From King Crab to Poi-almost live from Koningsdam Alaska to Hawaii and back

[Clay Clayton]

October 10-2nd Sea Day

🦃Canadian Thanksgiving 🦃

62° and Partly Cloudy

 

Clocks were turned back an hour overnight so we actually were out of the room before 9am!  We went to the Cruise Director’s Coffee Talk (along with a yogurt and muffin from the Dutch Cafe).  In this series he will interview various ship personnel about their life and roles onboard. Today, he gave a presentation on his life. It appears that cruise directing is a side line and that his real live is choreographing, producing, and directing musicals. Earlier in his career he performed with touring companies including Hello Dolly. He told several funny Carol Channing antidotes.  More recently he has been involved with musicals in Korea and Japan. He basically spends half the year doing them and half onboard ship. 

 

Mike and I then took laps around the promenade before retiring to the balcony for reading time. 

 

We headed to the buffet for lunch hoping to have chicken pot pie but we had both misread the menu and it was “Chicken Pot” but no pie😢.  Further disappointment hit when we got to “our table” and found it and all the others on the starboard side filled. As expected with the prettier weather it is harder to find a table. After eating a bit in a lounger, we were able to move to a table that we shared with a nice lady from Vancouver.  We discussed Thanksgiving traditions-she was very excited to not be cooking for her family today. 

 

We went to our first Port Talk. This one  was about Maui-our first port in Hawaii. Unlike most cruiseline’s port talks, this was NOT a sales pitch for the excursion department.  A good overview of things to do including bus schedules, costs for national parks, and parking issues at various beaches. 

 

I then went it a gin tasting/mixology class. We learned to make three gin variations of classic cocktails:Tropical (Mango) Collins, Gin (Pimm’s) Cup, South Seas (Grapefruit) Aviation. Enjoyed them all though a bit sweet. 

 

Lost Trivia by one point 😢. We missed knowing that Nice is further east than Cannes, that Honcho is derived from Japanese, and a third one I can’t recall. 

 

Dinner tonight in The Dining Room included a traditional thanksgiving dinner. Disappointingly, something similar wasn’t offered in the Lido Buffet-would much prefer to easily have seconds of one of my favorite meals!😂

 

A fellow Pride Group member joined us for dinner.  He was also on the Alaska cruise and is on his first solo voyage since losing his husband last February. He seems to be enjoying himself but I am sure it is very hard after 40+ years of being together. 

 

After dinner, I stuck my head into the comedian’s show. It got mixed reviews while in Alaska. 

 

Finished the evening as has become traditional at the Billboard show with Tammy and Joey.  She was solo on the Alaska leg and seems much relieved to have someone to partner with now. Joey is also a great singer and a fun performer. They make for a fun conclusion to the evening for those of us who don’t dance until dawn anymore.  

 

Clocks move back another night tonight-guess we will be up very early tomorrow!

[Clay Clayton]

October 12-4th Sea Day

77° rainy morning/sunny afternoon

 

Today was our laziest day yet.  We headed to the stern pool area for breakfast and being no empty tables, I asked a lady sitting alone if we could join her to eat our breakfast. Literally six and half hours later we all decided we had chatted and eaten enough and departed the table😂. Alex is like almost everyone on board a Vancouverite but has lived all over  the world and traveled to the places she hasn’t lived.  We really enjoyed our conversation. 

 

I went to Trivia while Mike spent some time in the Gym. We again were again two points off from being one of the five tied teams. We missed Who first recorded RESPECT? True or False? Lettuce is in the Sunflower family, Which is farther north-Moscow or New Castle. (Otis Redding-we thought Sam Cook, True, Moscow). We also missed the bonus question-Of the 8.7 million species on earth, what percentage have been identified? Seemed to us that the answer was 100% otherwise how did they know there were 8.7 million?  But the correct answer is 25%🤔

 

The dining room menu doesn’t look too exciting so we are going to eat earlier than usual at the buffet and plan to attend the Movie Under the Stars and have some popcorn. Presuming we can get a seat-last week it was packed but there were many more kids on board so hopefully this more elderly group won’t want to go to the movies🤞

 

Unfortunately we misjudged our fellow passengers, when we got to the pool area at 8:45 (for a 9 pm show) all the seats, sofas, and chaises were taken.  So we ended up back in the room and watched an interesting Patrick Steward (or is it Stewart?) movie we had never heard of: Match. It appears to have been written as a stage play, once we have access to Google again, I will look it up. He plays a dancer who is being interviewed for a student’s dissertation….or is he?🤔. 

