Lessons learned, love shared: Golden Princess to Hawaii 3/27/13

[Cruisin' Chick]

I just have to ask .... why were you so surprised to see so many Catholics celebrating Easter Mass on board the ship? Easter is one of the holiest times for the Catholic community just like it is for other religions. Did you think because they are on vacation that Catholics put their beliefs on hold? I'm sorry but I for one was offended by your comment.

 

I have to admit that when we were on a cruise during Hanukkah, I was surprised (but happy) to discover there were plenty of other families on board celebrating the holiday in the Universe Lounge on the Island Princess. Many had brought their family menorah to the services each night (we left ours at home, but I had found a foam sticky set at an arts store, so we were able to "lit" a candle each night by the in-cabin TV) and the rabbi on board invited all the "kinder" to help him with the candles. We probably wouldn't book a cruise during the High Holidays because our girl is back at school by that time, even though our school district always closes the schools on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

[terrific_surprise]

My wife is much more interested in "game shows" than I am. So when the time came to pick contestants for a game on the cruise, Terri would be the one jumping up and down shouting "pick me, pick me!" while I would be the one trying to hide whispering "please don't pick me." Nevertheless, when she wanted to go straight to the Piazza (after Elua's class on Hawaiian language and food) so that we would get there early enough to have a chance to be contestants for the "In It To Win It Game Show," I didn't resist her wishes.

 

There weren't very many people clamoring to compete with us, so it quickly became evident that we would both be competing. The CD staff selected two teams of three people, with one team being all women, and the other team being all men. (They didn't bill it as "the battle of the sexes," but that's the way it turned out.)

 

The "women's team" in the "In It To Win It Game Show."

 

There were three events, each pitting a woman against a man. For the first contest, a box of tissues was placed in front of each contestant, and the contestant who removed all of the tissues (one at a time) from the box won. (The women's team won.)

 

Next, each contestant was given a deck of cards, being told to throw the cards (one by one) into a bucket. When the contestants were selected for this second event, Terri and I knew that we would be competing--against each other--for the third and final event.

 

The women's contestant tossed her cards first, not getting a single card in the bucket. But the men's contestant didn't get any cards in the bucket either!

 

I thought that this event would be considered a tie, but CD staff members Sasha and Rosarita said that they would give it to the men, because his cards apparently landed closer to the bucket than her cards did. So, going in to the final event, the score was tied at Women 1, Men 1. The next event, pitting Terri and myself against each other, would decide the final outcome of the competition.

 

Then three pastries from the International Cafe were placed on each of the two tables which had been setup.

When I could see that our event involved food, a feeling of confidence came over me. (When it comes to eating and drinking, I clearly have an edge over my wife, especially when we had recently had our fill of pastries from the buffet. I always seem to be able to find room for just a little more.)

 

We were told that whoever finished their pastries first would win the competition -- but we couldn't pick them up with our hands. We could use one hand to hold the plate, but we were not allowed to lift it. Such restrictions created only a minor hindrance for me; my three pastries were quickly gone.

 

Although the pastries were small, Terri just couldn't handle trying to eat them so quickly. When it started to look like she couldn't hold them in, someone brought the bucket to her -- but that just made her laugh.

 

So, as expected, I clinched the title for the men. In the process our faces had become messy, so we picked up some of the tissues (which had been scattered around in the first event) to clean up.

 

The prize for winning this competition was a Princess keychain. The ladies were awarded with a free buffet. ;)

 

Some of the ladies told me afterwards that I should have let my wife win, but when it comes to competing with each other, we both have a hard time holding back.

 

After the competition, we were both ready to go back to our room, which had now been serviced. We had just enough time for a brief 30 minute rest before our 3:15 Princess Pop Star practice, where we began working on "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder. As had happened with the previous songs we practiced, I found personal significance in this song; although I had heard it many times, I hadn't realized that the lyrics of the song relate to a father admiring his newborn daughter. Once again, thoughts of our two lovely young daughters so far away (and of our oldest daughter, born some 25 years ago) flooded my mind.

 

When the choir practice was over, I suggested that we step outside from the Hearts and Minds Chapel, hoping that we could finally spend a little time in the hot tubs. But the air was too cold for Terri to even consider getting in the water, so we retreated again to the comfort and warmth of our room. I figured that we should take advantage of this opportunity to rest, because the four coming port days in Hawaii would likely wear us out.

