Live from the Golden Princess (Hawaii, 10/10/12)

[cruiserjanet]

We did the Princess excursions.

 

Not sure about the buffet themed lunches. Sorry.

 

Not able to quote previous posts since I'm using Tapatalk so I'm trying to answer questions in paragraphs.

 

Yesterday after Diamond Head, we took a cab van with our friends and went into Waikiki. We walked around for a little and went to Roy's restaurant at 5 for dinner. I had been to the one in Los Angeles several years ago a couple of times but my DH and our friends had not. We all enjoyed our meal. It's a little pricey and a restaurant we would go to on a special occasion. After dinner, our friends went to Starbucks and we took a cab van back to the ship.

 

Today we are in Kauai and having the best weather. We did the excursion called Tubing the Hanamaulu Ditch System and it was fabulous. We would do that excursion again if offered in the future. After we came back, we headed out to Nawiliwili Park and took some pictures. My DH just grabbed a shower and is up playing dominoes by Scoops with our friends. I'm going to take a shower, wash out our swimsuits and catch up on my cruise journal (hopefully) and some other things.

 

Lahaina is tomorrow and we are just going to wander around with our friends.

 

This has been a fabulous cruise so far, even better than the last time we did this cruise.

[ASeaPrincess1]

Don't miss Hula Pie at Kimo's!!!:D

[TLC535]

Don't miss Hula Pie at Kimo's!!!:D

 

 

I second that....HULA PIE ~ BEST EVER !!! :D

I even bought the plate & use as a key "catcher" ;) makes me smile everyday !

 

Thanks for the "Live" Janet, brings back great memories from this past spring when we did the Star to Hawaii

[Bill Millam]

Hi Janet,

Thanks for posting while on your cruise, my wife and myself enjoyed every single one of your "live" updates.

We are on the Golden Princess to Hawaii next week.

May I ask you a BIG favor, please?

Can you check with the photo dept what make & model digital cameras ($300 and lower) they have for sale onboard this ship.

I'm planning on buying one next week (courtesy of a sizable Princess OBC) and would like to know what makes & models they have for sale so that I check out the specs online beforehand.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can render.

 

Bill Millam

[jrobinso]

Hi Janet,

Thanks for posting while on your cruise, my wife and myself enjoyed every single one of your "live" updates.

We are on the Golden Princess to Hawaii next week.

May I ask you a BIG favor, please?

Can you check with the photo dept what make & model digital cameras ($300 and lower) they have for sale onboard this ship.

I'm planning on buying one next week (courtesy of a sizable Princess OBC) and would like to know what makes & models they have for sale so that I check out the specs online beforehand.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can render.

 

Bill Millam

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic. If you go to the Princess area of the "Roll Call " section you will see a list of Princess Ships. Go to Golden and you will see your cruise listed. Feel free to join our group. We have several things planned that you might enjoy.

 

Jan

[Bill Millam]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. If you go to the Princess area of the "Roll Call " section you will see a list of Princess Ships. Go to Golden and you will see your cruise listed. Feel free to join our group. We have several things planned that you might enjoy.

 

Jan

 

 

 

Thank you for the welcome, neighborette (I see you are from Socal too).

 

Bill Millam

[cruiserjanet]

Sorry Bill, but I will be unable to do that. Too many other things going on. I do know that the cameras are all Nikon ranging from DSLR to point and shoot and I think even an underwater camera but I'm not sure how new they are. One of our tablemates on our 2009 Panama Canal cruise got a Nikon camera on the ship and he said he got a great deal and just loved that camera. I don't know how Princess prices compare with regular retail except no taxes. Others may know better than me.

 

We are in Lahaina today and, if you checked the webcam, it's beautiful out. I'm hoping to get to ride on top of the tender as that is my favorite place to be when tendering. We are meeting our friends soon for some shopping.

[Bill Millam]

Sorry Bill, but I will be unable to do that. Too many other things going on. I do know that the cameras are all Nikon ranging from DSLR to point and shoot and I think even an underwater camera but I'm not sure how new they are. One of our tablemates on our 2009 Panama Canal cruise got a Nikon camera on the ship and he said he got a great deal and just loved that camera. I don't know how Princess prices compare with regular retail except no taxes. Others may know better than me.

