Captain Ciruzzi made his welcoming announcement early, and by 8am the tenders were set up and operating. The day looked to be nice and sunny, and we were thrilled to see that the view of the West Maui Mountains from the ship was spectacular.
We went to breakfast in the Club Restaurant (yes, we have some papaya...finally!!) and had just fruit plates and oatmeal. This morning, I awoke feeling a little...vertigo, I guess, and didn't have much of an appetite. I found out at dinner that several passengers had been awakened at 3am by the ship's rocking and rolling. I slept through it, but think it was the cause of my vertigo.
We returned to the cabin to make a couple of phone calls. G wanted to do a helicopter tour today, but, this being the holiday weekend, everything was fully booked, even for singles (that I don't do helicopters sometimes works in his favor if there is just one empty seat).
Defeated on that count, I took the time to order our Prime Time Shuttle pickup for next Thursday in Los Angeles (can you believe it is that time already?) and delete the 100 or so BLACK FRIDAY emails in my junk email account. Have I mentioned we will be home for Christmas? I know I have, but have I mentioned it lately? I have a feeling, however, that the overt commercialism of Christmas in America is going to hit us like a ton of bricks, after so many years away.
We gathered up some things for a walking/shopping day, and went down to the tender boat platform on Deck 3. Right away, I knew I was in trouble. Captain Ciruzzi had said he was initially having the tenders launch from the starboard side of the ship, but that the wind was expected to pick up throughout the day and we'd probably return to the ship using a platform on the port side. Well, the tender boat on the starboard side was pitching and rolling. Still, I got in it and sat for several minutes while it was loaded with a few more passengers. I knew to sit by the opening and watch the horizon, but I finally gave up and stepped back off of it.
I waited just inside the ship until the tender would be ready to leave, but, standing there, it looked even worse. I asked one of the helmsmen if it got better or worse as it traveled the not-short distance to the Lahaina pier and he said it got much worse. That sealed it for me. I handed a can of Coke from my backpack into G in the tender and waved goodbye (and that vertigo sensation in my head lasted two more hours). G phoned me from the tender and said I had made exactly the right choice; it was a very bouncy ride.
While I was sorry to miss a day in Maui, I suddenly had a few hours alone on a nearly empty ship to do whatever I wanted. Anything! People ask us lots of questions about cruising for as long as we do, and we honestly answer that, except for Internet issues, it's not hard to do. We don't get bored, we don't eat too much, and, while we miss people and certain conveniences of home, we don't pine for them. But, in the interest of full disclosure, I do miss being alone sometimes. Not that I would ever want a steady diet of solitary living, but I went from having a husband away for months at a time for military duty to having a husband who lived at home but worked to having a husband at home nearly all of the time, to having a husband and 1000 to 4500 people around all the time. A little alone time is a welcome thing.
I first went out on the starboard side of the Promenade Deck to watch the pitching and rolling of the ship's tenders as they loaded and unloaded. Within 30 minutes or so, my iPhone rang; G was boarding a semi-submersible sub! He was walking by the sub loading point in Lahaina harbor and they made him an offer too good to refuse. I went on the port side Promenade Deck and watched as the bright yellow semi-submersible sub left the harbor and sailed north toward Kaanapali.
I settled in with a book and looked up occasionally as the sub moved further away. Suddenly, my iPhone was alerting me that I was receiving texts. G was sending me photos while still under the water!
A diver was pointing out the sea life, including this octopus, to the passengers in the sub. This reminded me of a dive I once did in Cozumel. I think it was at Paradise Reef, not far from where the cruise ships dock, because I was there on a cruise ship. I was at about a 40 foot depth when I heard the strangest sound getting louder and louder. Sound carries differently underwater, and I couldn't immediately tell which direction it was coming from. The next instant, a submarine with some of my fellow cruise passengers went by right in front of me, and I recognized some of the people waving at me from the windows. That was a surreal experience!
G eventually returned to the Lahaina pier and took a tender back to the ship to have a late lunch with me. He said the sub ride had ben surprisingly smooth despite the rough water, and that the visibility had been better than he'd expected. He felt it was worth the $35 he'd paid at the last minute. It was his intention to go back to the island, but he never did. Something tells me the tender ride was just a little too rough to take four times in one day. We sat for a long while on the terrace behind the Promenade Deck enjoying that incredible view. It was so pretty that it even promoted G to say that he thought it rivaled any of the island views in French Polynesia. It certainly comes close, but, of course, it lacks the beautiful blue lagoons.
We watched as several parasailing boats sped by, with the mountains as a backdrop
We returned to the cabin mid-afternoon, and G napped as I giddily texted friends at home. While I welcomed this connectedness with the real world, news alerts about the domestic terrorism taking place in Colorado Springs kept popping up on my iPhone.
Sigh.
And that's all I will say about that. :-(
Sailaway wasn't until 6pm, but we skipped the Elite Lounge tonight and instead went directly to dinner in the Club Restaurant. Let me take a moment to say that we have been so lucky with our dinner waitstaff this season. We've had three different waiters and assistant waiters, and they, as well as all the waiters on the Pacific Princess are simply as good as the best we've ever known. It simply doesn't get any better than this. Sitting at our table, we had a perfect view of the sunset over the neighboring island of Lanai.
Source: Princess.com
The water was so rough that they had a little trouble picking up the last tender, but we were finally making our way north into the Pailole Channel on the northwest coast of Maui. Almost immediately, the water got considerably rougher, and after dinner (just a salad with chicken breast and sorbet for me), we made our way forward on Deck 5 to the Cabaret Lounge for the 7:30pm performance of production show Cinematastic. We got front row seats and waited for the show to begin.
Immediately, I knew I wasn't going to make it. The movement was the roughest we've seen to date. I had no idea how the dancers were going to cope, but, even though I was concerned about them (the fun part of this ship is that we get to know them as individuals), I couldn't stay. I left G and went up to the Panorama Buffet to get ginger ale, crackers and a green apple in case I needed them overnight. Returning to our cabin, our steward Jackie was leaning on her housekeeping cart, as green as the apple in my hand. I predict a rough night for many of us, but hope it improves tomorrow.
G returned to the cabin after the show to check on me and said it never got any worse in the Cabaret Lounge, but it never got any better either; however, the dancers did just fine. It helps that they spend so much time in the air and are moving so quickly that momentum helps them keep their balance. Even in our Deck 4 midship cabin, it will be a 'tuck in the duvet' night to keep from rolling around in bed.
We are moving clocks ahead an hour overnight, and one more hour ahead later in the cruise. When he returned to the cabin, G asked me if I had changed my watch and iPhone yet. No, I hadn't. Five days at sea...I'm not sure we will even care what time it is.