Aloha to Maui and all of the Hawaiian Islands ~ March 8

MONDAY UPDATE ~~ March 5

9:00 a.m. As of yesterday in Kauai, we had sailed 2,456 miles from LA. On our return trip home this week, we will make that many miles or more as we do have a stop-over in Ensenada, MX on Saturday. This Princess Ship is foreign-made and registered as a ship of foreign origin, which means we have to touch shore in a foreign country while out. The “Jones Law” or something of that nature.

We met two nice couples at breakfast. Both were doing the whale-watching excursion so am guessing it may be the most popular one today.

It’s a beautiful day in Maui. The forecast calls for a high of 79 and for a low of 76 this evening. I saw here at the desk/my dressing table right here at the open sliding glass door onto the balcony to do my hair and make-up. The sunshine is pouring in and the breeze is cool and feels so good. I think I could live in this itty bitty room for the rest of my life right here (with the food, activities, and room service provided, of course.)

Our friends from home, James and Ann, began their big trip today. James retired in January and this is their celebration trip. Ann is from Alaska so they are going out there to see her mom and other family, and then on the 11th fly from Alaska to Hawaii to spend two weeks here in Maui. Seeing the beauty of this place from the ship, (we have to tender over to the island in just a few minutes), it is obvious that James and Ann will have a wonderful vacation here.

9:15 a.m. We’re now ready to report to the Princess Theater for the staging of our first excursion: Whale Watching. Immediately following will be our bus tour. It promises to be a great day!

7:00 p.m. We are exhausted but had a WONDERFUL day! The trip out on the whale-watching boat was quite an experience. It was very windy but we didn’t know at the time just how windy it was. We heard upon arrival back to the ship when the Captain came on to report that the wind had been up to 50 mph today ~~ after having been forecasted for up to 20 mph. We knew it was a rough and blustery ride on the whale-watching boat for 2 hours, but we had a great time with some great whale sightings. The moms and their calves were very much enjoying the windy day as they frolicked all about the ship. Pics were difficult to make as the boat was so rocky, but we got some shots. The Dramamine worked wonderfully well and we never were the least bit seasick out there. PTL!!



We got in from that trip and had about 45 minutes until we had to be in place for our next cruise so made a visit to the International Room.” Upon entrance, we were “Russians,” while going, we were “Europeans,” and when done we were “Finnish.” Our bus driver told us that one so I just had to use it. Ha! We had a lovely ride through the town of Lahaina on Maui and enjoyed seeing the mountain scepter known as the ’Needle” out in Haleakala National Park. Our visit to the Plantation was fantastic and we enjoyed the Hawaiian lady who gave us the tour. The ride down was lovely as we drove along the coast and watched the sun glimmer across the water as it was starting to come down at 5:00 p.m. We were some of the last to get back to the tenders and come back aboard the ship at 5:30 which was the “due time” to return. It was an active day with a lot of wind, sun, clouds, and more wind. We were very thankful to have our jackets as it was quite chilly at times. In Maui!!!!

5:30 p.m. We came back to our room and washed up for dinner. We had one scoop of ice cream during the day but otherwise nothing since our 8:00 a.m. breakfast. Dinner tasted mighty fine. J

7:15 p.m. We are in our room for the night to read, relax, watch TV, catch up on the news of the day, and probably to go to sleep early rather than late. It is a tad sad to be leaving the islands but realize we still have a lot of “trip” ahead of us as we sail for the next 6 nights, visit Ensenada, Mexico on Saturday, and pull into the Pier in LA at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.

We called Chip as well as Brian and Amy this evening during dinner (it was 10 p.m. their time) as it is the last cell service we will have until Sunday morning when we reach LA. It was good to chat with each of them for a minute as they were winding up their Monday.

By the way, I saw our cabin steward MARIA this morning. She said she is doing okay. I told her that lots of folks are praying for her. I wish you could have seen her smile.

Aloha from Hawaii for the last time.