Cruising!: Day 4-5-6, October 1-2-3

Tuesday, Oct 1: Our clocks got turned back another hour last night so we are still managing to get up by 7-7:30a! It was a very quiet day for us. Lunch in the dining room with abrasive folks. Why can't people recall that no one wants to hear their political opinions? So at dinner we requested a table for 2! The internet was down most of the day. I did manage to get online with my phone for a bit. My critique for dining is "lunch is unimpressive but dinners have been delightful and delicious. There are a lot of nice choices in the buffet called Horizon Court"- now off to bed! (our day was sedate because I spent most of the time icing my knee…the back of my knee. Not sure what I did? Perhaps too many stairs yesterday?

Wednesday, Oct 2: Knee is better.Today it is quite stormy looking outside but the temperature is pleasant, even on the warm side. I can see rain in the distance and imagine we will experience some today. Our cabin steward Laurence insists on cleaning our cabin today. He says it is 5 days with no bed change and it needs it. I guess he would be stunned to know I wait 7-10 days to wash our sheets at home! Really looking forward to Hilo tomorrow so I can use my own Hotspot and contact Forever.

Breakfast in the dining room, then to a talk on Oahu, and on to Fish Hook necklace making for me. Then John and I met at the Wine Tasting event. Met a charming woman from London and enjoyed talking about our Summer experiences there. She told us about a Gin Festival, which we will be looking into next August! We enjoyed our wine tasting companions (London, Florida, Canada)!

Of course the best was Caymus

We were going to go to a short Luau presentation but John fell asleep, so next we were off to dinner. Following that we called Julie on WhatsApp then listened to Hawaiian music and played cards in the Atrium. We headed off to the show 30 minutes early to be sure we got a seat. That was not meant to be, totally packed. We won't wait up for the 9:45p show. Too bad.

October 3: Hilo, Hawaii! Our very first port day! We didn't rush off the ship because we have seen everything there was a tour for so we decided to walk around old town Hilo. We took a taxi into town ($12) because the free shuttle was a 45 minute wait. Lovely little town, we were dropped off at the Farmers Market and took a look there. We looked in some cute shops, took note of some historic buildings, and then stopped at a café called Cronies for a drink and lunch. Reasonable prices and delicious food. We had a seat right by the window with Hilo Bay as our view. Our table was right next to a man and his mom of 90. She was a hoot. We had a nice visit, he lives in San Jose, born in Visalia and she lives in the lovely little town of Murphys. My friend June and I have gone wine tasting there. The mom said they have one stop light and 41 wineries! Back to the ship we shared a taxi with them. However, when we got back John realized he left his backpack at the restaurant. So I called them to be sure they still had it and yes, they did. Another round trip and we are back at the ship. Sail away was 5p. We are not hungry so we ordered a snack from room service. Onward to Oahu tomorrow!

John and 1932 (souped up) Chevy