 

Turning on the television, we found a rebroadcast of the Vatican's Easter services, and left it on as we rested for the next couple of hours (until we began to realize that it was repeating what we had already seen). We appreciated the opportunity to hear the many relevant scriptures which were read during the service, further enhancing the significance of our "Resurrection Sunday" experience.

Edited August 24, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

HAHA - you really made me laugh (and here is why)! My dear husband (DH) and I were engaged on Sapphire Princess - he proposed on the first formal night, which turned out to be Christmas Eve on an Australian cruise.

 

We made a handshake on something... he wanted to decide where we would wed, with me deciding the honeymoon location. I was very hesitant to this idea since we had family spread out across two countries. However, in the end, I agreed! He chose Hawaii to get married and I chose Tahiti for our honeymoon!

 

To make a long story short, we got married on a Hawaiian Princess cruise that was already booked by our family (it was roundtrip 15 night out of LA). 1.5 years later we did our honeymoon in Tahiti (cruise plus land trip)! It was beautiful and will always have a special place in our hearts.

 

However, we want to go back to Hawaii and Tahiti in the future - we just haven't done it yet.

 

So you were engaged on a cruise, married on another cruise, and honeymooned on yet another cruise! That's a lot of cruise memories to relive! :)

 

Well, in any case, you can't give birth on a cruise, so it looks like you may have to break the tradition for your next big event (if it hasn't already happened). :rolleyes:

 

(I should have realized that just being married on a cruise didn't necessarily mean that was your honeymoon, because the honeymooning couple we met, as I mentioned earlier, had actually been married many months earlier.)

[Love.II.Cruise]

So you were engaged on a cruise, married on another cruise, and honeymooned on yet another cruise! That's a lot of cruise memories to relive! :)

 

Correct! ;)And we haven't been back to any of those places yet! Instead we are busy traveling to new places.

 

Well, in any case, you can't give birth on a cruise, so it looks like you may have to break the tradition for your next big event (if it hasn't already happened). :rolleyes: Nope, not for us... we have decided to save animals instead (unfortunately we can't do that on a cruise).

 

(I should have realized that just being married on a cruise didn't necessarily mean that was your honeymoon, because the honeymooning couple we met, as I mentioned earlier, had actually been married many months earlier.) We found it difficult to have a honeymoon on a wedding cruise when everyone is with you. We think it is important to have the honeymoon alone and that is what we did.

 

We are very much enjoying your review and will continue to read it. We are still waiting to hear about what happened with the driver's license and if you found it! :p

Edited August 24, 2013 by Love.II.Cruise

[terrific_surprise]

After a couple of hours of afternoon relaxation in our room, we decided to take in some entertainment on our way to dinner. Having learned a Stevie Wonder tune that afternoon in the Princess Pop Star practice it seemed appropriate to go to the Motor City production show.

The Motor City show was a dazzling, almost flawless production (especially for the relatively small stage of the Vista Lounge). The only reason I call it "almost" flawless is that there was a slight curtain malfunction, but the choreography and singing were impeccable. It was amazing to see how many times the performers changed their costumes in such a short amount of time. While there was no storyline per se, the choreography, coupled with the performers' facial expressions, created a story from the familiar songs like "My Girl."

 

 

 

After the show, we headed toward the Piazza, where Elua would soon be performing. On the way, we happened to encounter Deputy CD Marahscalh, asking him if he had gotten any sleep yet. He confessed that he hadn't, joking that he had to prop his eyelids open with toothpicks.

 

Then we decided to use one of our free drink coupons for a piña colada.

 

The bartender seemed to appreciate the "million dollar" tip we gave him.

Edited August 25, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[dides]

Really enjoying your review and the amazing amount of detail!

 

We're looking to go on a Coastal on the Golden Princess in November and prefer Baja Aft cabins - wondered if you can provide some extra information to help in our cabin choice?

 

- Can you let us know what the original cabin number was near the squeaky door so we can avoid it?

 

- So we can get a bed facing our preferred direction can you say whether the bed in your cabin faced Aft or Forward?

 

Many thanks in advance!

[terrific_surprise]

Elua's evening music act was beautiful but brief, centered around the theme "Memories of Hawaii Calls." We arrived in the Piazza a few minutes early to make sure that we could find good seats, then settled in for more musical enjoyment. The knowledge that in the morning we would be experiencing Hawaii for ourselves made the experience even more magical.

 

 

 

 

Leialoha's graceful hula motions to the final number in their act, "Hawaii Calls," were complemented by her beautiful facial expressions (so I couldn't follow the tongue-in-cheek advice of another number they had performed, "Keep Your Eyes on the Hands").

