"Live" Emerald Princess, 16-Day Hawaii, July 6th to July 22nd

[startedwithamouse]

6 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Good morning Hilo! 🌸

 

We were supposed to be on this cruise too.  Although, I think we've done the same amount of $ damage during Prime days!

[LACruiser88]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then went to my favorite restaurant in Hilo, "Pineapples."  It is right up the street from the Farmers Market.  I sat at the bar and had grilled Ono over Jasmine rice and an aioli cream sauce, DELICIOUS!!!

 

 

 

And I finished the meal with a local Hisbiscus vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce!

 

Then it was time to walk off the calories while going back to the ship!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cruzrbachoua]

Can you book the Joppa tour directly there as I believe I saw it offered thru princess? 

 

How did the uber ride go as we are thinking of doing uber in Maui? 

[LACruiser88]

2 minutes ago, cruzrbachoua said:

Can you book the Joppa tour directly there as I believe I saw it offered thru princess? 

 

How did the uber ride go as we are thinking of doing uber in Maui? 

You can buy the Hoppa-on/Hoppa-off tickets at their terminal.  They had lots of buses. 

 

Our daughter had no problem with the Uber.  They picked them up just outside the cruise terminal gates.

[SaltwaterDaffy]

I just had my first premium dessert this trip. Cheesecake, vanilla Gelato raspberry syrup. 😋 

[phabric]

Was it good?

[LACruiser88]

45 minutes ago, SaltwaterDaffy said:

I just had my first premium dessert this trip. Cheesecake, vanilla Gelato raspberry syrup. 😋 

Wow, looks like a lot of sweet stuff!

[SaltwaterDaffy]

Just now, LACruiser88 said:

Wow, looks like a lot of sweet stuff!

Yeah, I know. I only eat the cheesecake and half of the Gelato. I wouldn't get it it it wasn't part of the package. 

[cr8tiv1]

Hilo is my favorite town.  Heck...Hawaii Island is my favorite Island.  Thanks for the photos.

[KLM3164]

1 hour ago, SaltwaterDaffy said:

I just had my first premium dessert this trip. Cheesecake, vanilla Gelato raspberry syrup. 😋 

Do you know if they will make this and hold the cheesecake and yellow candy thing? I love a good sundae but I just want the vanilla gelato, raspberry sauce and fresh strawberries. I guess I could just take off the cheesecake and candy thing but that seems like such a waste. 

[KLM3164]

@LACruiser88Thanks for the photo of the Pineapples menu. It looks so good and we are heading to the Big Island in September so I’m sure we’ll do a day trip to Hilo. I appreciate the recommendation and will check it out. 

[Swngkid12]

3 hours ago, cruzrbachoua said:

Can you book the Joppa tour directly there as I believe I saw it offered thru princess? 

 

How did the uber ride go as we are thinking of doing uber in Maui? 

Don’t bother with Lyft here! Drivers don’t like it, almost all are Uber especially if you need an XL. Our friends tried to wait for Lyft to show a driver but ended up in the Taxi line after 20 min. Turns out the taxi vs Uber weren’t too far apart $wise to get to the caves. Rest of the day we got Ubers though, for a total of 4 Ubers for the day for about $17-35 each leg (Customs office to caves 17, caves XL to Richardson Beach 35, RB to Farmers Market 22, FM to ship 14—we did have 20% off all the rides though). Hoppa On/Offs can be done w the company directly off ship w the guides/their office. We did the hop on/off in Honolulu a few years ago.

 

[Sam.Seattle]

3 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

You can buy the Hoppa-on/Hoppa-off tickets at their terminal.  They had lots of buses. 

 

Our daughter had no problem with the Uber.  They picked them up just outside the cruise terminal gates.

I thought it was odd having to pick up the Uber outside the gate, but they drop you off inside the gate at the terminal door.  It was a lovely day.  Sitting on the balcony enjoying sail away now.

[Thrak]

6 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 Hand sanitizer is better than nothing but it is still better to wash your hands fastidiously and keep them away from your face.  

 

I wash my hands all the time onboard the ships and I only use a knuckle to push elevator buttons. I use hand rails on the stairways but use my wrist rather than my hand. I just drape my hand over the rail and, if I need to use the rail, it's my wrist that makes contact. However, I seem to be constitutionally unable to not touch my face. Thankfully, all that had washing and taking care not to actually use my hands to touch much seems to work. I wash when I get to the stateroom, before I leave the stateroom, and when I enter the buffet (if I'm going there). It doesn't hurt to wash after getting your plate of food and before unwrapping your flatware bundle to eat. I don't really care if some other person looks at me like I'm a psycho for washing again. I just care about not catching the crud that the other person has left on the serving tongs.

