Live from the Golden Princess 10/25/09 to Hawaii

[flamomo]

I'm glad you are taking the time to share you cruise with us "waiters".

We don't sail till mid-March, and it seems so far away! What makes it even harder to wait is having taken this cruise twice before, so we know what we will be experiencing when it's our turn.

Do you know if David will be returning to the Golden, or will we likely have Lee for our CD? Of course, we are hoping for David.

[PookyCat]

First - I, too, want to add my thanks for taking the time to do this post. I love reading about your experiences and point of view! Great insights as I, too, prepare for doing this cruise in January.

 

Are you doing assigned seating or anytime dining? And I am amazed at the control you are exercising with the food! Way to go!

 

Re: Lee Childers - he was the CD on our Panama Canal cruise and I wasn't impressed. But then, he is the only Princess CD we've experienced. Why are some of you so negative about him?

[Waimea'sMom]

Hi everyone,

 

Sorry I forgot to answer this question before...the treadmills do have the input jacks so you can listen to your audio from the tv screen attached to the treadmill. A nice touch...

 

Also, since someone asked, the entertainers on this cruise are Steve Caoutte, Brett Wengeler, Glenn Smith, Bobby Hamilton, Willie Tyler and Lester, Bernie Fields, Kellie Karl, Don Ware and a magician named Gaetano.

 

As for Lee Childers, ugh, where do I start? For one thing, I constantly feel like I'm playing a cruise version of Where's Waldo. Today is our third full day onboard, and I have seen him out and about exactly once. I'm not counting the shows, I mean during the day. Compare that to David Cole, who usually taught ukulele, did the port talks himself, and was always walking around the ship. Plus, he always seemed to care about how each passenger was doing and took the time to say hello.

 

As for Lee, I can honestly say, this is my 20th cruise on Princess and he is without a doubt the worst cruise director I have ever had. He admitted today in his morning show that he hadn't met all of the entertainers, and he had no idea where Hilo was on the map of the island of Hawaii. He not only isn't knowledgable about the area where we are sailing, he didn't put that effort into learning anything about it. Now I realize that nobody has the encyclopedia knowledge of David Cole, where he makes an effort to drink in the Hawaiian culture, but come on, you didn't even bother to meet the entertainers on your sailing by the third day?

 

I'm also not a big fan of his sophomoric sense of humor either, which basically consists of insinuating extramarital affairs among the crew and punching the deputy cruise director in the arm each morning.

 

I fully recognize it might just be my comparison to David. In truth, in all those cruises, I only remember two cruise directors who stood out and made my trip a wonderful experience almost single handedly. That was David Cole, and a red headed lady on my trip to Asia -- I think her name was Sami but I'm not sure. I don't ask a lot of cruise director, but this guy falls way short of even basic standards.

 

Okay on to far more pleasant topics. The weather today is very nice, beautiful blue skies (in parts, it is still overcast). There was brief rain this morning but it is gone now. The waters are not rough at all, just gentle rocking at this point.

 

Satellite for the tv has been either down or erratic since yesterday so I'm guessing we will miss the World Series...just as well for me since I root for the Red Sox and Dodgers.

 

I had a nice time at the ukulele lesson yesterday, Dave from Elua is great. Even though I have gone beyond what they were studying, it was a lot of fun to see people start to appreciate the instrument I have fallen in love with. Since this cruise last year was the first time that I picked up a ukulele, I blame David Cole and Dave from Elua for getting me addicted to those four little strings. I think I told Dave it was his fault I got two expensive ukuleles since I had seen him last.

 

For lunch, I got the pizza yesterday. It is so funny to me how the exact same recipe tastes so different on the different ships, but it was pretty good and a nice option when there is nothing you like on the lunch menu or on the buffet. I did splurge a bit and got a soft serve vanilla cone with sprinkles. I know it has been a big topic of debate on these boards about Princess going to the soft serve style. I know it doesn't taste as good as the old stuff, but you can still get regular ice cream in the dining room, and this tasted pretty good for free!:p

 

Last night was the first formal night. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many gentlemen were wearing tuxedos. Don't get me wrong, a suit is very nice, but they look so handsome in the tuxedos and it adds a bit of class to the surroundings. My mom told our waiter he looked very handsome in his tuxedo (and though he did), I kidded her that she should stop sexually harassing poor Alvin. :)

 

For dinner, I opted for the pork roast...I'm not meaning to keep getting the "home style" entrees, it just keeps working out that way. I followed it with a very light and yummy chocolate souffle, it was all I could do to eat only half of it when I definitely wanted to finish it...

