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

Tim, Thank you for the most interesting cruise review that I have read in a long while. I relived our Hawaiian cruise by reading and enjoying you recap. While I am constantly reading my reviews (stored on my computer and in CC Member Reviews) of our cruises, in particularly the Mar. 27 Hawaii Cruise. Yours has included many things that I had forgotten about.

Once again, thank you, as it has been a great reminder about our "Fabulous 14 Day Hawaii Cruise"!

Tim, Thank you for the most interesting cruise review that I have read in a long while. I relived our Hawaiian cruise by reading and enjoying you recap. While I am constantly reading my reviews (stored on my computer and in CC Member Reviews) of our cruises, in particularly the Mar. 27 Hawaii Cruise. Yours has included many things that I had forgotten about.

 

Once again, thank you, as it has been a great reminder about our "Fabulous 14 Day Hawaii Cruise"!

You're quite welcome, Mike & Betty! I'm glad that I was able to help rekindle your memories (and for that matter, to rekindle my own memories in the process). I was also glad for the opportunity to add you as another CC "friend" (although I'm not sure what if any function CC friends serve, at least it will help to jog my memory).

All the best!

Tim

Before we went to sleep on our final night of our Golden Princess cruise to Hawaii, as the ship gently eased its way back to Los Angeles, we set up a wake up call for 5:40 in the morning, knowing from experience that the ship would be entering the harbor in Los Angeles at about that time.

This was actually the only time we used the wake up call service during the entire cruise, but considering the fact that it was after 1 when we started trying to get some sleep (and that even during those four hours we sometimes found some better things to do than just sleep) we didn't want to risk sleeping too late.

Having enjoyed our experiences of watching the Golden Princess sail in on the morning the cruise began and watching the Sapphire Princess sail in on February 16 (which was the biggest surprise of the entire yearlong pre-cruise surprise process), we didn't want to miss the chance to watch the ship sail in again (but this time, from the unique vantage point of our special balcony which gave us a view of almost the entire port side of the ship).

We both thought that Los Angeles (San Pedro) was the prettiest port of our entire cruise, at least in terms of the way it looked from the ship when we were sailing in. Perhaps we could be accused of looking at things through golden-colored glasses, but that's ok.

We had caught our first glimpse of the Golden Princess from a little pier just to the right of the golden lights in the photo above. (Ironically, we think that's probably also where Terri lost her wallet, along with her driver's license, so we paid a high price for that sentimental view -- nearly paying a much higher price by missing the entire cruise.)

As we had watched the Golden Princess sail in on the first day of our cruise, we had thought of how sad that day must have been for those who would be leaving the ship. But as we stood on our balcony watching the ship sail in at the end of the cruise, we thought that perhaps somewhere out there another dreamy-eyed couple was excitedly watching in anticipation of boarding the ship that day.

We stayed out on the balcony from the moment the ship passed the breakwater until it docked. It seems like we should have been exhausted from lack of sleep, but I think our excitement compensated for it.

When we passed by the little park south of Ports O' Call, Terri noticed the place where we had been standing when the

(In this photo, Terri is pointing to the spot where the Sapphire Princess surprise occurred.)

As the ship approached the Vincent Thomas Bridge, it began making an amazingly sharp left turn. We had watched such sharp turns from the ground before, but this was the first time we had a chance to watch it from the vantage point of the ship.

We noticed that the Port of Los Angeles building still looks very similar to the way it looked on the Love Boat TV shows over 30 years ago.

This

After the ship docked, the stateroom was still ours for another two hours or so. So, we pulled the drapes closed, planning to use our final time in our special B744 cabin to reenact some of our favorite Golden Princess memories.

More photos of our view of the Golden Princess sailing into Los Angeles at the end of our cruise to Hawaii can be viewed at:

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjENZuXH

When does a cruise really end?

When the ship reaches the final harbor?

When the ship finishes docking on the final day?