 

We are in Lahaina today and, if you checked the webcam, it's beautiful out. I'm hoping to get to ride on top of the tender as that is my favorite place to be when tendering. We are meeting our friends soon for some shopping.

 

I did not mean to imply that I was expecting you to check for me today, I apologize if I made myself misunderstood.

Maybe on one of your sea days on the way back to the mainland you can swing by for a few minutes and just jot down maybe 3-4 model #s for me, I am NOT concerned about the prices. Just model #s so that I can find specs online. If you are unable to do that, no worries, I do understand.

Thanks and enjoy Lahaina.

 

Bill Millam

[cruiserjanet]

I didn't take your post to mean that so no worries.

[cruiserjanet]

Lahaina was our best day as far as weather. Basically the port week started out with a little rain (which we didn't encounter but our friends did) and then got better with each port, ending today. We took the tender to Lahaina with our friends, did a little shopping, had a little lunch (they did anyway), did a little more shopping and came back to the ship. We didn't like what was on the menu so we had dinner in Horizon and went to the Promenade Lounge to hang out. If any of you noticed, we left a little over 2 hours late. A part had to be replaced on the wench(?) that lifts the tender onto the ship. It looked like they had the manual out and we all cheered when we saw them taking a part over to the wench(?). We are flat out moving right now. I'm curious as to how fast we are going and am watching ship TV while typing this. DH will be taking a Dramamine tonight for sure as our room is definitely moving right now.

I'm a little sad right now because it seems as though our wonderful trip is at the end but yet we have 6 days before we are back in Los Angeles.

[COP]

Lahaina was our best day as far as weather. Basically the port week started out with a little rain (which we didn't encounter but our friends did) and then got better with each port, ending today. We took the tender to Lahaina with our friends, did a little shopping, had a little lunch (they did anyway), did a little more shopping and came back to the ship. We didn't like what was on the menu so we had dinner in Horizon and went to the Promenade Lounge to hang out. If any of you noticed, we left a little over 2 hours late. A part had to be replaced on the wench(?) that lifts the tender onto the ship. It looked like they had the manual out and we all cheered when we saw them taking a part over to the wench(?). We are flat out moving right now. I'm curious as to how fast we are going and am watching ship TV while typing this. DH will be taking a Dramamine tonight for sure as our room is definitely moving right now.

I'm a little sad right now because it seems as though our wonderful trip is at the end but yet we have 6 days before we are back in Los Angeles.

 

Janet, I for one know how you feel. That said, hurry back as I'm next. Have a very good last part of your cruise. I know you had a great time. This will be our 7th Hawaiian cruise.

 

Phil

[TM]

Janey.

 

We leave on the Star Sunday for Hawaii and have booked the Tubing the Ditch excursion on Kauai. Do they provide lockers and/or changing facilities at the location. Thank you in advance.

 

Tom

[happycrusier45]

When in Nov. are you going? We are sailing on Nov 21. Really looking forward to it. We like your handle as we have sailed on Sitmar in 1981 thru the Panama Canal. Great memories. Maybe we will see you. Happycruiser45

[Sitmar Lady]

Yes I used to cruise Sitmar in the 70's and 80's with my Parents. Great memories for sure! We'll be on the one before you.

 

When in Nov. are you going? We are sailing on Nov 21. Really looking forward to it. We like your handle as we have sailed on Sitmar in 1981 thru the Panama Canal. Great memories. Maybe we will see you. Happycruiser45

[cruiserjanet]

Tom, they ask that you wear your swimsuit and bring a towel (it's on your excursion ticket). When they pick you up at the dock, they take you to their company where you get fitted for a helmet, gloves and water shoes. Okay to bring your own water shoes (we did). They have a restroom where you can change but I wouldn't recommend it as they want to do those things that I mentioned and get you up to the Ditch. There is also a gift shop at the company, which you will be going back to when the excursion is over. Like I said, the first time you go, it's mainly to get fitted. On the trip to the ditch, instruction will be given, then we change into our gloves, helmet and water shoes, more instruction given and then we float down the Ditch. At the end, there are porta restrooms and a changing room and a picnic area where they gave us water, chips and cookies. Then we went back to their company briefly and back to the ship. I probably gave you more information than you asked for but I hoped it helped.

[cruiserjanet]

Today is our roughest sea day so far but oh so gorgeous. Walking around the Promenade Deck is an adventure but worth it because of how beautiful it is right now. We had to set our clocks forward one hour so a lot of us are pretty tired.

