An OCD review of Golden/Hawaii-Pictures!!

This ship also has a Golf Simulator and they have a few competitions on it throughout the cruise. You can pay for some private time. They had a longest drive competition today and husband wanted to try. There were a bunch of people there waiting. Husband had his turn and he wasn’t very good. It looked a little hard though. While we were here I heard about a couple that is planning on golfing on every island- they brought their own clubs and everything.

The chocolate sample for the day was a chocolate macadamia nut cluster with crispy rice. We picked up some pistachio cream, mousse, a chicken Panini, and macadamia nut cookie from the International Café. That place is really convenient!

The section where you get coffee is always packed. Again we took our snacks to trivia and were made fun of again for our over eating. We are tending to get the same average score every day now! It is frustrating because we want to win after that close call the other day.

Photo op around about the ship:

Dinner was great! We sat with some wonderful couples and had really good conversations. The food was fantastic.

I had salad and husband had chicken noodle soup to start with.

Entrée was fillet mignon for us both and husband got a side of shrimp as well, the béarnaise sauce is so delicious! The fillet was really tiny. Had I know, I would have ordered two!

For dessert I got the Sacher Torte. I wasn’t sure what it was, so I asked and the waiter said it was chocolate cake (sounded good so far) with jam. But he would not elaborate further. So I was picturing something like raspberry jam on the side or something similar. It had peach jam inside it. So I ate the whipped cream and called it done. The cake was not to my liking and was also pretty dry.

Husband got the mango brulee, champagne sorbet, and crepes for dessert. The crepes were really great, so I stole some of those.

Photo of our gluttony in the Bernini dining room:

I hate to interrupt dinner (and before you've even posted dessert!) but I wanted to tell you how much I'm loving your review! All the details are awesome; I feel like I'm there (where'd this sunburn on my nose come from?!). And the photos are fantastic -- really sharp, vivid colours. Thanks so much for the care and time you're putting into this. It's really appreciated!

We went to a show next that was titled “The Amazing and Magical Entertainer Linda Gentille.” We were not sure what it was- that doesn’t give a lot to go on really. But, it turned out just to be a woman playing the piano. She was funny, but we did not stay because there were no seats in the Princess Theatre.

The weather was really nice outside, so we took a walk instead and played some late night shuffleboard. The movies today were True Grit and Tangled.

We stopped by David Moore piano in the Promenade lounge. He does some comedy and had a Scottish dry sense of humor, which we enjoy immensely. He was one of the best things on the cruise! They really need to give him a better venue that seats more people.

We went outside to watch the movie Tangled. We had not seen it yet and I was excited! Of course we stopped by the buffet for snack. We got some strawberry cheesecake, chocolate dessert, a cookie, tandoori chicken, a really good samosa, some onion rings, and brie on toast. Husband had 2 pieces of pizza and popcorn. They didn’t clean up after the earlier showing of the movie and didn’t put new blankets out either. I guess they pull out all the stops for the first MUTS movie and then hang back from there on out! I was so tired I almost fell asleep during the movie! Our hallway still smells like throw up and they still have those things blowing air. One more time change tonight. Everything is really quiet at nighttime on the ship.

I hate to interrupt dinner (and before you've even posted dessert!) but I wanted to tell you how much I'm loving your review! All the details are awesome; I feel like I'm there (where'd this sunburn on my nose come from?!). And the photos are fantastic -- really sharp, vivid colours. Thanks so much for the care and time you're putting into this. It's really appreciated!

Aw, thanks! I appreciate that! I thought it was worth it to keep my travel journal and take my obsessive pictures, even though husband teased me constantly! He will be thankful I did in 40 years when we are trying to remember our first cruise to Hawaii! :)

This is an absolutley wonderful review! Thank you very much!

We will be on the Golden in August to Alaska. can't wait!

We're planning this cruise for next year so I'm reading with great interest!

We're Princess fans and I take pictures of food too... not as many as you, though, but that would be hard to beat! They really are great and, easily, better than mine. What type of camera do you use? and macro setting?

Oh, I just noticed you are from Yorba Linda! That is where I grew up- my parents have been there for 35 years! Crazy!

My folks have been in Yorba Linda since about 1964. I bet we've seen each other at Costco or the grocery store. We have lots of family in Hawaii, so we visit often. In fact, we will be there this time next month! We've been "iffy" about doing a cruise there, but your review is making us reconsider!

We're planning this cruise for next year so I'm reading with great interest!

 

We're Princess fans and I take pictures of food too... not as many as you, though, but that would be hard to beat! They really are great and, easily, better than mine. What type of camera do you use? and macro setting?

