It's the most wonderful time of the year...Embarkation Day!

Anyone else picture Kermit waving his arms and throwing his head back screaming in excitement when embarkation day finally arrives?

Even though we didn't have to meet back with Adam and Amy and head over to the meeting point at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Bus Terminal until 11:45AM, we decided it wasn't worth seeking out breakfast. We packed up the last few things after getting ready this morning and moved our checked bags over by the door. While we didn't really get up early, it still was a lot of nervous energy trying to kill time. We ended up finding the original Harry Potter movie on TV and got so engrossed watching it that a little part of me didn't want to leave before it was over. Even though we'd seen the movies multiple times by now. I don't recall exactly what time the bellman made it to our room but it was still well before we planned to go meet Adam and Amy around 11:20AM not sure how long it would take us to walk to the bus terminal. All we had to do was point out which of our bags we wanted taken and they handled everything. 

One note I forgot to include about last night is that we had stopped by the concierge desk the night before on our way back to the room and inquired as to where this box was that the check in literature said we were supposed to drop our room keys and towel cards into in the vicinity of the front desk lobby. The woman working the desk offered to process our check out right then and there informing us that we simply had to leave our cards in the room for their staff to pick up after we've left. We've stayed in hotels where you drop your key at the front desk as you leave and ones where you can check out on your room's TV and then leave the card in the room so this seemed a bit backwards to have to return them to a designated drop off box. 

So once we were finally ready to leave, I put back together our little check in packet of room keys and towel cards and left it front and center on the dresser so they'd notice it. A quick triple check to make sure we didn't forget anything and down the elevator we went to the lobby to meet Adam and Amy. One thing I found interesting about the elevators in our tower's lobby is that often times we'd walk up from being elsewhere on the grounds and one of the elevators would already be called and sitting open at the lobby. Way to spoil us before heading to cruise ship elevator life!

Adam and Amy were already down in the lobby waiting on us. Amy was a little concerned that the bellman hadn't been by their room before they headed down here to collect their luggage. It didn't help when she asked us and we had to tell her our luggage was picked up fairly quickly. After a bit of who is following who random wandering around the resort, we finally came across the bus terminal. There was a lot of people hanging out in this area and the staff had to repeatedly double check the people who were lining up because they only wanted those on the current shuttle bus to line up. We sought out a group of benches off to the side as it had been raining off and on this morning and we wanted to stay under cover. We were one of the last buses to be called and once we got in line, the staff came down the line double checking our cruise cabin numbers, hotel room numbers and confirmed how many pieces of luggage we had left for the bellman to make sure it matched the number they logged as being picked up and sent to the ship. Amy felt a lot better when they told her the right number of bags they'd picked up from their room. 

The bus ride was short and sweet and we only needed to show the letter NCL gave us at the hotel and our passports once entering the terminal. Once through security we asked about the suite check in area and were led to a small room off to the side. In the main space where there were multiple rows of chairs, they also had the embarkation photo backdrop set up and a couple Hawaiian dancers with loud music performing for the crowd. We were stopped at the door to the suite check in as at that moment the concierge, Thomas Meier, was leading the latest suite passengers onto the ship. We were kept outside of the room until he returned a few minutes later to greet us. When he heard that one of our suites was an owner's suite, he asked Dad and I to choose our included 3 bottles of wine for the cabin. All previous suite stays and all I read from other NCL suite cruisers have had the concierge contact them a week or two prior to the cruise to ask about choosing wines etc. It was a little off putting to not be contacted beforehand but since our main decision was wine choices, we didn't care as much. In fact when Thomas asked us, we simply deferred to Adam and Amy to pick their favorite kinds. No issue from the fact that technically they were in the penthouse suite and didn't get wine bottles included. 

We also got yet another lei bestowed upon us, flower ones for the ladies, and small conch shell ones for the guys instead of the kukui nut ones we'd gotten before now. We were then let into the suite check in room and each cabin's worth of people sat in front of one of the 2 check in ladies' desks and took all of 5 minutes to show our passports and be given our cruise cards. We then were invited to enjoy the small selection of drink dispensers and snacks. We'd only really sat for a couple minutes with drinks before Thomas decided that enough of a group had filled the small space and we were ready to be led on board. As many other cruisers reported, you are led right past the embarkation photo backdrop when the concierge escorts you on so if you really want that photo, make sure you have them stop as they pass by. Once at the first true entrance to the ship where you get your card scanned for the first time as "onboard" Thomas left us to return to the check in. 

