March 15, 2019



   The ship was docked in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, Hawai’i., by 6 a.m. The full day land tours started to exit the ship starting at 8 a.m.
   After a pre-sunrise breakfast on Deck 9 Lido Market, we descended to Deck 5 and walked out to the bow for the Hawaiian Ambassadors’ sunrise “TraditionalHawaiianWelcome” surrounded by about 200 passengers.  The Ambassadors sang and danced a greeting as the sun rose over the mountains behind Honolulu.  In Hawaiian, the word Mahalo (pronounced mah-hah-loh) means thank you.
   There was a note in the “When & Where” daily schedule that anyone wishing to donate school supplies to the children of Fanning Island could drop off their donation at Guest Services.  We delivered our three-pound package of school supplies to the growing accumulation. Now we have room to buy a few souvenirs. 
   We took an early morning tour (8 hours), “Grand Circle Island by motorcoach”, encompassing Oahu’s scenery, culture and history.  Due to last week’s heavy rains causing mudslides, the scenic Pali Lookout has been replaced with a drive on the windward side of the island. There were two buses of 51 passengers, a guide and a driver for the tour.



   Honolulu means protected bay. It has the largest and safest commercial harbour in the Pacific Ocean. We began the tour driving along the shore into the Waikiki district toward Diamondhead. We passed the park that was part of Fort De Russey Park. From Fort De Russey on January 11, 1935, pilot Amelia Erhardt, was the first person – female or male – to fly from Honolulu to California. She disappeared flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937.  We drove through the Kahala Estates where the beachfront homes are some of the most expensive properties in Hawaii. Then we passed the Waialae Golf Course where the annual PGA Sony Open is played.  Our route took us counter-clockwise around the Windward shore with our first stop at Hanauma Bay which is a favourite spot for snorkelers and swimmers.  The next stop along the coast was to see the Halona Blowhole Lookout where we briefly saw a humpback whale.  We continued along the Maikanai highway and saw the bird sanctuary in a bay on Black Island.
    There was a rest stop in Waimanato at Hawaii’s Treasure Gift Store, where free cups of Hawaiian coffee were offered to customers.  We said hello to Dieter and Rosemary from Germany who we met in line at the San Diego embarkation.  We could see the Koolau Mountains on the driver’s side.
    We drove through the town of Kaneohe on the way to Byodo-In Temple.  It is in the large Valley of the Temple cemetery. The temple has a koi stocked pond in front of it. It is a 50% scale model of the Buddhist Kyoto Temple of Equity in Uji, Japan and constructed without nails. Along the path to the temple there is the covered brass Sacred Bell and further along is a garden surrounding the Meditation Pavilion.  Inside the temple is an 18-foot gold leaf-covered Amida Buddha. We also saw some turtles in the pond and a black swan.
    The lunch stop was in the Morman Church town of Laie where the Polynesian Cultural Center is located.  We enjoyed a delicious barbecue lunch and had time to browse the gift shops, but a tour of the Polynesian Cultural Center of the different Polynesian cultures was not included.  We took pictures of several different colours of hibiscus flowers.
   The final stop was at the Dole Plantation, founded in 1900, where we sampled the delicious Dole Whip ice cream and strolled through the garden featuring different types of pineapples at different stages of growth and we even saw several cacao trees.  The store had a huge selection of pineapple related items.
    On our return to Honolulu, we saw some sheep grazing in a field, passed the Schofield Army Barracks and Pearl Harbour’s Middle Loch.  The USS Arizona Memorial has been closed since May 2018 due to a ship hitting the landing pier and damaging the structure’s foundation, it may be repaired by mid-2020.  We were caught in Friday afternoon traffic, but arrived back to the ship in time to change for our 5:15 dinner reservation with Carol and Dennis.  Susan and Jeff had not planned on dining with us tonight. 
   The ship was about 2.5 hours late in leaving the port due to a slow refuelling.  We watched the ship pull away from the pier after we had attended the classical music trio playing “Masterworks by Dvorák”. Watching the cruising away from Honolulu, out on the Promenade Deck was pleasant in the 27°C evening air.  We watched the twinkling lights as the high-rise buildings grew smaller.  Since the ship is in state waters, the Casino was closed, but not the ship’s shops.
    Today’s total steps.  12,056 

Aloha Tower near the pier
Diamond Head
Hawaiian Ambassadors’ sunrise “Traditional Hawaiian Welcome” 
Waikiki Beach

Hanauma Bay


Halona Blowhole Lookout


our bus in Waimanato at Hawaii’s Treasure Gift Store

Byodo-In Temple and grounds in Kaneohe




Hawaii state flag
yellow hibiscus flower
Polynesian Cultural Center
flowers at the Polynesian Cultural Center

the North Shore where all the surfing takes place


last stop at the Dole Plantation



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