When you leave your stateroom for the last time?

When you step off the ship?

When you catch your last glimpse of the ship?

When you reach home?

When you see your children's beautiful faces again?

When you get back to your job?

When you finish sorting through all of the photos and memorabilia from the cruise?

Or perhaps some time way beyond?

A significant part of my pre-cruise planning process involved seeking to blur the lines of when the cruise ends, to extend that cruise feeling and to prevent those post-cruise blues. (Writing this thread has itself been a key part of that process.)

So if you're looking for the post that marks the "end" of the cruise, good luck. I myself am not quite sure where that point will be. Of course, if you wish to disembark at this point, you are certainly free to do so, and I will simply thank you for sharing this beautiful journey with me.

For any who choose to linger, I shall now attempt to proceed "beyond." You may be surprised (as I myself have been) by some of what comes next. In fact, the final chapter is still a mystery.

I am going to follow this thread until you choose to end it. I have enjoyed it so very much. I also enjoy hearing about your family. Life must be interesting with so many kids lol. I only had 2 and felt overwhelmed. Cruising or whatever is your passion is a state of mind anyway.

We lived in Hawaii for 4 1/2 years on a part time basis, alternating three months. We loved it so much but for some personal reasons we had to lease out the place and live full time again in California. We are hoping to be able to live there again on a permanent basis. I loved hearing your descriptions of places you went on Oahu. Made me realize how lucky we were to live in paradise.

Virginia

I am going to follow this thread until you choose to end it. I have enjoyed it so very much. I also enjoy hearing about your family. Life must be interesting with so many kids lol. I only had 2 and felt overwhelmed. Cruising or whatever is your passion is a state of mind anyway.

 

We lived in Hawaii for 4 1/2 years on a part time basis, alternating three months. We loved it so much but for some personal reasons we had to lease out the place and live full time again in California. We are hoping to be able to live there again on a permanent basis. I loved hearing your descriptions of places you went on Oahu. Made me realize how lucky we were to live in paradise.

 

Virginia

Thanks, Virginia!

To live on Oahu... what a dream! (Although I suppose for some it may at times seem like a nightmare, as the people in places like Lanikai struggle in vain to shoo the tourists away from their beautiful neighborhood.)

Yes, this is definitely a "state of mind," so I will continue to enjoy sharing some of my passions here with any like you who may choose to look over my shoulder.

Tim

Tim,

I have read many reviews over the years, but yours has been particularly interesting and enjoyable to read. I would search for one of your entries daily.

You have a great way of getting tyour readers included in your adventures.

I really enjoyed the various 'cliffhangers' on some of your posts.

My wife and I are scheduled to do 'YOUR' trip this April on Princess Star and look forward to a similar experience.

I will continue to check your posts so keep on going, and I hope you will be using the future cruise credits, let us know if/when you will be cruising again.

Ted

Tim,

 

I have read many reviews over the years, but yours has been particularly interesting and enjoyable to read. I would search for one of your entries daily.

You have a great way of getting tyour readers included in your adventures.

I really enjoyed the various 'cliffhangers' on some of your posts.

 

My wife and I are scheduled to do 'YOUR' trip this April on Princess Star and look forward to a similar experience.

 

I will continue to check your posts so keep on going, and I hope you will be using the future cruise credits, let us know if/when you will be cruising again.

 

Ted

Thanks, Ted! I hope you have a great cruise -- but I hope it's not TOO similar (at least I hope nobody loses their ID :eek:)! I do hope that you two are able to enjoy the ups and downs of cruising the way we did, whatever circumstances you may face.

And I'll definitely keep you posted here on our plans. But I'll need to do some further explaining before I get to that part. ;)

Tim

By the time the Golden Princess arrived back in Los Angeles, most of our luggage was already in the hands of the ship's crew. However, we still left quite a few things in our room (such as the poster of Terri with her parents) until almost the last possible minute. Being somewhat lazy during our final two hours in our cabin and still a bit starry-eyed (not really wanting our beautiful time there to end), we found ourselves scrambling during the final few minutes to get everything out of the room, eventually just throwing some random things in my duffel bag as the 8:30 deadline for us to vacate the room approached.

