Holiday Aloha on the Golden Princess 12/22/10 to 1/5/11

[Cruisin' Chick]

When I saw that street number, I was mystified. We should have seen the candy factory by then. We had reached the intersection, and that’s when I realized we were on a different street. The girl was feeling the humidity (it’s rare for our hometown to be that humid unless it’s raining) and was not a happy camper.

 

While the girl sat down, I decided to check the map I got from the Auto Club, which had more detail. I told hubby it was just one street to the east. When we walked to that street, we could see the place. Big Island Candies (585 Hinano St.) was established in 1977, specializing in making macadamia nut candies and cookies. At the door, we were given samples of candy. There was also a counter where you could get a small free cup of coffee.. There’s a big window so you can observe the candy makers in action. I don’t eat nuts nor drink coffee, which they also sell, so I wasn’t interested in buying anything there. Hubby and the girl didn’t feel like buying anything, either.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Since the girl seemed tired, hubby decided to check on buses, asking the staff where to catch one. He went outside, found a cab, and asked the driver if she was available. She drove us to the Prince Kuhio Plaza mall (111 E. Puainako St.), the Big Island's largest enclosed shopping center, and said we could catch a bus later on from in back of the mall.

Because she had left us out in front of the Hilo Hattie’s, we went shopping. There was a jewelry table as soon as we entered. I noticed there were necklaces with little sandal charms, which matched the sandal earrings I was wearing that day. Guess what I bought. Around the corner, before entering the main part of the sales floor, there was a woman beading some necklaces. My daughter asked her about the bracelets she was making. I was intrigued by the rack of pretty earrings. Hubby bought me the pair of my choice, one with blue beads. I asked her if it was easy to find the beads here in the islands and whether she made some of them.

Hubby checked out the shirts, while we looked at the other goods. I noticed there were Obama bobble heads. Also lots of keychains and magnets. Since hubby likes to collect magnets/pins from places he has visited, I called his attention to the magnet display.

After finishing our shopping spree there, we walked over to the mall proper, which is the Big Island’s largest enclosed shopping center. It seemed to be an X- shaped set of buildings with different entrances to get to the wing you wanted to shop at. Of course, the usual mall stores were there, but also some unique to Hawaii as far as I know. One large stand, Munch N Joy, stocked various dried food items that are undoubtedly popular as snack items if you’re into dried fish and unusual dried fruit.

The girl was getting hungry so we checked out the directory to find the location of their food court. There was one Asian food place that we checked out, but they seem to just have plates of food, and not a la carte selection of smaller portions. So we gave the girl some money and she went to the next place, McDonalds.

She also went to their Hello Kitty store (Kitty n Frendz) and she bought some candy that she said was cheaper there than back home.

We asked some of the locals where was the bus stop for the Hele-On bus (roughly translated, the name means Go-On Bus) and were told it’s behind a different building so we took off to walk through that one. We found the bus stop and I checked the schedule, which seemed pretty complicated (you can view the schedule on their website), posted inside the building. Just minutes later, the bus that ends up in downtown Hilo showed up. The bus is free, but it doesn’t seem to go in a straight line. This bus has dirty windows and where we ended up sitting, frankly stank of pee. The girl talked to the teen girl next to her, who had moved to Hawaii after dropping out of school.

Finally, we arrived at the hub which is in downtown Hilo (after going past a high school and a community college), the green-roofed Mo’oheau Bus Terminal, at the corner of Mamo St. and Kamehameha Ave.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We walked across the street and noticed a farmers market under a large tent. This was the location of the Hilo Farmers Market, which is usually opened on Wednesday and Saturday, according to the info I had found on the Internet, but apparently is also open on Monday.

 

Among the various tables were many jewelry vendors. Also lots of fruit stands. I was talking to one of the jewelry vendors who was selling items for her brother. She said she had just been in Honolulu the week before, and they had a lot of rain. It was pretty windy inside so many of the tablecloths under the items were blowing around.

Just down the street was a candy store, Sugar Coast Candy (274 Kamahameha Ave). The girl liked this one more than the Big Island Candy factory. There were bins and bins of different flavors of taffy so we each selected some to try out. I think the bulk candy was about $11or 12 per pound so very close to what the Candy Factory back home charges.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We continued our way down the street. Lots of little shops and tiny restaurants. I noticed a sign for a concert with Maria Muldar and some other musician, whom hubby had heard of.

There are numerous museums to visit in Hilo such as the Pacific Tsunami Museum, the Lyman Museum and Mission House and the Imiloa Astronomy Center (one place on the girl’s list that wasn’t open on our day in the port). It was almost 3, so we decided we should return to the ship. We walked back toward the bus terminal.

