronesia, which extend west almost to Guam and the other Marianas Islands, which are themselves originally Micronesian.

Since we had been on a shore excursion in Lahaina, we left the show lounge when we were told and got on the tender after getting our stickers. We heard from several fellow passengers that tendering for those not on ship shore excursions was hectic at first in Lahaina. So, it was not surprising when Ryan, the CD, announced that at first the tenders would go ashore in Fanning Island full, but only every third one coming back would carry passengers back to the ship, until the rush hour was over.

There were no ship shore excursions on offer, and those who wanted to go ashore had to wait for a tender. We decided to wait for a while to avoid the rush. At about 10, I decided to try my luck. Ryan had also been announcing that everybody needed a tender ticket and we should go to the show lounge to get one and wait until our number was called. He did not say, but surely implied, “this means YOU, too, bub” even though I am a 5-star Mariner. So, I went to the show lounge, got a ticket and found a seat in the pretty crowded lounge to wait to be called. After a few minutes, a young lady from the shore excursions staff called a couple of numbers, about 10 lower than the one I was holding. I was thinking that this might take some time, but she then added “of course, four and five-star Mariners can go ashore whenever they want.” A few other people and I looked startled, and then jumped up, gave our number tickets back and headed to the tender platform line.

There was a line, and a short wait while one tender pulled away and another could tie up to let us on board. But, I was soon aboard, and we were on our way.

More in the next post,

Dave

Fanning Island (Cont.)

It was a ride of only a few minutes to the lagoon entrance, and I discovered that the tender pier was just around the corner. Our tender tied up, and we walked onto the pier:

At the head of the pier, we were serenaded by a choir of islanders – singing “Kumbayah” in English (really).

They had a plastic bucket in front of them for donations, so I parted with a couple of dollars and made my way to land.

One of the first thing I saw was a pile of boxes of things that the passengers and crew had donated:

The next thing I saw was a line of tables with islanders selling handicrafts, including shell necklaces and other items, made mostly of cowrie shells, and some decorative knives. Prices were in U.S. dollars, and of modest levels – a large shell necklace could be had for $5.00, smaller ones for two or three dollars.

More in the next post,

Dave

Fanning Island (Cont.)

I wandered about for a while, and took some shots of islanders posing for photos, and some of them singing and dancing for us, for which I placed some dollar bills into the various plastic buckets.

I also saw some of the coconut drying operation that constituted one of the main industries on the island. Another one is drying and exporting seaweed, but I did not wander as far as the seaweed plantation on what was turning out to be a scorcher of a day.

I did notice that, although the island did not have indoor plumbing or electricity, it seemed to have a source of gasoline to support a popular means of transport:

More in the next post,

Dave

Fanning Island (Cont.)

I wandered some more, as far as a large building I took to be a school, before heading back:

I saw some fellow passengers taking the truck trip further up the island, having paid a few dollars each for the ride. In the background, you can see a basketball court as well.

I went back to the pier area and waited for a tender to take me back to the ship. I was able to get a photo of the small swimming beach, near the gap in the atoll that the tenders went through:

I heard third or fourth hand later that one gentleman passenger had refused to give a handout to a couple of the island children, and when he came back from swimming, he found that they were holding his clothing and would not return it until he paid a few dollars ransom.

Also as I waited, I took a snap of the pier itself, and of a HAL officer waiting for a tender to come in:

I found myself whistling the famous Otis Redding song about a dock and a bay. Then I shut up and got on the tender back to the ship.

I had spent maybe an hour ashore. I had thought to spend more time, but there really wasn’t much else to see, and I was getting pretty hot and thirsty, and even though I had brought a bottle of water, it was long gone. So I went back to the ship and looked right away for something cold to drink. As luck would have it, I asked Jose at the Lido Bar what he had that was cold, and he gave me a fine Australian lager called Four Wives. It hit the spot.

I also overheard Ryan several times apologizing for the tender delays. He said that so many people were coming back right away from the island, that they could not keep up with the demand, so I guess I wasn’t the only one who quickly exhausted the attractions of Fanning Island.