As we gathered our things to leave, we heard a knock on the door, as our steward's voice said "housekeeping" to alert us to his need to prepare our room for the next cruise. It was exactly 8:30. We hurried out of the room, smiling at our steward as we thanked him for his service. We were glad to see that another crew member was there to help our steward, as it seemed that his work load was so overwhelming.

The door to the Grand Suite, adjacent to ours, was open, but we resisted the temptation to ask if we could look inside. Instead we proceeded down the hall toward the stairs for the last time. Perhaps, if only in our dreams, we might return again.

As we waited to disembark, I carried my large duffel bag and a backpack, while Terri carried some additional things, including a large "Aloha" shopping bag which had been a pre-cruise clue. Along with various other items in her bag, she included fragile items such as our two ukuleles (having been warned by Dave Soreff not to trust them to the baggage handlers). Hopelessly sentimental, Terri also wanted to bring along the balloons and signs that had been on our door.

Our first stop after taking the stairs down from the Baja Deck was the Photo Gallery. Throughout the course of the cruise we had looked at our various photos and portraits there, but up to this point, the high prices had dissuaded us from purchasing any photos. Seeing the Photo Gallery staff clearing out the shelves and knowing that this was our last chance to save any of our photos, Terri asked me to help her find as many as I could so that she could make a final decision on what to buy. She finally settled upon two: a posed portrait and a photo of us which was taken at dinner the night of our Princess Pop Choir concert (both of which I shared here on the days corresponding to when they were taken).

While we were going through our photos, we happened to notice a friend, known on CC as "silverbird," passing through. I had met her first through CC and her ideas had been an important part of the pre-cruise surprise, so we didn't want to miss the chance to take a photo with her (which I will share again here, even though I shared it early in this review after she first chimed in).

(I didn't even realize until just now that I broke the "no photography in the Photo Gallery" rule. Oops!)

Terri probably would have wanted to purchase more photos if she could have found them, but I felt that the two photos she picked were sufficient (especially because the portrait we purchased featured a Golden Princess backdrop).

Just those two photos cost us almost $50 (which I took out of our dwindling supply of cash, being the only payment accepted because the Photo Gallery cashier said that it was past their 9:00 closing time).

In addition to the photos, we needed to pick up our Reflections DVD, which I had won during the drawing on the first sea day. Terri had suggested that we leverage that win by taking advantage of an additional deal the Photo Gallery offered during the first few days of the cruise. The Reflections DVD was selling for $39.99, but for just $49.99, the Photo Gallery was offering a set of port DVDs (including the Reflections DVD) and some postcards. So on the final day that the special was offered (the day before we arrived in Hawaii), we had gone to the Photo Gallery to ask if we could take advantage of the special by paying the extra ten dollars.

At first they didn't seem to know how to handle our request, but finally they figured out that they could charge us the full $49.99 and make a separate entry crediting us $39.99, the value of my winning entry.

But when we tried to pick up the DVDs in the Photo Gallery on disembarkation day, they seemed to have forgotten at first that we were supposed to receive the additional DVDs. I had brought my receipt, but the receipt actually only showed the Reflections DVD, so it took a few more minutes to convince them to fulfill the previously agreed-upon arrangement.

A young girl sat nearby in a wheelchair, repeatedly moaning "going home," as her family tried to comfort her. Although we had never gotten to know them, various times throughout the cruise I had noticed this family lovingly caring for their daughter in spite of difficult circumstances. As we faced our small difficulties throughout the cruise I was challenged by the way this precious family handled their difficulties with such grace. I hope they felt that other passengers treated them with grace too.

