October 10, 2024 Sea Day #5

    Again overnight, clocks were set back an hour. We are now on Hawai’i time. Tomorrow we are scheduled to arrive in Honolulu shortly after sunrise. 

   The 7 a.m. temperature was 24°C. The horizon clouds were small this morning. On the news this morning was coverage of the Hurricane Milton destruction in Florida including the closure of two factories that manufacture IV fluids causing a nationwide shortage. Also Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert Kennedy died yesterday at age 96.

  In early September, NASA approved an October 10th launch of the Europa Clipper, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket going to Jupiter. Cape Canaveral was affected by Hurricane Milton.

    We had breakfast in the dining room with two couples from B.C. From the dining room windows, we could see a partial rainbow against fluffy white clouds. The Indigo colour at the bottom of the the rainbow was easy to see. A few days ago in Virginia Stibolt’s talk, she mentioned that the purple and dark blue colours were more noticeable in Hawaiian rainbows.

     We climbed up to the covered pool on Deck 9 for the 10 a.m. Line Dancing lesson.  Fortunately the pool roof was open to allow a light breeze into the pool area. Again today there were nearly 40 people attending, including 5 or 6 first timers. After some pre-dance stretches, Declan lead the group through all seven of the dances that he has taught on the last four sea days taking over 30 minutes.

  Today’s 11 a.m. Virginia Stibolt lecture was Ancient Hawaiian Farming: Roots of Civilization. The Polynesian people arrived in Hawaii about 500 AD and brought with them seeds and plants that provided food and life essentials from their original islands. We sat with Suzanne and Graham. 

  For lunch we ordered a vegetable quiche and a toasted ham & edam cheese sandwich with our coffees at the Grand Dutch Café and were joined by Louise whom we met at breakfast yesterday. 

  In the captain’s noon update, he stated there are just 333 nautical miles until we dock in Honolulu tomorrow.  Today’s noon temperature was 29°C. Just before sunrise, the harbour pilot will be joining the ship. The captain warned that when entering all four Hawaiian harbours, the ship will encounter an hour or so of somewhat rough waters. After lunch we headed back to the World Stage a for presentation about iconic Hawaiian Symbols, then read for awhile in our stateroom.

   At 3:30 p.m. in the World Stage passengers performed in the Hō’ike Cultural Recital led by the Hawaiian ambassadors. There was the ukulele ensemble of 59 passangers followed by 17 Hula dancers. Our dinner companion, Jo, was part of the ukulele ensemble. All the performers have only had four days of preparation. The ukuleles were supplied by the Hawaiian ambassadors, for the players to take back to their staterooms to practice over the past four days.

  The dress code for this evening is Dressy. It was the second of three dressy nights for the cruise. We joined Graham and Suzanne at our table #24. Jo and Mike were eating at a specialty restaurant tonight. We haven’t seen Pam and Dennis for dinner since the first night. Pam has been attending the line dancing. Just in the dining room on Dressy nights, at the exit, there is a server dispensing mints or candied ginger to diners as they leave. Pre COVID, this detail was a nightly event.

   Tonight’s show was the return of accordionist, Annie Gong to a full World Stage theatre. 

   Tomorrow morning the ship’s bow, accessed from Deck 5 forward, will be open to passengers for two hours from 6 a.m to 8 a.m. as the ship approaches the Honolulu cruise ship terminal. Passengers can start leaving the ship around 8:30 a.m.

Today’s steps 14,224

lunch at the Grand Dutch Café
Hō’ike Cultural Recital
Hula dancers
part of the ukulele ensemble
Dressy night towel animal on the bed
our next six days in Hawaii




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