 

Tomorrow will be our last sea day before the five days in Hawaii.  Today is also the halfway point of our B2B cruises-been aboard 12 days and have 12 more before we head home. Hard to believe how time flies!

[Clay Clayton]

October 11-Sea Day

74°, sunny and windy, a little rocky in the afternoon along with clouds. 

 

WhooHoo-by a stroke of luck and timing got our table at breakfast today by the outside pool. After some tasty omelettes we sat and read all morning long and didn’t really move except to gather food for lunch. Talk about lazy.  I had some good paella (which wasn’t on the Lido menu🤔) along with some really tasty yellow tomatoes with basil. Mike had his usual Asian bowl. 

 

While he went back to our balcony, I hot-tubbed and swam for a bit before returning to the room to shower before Trivia. 

 

Another close but no cigar trivia day-we were one bonus question (which finger nail grows fastest) or two standard questions (what is panophobia, for what movie did Julie Andrews win the Oscar in 1963, how many colleges are in the Ivey League) from being in the tie breaker (how many dominos in a standard game). (Middle, everything, Mary Poppins, 8 -I didn’t know UofPenn was one, 28). Maybe tomorrow?

 

Before dinner, Mike and I attended “Majority Rules” and tied for second place😤

 

Dinner was a repeat of the last gala dinner on the Alaskan leg. We both had prime rib which as before was spiced with Indian crust. Very tasty.  

 

After dinner we went to the main stage for a  BBC produced video show accompanied by the Lincoln City Chamber group.  Beautiful scenes on the huge screens with wonderful music.  We have been impressed with HAL’s variety of entertainment options.  And again the amazing theater helped make this show. 

[Clay Clayton]

October 13-5th Sea Day

Sunny and 83°

 

Awoke to beautiful weather-sunny broken only by big fluffy clouds….well except for as the Captain said during his noon announcement, the only rain cloud in sight and of course we sailed directly through it. It chased people from the pool area for a few minutes but all quickly returned.  

 

Mike and I had staked a claim to “our table” and had a nice breakfast and read until time for lunch.  I did get in the pool for a bit but never got into either hot tubs as had been my plan. Seems like we stake out our table, others do the same with the hot tubs. 

 

After hot dogs and fries for lunch, Mike headed to the gym to do some time on the stair master while I came to the room and took my first shower since the day before yesterday😳.  Writing this while sitting on our balcony enjoying the nice breeze.  We are going to head to the last port talk about Nawiliwili on Kauai. We don’t have any plans there but are on the waitlist for an excursion to the “Grand Canyon of Hawaii”. We don’t usually do ship’s excursions but the time in port is so short 7am-2:30pm that we worried about renting a car and unlike most other cruises, no one on the roll call seemed to be very interested in independent excursions. I’m hopeful we will be able to figure something out as this is the island that my first client Jane and Mike’s bbf Yost both loved so much. I sorta wish we had a single day in Honolulu and were overnighting here. 

 

After the port talk, I went to the Lincoln Center performance of American Music-Coplin, Gershwin, Bernstein and two other composers I hadn’t heard before. One is a contemporary musician who teaches at Old Dominion in Virginia in our neck of the woods. 

 

After that, it was Trivia Time-was out of the tie for first by 3 points.  We missed which continent has the most telephone lines?, what insect’s fillia allow it to walk on the ceiling?, which country has the most Roman Catholics?, what flavor can cats not taste?, and what does GATT stand for to a country’s trade minister? (Europe, fly, Brazil [which was my answer but I was outvoted by my team mates 😢, sweet [we thought milk tasted sweet],Generally Accepted Trade & Tariffs [we said Globally🤔]. Oh well, will try again on our way back to Vancouver🤞

 

HAL had had some Hawaiian cultural ambassadors onboard since Vancouver. They have taught passengers to play the Ukulele and to Hulu dance.  This afternoon, they held a performance at sunset by the stern pool today to finish our voyage and to show off their new found skills. I even was given some orchids by one of the ambassadors. 

 

2nd Laundry bag only had 20 items total but there were more shirts and less socks, hopefully we have counted correctly and will have clean clothes to last until we get home🤞

 

It’s dressy night again tonight-we will have one more on the way back to Vancouver. Rather than using our pocket squares we have put the orchids the Cultural Ambassadors gave us in our buttonholes. Pretty snappy huh?