After leaving the Photo Gallery at about 9:45, we went back up to the Lido Deck, trying to see if we could get something to eat from the buffet or somewhere else. But everything was closed, so we went back down to the Piazza (which we had not been far from when we were at the Photo Gallery). Few people remained there, as it seemed that most of the passengers (unlike us) had been quite eager to disembark.

I ordered an egg and cheese muffin from the International Cafe (somehow I had gone through the entire cruise without realizing that this tasty breakfast item was available, even though since that time I have noticed many people on CC raving about it), along with some pastries.

While we ate our last Golden Princess meal in the Piazza, we encountered another passenger who had also impressed us by the way she handled her difficulties with such grace (and seemed to have a blast doing so), our Princess Pop Choir friend Shirl. Her funny pineapples were now gone (because she wouldn't be allowed to take them off the ship) but we enjoyed the opportunity to have a few more minutes to get to know her family.

While we were there, Terri took a phone call, having turned on our phones when we reached the harbor.

At about 10:20, I asked Terri if I could take her picture in some places which corresponded to photo clues I had given her before the cruise. Even after two weeks on the ship I still had missed a few places! The outside Promenade Deck was closed, so we went up to Deck 15 aft, just behind the Hearts and Minds Chapel (where our Princess Pop Choir rehearsals had been held), to take a photo of Terri above the Terrace Pool, which by this time had been netted off.

Finally, about 10:40, we went down to our final Golden Princess destination, the Explorers Lounge. We had intentionally asked for the latest disembarkation time possible, wanting to linger on the ship until the last possible minute. (And I had another plan in mind that motivated me to keep dragging my feet.)

Although there was nothing to do but wait in the Explorers Lounge during our final 30 minutes on the ship, we enjoyed having some time to just relax in this environment where we had so enjoyed being edified and entertained throughout the cruise.

As we waited, we noticed CD staff member Sasha, all dressed up and looking official in his suit, saying "welcome" to people walking by, so I assume that some people were already boarding.

We were in no hurry to hear Sasha call for our group (Purple 2). Finally, at 11:10, it was our turn to exit. But first, we paused on the Promenade Deck for one final photo.

At 11:13, we crossed the walkway straight across to the World Cruise Center building. Waiting in line to clear customs and immigration, I don't think we really worried much that Terri's lost driver's license would present a major obstacle for us.

We were off the ship, so what could they do?

In spite of our lack of concern, for a few moments the officer who dealt with us seemed to act like there was going to be a big problem. He scrutinized not only my birth certificate and Terri's birth certificate, but also our son's birth certificate (which of course listed us as parents). Finally he asked Terri where she was born. When she answered correctly, he let her through.

I had completed our customs form honestly, confessing that we were bringing in plants. We were carrying the plumeria plant with us, ready to show him the statement on the plant which indicated that it could be brought into California. But nobody ever asked us anything about what plants we had with us.

We had to pass by one more officer, who glared at us as if he intended to stop us. But he didn't, and less than 15 minutes after stepping off the ship, we were on the escalator, going to the ground floor of the port building to pick up our luggage.

After finding our five pieces of luggage, somehow figuring out a way to carry all of it in addition to the duffel bag, backpack, and other bags we had already been carrying, we slowly struggled out of the building, trying to make it just 100 yards or so to our next destination.

Stopping to adjust our load several times, somehow we made it to the Fanfare Fountains at about 11:45. Perfect timing for what I had hoped was about to happen -- although I hadn't anticipated that things would be quite as fun as they turned out to be.

Soon our son Matthew arrived with our van.

At this point we really had no excuse not to leave.

But I'm glad that we still lingered, as some of the most exuberant moments of our "cruise" were yet ahead.