All four of us stepped up to scan our card at the first available podium only to find that none of our cards worked. We had to get each of our cards run through a device by the security officer standing at the other podium that negated them and spend our first few moments on board at Guest Services having new cards printed. There was no special line at Guest Services for suite guests like Princess has so we had a bit of a wait. Adam and Amy got their cards replaced first and the man working the counter was super apologetic that he had to go fetch the new cards from a printer across the way because the one nearby wasn't working. A very accommodating and patient female crew member who was assigned to escorting suite guests up to Cagney's Steakhouse for lunch took Adam and Amy up with a promise to return right away for us. Dad and I decided to split up and conquer and he headed 10 feet over to make specialty dinner reservations for the four of us (our booking included 3 specialty dining dinners) while I got both our cruise cards reprinted. Now that I look back on it, I was never questioned as to why I was asking for a new cruise card for someone who wasn't technically present. You would think for security purposes someone would question why I as one person was handing over two cards? I suppose since I wasn't asking for a new photo to be linked and it was the same cabin number, they didn't care. They did have a crew member checking on the people in line to see if they could provide a quick answer to any questions and thin out the line. That's how I found out that people who had come up behind me in line also needed to have their cards reprinted. Guess it wasn't only just the suite check in that messed up.

Once we both accomplished our first tasks, it took only a minute of searching the crowd before we spotted our escort returning to bring us up to Cagney's Steakhouse. Once there we found Adam and Amy amongst a handful of people being kept in the lounge just outside the restaurant as they were staggering the crowd and we had to wait for our party to be called. As soon as we sat down with Adam and Amy, we were given a sales pitch from the spa reps offering a $100 thermal spa pass that gave access to the loungers, steam rooms, and spa showers and was good for unlimited use the whole week. Adam and Amy opted to go for that deal and signed up on the spot. Dad and I are not normally spa people so we declined. Dad was hoping I'd want to join them especially as Amy was so into checking out the various spa treatments for sale that he insisted we stop by the spa later that day to listen to the whole rundown of their offerings. Pretty much same as every other cruise ship spa offers. I tried to make light of having to listen to the spiel by asking if the bamboo massage included being beaten with the sticks. Without missing a beat, the woman from the spa replied "Only if you're bad."

This Cagney's lunch menu was only available for suite guests and the highest level of Latitudes members. One such cruiser got very upset when the front podium tried to turn him away because they didn't have his name on the list of suite guests. It was straightened out and he was profusely apologized to when Thomas got involved. This lunch menu never changed so if you couldn't decide between two things and didn't want to eat both then, you could always go back and have the other thing next time. Or on the other hand, if you really liked something you could have it again. Unlike most other cruise lines with suite only restaurants, Cagney's was open for lunch on port days from 12PM-2PM. They'd have to be in this case since every day was a port day.

We didn't have to wait too long for our party to be called into Cagney's and got seated at a table for four. Is it wrong that I secretly delighted in how this trip we wouldn't be stuck in little two top tables jammed in next to everyone else or along a rail? The restaurant was pretty busy but we kept ourselves entertained by trying to get the NCL app to work on our respective phones. One of us would get part of it to work but then the same steps wouldn't work for the other people who had a different style phone. Eventually we stumbled upon how to have wi-fi access set to get the app to show you the daily schedule. It took some getting used to when it came to using our phones because this is one of the first cruises we could just go on cellular whenever we wanted internet and never paid for any internet package. I did have more problems on this ship than any other getting Facebook messenger to work as that is how I usually keep in touch back home. Facebook itself and email worked just fine.

We ended up sailing the week before NCL announced new options for beverage packages as usually Hawaiian law prevents them from offering anything other than a soda package. I'm a little surprised that Adam and Amy didn't bother getting the package as they drank soda frequently all week. Dad and I found that except for the soda we had included in our suite, we drank a lot of water even though it wasn't super hot out. At lunch Dad went with the Santa Fe Flatbread and enjoyed it while I went for the Caesar Salad (this was during that brief respite where Romaine lettuce wasn't the devil on the recall list) with shrimp added. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the shrimp was not little baby shrimp like you'd see on a salad bar but the real full size grilled shrimp. I'm a little surprised that for a steak house lunch, none of the options under the entrées list was an actual steak. Several seafood choices, 1 vegetarian option, 1 veal dish, 1 pork chop, and 1 chicken choice. 

