Wednesday,
February 12, 2020
We
haven't gone far. Just around the island to the west side, to dock
at Kona.
Kona
is the only port on this trip where we have to tender from the ship to shore using lifeboats. But it was only a
few minutes. The tenders carry 97 passengers for tendering, but 150 for when they are used as lifeboats. I guess we'd just have to sit on somebody's lap.
Today
we signed up for Captain Zodiac Raft, Snorkel, and Dolphin Adventure to Kealakekua Bay, one of the best places in Hawaii for snorkeling..
imagecredit:https://twitter.com/captainzodiac
There were A LOT of people that signed up for this excursion, and they divided us into half a dozen groups. We ended up with 2 of the cycling girls from yesterday, and Linda who lives up the road from us. Funny how that worked out.
On the way to the snorkeling, we got several bonus sightings of bottlenose dolphin pods, and also a sighting of a baby humpback whale with its mother and escort.
The snorkeling was crowded, but the Hawaiian fish are large and beautiful.
We
signed up for the earliest snorkeling slot, which meant that we had the
entire afternoon free.
We ate lunch onboard ship, and noticed that all of a sudden we are no longer allowed to serve ourselves from the buffet. It will be that way for the rest of the cruise. Hmmm....
We tendered back and walked around the town a bit. Unfortunately, our outrigger canoe ride was cancelled due to high winds and choppy water. These are the double-hulled sailing canoes that the Polynesians used when they came to Hawaii, travelling thousands of miles over open ocean with no instruments to guide them. The outriggers (single or double support floats) are for stabilization.
So we joined the long line to get a tender back to the ship, and went to a presentation instead. We thought it was going to be a talk on how this huge ship is run efficiently, but it turned into a Q and A instead.
Here are a few interesting facts about a ship this size:
- They go through 35,000 eggs and 2,000 pounds of butter in one week
- They have 6 engines that produce 70,000 horsepower total
- The ship holds over 250,000 gallons of fuel oil that will last almost 2 weeks
- It holds half a million gallons of potable water which lasts only 2 days
- They use use 5,000 pounds of flour a week
- They launder 12,000 napkins a day and 8000 sheets per cruise
Frankie did pull aside the food manager and suggest that the buffet foods be labelled for allergies. He said thanks for the suggestion and we will take it into advisement. Which means they aren't going to do anything about it at all.
On the way to the snorkeling, we got several bonus sightings of bottlenose dolphin pods, and also a sighting of a baby humpback whale with its mother and escort.
The snorkeling was crowded, but the Hawaiian fish are large and beautiful.
We ate lunch onboard ship, and noticed that all of a sudden we are no longer allowed to serve ourselves from the buffet. It will be that way for the rest of the cruise. Hmmm....
We tendered back and walked around the town a bit. Unfortunately, our outrigger canoe ride was cancelled due to high winds and choppy water. These are the double-hulled sailing canoes that the Polynesians used when they came to Hawaii, travelling thousands of miles over open ocean with no instruments to guide them. The outriggers (single or double support floats) are for stabilization.
So we joined the long line to get a tender back to the ship, and went to a presentation instead. We thought it was going to be a talk on how this huge ship is run efficiently, but it turned into a Q and A instead.
Here are a few interesting facts about a ship this size:
- They go through 35,000 eggs and 2,000 pounds of butter in one week
- They have 6 engines that produce 70,000 horsepower total
- The ship holds over 250,000 gallons of fuel oil that will last almost 2 weeks
- It holds half a million gallons of potable water which lasts only 2 days
- They use use 5,000 pounds of flour a week
- They launder 12,000 napkins a day and 8000 sheets per cruise
Frankie did pull aside the food manager and suggest that the buffet foods be labelled for allergies. He said thanks for the suggestion and we will take it into advisement. Which means they aren't going to do anything about it at all.
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