Early in my cruise-planning process, almost 20 months before the cruise began, I had a key revelation. If I treated San Pedro as one of the ports we would visit on our cruise, instead of just as the place where the cruise began and ended, we could extend the cruise experience beyond the time when we left the ship, and possibly even far beyond the timeframe of the cruise. The most important place I planned for us to visit in San Pedro was the Fanfare Fountains, so I filled our "soundtrack" for the year before the cruise with songs the fountains play (by giving Terri a CD containing those songs on her 49th birthday, a year before the cruise, although the purpose of the songs remained a mystery to her for most of the year).

Every day at noon, the Fanfare Fountains feature a one-hour show, with one song every ten minutes. Just I had hoped, on the day we disembarked from the Golden Princess, we arrived just in time to enjoy the entire noon show at the fountains.

The Fanfare Fountains have a walkway in the middle where you can literally immerse yourself in the fountain show, but this time I think we stayed dry (except for our eyes).

The first song Terri ever heard at the Fanfare Fountains, on February 15, 2013, was Lara's Theme (I describe in detail what happened on that incredibly romantic day on post #297 of my pre-cruise CC thread). While we were enjoying the noon fountain show after leaving the Golden Princess, Terri began recording

Meanwhile, I tried to give her a clue to help her find the final charm (which was intended to represent the palm trees at the Fanfare Fountains, while Terri identified additionally appropriate symbolism).

Here's the completed bracelet, symbolizing some of the highlights of our cruise. (I almost ran out of room for charms!)

I have avoided taking the time on this thread to explain the specific charms I gave her each day of the cruise, but you can read about the charms on my other thread, starting on page 21.

(There are other charms I wish I could have given her, such as an ukulele charm -- but I had to make do with what I could find.)

As the fountain show continued, Terri began to dance on the wall adjacent to the fountains, seemingly bursting with joy (as you can see in

At first I thought she was hula dancing, but then I realized that she was following the motions of the fountains.

The show ended (as is often the case) with the song I Love L.A. Terri almost fell off the wall at one point as she twirled around with the fountains on this final song (as you can see on

When the fountain show was over, I still wasn't ready to leave San Pedro -- I was hoping that we could linger long enough to watch the Golden Princess sail away. So I suggested that we should take some time to try to investigate the mystery of what happened to Terri's wallet on the morning before the cruise.

When does a cruise really end?

When the ship reaches the final harbor?

When the ship finishes docking on the final day?

When you leave your stateroom for the last time?

When you step off the ship?

When you catch your last glimpse of the ship?

When you reach home?

When you see your children's beautiful faces again?

When you get back to your job?

When you finish sorting through all of the photos and memorabilia from the cruise?

Or perhaps some time way beyond?

Seems like this would be a great topic for a thread of its own!

Thanks for continuing the journey.

I'm anxious to find out what happened to Terri's wallet as well, especially since you said in an early post that you saw it in her purse in a photo at the hair salon! I'm glad that you were able to clear customs without too much of a hassle.

Thanks for your entertaining Photo review. :):):):)

Hello Tim, it has been several days since your last posting,I been following you and Terry for almost a year :rolleyes:and would like to read all the way to the end..Are you still posting or have you reached the end ?? Did you ever find out what happened to Terry's wallet, post soon, we are all waiting :cool:

hope there is still an ending...we are hangin in:)

Thanks for still being interested in our story. I took a break for a few days (for a very good reason I will explain later). I thought that people might lose interest once we were off the ship but I'm glad to see that is not the case. There is actually much more to share -- more than you (or I) probably ever expected!

Tim

It was so nice meeting you and Terri this past week.

You are a cool guy.

Been enjoying reading this thread off and on. Please keep going. :) :D

After Terri finished dancing with the Fanfare Fountains, we loaded up our van and drove away from the fountains, away from the World Cruise Center, and away from the Golden Princess.

I suggested that we go back to the place where we thought that Terri's wallet had probably been lost: the little pier at the south end of Signal St. where we had caught our first glimpse of the Golden Princess on the morning the cruise began.

