Carnival Miracle: October 25, 2013, Kona

Today we will arrive at Kona which is our one and only tender port. We have excursion tickets for the Captain Zodiac snorkeling tour and are to meet in the Phantom Lounge at 8:45 am.

Breakfast hours are earlier today with the main dining opening at 7 a.m. The dining room and Lido deck are out of bananas today.

By 9 a.m. our tour was called to get on a tender. Once we got to the pier we checked in with Captain Zodiac and had to sign the manifest which also had the usual legal disclaimer stuff.

We were in the second boat loaded (our tour guides were Chris and Caleb and the boat was the princess).

On the boat with Carnival Miracle in the background

After a long ride out to the Captain Cook monument (with a stop so we could stand up and take a break), we were given snorkel instructions along with masks and fins. They have prescription masks for -2 through -6.

The Captain Cook monument is onshore on the right

The snorkeling was fantastic and we saw so many different tropical fish. We saw lots of sea urchins, starfish and Steve even saw an eel. The water temperature was just right.

We had an hour there before heading back closer to the coastline.

We went by the grotto and saw the opening of a lava tube. The water was incredible here.

We got back to the dock at 12:30 pm exactly. We changed from our suits into clothes at the nearby public restroom and just missed the free shuttle to Walmart. We decided to walk since it was so close. Well, it wasn’t as close as we thought plus it was all uphill.

Twenty sweaty minutes later we made it and proceeded to pick up things we needed from the missing suitcase. The bill was over $150 and the only thing we didn’t need was a new Hawaiian dress for $25.

We waited for the shuttle to get back to the ship and waited in a 15 minute line to get through the security line before boarding the tender.

We ordered room service sandwiches and Steve went up to the lido deck to get pizza for us while we waited. The pizza was delicious and the room service only took about 10 minutes. I had a roast beef & cheddar sandwich while Steve had the BLT. Both came with chips. He ordered cheesecake for dessert while I ordered the chocolate cake. We liked it all except the chocolate cake. I didn’t care for the frosting.

Before we knew it, it was dinner time and despite a late lunch we managed to eat again. Our tablemates said my hair looked really nice and I attributed to the fact that we had shampoo and conditioner instead of the ship’s shampoo.

For starter I had the iced watermelon salad and then had the appetizer size of the stuffed pasta shells. Steve had prime rib. He had a banana-less banana split. I don’t remember my dessert as I’m writing this just 24 hours later.

Normally I’m not a fan of the waiters performing but on this voyage I enjoyed them. It probably was due to a combination of the relaxing 15 day cruise AND the fact that it never interfered with our service.

We were exhausted from our day in the water and returned to the cabin for an early night. Yes, it’s a pattern.