Honolulu: back on ship

WE GOT ONTO THE SHIP!
But not without hitches! We woke up fairly early and had agreed that we would eat on the ship. Everything got packed up fairly easily and we made our way out to the cab stand. The cabs are pretty nice here and the drivers seem more laid back than you get in LA.
We arrive at the ship’s terminal. Ed remains with the luggage while I go to the door and try to achieve entry. The security eventually agreed to call a porter and this involved calling the gurka security on the ship. By this time, Ed has me guarding the luggage and he’s gone to move things along. Eventually, the head of ship’s security shows up and agrees, after our long sad story has been recounted several times, that we can come on board. After some time, a poor much-too-skinny-for-the-job deck attendant appears with a rolling carrier for our bags. We are given cruise cards. Ed’s is blue and this indicates your first cruise with Princess. Mine has the right dates but is gold, far below the elite status we’ve come to enjoy using. Nevermind, as eventually we are again allowed back on the ship including a new photo in their security system.
We are welcomed by Edison who courageously protected our belongings in our absence and forbid anyone to even think of clearing out our cabin. We learn that the voyage across was pretty rocky with the upper decks and the promenade deck closed off for 3-4 days with lots of folks upchucking and eating very little. We parked everything and went to eat at the Panorama Bar where we ate on the back of the ship and enjoyed the wonderful weather.
So then we took a cab to the Iolani Palace, the only foreign palace on American soil. The barracks are a brick building that resembles something you’d see in Britain. The Palace itself was very modern for it’s time due to the modernity of one of the Hawaiian kings who had travelled the world, the first monarch to do so. He was also the first monarch to address a joint session of Congress. He asked to meet Thomas Edison and as a result his palace was the first to have electric lights even before any in DC.
The embarrassing history of the American military’s complicity in the take over the monarchy resulted in an apology from President Clinton in 1993. Queen Liliuokalani was imprisoned here for quite a while and during that time she and her lady in waiting made the most gorgeous crazy quilt I have ever seen. There is delicate embroidery all around and the fabric pieces are said to have come from some of her dresses. The finest china and crystal were used to serve guests from all over the world.
On the same grounds is the state capitol which is of a peculiar architectural style. There was no tour on a Saturday so I don’t know the thinking behind it but it is different. In front of it stands a statue of Father Damien, the lepers saint, which looks like a Botero piece. Across the street from all this is the governor’s mansion. The current governor is a woman who is a UCLA graduate.
We walked back to the ship from here, a trek of perhaps a mile through different neighborhoods of Honolulu. We had no trouble getting back on the ship, mercifully. We spent most of the time unpacking the various bags and rearranging our “things” so we could maneuver in this cramped space.
At 4 pm a folklorico troupe of young children came on to dance hula. This is the same group Nancy and I saw on the ship in December but it was different seeing them in a more intimate space. They were equally as good as they were in December.
We have a new table and it seats 8. Only one other couple were there: Barbara and John from Lincolnshire in Britain, a thoroughly delightful couple. This table is also served by Max and Carolina so it felt like home.
The entertainment tonite was a movie in the lounge so we went back to the room, completed our rearranging and then settled down to read and finally back on the open sea.