Cruising-along

Last night the Lido had a seafood boil for $35/pp. It was the first time offered on this cruise (to be determined if we have it again). We enjoyed ourselves and the food was plentiful and good. Some improvements could be made such as the chowder was watery and not a bit of bacon. 3 clams and a few tiny pieces of potato. Not like Ivar’s as advertised. We thought the rest was very good although quite messy because everything was sitting in a broth (tasty but messy using fingers). We did get bibs though. 😉

We had tickets for #10 and tendering stopped at #9. I was disappointed after waiting several hours, but do understand. It would have been nice to be able to say I went there even if only for a few minutes. It looks beautiful.

Good morning from the lovely Volendam! It’s another lazy sea day as we head to Kiritimati tomorrow. Sadly we won’t be going to Fanning Island. Again the immigration authorities say they can’t get there for us. The ship must have quite a collection of donations because the last cruise couldn’t make it there either. 😕 Last night was our first formal night (we’ve also had 1 dressy night). It was fun seeing all the sparkles, everyone was all decked out in their finest.

We took a taxi to the airport and had a car reserved with Budget. There was some question that they would pick us up, but the person who does that was sick. The drive from Hilo to the park took about 45 minutes, easy drive. The Visitor Center there is a wealth of information. We decided to drive the East Rim drive, best for our time limits and what to see. Loved it all, fascinating to follow the lava right down to the ocean. We left Hilo around 9:15 and were back to Hilo at 2:30. We also got lunch during that time.

Yesterday we rented a car and drove to the Volcano National Park. It was a great day and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Weather couldn’t have been better. The singer last night is billed as a singer/comedian and we laughed our heads off! She was much funnier than the comedian earlier in the cruise. We hope she will perform again, we really enjoyed it. Tonight is our first “formal night” (we also have dressy nights this cruise) and the Volendam Ball.

Hello from Honolulu and the Volendam! This is our second day in Honolulu, we head to Hilo tonight. Yesterday we had an 8-hour circle the island tour with other CC’rs and had a great time. Other than some shopping at Hilo Hattie’s and Walmart this morning we’re taking it easy today—resting up for the Volcano National Park tomorrow. Loving this cruise! For the Garden Club. 🙂 Sorry, I can’t get rid of the black void at the end. 😂 Cacao plant

Greetings from the lovely Volendam! We’re having an amazing time, loving every minute. Meeting our fellow Dailyites and sailing again with Rich has been a big plus too. Last night we spent some time with Rich at the Island Dream party and we’ll have dinner tonight with him in the Pinnacle Grill. Tonight is the pop-up Tamarind night. 😀. If any other Dailyites would like to join us please let us know. The more the merrier 🙂🙂 I’ll put out a message on Navigator too. Tomorrow we will reach Honolulu. We have an all-day private tour and are looking forward to that.

I am on the Volendam now. As I walked the promenade deck yesterday there was indeed a lanai cabin door left open. 😡

We had a wonderful time this afternoon with fellow Dailyites! Will definitely be doing this again. 😀 Henry (Cruising-along’s DH), Carolyn (Cruising-along), Lorraine (cruising sister), Caron (cruisercl), Rich, and Susan (durangoscots)

We were very pleased to see that a Tamarind menu will be available in the Pinnacle Grill on January 8 so we booked it today. Right now it will be offered only once but if it’s well received they may do it again.

Good morning from the Volendam! What a difference a day makes. After a wild first night out of San Diego, last night was perfect. I slept 11 hours (perfect rolling for sleep). The crew was even exclaiming over the first night. Many of us had bags under our eyes. I felt so sorry for the crew who had to get up and go to work. We had a large turnout at our M&G in spite of that, it was nice to put faces to names! And the Block Party was so much fun. There are a few other CCrs near our cabin. Today is a Mariner reception, Captain’s Welcome and our first Dressy night. We are getting things put away in our cabin but it will take awhile. I brought too much LOL! Loving the cruise!

As Rich said, we had a rough ride last night and still a bit rough this morning. I didn’t get to sleep until after 3 this morning. Other than that everything has been great! The MDR Mgr. passed out long-stem roses to each woman last night and I hear the same thing was done in other dining venues. Our favorite Cellar Master (Rod) is onboard and we’ve had a few nice talks with him. Great M&G turnout this afternoon. So nice to put faces to names!

