Once we'd slept in a little, Dad and I decided to venture out for some breakfast and first visited the Tropics Bar & Grill. We were greeted with the news that it would be a 20 minute wait. Dad's never a fan of waiting so off we headed at the hostess' suggestion to the CJ's New York Style Delicatessen/Restaurant. Yes, we came all the way to Hawaii and ate at the New York Style Deli. I found it interesting that at this deli, they had copies of the menu in multiple languages in takeout style brochures. The menu we were given when we chose to sit outside to eat was completely in English though. This deli had tables inside and outside and was already fairly busy. We chose to sit outside to avoid another wait and unfortunately got seated at the table furthest away from the building. While there was an overhang for shade, we couldn't look to our right because of the sun and could feel the right side of our bodies getting burnt. At one point I switched to the chair that was more covered at our four top table saving the lobster look on one side of my face but instead I could feel my right leg cooking as if only it was under a heat lamp. I turned my original chair to face out into the sun so that the back of the chair was blocking the sun from my leg. We considered switching to the table that was totally in the shade but by the time we could ask it of our waitress, she'd seated someone else there.
This was our first experience with moments when the birds do more than just wander into your open air lobby. They routinely would not only wander around your feet underneath the tables but would also swoop up onto recently vacated tables in hopes of scraps. It ceases to become cute or comical when those birds decide that they don't want to bother waiting for you to leave the table first and literally started divebombing us. Dodgeball flashbacks turn into Dodge bird when you see a winged white creature flying at your head only to pull up and fly off after you've ducked. No pun intended. An employee from the neighboring eatery came out to clean their outdoor tables and took offence at the group of birds huddled around the scraps on the ground. She stomped at them and shooed them away with her dish towel which of course only sent now angrier birds in our direction. Unfortunately as the deli got busier, our service got slower so it was quite the multitasking effort to eat while bobbing and weaving bird attacks.
While this place calls itself a New York Style Deli, there was still a few Hawaiian food influences to the menu. In the mood for pancakes - go for the macadamia nut and coconut flavored pancakes. Want something a little fancier - go for the Kalua Pig version of Eggs Benedict.
Both Dad and I decided to try the New York Steak and Eggs. It includes 3 eggs made your way of choice, a strip style steak, a starchy side, and a bread side. Dad went with an omelet while I got my personal favorite of fried eggs. I was pleased to see that my steak came out as I requested and the eggs were just runny enough to drag the steak through the yolk. It was a lot to eat and I forced myself to even take bites of the country fries and bagel so I could try everything.
I rarely get the chance to go swimming at home so I love when I get the chance on vacation. I couldn't wait to return to the room after breakfast to get changed and go use one of the pools. However, we discovered upon returning that the maid service hadn't been by at all even though we spotted them a few doors down when we left for breakfast. We changed into our swimsuits and found the towel alcove to turn in our two cards provided at check in for two towels. Honestly, I probably would have gotten more coverage and drying ability from bringing down the ones in our room. We took our towels to the nearest pool which wasn't too busy and added our towels to loungers right in front. It was nice and shady at this pool but as we laid there relaxing, it soon became overpopulated with kids. We decided to seek out the bigger pool by the Rainbow tower and while the other pool was overcome with splashing kids, this place was overcome with sunbathers. We had to walk across the muddy spaces lining the far back row of loungers to find two of the few remaining seats.
Soon it was too bright and warm for us to stick around so we headed down to check out the beach which was just a short walk away from this pool. Adam and Amy had mentioned their plans to visit the beach when we crossed paths after breakfast (they'd opted to wait for the grill) so we headed over to see if we could join them. While we didn't find them we did find a beach that had lots of little shells or rocks and dense sand so it was a precarious walk to the water's edge. Dad was ready to bail as he'd been fine relaxing in the room reading if we weren't trying to give the maid time to do our room still. I was determined to at least say I'd been in the ocean so I walked a little bit into the water and let it wash over my ankles for a few minutes. There was a foot washing area near where the path meets the start of the sand so we stopped to rinse our feet and flip flops. Got our feet fairly clean but alas, it's also not comfortable when you have to put your feet back into now soaking wet flip flops. We stopped at the Rainbow pool's towel stand to return our towels as you can pick them up or return them to any pool's towel stand. Make sure you get them to give back your towel cards though or you can't get towels a future time and most importantly, they will charge you if the cards aren't left with your keys when you check out.