 

I got up early as usual to head to the gym. I still hate that dumbbells can't be used until 9am. :mad: After the gym and a quick shower, I got the laundry out for the room steward -- woo hoo! Gotta love that Elite benefit!

 

I decided to get breakfast at the buffet this morning and I was very excited to see Cream of Wheat. It seems like I only luck out and get it two or three times over the course a cruise, and it went great with my pineapple. Though I admit, I did look longingly at the bacon and waffles that other people opted for. :)

 

After checking my email, I am heading to Leialoha's class on sarong tying. I'll then probably find a quiet corner where I can play my ukulele before going to lunch. Today is Italian Trattoria day at the buffet and you know how great that Princess pasta is!

 

Today's port talk is on my favorite island, Kauai. I always say that I am simply a divorce or a widowhood away from moving there. I've been fortunate to do a fair bit of traveling in my life, but there is no place on Earth that I love more than Poipu, Kauai. And if you only have so many sunrises and sunsets to spend in your life, and I can't imagine why I'd want to spend them anywhere else. I really do hope that we are able to dock there. The first time I did this itinerary we did, and had a great time. Unfortunately, last year, the winds were too strong and we had to bypass that port. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will be able to get in this Sunday...

 

I'm also looking forward to watching my honey look like a fool at the Survivor game today. That should be a lot of fun to watch before I run down to the 3pm hula lesson.

 

The Internet Cafe is crazy right now, tons of people trying to get online, so I guess I'll do the neighborly thing and sign off for now...

 

Mahalo for reading my little online postings. :) Talk to you all tomorrow!

[Waimea'sMom]

First - I, too, want to add my thanks for taking the time to do this post. I love reading about your experiences and point of view! Great insights as I, too, prepare for doing this cruise in January.

 

Are you doing assigned seating or anytime dining? And I am amazed at the control you are exercising with the food! Way to go!

 

Re: Lee Childers - he was the CD on our Panama Canal cruise and I wasn't impressed. But then, he is the only Princess CD we've experienced. Why are some of you so negative about him?

 

Sorry, I forgot to answer this earlier. We are at assigned first seating dining...

[Cruisin' Chick]

Hi everyone' date='

 

Sorry I forgot to answer this question before...the treadmills do have the input jacks so you can listen to your audio from the tv screen attached to the treadmill. A nice touch...

 

Also, since someone asked, the entertainers on this cruise are Steve Caoutte, Brett Wengeler, Glenn Smith, Bobby Hamilton, Willie Tyler and Lester, Bernie Fields, Kellie Karl, Don Ware and a magician named Gaetano.

 

As for Lee Childers, ugh, where do I start? For one thing, I constantly feel like I'm playing a cruise version of Where's Waldo. Today is our third full day onboard, and I have seen him out and about exactly once. I'm not counting the shows, I mean during the day. Compare that to David Cole, who usually taught ukulele, did the port talks himself, and was always walking around the ship. Plus, he always seemed to care about how each passenger was doing and took the time to say hello.

 

As for Lee, I can honestly say, this is my 20th cruise on Princess and he is without a doubt the worst cruise director I have ever had. He admitted today in his morning show that he hadn't met all of the entertainers, and he had no idea where Hilo was on the map of the island of Hawaii. He not only isn't knowledgable about the area where we are sailing, he didn't put that effort into learning anything about it. Now I realize that nobody has the encyclopedia knowledge of David Cole, where he makes an effort to drink in the Hawaiian culture, but come on, you didn't even bother to meet the entertainers on your sailing by the third day?

 

I'm also not a big fan of his sophomoric sense of humor either, which basically consists of insinuating extramarital affairs among the crew and punching the deputy cruise director in the arm each morning.

 

I fully recognize it might just be my comparison to David. In truth, in all those cruises, I only remember two cruise directors who stood out and made my trip a wonderful experience almost single handedly. That was David Cole, and a red headed lady on my trip to Asia -- I think her name was Sami but I'm not sure. I don't ask a lot of cruise director, but this guy falls way short of even basic standards.