Of course by this time we knew that there was little chance that the wallet would still be there (if it ever was), but we thought that it might help to take another look at the "scene of the crime" and to talk to anyone who might work nearby to see if they knew if someone might have found something two weeks earlier.

After parking near the little pier, I decided to walk over to the nearby Los Angeles Municipal Warehouse No. 1. I had paid little attention to this six-story landmark on the morning of the cruise, being too excited about seeing the Golden Princess. But as I walked around the building trying to find someone to talk to, I became curious.

Built in 1917, this historic warehouse (which played such an important role in the economy of Los Angeles) appears to be crumbling today, with screens erected to catch the falling chunks of concrete.

The drab gray concrete walls of the structure are adorned with what appear to be lion's faces, with a pipe (for drainage?) concealed inside the mouth.

After walking all the way around the west side of the warehouse to its south end, I talked to someone at the office of U.S. Water Taxi and Port Services. Then I saw noticed someone wearing a hard hat coming out of the warehouse. Talking to these people didn't produce any useful leads, so I went back around the other side of the warehouse, where the Port of Los Angeles Pilot Station is located.

Signs near the Pilot Station prohibited entry, so I called the phone number displayed on the sign. After being connected to various unrelated Port of Los Angeles extensions (even being sent to Human Resources at one point!) I finally reached someone who gave me the disappointing news that no wallets had been turned in.

We had spent almost an hour investigating that area, so we knew that it was time to surrender our last glimmer of hope that we could find the wallet before heading home. But knowing that our postal addresses were inside the wallet, we still held out hope that we might get good news in the mail when we returned home. (No unexpected transactions had appeared on the statements for any of our cards, so we still tried to believe that somebody honest might have found the wallet.) We also thought that it might be possible that the wallet was still somewhere hidden inside our van, even though we felt like we had looked everywhere (it wouldn't be the first time that something important had been lost in that van, only to be mysteriously found much later).

Terri and our son Matthew were hungry, so I suggested that we go to the Busy Bee Market for sandwiches. There were restaurants much closer to where we were, but I was intentionally trying to stretch out our afternoon in San Pedro, trying to time things just right so that we could say a final goodbye to the Golden Princess as it sailed away.

I had read great reviews about the sandwiches at the Busy Bee Market, but it was obvious from the moment we parked at this little store (in the middle of a residential area) that people don't go there for the atmosphere. Terri ordered pastrami, while I had barbecue chicken and Matthew ordered a very messy roast beef sandwich with red sauce. Terri noticed that they also sold Hawaiian sweet Maui onion rings and Hawaiian luau barbecue rings, so she couldn't resist trying to continue the aloha spirit we had experienced on the ship by adding bags of these manufactured snacks to our order, bringing the total to almost $30. (Later I discovered that in spite of the Hawaiian name, these snacks are made in New Jersey!)

We drove a few minutes away to White Point, enjoying our lunch with the view of Catalina Island and the ocean.

The sandwiches lived up to their hype as "the best sandwiches in town," but the Jersey-Hawaiian snacks? Not so much.

After we finished eating lunch and enjoying the view, we continued west to another landmark, the Point Vicente Lighthouse, which was the site of one of the photo-clues I had given Terri long before the cruise.

I had originally planned for this lighthouse to be the first place we stopped by on our way to the port, but in our rush before the cruise, I had decided to skip it. Fulfilling another pre-cruise clue after leaving the ship just gave me the opportunity to extend the experience a little longer.

At this point, I had planned for us to head home by going back by the port, "accidentally" getting there just in time to watch the Golden Princess sail away.

But Terri's thoughts were becoming more practical (more maternal) at this point. After two weeks of escaping completely, she was anxious to get back to our kids, ready to get back to the real responsibilities of real life.

We had passed through a construction zone on our way to the lighthouse, noticing that the traffic going back toward San Pedro was stopped for over a mile, so Terri didn't want to go that way. Instead we bypassed San Pedro, heading north on Hawthorne Blvd. with our sights now set only on home.

