Surprising my wife with the cruise of her dreams

[terrific_surprise]

During this brief visit to our room, I also put a very special birthday card on the little table below the TV: a handwritten 50th birthday card from Gavin MacLeod, Captain Merrill Stubing from The Love Boat. To enhance the front of the envelope (which he had mailed to our home address), I put this photo on the front (showing MacLeod in front of another Princess Ship in Sydney, Australia) editing the photo to add the message "Happy 50th Birthday!" (This, of course, fulfilled one of the previous clues I had given DW.)

 

In addition, I put a fresh container of "Love Mix" (our special unique trail mix) in the room. This new version of the Love Mix contained several hard-to-find tropical ingredients. I had agonized over whether I should dare to bring this on the ship after some of the messages I received on CC about it, but in the end I decided that it was an important part of the experience -- for her and for me -- even though I knew full well that other "trail mix" alternatives were readily available. So on our last night at home, I had stayed up most of the night working on it (along with other final cruise-related preparations). I decided not to bring too much Love Mix -- just enough to make it through the cruise, knowing that we would likely be prohibited from taking it off the ship.

 

I had also hoped to attach a special "heart" to the balcony door -- a golden heart which matched a golden key I had given my wife at the 49th birthday party at the beginning of this 50th birthday year. I had intended for this golden key to represent the special additional gift of the balcony, because we had never had a balcony before. Unfortunately, in the confusion of our embarkation difficulties, I had temporarily misplaced the heart, so it would have to wait until later.

Edited August 14, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

I hurried back to the buffet to join my wife, along with our son and our friend who had joined us for the Bon Voyage Experience. Later we found our way to the top deck, where our son took this photo which corresponded closely to the photo in the puzzle:

 

 

March 27 was a hazy day in Los Angeles, so we couldn't see Mt. Baldy from the ship. But I was glad that we had fresh memories of the clear view of Mt. Baldy from the Sapphire Princess during our BVE on February 16.

 

After an exciting sailaway, my exhausted wife quickly fell asleep, not to wake up again until the following day.

 

Even though the puzzle was now complete, I had planned to give her more golden envelopes on the ship, starting with one on embarkation day. Instead of puzzle pieces, I now planned to give her charms (to wear on the charm bracelet I had given her on Valentine's Day): one charm for each day of the cruise. I had already given her the first charm when we visited the Sapphire Princess in February. In preparation for the cruise, I had purchased a selection of charms, planning to return the ones I didn't use. I had hoped that the most important charms would come from one of the onboard boutiques, but I wasn't able to know exactly which charms would be available until after we were sailing away on the Golden Princess. I was pleased to find out that the ship not only sold a good selection of appropriate charms, but that I could take advantage of two coupons to save a little money on the charms!

 

The photo clues and written clues which would accompany the charms had been planned in advance, to save me from the prospect of running out of ideas on the cruise. The first few clues continued to relate to activities we would experience in the ports, but by the second half of the cruise, the photos and written clues related to possible post-cruise experiences, many of which have not yet been fulfilled. So, in a sense, the experience has not yet ended.

 

I tried to base the actual charm I gave her each day on something we experienced that day, so that each charm would bring her mind back to something that happened on each day of the cruise.

 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. This post was supposed to be just about our experiences on the first day of the cruise (and what we experienced on the way to the cruise).

 

If you missed it, I explained more about our Bon Voyage Experience (especially some of our difficulties) on this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1891205

 

My main review of this cruise is being posted on this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1891200

 

To see more of what happened on embarkation day, go to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94965522@N02/sets/72157633289462437/

 

You can see additional details of what we did before the cruise by going to this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94965522@N02/sets/72157633293133394/

[terrific_surprise]

Soon after awakening on our first morning on the Golden Princess, my wife noticed some things I had intended for her to open on her birthday. (She had never opened them because we fell asleep before dinner on our first night, too comfortable in our bed to even think about waking up.)

 

On the nightstand next to the bed, I had placed a new container of our special "Love Mix," which I had enhanced with some new Hawaiian fruits and nuts. Opening the lid, DW noticed a golden envelope -- exactly the same type of golden envelope I had been giving her over the past year, holding the individual pieces of her 50th birthday puzzle. But this envelope was lumpier than the puzzle-piece envelopes had been.

