February 17: Third Day of Five-Day Passage to Hawai'i

Garmin Navionics Boating app

Early this morning, Nieuw Amsterdam crossed the point of no return on its passage to Kahului, Maui, Hawaii. This is the point where continuing on the Maui is shorter than turning around to get back to San Diego.

Under overcast skies, warmer temperatures, and only a small sea swell, the ship cruised at 15 knots throughout Fat Tuesday. To arrive at our first port of call, Kahului, Maui, on schedule, the ship traveled at a reduced cruising speed to offset the faster speed maintained earlier in the passage to get clear of the storm.

One of the nice things about Holland America ships is that their pool deck can be enclosed. When the weather is balmy, the cover retracts; when it is chilly or damp, it closes. 

At midday, it was opened. This was short-lived because the ship soon entered a rain squall. Oops. Someone forgot to check with the bridge (the ship's control center) about the weather ahead of the ship.

In the afternoon, the forward section of the pool area was set up with various games passengers could play for a chance to win tickets. The tickets were placed in a drum and may be drawn to win a raffle prize. 

Pam worked hard to earn tickets. Alas, none were drawn in the raffle. I opted for a sure thing - popcorn.

On longer cruises, Holland America still has Formal Nights, but they have changed considerably over the years, with a sports coat, tie, and grey flannels replacing a tuxedo or dark suit. It makes packing a lot easier. Some passengers opt not to participate. At the other end of the spectrum, we did spot a few tuxedos.

We had a nice dinner in the main dining room at the stern (back) of the ship, then went forward to the theater near the bow (front) of the ship. Walking nearly the length of the ship was a reminder of the size of this ship.

Some of the shows are better than others. Yesterday evening, a pianist played overly complex renditions of each composition. using glissandos and other lavish techniques where they were not necessary, hitting some wrong notes in the process. 

 This evening's show featured a vocalist who had been a runner-up on America's Got Talent. He was much better, but not enough to have us humming one of the songs on our way back to our stateroom for the night.