Land is sighted and we have arrived at Pier 2 in Honolulu today! We had breakfast with the ship steadfastly tied to the dock and no rocking back and forth – except our bodies still felt like we were at sea! Andrew ordered a full breakfast this morning and I had asked for the blueberry muffins that I had been receiving be switched to the chocolate ones which were much more palatable. However I did not PAY ATTENTION when opening up the basket and took out the set of chocolate muffins and promptly buttered and put some jam on them and took a bite! Needless to say they tasted WAY TOO GOOD for gluten free. So then I looked in the basket some more and there were the two gluten free muffins in their paper baking cups. I cannot believe this has happened to me yet again on a cruise! I know to watch for the paper cups but I was so happy to get a different muffin that I forgot. Needless to say, I was a bit sick later in the morning!
We then spent some time reacquainting ourselves with our families (I had phoned my parents via WiFi on the ship just to try it out but the delay was a bit hard to take) by calling home on my cell phone which worked great! We also watched some of the ship action in the harbour before going out for the afternoon to run some errands at the local Ala Moana Mall. Here are some highlights from the morning/early afternoon:
After our leisurely stroll off the ship about noon (we let the rest of the ship get off early and go on their tours etc) we took a taxi to the Ala Moana mall which is nearby to pick up some essentials that someone (me) forgot such as shampoo, cotton yarn for knitting, thongs and I was also in desperate need of a heating pad! As Ala Moana is an open air mall, while we were walking along from the French boutique called Target, my shopping destination, we stopped and watched some young kids put on a Sunday afternoon hula show! Then we went to Hilo Hattie, as it was also located at the mall, where I was surprised just how SMALL the store was! I still managed to find a nice dress to wear for our Hawaiian part of our vacation though!
At Hilo Hattie, once I had purchased the dress, offered us a ride back to the Noordam ship – I did not realize they had a shuttle bus from the ship to begin with! I asked them twice if it was wheelchair accessible and they said it was and also looked at me like I was asking a stupid question, so we proceeded to wait for the next shuttle. Andrew then quickly needed to run an errand, so we missed the shuttle we were booked onto. When we returned to Hilo Hattie, we waited for the shuttle to return – the ride to the ship is only about 7-10 minutes. When the shuttle appeared, there was a lovely sign next to its door indicating that they do not not carry wheelchairs or scooters. I at this point was barely able to walk, and was not going to be able to climb the stairs onto the shuttle. I have no idea why the store clerks thought this van was wheelchair accessible! On top of that, as we are in the USA, this is a violation of the ADA requirements – if a company offers a shuttle service, it has to be accessible to all, or the company has to provide alternative accessible transportation. Seems that Hilo Hattie is not aware of this rather important law.
We ended up taking a taxi back to the ship and resting for about an hour. At that time, I received a phone call (yes I was surprised that my phone rang) from the PF Chang’s Restaurant in Waikiki, where we had made a 5:30 pm reservation for dinner, prior to going to the Cirque de Solei show of ‘Auana at the Outrigger Beach Resort. Apparently, the water main had broken in the mall where the restaurant is located, and they wanted to let us know that they might not be open for dinner! They did not call back, so I called prior to leaving the ship, and they indeed were open for dinner – thank goodness! I, in the past, have liked PF Chang’s for food as they have a good gluten free protocol and offering. However, in the last year, I have noticed both their restaurants closing (Bellevue, WA), fewer gluten free menu items and lastly, a lower quality of food. I think this might have been our last meal at PF Chang’s restaurant in general – I was not impressed with the bland taste of the egg foo young soup, Pad Thai and the Chicken and Broccoli dish’s that we ordered. Andrew had to add soy sauce to his meal to “spice” it up! It bothers me when a restaurants meals are no longer exciting to eat! Yet another chain off the list of places to patronize when in the USA! Here are some photos of our dinner:
Next we went shopping at the local ABC store (which is a mainstay in Hawaii, where I was finally able to find some thongs that had some support – in the Men’s section! They are a bit wide for my feet but they will work and they do show off my lovely pedicure from a couple of days back very well! I got a couple of other little souvenirs and then we proceeded to walk to the Outrigger Beach Hotel where the ‘Auana show is located. It sure was nice walking in the 27 degree C temperature along a street! There also was a certain deviation made to a gelato place that had no sugar chocolate gelato! One VERY SMALL cup cost $6 – wow – you can sure tell you are in a tourist area! Here are some views from the street – including a yellow ladder truck!
We finally found the Outrigger Beach Resort (we found there are two Outrigger hotels in Waikiki and we just happened to visit both of them in search of the show – good thing they are almost across the street from each other) and what I am finding is a phenomenon here in Hawaii – the use of escalators to get to the “lobby” of a hotel, which is up one level. Now, I have gotten in trouble for collapsing my walker and getting on an escalator previously, so we decided to find the elevator instead and enter the hotel the proper way…. Sure enough you need a key card to access the elevator however the did let us in when allowed us to get to the hotel lobby where you line up with your tickets.
I thought the show was sold out, and as I had purchased these tickets from a person on the Cruise Critic website who had to cancel the cruise at a last minute, they were not accessible tickets. They were VERY nice seats in the lower bowl of the show – similar to how the seating is set up in a big top tent. I went into the ticketing office and they were more than happy to exchange the tickets to accessible ones so that I did not have to go downstairs or walk into the middle of the auditorium from the side. Instead we had great seats at the top of the lower bowl which suited us just fine!
Now, a little segway about ‘Auana just so you have some context as to why I was interested in seeing this show – I love Cirque du Solei performances, however sometimes I find I am thinking afterwards what they really meant or were trying to teach us – they are often “out there” I would say in their creativity. I was quite intrigued when the opportunity presented itself to purchase tickets at the description for ‘Auana which is as follows:
“A Tribute to Hawaiian Culture – Hawai‘i’s first Cirque du Soleil resident show – step into a world where reality bends and the spirit of Hawai‘i comes alive—welcome to ‘Auana, an enchanting journey brought to life by Cirque du Soleil. This spectacular show celebrates the essence of the islands through breathtaking artistry and awe-inspiring athleticism. Prepare to be captivated as a diverse ensemble of international and local talents delivers an exhilarating blend of acrobatics, laughter, mesmerizing hula, and soul-stirring music.”
“The compelling narrative of ‘Auana unfolds across eight chapters, inspired by the mo‘olelo (stories) of Hawai‘i. From the Polynesian migration, to the “golden age of tourism”, each act honors a deep connection to the ʻāina (land), celebrating Hawai‘i’s rich heritage and cultural traditions.”
The 80 minute show does not have an intermission and similar to other shows I have seen, the performers come into the audience, however with this show they were present even more – almost with every change of scene they entered and exited through the pathways around the circular theatre. Here are some pictures that I took when at the show, which I will describe a bit more below:
There are 3 videos that I filmed during the performance – two are not shown above – one was the Hawaii 5-0 sequence with the Cirque “clown” where he got 4 guys out of the audience to perform – it was hilarious! It runs 4 1/2 minutes.
The next video is about 90 seconds long where the 2 acrobats depicted in the last picture above, portray fire and the volcano’s in Hawaii – their performance of going around in the wheels and then outside of them, including skipping and jumping around was phenomenal!
Then to close, the last video of each of the performers taking their bows – which were well deserved! It lasts just under 3 minutes.
We then met the friends of the people who sold us the tickets (she actually brought us lei’s to the theatre for us which was very kind!) and we shared an Uber back to the Noordam after the performance! I think that was the latest I have been up on this trip – we did not get back until about 11 pm and I had an early start planned for Monday morning! A massage and then talking to UBC Pharmacy students!