When we returned to the room now another hour later, the room still had not been cleaned. Dad found the maid cleaning a room at the end of the hall and made her jump in fright because she turned around after having the vacuum running and was shocked to see him standing at the door. He apologized and asked if she'd do our room next. She agreed and off we went to sit in the lobby to stay out of her way. Adam wandered through to get his book and told us about them now lounging at the first pool we visited. After a while, Dad decided to head upstairs while I joined Adam and Amy. They told me that after finding the same result at the beach, they'd tried to rent bikes but were told they weren't allowed to ride them around the resort. They didn't feel comfortable riding them around an unfamiliar city.
After we chatted for a while we decided it was time for lunch and returned to our rooms to change back into regular clothes. Since Dad and I had both had a large breakfast we suggested heading down to Round Table Pizza next door to the deli for a simple lunch. This restaurant only had tables on the inside but kept the doors at both ends wide open for airflow. After having my own issues in the room, I felt for the mother whose child started throwing a fit because Mom couldn't get the wi-fi to work in order for her daughter to watch videos while they waited. Adam and Amy opted for a discounted personal pan pizza each under the Lunch Specials list while Dad and I split a medium pepperoni pizza. Service was fairly good, especially since we were waited on for the most part by the manager. We couldn't finish our pizza so Adam happily took the leftovers. Not a bad lunch for four at $48.
Only downside was the return of the birds. It wouldn't have been so bad since they had a straight shot in and out with the long rectangular shaped dining room at this venue. However, the manager had come over to check on our table just as a bird comes flying through. He swats at the bird smacking it's backside with his order pad. The bird was currently passing over our table in an attempt to get away so in response to having its bum smacked, it unleashed a direct hit of what used to be its breakfast onto our table. My efforts to point it out to the rest of my family and the manager went unnoticed so I just quickly covered the area with our spare napkins. If I hadn't already been too full to finish, I would certainly have been done with my meal now.
During lunch, Amy mentioned how they'd picked up a matching Hawaiian dress and shirt for them to wear as a couple and it renewed Dad's interest to get his own Hawaiian shirt. As we left lunch, we popped into the nearby shop on the property called Tropical Wear. Amy found herself another dress and I helped Dad find a deep blue colored shirt that featured cars, trucks, and surfboards. He loves his new shirt and got lots of compliments from the crew on the ship. The saleslady in the shop was very persistent and even tried to get me to buy a dress to match Dad's shirt. I repeatedly declined but she was so happy with the sale she did get from us that she gave me a hair clip with a plastic molded flower glued to it. I'd noticed these for sale in nearly every shop we visited on this trip. I ended up putting the clip on my backpack as a zipper pull. Unfortunately I didn't think it would survive the flights home so I left it behind at the end of the cruise.
A friend messaged me to ask where I've traveled to after seeing my Facebook post about San Francisco. Here's the picture I sent him as my response:
We went our separate ways after shopping and Dad and I returned to the room to relax. Come dinnertime, we headed back to try Tropics Bar & Grill but there was not only a big roped off crowd for a private event on the lawn by the Rainbow pool but that roped off area butted right up against the line of people waiting for the grill that snaked all the way off the patio and down the walkway. Instead we headed back to CJ's and got an inside table. While we waited, we could hear the Friday night evening fireworks display we'd been told about on the first night. It sounded deafening when you were inside the restaurant but we could see the resulting flashes through the open windows. I went with a simple grilled cheese while Dad ordered the patty melt.
Our waiter came over at one point to explain that Dad's patty melt was taking a little longer to be sure it was cooked right. Once we both got our food, Dad cut into his patty melt and I noticed a little more pink than I thought there should be. He didn't seem to mind so I didn't push the issue. Once we were done eating he revealed that he'd put aside 1/3 of his patty melt because not only was one part a little pink but there were other parts that were still actually raw! He claimed he didn't want to upset me by making a fuss so we just considered ourselves grateful to be leaving tomorrow and paid the bill.
To have our bags picked up in our room by NCL the next morning for transferring to the ship, we had to have them packed and sitting by the door inside our room by 10AM the next morning. The letter promised they'd be able to use a key to retrieve the bags and we didn't need to present. After dinner we headed back to the room and began the process of repacking and making sure nothing was left behind. We each grabbed showers and curled up in our beds to watch TV drowning out the wedding reception being held on the lawn outside.
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