Shrimp in this picture were as big as they appear

For my entrée I went with the Brie' Burger and asked for it to be cooked medium well. Bet you can guess how this turned out! When my burger arrived it was more on the medium side and it took a while to catch our waiter to report it. His response was to take the plate back to redo it and I leaned back to let him lift the plate from the table. He held up the plate in front of my face and told me to take off the little bowl of French fries from the plate so that I can have "something to keep me busy while I wait for the burger." Dad thought the comment was hilarious but both Amy and I found it to be rude. I'm not a child who needs a coloring mat or tablet to keep me from throwing a tantrum in a restaurant. By the time our waiter returned with my burger, everyone else had finished their food and been brought dessert. The one time we're not the ones sitting waiting after finishing our food because the wait staff wait until everyone at your table is ready to move on to the next course. Though not listed on the menu, Amy asked for and received a dish of vanilla ice cream. The burger this time was cooked properly. Everyone was ready to leave and go see our cabins so I turned down the waiter's offer to bring me dessert now.

Whereas on Princess they have rooms ready regardless of cabin category when you board and on RCL where our Star Class status let us into our rooms early, NCL follows Carnival and the rest of RCL in preventing you from going to cabins until they are announced as open in the early afternoon. By now we'd killed enough time that rooms were open. We bid goodbye to Adam and Amy with plans to meet again for our first specialty dinner tonight in Teppanyaki. I'm a super planner that does tons of research looking at reviews, pictures, and videos about the ship and the cabins we'd booked before the trip. One of the most unique things about NCL cabins is their feature of putting the toilet area of the bathroom in its own little cubby with a door blocking it off from the rest of the bathroom. Personally that then didn't make sense to me with the way the see through glass panel on the side of the shower was because the panel cutout was past where the door to the toilet cubby goes. Not so private toilet time when anyone can hop in the shower and peek in and vice versa. Of course if you've got people popping in to peek at you while you're in your cabin's bathroom in the first place, you may want to rethink your travel companions. Our cabin though had the extra unique feature of having no door on the toilet cubby space. We could pick out the frame and the stopper on the wall indicating that there should have been a door there. We found out later when we returned to the room post dinner to find our steward Bonifacio doing turn down service that a previous cruiser had broken the door and the new one hadn't arrived yet. When we remarked how surprising it was to have the cabin still in service without a bathroom door, Bonifacio (who instructed us to call him Boni) pointed out that we still had use of the small powder room which did have a working door. He did laugh heartily when I asked how much of a hurry you had to be in to end up breaking the door to the toilet.

The way the cabin is set up, the main bathroom takes up 1/3rd of the cabin's interior space. The bed and bench in front of it take up so much space in the bedroom, if someone is sitting on that bench, you can't squeeze by the bed and go out the door back into the living room. We spent a lot of time this week cutting through the bathroom. There is a full closeable and lockable door to the main bathroom from the entryway/living room but from the bedroom, it's only a curtain to be pulled across where the bedroom meets the small walk in closet/dressing area. Why there is not a curtain to cover the doorway between the dressing area and the bathroom I don't know. If you're not traveling with family you may want to work out a system of who gets bathroom and dressing room space when.

There is a connecting door between our suite, 10002 and Adam and Amy's penthouse suite 10008 which is why we chose these two cabins but we opted to keep that inner door locked for privacy. We were told when we asked before the cruise that no balcony partitions can be opened like most other ships when you know the people in the neighboring cabin. As with probably most connecting rooms anywhere though, noise travels and we often heard Adam and Amy talking in their cabin. We turned down a few offers to bid for an upgrade because it meant losing the connecting rooms. That and they wanted another $750 per person as the minimum bid. Hmm, split up our cabins or buy 2 excursions? We'd really been looking forward to having a cabin with a hot tub on the balcony. Some RCL Star Class suites have hot tubs (like the ones you'd see in someone's backyard) and our Celebrity suite cabin had one that looked more like a bathtub on the balcony so we never used it. Not only was this hot tub more like the size of a dunk tank in height with just a small step to get in and out but when we'd use it, it would either start to drain right after we got in after taking 25 minutes to fill or would constantly buzz trying to drain that last bit when we were done. We are not tiny people but while there's room for a few people on the bench inside the hot tub, there wasn't really much room for our two sets of legs and feet in the center well because of the design of the mechanics within the well. 