About 30 minutes later, while we were stuck in a traffic jam on Interstate 405, the Golden Princess began sailing back toward Hawaii, much too far away for us to watch.

In my dreams, we would have seen her again, sailing into the sunset.

More photos from that day can be seen at:

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjENZuXH

(Some photos at the link above include links to corresponding videos on our YouTube channel.)

Been following your posts since you started planning this great adventure. But I can't wait any more. Did you add an additional number to your already beautiful family?

Been following your posts since you started planning this great adventure. But I can't wait any more. Did you add an additional number to your already beautiful family?

Now where would you possibly get such an idea? :rolleyes:

Ok, I guess I must realize that after all I have been rather candid about some of our onboard activities which could have contributed to such a development. :o And we definitely have not been trying to prevent such a blessing. (We figured that as long as we made it to 11, why not make it an even dozen?) But we have always believed that God is the one who has been responsible for adding to our family (even though we have enjoyed doing our part to help Him along the way). :D

Honestly, though, this cruise came at an important transition time for us. When I first began planning the cruise and giving Terri clues about it, pregnancy was a definite possibility that could have ended my whole scheme. In fact, I think at some point on my other thread I posted about a day when I thought Terri might have been pregnant, recognizing the fact that having another baby would have been a much bigger blessing than the surprise I had been planning. I was ready at that point to cancel the cruise and give up the whole surprise scheme.

But during the time I was giving Terri the cruise surprises, it eventually became evident that her biological clock was moving into a new phase, and we were transitioning from the "new parent" stage to the "new grandparent" stage (coming very close to having those two stages overlap). I felt at times as if God Himself had planned this cruise for us to celebrate this major transition in our lives.

After all that, the one word answer I could have given is "yes." :eek: But it's not what you think, and certainly not what we had hoped for. But definitely a blessing.

If my answer disappoints you, here's a great (and somewhat similar) CC thread you might enjoy until I explain more.

Tim

Just read your entire review today and it was incredible. I was wondering what the trick was that your grandfather taught you on how to increase your chances of getting your card picked for the scavenger hunt?

Just read your entire review today and it was incredible. I was wondering what the trick was that your grandfather taught you on how to increase your chances of getting your card picked for the scavenger hunt?

My grandfather was a very wise, practical, and clever man, so I'm glad for an opportunity to share a bit of what he taught. :)

If you take a card and fold it in half one way, then unfold it and fold it in half the other way, then unfold it again, it forms a "plus" shape (if it is a square card). If you then lay your card in a stack with other cards which were never folded, you should notice that the folds you made in your card are creating some space between your card and the adjacent cards. That tiny bit of extra space seems to make the card more likely to be selected.

Sometimes I accomplish basically the same thing with less precision by crumpling a card and then flattening it again.

By the way, I'm amazed that you read this entire review in one day! :eek:

Tim

On our way to the cruise we had been filled with anticipation fueled by the overwhelming number of clues I had given Terri, but we returned home overflowing with beautiful memories. Some of those memories resulted from things that I had carefully planned, but I think that many of our most special memories related to unexpected pleasures we encountered along the way.

Had we experienced everything we had anticipated? No. We had definitely faced some serious disappointments. But somehow problems like the rough seas, Terri's seasickness, the relatively cold weather, and even the lost wallet, helped to make our memories more special, adding the contrast we needed to help us appreciate the deep beauty of the blessings we had experienced. Terri loves telling a good story, and now she definitely has some captivating stories to tell -- stories that would have been much less interesting without the problems.

And maybe missing out on some things I had planned wasn't so bad. Although I had planned this cruise as a one-time-only cruise of a lifetime, I eventually realized that we could still dream of an opportunity to try again.

While other important concerns soon began to take a priority in Terri's mind, I continued to strive in various ways to keep the "cruise" feeling going. My plans weren't over yet: there were still some things I had not revealed to Terri.