An OCD review of Golden/Hawaii-Pictures!!

[Astro Flyer]

Black Rock does have some good snorkling when the conditions are right. We enjoy night diving there but sometimes the current can be very strong.

 

That territorial monster fish you took a picture of is the Hawaiian state fish...a humuhumunukunukuapua'a...the Hawaiian trigger fish. :D

[hermajestylanie]

Black Rock does have some good snorkling when the conditions are right. We enjoy night diving there but sometimes the current can be very strong.

 

That territorial monster fish you took a picture of is the Hawaiian state fish...a humuhumunukunukuapua'a...the Hawaiian trigger fish. :D

 

 

 

I thought that was what he was... thanks! And I just read up on them and apparently they are a bit aggressive! It was just really funny to watch, it repeatedly kept swimming right in his face, within a couple inches. That is why the picture is so close!

[Cruisin' Chick]

We stopped at the Cool Cat Cafe too, but after we did our planned activities (Lahaina Dojo -- my daughter's idea, she must be a future Buddhist; shopping at the Cannery shopping Center), but for chicken sandwiches as a late lunch.

[JLC@SD]

Laine,

 

Thank you for your review and all your photos. We took this trip on the Golden Princess last January, and I enjoy reliving it through your photos and seeing your experiences on your trip.

[3SDcruisers]

Awesome review! Thank you so much for taking time to post this! BTW - I'm a big food picture taker, too! My friends would all be very sad if I came home without food pictures!

[curlygirlygirl]

Cool Cat was a great choice - way better than Cheeseburger in Paradise! Their onion rings are to die for!

 

My parents are going to Maui next month, so I'll tell them to check out snorkeling at Black Rock!

[kath00]

Wow, I just found your review and can't thank you enough for the time and energy you put into it. I think Princess should hire you because you are doing the BEST sales-pitch for them ever! After DH and I just read this review, we booked the Golden for April 2013! I cannot wait to read about the rest of your cruise.

 

As for the "clock ticking," we cruised 3 times with Princess before we had our girls (now 6 and 11) and started cruising again 2 years ago. Now the whole family loves the experience (although it is very different with the children then when it was just the 2 of us). As a matter of fact, we will be on the B2B Coastal on the Sapphire from LA to Vancouver in May with DH only. Then, the kids and mom will join us on the Golden to Alaska for the 2nd week of the cruise. That's the best of both worlds! A week of adult time followed by a great family vacation. :)

 

Katherine

Edited April 3, 2011 by kath00

[Lynda90]

Of all the Hawaii reviews I have read over the years, this is absolutely the very best. It's like reading a travelogue with all the pictures and descriptions. Thank you so much for this very entertaining and informative review. You should consider doing this for a living! :p

[Astro Flyer]

I thought that was what he was... thanks! And I just read up on them and apparently they are a bit aggressive! It was just really funny to watch, it repeatedly kept swimming right in his face, within a couple inches. That is why the picture is so close!

When the conditions are right, there are many nice snorkling locations in Maui with many of them accessible from shore.

[PrincessNancy]

I am drooling over your food photos...you are right, the Chateaubriand looks amazing (hopefully they'll serve it on our Alaska cruise)! Enjoying the fabulous tour descriptions! I feel like I am right there with you---or at least I wish I had been.

 

Glad you had such a wonderful time on Maui (sounds like you had quite the exfoliation treatment on Kaanapali Beach!:eek:)

Love your optimism, you are setting a great example on how to have a wonderful cruise even when everything doesn't go as planned.

 

Can't wait to read more...

[MLinFL]

Just a test page- figuring out how to post the photos the best way on here...

 

 

 

I have tried following the instructions to post photos but the results have always been the small size. How do you post the photos in the large size?

 

Love your review - we sail on 4/13 - can't wait!!!

 

Mary Lou

[willysgrandma]

I have to agree with this!

 

I especially enjoy your pics of the menus and your meal choices. I see Princess is still heavy on the seafood, with at least two seafood choices for dinner every night (:(). Not that I have ever starved on a cruise, but Princess is the only line I never gain weight on because there is so much seafood on the menu....

 

It is too bad you had to tender in Maui - we sailed on NCL and docked and were there overnight, which was nice - we rented a car and kept it at the pier for the day and a half we were in port to maximize what we could see. That was the only advantage with sailing on NCL - everything else sucked in comparison (ship, food, cabins, service).

 

And you are bringing back memories of ABC - I think we came home with almost a suit case of souveniers from ABC!