[Cruisin' Chick]

(can you see the Golden?)

[Cruisin' Chick]

[Cruisin' Chick]

The info desk lady told me the bus that will go to the cruise terminal will be showing up at 3 pm and the trip would take about 30 minutes. Since it was close to 3 pm, we sat down and waited, rather than risking missing it.

 

A couple sat down with us and told us their sad story. They had wanted to go to Volcanoes National Park, but decided to take a taxi rather than book one of the ship’s tours. But when they got to the entrance, the guard there checked the taxi against his list and said the company hadn’t paid the required fee. So the couple didn’t get their tour and wasted all that time. The driver returned them to the bus terminal, and refunded at least part of their fare.

The man went into the info center and informed the worker there, who had originally called the taxi for them, about what had happened. While we were sitting there, a taxi came by to pick up fares and the wife pointed out the driver to me and said that was their driver. Another couple from the ship joined us, and that woman said they were from Baltimore; it was her second cruise with Princess. She’s had other cruises; her first one was an anniversary present from her family.

It was getting to be a little after three so we were all getting a bit apprehensive. The woman from the info center came out and said that the previous bus for that route was running behind so this one apparently was too. Finally, the bus came by about 15 minutes late and started going in its bizarre pattern, past the Prince Kuhio mall and finally down the highway and stopped across the street where the cruise terminal was. After a walk to the terminal and past the vendor tables, we went through the security check and reboarded the Golden.

Dinner menu:

British couple at dinner, from east coast of England, told us they had to go to DeGaulle airport, one piece of luggage lost. I wondered to myself if this was the couple the Palm Desert woman had told me about.

[Cruisin' Chick]

The weather overnight had gale force winds. The weather in Hilo was humid, cloudy. Around noon, the temperature was in the low 80s.

 

Cabin:

We were on Deck 8, Emerald, midships. Usually we book inside cabins, but they were all booked and waitlisted by the time we looked into the cruise. We went with the available obstructed oceanview, but found the view not completely obstructed. This was a cabin that could accommodate up to four passengers, with bunk beds that came down from the side (the cabin steward takes down the beds you need at night while you're at dinner). As with all Princess cabins, no matter the category, there was a mini-fridge. You can put two-liter bottles of soda in it and various other items. Just not anything that must be kept frozen.

Our bathroom had a shower with curtain, a three tied shelving in the wall. There's little bottles with shampoo, conditioner, hand lotion. Little bars of soap. Near the end of the cruise, a couple of tiny containers of Purell sanitizer also showed up. A little sign explains the towel policy: if you wish a change of towels, leave them on the floor. Or else, you can hang them up on the bars, which will save on water usage for the ship.

There's an open closet, with plenty of hangers (you can always request more) and a skinny vertical closet with shelves. On one of them is a small safe that you set your own code for. A good idea is to put items that you intend to stow in the safe in a ziplock bag first.

The main part of the cabin has a desk with drawers and a side with more shelves. By the beds are a night table with more drawers. There's a tiny table. The plugs (with three outlets, if I remember correctly). Some people will bring a surge suppressor with more outlets. If the cabin has bunk beds, there's also a stepladder.

[Cruisin' Chick]

[Cruisin' Chick]

My door sign got a little messed up, but it stayed up the entire cruise:

[Cruisin' Chick]

Tuesday, December 28, 2010 -- Honolulu, Oahu

We were docked by 7:50 am:

[Cruisin' Chick]

In Honolulu, we were docked at the terminal by the Aloha Tower Marketplace. There were many people holding signs for various shuttles. I asked one man holding a sign for the Ala Moana Marketplace where to catch the shuttle and he pointed to one place on the sidewalk. We walked over there along with another couple. There someone told us that the shuttles cost $10 per person. So I walked back and asked how much the shuttle cost. He said $10 per person. So I walked back and told hubby and the other couple. I asked the man standing there (who seemed to be the one who would take the money) where one could catch the city bus or trolley (which I knew would be much less) and he said neither one stops around there. I wasn't sure about how close the Trolley comes (I was checking their website the week before and now wish I had printed out their schedules and stops), but I thought the bus route wasn't too far away.

