mini-live from the Grand Princess: first Hawaiian sailing post covid--Jan 4-19, 2022

[voljeep]

1 hour ago, Wife of Gert said:

We are actually on the next cruise, fly to LA on Tuesday. My husband has been following this one. He taught in Vale for years. Good time for you to cruise!

Good Luck

 

wonder why NCL Pride of America cancelled cruises thru February 26 ?

Edited January 12, 2022 by voljeep

[MishelleMcc]

1 hour ago, Wife of Gert said:

We are actually on the next cruise, fly to LA on Tuesday. My husband has been following this one. He taught in Vale for years. Good time for you to cruise!

We've been here about 10 years... Our friend who house-sits for us is here and she went to school in Vale and says she probably knows him!!  (her name is Ann) what a small world!  Our cruise leaves Sunday (16th)!  so may see you sometime out on the ocean then!  Happy Sailing!!

[JF - retired RRT]

32 minutes ago, kiwimum said:

Aloha deck has had additional air handlers installed in the balcony cabins used for quarantine.   

That's interesting.

[NCreadyforfun]

We're also on the Jan 16 to Hawaii. What are the temperatures like in open water? Is it too chilly to sit at the pool or be in the water?

[cr8tiv1]

Ok, you peaked my curiosity.  I goggled Air Handler.  Why would this matter? What does it do?

[MishelleMcc]

23 minutes ago, NCreadyforfun said:

We're also on the Jan 16 to Hawaii. What are the temperatures like in open water? Is it too chilly to sit at the pool or be in the water?

First 2-3 chilly....  here is what we experienced in 2019"

 

Here were the temps per the Patters:

SF embarkation:  54 f

Sea Days:  61, 61, 63, 72

Honolulu:  77

Kauai:   75

Maui:   79

Hilo:  79

Sea Days:   75, 73, 68, 63,

Ensenada:   64

SF:  63

[jimmieg]

5 hours ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

 

I would be more concerned about THIS one.

And why would Princess do that?  🤨

May have to do with reports of CDC not renewing Conditional Sail Orders as of 1/15/22?  Actions taken by cruiselines will be voluntary.

[travelin.sisters]

18 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

😳 I wonder why? I’ll have to remember to save a bottle of wine for drinking in our cabin if this is the same for our April cruise. Is this normal for Maui? 

it was not true last time we sailed here but we were in Lahina, if it is important to you perhaps best to be prepared, I heard quite a few passengers who were pretty upset

 

[travelin.sisters]

17 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Give it a little time. They breed like rats.

did see feral chickens today on Maui

[travelin.sisters]

17 hours ago, MishelleMcc said:

I don't think so.  We did the Hawaii cruise December 3 2019 and I just check the Patter and the bars were open as usual...  I wonder if it has to do with the day of the week?  Some counties in the US are "dry" on a Sundays.  Are they in Maui on a Sunday?

no it is today (Wednesday)

 

[travelin.sisters]

15 hours ago, CalLuvsCrusingToo said:

 

I would be more concerned about THIS one.

And why would Princess do that?  🤨

we are not happy, were counting on that second test on the way home so we would only have to retest 5 days after disembarking...I am guessing it is due to the CDC making the conditional sail order voluntary? or if LA has loosened requirements while we have been gone?

[travelin.sisters]

17 hours ago, AZjohn said:

Just saw this local Maui article about the Grand arriving today along with Residences at Sea's being in Lahaina on Saturday:

https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2022/01/soon-return-of-cruise-ships-raises-concerns/

 

 

 

I only met people who were glad to have us back, or at least pleasant about it

[travelin.sisters]

14 hours ago, SteamboatWillie118 said:

Mahalo -Thank you so much @travelin.sisters for all your great info!

God willing, we will be on the 2/13/22 cruise on the Grand.

When you have a minute, perhaps you could comment on room service? We were in Mexico in Sep 2021, and ordered room service breakfast once.. it was abysmal. The breakfast sandwich was lukewarm and appeared to be from the night before. The only edible things were cereal (in the box).

On another day I ordered soup and a sandwich, equally terrible.

Normally we eat at the buffet; while not stellar, we find it pretty good.

I mentioned that on my survey and wonder if it's improved any at all?

Thanks again - have a wonderful trip back!😀

we only did the room service once (yesterday in Hilo) & have never tried it on previous cruises...ordered 2 sandwiches, fries, fruit salad & chocolate cake...the cake was amazing, fries were limp like the ones in the dining room (the only crispy ones have been directly from the salty dog grill on the Lido deck), fruit salad was good, sandwiches were ok but not good enough that we would repeat...buffet has been fine but either Salty Dog Grill or International Cafe have better/fresher sandwich options in my opinion. 

