"We always keep track of when the ships come in," Emberton said, "because it means we're going to be busy."

The 5,180 officers and crew of the Lincoln and the 1,449 additional sailors belonging to the Lincoln's five-ship strike force will set sail today after five days and four nights of Navy spending in Honolulu.

The strike group made its first port call in Honolulu Friday after leaving its home in Everett, Wash., and picking up its aircrew in San Diego, Calif. So sailors said they didn't spend as much as they usually do at the end of a long deployment when their paychecks have had time to build up.

But the arrival of 6,629 sailors during Hawai'i's traditionally slow "shoulder season" between summer and the holidays still meant a 30 percent boost in business for places such as Planet Hollywood on Kalakaua Avenue, said general manager Don Girvan.

Like other Waikiki businesses, Planet Hollywood offers military discounts, which helped draw Petty Officer 3rd Class Dustin Badgerow, 22, and Petty Officer 3rd Class Fredrik Fredheim, 22, shipmates aboard the Lincoln.

They slept aboard the Lincoln every night in Honolulu, avoiding hotel bills. But Badgerow still calculated that he spent $250 to $300 per day for family gifts and at places like Planet Hollywood, "mostly on food, beer, mai tais and blue Hawaiians," he said.

But then, Fredheim figures he needed to cut back a little because he spent $1,000 in just one day during his last port call to Honolulu in May 2003. Most of the $1,000, Fredheim said, went to rent a Hummer "because I'd never driven one before."

The spending habits of their younger shipmates surprised Petty Officers 1st Class Michael Norman, Michael McQuay and Jason Schuh. They're all in their 30s and estimate that they each went through only about $50 per day during their brief stop in Honolulu.

When Emberton, their bartender, presented them with an $8.25 tab, McQuay shouted out "Eight twenty-five!" in disbelief.

But McQuay calmed down when Norman explained that the bill was for all three of their beers.

"We watch what we spend," Norman said. "...We're all married."

"And we have kids," Schuh said.

Much of Schuh's budget went for gifts for his two children, such as backpacks with Hawai'i logos that he bought at the Aloha Stadium swap meet. Norman also picked up some aloha shirts.

Other sailors haven't been as practical.

About 25 members of Lincoln's strike group spent an average of $150 to $300 for tattoos at South Pacific Tattoo on Saratoga Road. Hula dancers and old-fashioned pin-up girls were popular on this cruise, said tattoo artist Scott Sterling.

Sterling has seen bigger numbers of customers from previous aircraft carrier visits. But he hasn't given up hope.

The Lincoln and its strike group will spend four months sailing around the Western Pacific and make another brief stop in Pearl Harbor sometime around Thanksgiving.

Just about then, Petty Officer 3rd Class Peter Stout, 23, might be ready to add a third tattoo — perhaps a pair of wings — to the two tattoos he already owns.

"We'll be back," Stout said.