 

On the front of the envelope I had written "You probably think this envelope is for you!" I did this to poke fun at her a bit, because of the way she often kids me (because I respond to her when she says something to our children) by singing "You're so vain... you probably think this song is about you...."

 

"You're sweet," she responded when she saw the envelope.

 

"Sweet?" I challenged her, "Did you read the front?" At that point, DW handed the envelope to me (probably not wanting to be accused of being "vain"), but I handed it right back to her.

 

Inside the envelope was a photo of this view of the picturesque Mokulua Islands off Oahu, which in just a few days we would be experiencing in person.

(This same photo was also the backdrop I used in the puzzle frame, but the heart-shaped puzzle now covered the islands.)

 

On the back of the photo, I had written "POST TOT NAVFRAGIA PORTVM -- I love sailing through life with you."

 

She didn't understand the first half of what I wrote (not that I expected her to). The Latin words of this clue were intended to point back to something we would experience after the cruise (something that had functioned as a clue before the cruise, without her realizing its connection to Hawaii). I know that doesn't make sense -- but some of this still hasn't been fully revealed, so I'm still holding on to a few remaining shreds of mystery for now.

 

Now that there were no more puzzle pieces to put in the golden envelopes, I enclosed a charm: a gold bead, to represent our "Golden" ship (and the culmination of the preceding year of "golden" clues). She didn't seem at all surprised to be receiving the charm. As she later explained to me, when I gave her a single charm on the Sapphire Princess during our February 16 BVE, she anticipated that she would be receiving more charms on the cruise.

 

Then she looked again at the birthday card from Gavin MacLeod. Because of the picture I had placed on the front of the envelope, she hadn't realized that there was actually something inside. She thought that the photo birthday message from "Captain Stubing" wasn't really a personal message, but just something that our steward had placed in the room.

 

After opening up the envelope to read his personal, handwritten message to her, she exclaimed "Wow! This was really from him? He wrote a personal note to me? How did you do that?"

 

With a full day of activities ahead of us, we hurried out of the room for a quick breakfast at the buffet. I explain what happened the rest of the day on the thread where I have been reviewing the cruise.

 

Pictures of what happened that day are posted at this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94965522@N02/sets/72157633289657771/

[terrific_surprise]

After a stormy night at sea, we headed up to Skywalker's to watch the sunrise and read the Bible, finding a passage that reminded us of how blessed we were even though our dream cruise was turning out to be a bit stormy. After we finished reading the Bible, my wife began reading parts of the Princess Patter to me, including a little article explaining how Princess Cruises began with Stanley McDonald trying to provide additional hotel space for the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle.

I reminded her of several clues I had given her leading up to the cruise, such as "when I was just a baby, and you had not been seen, he had a fair idea, which now inspires our dreams," along with a clue about "Mr. McDonald." Those clues hadn't made any sense to her before now.

 

Having watched the wake and the sunrise for a long time, we decided to move to the edge of Skywalker's so that we could look toward the front of the ship. On our way there, she noticed a mural depicting a space station (which happened to be one of the most mysterious picture-clues I had given her many months earlier):

 

When she wasn't looking, I had hidden a golden envelope under the handle of a house phone nearby. Then I tried to get her to pick up the phone, telling her (in jest) that it was ringing. I had to repeat it a few times before she finally picked up the phone and noticed the golden envelope.

 

She opened the envelope there as we looked out over the side of the ship (which included a side view of the Princess "seawitch" logo). Inside the envelope (along with a view of the Haleakala volcano) was a charm depicting the Princess logo (which I had of course purchased at a boutique the previous day).

 

I'm telling the rest of the story of what happened that day on my review thread...

Edited August 19, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

Our third sea day on the Golden Princess was wonderfully smooth! Most of the details of what happened that day (including our first opportunity to experience Elua's music in person) have been reported on my other thread.

 

While my "Dear Wife" learned hula moves that afternoon from Leialoha, I prepared another golden envelope to give her. One of the charms I had purchased featured a dangling hula girl, so there was no question which charm I would select.

 

Finding a little picture of the bridge to Coconut Island in Hilo, I flipped it over and wrote "You can get to the little island from the Big Island without even getting wet! -- You make my heart feel like dancing."

 

She had taken her shoes off for the hula class, so I just slipped the envelope into one of her shoes.