[travelin.sisters]

14 hours ago, CruzinNoony said:

Is there a shuttle running from the pier in Kahului to the Queen Ka'ahumanu Shopping Center?

I did not see any shuttles, & when I asked the shore excursion person in the terminal he said there were none, also our tour person only suggested walking (about 15 min) to the Maui Mall if we wanted to do extra shopping. There were taxis waiting around the terminal. During his port talk Tiki Dave mentioned taking a taxi to that shopping center to get the buses so I am pretty sure the answer is No.

[travelin.sisters]

13 hours ago, Bgwest said:

We haven’t left the ship yet but are not going to be surprised to have to run the gauntlet of protesters. 

I didn't see any protesters; everyone I spoke to seemed happy to have us there...but after the news reports I would not have been surprised either

 

[travelin.sisters]

12 hours ago, Wife of Gert said:

We are actually on the next cruise, fly to LA on Tuesday. My husband has been following this one. He taught in Vale for years. Good time for you to cruise!

oh I think maye we were set to go on the same Hawai'i, Tahiti, Samoa cruise that got canceled by the shut down ...hope you have a lovely cruise as well

[travelin.sisters]

12 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Maybe that’s the reason although it’s been my experience that the Maui liquor commission can make bizarre rules. A couple of years ago they mandated sellers to check all IDs to ensure the buyer was over 21 years old. Their lack of common sense resulted in requiring even senior citizens to show ID…ridiculous! After a lot of pushback they were forced to use common sense & to not require those who were obviously over 21 to show ID.

well I think everyone survived the day & things are back to normal

[travelin.sisters]

11 hours ago, MishelleMcc said:

First 2-3 chilly....  here is what we experienced in 2019"

 

Here were the temps per the Patters:

SF embarkation:  54 f

Sea Days:  61, 61, 63, 72

Honolulu:  77

Kauai:   75

Maui:   79

Hilo:  79

Sea Days:   75, 73, 68, 63,

Ensenada:   64

SF:  63

I think the question about too chilly depends on where you are from...if you are coming from midwest winter you will react differently than if you are coming from southern CA...this cruise it was fairly bumpy the first couple of days & the pools were closed anyway, it wasn't (for me) so much cold as it was windy...we didn't eat out on our balcony until the last sea day before Hawai'i but I didn't need a sweater/jacket wandering around the ship or outside

[travelin.sisters]

11 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Ok, you peaked my curiosity.  I goggled Air Handler.  Why would this matter? What does it do?

I think (but don't know) it is to eliminate the concern of introducing the air from isolation rooms into the general heating/ac system...but I could be wrong

[san diego sue]

Thanks for keeping us all up to date on happenings. Enjoy the rest of your cruise. We board next Wednesday.I noticed last night  on Princess they cancelled the whale watching tours in Honolulu , added other tours for Honolulu as well as  some of the other ports.

Also I see that they added a Lahaina on your own tour . With no shuttles at the pier in Maui, glad we have the option of doing things on our own.

 

 

Edited January 13, 2022 by san diego sue

[kluv2cruz]

19 hours ago, MishelleMcc said:

First 2-3 chilly....  here is what we experienced in 2019"

 

Here were the temps per the Patters:

SF embarkation:  54 f

Sea Days:  61, 61, 63, 72

Honolulu:  77

Kauai:   75

Maui:   79

Hilo:  79

Sea Days:   75, 73, 68, 63,

Ensenada:   64

SF:  63

This is super helpful and is a common question. What time of year was this sailing?

[CruzinNoony]

9 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

I did not see any shuttles, & when I asked the shore excursion person in the terminal he said there were none, also our tour person only suggested walking (about 15 min) to the Maui Mall if we wanted to do extra shopping. There were taxis waiting around the terminal. During his port talk Tiki Dave mentioned taking a taxi to that shopping center to get the buses so I am pretty sure the answer is No.

Thank you so much for inquiring about the shuttle.  

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, kluv2cruz said:

This is super helpful and is a common question. What time of year was this sailing?

We've done 5 HI cruises...didn't make a lot of difference what month it was.

Only time it was different was when we went through a storm that had a Beaufort rating of 10. Can you say "roller coaster"?

[Bgwest]

9 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

I didn't see any protesters; everyone I spoke to seemed happy to have us there...but after the news reports I would not have been surprised either

 

Nor did we. Pleasant surprise. 

[azbirdmom]

Posted by the Maui News about an hour ago https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2022/01/maui-hosts-first-cruise-ship-since-start-of-the-pandemic/?fbclid=IwAR3qj93FXCs562bEQ5B_5KMa7PqDlhID3n49CfVgweGuCKkUy93F3i5fNus