 

 

 

Of all the Hawaii reviews I have read over the years, this is absolutely the very best. It's like reading a travelogue with all the pictures and descriptions. Thank you so much for this very entertaining and informative review. You should consider doing this for a living! :p

[cgoingmom]

Wonderful review!!! I'm ready to cruise to Hawaii:D

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to post such an all enclusive and most intersting report.

[LARGIN]

Of all the Hawaii reviews I have read over the years, this is absolutely the very best. It's like reading a travelogue with all the pictures and descriptions. Thank you so much for this very entertaining and informative review. You should consider doing this for a living! :p

Agree.. There was a Hawaii live from posted a month or so ago that provided little info except what movies were playing or some of what was written in the Patter. This review is truly exceptional and a pleasure to read and should be used as a model for other posters. Way to go girl! :D:D

[ASeaPrincess1]

Wow, I just found your review and can't thank you enough for the time and energy you put into it. I think Princess should hire you because you are doing the BEST sales-pitch for them ever! After DH and I just read this review, we booked the Golden for April 2013! I cannot wait to read about the rest of your cruise.

 

Katherine

Kath, how about April 2012??

 

 

Oh, and Your Majesty ;), I am anxiously awaiting more!!!!:D

Edited April 3, 2011 by ASeaPrincess1

[maplo]

Thank you so much for doing this review with pictures. My husband and I did this cruise Oct./Nov. 2009 and we are doing it again same this this year. We loved all the sea days. I think your room was close to the room we had. We were on the Aloha deck on the back in a porthole room. I believe it was A749. Nice quiet location but the rocking the first night or two was wild. We almost always get a balcony on a cruise but the price difference between inside and balcony on a Hawaii cruise is crazy. The difference could mean an extra cruise.

I love your pictures. Brings back so many memories. The menu looks the same as what we had. We don't eat seafood so some nights it was not an easy choice for us but hey, it's a ship, there is food somewhere. We didn't starve. Our favorite night was Italian night. They made some lemon kind of drink and if you bought the little cute glass for 4.95, they kept refilling. It was so good but we aren't drinkers so we finally had to say, "no thanks" on more refills. Did they still do that? I believe it was on the way back.

Sounds like you had a great time and I can't wait to read some more. Thanks again! Pam

[ggprincess2004]

Lanie,

Thanks for taking the time to do such a wonderful review. It brought back great memories from a year ago for me. Of course, the food pictures didn't help with my post-cruise low carb diet plans...I've given up watching Food Channel and reading cookbooks....but those photos and descriptions just got me salivating.

 

Thanks again!!!:D

[hermajestylanie]

We stopped at the Cool Cat Cafe too' date=' but after we did our planned activities (Lahaina Dojo -- my daughter's idea, she must be a future Buddhist; shopping at the Cannery shopping Center), but for chicken sandwiches as a late lunch.[/quote']

 

 

The chicken looked pretty good too- but that burger really was amazing. I just had a little bit of sticker shock! We had a coupon that I had printed off one of the many travel sites I looked at (buy 2 burgers, get a brownie sundae for free), but I was not very hungry so we didn't use it.

 

I remember from your review that you had mentioned going to a Dojo- that is pretty neat there is one in Maui! I loved your review BTW! It got me really excited for my cruise and I was trying to read eveything I could on the cruise as it got nearer and nearer!

[hermajestylanie]

Cool Cat was a great choice - way better than Cheeseburger in Paradise! Their onion rings are to die for!

 

My parents are going to Maui next month, so I'll tell them to check out snorkeling at Black Rock!

 

 

Happy cruising to them! I hope the water warms up a tad bit, but that beach area was really beautiful, with the chance to see the turtles. Also, snorkeling at the Molokini Crater is supposed to be amazing as well, so maybe mention that to them too!

[kath00]

Kath, how about April 2012??

 

 

Oh, and Your Majesty ;), I am anxiously awaiting more!!!!:D

 

We have a cabin reserved for 2012 (on your sailing I think) but I just don't think DH will be able to get away. He is complaining about this weekend trip to Palm Desert right now, and this is only 3 days! :eek: Maybe he'll get laid off due to all the cruising and then we can do Hawaii AND that 28d Tahiti cruise that Sapphire is doing in the Fall. :D

 

Your Majesty, we want more!!! :)

 

Katherine

[hermajestylanie]

Wow, I just found your review and can't thank you enough for the time and energy you put into it. I think Princess should hire you because you are doing the BEST sales-pitch for them ever! After DH and I just read this review, we booked the Golden for April 2013! I cannot wait to read about the rest of your cruise.