 

Throughout the day, we took photos at various locations which corresponded to clues I had given her over the year leading to the cruise.

 

 

 

 

To see more photos of what happened that day (including videos of Elua singing), go to:

[terrific_surprise]

I'm trying to catch up on my postings here, having been away for a few days. Over a week ago I posted on my review thread how we celebrated Easter (or as we prefer to call it, Resurrection Sunday) on the Golden Princess.

 

As the worship service began, I slipped a golden envelope into my wife's copy of the program for the service. On the front of the envelope I wrote "He is risen!" Inside was a special charm bearing the name "Jesus." :)

 

The photo clue in the envelope was of "black sand beach" in Maui (which we didn't have time to visit on the cruise). On the back of the photo I had written "The Hawaiian alphabet had 13 letters (there is no 'C')." This message referred back to several clues I had given her previously (see previous posts here and here).

 

But when she read the message about the Hawaiian alphabet, she replied honestly "I don't know if I remember that clue." :(

 

For photos and videos of what happened on this last sea day before we arrived in Hawaii, go to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94965522@N02/sets/72157633300827632/

Edited September 3, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

Before dawn on April 1, as the Golden Princess traveled the last few hours before arriving in Hawaii, my wife and I went out on our balcony to look at the moon. It wasn't the full moon (which we had missed watching from our balcony on the day we sailed away) but to us it was still a beautiful sight.

 

As we began seeing the Big Island come into view in the distance, tears filled DW's eyes. She wanted to take my picture with the island in the background (even though it was still hard to see). So I slipped a golden envelope into my shirt pocket, writing on the front "To the one who brings tears of joy to my eyes."

 

 

Inside the envelope was a charm representing the moon. I enclosed a photo of a waterfall in California that I hoped we could visit after the cruise. On the back of the photo I wrote "Kilauea has been erupting since January 3, 1983 -- just a few months before our love was rekindled." This explained a mysterious clue I had given her on January 3 of this year.

 

One of the places we visited in Hilo was Coconut Island. I loved seeing the look on her face when we approached the tree bearing the sign "Caution: Beware of Falling Coconuts and Fronds" (this fulfilled one of the funniest photo clues I had given her before the cruise).

 

 

I have written much more about our experiences in Hilo on my review thread.

 

Over a hundred photos of our day in Hilo can be viewed at this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94965522@N02/sets/72157633248892215/

Edited September 9, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[Blueboss]

I had lost this thread for several months, so glad I found it again. I've spent the entire night reading it and have to admit, I was wiping tears when I got to the NYE posts. I was also laughing about the video of Sapphire Princess coming into port. Priceless!! So glad you all had a wonderful time on your cruise. I thought it was a nice touch taking pictures of your wife where some of your 'clue' pictures had been taken. I did get a digital photo frame, put our cruise pictures on it, hung it near our desk and catch both of us just looking at the pictures on occasion. Such a great idea! Thanks for the inspiration! Now I have to go read your review, but that will have to wait until next week when I transition from sleeping nights to sleeping days again.

[terrific_surprise]

I had lost this thread for several months, so glad I found it again. I've spent the entire night reading it and have to admit, I was wiping tears when I got to the NYE posts. I was also laughing about the video of Sapphire Princess coming into port. Priceless!! So glad you all had a wonderful time on your cruise. I thought it was a nice touch taking pictures of your wife where some of your 'clue' pictures had been taken. I did get a digital photo frame, put our cruise pictures on it, hung it near our desk and catch both of us just looking at the pictures on occasion. Such a great idea! Thanks for the inspiration! Now I have to go read your review, but that will have to wait until next week when I transition from sleeping nights to sleeping days again.

 

I'm so glad to know that you are still reading this after such a long time, Blueboss, and that the digital picture frame idea worked well for you. Believe it or not, I still have a lot to share about what happened (some of which may make you laugh and cry again -- or at least that's how it makes me feel).

