First day of vacation.

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So here we are on our first day of our Epic Amazing Adventure and all is going well. We flew from Phoenix to Oahu, Hawaii yesterday. We had a problem with the transfer company when we arrived but were able to get it resolved with the help of our travel agent. Still it is so nice to reach in my purse and make a call and have an advocate helping me out. Hooray for travel agents!

We arrived at the Waikiki Reef on the Beach to a wonderful welcome. Being Halloween many of the staff was dressed in costume. So a very beautiful and colorful "Carmen Miranda" checked us in. Our room is a partial ocean view room that is large and spacious. It is on the corner so we have two large sliding glass windows with balconies. One has view of the city and the other the ocean. The room is very large with a king sized bed, refrigerator, safe, and coffee maker. The bathroom is standard, but has some nice touches like a lighted vanity. A very nice room to stay.

After checking in we made it right down to the beach. There we found plenty of space with beach chair and umbrella rental. We contined to walk around the area for a while and perched ourselves at the bar of the Shore Bird. There we met, some beautiful and wonderful people. Some from Cananda, England and Australia and a couple of our proud military. I really enjoy going to a location that has such an international mix. We all became fast new best friends. I wonder if I will ever see them again.

So last night was Halloween. And before I booked this trip I had heard about the famous street party on Waikiki. So we had to make sure we were part of that. Oh My Goodness, what an event. I am so surprised this hasn't become more famous than it is. Thousands of people, all in costume partying wildly in the streets. It was a thrill to be a part of such a crazy event. The perfect way to kick off the vacation.

This morning at breakfast a family from Austrialia was waiting to be seated as we were. We struck up a small conversation and found we are traveling together. It was so nice to meet some shipmates before boarding. It is their first cruise, so they really started to pick our brains. For a first cruise 19 nights is a big one. We feel we were able to give them some good advice to ease their minds a bit.

So you an see we have been very busy and socializing. I am writing from my beach chair, so I think it is time to close my eyes a while.

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Photos

Toes in the beach
Waikiki 11/1/20212