Still to come in today's report - Muster drill, Teppanyaki dinner, and meeting our butler! Also stay tuned for a photo walkthrough of our cabin. I didn't intrude in order to take pictures in Adam and Amy's cabin but you can find a great video tour of their cabin filmed by a previous cruiser on YouTube.

A day of rest before it's go go go on the cruise

Despite Dad's attempts to find yet another tour to fill this last day before our cruise, we managed to keep it a lazy day. Tonight is the "free" night that was included in our cruise package from NCL and thankfully we didn't have to change rooms. We did stop by the NCL Hospitality desk to make sure they had our room numbers listed correctly for luggage pickup the next morning.

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.

A mystery meat luau ends with a Breath of Life

As Sesi led us to the dining hall area since our seating time for the Ali'i Luau dinner buffet of 5:30PM was fast approaching, we all felt mostly like drowned rats. By now we were all tired and dragging. Especially since my whole list of food for today was half a muffin and a few pieces of sour lychee belts. During the final presentation, one of the women came around and handed out similar vine woven headpieces to several of us. Trying to combine a headpiece and a poncho makes for a great fashion statement. Sesi informs us that we actually didn't get to see everything in our package today but could use our tickets to come back again tomorrow to see the rest.

According to the center's website, this is the list you get for buying the package:

Island Villages

• An immersive cultural experience in 6 island villages
• Personal tour guide
• Kukui nut lei greeting
• Front row seats at all village presentations
• Go Native activities
• Reserved Canoe Ride
• Reserved seating at the Pageant of the Long Canoes
• Hawaiian Journey movie experience
• Souvenir booklet & DVD
• Laie & Temple Visitors Center Tour
• FREE 3-DAY PASS to our island villages

Dining

• Ali'i Luau dinner buffet & show (6:00 pm - seating 5:30 pm)
• Flower lei greeting at the luau

Evening Show

• Front two rows for "Ha: Breath of Life" show
• Private "behind the scenes" backstage tour

Aside from not being sure what the Laie & Temple Visitors Center was and the fact that we didn't get front row at every presentation but close enough, the only things I see on this list that we didn't get was the Reserved Canoe Ride (which I could never figure out whether it was the group canoe ride with around 20 people or the one you can ride with just two people. Both were featured in video and pictures on their site) and the Private "behind the scenes" backstage tour of the evening show. Honestly, I wasn't keen on doing the canoe ride either way so I wasn't sad that we missed it. We did pass over a bridge while one of the 20 people canoes were riding underneath it so at least I can say I saw it in person and still didn't want to do it.

When we arrived for dinner, they weren't ready to let people in yet so they had everyone waiting nearby under a pavilion as it was still raining. I didn't want to be trying to eat with ink running down my hand and arm so Amy and I made a quick bathroom run to wash off our disappearing tattoos. It took a couple rounds of soap and a lot of elbow grease to get about 95% of it off. Felt like a surgeon trying to wash in a crowded bathroom up to my elbow.

As we were finally allowed to enter and shown to the second row of long tables set aside in front for "Super Ambassadors" we were given a folded flower craft and a flower lei. There were carafes of water and some sort of fruit punch and I think I downed about 4 cups between the time we sat down and when they told us we could go up to the buffet.

The main page for all of the ticket packages says "Your choice of Ali'i Luau Buffet & Dinner Show or Prime Rib Buffet with prime rib & crab legs" for the Super Ambassador package. Dad asked about being able to get the prime rib option as we walked in but Sesi just kept saying that it was all in there. Notice that is no longer listed under Dining when you bring up the full details of the package. The buffet was a little confusing because it was set up as multiple stations but each item had two bins so you could walk down the front or the back side of each station and reach the same dishes. Every once in a while, an employee would redirect people to keep the crowd flowing but for the most part it was a mob scene around the food stations. 

Nothing was really labeled as to ingredients or flavors so be advised if you have allergies. There was plenty of healthier options with fruit and mixed vegetable dishes. A separate area held cups of lemonade and more fruit punch that were being poured for you or you could grab a cup and serve yourself from the Pepsi fountain soda dispenser. The drinks and the small supply of a few dessert choices was like the light at the end of the tunnel once you got through the mob at the food stations.