 

Any grandkids yet or are you still happily in "couple" mode? ;)

Edited September 29, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[Blueboss]

Will be looking forward to reading more. No grandkids yet. DD and SIL are still having fun, just the 2 of them. I do have a grand doggie though that I get to spoil. Son is still in Germany and will be for the foreseeable future. He came home for a couple of weeks this summer. Was happy to see him but it tore my heart out watching his plane take him away from us again. I have a love/hate thing going on with the airport now. lol DH and I started a project together building his mom a new house, so have spent all summer swinging hammers when we weren't at our regular jobs. Not something I would recommend for 2 strong willed, opinionated people, but we haven't had divorce lawyers on the phone yet. :D Decided to take another cruise this year to 'chill out'. Over all, I think we are adjusting to empty nest pretty good.

[terrific_surprise]

Although I have not updated this thread for a while, I have finally finished writing on my review thread about our experiences on Oahu, many of which fulfill clues I wrote extensively about here in the months preceding the cruise.

 

Here are some relevant highlights for those who followed our pre-cruise experience:

 

I took DW (Terri) to the lookout at the Punchbowl Cemetery, reliving a precious memory from 30 years ago.

 

 

Just a few minutes before the above photo was taken, tears had filled Terri's eyes as she realized that we were going to the same place where this photo had been taken in 1983:

 

As you may recall, neither of us had known where that photo was taken until I exchanged a series of messages here (see page 15 of this thread).

 

After leaving the Punchbowl, we went to the Nu'uanu Pali Lookout, fulfilling the clue I had given her at Death Valley on February 9 (as also explained on page 15 of this thread): "why are there so many chickens at this beautiful place of death?"

 

 

Then we took a short but strenuous hike on the Pillbox Trail.

 

 

The kayaking adventure I had planned to the nearby islands didn't work out quite the way I had hoped, but it still fulfilled the beautiful photo I had chosen as a backdrop for the puzzle:

 

 

On our way back to Honolulu, we visited the Halona Blowhole, where we caught several glimpses of rainbows in the mist.

 

 

I thought that the hint of a rainbow in the mist was enough of a reason to give DW a new rainbow-striped bead for her charm bracelet, along with a beautiful photo of a rainbow above Lahaina Maui (which I still hoped we would experience).

 

Several of the clues I had given DW also related to the romantic sunset I hoped we would experience on Oahu, but that didn't work out the way I had planned it.

 

To read more about the frustration and fulfillment we experienced on Oahu, go to page 9 of my review thread (still in progress).

 

For more photos of our day on Oahu, go to:

Edited November 16, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

I have finished telling the story of our Kauai day on my review thread. (The first Kauai post is #235).

 

The beautiful canyon photos I gave DW as clues were (mostly) fulfilled on Kauai, along with other strange clues such as the "Hawaiian time" sign. But most importantly, the "cruise with a cruise" was the highlight of our day.

 

When she bought some things at a gift shop next to Island Taco in Waimea (as I describe in post #257), I slipped a golden envelope into the bag, which contained a picture of the modern Hawaii flag as well as the old flag which some Hawaiians still fly. On the outside of the envelope, I wrote "Happy (late) 53rd Anniversary!" and on the back of the photo of the flags I wrote "Hawaii became a state (50th) on 8/21/59." This explained a clue I had given her on 8/21/2012. (She didn't get it, though, asking if I was trying to imply when her conception date would have been!) :o

 

After that, we happened to visit Jo Jo's Shave Ice, where the building happened to be painted in colors patterned after the old Hawaiian flag.

 

Inside the envelope was a whale tail charm, commemorating the whales we had seen the day before from the Halona Blowhole.

 

For photos and videos of our Kauai day, go to:

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjEPgyGm

Edited November 23, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

Although I am still working on my main thread reviewing this cruise, I didn't want to neglect to explain here one of the most special experiences I had during the cruise as I gave DW a golden envelope containing a charm to add to her bracelet.

 

One of the charms I had purchased before the cruise (obviously not a charm available from the Princess boutique) displayed the message "I love you" written in the sand, surrounded by a heart. So when we visited a Maui beach, my carefully-orchestrated schemes included finding an opportunity to draw a heart in the sand and write "I love you" inside the heart, planning ahead to create the memory which the charm would forever symbolize.

 

But Terri (DW), having no idea what I had planned, created a better memory than the one I had imagined by drawing her own heart in the sand with a message of love to me!

 

 

When we were ready to leave the beach, I arranged for Terri to "accidentally" find the golden envelope, and captured her discovery on video.

