MAUI, HAWAII

MARCH 22 MAUI, HAWAII

No one can tell us we lead a boring life--what a day this has been; what a rare mood I'm in. As you already know we were awakened this morning extremely early so we weren't happy people. We got off the ship and on the tender about 10:15 as we had to go through customs and immigration since this was the first time the ship hit the U.S. in about 6 months. As usual they were running about 1/2 our late and the line was more than 1/2 the length of the ship. We survived that but when the tender got
semi-close to the dock there was a backlog of tenders (Golden Princess was also here) so we rocked on the tender about 15 minutes before we could pull in. They said 80% chance of rain and it was sunny, hot and humid all day. They also have wonderful weather forecasters here like everywhere else. It was the first time we have been able to shop since we got on the ship 34 days ago. We were looking for
something to wear that looked Hawaiian as we were going to a Luau tonight and thought it would be nice. Since it was very hot we lasted a little more than 2 hours before we went back to the ship. Dropped our bags off in the cabin and went for lunch and sat around the table talking until we realized we had to rush to shower and change as we were leaving for the Luau at 3:45 knowing the tenders would be backed up again and we had to get a cab. It was Enid, me, Sue and Steve, Terry and Wally that were going. Sue and Steve left before us to get us tickets to go whale watching next week and were going to meet us at the dock. We get off the elevator at the tender access floor and they tell us to go to the port side. We get there and they tell us to go starboard and when we go there they said the tender just left and go back to the port side. Would you believe I was first on line and we stood there about 15 minutes before they said go back to the other side. So now we're at the end of a long line and we're having fits because we weren't even sure they would have room for us but thankfully we got on. Now it's 4:10 and we again get near the pier and there are 5 tenders waiting to dock. They had to let 3 Princess tenders go in before us as the ship was going to leave shortly. When we knew we were going to pull in Wally called a van taxi driver he had met in the morning and she said she'd be there in 10 minutes. 25 later when she never showed up we got in another van and she wasn't excited when we told her where
we were going and she said it was only a mile away but when we gave her $10 dollars for a $7 ride she said she would pick us up after the Luau was over. We waited a while for her but she finally showed up and drove us back to the port.

Now comes the best and most unbelievable part of our day. We got on the tender at 8:45 and the seas were a little rough and got 1/2 way to the ship and all of a sudden we stopped dead in the water. We were rockin and rollin and going nowhere and they couldn't restart the motor. So there we sat not knowing how long we'd be there. We had a good time while we were waiting, laughing and kidding around but we were nervous thinking we would have to make a transfer to another tender in the dark
and we were rocking. Sue said she wouldn't do it, Enid wasn't too happy either and sure enough another tender pulled along side of us and they tied the two together and we had to make the switch. I do have to say we probably sat there for quite a whie because we got back to the ship about about 9:30ish. We can now say we've been rescued at sea. The workers on both tenders made the transition easy for us
so it wasn't badbut it was a scary experience. We found out the problem was rope somehow got wrapped around the motor.

Now for the good part of our day. The Luau was absolutely wonderful. When you enter they give everyone Mai Tai's and Kukui nut leis and take you to your table and explain where the bar is and give you a list of available drinks, beers, juices and sodas and tell you to drink your way down the list. All the drinks, etc. were included in the cost so it was a no brainer. I did a pretty good job getting (I think) to drink number 6. After all I am my father's daughter. We really all enjoyed it very much and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

How's that for a day in Maui? I forgot to say that we did get something to wear and
flowers for our hair.