Everything I took was at least cooked properly even if I can't be sure whether I had chicken, pork, or who knows what? I'm pretty sure at least one was a sort of fried chicken but I won't testify to that in court. I recalled the old rhyme for children who are picky eaters at the dinner table "You get what you get and you don't get upset" and dug into my plate at this point willing to eat anything. 

As we ate, the same guy that narrated the Pageant show hosted a presentation on the stage featuring many of the same students we'd seen representing their home countries in the presentations. 

We were the 2nd table on the side from the stage - a.k.a. that long rectangle that looks more like a green felt pool table.

We saw displays with torches, costumes, and hula dancing in between making a show of unearthing and presenting the cooked whole pig from its pit in the ground. The pit was well across from the dining hall so it was like watching one of those "Near" and "Far" segments on Sesame Street. 

The host invited everyone to go enjoy a slice from the now displayed pig as he returned to the stage to continue introducing acts. Young kids were paraded onto the stage to show off plates of food representing what we'd been offered in the buffet and then later they came out to hula dance as well. 

The host called out for anyone celebrating an anniversary to come up on stage to be recognized and had them all hug and dance with each other. 

Hey it's Mr. Who Let the Dogs Out?!

This couple was so cute dancing together. 

Next up was anyone celebrating a birthday. Once a huge group was assembled, he announced that they'd be dancing for everyone. He tried to show them some moves to copy and then he noticed one guy who wasn't into the dancing. The host pulled him up to the front of the group and made him do his own moves for the group to copy. 

One of the highlights of the luau show was a 17 year old young lady who'd been fire twirling since age 5 coming to the stage to do a great acrobatic show for everyone. 

With some time to kill before the actual theater show called "Ha: Breath of Life", Sesi led us to the gift shop where I saw plenty of opportunities to purchase even more leis and trinkets in case you don't get enough freebie trinkets by day's end. In the theater which was basically stadium style seating in front of a giant sand coated stage, there was handicapped seating up at the top but Sesi led us down to the second row. The seats themselves were very narrow and I was afraid to sit all the way back and get stuck. No photography or video was allowed during the show.

Sesi bid us goodbye after we were seated (refusing Dad's attempt to tip) and handed both Amy and I bags of a CD, DVD, and booklet about Hawaii and the Polynesian culture. Amy took the most inside seat with Adam next to her, then me, and Dad on the end. Dad had to sit turned in toward me and both guys spilled over onto the back of my seat so I couldn't sit back even if I dared. If I didn't already feel arthritic by this point, I certainly did having to sit on the front edge of a narrow seat with no room to extend my legs or let my arms fall to my sides. Add to that having to hold onto the rough straw handles of this shopping bag and being literally sat on for 2 hours when Adam decided to shift his weight directly onto my right leg. Unfortunately, the bulk of the show features the performers running down the steps onto the stage so no one could move over to sit on the wide steps instead. The show itself, as our North Shore tour driver explained earlier in the day, was basically the human version of the Lion King story. Young couple with new baby show up and get welcomed by the village. Boy starts to grow up and gets trained to be a warrior. Boy fights in the war and impresses Dad. They both join in during a tough battle and Dad is killed. Boy proves himself worthy to village chief and wins heart of the chief's daughter. In between each of these story elements is Polynesia meets Broadway style large group dance and chant numbers. Wonderfully presented just super long and taxing when you've already had a long day.

The show was the last thing for everyone regardless of package so it was a mass exodus trying to leave the center. We got a little turned around and finally found the right spot our shuttle driver told us to find him waiting after the show. It was funny to find papers marking out the front row as seats reserved for us as Super Ambassadors. At this point I would have clung to the roof as long as it was taking me back to my hotel room. Once everyone was back on the shuttle our driver made some small talk and told us about how he'd be doing the hotel dropoff in reverse order making ours first. He then announced that he'd be turning off the interior lights so we can all take a nap and would wake us when we were close. I ended up with a fresh bruise on my arm after falling asleep against the emergency window latch but I didn't care. We reached the hotel around 10:30PM. We bid goodnight to Adam and Amy and assured them that we had no need to be up at any time tomorrow morning. We popped into the gift shop in our tower's lobby to pick up some snacks and dragged our sorry selves up to our room where we could finally dump all of the stuff we'd accumulated and collapse into bed.