 

At this point, I began a subtle transition with the photos I enclosed inside the golden envelopes. Instead of another photo of Hawaiian scenery, the photo showed somewhere I hoped that we would visit when we returned to California (although I'm sure she didn't realize it yet). This was one of the ways in which I tried to delay the "end" of the "cruise," so that even after we were off the ship we would have something we could enjoy anticipating.

 

On the back of the photo I wrote "'nanu' means gardenia - gardenias in Hawaii include remyi, brighamii, or manni – Your fragrance is more attractive to me than any flower." This explained a gardenia-related clue I had given her before the cruise (even though we had never actually noticed the scent of any gardenias during our days in Hawaii).

 

Later we visited other Maui locations which fulfilled previous clues, such as Secret Cove (Pa'ako Beach)...

 

 

...and the fort ruins in Lahaina....

 

 

You can read more about our experiences on Maui (including how even in paradise we sometimes irritated each other, and the bittersweet way we ended our time in Hawaii) on my main review thread, starting with post #272.

 

I also describe there how we encountered some unexpected things which would have made interesting clues, such as the one-lane road through the lava field.

 

 

Photos of our entire Maui day can be seen at:

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjENVtDV

Edited December 10, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

On Thursday, our first sea day returning from Hawaii, I slipped a golden envelope between the strings of DW's ukulele before our ukulele practice. On the front of the envelope, I wrote "To the one who makes music in my heart!" Inside was a photo of California's Rainbow Falls (a place we still have not visited). On the back of the photo I wrote "Did you ever notice the special message at 14 minutes and 47 seconds into your video?"

 

This explained one of the earliest clues I had given DW (a clue I described in post #59 of this thread).

 

Near the end of the video I had made for her surprise 49th birthday party (starting at 14 minutes and 47 seconds) I had included some photos from our two previous cruises. The background music I had chosen for this final part of the video was Steven Curtis Chapman's "Fingerprints of God," and it just so happened that right at the moment when these cruise photographs were displayed, the lyrics being sung were "Oh, and God's not through, no, In fact, He's just getting started." I had thought that the combination of those lyrics with those photographs would provide a subtle hint that more cruise fun was in the works.

 

Enclosed in the golden envelope was a Princess ship charm, which seemed appropriate because this was our first full day back on the ship after our days on the islands.

 

On the following day, Friday, while we were looking at our photos in the Photo Gallery, I slipped a golden envelope between two of the photos. On the front of the envelope I wrote "To the one whose photos make me flip but not flop." Inside I enclosed a charm with a dangling flip flop sandal. Ironically, when I chose that charm for the day, I hadn't even realized that she had the opportunity to make a "Flip Flop Photo Frame" that day, and that she would hurt herself by slipping on her flip flops going down the stairs!

 

The photo inside the envelope depicted another California waterfall I planned for us to visit soon. On the back of the waterfall I wrote "If we had kayaked to the Mokulua Islands bird sanctuary you could have taken a dip in the Queen's Bath," as an explanation of some of the previous clues which were never fulfilled due to our missed kayaking opportunity.

 

Of course, every day on the ship I also continued to take her photos at places that corresponded to photo clues I had previously given her, such as carved watermelons...

 

...and the Princess Theater....

 

I updated her digital photo frame, which was on display in our cabin, throughout the cruise, so that she could easily see which photo clues had already been fulfilled.

 

More photos from our Friday sea day returning from Hawaii can be viewed at:

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjENVDdK

 

The Saturday return sea day photos are at:

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjEPkeoh

 

You can read more about our experiences on these two sea days on my main review thread, starting about halfway down page 15.

Edited December 15, 2013 by terrific_surprise

[silvercrikhix]

Wow! Just wow!

This IS the best pre-cruise/cruise review ever!

Your wife is so very lucky to have such a kind & loving husband :D

I am off to begin reading the review thread!

TY for sharing your Hawaii cruise journey!

[terrific_surprise]

I had given DW a golden key on her 49th birthday, planning for her to use it to either reveal the surprise of the balcony or the surprise of a convertible Mustang she would drive in Hawaii, but things didn't work out as I had planned, so on Sunday April 7, I gave her the "heart" that corresponded to the key (in the midst of romantic circumstances which shall remain private).