 

Okay on to far more pleasant topics. The weather today is very nice, beautiful blue skies (in parts, it is still overcast). There was brief rain this morning but it is gone now. The waters are not rough at all, just gentle rocking at this point.

 

Satellite for the tv has been either down or erratic since yesterday so I'm guessing we will miss the World Series...just as well for me since I root for the Red Sox and Dodgers.

 

I had a nice time at the ukulele lesson yesterday, Dave from Elua is great. Even though I have gone beyond what they were studying, it was a lot of fun to see people start to appreciate the instrument I have fallen in love with. Since this cruise last year was the first time that I picked up a ukulele, I blame David Cole and Dave from Elua for getting me addicted to those four little strings. I think I told Dave it was his fault I got two expensive ukuleles since I had seen him last.

 

For lunch, I got the pizza yesterday. It is so funny to me how the exact same recipe tastes so different on the different ships, but it was pretty good and a nice option when there is nothing you like on the lunch menu or on the buffet. I did splurge a bit and got a soft serve vanilla cone with sprinkles. I know it has been a big topic of debate on these boards about Princess going to the soft serve style. I know it doesn't taste as good as the old stuff, but you can still get regular ice cream in the dining room, and this tasted pretty good for free!:p

 

Last night was the first formal night. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many gentlemen were wearing tuxedos. Don't get me wrong, a suit is very nice, but they look so handsome in the tuxedos and it adds a bit of class to the surroundings. My mom told our waiter he looked very handsome in his tuxedo (and though he did), I kidded her that she should stop sexually harassing poor Alvin. :)

 

For dinner, I opted for the pork roast...I'm not meaning to keep getting the "home style" entrees, it just keeps working out that way. I followed it with a very light and yummy chocolate souffle, it was all I could do to eat only half of it when I definitely wanted to finish it...

 

I got up early as usual to head to the gym. I still hate that dumbbells can't be used until 9am. :mad: After the gym and a quick shower, I got the laundry out for the room steward -- woo hoo! Gotta love that Elite benefit!

 

I decided to get breakfast at the buffet this morning and I was very excited to see Cream of Wheat. It seems like I only luck out and get it two or three times over the course a cruise, and it went great with my pineapple. Though I admit, I did look longingly at the bacon and waffles that other people opted for. :)

 

After checking my email, I am heading to Leialoha's class on sarong tying. I'll then probably find a quiet corner where I can play my ukulele before going to lunch. Today is Italian Trattoria day at the buffet and you know how great that Princess pasta is!

 

Today's port talk is on my favorite island, Kauai. I always say that I am simply a divorce or a widowhood away from moving there. I've been fortunate to do a fair bit of traveling in my life, but there is no place on Earth that I love more than Poipu, Kauai. And if you only have so many sunrises and sunsets to spend in your life, and I can't imagine why I'd want to spend them anywhere else. I really do hope that we are able to dock there. The first time I did this itinerary we did, and had a great time. Unfortunately, last year, the winds were too strong and we had to bypass that port. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will be able to get in this Sunday...

 

I'm also looking forward to watching my honey look like a fool at the Survivor game today. That should be a lot of fun to watch before I run down to the 3pm hula lesson.

 

The Internet Cafe is crazy right now, tons of people trying to get online, so I guess I'll do the neighborly thing and sign off for now...

 

Mahalo for reading my little online postings. :) Talk to you all tomorrow![/quote']

 

What great info you're posting. We honeymooned in Poipu (at the Hyatt...we splurged) and Oahu. Hope you are able to land on the Garden Isle.

 

We also brought our own uke for our Hawaiian cruise. Hubby also brought his guitar and found a spot to play on the Promenade deck on the Island Princess. Some other guitarists joined him for a jam session while I was doing a trivia marathon with new friends.:)

 

That's a shame about the CD. I might not remember the names of most of the CDs we've had, but if there was a bad one, I'm sure I would remember that. It seems many are corny and all that, but you would hope they would be knowledgeable about their ship, their itinerary, and the entertainers. I can't see that being all that difficult.

