Circle Hawaii from Vancouver on HAL's Koningsdam

This was our first assignment for Holland America since 2020. It was a last-minute deal.

Shipboard

This was our first experience on one of HAL's Pinnacle-class ships.
They are the newest and largest of the fleet with about 2,500 passengers.

The 3-level atrium with an art gallery on the bottom level and not far from our stateroom.

 
On the 2nd-level atrium

Also, on the 2nd level atrium, the high-end Pinnacle Grill in a more visible location than on some of the other ships.

The Royal Dutch Cafe is on the third level and is only available on these ships.

The 2-level dining room is quite elegant. We don't normally eat here because it's too fussy and takes too much time.

The pool on the Lido Deck has another level, so there is what serves as a balcony around the pool.

We used this area above the pool when we wanted a little more quiet.

Most HAL ships have a BB King's lounge used for blues, rock, & jazz music at night, but it's also used in various ways during the day, such as coffee chats and trivia.

It's open to 2 decks on these ships.

I hosted a trivia near the end of the cruise to see if people had been paying attention to my 9 presentations.

A smaller venue for classical music or informal concerts

The World Stage has a 2-story LED wrap-around screen, which was put to good use on several of the evening shows.

This farewell show gives an idea of the scale.

My presentations only used a fraction of the screen, but still pretty large.

On the last day of the cruise, the crew made a wide assortment of towel animals, which is a HAL tradition.

 
Some were quite elaborate.

Leaving Vancouver

We had been to Vancouver in 2017, but this time we did not spend any time in the city either coming or going.

The sail-away party was in full swing. This was a sold-out cruise.

People waved fom the shore as we rounded the point with the tiny lighthouse, giant bridge, and the autumn leaves in full color.

Honolulu

We've been to Honolulu & Hawaii several times. Click these links to see what we did on those visits:
2006, 2007, 2009, 2017, 2019.

A beautiful sunrise as we approached Honolulu after 5 days at sea. I gave 4 presentations and most of them filled the World Stage, so they had to simulcast me in a lounge with several screens.

We docked next to the Aloha Tower, which is now part of Hawaii Pacific University.
Those green-roofed buildings with the solar panels are all part of the university facilities.

We shared the port with a larger cruise ship. We over-nighted here.

 
We were off on a public bus and spent time in some out-of-way places, where, in spite of 2 large ships in port, we did not see any other cruisers. They gave us leis when we left the ship. Dean gave his to me, but I gave them to our bus driver so we didn't stand out so much as tourists.

An extensive homeless encampment on the way to the bus station.

Murals in an underpass, this one called "Iron Horse."

The was of the Wahiawa Depot, an early Hawaiian train station.

 
The North Shore Marketplace had many wind chimes on display.

 
Sea grapes are widely planted here, but they are native to Florida, Mexico down through northern South America, not Hawaii.

 
Waterfalls seem to be mandatory fixtures for Hawaiian hotels.

The famous surfing area on North Shore, but not much happening when we were there.

 
The Beach naupaka (Scaevola taccada) has only half a flower and there is a tragic tale of a royal princess in love with a commoner and since they could not be together, so she only produces half a flower. The yellow flower is called Hau, a hibiscus, which is used for boat building because of its lightweight wood.