Looking back on Fanning Island, I found it interesting, but really not that much. I was happy to have donated pencil sharpeners and many engravings of George Washington to the islanders, but I think all in all I would rather that the Maasdam had made a direct run from Lahaina to Bora Bora and bypassed Fanning altogether. We may have stayed overnight in Honolulu, or possibly added another French Polynesian island to the itinerary instead. And, we would not have had to do the crossing of the International Date Line twice.

But, on the plus side, I discovered Four Wives lager.

Next, Wherein We Cross a Line

Dave

Crossing the Equator, April 6 (the first time)

The day after we left Fanning Island, the first April 6 of the cruise, we crossed the Equator into the Southern Hemisphere. This gave everyone on board the opportunity to observe the arrival of King Neptune and his subsequent judgements on those accused of entering his realm without permission.

It is an old tradition, and probably had a much more serious intent when mariners did not know what dangers they might face, and when gods like Neptune were very real to the sailors. It had to be late enough that they understood that there even was such a thing as an equator, but maybe venturing into far distant seas was enough to spark trepidation. I suspect they made offerings of food, wine and perhaps coins or other treasures to appease the god and purchase a safe passage.

Today, the event is a fun time for spectators, and memorable if not all that fun for the accused sitting for judgement. In a nutshell, all assemble on an open deck, King Neptune and his mermaid queen arrive and are seated. Some of those crewmembers who have never crossed the equator, known as polliwogs, are brought in "chains" to the area and presented in groups to Neptune while a prosecutor reads trumped-up charges of heinous crimes, keyed to the accused’s position on board. Neptune then renders his judgement and grants them access to his domain if they pay the penalty of kissing his fish, and getting slimed. The prisoners are then paraded to a panel of ship’s officers, who determine if they are to be spared, or thrown into the sea.

Here then are photos of the event as held on Maasdam this April. First, King Neptune and his Queen arrived and were shown to their thrones, where they acknowledged the worship of the crowd. (Neptune in this case was played by Hawaiian Ambassador Kainoa, who had been with us since San Diego and gave many presentations on the islands and culture.) I noted that the ship played the “Neptune” music from Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” which I thought was inspired.

Then the prosecutor (CD Ryan) took his place and the judges (Captain and senior officers) assembled and were seated.

The prisoners were then trooped in and placed in a holding cell:

More in the next post,

Dave

Crossing the Equator (Cont.)

The prisoners were brought in groups before King Neptune, then all were ordered to kiss the fish, and then be slimed before facing the judges to determine their fate. Following is a compilation of several groups to cover most of the process. I missed getting a shot of a group jumping into the drink, but caught most of the rest of the action.

First, a group was brought before Neptune:

They were ordered to kiss the fish:

And then they were slimed with colored whipped egg whites:

And faced the judges, either to be condemned to the sea, or to be reprieved:

Frankly, if I were one of the crew and was wearing that egg white stuff in the by-definition equatorial sun, I would have preferred a dunk in the pool instead of sitting while the eggs whites hardened.

Afterwards, all the passengers received certificates signed by the Captain, Hotel Manager and King Neptune, indicating they were now members of the Royal and Ancient Order of Shellbacks, which offers freedom evermore to cross Our Equator. I presume the crew who got slimed also got certificates.

Great fun!

Next up, Bora Bora (but first I get dinner and a bit of a life -- back tomorrow),

Dave

Great review and photos.

Who are the Captain and Hotel Director?

Enjoying your review very much. We can’t wait to go back to Fanning Island. We loved the handicrafts, especially the knives made from shark bones. We put a small one in a shadow box. It has sparked many a conversation.

How fun to see Kainoa as King Neptune.

Cheers, Denise

Enjoying your review and photos so far. Thank you!

Great pictures and reports of Fanning Island and the King Neptune Ceremony.

Have been to several of those King Neptune ceremonies when we crossed the equator -- they are a lot of fun.

Really am enjoying your photos & posts. We are doing this same cruise next Mar on the Eurodam, so this is a great preview of what we can expect. I participated as a polliwog in a line crossing on board the Prinsendam & they used a lot more then egg whites. Looking forward the rest of your posts.

Allan

Great review and photos.

Who are the Captain and Hotel Director?

Nice to hear from you! I hope you and DH are doing well. The Captain is Arno Jutten. The Hotel Director is Bert van Mackelenbergh,

Dave