[Luv2escape]

Thanks for the live post. We are on the Dec 6-20 sailing . Pleaase make sure you put your feeling about the CD on the evaluation. We have experienced Lee Childers (He is the worst CD ever! So full of himself) before and I am not sure why Princess continues to keep him. :mad: If more people voice thier distaste for him, maybe Princess will get the message...:p

[caribill]

Five year ago on the Diamond the Pina Colada soup was served in a Pina colada glass with a straw.

 

 

It is still served that way.

[helenb]

Thanks for answering my question about the pools! I'm glad we'll be able to swim indoors during the sea days!

 

Also, for everyone talking about cruise directors, look what I found:

 

http://www.richardjoseph.com/cdconference.htm

[shawilson]

Have you seen Marilyn/Pat, the Rodagnas, Karen/Jess or Andi/Will? They should have been on your roll call.

 

Thanks for your Live posting!

 

Sharon

[Waimea'sMom]

Have you seen Marilyn/Pat, the Rodagnas, Karen/Jess or Andi/Will? They should have been on your roll call.

 

Thanks for your Live posting!

 

Sharon

 

Unfortunately no...I missed the first CC meeting due to having sailaway with my family on the balcony, and the second one conflicted with hula class. So we are all on this boat but I haven't met with any roll call people...

 

First things first, food: lunch was the Italian trattoria buffet. I'm not sure what pasta it was that I ate, but it tasted great...garlic and red pepper flakes made is spicy and delicious. As for last night, it was French dinner. I enjoyed the Duck, while my table mates said that their orange roughy was great. The raspberry creme brulee was delicious as well.

 

Yesterday we went to another hula lesson, this time we learned to dance to Na Leo's great song "Hawaiian Lullaby." My mom actually did pretty well but I kept tripping over the edge of my sarong...sure that is why I danced poorly. ;)

 

We did trivia yesterday and this time we won! Yay!!!! I was quite proud of myself for knowing that Spain was the country that kept chocolate a secret for 100 years. :) We got some passport holders, a nice change of pace from the luggage tags we got on prior cruises. We are planning to try to defend our reigning title at trivia this morning (in 15 minutes) and later this afternoon.

 

Last night my DH and I really enjoyed watching Dave from Elua perform some Hawaiian steel guitar in the atrium. We are definitely going to buy a couple of the Elua cds, they really are quite enjoyable to listen to. And it is so nice that they are so friendly and approachable as well.

 

Today is a busy day onboard the ship, and I actually have some choices to make. There are two hula classes today...one taught by Leialoha in the afternoon that we will definitely attend, and another one taught this morning by naturalist Carole Berk, who is teaching mainly "hapa haole" style hula.

 

I've also got to decide whether to watch my DH participate as a member of a tribe in the ship Survivor game or attend a lecture I was looking forward to, "How to Speak and Eat Like a Hawaiian" since they are at the same time. Hmm, Hawaiian cultural fun or cheer on your spouse while they make a fool of themself in Survivor pool games? Tough decision...

 

We also saw that they are doing clay tiki carving this afternoon, and since we wanted to get a small tiki to put in our garden (we have hibiscus, plumeria and bromeliad flowers), it might be nice to make it ourselves. Though since we have absolutely no artistic skill whatsoever, perhaps we are better off just buying one.

 

Today is our last sea day before we land in Hilo tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to getting into Hawaii, and I have my list of stops to make (Hilo Guitars, Joanie's for sarongs, the public library so I can use my library card to get an hour of free internet access, etc.) We visited most of the touristy spots (volcano, macadamia nut factory) on prior trips, so this time I think we are just doing a bit of shopping and grabbing a great local plate island lunch.

 

This morning I hit the gym as usual, but unfortunately, about three of the treadmills are now broken and out of service (including the one I signed up for). So after doing a weight workout, I took a walk around the sports deck of the ship and did about six laps. It wasn't as good a workout (no incline) but it was soooooooo much more pleasant to be surrounded by the beautiful sea.

 

I behaved myself at breakfast and opted for Raisin Bran, papaya and pineapple. But I tell you, those waffles and bacon keep calling to me and it is just a matter of time before I break down!

[GAPeachessweety]

Awwww, David Cole looks so down to earth and friendly.

 

Thanks for posting that link.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Looking at that photo, I think it was David Cole who was the CD on our cruise (it was either him or Richard Joseph). I guess I can either dig out the Patters from our cruise or look at my old emails as I got one from him pre-cruise about setting up a meet and greet for my roll call.