Greetings from the Volendam! We met up with Rich soon after boarding, still haven’t run across @durangoscots, @cruising sister, or @Cruisercl and look forward to meeting them. The Captain just announced we should be sailing on time. 🙂 We’re maybe 1/3 unpacked, and waiting for our last bag to arrive. Lots of bags, this will take awhile to get settled. 😉

Greetings from San Diego! We’re settled into our room at the Wyndham and this is our view. Tomorrow morning we will see the Volendam waiting for us! We took a long walk to Rite Aid and then further, picked up some things for the cruise, and met more CC’ers out and about too. It will be an early dinner tonight because I’ve been awake since 2:30 this morning and running out of steam! 😉

We’re waiting for take-off from Everett, WA. So excited, I’ve been awake since 2:30 this morning! Should be interesting. 😂 Only 2.5 hour flight, San Diego here we come!

Debbie I love your Grandmother’s needlepoint. I have some my Grandmother did, but just on a small stool not a chair. See you soon ladies!

We are now settled into our airport hotel, and will be getting dinner delivered from Ivar’s. Thank goodness our flight in the morning is only 3 hours long — easy-peasy!

Happy New Year to everyone! I was asleep by 10 last night, with the sound machine turned up full blast and a sleeping pill. Still, I woke up at what must have been midnight when the fireworks (which started here around 3 yesterday afternoon) suddenly got VERY loud. I just put the pillow over my head and turned over. 😅 We have a full 3 days ahead of us, I was determined to sleep last night. 🤣 DS will be here this afternoon to take us to our airport hotel, and tomorrow by noon we should be landing in San Diego. Can't wait!! It may be hard to keep up with everything happening with the Dailyites, but I plan to do my best. 🙂 Sandi @StLouisCruisers I LOVE your DD's latest tree. I think it's my favorite! I wish a healthy, happy 2024 to everyone and maybe a cruise or 2 or 3. 🙂

Thank you Sandi! I also have taken my counted cross-stitch on many cruises. We also had a crafters group on the Voyage of the Vikings, and will have one on the GANZ too. Since we'll have a lot of sea days I should be able to make some progress -- at least I hope so!

Have you been charged? What does it say on your HAL website itinerary? Like I said, my Navigator shows we have it but we haven't been notified, haven't been charged for it, and HAL's website itinerary says we're still waitlisted.

Thanks for letting us know you arrived safely, and thank you for answering my question on the roll call re the hotel shuttle. Good to hear you had no problems. According to the roll call spreadsheet, there will be 67 of us at this hotel! Please get some photos to share of the HH get-together tonight, see you soon. 🙂 🙂

Are you looking at your itinerary on Navigator or the HAL website? Because we're waitlisted for a tour and on the Navigator it doesn't mention waitlisted at all (and we've not been charged for the excursion either). But on the HAL website when I look at my itinerary, it definitely shows "waitlisted". Another case where Navigator isn't quite right.

Good morning all! I can't remember the last time I stayed up until midnight on New Year's Eve, but we'll have our champagne tonight and celebrate early! Since our area always has a TON of fireworks on New Year's Eve I may be awake, but at least in bed. This is our last full day at home before the GANZ, so lots to do. DS will pick us up tomorrow and take us to our airport hotel, we fly out Tuesday morning at 9. I'm sure I would like the wine and probably the drink, but will pass on the spicy meal. Don't need heartburn along with all the fireworks LOL! Tonight will be pork chops and the last of the produce -- I can't believe I was able to make all the food last long enough but not too long. This may be a first for me. 😅 I had thought I'd be giving food to my neighbor, but it looks like we'll eat it all! We will be in Fanning Island on January 15 -- thank you Sandi @StLouisCruisers for the great photos. We're bringing things to donate too so I hope we're able to tender in. Apparently the ship has items from the last cruise that couldn't tender in too. It's exciting to hear that @durangoscots is in San Diego and that @cruising sister and @Cruisercl will be there soon. Please post photos of any get-togethers for those of us who haven't gotten there 🙂 See you soon! Sandi @StLouisCruisers That stocking will be beautiful! I'm always excited to start a new project, especially beautiful ones like this. I'll be bringing a large project with me on the cruise (a scene in Europe) -- we'll see how far I get 😉 I hope to at least get a good start on it. Happy New Year's Eve everyone! Edited to add that I didn't have to prove I'm human. But I never log out of CC.

Lenda don't get me wrong, mine never will be as clean as the HAL stewards get the ship either 😉 I've always wanted to stash our cabin steward into our luggage -- hard to leave such great service!

Thank you and safe travels to you! We will go to our airport hotel on Monday and fly out Tuesday morning. Can't wait to meet everyone! I'm hoping that by having the house shut tight for 3 months the dust will be minimal. I usually only have a problem with that during the summer when the windows are open.