 

 

Later that day, when we were returning to our cabin, I asked DW to unlock our door, handing her a golden envelope instead of my cruise card. On the front of the envelope I wrote "To the one who holds the key to my heart!" Inside was this photo of a California waterfall I hoped we would visit some time after the cruise (as one way to try to extend the cruise experience beyond the 14 days of the cruise):

 

 

On the back of the photo I wrote "Thank you for putting the 'aloha' in our 'Aloha Motel' – I ALOHA YOU!" (She lived for a while at a motel called Aloha Motel when she was a child.)

 

Inside the envelope was a new charm for her bracelet, representing a key (not a Princess charm).

 

Although only a couple of dozen of the clues I had given her in the year leading to the cruise had related to Golden Princess locations, I still had not gotten around to taking her picture at all of the locations which corresponded to clues. But I did check a couple more locations off of my list that day: the golden doors to the Meridian Bay boutique...

 

 

...and the Skywalker...

 

 

You can read about the rest of our activities on the ship that day by going to page 16 of my main review thread, starting halfway down the page at post #309.

 

More photos and videos from that day can be viewed at:

Edited January 3, 2014 by terrific_surprise

[I Luv Crusin]

I found your thread on my iPhone CC app and moved to my notebook to read it!! This is how I've spent the better part of the last 2 days! You are wonderful. I usually plan surprises for my DH. I "kidnapped" him for our 15th anniversary and I always plan our trips. I did work as a travel agent for 7 years bk (before kids) but I haven't done that in about 24 years! We will be celebrating 32 years this fall!

 

I have to know, did Terri find her wallet??? Did I miss that?

 

Thank you so much for the time you invested in this thread and thank you for your ministry.

[terrific_surprise]

I found your thread on my iPhone CC app and moved to my notebook to read it!! This is how I've spent the better part of the last 2 days! You are wonderful. I usually plan surprises for my DH. I "kidnapped" him for our 15th anniversary and I always plan our trips. I did work as a travel agent for 7 years bk (before kids) but I haven't done that in about 24 years! We will be celebrating 32 years this fall!

 

I have to know, did Terri find her wallet??? Did I miss that?

 

Thank you so much for the time you invested in this thread and thank you for your ministry.

 

Congratulations on 32 years (almost) -- you are about three years ahead of us!

 

Terri and I have "kidnapped" each other numerous times over the years (and I think that in every case the kidnapping victim was more than willing). At one time I think I had envisioned the cruise as a kidnapping, but I think that giving her the chance to enjoy anticipating the cruise was a better alternative.

 

Terri never did find her wallet. Its disappearance remains a mystery.

 

Writing this thread (and the other one) certainly has been a labor of love -- though I never though that it would take so long!

 

Tim

[terrific_surprise]

On the final full sea day of our Golden Princess cruise to Hawaii, as we enjoyed some romantic time in our cabin, I gave DW a Plumeria plant I had purchased at a Maui ABC store. (At this point it was really just like a thick green stick.)

 

The Princess Pop Choir (which DW and I both were part of) was set to perform later that day in the Piazza. One of the songs we would be performing was Isn't She Lovely, so I slipped a golden envelope into her music binder, making sure that she would see it when she turned to that song.

 

On the front of the envelope, I attempted to write a love message in Hawaiian: "Nani Ono Maka'i no." Inside the envelope was this photo of poppies, which would be blooming soon back home in California (trying to give her just one more thing to look forward to after the cruise).

 

 

On the back of the photo I wrote "I counted SEVENTEEN islands! Definitely above average! – Being with you is always an uplifting experience!" (I was counting not only each Hawaiian island we stepped foot upon, but every island we could see along the way, even if from a distance.)

 

The charm I enclosed in the envelope was a plumeria charm I had picked up the previous day from the Meridian Bay boutique on the ship (in exchange for a different charm I no longer needed).

 

When I first purchased the charms on the second day of the cruise, I had to try to guess which charms would be appropriate. Two of the charms I had chosen were a dolphin and a turtle. Unfortunately, we never saw any dolphins or turtles, so I didn't think that those charms were appropriate anymore. But when I brought the two charms back to the boutique to try to exchange them for two other charms, the sales girl wouldn't let me exchange them even though I had the receipt and the price of the two charms I wanted to exchange them for was less than the price of the charms I would be returning and I didn't even expect any change back!