[Clay Clayton]

That’s it for the sea day posts…sorry one is out of order. Headed ashore…keep your fingers crossed we find sea turtles as hoped🤞

[Clay Clayton]

On 10/8/2022 at 4:29 PM, JM0115 said:

Hope Mike is not on shore taking the shot!?  Have a nice time!

Nope, it was actually taken in Skagway but our friend Scott when he was reboarding after going ashore to find gummie bears…don’t ask. LOL

[XBGuy]

34 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

 

 He told several funny Carol Channing antidotes. 

 

 

 

🤣🤣🤣

 

Autocorrect strikes again.

 

Or was it voice-to-text?

[0106]

46 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

would much prefer to easily have seconds of one of my favorite meals

I often order a double portion of the vegetables that come with my MDR meal.  I have dined with someone who ordered a double portion of prime rib.  Once my husband and I ordered a total of three entrees (does it make a difference that one was mushroom risotto?). My point is...if need more food in the MDR, just ask your waiter.

49 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

the stern pool area

I never heard the Sea View pool area called the "stern pool"  so I looked it up.  The difference between "aft" and "stern" is that aft is the inside (on board) rearmost part of the vessel, while stern refers to the outside (offboard) rearmost part of the vessel.

43 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Pretty snappy huh

Two men who look extremely happy!

44 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

keep your fingers crossed we find sea turtles

Fingers crossed.

 

Thank you for your very entertaining posts!

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

Greetings from Maui! Got up at 6:30 which is very early for us!!!  Waiting for clearance to go ashore now at 7:15. 

Wow, you are good.  No way could I get up at 6:30 and be ready to go ashore 45 minutes later.

[LuAnn]

Thanks for the info re an Indian menu!! Is that available each night in the MDR if you ask?

[rkacruiser]

6 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

We headed to the Crow’s Nest (the forward observation lounge) to “Meet for a game of RISK” advertised in the “when & where”-HAL’s daily activity listing thinking it would be a group event. But appears not.  So we found the board game and played. After taking 30 minutes to set up, Mike won the war and was King of the World about 30 minutes later😂

 

RISK is a game that I really enjoy!  When my Brother and I would play it, he would end up winning most of the time, but, the game lasted much longer than 30 minutes!

 

Great photos and narrative!  Thanks for doing this.  

[aungrl]

Snazzy orchids AND snazzy shirts!

[Dunmore2]

• Thanks for asking about the Indian menu.

[Clay Clayton]

17 hours ago, LuAnn said:

Thanks for the info re an Indian menu!! Is that available each night in the MDR if you ask?

Yes and we had it last night!  More to come

[Clay Clayton]

October 14-Kahului, Maui

Mostly sunny, HOT 87°, breezy and humid

 

We were up early and had room service breakfast so we could be off the ship as quickly as possible.  We left the ship and after a 5 min taxi ride we were at the Hertz counter at a nearby hotel to pick up our car at 7:58. 

 

From there we headed across the island to the west side through the valley between the two mountains at the north and south end of Maui. Our first stop was at Charley Young Beach which a former coworker said was one of her favorites. We could see why, it was a great little beach with some shade and would be perfect if we were only going to stop at one…but that wasn’t our plan.  After enjoying our first view of Hawaii’s beauty, we headed a little further south and stopped at a beach in Wailea. We had hoped to see turtles while we were snorkeling. Unfortunately, we didn’t, but did have a good time looking and saw colorful fish and interesting sea life (means we don’t know what we were looking at) growing on the underwater volcanic rocks. 

 

We hope that no one was videotaping our exit from the ocean. If so, it will go viral. The beautiful sandy beach quickly became a minefield of rocks a few feet offshore.  I started in before Mike and worked very hard to pick my way to shore without landing on a rock or upending myself on the beach.  I had just made it to the beach on two feet when Mike came in, lost his balance and of course about then a wave hit which pushed him into me which of course meant we both ended up rolling in the surf.  Lots of sand ended up places where it didn’t beyond. 😂. Luckily, only our pride was damaged!

 

From there we headed north on the west side to Lahaina. Many people have told us this is their favorite town in Hawaii. We are probably jaded from our time living in Key West, but from our drive-by (yes I know it’s not a fair way to judge a place) the main drag seemed to be Duval Street without enough bars-too many Del Sol and t-shirt stops.  So after driving through town, we headed to the Food Trucks Mike found online that was a couple of blocks away.  Yum!  From one place we had “Hurricane” Chicken-fried and topped with a sweet and savory sauce served with rice and Mac Salad-boy the Hawaiian’s love mayonnaise 😳.  From the other, we had pork and shrimp chow fun (also served with Mac Salad that had even more mayo than the first place.  Both were very enjoyable and if we lived in Lahaina would want to try all their plate lunches!