Thanks! I just like how pretty all the food looks, so I have to capture it. I only do it on cruises though. I just bought a new camera- a Canon PowerShot SX210 IS. It is just a point and shoot type and I generally use the automatic setting because that is all I know how to do!

My folks have been in Yorba Linda since about 1964. I bet we've seen each other at Costco or the grocery store. We have lots of family in Hawaii, so we visit often. In fact, we will be there this time next month! We've been "iffy" about doing a cruise there, but your review is making us reconsider!

I bet we have seen each other! After I left YL, I have been surprised by how many people I meet that have ties to it.

Have a safe trip to Hawaii- must be nice having some family over there. Think about the cruise- it was very fun indeed! At the very least you could pick up the Ukelele!

Thanks for the review... I'm looking forward to the rest of it...

 

I find it interesting that y'all had a fabulous time and then read another review from March which was totally different... :p

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=80921

Just further proof that there's always 2 sides to every story. :rolleyes:

My experiences have been more like those of 'hermajestylanie'...fun cruises. :D

3/21/11- Land Ho!

Blah time change! I got up at like 520 AM, so figured I would go to the gym having nothing else to do. Of course! I got there at about 6 AM, so all the machines were free. Shocking, I know. I was able to watch our approach to Hilo while on the elliptical- it was beautiful!

We got ready for our day on Hilo, took some snacks we brought and some drinks, then grabbed some breakfast at the buffet. Typical fare at the buffet. I know that people grab the wrapped sandwiches from the buffet the day before to take ashore, but I don’t feel comfortable doing that, so I bring granola bars from home. We disembarked with no waiting or lines at about 815 AM.

I had arranged a tour with a private company for us. Princess tours are very expensive and you have to do them with loads of people (which is not always bad), but private companies will cater to your needs, do it at your pace, and possibly change plans based on your interest. I found a lot of helpful information from the Hawaii Ports section on CC. I ended up making a large spread sheet of possible activities and then further researched those options and whittled them down. There were a few things I wanted to do on the Big Island, so I decided a tour best fit our needs. The tour company I used was Big Island ‘Ania Tours, which I found on CC. They are a husband and wife team who got positive reviews.

They were also willing to let me design my own tour since I contacted them first and they only allowed a maximum of 6 people to book, so it was a nice and small group. We met them outside the terminal on Hilo and headed to the mini van. The other 2 couples were from England and travelling together. They were great companions on the tour! We kept running into them for the rest of the cruise too- great people! We started out driving by the Banyon trees and the park, then headed to an orchid farm.

It was beautiful! I have never seen such a wide variety of orchids. Tina, the tour operator, made up little bracelets with orchids on them for the women and we each got one for our hair as well.

One of the highlights was going to Volcano National Park (VNP). What a view! We saw the crater:

And steam:

We also visited the museum and hiked to the Thurston lava tube and thru the dark tube as well.

The first one has electricity set up in it so you can see your way, but the second one is completely dark. After walking for a bit, you can turn off you flashlight and it is as pitch black as those inside cabins! It was a little bit of a walk and a bit bumpy, with some water leaking down.

What I didn’t know is that the VNP is really cold, I guess due to the elevation change. I was wearing shorts because it was forecasted to be in the upper 70s. Thankfully Tina came prepared and she had jackets for us to borrow. Smart woman. She also provided us with water and a snack of freshly cut papaya and flashlights for the tube.

We also stopped at some steam vents. They were just holes with a bunch of warn steam seeping up thru the ground. That is our tour guide in the picture!

We stopped at a local deli shop for some lunch. They had this delicious bread called something like volcano bread. The sandwich was huge! Big enough for us to split one. We then headed to Punaluu Black Sand Beach, which is a bit of a drive, but we were lucky enough to see a bunch of turtles on the beach and a bunch swimming in the surf.

I, too, am enjoying this review.

I check back often to see your newest installments!

I did this cruise last April, met a lot of great friends from here on CC.

We got along so well that we are planning a reunion cruise for next April!

Now I can hardly wait.

My only question to you is: Where the heck are you putting all that FOOD???:eek::D

OH, and a PS to Jan, jrobinso, maybe you SHOULD reconsider....;)

From here we headed to Akaka Falls State Park and Rainbow Falls (this one was right near the city). Wow- these views were spectacular!