 

Finally I had to ask for a supervisor, who not only allowed me to exchange the charms but also credited the price difference to our onboard account.

 

With only a couple dozen or so of the clues I had given DW before the cruise relating to locations on the ship, it seems like by this point I would have taken her picture at all of the ship locations which corresponded to clues. But as I looked through my clue photos, I realized that there were several locations where I still had not taken her picture, such as the Neptune Star on the Lido Deck:

 

 

You can read about the rest of what we did on that final sea day, including our rocky Princess Pop Choir performance, on my main review, beginning with post #317 (about 3/4 of the way down page 16).

 

Here's a photo of the Princess Pop Choir performing Isn't She Lovely.

The photo shows me giving Terri the eye as she blows me a kiss. (The women in the choir paraded around the men at this point of the song, blowing kisses as they passed by.)

 

More photos from that final sea day can be seen at the below link:

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjEPkTrb

 

(Links to videos can be found on the corresponding photos. Due to technical problems with Flickr, I was unable to get all of the videos loaded there, so the videos from that day are posted on our YouTube channel.)

 

To watch some excerpts from our Princess Pop Choir performance, go to:

Edited January 9, 2014 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

On the final afternoon of our cruise to Hawaii, we started packing up our things (which became a very emotional time, as I describe on post #350 of my main review thread). Soon we started to hear some seals barking. Realizing that we were getting close to Ensenada, we went out on our balcony to watch.

 

I put a golden envelope on the balcony railing, holding on to it with my hand to be sure that it didn't fly away. Eventually Terri noticed it.

 

On the front of the envelope I had written "To my favorite hula girl!" (Earlier that day Terri had been a part of the "Hula Masters" performing in the Aloha 'Oe Farewell show.)

 

 

Having given her so many food-related photo clues before the cruise, I thought that it would be appropriate to give her a photo of one of her favorite meals at home (an omelette breakfast I prepare for her on special occasions, such as the birthdays of our children), again hoping to give her something to look forward to after the cruise. So I enclosed this photo in the golden envelope:

 

On the back of the photo, I wrote "Welcome to Bahia Los Todos Santos (All Saints Bay)! – Being with you makes every bay fun!" (fulfilling a "Happy All Saints Bay" clue I had given her on All Saints Day).

 

Also enclosed in the envelope was another charm -- undoubtedly the only charm I gave her that made her a little sad. It was a charm representing a suitcase, symbolizing this day that we had to pack to go home.

 

You can read more about what we did on the final full day of the cruise by going to page 18 of my main review, beginning with post #346. It was a day of many highs and lows.

 

Photos from this day of the cruise can be viewed at:

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjEPmcr5

 

from the hula and ukulele show can be viewed on our YouTube channel.

Edited January 11, 2014 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

Although I neglected this thread for a while, if you have been following my review thread, you already know how our Golden Princess cruise to Hawaii came to a beautiful conclusion.

 

We woke up early to enjoy the very romantic views of the Golden Princess sailing back into Los Angeles (as you can see in this

). In particular, we took special notice of the place where we had caught our first glimpse of the Golden Princess....

 

 

...and the place where DW had been surprised on February 16 when the Sapphire Princess sailed in.

 

 

While we waited for our designated time to leave the ship, I took a few more photos with Terri at places that corresponded to clues I had previously given her. Even after two weeks on the ship, I hadn't captured her at every place that corresponded to my clues. (I had intentionally tried during the cruise not to orchestrate things, but just to let things happen naturally.)

 

 

Although we had been near the Terrace Pool almost every day of the cruise, I hadn't taken the time to capture it on camera until we were about to leave.

 

But the highlight of the day occurred after we had left the ship. This

captures how Terri felt when the Fanfare Fountains began playing Lara's Theme, the very first song Terri had heard when she first saw the fountains on February 15. After the song ended (as captured on the same video), Terri began showing our son the charms I had given her throughout the cruise.

 

 

Meanwhile, I tried to give her one final clue to find the final golden envelope. After hiding a golden envelope in a crack in the wall along the edge of the fountains, I told Terri that she needed to "read between the lines." Eventually (as captured on the same video) she discovered the golden envelope and opened it up. On the front of the envelope I wrote "to my favorite destination."

