Finsatsea: December 8 - Hawaii’s but a distant memory

On December 6 we docked in Honolulu near the famous clock tower. I had thought for a while that it was too bad that we weren’t going to be there a day later because of the significance of the day and then it finally clicked in my brain that there are no doubt many things going on there at an anniversary. Better not to be in Honolulu then.

The Aloha clock tower

Before I left the ship I had to say goodbye to Diana, one of my favorites who left to go home to Portugal. I'm happy for her that she'll be home with her family, but I'll miss her.

I have friends, Paige and Greg, who I met on my last cruise and we had arranged to meet. They picked me up, along with another lady and her cabinmate, and we drove to a private club called the Outrigger Club which is right on Waikiki beach. On the way Paige told us that in addition to the Pearl Harbor Day ceremonies on the 7th there would be the Hawaiian Marathon race. That explained all the porta-potties along the streets and in the parks.

We arrived at the club and were seated on an outdoor terrace right at the waterfront with a beautiful view of Waikiki to the right and of Diamond Head on the left. It had been a long time since I’d been to Honolulu and it looked like there had been a lot of growth since my last visit. The “Pink Palace,” the Royal Hawaiian Hotel was still there and I heard that it just underwent a huge renovation.

The view of Waikiki Beach from the terrace where we had lunch

The Christmas tree at the entrance to the Outrigger Clun

Our table was under an umbrella and despite a little passing shower we didn’t get wet. On the stretch of beach near us there were surfers, both on boards and bodysurfers. With the sound of the waves coming on it was delightful! We couldn’t hear the traffic outside at all. Paige and Greg treated us to a lovely lunch. I had a wonderful chicken salad served in a ripe mango which was the best I’ve ever tasted. We had some kind of drink whose name I can’t remember but it was delicious. It was like a mango-rum slushee.

Those are my friends Paige and Greg on the left.

Greg is a 3rd or 4th generation Hawaiian and it was interesting to listen to him and his wife Paige talk about the changes on the island. We passed a big park on our way to and from the club and they told us that until recently there was a large homeless encampment there. They were cleared out before the marathon was to occur on the 7th. I had seen some homeless people camped out in Maui the other day and somehow I just had never thought about the islands having many of them. Some are junkies and mentally ill, but many others are people who lost jobs during covid and just never went back to work.

After a lovely afternoon my hosts brought us back to the ship and we said Aloha and A hui hou (Goodbye and until we meet again). As we were getting out of the car I ran into my friends who had been on a shopping mission in the Ala Moana Mall. I think it was probably good that I didn’t go with them because they were loaded down with shopping bags.

At 4 PM out on deck we were entertained on the pool deck by a Hawaiian family who played traditional Hawaiian music and performed a variety of dances, including the hula (of course!). The women, some of them girls really including one very little one, were so graceful and I was mesmerized watching their hands as they told their story with them while their swayed. (how can they move like that?) The men in the family did a couple of more fearsome dances and I could see how in times gone by they could intimidate their foes. Near the end of the show they got some guests up to join them and I have to give those people kudos for being willing to get up in front of us.