There was some walking and stairs involved, but it was thru rainforest areas and it was beautiful. We had a full day and made it back to the ship with 15 minutes to spare. We didn’t have time to stop at the Macadamia Nut Factory which was our only other planned stop. In line to board the ship we ran into our trivia friends who we are building the scrapheap with. They found some sticks that they are bringing back on board to use. We talked about the Crown Grill because they had gone the night before and they had a wonderful time. The people we went on the tour with said they had a horrible time at the Crown Grill. They related that the daughter had a glass of water spilled on her and her food by the waiter, then they had problems with how their meat was cooked and had to wait a long time to get their food back.

After boarding, we were starving! But we are dedicated to our team and went to trivia. We were late so they replaced us! We sat with some other people and only got 10/20. Up on the deck we watched the ship sail away from Hilo and start for the next port.

We went to dinner in the Bernini.

I got asparagus with béarnaise sauce and cream of spinach soup to start with:

Then filet of beef medallions from the always available menu for my main course. The meat was cooked perfectly, but the zucchini was rock hard. For some reason they always have trouble with this vegetable.

Husband got thr corn and clam chowder and the pasta dish to start with, then the duck and scallops for his main course.

Scallops:

For dessert:

I had triple chocolate ice cream:

And love boat dream:

and husband had pineapple with coconut rum raisin ice cream. Princess had best ice cream…. He also got the Mango cheesecake. It was really light and didn’t really taste like cheesecake, it also didn’t really taste like mango. And… he also got 2 scoops of passion fruit sorbet. It was really tart and flavorful.

Pineapple with rum raisin ice cream:

Mango Cheesecake:

Passion fruit sorbet:

We went down to the Piazza to grab the trivia for the day, and downed some needed caffeine. At the International Café, we got a cherry chocolate cake, which was gross. The macadamia nut cake was pretty good.

We got everything ready for Honolulu tomorrow. Our camera batteries sure don’t last long, but I do take a lot of pictures. We went to see the show of David Moore, the comedy piano guy from the white piano bar. He was the best comedian so far on this cruise. They had a formal show he did in the Vista Lounge. The dude is funny. Soooo tired now. Falling asleep during show. We were going to see MUTS tonight, which is Burlesque, but I can’t stay awake. We saw our gangway picture and bought it later.

Tomorrow is Honolulu!

I, too, am enjoying this review.

I check back often to see your newest installments!

I did this cruise last April, met a lot of great friends from here on CC.

We got along so well that we are planning a reunion cruise for next April!

Now I can hardly wait.

My only question to you is: Where the heck are you putting all that FOOD???:eek::D

 

OH, and a PS to Jan, jrobinso, maybe you SHOULD reconsider....;)

Thanks! There are plently of spaces for the food- it all fits in there! Yum!

Have a great time on your reunion cruise! Are you going back to Hawaii?

I don't know why but I couldn't find the pictures of the glasses being stacked. I guess we didn't take pictures of it. Doesn't make sense though.

Awesome review and LOVE the food pictures.

That just adds to the charm of your review. Very enjoyable. I think you mentioned that you are from upstate Ca. Check out the cruises to Alaska from San Fran. on the Sea Princess. Maybe not as nice as the Golden. It should be nice though. We have sailed its sister ship the Dawn and it was lovely. We sailed just before Christmas and they had a champaign pyramid in the atrium. It was like a Christmas tree. They also had a snow machine. Very Cool! That was our first 7 day cruise.

Here's some of my snow in the Piazza photos (I think this was the only time it "snowed" on our cruise) when the crew members sang carols. If you look closely, you may be able to see the snow:

And here's from the Champagne Waterfall. This is a staple on every Princess ship, on one of the formal nights. I think the only times they don't build one may be on the really short one or two night cruises.

And here's a shot of my daughter (age 8 on that cruise) on our first Hawaiian cruise five years ago, "pouring" champagne.

Also I noticed you mentioned how some people were sneaking sandwiches to take off the ship. I can't remember if it was mentioned in the Patters in December, but I do know it was emphasized on our 2005 cruise not to take off food into the ports. In Hawaii, they are very concerned about their agriculture (just like we are in California). And purses and backpacks were searched. Some Caribbean ports also have this rule.

I usually pack Power Bars and Zone Bars to put in my purse for any port time munchie attacks. As long as your food is prepackaged and unopened, there usually isn't a problem. Water and soda bottles are okay too.

Here's some of my snow in the Piazza photos (I think this was the only time it "snowed" on our cruise) when the crew members sang carols. If you look closely' date=' you may be able to see the snow:

 

 

 

And here's from the Champagne Waterfall. This is a staple on every Princess ship, on one of the formal nights. I think the only times they don't build one may be on the really short one or two night cruises.

 

 

 

And here's a shot of my daughter (age 8 on that cruise) on our first Hawaiian cruise five years ago, "pouring" champagne.

 

Thanks Patty