Okay, this is probably one of only two of the things I wasn't pleased with on this trip. The photography staff is the worst I've experienced on any Princess cruise I've been on. I'm also not alone in my opinion as I have heard people talking about this. There are a few photographers that are not very friendly but some of them are. It seems to me that if you are a photographer, don't you want to be friendly so you can get the best photograph out of the people you take a picture of? Some of our pictures have turned out beautifully but some are okay and it's not just us. I could go into more details but I will just leave it at that. We will buy a few pictures but not as many as we normally do. Again, I'm not alone in this.

Tonight, Rock of Ages is showing on MUTS so we are going with our friends. I've never seen a movie on MUTS so I am looking forward to it, especially since I've never seen this particular movie and have been wanting to.

I finally met David and Leialoha this morning. They were conducting a class so I stopped in at the beginning to say hello. They are so nice and people seem to be enjoying their classes and music. I found out that they were not on our first Hawaii cruise so I consider this a treat to have met them.

Time for me to go on another walk and then my BFF is going to come over and hang out with me on our balcony so yay!

[DiRonT]

[quote name='TM']Janey.

We leave on the Star Sunday for Hawaii and have booked the Tubing the Ditch excursion on Kauai. Do they provide lockers and/or changing facilities at the location. Thank you in advance.

Tom[/quote]

We are on the Golden next week to Hawaii and we are also Tubing The Ditch - we have done it before as well as the zipline operated by the same tour company. they do not provide lockers, but we have always taken a small backpack and left it in the vehicle that takes you up to wear your start the "tubing adventure". We leave things like hearing aids, glasses, change of shoes or dry clothes, etc. in the backpack.

[TM]

Thank you for the responses on Tubing the Ditch. They were very helpful.

[RetiredNTraveling]

So glad that you are having a great cruise! I kept up with your posts and really enjoyed all of the comments. It gives me a better understanding of what the PCL Hawaii Cruises are like. We are planning to take the Hawaii Cruise in early 2015 on the Star if it is available. Let us know when you post a full review.

[jrobinso]

Janet,

Do you remember what time you arrived in Honolulu and what time passengers were able to disembark? My son works a few blocks from Aloha towers and we are trying to arrange a car drop off, but he has meetings on Tuesday morning. Thank you for your help.

[cruiserjanet]

We got into Honolulu either on schedule (7:00) or ahead of schedule. I was watching our sailin from our balcony. I don't know what time they cleared the ship because our excursion was at 8:00. We left the ship at 7:35 to meet our excursion and there were no lines or issues.

In fact, we had no issues arriving or leaving on time except in Lahaina where the part needed to be replaced on the device that lifts the tender onto the ship.

Last night the wind was at Force 7, which was the strongest we had so far. We got rained on a little while watching Rock of Ages on MUTS so we all ran for cover. That movie was horrible, in my opinion.

I forgot to mention that I had two Meet & Greets scheduled in Skywalkers through the ship. CC member slomotion directed me to the person at Princess corporate to arrange this. He also made invitations for the officers and delivered them to the passenger services office. We had a good turnout for our first Meet & Greet not only of CC members but of ship officers. I don't except as large of a turnout for our next Meet & Greet but you never know.

Tonight is Italian night. Yummy! Our wait staff has been fabulous, probably the best we've had on any Princess cruise.

[rdsqrl]

[COLOR=Indigo][FONT=Comic Sans MS]I'm enjoying your Live; thanks for taking the time to report in. Hope your cruise continues to be excellent. Give my regards to the Eggplant Parmigiana tonight![/FONT][/COLOR]

[jrobinso]

Thank you for the response, Janet. I was hoping to meet up with my son at 7:30, so it sounds like that should work. Have a safe trip home.

[Bill Millam]

Oahu!!!

[cruiserjanet]

Our weather has been mostly cloudy through this leg of the trip with highs still in the low 70s. We've had beautiful and interesting sunrises and sunsets. The only really warm weather was in the ports. If you are scheduled to do this cruise, I would suggest layers. One of our waitresses said the weather will get worse in the coming months.

Played bingo yesterday for the first time in a long time. Didn't win but it was fun. My BFF won $100.

Time to go work off some of breakfast. We've had breakfast most mornings in Sabatini's and it's been a wonderful perk.