 

If anyone has doubts about having enough to do on all those sea days, they can check out WM's posts. It's frustrating when you have too many choices.:D

[mycruz]

Thanks for the info on the Fitness Center and equipment. Can't believe you've worked out so much that you've worn out the machines already!!!;)

[PookyCat]

It's so great that you are having such a good time! The information you are sharing is really making me wish January 30th weren't so far away!!

 

Enjoy Hilo!

[Loralu]

Can't thank you enough for this review - we are on the Dec 6th to Hawaii, and I've been wondering what I will do with my sea days - but not anymore.. I love Trivia.. and Survivor - how is Hubby doing on Survivor? How does this work? Oh and the Hula lessons... all sounds like a ton of fun.. I'm more excited now thanks to your reports - Enjoy your cruise ;)

[Waimea'sMom]

Yesterday I was running around that ship like crazy. Gym in the morning, followed by breakfast upstairs, then morning trivia at 1015. I skipped the beginner ukulele lesson to find a couch by the Explorers Lounge where I played my ukulele -- thanks to those of you who smiled or stopped to chat with me. After that, I chose lunch in the dining room (terrific spaghetti aglio), then enjoyed doing the hula lesson with Leialoha. We learned "Aloha Oe" and reviewed "Hawaiian Lullaby" for the end of the cruise talent show.

 

I did the show last year as a ukulele player (they play "Tiny Bubbles" and "Aloha Oe") and it was in the Explorers Lounge. They said they have since moved the show to the Princess Theater. The good news is that my Mom and I are excited to learn the hula (she is literally losing sleep waking up at night thinking about the movements and practicing constantly). The bad news is that I have to choose between ukulele and hula, as there is no way to perform both portions. I'm opting for the hula since Mom wants me to do it with her -- but the ukulele remains my true passion!!! :)

 

We didn't do too well at the afternoon trivia (only a 13) and we are missing the sessions today so I'll have to try to regain our title another time. It is funny at how many people are unable to understand the Aussie cruise staff accents -- the guys have actually read some of the questions in a Brit or US accent for the benefit of the passengers.

 

Survivor is going along swimmingly...excuse the pun. Yesterday they had the tribes take part in a pool exercise where they were placed butt in to a life preserver. They then were armed with a small canoe paddle and had to complete a relay across the pool, getting all four tribe members across the pool first. I'm proud to say my honey did quite well for the Hilo tribe, and they made the cut to the next round. The Maui tribe got eliminated, then the Hilo, Kauai and Oahu tribes had to vote off one member. The voted off tribe members were then given immunity as the newly formed Kohala tribe. No activities for the next few days as we are in port, but the Survivor shenanigans take place again when we are back at sea.

 

I did the family thing and watched Survivor then ran down to the Vista lounge to see the last 20 minutes of the "Eat and Speak Like a Hawaiian" lecture by Leialoha and Dave. It got me all excited for the plate lunch I'm planning to enjoy today in Hilo.

 

Speaking of Hilo, we got in around 8am. The weather is great, a bit humid, but nice breezes once in a while to cool you down. The temperature isn't too hot, I'd guess low 80s. We took the free bus shuttle from the town market across the street from the pier into downtown. Note: it is free, so no complaints allowed, but it was crazy crowded and took a really circle route back past the ship again, so the 2 miles took more like 40 minutes to navigate.

 

While we were waiting for the bus, I took out my ukulele, leaned against a stop light and played for a while. I got a "hang loose" shaka from a couple of passing locals in their trucks and lots of stares from the fellow passengers. I think one may have taken my picture. I should note that I look Polynesian, so I'm sure they assumed that a local girl was serenading the passengers. My honey joked I should open up the ukulele case and toss in a couple of dollars in the hopes of earning some "tourist" donations. :D

 

I'm actually typing this from the Hilo public library computer...a great deal if you go to Hawaii fairly frequently, as it allows you an hour of internet access every day for a minimal price. After this, we plan to do some walking around downtown (I'm stopping at Hilo Guitars to ogle the ukuleles) before we head to Hilo Hattie's and the shopping area for lunch and souvenir shopping.

