BermudaBound2014

Todays daily (Kauai)

Thanks! It’s easy to derail me :). I’m also on the 2025 so if you have specific questions and tag me I’ll be sure to answer directly in the 2025 roll call also 🙂 I do need to catch up. I will do that in a bit. The Last few days have been spectacular. In the meantime, I do want to post the menus and planner for those that asked. Tonight’s menu-

@ORTravelGal did you see the solo cabin photos I posted? I normally do balconies too but I have been very happy with this cabin, tremendous about of floor space.

Yea- I’m pretty sure I’ve been ousted.

Todays daily planner

Tonight’s dinner menu for my new friends 🙂- again please accept my apologies for not realizing everyone couldn’t see these in the app.

Last nights lido menu ..most things on the mdr are also found at the lido and you can get fresh grilled protein and fresh stir fried veggies. Right off the grill sizzling hot 🙂

It had been six days since we saw land, and Hilo was a welcome site. My sister has a condo in Kona, and I’ve spent a fair bit of time on the big island so no tour planned. Started the day with tai chi. The instructor is adorable and a hoot. I’ll post his name later because I want to get the spelling right. He is also the picket ball master. He has the perfect job for his personality. I decided to take the free shuttle to the farmers market. From there I walked to rainbow Falls. I’m guessing it was less than 3 miles, but it was all uphill, so take that into account if you plan to make the journey by foot. Spent some relaxed time at the falls just letting all my senses absorb the energy. Hawaii really is different than the mainland. From its core. I headed back to the ship by Uber ($15) because I much prefer walking uphill to walking down. While i was at the falls I ran into another new lifetime friend. She was on a tour. I was on foot. We snapped a selfie I will cherish. Every single person I have spent time with onboard has been a gem. Back onboard I had a salad for lunch. The salads are exceptional. They had prime rib on both the mdr and lido dinner menu so that was dinner. It was excellent. I spent some time at sail away watching several different groups of whales off the starboard side. Several pickle breaches from a calf. Surprisingly, they were here all day which is a bit unusual for the hill area. This evening was a comic. He made me laugh couple times. Funny side story- few weeks ago we were on a carnival ship. Carnival does comedy right (6 different performers offering 12 different shows in a one week time period). Anyway, one of the comics poked fun of the comedy offered on HAL and his stereotype proved bang on. Let’s just say this was a very clean comedy show and I believe most of the audience preferred this style. So a Hilo summary for those without tours - there is a free shuttle to the farmers market. From there you can walk to rainbow falls. I just saved you $129 pp 🙂 To get back to the ship the free shuttle does its last return at 11:45 ( this company does an island tour at noon. The ship charges $149 but they will sell you direct for $60). If you miss the free shuttle, the farmers market itself has a free small van shuttle that runs on the half hour until 1:00. After 1:00 the city bus is free and picks up from the farmers market area on the 15s. It drops you off just outside of the pier so a little walking is involved w this option. Ride share will be less than $15 from town and can drive right up to the ship.

Ahhh… my apologies for the confusion. Hubby is probably logged in as me back home. Here is a menu for tonight. I’ll try to remember to grab them for you.

I believe that is your problem. Can someone please help this gentleman get to the Koningsdam menus in the app? You can see our exact menu in the app. Be sure to click on Koningsdam. It is not generic (at least it wasn’t generic the last several sailings). You have to navigate to Koningsdam. Im not on ship wifi or I’d post todays menu for you to cross reference. My husband can see the menu before I do because he is awake on east coast time :).

Todays daily before I forget

The observatory on top of Mauna Kea is clearly visible this morning. And I’m seeing some whale action in the distance, nothing like we will see tomorrow on Maui but they are around.

You can see our menus right from your app at home. Just download the app and go to our daily menus. They have everything posted. Let us know if you can’t find them

@SonuvaBeach As soon as i saw Silvers question I had a feeling you would be the one to have caught it on camera!! bravo!!

I have seen the green flash many times in Maui so it’s not that rare here, but always a bonus 🙂

For the classical music lovers there was both an afternoon performance of a pianist and also a violin/piano duo. They were happening simultaneously which I thought was odd scheduling. The piano player was in the theatre and it was jam packed. The violinist/piano played in Bbking and it was not well attended but I suspect that is because the piano player was doing his thing. If you are into classical music, it’s here. Tonight they had an event called “Lido Fun Fair”. Basically they had four games set up (cornhole, ring toss. Etc…) and guests played each other for raffle tickets. The officers were the officials. I didn’t stick around long, but those participating seemed to be enjoying themselves. Weather was perfect outside so I got another 3 miles in. I caught a set of the dueling pianos and Rolling Stones rock. I’m definitely a rock girl so that’s my jam, but I have heard great things about the dance band so I’ll hit that up one night. Oh- I had fresh grilled fish for dinner from the lido and it was a win. So glad they offer fresh grill. I was told it wasn’t available last year which seemed very odd. They also had part of the lido roped off for a seafood boil ($35). Tomorrow is Hilo. I spent several weeks on the big island last year so I’m going to lay low.

