Today is an early morning. Our excursion group is meeting in one of the theaters at 7:15 a.m. to head out for the Body Glove Snorkel. Shortly after settling into the comfy theater seats, we are being herded out to the tender boats to catch our next ride. One of the tender crew points out that the "First Officer" is joining us on this excursion. It looked like he was trying to go incognito, but his cover was blown. Well, good. Maybe this means we chose a quality excursion. Arriving at Kona's port, I see that it sits right in front of their Waterfront Market - several blocks of shopping. We'll hit that later!
The Body Glove, the name of our catamaran for the day, has got to be the largest cat we've experienced. The breakfast buffet downstairs was amazing. But to enjoy the views, we head for the top deck. Oh look, First Officer is up there too. Great minds think alike! The Captain steers from up top. Wow, is he young. Later, we find out that he is a mere 28 years old, and obtained his Captain's license at 22. Pretty impressive.
After my experience with the cold waters of the Molokini Crater, I'll definitely be grabbing another wetsuit for the day. These waters are supposed to be warmer at 78 degrees, but considering I like my swimming pool water at 88, zip me up!
The amenities of the catamaran and the service of the friendly crew are what make this such a fun and relaxing excursion. The snorkeling, though a bit choppy, revealed a nice variety of fish and coral. Afterwards, everyone had a bit of fun sliding down the water slide or jumping off the high dive. Another buffet was provided with make-your-own sandwiches, fruit and chips. "Pleasant" describes the trip back. Nice boat ride, gentle breeze and beautiful scenery.
Tendering is the word of the day today. We'll tender back to the ship for a real lunch and shower. We decided we worked up such an appetite snorkeling that we would call the lunch onboard the Body Glove a snack. Such is the life of a cruiser! Now, to tender back to town for a bit of shopping at the Waterfront.
We were sure to stay on the opposite side of the street from the seawall when walking along the sidewalks, as big waves would splash over at times with the potential to soak unsuspecting tourists and cameras. First stop is the Kona Coffee Outlet, a tiny little shop tucked beside a restaurant to the right of the Port. Kona is famous for it's coffee. Be sure to buy 100% Kona coffee. The ABC stores that dot all of Hawaii sell Kona Coffee at levels of 10% authenticity. If looking for an authentic souvenir, check out the KOA wood on the islands. KOA is a tropical hardwood found only on the Hawaiian Islands. The ancient Hawaiians used the wood to sculpt their canoes and surfboards. Found a couple of beautiful KOA bracelets for the girls back home.
With just a little time to spare before it's time to get back to the ship, we head over to the Kona Brewery - another well known landmark in this area. Lon samples a beer with a banana after taste. Well, that's different! What to do next? Tender of course. Back to the ship and onto our balcony where Lon relaxes with a book and I try to catch up on my blogging - not an easy task when you're on vacation.
Next, we decide to stop by Pride of America's library to use the internet and return a book we had checked out about The Big Island. Yes, we actually checked out a book on a cruise. First time for everything, but this library is awesome. The Pride has a few hidden little jewels of rooms to discover. The library is one of them, as well as, the game room across the hall.
It's lobster night, but due to the crowds we decide to go to one of the specialty restaurants, "Little Italy". The best part of the evening was the conversations we had with the waiters. There weren't many guests at the time we ate, so our waiters spent a lot of time talking to us about working on a cruise ship. Because the Pride is the only American flagged ship, most of their staff is American. Many people think that all their staff is American, but it was explained to us that they retain about a 15% international crew. When you're on a cruise, talk to your wait staff and crew. It's intriguing what you learn.
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