 

He offered to let us have a limo for $30 for the five of us. So hubby said he would kick in $15 and the other couple was willing to pay $15. Apparently a limo was on the way -- maybe to drop some others off there. When it showed up, we got in along with an additional couple.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We were dropped off at one entrance, which was closed due to construction. It was lightly raining as we made our way to an open entrance. The Ala Moana Center (1450 Ala Moana Blvd.) is an open-air mall with almost 300 malls distributed among three levels. Some major retailers, standard mall stores and some unique to Hawaii. And the biggest food court we have ever been in.

 

fish pond:

[Cruisin' Chick]

 

We first went to the Apple Store as hubby had promised the girl would be able to go online. I also checked email very quickly and a few other sites. Then we made our way, checking out other stores. We hit the ABC store to look for Hawaiian souvenirs (I got a tee-shirt). The girl was thrilled to see a Lush store, as she said there aren’t any on the mainland. Hubby checked out a western wear store next to that and bought a bolo tie. We also checked out Island Magnets.

 

[Cruisin' Chick]

 

After eating in the food court, we headed off down the street toward the Hawaiian Hilton, where hubby wanted to hang out for a while to see the sunset. We walked past the Ala Moana Beach Park and the yacht harbor, ending up at the lagoon between the Waikiki Marina Resort and the Hawaiian Hilton Rainbow Tower (where I stayed in my first time in Hawaii, and then again on my honeymoon).

 

The girl spent time playing in the lagoon, while we relaxed on the grass nearby. The skies were getting grayer so it didn’t look good for a good sunset. We decided to make our way back toward the Aloha Tower. We asked where we could catch the trolley or bus and were directed to the bus stop across the street on Ala Moana. When the pink line trolley stopped, we asked about the Marketplace. The driver said he didn’t go that far and we would have to catch the bus. One twentish guy told us which bus numbers would work for us. He was waiting for #19 to take him to Hickam Air Force Base, and said that would work for us. Sure enough, that bus came along soon and we got on. I kept one of the maps out, checking the latest upcoming stop, displayed in the front, against where we needed to get off. The closest stop was a short walk over to the Tower, maybe a few blocks.

[Cruisin' Chick]

[boaterette]

I am very much enjoying your review. I will be sailing on htis journey in November. I love Hawaii.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I am very much enjoying your review. I will be sailing on htis journey in November. I love Hawaii.

 

Thanks. This is a great way of getting there -- lots of fun.

[Cruisin' Chick]

The Aloha Tower was the tallest structure in Hawaii when it was completed in 1926. The clock was the biggest clock in the Hawaiian territory. When we were in Honolulu for our honeymoon in 1995, we had walked to it from the Hilton and did some exploring of the actual tower as well as did some shopping, including matching Aloha outfits. When we took this cruise in 2005, we spent some time there. We bought another set of matching Aloha wear.

 

It's sad but it seems that the Marketplace stores aren't doing so well. Many empty spots. Not as bustling as it was five years before. Hubby brought something at one of the outside stalls there, while the girl and I got shaved ices.

At one point, I noticed that people were boarding a boat for a harbor cruise near the back entrance. Male hula dancers were performing as the cruisers were greeted by a set of women standing by the ramp.

We returned to the ship to drop off our purchases. The girl went off to find her friends and we went back off the ship to catch a taxi to the local Safeway. We wanted to stock up on beverages and that’s the closest major grocery store to the pier. The driver waited for us, as we knew what we wanted.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We returned to the ship and headed to the Horizon Court for dinner.

I think I had what was called a samosa (?), chicken with veggies, a salad, pineapple wedge, a chocolate cake.

hubby's plate:

 

I was angling to go see the hula show as I had heard five years ago how excellent it was. Hubby wasn’t gung ho so we checked out the pool area. On MUTS was a Stevie Wonder concert film. Even though hubby enjoys listening to Stevie, he just wasn’t interested in watching the film. So we decided to go to the Princess Theater and check out the Halau Hula Olana Show. Even though we missed the first 15 minutes, the young hula troupe was fun to watch.

[Cruisin' Chick]

That night was the Ultimate Deck Party. I guess the Golden staff wanted to go the Island Party one step up. It started at 10pm with music by Passion, who mingled with the crowd to get them moving. A Princess videographer was aiming his camera at the crowd so you can follow the action on the MUTS screen. At one point, streamers were thrown about with abandon.

[Cruisin' Chick]

There were food stations with all sorts of fruit and veggie sculptures as well as an ice sculpture.

[Cruisin' Chick]

[Cruisin' Chick]

During the party, we started pulling away from the Port of Honolulu.

[Cruisin' Chick]

 

The weather in Honolulu was in the upper 70s, a bit of rain in the morning, threatening to rain in the late afternoon. Mostly cloudy.