Shore time craziness — when the lights went out on Oahu.
What’s the strangest thing that’s happened to you on shore? For me, it was the lights going out on Oahu. Add to the conversation by commenting at the end of this posting.
Aloha cruisers.
Randall Shirley at Honolulu's Aloha Tower, cruise ships dock nearby. Photo: Kevin Spragg.
I’ve just returned from Hawaii. Unfortunately it wasn’t a cruise vacation, but while flying into both Honolulu and Lihue (Kauai) we could see cruise ships in the ports—a Carnival ship at Honolulu and NCL at Kauai.
Seeing the ships in these far-flung islands reminded me that occasionally there are gay group cruises that visit here—I organized one of them a few years ago (did you know you can organize a group cruise? Check out these tips on how to organize your own group cruise.
But it also reminded me of a wild experience that happened on shore during that gay group cruise. Our Honolulu port day had been fairly typical, some Waikiki gay beach time at Queens Surf Beach, some Honolulu gay bar time at Hula’s, and of course some shopping. Toward evening as my partner and I began heading back to Aloha Tower and the ship, all the lights went out in Honolulu—we watched in disbelief as neighborhood by neighborhood, the entire city went black. Traffic turned into a mess, so we walked the hour or so to the ship.
Of course, this was a huge news item worldwide—mostly because U.S. President Barack Obama was on the island at the time. Well, while his compound got it’s power back from generators (most of the island was powerless into the next day) at the cruise terminal of Aloha Tower, things were decidedly dark.
The cruise terminal on Oahu couldn’t board the ship because the lights and security equipment on the shore side were out. The ship itself was lights-ablaze, but 100s of passengers were stuck on the shore side, temporarily denied boarding. I’m sure safety was the biggest concern—security could be handled onboard the ship if needed.
Waikiki gay beach area, photo: Randall Shirley
It seemed to take forever (maybe an hour), but finally someone got really creative—the port workers found some flashlights, and the lighting equipment from the ship’s photo studio was moved onto the shore – strung through the building’s corridors on long extension cords back to the ship. Before we knew it, we were carefully guided back through the cruise terminal and onto the Celebrity Mercury where things were fully powered up. It was strange to look over the side of the ship at the very dark silhouette of Waikiki!
There’s lots of info about Hawaii on this site! Click here to learn more about cruising gay in Hawaii.
What strange things have happened to you while cruising? Comment below!
Cruise Ships is discussing. 
Cruise Ships is discussing. 
Sophie Needelman 12:06 am on December 21, 2011 Permalink |
Love this post! Thanks for turning a frustrating situation into an entertaining one!