 

As for the "clock ticking," we cruised 3 times with Princess before we had our girls (now 6 and 11) and started cruising again 2 years ago. Now the whole family loves the experience (although it is very different with the children then when it was just the 2 of us). As a matter of fact, we will be on the B2B Coastal on the Sapphire from LA to Vancouver in May with DH only. Then, the kids and mom will join us on the Golden to Alaska for the 2nd week of the cruise. That's the best of both worlds! A week of adult time followed by a great family vacation. :)

 

Katherine

 

Too funny! Glad you have a great cruise to look forward to! You know, if Princess wanted to send me on a bunch of cruises, I would be more than happy to write them up! Wouldn't that be the life...

 

Hmmm. I will have to keep that best of both worlds in mind for the future. That does sound like a good idea! Some couple time, then some family time as well. And then you set your kids up to advance to the next cruising status much sooner- they could be getting perks before they graduate college depending on how often you take them! We ran into a 14 year old who was already on his 4th cruise- he was taking it all in stride. Lucky kid.

[hermajestylanie]

I am drooling over your food photos...you are right, the Chateaubriand looks amazing (hopefully they'll serve it on our Alaska cruise)! Enjoying the fabulous tour descriptions! I feel like I am right there with you---or at least I wish I had been.

 

Glad you had such a wonderful time on Maui (sounds like you had quite the exfoliation treatment on Kaanapali Beach!:eek:)

Love your optimism, you are setting a great example on how to have a wonderful cruise even when everything doesn't go as planned.

 

Can't wait to read more...

 

 

Well, my skin is very smooth now :D and it sure beats paying for it at the spa!

 

The food was really great. The Chateaubriand was really fantastic. What surprised me though was how delicious the always available menu was. The steak they offer from that was much better and more tender than some of their featured items. Plus, since I think they make them a lot, they more consistently come back cooked perfectly!

[hermajestylanie]

I have tried following the instructions to post photos but the results have always been the small size. How do you post the photos in the large size?

 

Love your review - we sail on 4/13 - can't wait!!!

 

Mary Lou

 

 

Well, I am using flickr as my hosting site, so I only know how to do it on there. And I only recently figured out how to make the pictures big! What I do is right click on the picture after I bring it up on the site. It then gives options as to what size you want to see the picture. I have been clicking on medium (500). After you click that option it opens up the picture again, then you can right click, copy the picture, and just paste it on your thread. Feel free to do a test post on this thread if you want. Hope that makes sense, if not, let me know.

 

Happy upcoming cruise!

[hermajestylanie]

I have to agree with this!

 

I especially enjoy your pics of the menus and your meal choices. I see Princess is still heavy on the seafood, with at least two seafood choices for dinner every night (:(). Not that I have ever starved on a cruise, but Princess is the only line I never gain weight on because there is so much seafood on the menu....

 

It is too bad you had to tender in Maui - we sailed on NCL and docked and were there overnight, which was nice - we rented a car and kept it at the pier for the day and a half we were in port to maximize what we could see. That was the only advantage with sailing on NCL - everything else sucked in comparison (ship, food, cabins, service).

 

And you are bringing back memories of ABC - I think we came home with almost a suit case of souveniers from ABC!

 

 

Thank you!

 

Yes, Princess does love the seafood, which makes husband very happy. I don't eat it at all, so he is thrilled when we go on a cruise. Kudos to you for not gaining weight! I nake up for my lack of dinner options by over indulging in desserts!

 

Wow! It would have been wonderful to have more time in Maui, but I think we may have to do a land vacation there. As much as I heart cruising, Maui was so stunning that I think we need a week there to fully experience the island.

[hermajestylanie]

Agree.. There was a Hawaii live from posted a month or so ago that provided little info except what movies were playing or some of what was written in the Patter. This review is truly exceptional and a pleasure to read and should be used as a model for other posters. Way to go girl! :D:D

 

 

Thank you! That is so sweet! I had thought about tailoring it down a bit, but then I remembered how I wanted to know any and everything I could about the cruise before I left and figured that people could skip over what they were not interested in. At least some people would be like me and want to know EVERYTHING!

 

And about the movies and such, I swiped the little TV guide from the room (it is just a printed little phamplet, no date, it just says 14 nights Hawaiian cruise), so if anybody is interested in what plays on TV, I can tell you!