I'll give you a piece of my mind: Oct. 11, 2019 Honolulu.

Maui write up for Oct.10th has been lost along with Oct. 9th.

I woke up at about 9a.m. feeling a little tired so just chilled playing my IPad game for awhile. I heard people talking in the next room for the first time last night. All along i had suspected that nobody was in there and i think i was correct and the new passengers had gotten onboard in Maui yesterday. Interesting that the room couldn't have been used by someone just travelling from L.A. to Maui but maybe nobody turned up needing that exact route and time so the room was saved until we got to them which is nice to know such things happen.

Our cruise director Lee has been on the P.A. several times and it's quite muffled unless you jump up and crack the door to hear what he's saying cuz it's loud and clear in the hallways. Alternately you can turn on the tv and find the right channel to listen to it. I looked for it once but got sidetracked because there's lots of channels and then i couldn't find my way back to the music channel. I had to ask Anthony, my room steward for help. Complicated tv channels all under different categories.

I hadn't noticed that while i was playing my game some sort of vessel like a big iron floating thing had bellied right up to my window. It was weird how this big black chunk of iron just sort of appeared so suddenly and quietly with me sitting here on my bed thankfully clothed, lol! Maybe we're getting fuel or something from it. It shook me up a bit because my curtains were open and men were walking by so close and their floor was on my same level. I took a pic or two and closed my curtains and now there's a pungent odour in here and it's giving me a headache. I didn't know if it was from that vessel out there or what.

Lee just made another announcement and this one i could hear clearly which means it's important. It was a call for the crew members to drop everything and attend a disaster briefing. He said passengers were welcome to attend and if i were dressed i might have gone and checked it out. I like learning things about how a ship is run.

I hopped in the shower and in my haste dropped the shower nozzle and it broke completely off. I tried to fix it but nope, not fixable; it's going to have to be replaced.

Went to the Lido for breakfast and it was almost empty where i entered and i thought i was the last one up but no, there were lots of people eating, reading, visiting or just chilling until we're docked. After my brekkie of french toast, yogurt and mango juice i headed on down to debark. I wasn't sure where i was going to go but thinking any mall or shopping area would be good, maybe go to the International Marketplace to see what it looks like now-a-days. I loved the old one with it's sort of basement feeling with uneven cement floors and dusty dark corners but i bet it's all clean and bright and spic and span shiny new now. One place in there that i always enjoyed was going up the rickity stairs that wound around a big tree to the Elvis room where his music was played nonstop all day. Everything Elvis was available, records, pictures, clothes, hats, souveniers, jewellry, you name it if it was Elvis it was there. I know i used to buy some of those things but right now don't even remember what or where they are now.We were big enough fans we could stay up there all day. I hope it's still in operation.

I hadn't taken any excursions for either Honolulu or Maui because i've already seen it all many times. So, once off the ship and outside i found sellers of tours,taxi's, bus trips etc. The one that i chose was the Maui Divers Jewellry Design Center mainly because it was a free ride to go take a look at their black pearl jewellry and then i could play it by ear what to do or see next once i was in beautiful Waikiki Beach. The bus lady assured me that i'd be very close to the International Marketplace which as it turned out i did not see anywhere enroute either coming or going. After the sales pitch at their factory i boarded their bus to go to the Ala Moana shopping center. It's a huge mall on many levels and so i carefully took pics of from whence i came in order to find my way back to the bus stop.

First stop was the info booth to pick up the map of the mall and see the list of all the shops in there. There wasn't a thing listed under art supply but i did see Papyrus and it wasn't very far so i headed there. I know they have the most awesome cards anywhere and so thought maybe they'd have other artsy things too. Sure enough they did have some sheets of decorative paper but none were anything special that i'd want to buy. They did have a good supply of boxed cards and i bought a box along with a small journal.
Once again i missed going to Walmart where they'd probably have stencils or something for me but it was a long walk away. My time was already running out to get back to the bus for their last pickup of the day. I was tired by then and felt like i'd been run over by a big truck so hurried on my way out to the pickup place. Turned out the bus was 15 mins late arriving so no rush had been needed. It was actually a relief to climb back onboard my beautiful ship and i bypassed lunch and went straight to my cabin and had a nap.

Later i got ready and went to the Lido for dinner. There wasn't many people in there at first but eventually lots started arriving back all frazzled and fried and everyone hits the Lido the minute they're back onboard. I forgot to bring my camera so can't show my dinner of tilapia, artichoke hearts and rice with tons of veggies. I then made up a plate of cakes and cookies and got a bowl of ice cream and hit the elevator for home.

Tomorrow is the day to deliver my 40+ postcards for the exchange. I've received quite a few already and considered delivering them over a period of two days and then decided nah, i like to do according to the rules even if it means doing it in small increments all day. We'll be on the ocean for six straight days so lots of time.