The Grand Hawaiian Adventure. A trip report with Patters, Menus, Elvis, and ...

[h20skibum]

Sunday, May 7

 

 

The seas are 8.2 feet this morning, but they will get progressively higher through the day.

 

 

This is our first sea day after leaving Ensenada and setting course to San Fransisco. At 6:20 a.m. the ship tracker on the tv says we are at latitude 33°22.68'N and longitude 119°09.82'W. We are traveling at 18.2 kts., are now 169.3 miles from Ensenada , and we have 358.5 miles to go to San Fransisco.

 

This morning was another trip to guest services, because the extra charge had not yet been removed from our bill. After printing the account and highlighting the extra charge, the guest services representative I spoke to today took care of it right away. If you have to go to guest services, I found that 6:00 a.m. when I am on the way to the International Cafe is a good time to go. There was always someone there, and there were no lines at that hour.

 

 

 

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[h20skibum]

Here are the Patters for the last sea day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[JEH]

Thanks for this wonderful review .

[h20skibum]

The temperature for our last sea day would only get to 51 degrees. I thought it would be warmer, since we are traveling from Mexico and along the coast of Southern California. Everyone was wearing coats today, except me. I thought about spending some time at the pool for the last sea day, but they were having trouble keeping the water in it and in the jacuzzis.

 

 

 

 

I did shoot a video of the action in this new wave pool, but I would have to become a YouTuber to upload it for this site, and I am not ready for that.

 

 

 

 

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[h20skibum]

The Pub Style lunch was offered today in the Crown Grill, so we went there early for some fish and chips, since we had things planned for the afternoon. One of the main things would be to do our flight check in after lunch.

 

For this last day before port, Princess ran an internet special so you would be able to check in for your flights.

 

 

The Internet cafe was a busy place today. We still had a few minutes left on our package, so I took my phone down there to connect and check in for our flights. I heard this is where you would get the strongest signal. We would be flying out after the cruise on Southwest. Our flight was from San Francisco to LA, then on to Pittsburgh. I was quick enough to get the coveted "A" boarding positions for both flights.

 

 

The thing I hate about Southwest is, if you have more than one person on the reservation, you can't get a mobile boarding pass. You have to either find a desktop and printer, or visit the counter at check in.

 

 

 

 

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[wrongwaywatson]

My friend Deb and I were in one of the hot tubs by the Lotus Spa on the last sea day. We were in there when we hit that really big wave that made a loud noise and really jarred the ship. We decided that it was time to get out! LOL

[h20skibum]

My friend Deb and I were in one of the hot tubs by the Lotus Spa on the last sea day. We were in there when we hit that really big wave that made a loud noise and really jarred the ship. We decided that it was time to get out! LOL

 

 

I was down at the Q&A session with the Hawaiian Ambassadors when that one hit, and it really knocked a lot of people off balance.

 

I guess the captain was back to giving us that rocking horse experience again.

 

 

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[h20skibum]

After getting checked in for our flights, I headed to the Q&A session with the Hawaiian Ambassadors, while DW went to see what her last chance to go home looking 10 years younger would be. Don't know why she would need that, because she still looks pretty young to me.[emoji3]

 

The Ambassadors (Brian and Rowena) answered a lot of questions about themselves and the Hawaiian culture. This is when the big wave hit that really shook the ship. DW told me later she thought the ship was coming apart.

 

One thing I never paid attention to in the Vista Lounge that it is turned sideways. As I was sitting in the lounge looking out the window, you could see the Horizon dipping below and rising above the bottom of the window. I thought, Holy Cats, this thing is really rocking side to side. It wasn't until I moved to a seat by the window, did I realize the window was looking over the stern.

 

 

I don't remember if this was on the up or down motion.

 

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[h20skibum]

Okay, it is 6:20 a.m. West coast time this morning, so I have to get my day started here. Will post more later. But in the meantime, I thought I would post a picture of someplace we never went on the ship.

 

 

This is what they looked like, and they always appeared crowded. We heard all kinds of stories about bad elevator etiquette. People moving toward the doors to make them look fuller, not moving to let people in or out, and a host of other things. Just glad we didn't need them.

 

 

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[MamaLyn]

This review is amazing!! I even felt the emotions of the days as I read it. Loved all the pictures as well. Thank you for all your hard work writing it. We will be going on this cruise April 2018. I will probably be reading this review several more times before then.

[Babewho]

I have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated your review. Thank you for sharing your experiences and pics! We will be on this cruise this October.

