We slept in late, enjoying our own bed! David got the truck batteries connected back up and it started on the first try! Then we worked on unpacking, doing laundry, making a grocery run, etc. We were so happy to be home doing normal things again!
Saturday, May 4, 2024
21 April 2024 Los Angeles, CA to Houston, TX
Surprisingly, we did not have to work our way through a picket line to checkout in the morning. Apparently, they were sleeping in. But when we got in the line for the shuttle to the airport we were surrounded by a large Japanese tour group. Somehow, we managed to squeeze all that group of Japanese tourists (another group came out as we were loading) and a few more of us. We had to stand, and there was some pushing and shoving, but at least we were on our way. Our flight was leaving out of the international terminal according to the AA app on our phones. Unfortunately, due to construction, the shuttle could not drop us off at Terminal B, so we got off at terminal 3 and dragged/pushed our bags to terminal B. Once there, we looked at the assignment board and realized that we had to go to terminal 4 to check in for our flight! So we dragged/pushed our bags another ½ mile to terminal 4 to check in. We were amazed when we did not have to pay any overweight charges (one of our bags weighed in at 62lbs, the rest at or below 50lbs)! Then we had to walk all the way back to Terminal B to board our flight. David hates flying from LAX!! Once on board we settled in for our first class ride to DFW. We had a short connection in Fort Worth, but made it with time to spare. Back in Houston, Cynthia and Felix met us at the airport and picked us up. We stopped on the way back to the Wanderer for some much needed Mexican food! Then they took us home! Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home! Cynthia and Felix had visited the Wanderer earlier in the day and left us some much needed supplies (coffee, wine, bread, cheese, lunch meat, bacon, eggs, flowers, etc) to get us through the first few hours home. Thank-you Cynthia and Felix!! David got the air conditioners started and connected the water back up and we were in business! Sleeping in our bed felt soooo goooddd!!
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| Home Sweet Home! |
20 April 2024 Port of Los Angeles, CA
We were up early so we could vacate our cabin on time. We were in disembarkation group Green 2 since we did not have to go to the airport to make flights. We went down to the main dining room and got some breakfast while we waited for our group to be called. The shipped docked on time at the cruise ship terminal in the port of Los Angeles at 8am. Since we had gone through Immigration Control at the first port in Hawaii, we did not have to do that again. When our group was called about 08:30, we checked out of the ship one last time with our cruise cards and headed into the terminal. We were guided to where our luggage had been placed and found everything in order. We were surprised to find out we did not have to go through customs at all. No declaration forms, no lines, no inquisition, just grab our bags and head for the taxi line. (Sidebar: While waiting for our taxi, we watched as people we got acquainted with during our trip found their ways out of the terminal as well. One couple, probably in their late 70s, we liked to watch on our trip loved to dance. She was tiny and petite, with a short, sassy hair cut, while her husband was nice looking with white hair and trimmed mustache. Every day they would go to the Horizons Lounge for Happy Hour and whirl on the dance floor to the sounds of the ship’s band. She was always dressed to the nines, wearing beautiful short batwing dresses or sheaths with matching shoes, jewelry and purses. They were a very smart looking couple. They pulled up behind us in line to wait for transportation. It should have been no surprise they had an attendant pushing a huge baggage truck loaded with 15 bags!!! Of course they had a ton of luggage, it only made sense! We couldn’t imagine where they even stored those bags during the cruise. Hilarious!) We took a taxi ($60) to the Sheraton Four Points by LAX airport. As we rolled into the lobby, we were met by a loud group of people walking in a picket line yelling in Spanish in front of the checkout counters. David looked it over and pushed his way up to the counter and checked us in (to heck with the strikers). Surprisingly, they had a room ready for use given it was only 10am. David noticed the hotel restaurant seemed to be closed and asked what the status was. They were unsure, but it seemed the restaurant was closed due to the strike. Then we pushed our way through the chanters to the elevators. It seems they were part of the house keeping staff and were picketing for better benefits. We got to our room and were surprised by the layout. There was a lot of unused space, the furniture was old and the bathroom was worn. Definitely not Marriott’s best property. With the restaurant closed in the hotel, we had to walk 4 blocks to the restaurants in the adjacent Marriott property. There were a few homeless and drug users wandering around and sleeping (passed out?) on the sidewalks we had to keep an eye out for. Definitely not somewhere we will ever stay again. Otherwise, we are anxious to get home.
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| Ships Navigation Map |
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| Goodbye Regatta |
14-19 April 2024 At Sea from Lihue, Kaua’i, Hawaii, to Los Angeles, CA
We pulled out of Port in the morning with rain and fog. Once out of the harbor the waves picked up. We had 12-15 foot waves, 45-55MPH winds, rain and fog all day the 14th and 15th. The spray from the ship breaking the waves was soaking our veranda. The sun broke out for a few hours and the winds and waves were reduced on the 16th before clouds and rain moved back in during the evening. We finished the shell necklace Monday in the native crafts class and have our final class on native weaving today. Leslie did great at the weaving but David’s looks a little rough. The remainder of the sea voyage (17th – 19th) were cloudy with occasional glimpses of sun but the temperatures were in the sixties, so the pool crowd thinned considerably. The seas were calmer with wave heights of only 3-5 feet. We spent the days reading in the cabin, or in the library, going to social events with some of the folks we had met on board and looking forward to disembarking. We did manage to spend more time on our veranda than we had been since the temperatures, winds, and waves were more comfortable. Leslie ran loads of laundry since she did not want us putting stinky clothes in our suit cases. On the 19th we packed our bags, except for what we would need for the next morning. David was surprised that everything squeezed into our four bags, but they were bursting at the seams. Later that night we put our bags out in the hall to be taken below decks for off loading in the morning. We made it a point to provide extra tips to the crew that had been so kind and helpful during our stay (they all get an automatic tip that we had to pay in advance). We said good bye to friends we had made during the voyage, disappointed that they did not seem interested in exchanging information to stay in touch. On one hand we were looking forward to getting off the boat after 42 days, on the other we were sad to say good bye to so many crew and guests we had become attached too.
