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

[Cruisin' Chick]

Wednesday, December 29, 2010 – Nawiliwili-Lihue, Hawaii

 

 

[Cruisin' Chick]

More shots entering the port of Nawiliwili:

 

We ate breakfast in the Horizon. The Belgian waffles are made right there by the serving islands.

Off the ship, we walked through the terminal. I noticed one sign in the terminal was directed toward passengers from the Pride of Aloha, instructing them what they can’t bring back on the ship. One item was bleach.

 

 

There were some trolleys and shuttles outside. As I checked them out, I figured out which trolley we wanted. There wasn’t any real lines, people just crowded onto the vehicle. As we made our way to the Anchor Cove shopping center, the driver gave us a narrative about various things Kauai, including about the chickens. The residents aren’t supposed to just grab the birds, unless they end up on one’s property. He told us the way the residents made chicken is to boil the chicken and then toss out the chicken and drink the soup. In other words, these chickens ain't edible.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Once we got to the center, we walked along the path indicated to the beach, passing by various surf shops and food stands as well as Dukes. Kalapaki Beach is right behind the Kauai Marriott Resort and Beach Club. As are the other beaches in Hawaii, there’s public access. The wave action is enough for surfers to try their luck on the waves. While we were there, a group of people were taking a surfing lesson.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We set up our towels on the grassy part of the beach. After the girl checked out the waves, she came back and asked if she can have some shaved ice. I took her to one of the food stands to get the cold treat. She noticed there weren’t as many flavors as at the one in Honolulu. We returned and she plopped down to enjoy the ice.

[Cruisin' Chick]

my artsy under the palms photo:

[Cruisin' Chick]

the Princess bag that you can win during trivia:

[Cruisin' Chick]

[Cruisin' Chick]

the place where the girl got shaved ice:

[Cruisin' Chick]

Hubby said they found an Internet Café as well as a nice place to eat. So we gathered up our stuff and made our way to the little shopping center. We had lunch in a little restaurant, then spent a little time on the Internet at one store with access (just a few dollars for 15 minutes). We caught the trolley back to the ship.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Back to the Horizon for dinner: pasta, chicken with veggies, Yorkshire pudding, salad, dessert, grapes.

[Cruisin' Chick]

That night, we finally tried out Movies Under The Stars. This was the first ship we’ve been on with the feature. We went up to the sports deck and found some unoccupied chairs. We had to scout around for some blankets. Apparently the crew members put burgundy covers on the deck chairs on the lido level around sunset and place plaid lap blankets. Staff also starts up the popcorn machine that’s next to the ice cream parlor. We had showed up during the closing credits of Robin Hood and after those ended, there was an annoying loop of a Princess MUTS logo that kept spinning around for the next 40 minutes. Another couple that was sitting near us already were annoyed at it. One of the suggestions I’m going to make to Princess is that maybe cartoon shorts or selections from the Reflections DVD be played. Hubby also thinks a nice touch would be for the Princess photography department to ask passengers to submit photos for possible inclusion in a slide show.

Among the movies show on MUTS during our cruise:

50 First Dates, Killers, Clash of the Titans, Eat, Pray, Love, Lovely Still, Tthe Last Airbender, Letters to Juliet, Get Low, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Bounty Hunter, Salt, The A-Team, The Switch, Blue Hawaii, Knight & Day, Miracle on 34th Street, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, The Other Guys, Shrek Forever After, Clash of the Titans, Charlie St. Cloud, From Here to Eternity, Dinner for Schmucks, Despicable Me, Ramona & Beezus, Inception, Sherlock Holms, Robin Hood, Oceans.

Also show were music concert films for Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Barry Manilow, as well as documentaries on Hawaii and the Space Program.

Hubby was also annoyed by a blinking Christmas tree that was standing by the screen. He went over and unplugged to the cheers of that other couple near us. (I noticed the next day, the tree was once again blinking).

At one point, I went off and found another blanket as one wasn’t cutting it. Our girl showed up and curled up in the chair next to us and fell asleep while we watch Russell Crowe take on the sheriff of Nottingham.

Today's weather was overcast with temperatures just hitting 80.

[Working 2 Cruise]

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

 

Which date in November? Our Nov. 23 (Thanksgiving) roll call is pretty much dead in the water! If you are on our sailing, please join us! Thank you!

[Cruisin' Chick]

Thursday, December 30, 2010 -- Lahaina, Maui

 

Our final port was the former whaling town of Lahaina, located on the second largest of the Hawaiian islands, Maui. Also known as the Valley Isle, because of much of the island is in a valley between two volcanoes. We anchored off the west coast, and as we approached the place where the Golden drops anchor, I can see the vog-shrouded Mauna Kahalawai. By the pier, there loomed one of the hotels.