 

On previous days, we had missed several of Elua's Piazza performances because they had conflicted with our late traditional dining time, but their 7:30 pm timeslot allowed enough time to take in everything (just being slightly late for dinner).

Edited August 25, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

Really enjoying your review and the amazing amount of detail!

 

We're looking to go on a Coastal on the Golden Princess in November and prefer Baja Aft cabins - wondered if you can provide some extra information to help in our cabin choice?

 

- Can you let us know what the original cabin number was near the squeaky door so we can avoid it?

 

- So we can get a bed facing our preferred direction can you say whether the bed in your cabin faced Aft or Forward?

 

Many thanks in advance!

Glad to know that my obsession is useful to you! :rolleyes:

 

Our original cabin number was B702, but from the new deck plans on the Princess site it appears that B704, B706, and B708 are also very close to the squeaky doorway. (Although I think there is a door there, between the elevators and the hallway, it was always open when we went through. I suspect that it only closes in emergencies.)

 

Our bed was in the forward part of the room, with the walkway through the room being aft of the bed. I think that the bed position alternated in adjacent cabins, so I think the bed in B740 (the cabin forward from our B744) would be aft. So my guess would be that beds would be forward in balcony cabins B736, B728, B720, B712 and inside cabins B746, B738, B730, B722 (etc.), and that beds would be aft in balcony cabins B740, B732, B724, B716 and inside cabins B742, B734, B726, B718 (etc.).

Edited August 25, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[dides]

Glad to know that my obsession is useful to you! :rolleyes:

 

Indeed :rolleyes: Thank you - that's very helpful!

[IdahoCruises]

Ordered their CDs wish will be here by mid week. We will be taking them on our October cruise on the Grand. Since they are on another ship, at least we'll have their music....

[DoulaAnn]

Terrific_surprise: I am SO enjoying your stories. I keep checking back here frequently to see what the latest new tale is. You are so human with your telling of the cruise and how you felt about it. Thank you SO much.

[RNGALNG]

Guess I missed the squeaky door problem when reading. We too were across from a squeaky door on one of our cruises. It was the door where the service carts that your room stewards use were kept. I complained about the 5:30 AM daily squeak and they took care of it immediately. They also seemed to hit the door with their carts that also worked as an alarm clock. They stopped that as well! If you ask nicely, they will work their magic! No problems!

:)

[terrific_surprise]

To top off our last sea day before Hawaii, we enjoyed the special "Easter Dinner" in the dining room. For an appetizer, Terri and I both selected the goat cheese soufflé, which was one of the most highly-anticipated Princess dishes I had read about in preparation for the cruise. Terri wasn't impressed with it quite as much as I was.

 

I also selected cream of mushroom soup. This dinner included an additional "intermezzo" course, a sorbet, before the main course.

 

Orange roughy was the main course I chose. (Of course lamb was also available.)

Terri had what appears to be tri-tip (but my notes are incomplete and the menu photo was blurry).

 

Terri chose to end her meal with some fruit, while I selected colomba pasquale (Easter cake) from the dessert menu.

 

After an enjoyable dinner conversation with our tablemates, we decided to go to the Explorers Lounge at 9:30 for the Are You Smarter Than a Crew Member game show. This game seemed to me to be rather boring (but perhaps I was just tired after a long day).

 

Still not ready to end our day, we walked all the way to the Princess Theater to hear a comedian, who wasn't memorable enough for me to say anything about. I don't want to malign him so I won't mention his name, because it is quite likely that my weariness lessened my appreciation for his humor.

 

By the time we returned to our room, it was about 11 pm. While Terri went to bed, I took some time to prepare a duffel bag with items to bring off the ship the next day.

 

In retrospect, considering the fact that four tiring port days in Hawaii were coming next, it probably would have been better for us to go right back to our room after dinner to rest up for our first experience on the Big Island of Hawaii.

 

To see more photos (and some brief video excerpts) of what we experienced on the ship on this final sea day before arriving in Hawaii, go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/94965522@N02/sets/72157633300827632/

Edited August 26, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

Guess I missed the squeaky door problem when reading. We too were across from a squeaky door on one of our cruises. It was the door where the service carts that your room stewards use were kept. I complained about the 5:30 AM daily squeak and they took care of it immediately. They also seemed to hit the door with their carts that also worked as an alarm clock. They stopped that as well! If you ask nicely, they will work their magic! No problems!