 

From there we intended to find another beach but we were both so full we decided to go ahead and start our drive around the north side of the island and figured we could find a beach up there later in the day.  Boy were we wrong!  Each time we came around a curve the panorama got better than the last-but in order to get to the water would have required a serious hike which we weren’t up to doing.  So while we didn’t have the excitement of another swim, we did have the terror of one of the curviest, narrowest roads I’ve ever seen.  We should have know it was going to be bad when there was a sign that said the state had stopped maintenance!   

 

At least 10 miles of the drive was a narrow single lane with the rare slightly wide spot where two cars could pass. I lost count at 12 of the number of one lane bridges. Most of the road had a 15mph limit with some spots posted at 5mph.  I suspect we averaged 10mph. But the beauty was amazing!

 

After we made it back to civilization, we stopped at McDonald’s for a comfort stop and for Mike to buy an iced tea-turns out MickyD’s in Hawaii serves a flavorful (mango?) tea.  And an interesting breakfast menu too!

 

We hadn’t planned on going to Costco for gas but when GasBuddy told us it was $4.09 vs. $5.75 that the station near the Hertz place was charging, we decided we could drive 5 more minutes!  We then returned the car and got back aboard a little earlier than planned at 4 (all aboard was 5:30). 

 

We dropped our stuff at the room and went and enjoyed relaxing in the pool and the large hot tub that resembles one of the salad bowls they use onboard. 

 

We have a group of 10 Canadians of Indian descent sitting near us in the Dining Room. Some (most) of them usually order from HAL’s Indian menu which is available as a special order.  Last night, we asked to order from it.  OMG, so so good. Mike ordered the Mulgawany Soup and I the pakoras. We split them as our appetizers.  The onion pakoras were hot and crispy. The soup was so flavorful of cumin and a little spice. We both ordered the Butter Chicken as our entree. It came with the most delicious rice pilaf, a cup of vegetable curry, a thimble of mango pickle (wish it had been a barrel), and a crispy papadam cracker and a tasty roti. Unfortunately, I failed to take a picture before we devoured it. We have had fun interacting with our next table neighbors. One of the ladies came over to see what we had and explain how to use the pickle. One of the gentlemen came over when he discovered we were from North Carolina to tell us his uncle had gone to school at the University of BC with former SC Governor Nikki Hailey’s father.  🤔

 

After finishing dinner, we headed back to the room. As I write this, Mike is already asleep and I won’t be far behind him when I finish this. 

 

All in all a great first day in Hawaii. I can see how people rave about how beautiful it is here.  I’m looking forward to seeing more tomorrow in Hilo where we plan on taking our rental car to Volcano National Park and if time allows, to one of the Black Beaches. 

 

 

 

 

[Clay Clayton]

And an underwater video

[CruiserBruce]

I guess the Lahaina dock project is still in progress.

 

And I guess the reason the car companies usually don't want you to use the road around the north end (Highway 340) is still valid, if not even worse than before.

[Kellybc]

Really enjoy your reports and pictures. Like you, our last couple of cruises were on Viking (2021 Iceland and 2022 Homelands).  It’s been almost ten years since we’ve been on Holland, but we chose them to go through the Panama Canal in April 2023, mostly because we preferred their Ports of Call, but also entertainment options with so many sea days.  So, I’m appreciating all the information about your time on the ship. 

[Clay Clayton]

Just now, Kellybc said:

Really enjoy your reports and pictures. Like you, our last couple of cruises were on Viking (2021 Iceland and 2022 Homelands).  It’s been almost ten years since we’ve been on Holland, but we chose them to go through the Panama Canal in April 2023, mostly because we preferred their Ports of Call, but also entertainment options with so many sea days.  So, I’m appreciating all the information about your time on the ship. 

We have been very impressed with most of the entertainment. The exception for us has been the comedian-but others love him. He is leaving us before we head back to Vancouver and there will be another 🤞

[Clay Clayton]

October 15-Hilo

Rainy, misty, hot, cold-all depended on where we were!

 

Up early again and raining😢 Got off the ship right at 8 am and shared a cab to the airport with some other cruisers who were also renting cars.  Hint for future trips-Alamo, Budget and their subsidiaries had a shuttle at the port for their renters-Hertz, Thirfty, and theirs did not. It was a $20 (including tip) ride to the airport -should have been about 20% cheaper since we were sharing but since the other couple handed me $10 and left, I decided it wasn’t worth the bad karma for a couple of bucks. 