Heavy Seas the 14th and 15th
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
13 April 2024 Lihue, Kaua’i, Hawaii, USA
The ship got into port late. The night before, there had been heavy rains in the area and there were several logs and debris in the harbor. Our captain decided to come on in and maneuvered around the logs and stumps to get us onto the dock. Another, larger, cruise ship decided not to try it and canceled their port call. We spent the day on the ship. Later in the afternoon, heavy rain and high winds moved in and lasted all night.
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| Lihue Harbor on Kaua'i |
11-12 April 2024 Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawaii, USA
We were originally supposed to stop at Lahaina, but after the devastating fires last year, they canceled that port of call and doubled the number of days in Honolulu. We pulled into pier 11 in Honolulu in the early morning. On our honeymoon, we had stayed in Honolulu for several days and taken the Pearl Harbor Tour but had missed seeing the Pacific Aviation Museum. So, we picked up a taxi at the port entrance to take us to the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. Our driver Eric was fun to talk to and we made arrangements with him to pick us up later. We had to put Leslie’s purse into secure storage since only clear bags are allowed into the facility. After getting our tickets we took the shuttle bus to the museum on Ford Island. They had several aircraft, both American and Japanese, for the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. We watched the museum film and toured the aircraft displays. David was surprised to learn there was a couple of things about the attack he did not know before. There was a civilian aircraft flying over the harbor when the first wave attacked. Also, a Japanese plane that was damaged by anti-aircraft fire landed at one of the other Hawaiian Islands where the pilot attacked a native that was helping him resulting in both dying. We then went over to Hanger 57 where they do the restoration work to see the ongoing projects. There are still holes in the windows of the hanger doors from the day of the attack. As we made our way back along the flight line display of modern-day aircraft, it began to rain. So, we headed back to the main building to visit the gift shop before taking the shuttle bus back to the visitor center and called Eric to come pick us up. Turns out he was already out front waiting for us!. We asked Eric to take us to the Punch Bowl, the national cemetery where most of the fatalities of the attack were buried. As we approached the Cemetery, Eric asked if we were there to see a particular grave and we said no. He then explained that he was not allowed to stop in the Cemetery and we were not allowed to walk around the graves unless we were there to see a family members greave and got a pass at the front entrance. Eric drove us around the parameter of the cemetery slowly so we could shoot pictures before heading back to pier 11. After Eric dropped us off, we walked around the pier area, got drinks at an open air bar and then got dinner at “the Old Spaghetti Warehouse”. We enjoyed the dinner since it was actually seasoned well. The ship food is good, but generally bland since they are serving so many different pallets. The second day, after looking at maps on our phones, we decided to walk into town since there was supposed to be a string of restaurants and bars only a half mile away. We were disappointed to find that the walk to this restaurant row was much further and lined with construction projects. We wandered around and eventually found a bar featuring locally brewed beers. It was a bit different since you had a card you used to turn on a tap, then served yourself. By this point, we had walked over four miles. So some refreshments were in order! Leslie spied a shop across the aisle from the bar and found a wonderful outfit to buy. Thus refreshed, we headed out to find a drug store. The maps led us to several wrong locations before we finally found a drugstore in a mall where we stocked up on some things we needed. Since it was almost dinner time, we found a nearby Dim Sum restaurant to try. It also turned out to be good but we ordered more than we could eat in our quest to try several new dishes. We looked at how far the walk was going to be to get back to the pier and decided to go across the street to a hotel and have them call us a cab. In the end, we walked about 6 miles. During the night we pulled out of Honolulu.
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| Aloha Tower Honolulu |
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| Bullet Holes in the Hanger Door Windows from Dec 7, 1941 attack. |
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| Pinch Bowl National Cemetery |
10 April 2024 Hilo, Big Island, Hawaii, USA
The ship docked a little before 9am in Hilo. Our tour was not until 1:25 in the afternoon. David took the opportunity to walk to a small grocery store just outside the port entrance to pick up some essentials and goodies. We had toured much of the big island on our honeymoon but had not spent any time in Hilo. Our panoramic tour of Hilo was interesting. Hilo had been hit by three different Tsunami’s in the past 70 years. The water front, which had been warehouses which were damaged or destroyed by the Tsunami’s, has been turned into beautiful parks, including one paid for by Japan. We stopped to walk around the parks for a few minutes, then went to the statue of King Kamehameha. Finally, we went up to Rainbow Falls. Unfortunately, it was cloudy, so we did not get to see the rainbow at the base of the falls. But the fall is very pretty. Then back to the ship. It wasn’t much of a tour. We pulled out of harbor later that evening.
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| The Japanese Garden Entrance |
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| Bridge in the Japanese Garden of Hilo |
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| King Kamehameha Statue |
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| Rainbow Falls |
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