I’m about to head to happy hour so I thought I better post todays daily now. As you can see, there really isn’t a lot of choices in the evening but the sets I have listened to in Rolling Stones have been good. I’ll try Bbking eventually too. As you can see, tonight’s evening entertainment in the theatre is a movie. This is far cry from the entertainment options on other lines. Apparently HAL is spending their entertainment budget on lobster 🙂

It’s a glorious day to be in the middle of the Pacific. Seas are calm and the sun is shining brightly. So far today I managed some tai-chi. It’s very easy (although I know I’m doing some poses wrong). From there I participated in the 10am dancing by the pool. It’s very easy (although I know I’m doing some of the steps wrong). Notice the theme? I have one of the Queen loungers on deck 10. I came out at 7 am and got the last one so there is some competition. The pool deck was almost full too. Had the most lovely visit with a new friend for life. It’s funny how much we all have in common regardless of the color of our skin, nationality, or age. Got three miles on the jogging track. Sun is bright and I forgot sunscreen. I’ll pick up a couple more miles later to meet my 5 mile a day goal. I was supposed to have Caneletto tonight but I was invited to join other new lifetime friends at the Caneleto next week so I switched up dates. Currently about to enjoy this Reuban from the deli. The pager works on all the upstairs loungers so it’s very convenient and less chaotic lunch experience (although ice cream is in the buffet and that is sounding yummy so I’ll put on my iron and brave the crowd). It’s ice-cream after all. I haven’t seen this mentioned. This morning there was no early breakfast in the MDR and instead they did a Hawaiian brunch from 9-1. Friends said it was good. I have yet to make it to the MdR. Maybe tonight. Probably not.

@canadianbear yours are gorgeous too!! The Dutch dancers are perfect for me, what a great memory. Smooches!!!

Personally, I would not purchase for the entire cruise. The spa area is very nice but it’s not off the charts like day spas on other ships. At $50 it was expensive but worth it to me because I truly needed a day to just kick back and decompress. All this meeting and greeting wears a girl out :). I would recommend scheduling it the first few days while its still cold outside. I would buy a one day pass again, but for me, when I buy a whole trip pass I feel obligated to use it everyday and it becomes “something I feel obligated to do” as opposed to a one day treat where I literally spend the entire day detoxing. Only you know if you’d use it everyday but, for me, a one day or two day pass is plenty on this itinerary.

OH.MY.GOSH….. What an amazing surprise to come back to my cabin to this beautiful bouquet and thank you card for my participation in helping organize tours on the roll call. An act of kindness that brought a little tear to my eye. I always believe in the goodness of people, but this gesture takes the cake. I am speechless (and I suspect you folks know how rare that is). Seriously, I don’t know what to do other than muster up all my aloha energy send it to this beautiful soul- @canadianbear I am beyond grateful!!! I now have flowers on my desk and bedside table- my heart is full. Sunflowers are still going strong..

We are still sailing toward Hawaii but the seas have calmed and the temperature is rising. First two days had 15-20 foot swells, so the ship had movement. It was also cooler that I expected. On Day three they opened the sliding dome over the pool for the first time and when the sun is shining, it’s starting to feel like the tropics. Nothing exciting to report for day 5. I’ve settled into a very relaxed pace and spent the entire day in the thermal spa. It’s not the most fancy spa on the seas, but it got the job done. Lasso-thermal pool, heated tile loungers, sauna, steam, and a relaxation room. I’ve never been on a cruise with this many sea days and it’s quite lovely to slow the pace. I feel no rush to “get everything in” as I still have 30 days to explore. There are parts of the ship I haven’t even seen yet. Here are some pics of the thermal spa. A really nice way to spend a sea day.

Hi Julia- There are at least a dozen of us on this cruise that are doing it over next year. Sign that bad boy up!! 🤣

It’s still very early in the cruise. I’m friends with several people that have club orange and will ask them if things improve as the cruise progresses.

That’s funny too. What are the odds? On my current cruise I don’t get a March 1st and have two March 3rds. I think this is a grand excuse to celebrate sept 14-16 🙂