Customs & Immigrations at Hilo - Day 17 & 18

Day 17 .continued



Phil’s Talent show went great and best of all it has been playing on the TV over and over since it happened yesterday afternoon. All 5 of the Guest Entertainers were awarded a gold medal each to show that they had participated in this event. Then we had a reception for all the “Consecutive Cruisers (those continuing on to Vancouver). As we all drank mimosa’s we were welcomed to the group of Royal Caribbean Family of travelers. Our questions were all answered and now we feel ready to continue on with the last 12 days of our trip.



Dinner again was great and everybody kept telling Phil how great he was at playing his ukulele and singing the song Side by Side. Am sure by now everybody has seen this played on TV. The entertainment tonight was Mario D’Andrea a great guitarist with a wonderful voice who kept us on our hands in motion for a full hour.



As we walked back to our cabin one of my last remarks to Phil was “Please do not wake me up in the morning, I want to sleep until at least 8:30”.



Day 18 – Saturday, April 21, 2012

Today we have reached the Big Island of Hawaii and are docked at Hilo. The reason that I wanted to sleep in is that our Immigration Number is 10 and we have been told that it will be at least 9:15 – 9:45 before we will be called for inspection and then be allowed to leave the ship.



At 6:30 AM When I heard Phil saying – wake up – I have your breakfast for you….

I rolled over and tried for another hour to get some more sleep but finally gave up

And enjoyed the nice breakfast that he was so good to bring to me…… I was not a happy camper.



It was 9:45 when number 10 was called… we sailed thru customs and U S Immigration with no problems and were soon out on the dock making our way down the dock to where they have the taxi’s and buses. We found a free shuttle that would take us into Hilo to the Saturday Farmers Market and Vendor stalls. Another shuttle runs to Walmart, yes Walmart and some other small shops. We got on the first bus and had a good time for an hour wandering around looking at Hawaii clothing. We found a shirt and dress in black and white for us to wear to dinner tonight then headed back to the ship. We were almost back in the ship when we remembered to make some calls to our kids on the cell phone.



What a delightful afternoon we have had. The ship is almost empty and so nice and quiet.

First we had lunch on the fantail then it was out to the Solarium to bask in the lovely sun on the padded lounge chairs (that usually are never empty). A dip in the quiet pool for me before heading back to the room for showers. I went back with my book, got a cup of coffee and 2 cookies and spent another hour in the shaded sun. But then all to soon the people were starting to come back as we leave the dock at 4:30 this afternoon. In my head I was typing my blog so decided to come back and type on the computer.



By 4:30 everyone was back on board and at 5 PM we had our Saturday Evening Mass with Father David. This will be his last Mass for us as in the morning he leaves the ship at Honolulu. (A side note: On Monday while in the huge Ala Moana Shopping Mall, we ran into Father Dave who related his story to us of falling for a Time Share schema the night before…thank heaven this morning he was able to back out of the deal.) will certainly miss seeing him at morning mass.



Then we were off for our final dinner with the people at our table. Of course, many photos were taken and we hope to contact them all later by the internet. They were all great table partners. We were going to stay for the evening entertainment but a nagging headache was blooming into a full grown migraine so it was off to our cabin and imitrex for me. Not a good night…but much better by morning.