 

When Terri opened it up, she found a photo of a beautiful sunset, quickly realizing that the photo was taken from our own backyard. (She had no ruby slippers, but I was trying to instill her with a "there's no place like home" feeling at this point.)

 

On the back of the photo I wrote "The best is yet to come! God has so much more planned for us, here and in heaven! – You have been a delight to my eyes, my ears, my lips, my hands, my heart (etc.)...."

 

Also enclosed in the envelope was one final charm: a palm tree. I intended for the palm tree to represent the palm trees at the Fanfare Fountains, but Terri immediately noticed additional symbolism: the charm actually shows two palm trees, a tall one and a short(er) one.

 

Here's what the completed charm bracelet looks like:

 

 

Lingering at the Fanfare Fountains until the end of the noon show, Terri seemed to be filled with joy as she began dancing with the fountains (as you can see on this

).

 

 

Having completed the puzzle and the charm bracelet, I no longer had any excuse to use the golden envelopes. But of course I still have many unused golden envelopes, and still occasionally enjoy using them to give Terri a message of love. (As you may have noticed on my main review thread, the story is far from over.)

 

You can read more details about what happened on that day when we disembarked from the Golden Princess on my main review thread, starting about 3/4 of the way down page 19 at post #378.

 

Photos of the final moments of our Golden Princess cruise to Hawaii and of the way we continued "cruising" through the rest of the day can be viewed at:

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjENZuXH

Edited January 23, 2014 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

As I have been explaining in detail over the past couple of weeks on my review thread, I tried in various ways to keep our cruise experience going in the months after our Hawaii cruise.

 

The golden envelopes (which had contained puzzle pieces before the cruise and charms during the cruise) were no longer a frequent part of our lives, but occasionally I found an opportunity to give DW another golden envelope. For example, today I posted on the review thread about how in October I gave Terri a golden envelope which contained a message inviting her to go on a "$10 cruise." Unfortunately, that cruise didn't happen (for circumstances I also explain on the other thread).

 

The post I just made on the other thread also includes some thoughts on the dangers of a big surprise like this. Because of the fact that such a big surprise necessarily involves some big secrets, I eventually realized that I was in danger of undermining the trust which is so essential to a healthy husband-wife relationship.

Edited February 4, 2014 by terrific_surprise

[skiladyldp]

Hi Tim your other thread is closed now. I am hoping all is well with you. If you have started a new thread please post a link.

 

 

 

Virginia

[terrific_surprise]

Those who followed the "golden envelopes" I gave Terri during the cruise might be interested to know that tonight as we prepared to go to a banquet, Terri asked me to help her put on her charm bracelet from the cruise. She hadn't worn it for a few months.

 

I asked her "what's the occasion?" and she pretended to be offended, pouting "don't you remember?!" Suddenly I remembered the significance of April 9, 2013, so I responded "of course I remember, but I just want to know if you remember!"

 

On our way out the door I noticed a wrinkled Princess napkin. I had saved some other Princess napkins from the cruise but they weren't nearby, so I took the wrinkled napkin with us, eventually hiding it under the cloth napkin at the banquet.

 

Of course she was excited to see the Princess napkin (acting as if she never saw the wrinkles). Then we began talking again about the significance of this date. Soon it was clear that Terri didn't have specific recollections about this specific date, but she just had the general idea that it had been a year since the cruise. So I revealed to her the fact that exactly one year ago was our final dinner onboard the Golden Princess during our Hawaii cruise.

 

As you probably know (if you have read this full thread), we enjoy celebrating several anniversaries throughout the year. I suspect that in future years we will continue to celebrate the anniversary of our cruise to Hawaii. The old milestones will always be special to us, of course, but it is nice to have some more recent milestones to celebrate now.

Edited April 10, 2014 by terrific_surprise

[terrific_surprise]

Hi Tim your other thread is closed now. I am hoping all is well with you. If you have started a new thread please post a link.

 

Virginia

 

Thanks, Virginia, for your interest in this thread and the other thread. I was shocked when they shut it down, and frankly felt like the door to CC had been slammed in my face. Perhaps your interest (and the interest of other CC members) has forced a crack in that door.

 

As I think you know, recently another CC user started a new thread about her experiences when we met for a Bon Voyage Experience. I have added some further comments there (and I plan to soon add some photos and videos). I'm hoping that the CC gods will allow them to remain online.

 

Tim