Rick&Jeannie

We are currently on the Spirit...was supposed to port call in Hilo today. Our Hilo call has been canceled and we are heading to Kona.

Here is a link with more info... https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3003839-pride-of-america-technical-problem-in-hilo/&ved=2ahUKEwjAraH9sMyFAxWKGDQIHZhgDT0QFnoECBwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1KvQdkc5VbV-iQFXHpm6ur

Hah! Well, I spoke too soon. Our Hilo port stop has been canceled due to the Pride of America being stuck in Hilo. We are instead going to Kona. A bit of a disappointment...Konami I'm sure is very nice (much smaller) but we were looking forward to seeing the volcano area. I guess we'll just get off the ship and walk around a while. POA apparently has some serious issues going on...

Day 9, Hilo We have to do our Customs "face-to-face" interview before we get off the ship. We have our first ship excursion today, a long one! Volcanoes and Tastes of Hawaii, 6.5 hours.

Another great meal at Le Bistro!

I finally got around to checking out the Multi-Purpose room. Very few books, probably half were French or other languages. A few chess & checker sets. The first time we tried to see the room they were having a private function there. I can see that this would be a great place for something like that, or maybe even a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet. 20240417_194314.mp4

Deal or No Deal in the Atrium 20240417_131501.mp4

Internet recap Here are the top 3 spots that I've found to have consistently good internet speed: Spinnaker Lounge Deck 12 far aft, outside (Garden Cafe) Our cabin deck 6 (only in the mornings before 9:00am) I'm sure there are probably others...this is just what I've stumbled across so far. I've not really been looking hard...

I personally have not seen the multi-purpose room, but DW and others in our party have. They were looking for a good book to read but came up short. Apparently not a good selection (in their opinion). I'm intending to check it out myself, maybe today. Favorite restaurant...that's a tough one. We've only doe: Windows Taste The Local Cagney's Silk Onda As far as "finer" dining goes, I guess it would be Onda (Italian). For MDR, Windows for sure. It just has so much more going for it as far as the decor...Taste is basically the same as any other cruise ship dining room, but it feels very cramped. We had some rather poor service the first time we tried Windows but then the second was back on track. As far as lunch or just a quick bite, we keep finding ourselves at The Local. It doesn't have a huge menu but there are several things that appeal to us. I particularly like the nachos. We're headed to Le Bistro this evening...I'll try to do a recap of that late this evening or tomorrow.

Day 8, last sea day before Hawaii. They have making periodic announcements reminding everyone to close out your casino accounts today because once we hit Hawaiian waters the casino shuts down! Also, announcements and cabin paper notices about the MANDATORY face-to-face immigration "interviews" to be held in Spinnaker Lounge tomorrow before anyone can get off the ship. EVERY passenger (even kids & babies) are subject to this requirement. I can't recall any of our previous cruises where we've had to do this...but then I guess this is the first time we've had an itinerary quite like this one.

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We topped off the evening back at Spinnaker Lounge with The Power of Five and their Motown show. They had the place rockin' and the dance floor was full!

After a really good meal at Silk, we went to the theater to hear a soloist named Belinda Adams. That girl could really sing! A wide range of musical types made up her show, from pop hits to show tunes.

It was ok...I guess it would be safe to say that it would not be my first choice in the future. The rice-based dish I had was good (how can you mess up rice?) I also had a pork dish...I don't know if it was just the preparation or if it was supposed to be very tough chunks of meat. IDK Anyway, there were very few choices *other* than Indian on the buffet at that time which surprised me a bit, but given that the overall size of the buffet on the Spirit it doesn't make for a lot of room for a huge spread.

Apparently today is Indian food theme in the buffet. I tried a couple of things...

The Spirit's previous name was the "Superstar Leo". You can Google it for info about the tiger(s). Apparently people did not like the fact that live animals were kept on a ship...

I do too. I was hoping that they would have them at Cagney's.

We are standing on the main stage here, looking back into the theater. You can't see much, but the wooden flooring that shows just a bit was the "pit".

It sure did! The Spirit was bought from a cruise line that sailed exclusively in the (I believe) Chinese market. (Asian for sure...) There was an open "pit" type area directly in front of the main stage in Stardust Theater. They had live tigers in this pit! After NCL bought the ship it was filled in with regular flooring. There is an area in Windows restaurant at the extreme back of the ship that looks like cages...this is where they were kept when not "on display". I have no idea what the purpose of the tigers was supposed to be. Crazy!

Security would not allow any pictures in engine control room or the bridge. I got yelled at for taking this picture on the "I95". So...that's all I have for the Behind The Scenes Tour.

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Cold storage.

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