:)

 

The squeaky doorway I mentioned wasn't just an occasional noise, but it was always making noise when the ship was in motion. After a few days on the cruise, we got used to hearing the noise when we passed through the hallway to the stairs. Eventually it got to the point where when we were returning back to our room, we actually enjoyed hearing the squeaky sound because it reminded us that we were almost to our room. "Ahh..." we would tell each other, "there's our squeaky doorway!" (We didn't have to think about which color of carpet to look for.) However, if we had been hearing that noise inside our room I'm sure it would have become quite irritating.

 

I never thought of asking somebody if they could do something to stop the squeaks. But I agree that asking nicely is the way to go. :)

Edited August 26, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[faymuiheng]

Hope I'm not the only one, but I LOVE looking at the food pics.. ha ha...

 

The more I read about Hawaii, the more I want to go!

[beshears]

Still enjoying your review, and pictures.

 

I was glad to hear that you were able to attend Easter service on the ship. I know it is very EASY to be LAZY:( and stay in your room instead of getting up early to attend the service, and you, and it sounds like a lot of others did too. :) There is nothing like mingling with God's people, no matter where you are, or what you are doing.

[beshears]

The Champaign tower was mentioned, of what/if it fell. I know what you seen was nice, but this is nothing like what it was years ago. Years ago they had a TALL Champaign tower, and I was able to pour champaign (I don't drink it) in the tower. What an awesome event and picture it turned out to be.:)

[DoulaAnn]

Terrific_surprise,

 

You've been very quiet. Hope everything is alright. I am anxious to hear the next installment. You hooked me!

 

Ann

[CraigRDR1]

I'm curious about something? I'm assuming that you are reposting a blog you may have written during the cruise or have kept a detailed account on your computer. Why not post the link to that site or blog instead posting it in small portions as you are doing. Just curious?

[melody hounddog]

Patience everyone.;)

[terrific_surprise]

I'm curious about something? I'm assuming that you are reposting a blog you may have written during the cruise or have kept a detailed account on your computer. Why not post the link to that site or blog instead posting it in small portions as you are doing. Just curious?

 

Sorry to keep you all in suspense. As a few of you may have noticed, our photos (including some unpublished ones) form the backbone for this story, along with notes I took during the cruise, receipts, etc. I let what is in our memories fill in the rest. I did not previously write all of this out (but I do typically write it out offline a day or two before I post it).

 

Unfortunately, i didn't realize that my photos and videos for the first two port days were considerably less organized than I thought they were (and of course the port days are much more photo-intensive than the sea days). I need to finish getting these photos fully organized (and finish getting them online) before I can move ahead with the review.

 

On top of that, we have been distracted by some positive and negative developments in our family (and, as is often the case, it's not always evident which ones are positive and which are negative).

 

I do look forward to reliving our port days with you here soon. Thanks for your patience. :)

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[DoulaAnn]

Sorry to keep you all in suspense. As a few of you may have noticed, our photos (including some unpublished ones) form the backbone for this story, along with notes I took during the cruise, receipts, etc. I let what is in our memories fill in the rest. I did not previously write all of this out (but I do typically write it out offline a day or two before I post it).

 

Unfortunately, i didn't realize that my photos and videos for the first two port days were considerably less organized than I thought they were (and of course the port days are much more photo-intensive than the sea days). I need to finish getting these photos fully organized (and finish getting them online) before I can move ahead with the review.

 

On top of that, we have been distracted by some positive and negative developments in our family (and, as is often the case, it's not always evident which ones are positive and which are negative).

 

I do look forward to reliving our port days with you here soon. Thanks for your patience. :)

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I'm just glad to know you are reasonably okay. I completely understand about the photo organization (how to those pesky things move around in the camera or computer?). Please know I was just really enjoying your posts and eager to see the next one. Hope all those developments turn into positive ones in the long run.

 

Ann

[dad2my3]

I am looking forward to hearing about the days off the ship. This has been a great thread to follow so far.

[catergirl]

anybody home????:confused:

[terrific_surprise]

The last night before our arrival in Hawaii should have been a time for us to get some extra rest, but instead we got to bed late and didn't get much sleep. Part of our restlessness was due to the motion of the ship, as it dipped left, then dipped right, again and again. But we were probably too excited to sleep much anyway.

