January 29, 2018 – Lahaina, Maui

Almost as if by magic, the cloudy and dreary weather we’d been experiencing since we left Los Angeles disappeared overnight, giving way to beautiful blue skies and warm, sunny weather. We’re so happy to be back in Hawaii. As some of you know, we spent part of our honeymoon here 43 years ago and then lived on Oahu for two years from 1986 - 1988.

Captain Vorland anchored Crystal Serenity offshore at Lahaina, Maui at 8:00 a.m. We decided to wander around this small town on our own and headed in at about 9:30. Boarding the tender boat to take us to shore was a little tricky, as seas were rough, but we made it round-trip without injury. The tender boats on this ship are actually the life boats we would use in an emergency. They’re not plush, but they do the job of getting us ashore when there’s no docking space for large ships at a port. The ships’ officers like to use the life boats to take us to shore, as the boats’ motors and other equipment need to be tested periodically.

Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands and definitely is an attractive destination for travelers. Lahaina is a historic, small town on the Western shore of the island. It was once the capital of Kamehameha the Great’s Hawaiian kingdom. Then it again served as capital of the Kingdom from 1820 – 1845, before the capital was permanently moved to Honolulu. In the 19^th century Lahaina was a very busy center for the whaling industry, with hundreds of whaling ships anchoring at the waterfront.

Today, Lahaina is a small town of about 11,900 people, although it’s a very popular location for tourists (about 2 million tourists per year, we understand), being very close to the world-famous Ka'anapali and Kapalua beach areas. Humpback whales are still seen here in the winter months, as they return to Maui from the Arctic and Alaska to mate and calve their young. One of our ship’s crew members told us that a whale was spotted this morning as we approached Lahaina, but we apparently slept through the whole event.

We walked along historic Front Street in Lahaina, where the old wooden buildings still retain the look and atmosphere of a mid-19th century seaport. Of special interest was a large Banyan tree near the harbor where we got off the tender boat. This tree was planted in 1873 and is now the largest tree in the Hawaiian Islands. We read that it shades more than ⅔ of an acre and measures ¼ of a mile in circumference.

Jim set off on a search for dry eraser marker pens for the calendar we always install in our stateroom on long cruises, as we forgot to pack them with us this time. He finally found them in a Longs Drugstore after a lengthy (2-mile) walk. This was on top of the 3-mile walk he just finished around the Promenade Deck of the Serenity earlier in the morning. Luckily, he actually enjoyed seeing the sights on his expedition. In addition to t-shirt shops and art galleries, there were lots of historic buildings. 

Ginny also enjoyed her stay in the town center, sitting outside and reading, while listening to Hawaiian music coming from the Baldwin House (a home used by early missionaries on Maui).

It is a short cruise between Maui and Oahu, so Serenity is not scheduled to leave Lahaina until 11:00 p.m. this evening, giving passengers time to remain in port a little later than usual and enjoy their time on this beautiful island a little longer.

We attended the evening entertainment last evening in the Galaxy Theater -- what was announced as the last performance of the long-running Crystal show "My Life: The Music of Billy Joel," starring James Fox, the Crystal Show Band, and the Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers. They covered many of Billy Joel's hit songs, and the performances were loud, lively, and fun. James Fox starred on Broadway singing these same songs, so his show is always great. From what we understand, Mr. Fox has a near full-time commitment in London and can no longer take time off from that to fly out to meet Crystal Serenity and perform, as he has been doing the past three years. 

Tomorrow we will visit Honolulu.

Jim & Ginny