[LACruiser88]

Tonight our neighbors table disappeared.  Maybe it was a short precautionary quarantine or they were moved???

 

We'll see what happens mañana...

[curlygirlygirl]

I’m getting ready for a California coastal cruise on the Emerald. Have you been to the afternoon tea onboard recently? I haven’t cruised in over 10 years but remember it being a lovely experience. 
 

But I also know someone who cruised more recently and she said the tea was like a timeshare talk and you even had to choose a bag of tea from a caddy. 
 

Do you know if it is still served nicely and with all the fun sandwiches etc?

[travelin.sisters]

On 7/8/2023 at 8:29 AM, LACruiser88 said:

Last night we started our evening in Vines at around 5 pm.  Shortly after sitting the Captain came out of the HGM's office, which is directly behind Vines.  He made a point to walk around Vines and speak to all of the passengers.  He asked how everyone was enjoying the cruise and posed for several photos.  He is extremely charismatic and patient.

 

At 7 pm we were off to dinner.  At the table next to us are a married couple that are both Princess Corporate employees.  We met them several years ago at a Winemaker's dinner on the Majestic. 

 

The Captain walked in as he was dining with the Princess employees.  The Captain recognized us from Vines and came to our table.  He spoke to us for at least 10 minutes focusing on a conversation with our granddaughter.  Our granddaughter was most impressed!

 

After dinner, we made our way to the Wheelhouse bar to listen to the "Cool Duo."  Not so cool.  We recognized them from previous cruises.  Their music abilities are good it is just the husband (they are husband and wife) gives a 10 minute history lesson about each song before performing the song.  Total buzz kill!

 

We were off to the Vista Lounge where our granddaughter had signed up to sing her first song at a karaoke venue.  She sang a very cute version of Katy Perry's "Fight Song."  She was so excited afterwards, she said her legs were still shaking.  So cute!

 

 

this is the best cruise! I know you proclaim your cruise reports are "just the facts" & not witty, but I always enjoy them & your granddaughter is making this one even better! thank you for sharing with us! (it is nice to have a summer trip to Hawai'i between 2 March ones)

[echoshipmate]

11 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I wash my hands all the time onboard the ships and I only use a knuckle to push elevator buttons. I use hand rails on the stairways but use my wrist rather than my hand. I just drape my hand over the rail and, if I need to use the rail, it's my wrist that makes contact. However, I seem to be constitutionally unable to not touch my face. Thankfully, all that had washing and taking care not to actually use my hands to touch much seems to work. I wash when I get to the stateroom, before I leave the stateroom, and when I enter the buffet (if I'm going there). It doesn't hurt to wash after getting your plate of food and before unwrapping your flatware bundle to eat. I don't really care if some other person looks at me like I'm a psycho for washing again. I just care about not catching the crud that the other person has left on the serving tongs.

People looks at us with the same psycho looks as we wear plastic gloves going through the buffet, I have seen what other folks do between stations. We too are hand washing fanatics, maybe even germophobes, but nothing yet with over 150 days on board since the restart, fingers crossed!

Doug

[LACruiser88]

3 hours ago, curlygirlygirl said:

Do you know if it is still served nicely and with all the fun sandwiches etc?

I don't know?  This is something we have never done.  I'll ask around with some of our cruise buddies onboard.

[LACruiser88]

Good morning Honolulu!🌺

 

 

 

 

[cr8tiv1]

What a beautiful day in both Hilo and Honolulu.  Lucky you.  

[LACruiser88]

3 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

this is the best cruise! I know you proclaim your cruise reports are "just the facts" & not witty, but I always enjoy them & your granddaughter is making this one even better! thank you for sharing with us! (it is nice to have a summer trip to Hawai'i between 2 March ones)

Thank you so much for the kind words!  It is very different for us cruising with our granddaughter.  She is such a mature young lady and makes us view the cruise from a different perspective.

 

A couple days ago, she participated in a kids cake decorating class in the galley.  The cake was really nicely done with a custard filing and topped wth fresh fruit.  The kids assembled the entire cake.  We have had the cake for desert the past two nights in the MDR.

 

I'll try to get our daughter to post a photo of the cake.  They also let her keep the apron and chef's hat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 13, 2023 by LACruiser88

[SaltwaterDaffy]

12 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

Do you know if they will make this and hold the cheesecake and yellow candy thing? I love a good sundae but I just want the vanilla gelato, raspberry sauce and fresh strawberries. I guess I could just take off the cheesecake and candy thing but that seems like such a waste. 

I guess you can ask .The chocolate glass is pre-made so they would just put everything into a bowl for you minus the candy.

[LACruiser88]

 

 

 

[LACruiser88]

Just delivered, for our day in Lahaina tomorrow.