The other day, I realized that I needed to get off my ass and find a place to kill time on my cruise's debarkation day before heading to the airport for an evening flight. I looked at dayuse.com and could only find expensive options. It'd cost me $200 for the best option available there. So, I found another site, resortpass.com, and found a day room for half the price. There is only one problem that I think I can manage - I'd have to check out of the room by 5 pm, and my flight wouldn't leave for another 5 hours. Most hotels don't mind holding baggage for a few hours after one has checked out of a room, and I don't think I'll have trouble stashing my baggage for 2 hours while I go out for dinner.
To answer the unasked question: Why didn't I schedule an earlier flight home? Well, most eastbound trips from Hawaii to the mainland which have Eastbound connections are scheduled late in the evening, so that those mainland connections can be made early in the morning. This allows for people flying from Hawaii to the East coast to make it home by mid-afternoon instead of the middle of the night. But this causes a problem for most of us. How do we kill time before our flights? Thus, the need for day use rooms in Honolulu.
Given that I will be traveling in Marian Mode for this trip, I expect to deal with a few headaches on this trip. For example, I may need to ask TSA for special screening, as my presentation will not match that on my legal id. But, more importantly, I will need to deal with a 5 o'clock shadow before going to the airport for my return flight. Thus, I will need the day use room for both a few extra hours of sleep and for a need to freshen up my face and makeup before my flights.
Luckily, I will be carrying some spare face masks I bought in the middle of the pandemic, and this will provide some cover towards the end of my long trip home. Even then, I will be dead tired when I get home and will be glad to finally sleep in my own bed.