 

Once we get back onboard the ship, we are planning to check out the Elite happy hour in Skywalkers today. My honey, mother in law and aunt in law are all gold, while Mom and I are Elite. But thankfully, the Captain Circle Hostess said they could accompany us to the lounge. We hadn't previously gone since we had been having our own happy hours on the balcony (except for yesterday when we actually brought a bottle of bubbly to trivia -- hmm, maybe that is why we only got a 13)!

 

When we spoke to the CC hostess, we asked how many days you needed to attend the most traveled lunch/cocktail party. We had gone to the last three cruises' events (two lunches and one cocktail party) but we were way out of our league on this sailing. My piddly little 218 days were nowhere near enough to approach the 271 minimum on this trip!!!:eek:

 

Talk to you all later....

[jlines]

How do you sign up for the ukulele and lei making classes? Is there a minimum and do they fill quickly? Thanks for all your info - I am so excited!!!

[Waimea'sMom]

How do you sign up for the ukulele and lei making classes? Is there a minimum and do they fill quickly? Thanks for all your info - I am so excited!!!

 

Hi, as far as I know there is no minimum for the lei and ukulele classes. Though there is of course a maximum. I think the ukulele is about 50 and the leis might have been 20 or 25 I would guess. You go to the Hawaii activities desk by the tour desk on the first or second day of the cruise. They give you little plastic tickets to bring to your activity. The ukulele classes are great fun. The lei making is nice but you don't get nearly enough flowers to maje a proper lei - only 15 orchids. I turned mine into a head lei but still had lots of blank gaps. Still, it is a nice activity...

[Genessa]

Hi' date=' as far as I know there is no minimum for the lei and ukulele classes. Though there is of course a maximum. I think the ukulele is about 50 and the leis might have been 20 or 25 I would guess. You go to the Hawaii activities desk by the tour desk on the first or second day of the cruise. They give you little plastic tickets to bring to your activity. The ukulele classes are great fun. The lei making is nice but you don't get nearly enough flowers to maje a proper lei - only 15 orchids. I turned mine into a head lei but still had lots of blank gaps. Still, it is a nice activity...[/quote']

 

Thanks for taking the time to post!

 

We're doing this cruise at the end of March and, while I usually know exactly how I'm spending my sea days - lounging by a quiet pool - seems like I am going to have tough decisions to make. I'd like to try the hule, lei, and ukelele classes .... eek

 

good decisions ;)

[helenb]

I'm just curious what Princess is doing to celebrate/decorate for Halloween?

[Waimea'sMom]

I'm just curious what Princess is doing to celebrate/decorate for Halloween?

 

There are tons of pumpkins and jack o' lanterns all over the ship to celebrate Halloween today. Up at the Horizon Court they had about 20 jack o' lanterns carved as a display. The bars and lounges are decorated with spider webs, black and orange balloons, ghosts and spiders. And in the piazza on the 5th floor, they had a huge display with dozens of jack o' lanterns. I took a picture, and I'll try to upload it at some point (but I'm on a Honolulu library computer right now so I can't yet). There is a costume parade tonight, and the Princess Patter for today has Happy Halloween with jack o' lanterns posing. There is also a Halloween party tonight in the Explorer's Lounge at 930 pm.

 

So yesterday we were in Hilo. My MIL and aunt in law toured the Volcano National Park and the macadamia nut factory. My mom and I had toured this before, and it is very informative if you have never gone. I spent the day in downtown Hilo, before having lunch at Yum Yum Teriyaki in the Prince Kuhio shopping center. (Great kalbi and kimchi if you like Korean food). We also did a quick stop at Walmart for necessities -- there is a free shuttle every half hour but we were so hot and tired from walking all day (from downtown back to the Hilo Hattie shopping area) that we opted to take up an entrepreneurial woman who was selling rides back to the ship for $2 in her van.

 

After a shower and change of clothes, we decided to go to the Elite lounge at Skywalkers before dinner. I actually didn't like it as much as I had on previous ships, the appetizers were not quite as good -- though that is probably a good thing because it meant I didn't eat anything up there. I just got a Diet Coke (the first bad one I've had onboard - very flat).