[jennybenny]

I hope it's not over... but your 15 days were amazing to follow

Thanks,

[h20skibum]

Thanks to MamaLyn, Babewho, and Jennybenny for the kind words. It is not quite over, but it is pretty darn close. So now, on to the final chapters.

 

 

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[h20skibum]

This afternoon would have been a good time to buy Alaska souvenirs. What? I thought I was reading about a Hawaiian cruise. Let me check the title. Yes, since the next cruise on the Grand is headed north to Alaska, the gift shop had already turned over their merchandise, and Alaska shirts, coats, toys and other things have replaced the Hawaii stuff.

 

There was only going to be one showing tonight of the Voice of the Ocean, and it would be at 8:00. Since we wanted to be done with dinner in time to make the show, we went to Anytime dining as soon as they opened. There was a line, but our wait was no more than a couple minutes since we were sharing a table. I think this was the night I got a bad reflection from the menu, so I don't have a copy to post.

 

The waiters did their procession with Baked Alaskas, and the towels were twirling. It must have been my night for bad luck with photos, since I only ended up with a closeup of a twirling towel. Oh well, I have plenty of other photos of Baked Alaska from other cruises. How many do you need? You will just need to use your imagination.

 

 

 

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[h20skibum]

We made it to the theatre early for the show, and people were having trouble finding seats by 20 minutes before showtime. Eight finalists had been selected in the first two rounds, but only six would perform tonight. Two must have dropped out.

 

Occupying the chairs were magician Alex Ronan, comedian Scott Wyler, and member of the Grand crew, Rianne. Narrowed to the final three of Mike, Ian, and Vanessa, the runaway favorite was Mike. If you closed your eyes, you would swear you were listening to Stevie Wonder. All three were excellent. (Author's note - I didn't remember if Mike and Vanessa were their names, and tried to verify, but no one else could remember either. So don't say, " That's not Mike, that's Joe." Hey, I am doing the best I can.)

 

 

Mike?

 

Ian

 

Vanessa?

 

 

Time to finish packing the bags and getting them set in the passageway for pickup. The cruise will be over tomorrow. Captain Diego's rocking horse ride continues.

 

 

 

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[h20skibum]

Monday, May 8

 

 

Finally, the seas are calm when I wake up. I am out on our balcony filming a video as we pass beneath the Golden Gate Bridge at 5:50 a.m. I see others on their balconies doing the same thing. There is still a little morning haze.

 

 

At 6:20, we are backing into port as the sun rises over the Bay Bridge.

 

 

Several tractor trailers are lined up, waiting to offload the provisions for the Alaska cruise that follows ours. By 7:00, we have tied up and they prepare to disembark the passengers.

 

 

 

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[h20skibum]

The Captain's log of the cruise follows. It is semi-accurate, kind of like this report. For instance, on the 30th, we were really sailing from Honolulu to Kauai, and not from the Big Island. On the first, we were really sailing from Kauai and not Honolulu. And finally, if you really want to be anal, and you plot the latitude and longitude on the 5th, it would put us about 1,800 miles off course. Maybe that's why it was so bumpy. (Just don't check this report too closely and start pointing out all the spelling and grammar errors. I can only blame some on autocorrect. I guess I need to fire my proofreader.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[h20skibum]

The papers for disembarking the ship had been delivered a couple days prior, and our unplanned "early independent" arrangement listed our departure time as 8:55.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[h20skibum]

We vacated our cabin and had one last breakfast at the Horizon Court before reporting to the Da Vinci dining room to await our group to be called. The room was starting to fill up, and finally at 8:20 they made an announcement that they were still awaiting clearance to disembark passengers. At 8:30, another announcement that they are experiencing short delays due to outside workers. I am not sure if this delay affected any of the self assist departures, but they were already behind. It was 9:00 by the time they got to green 4, so they were a half hour behind at that point.

 

Since Princess had told us we are on our own because they couldn't provide transfers to everyone who wanted them, we thought about getting a lyft. When we got off the ship, we saw a sign for the SuperShuttle that said you could get one without a reservation. It was $20 a head, so $9 a head cheaper than the Princess transfer would have been.

 

We said "Fine, sign us up." There were a lot of people waiting on their rides at the pier.

 

 

Finally, our shuttle ( a small van) rolled in, and we boarded it at 10:00. It was an hour trip from the time we boarded the shuttle, until we made it to the check in line at Southwest at the airport.