 

As the Golden Princess traveled the final 100 miles or so toward Hilo, I got out of bed to do some work on the Internet. The wireless network was working fine from our room, but I needed to print several documents (such as my planned itinerary for the day and information needed for the car rental agency). On a previous day I had given up trying to figure out how to print something from my laptop computer to the printer in the ship's Internet cafe, eventually realizing that I could just email myself the documents I wanted to print, and then log on to one of the computers in the Internet cafe to access my email so that I could print the documents.

 

When I returned to the room at about 5 in the morning, my wife went out on the balcony to look at the moon with me as the sky began to brighten. It was not the full moon (which we had missed watching from our balcony the night we sailed away), but for us it was still a beautiful sight, as its reflection shimmered on the water. We also noticed another light out across the water. (We thought at first that it might have been a lighthouse on the island, but it probably was just another ship.)

 

At 6 am we turned on the TV to watch the Wake Show, then we went back out on the balcony at dawn to try to catch our first glimpse of Hawaii, with the water now calm again. As the Big Island came into view just after 7 am, tears filled Terri's eyes -- even though at first it was just a hazy hint of grey on the horizon.

 

 

(I also posted a brief video excerpt of our first view of the island.)

 

We decided that we should prepare for our busy day by having a big breakfast, so I went two floors up to the Horizon Court buffet and filled a large plate, bringing it back to our balcony for us to share as we continued watching the ship approach the island.

 

 

I arrived back in the room just before 8 am, in time to watch the ship clear the breakwater as we entered Hilo Bay.

 

 

Wanting to get off the ship as soon as possible to make the most of our day, I checked my "Independent Traveler" duffel bag, which I had loaded earlier in the morning, to be sure that I hadn't missed anything. (I had received the duffel bag as a prize for an article I had written for the Independent Traveler, Cruise Critic's publisher, reporting on a trip last year which foreshadowed the cruise to Hawaii.)

 

The bag was filled to capacity with items like my computer, phones, cameras, lotions, swimsuits, sunglasses, bug spray, water bottles, extra cash, and even a beach shelter and water float, along with maps and various notes. I also made sure to bring our birth certificates (including our son's birth certificate) in case we hit any snags along the way due to my wife's missing ID.

 

In addition, the bag contained a printout of my planned itinerary for the day, timed carefully to the minute. With the ship only scheduled to be in Hilo from 9 am to 6 pm, I confess that I tried to squeeze a bit too much into the day (but you probably already knew that). Here are some excerpts from what I had planned:

 

• 9:20 On shuttle going to Alamo car rental office
  
• 10:00 Leave Alamo for Volcanoes National Park
  
• 10:46 Visit Thuston Lava Tube
  
• 12:30 Leave Volcanoes NP heading toward Hilo
  
• 1:33 Visit Kolekole Beach Park
  
• 1:55 Visit Akaka Falls State Park
  
• 2:30 Leave Akaka Falls headed toward Hilo
  
• 3:00 Visit Rainbow Falls
  
• 3:35 Visit Boiling Pots and Pe'epe'e Falls
  
• 4:07 Quick stop at Waiale Falls
  
• 4:30 Visit Big Island Candies
  
• 4:50 Visit Coconut Island Park / Lili'uokalani Gardens
  
• 5:20 Return car to Alamo (obviously this return time was unrealistic with the ship sailing away at 6)
  

 

Waterfalls have always been special to us, partly because I had asked Terri to marry me at Emerald Pool in Yosemite National Park (located between Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall), so I knew that she would enjoy visiting waterfalls in Hawaii. Many of these waterfalls and other places I had planned for us to visit related to clues (many of which were mysterious photos) I had given my wife during the year leading up to the cruise.

 

The line in the Piazza to get off the ship was a mess. It wrapped all the way around the elevators to the International Cafe and back to the elevators, so that it looked to me like some people were actually going in circles! But the chaos didn't last long, as the security personnel kept the line moving by quickly scanning the cruise cards as passengers exited the ship. Of course we wondered if Terri would have trouble exiting the ship due to her missing ID, but she passed through security just as quickly as everybody else.

 

I was slightly confused to notice that no beach towels were available as we exited the ship, because I thought from our previous cruise that beach towels were provided at the gangway. But it didn't matter; we wouldn't be needing beach towels. The forecast called for temperatures in the 60s all day, and while the air felt quite comfortable, it was too cool for us to consider getting in the water.

 

 

When the above photo was taken, it was about 9:20. At this point we were relieved that we made it off the ship without any hassles, and excited about experiencing the Big Island together. But first, we needed to get our "wheels."

Edited September 3, 2013 by terrific_surprise