Day 9—Lahaina, Maui
This turned out to be my favorite port of all! Lahaina was a tender port—the ship would not be able to dock, but would anchor off shore and we would take the tenders, covered motorized lifeboats, to shore. To do this, you had to go to your assigned lounge, either the Mondrian Lounge, where the shows are held, or to the Wajang Theater, where movies are shown, and get an assigned color, then wait for your color to be called. Those with scheduled excursions had priority.
At 8:00, I was in the Mondrian Lounge and waited for my color to be called. Jill was on the same excursion so we ended up going together and was on the same bus. The tour took us to Iao Needle in Iao Valley State Park, then to the Maui Ocean Center. Our tour guide was again very knowledgeable about the area, but when describing the sights or flowers or whatever, would describe it as “preddy…preddy…preddy” in a very slooooow accent. Every now and then, he would break out and sing a Hawaiian song, and in the middle of it, would say, “come on, you know the words” which of course none of us did (reminded me of Slammer from the 92nd who would sing the old fighter pilot songs and also would stop and say, “you know the words”).
When the bus dropped us off, I wandered around the town of Lahaina, which is a really cute, quaint town. Right by the dock, the largest banyan tree in the United States covered an entire city block. I think it had 18 tree trunks, but is considered one single tree since there is just one main trunk and several other trunks all connected through the branches. Banyan trees are all over all the islands and are very interesting trees.
This was the only port where we saw another cruise ship. The Crystal Symphony was anchored off our port bow (left forward side—see I am learning some sailing terms).
The last tender was set for 4:30 and I took the tender back to the ship around 3:30—didn’t want to take any chance of missing it. There were several tenders going back and forth and when I got off mine, I went up to the Lower Promenade Deck and watched all the tenders being hooked up and raised up and secured. The middle part of the Lower Promenade Deck was blocked off since that is where they store all the lifeboats and the tenders had to be raised to that level and secured above the deck. When you walk around the deck (which goes all the way around the entire ship), you walk under all the lifeboats. It was interesting watching how they raise it up and secure it.
Once the last tender was secured, we set sail (wonder why they call it that since we don’t have sails). I watched as land slowly disappeared over the horizon. Today was the warmest day we’d had, around 78 degrees and very humid, and the days ahead would get progressively colder as we returned to San Diego. The captain came over the loudspeaker and explained the route we would be taking and also said that there was a weather system that would cause some turbulence (which means that we would have some rough seas ahead) over the next few days.
Dinner that night was a Dutch theme night and they served both Dutch and Indonesian food. There were little Dutch hats for everyone which all the folks at my table wore; not everyone at all the tables wore the hats, but I guess we all felt that we should just go with the flow. Of course, most of us didn’t look the least bit Dutch, but hey, when in Rome (or on a Dutch ship…). My waiter, Gede, recommended the Indonesian dish Bami Goreng (I think that’s how it was spelled) which is a noodle dish with pork and chicken—it was a little bit spicy, but very good—apparently, Indonesian food is very popular in Holland. I did have a Dutch appetizer and Dutch apple pie with raisins for dessert along with my cappuccino (one of the few times I’ve had dessert).
After dinner, I went out to the Sea View deck and visited with Stephanie (whom I’ve seen several times) and Inge, the German lady I had met the previous day. Haven’t really managed to read very much on this cruise since it seems I spend so much time just visiting with all the different folks I’ve met (not all of them I’ve listed) over the past few days.
I know a few of you are probably wondering if I’ve met any single men on board since all I seem to mention are the women I’ve met, and yes there are a few solo men (although the women definitely outnumber the men). There’s Peter, who I’ve seen at breakfast a few times—he’s from Australia and is in his 60s, Kurt who is from Seattle and in his late 50s and Inge’s brother, Ludwig, is in his late 60s (I’m just guessing at all the ages). All are nice to just chat with occasionally, but just to let you all know, I’m simply not interested and for now, don’t consider myself “available.” Maybe someday, that may change, but not yet. I’m simply enjoying doing what I want to do whenever I want to and sometimes sharing activities and conversations with other people I’ve met.
The towel origami animal of the day was another unrecognizable creature sitting up with kind of a “butt” face (you’ll understand what I mean when I finally get the pictures loaded up). The first of many sea days tomorrow, and I have absolutely nothing planned—might even sleep in!
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