 

We were in the car and headed to Volcano National Park before 8:30 and arrived there around 9am.  During our North American Road Trip in 2019, we had discovered an app called “Gypsy Traveler” which provides GPS based narration in National Parks. We purchased a Hawaii bundle $40 which we will use today and tomorrow. If we had of been smart we could have used it in Maui yesterday. You don’t have to follow a particular route, when you hit one of the waypoints, he tells you about it.  

 

It was raining and muggy when we left the airport, ascending the 4000 feet to the park we went through mist and a little sunshine.  At the park entrance when we got out of the car it was much cooler-68°. We started by walking to the first overlook into the area that is still venting-that’s the white steam you can see. Not sure why the pictures have posted out of order-hopefully you’ll figure them out.).  It’s too bad we aren’t here at night when they say you can see the glow of the lava.  

 

We attempted to hike to one of the locations where you can sometimes see down and see the lava, but apparently had the wrong trail. 
 

We did however hike a lava tube which was interesting (and no, I did not hit my head!)

 

We then continued down the Chain of Craters road towards the sea.  Along the way, we passed through a number of lava fields and beside the craters that had created them. 

 

The road ends at the Sea Arch.  The flat area around it was originally level with the cliff we came down-but during a long ago earthquake this portion of land dropped significantly. A piece of the road along the cliff edge is like the “Road to the Sun” at Glacier National Park in that it’s a single slope rather than a series of switchbacks. The wind on this plateau was amazingly strong.  

 

I’m writing this while sitting on the cargo area of our rental SUV while Mike hikes 1.5 miles in to see some ancient carvings into the volcanic rock.  We have already walked 3.4 miles today and this was over rough terrain so I decided I wouldn’t risk it, especially since there is one more hike we want to do before leaving the park. We started it this morning but it was foggy so we said we would try to do it on the way out. Then I hope we get some lunch as it’s 1 pm now!

 

Looks like our volcano and maybe Black Beach day will just be volcano-which is just fine. 
 

to be continued…..

[Sea42]

Thanks so much for sharing your adventures!

It's so fun to follow a "Live" thread where people are out and exploring.

[SusieKIslandGirl]

First of all, I want to say I'm enjoying your reports. That said, I've been debating whether to comment about the tables outside the Lido buffet. That is also our favorite place to have breakfast. I was a little disappointed when you mentioned that you spent all morning there after finishing your meal. I might have been giving you the evil eye if there weren't other tables available. I can understand enjoying the area after the breakfast hours are over. Not trying to be snarky so I hope this doesn't offend-just wanted to offer another view of the situation. Thanks.

[dixiejen]

Greetings, Clay, from North Carolina!  (We’re just about an hour and a half down US1 from you in Rockingham!). We will be on the Koningsdam in January so I am really enjoying your detailed commentary regarding dining and activities aboard the ship!  Thank you for taking the time to share with everyone! Hope you and Mike stay safe and enjoy the rest of your voyage!

[Clay Clayton]

45 minutes ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

First of all, I want to say I'm enjoying your reports. That said, I've been debating whether to comment about the tables outside the Lido buffet. That is also our favorite place to have breakfast. I was a little disappointed when you mentioned that you spent all morning there after finishing your meal. I might have been giving you the evil eye if there weren't other tables available. I can understand enjoying the area after the breakfast hours are over. Not trying to be snarky so I hope this doesn't offend-just wanted to offer another view of the situation. Thanks.

Understand your point.  We were there during non meal hours and then stayed for a meal.  We always welcome folks to our table when we see them looking for a place to sit. 
 

That being said, until HAL has as many tables on the non-smoking side as they do for the smokers, I’m not necessarily going to give up my table in a hurry 😊

[Clay Clayton]

58 minutes ago, Sea42 said:

Thanks so much for sharing your adventures!

It's so fun to follow a "Live" thread where people are out and exploring.

 

Just now, dixiejen said:

Greetings, Clay, from North Carolina!  (We’re just about an hour and a half down US1 from you in Rockingham!). We will be on the Koningsdam in January so I am really enjoying your detailed commentary regarding dining and activities aboard the ship!  Thank you for taking the time to share with everyone! Hope you and Mike stay safe and enjoy the rest of your voyage!

Glad you’re enjoying! It takes a little bit of time, but it creates a memory book for us and I’m paying it forward for all those who have given me such good advice/information over the years.