It's Good to be Home

The last day on the ship was spent on deck in the sunshine admiring the coast off of Kauai, where we saw a rainbow, waterfalls and whales surfacing.  They had a barbecue lunch out on deck and Vicki and I were thrilled to eat our hot dogs (one of our favorite foods) out there and snapping photos.  That night, the crew put on a farewell show for us and we were able to meet most of the behind the scenes crew like the chefs, waiters, etc.  As we walked out of the theatre, they were there to shake our hands and thank us.  It amazes me how many friends we made among the crew and other travelers.  We met wonderful people from all over the country and some from outside the country and for one week traveled together as a family.

FYI all you trivia buffs, watch out for the Johnson/Will trivia team...we kick butt.  Trivia was one of our favorite activities while on board and while we did fairly well, the last night we ROCKED.  In the Pink Champagne bar they held a final music trivia contest and our team won with 19 out of 20 points total.  Beware!  :0)

Our last day in Hawaii was spent at Pearl Harbor visiting the U.S.S. Missouri battleship and the U.S.S. Arizona memorial.  The U.S.S. Missouri is the only remaining battleship and was last called into service during the first Gulf War.  It sits on the site were the U.S.S. Oklahoma sunk in Pearl Harbor.  The U.S.S. Arizona was very sobering.  It had the most loss of life, with 23 sets of brothers and a father and a son.  It was totally fueled up with over a million gallons of fuel on the day it sank and, to this day, it still leaks oil into the harbor on occasion.  We also toured Honolulu a bit and saw the neighborhood where Barak Obama grew up, Diamond Head and the Punch Bowl, where all the war veterans are buried.  We were told that on Memorial Day each year they put flags as well as leis on each grave.  It was such an aweseome sight.  The statue there at the punch bowl, for all you Hawaii Five-O fans, is the one shown at the opening of the show.

We arrived at the airport at 4:00 p.m. expecting to wait until 9:40 p.m. for our flight to leave.  When we checked in, we found that we could take an earlier flight at 5:55 p.m.  I got on the flight, but when Vicki attempted to get on the same flight, no dice.  We were told I could not go back to the later flight as it was overbooked, but they wouldn't let Vicki on the earlier flight with me, even though there were empty seats.  Huh?!  As I said, it didn't make sense to us, however, we were persistent enough to get Vicki on the earlier flight with me and we hoofed it to the gate.  On the upside, we got a free dinner and breakfast and a choice of movies on that earlier flight.  Plus, we got home 6 hours earlier, arriving in Madison at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

This trip was a great way to see the Hawaiian islands.  I was surprised by the number of activities on the ship, as well as the shore excursions.  A cruise is for anyone who wants to see and do things on the islands, or for the people who want to hang out on ship and participate in the activities they have scheduled, or just chill by the pool and read a book.  If you're bored on this trip, it's your own fault. 

Speaking for myself, it was the perfect vacation with the perfect traveling buddy.  Come join me in my next adventure down Route 66 in September!

Aloha!