 

 

 

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[h20skibum]

Since we hadn't been able to get our mobile passes because both of us were on the same reservation, I pull up the record locator so I can get some passes printed. But, uh oh, now my record locator says we are going to Denver. What? When I checked in yesterday, our flights are supposed to be to LA, then on to Pittsburgh. We get to the counter, and they say " Oh, your flight was cancelled, so now you are going to Denver, then to Pittsburgh." The "A" positions we had were now "C100", or whatever the very last people to board get. We think, maybe not too bad, instead of a two and a half hour layover in LA, we have one and a half in Denver. Plus, it will get us home an hour earlier.

 

So we are waiting at the end of the line in the jetway for everyone ahead of us to get the best seats, when the gate agent runs down and says "I think we can fit a few more on the plane, but we need to put more gas in".

 

Were they really cutting it that close that they need to add gas? Now we are waiting and waiting on the plane while they add gas, and the Captain says they may need some extra due to the weather in Denver. Oh great!!! We finally take off an hour late, so our connection time in Denver just got shorter.

 

About an hour out of Denver, the plane starts pitching and yawing, and it is buckle up baby. I wanted to ask them if rocking horse captain Diego got off the ship and was piloting the plane.

 

We make it to Denver, evidently with gas to spare since we didn't crash, and we have 20 minutes to grab some food at McDonalds and make the next flight. It is probably the first time we bought any McDonalds food in 25 years, but it was all we could get that was close by and fast. Plus, since we had the "C100" position for this flight too, we would be the last to board.

 

We finally settle in, and the captain comes on with an announcement. "We have to put more gas in the plane, because they are going to reroute us out of Denver to avoid some of the weather." Great, here we go with the gas issue again. In all the years we have been flying, I don't think they ever had to add gas. We were lucky enough to get it on both of these flights. Oh well, more is better than not enough.

 

So we depart Denver, and the plane starts bouncing around like mad. Did Captain Diego just take over this flight too? After a couple of hours of bouncing around, it finally starts to smooth out, and we eventually land in Pittsburgh at the time or original flight would have made it there.

 

Our trip has now ended as we pick up our car and make the drive home. It has been an interesting trip, with some twists and turns thrown at us. One thing to remember is to roll with any little problems that may be tossed your way. Any day cruising is better than a day at home. Thanks to everyone who has followed along. I hope you have found something useful, and if you have any questions, I would be glad to answer them.

 

I will try to wrap things up with a brief summary that may include a few things I forgot to post along the way. That may not happen until tomorrow.

 

 

 

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[tiptwo2]

Thank you for your review! What is your secret to get the wonderful pictures of the patters, etc? My attempts to take them with my phone or big camera are not successful.

 

 

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[pjzkl]

Great review! Thank you so much. We have enjoyed seeing the menus and pratters! You've got us even more excited about our December trip!

 

Julie

 

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[h20skibum]

Thank you for your review! What is your secret to get the wonderful pictures of the patters, etc? My attempts to take them with my phone or big camera are not successful.

 

 

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For the Patters, I used my scanner at home, and scanned them as a PDF file. The full version of Adobe Acrobat has an option to save them as an image (jpg) file, and it saves each individual page. I then email them to myself so I can save them to my iPad and upload them to the Cruise Critic app.

 

In prior reports, I would upload all the photos through Flickr, but the Cruise Critic app is so much easier now when working from a mobile device.

 

I do my narrative in the Pages app, then cut and past to the Cruise Critic app and insert the photos.

 

You may also want to try Google's PhotoScan app to see how it works. It is a free app, and it will take a series of five photos and combine them to remove glare. I used it for most of the menus and the copy of the map from onboard the ship.

 

 

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[KruzeKrazy!]

And we hope before you close out your great review you'll provide your comments/thoughts on the ship, her condition, etc. (Know you posted one "buckets" photo earlier....)

 

Those of us who have cruised her before, have her booked for a future cruise, and have read about the many problems (water leaks and buckets, overflowing toilets, non-working a/c units, etc., etc.) wonder what of all that is true and what is more of an "embellishment."

 

Thanks!

[h20skibum]

And we hope before you close out your great review you'll provide your comments/thoughts on the ship, her condition, etc. (Know you posted one "buckets" photo earlier....)

 

Those of us who have cruised her before, have her booked for a future cruise, and have read about the many problems (water leaks and buckets, overflowing toilets, non-working a/c units, etc., etc.) wonder what of all that is true and what is more of an "embellishment."

 

Thanks!

 

 

That is exactly what I was going to finish up with, but I have to get all those thoughts into some reasonably coherent sentences. Plus, I will have some advice for first time cruisers or those going to the islands for the first time, as well as a little about the demographics of the passengers. So stay tuned for another day or two.

 

 

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