[Cruisin' Chick]

When we were ready to leave the ship, we went down to the Bernini dining room, where members of the cruise director's staff were waiting with tender tickets. Finally, it was our turn to be escorted to the gangway to board a tender for the pier.

 

A tender returning for the next set of passengers:

[Cruisin' Chick]

Our girl wanted to check out the Jodo Mission that’s just north of the main part of town in Lahaina. I had discovered from the Maui website that there’s a shuttle that will goes north from town up to Kaanapali Beach, and it looked like the stop by the Cannery Mall was pretty close.

 

I wasn’t sure where we could get the shuttle so we went to the info center, which is in the courthouse. The woman there told us to go in back of the Wharf Cinema Mall. We went outside and couldn’t figure out where this mall was. Walking up the street, I found another info stand, and that person pulled out a map and mark the spot and pointed us in the right direction.

We went to the place she indicated, going up the stairs and then down. I found the walkway where people were waiting by a bus sign. The bus came and everyone crowded around the entrance. We managed to get seats for the girl and I. I figured out that it was just two stops away.

When we reached the Cannery Mall stop (1221 Honoapiilani Hwy.), we went inside and got some boba tea (the girl had been searching for some ever since we reached Hawaii). The Vietnamese place in the food court had a few flavors. Originally a pineapple cannery from 1918 to 1963, this was a nice little mall with a selection of local shops and ones oriented toward the tourist.

[Cruisin' Chick]

After that, we started walking down the street toward the south. The mission was down a little dead end street. Behind the buildings you can see the ocean. Look another direction, you can see a cemetery. The Jodo Mission (12 Ala Moana Street) was completed in 1970 to commemorate the centennial of the first Japanese to immigrant to Hawaii. The Buddha is the largest of its kind outside of Japan at 12 feet in height and 3-1/2 tons.

[Cruisin' Chick]

With its copper top, the three-tiered pagoda is 90 feet high at its tallest point.

 

[Cruisin' Chick]

The temple bell is impressive, weighing 3,000 lbs.

 

[Cruisin' Chick]

Someone sneaked inside:

Getting out a donation:

 

You can see the Pacific behind the temple:

[Cruisin' Chick]

After taking photos, we walked back up to the Cannery Mall. I left hubby and daughter to rest while I did a bit of walking around. I ended in Longs, where I did a little shopping for ginger and a few souvenirs. Then, I rejoined my family.

 

Hubby said the girl’s thumb (the spider bite) was really bothering her so he wanted to get some ointment (I had some in the cabin, but just to placate everyone, I said I knew the way to the drug store). Back at Longs, we bought some antibiotic ointment and bandaids and then the girl washed her hand before we tended to her thumb.

 

We then checked out some tee shirt stores and bought the girl a “I love Maui” shirt. We talked at length with the sales clerk, a teen who admitted he would like to visit California sometime.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We caught a return bus to the town proper. Then we checked out the Cinema mall, deciding to have a late lunch at the Cool Cat Café (658 Front St). Somebody at another table gave us a coupon for a free root beer float.

I did a little more shopping and got another tee shirt, but for myself. On our way to the street we noticed that the mall’s directory had a cutouts of the stores' owners or some other photos to illustrate each store. By the street, a tiki carver was at work, making an item for a customer.

The most famous landmark in Lahaina is its banyon tree. It was 8 feet tall when planted back in 1873. It's now 60 feet tall, the largest tree in the islands.

[DocM4]

Enjoying your posts - its nice that you give a lot of detail. Only thing - what is your daughter's name ?- you only refer to her as "The Girl" or "Our girl".

[Cruisin' Chick]

Enjoying your posts - its nice that you give a lot of detail. Only thing - what is your daughter's name ?- you only refer to her as "The Girl" or "Our girl".

 

I'm giving her some privacy...just like many other parents use the term "DS" or "DD" to refer to their kids on these boards. What's really funny is that my hubby and I often use the phrase "the girl" when talking about her. She doesn't care as long as we don't call her "baby."

[Cruisin' Chick]

Maui, continued

 

We returned to the pier and boarded a tender to return to the ship. One man jumped up a bit too quickly to get off the tender and bumped his head. After he had left, we found a bag that we believed belonged to him. We picked it up and found him just inside the ship.

 

 

On the pool deck, Elua was the featured band for the Aloha 'Oe to Hawaii sailaway party.

 

Maui mountains at night

 

 

[Cruisin' Chick]

another shot of Maui at night:

 

After dinner, we decided to try MUTS again. The movie was “Dinner for Schmucks” which had the passengers braving the strong winds outside laughing. The one time I left the area was to tell our daughter that she couldn’t be in the hot tub on the sky deck as it was too dark and way too windy.