 

That was probably a sign of things to come as last night's dinner was the first bad dinner I've had aboard this ship. Everything else has been great, but last night the Coq au Vin was a terrible mistake for me to order. For one thing, it lacked the presentation value the other meals have had onboard, I hate to say it, but it looked like dog food. Then, there were huge bones in it. My MIL who also ordered it, and I, tried in vain to think of what part of the chicken this was. It really resembled the big thick bones you find in beef ribs, with a tiny bit of meat around the middle. Thankfully the garlic mashed potatoes were good -- as that is all I ate of the plate. I actually was wishing our waiter would take it away as it looked incredibly unappetizing. Unfortunately, dessert was a bust as well (at least for me). The raspberry creme brulee the prior night had been terrific, but last night's coffee creme brulee had a very overpowering coffee taste. I like coffee, but it was VERY strong, so I struck out on dessert too. So dinner for me consisted of two of the oatmeal cookies from the International Cafe. Just as well, it certainly won't hurt me to skip a meal or two.

 

This morning, went to the gym as always, which was really deserted. I then had cereal and bacon before heading out to the library to get my free Internet time. Today is going to be a nice leisurely morning, I'm planning on walking along Kalakaua Avenue for some shopping in Waikiki, and then trying to catch some of the USC Trojans football game at a restaurant or sports bar.

 

Tonight we have the Ghosts of Honolulu tour -- quite a spooky choice for Halloween. So that means we are missing dinner onboard today. Hopefully the tour will end soon enough for us to catch the end of the Halloween party in the Explorers Lounge. Have a great Halloween everyone! :)

[helenb]

Thanks for your answer, WM! We'll be onboard this ship for the last 2 weeks of December, so your answer about Halloween gives me confidence that they'll really be going all out for Christmas and New Year's!

 

I'm sorry to hear about your bad food yesterday. It happens on every cruise ship. Hopefully the rest of the cruise will be better. One thing I have learned on cruises is that if I don't like something, I should always try something else. It is very rare that every dish on the menu has been messed up in one night. The same *definitely* goes for desserts, where I am known to sample 2 or 3 every night! ;)

[Nancyquilts]

Have you seen Marilyn/Pat, the Rodagnas, Karen/Jess or Andi/Will? They should have been on your roll call.

 

Thanks for your Live posting!

 

Sharon

I was lucky enough to meet Marilyn and Teresa (Rodagnas) but not the others and not Largin.

In Hilo we rented a car, drove up to the volcano and part way around (part of the road is closed, so you have to backtrack). We ate lunch in Volcano, and hit the Orchid place - almost bought one for our daughter in Alaska, but they need to have an address where the person will be all day, and I didn't have her work address.

In Honolulu we went to Shangri La - Doris Duke, the tobacco heiress and once the richest woman in the world, gave her Hawaii home to the Honolulu Academy of Arts. For $25 you can tour her house including a bus ride from the Academy and free admission there. We'd done it once before and enjoyed it just as much this time. Lots of Middle East artifacts and furniture.

Today was Kauai - we actually booked a tour - too much OBC to use unless we throw it away in the casino. We went to the Wailua River and Fern Grotto tour as that was the cheapest one. Not bad, no great thrill. We've been here in Kauai before - even had an Elderhostel quite a few years ago, so had been most places.

The weather has been great - a few showers in Hawaii coming down off the volcano, but otherwise sunny/cloudy. Nancy

[MICHIGAN MAMA]

Thank you for your wonderful review, Waimei's Mom. I have always wanted to visit Hawaii but can't decide between a cruise or a land based trip. Hopefully, I can get some valuable information to help with my decision. We just got off the Sapphire for our first cruise with Princess and we definately will be giving up our status on Royal Caribbean to only sale with Princess. Princess knows how to treat its passengers.

[R&MTHETRAVELERS]

On Kauai there is a Hindu Temple that you can go to see that is in the process of being built on the grounds of the the Kauai Hindu property that is close to the Wailua River. You can go on a free tour of the grounds but the parking is very scares so it is best to make a reservation for that. If you look up- Kauai Hindu Temple or Kauai Hindu Monestary on line you should find the site that you can get some info on it. It was a very nice tour. We took the tour March of 08 & the Temple is just about finished now. It almost seems out of place there but then it does not at the same time. I don't know if anybody might be interested or not but I thought I would throw it out there. There is a dress code there but it's not real bad.:)