World Cruise 2023 - Occasionally Live from the Island Princess

[TrixieBel]

7 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

Kailua Beach Park, Lanikai Beach

Loving your reporting thank you. I used to live just up from Kailua Beach many years ago. And have a friend who lives in Lanikai who we still catch up with when we go through Hawaii. Gorgeous places to see and swim. ❤️

[caribill]

On 1/26/2023 at 4:48 PM, We_like_to_cruise said:

Laundromat

 

Per the deck plans, each passenger deck has a dedicated laundry room, five in total.  

 

Which means three of the eight decks with passenger cabins do not have a Laundromat.

[GonzoWCS]

Glad you had a great day in Honolulu!

 

Cheers

[tml1230]

18 hours ago, RNCheryl said:

My happy place is Hanalei, but that one special night at the Royal Hawaiian was never to be forgotten.,  Next up:  Maui

another vote for Hanalei! ....the island of Kauai is incredible beyond words! I'm very much looking forward to We-like - to -cruise report and photos!this is one of the best trip reports I have ever read!

[Denali2003]

We were at Pearl Harbor in Oct 2018.  The video you see before getting on the boat is very emotional.  There were several people crying, me being one of them.  On this tour (while doing the USS Missouri tour - which we did through Princess) I met a woman who was 7 years old at Pearl Harbor that day.  Her father was in the Marines.  He had taken the day off because it was his wife's birthday.  Otherwise, he would have been on one of the ships.  She said she went to get the newspaper, like she had done every day, when the bombing started.  Her father rushed home and got them to safety.  This was her first time back to Pearl Harbor since then.  She still has the newspaper from that day.  She could not go into the tour.  Sadly, her husband did go on the tour and left her sitting outside of the entrance on a bench.  I saw her crying on the bench when we were done with our tour.  She just hugged me, crying "I just couldn't do it".  She was 84.  She herself was a Navy Veteran.  While we were doing the USS Missouri tour, she kept correcting the tour guide.  Apparently he was getting some things wrong.

[We_like_to_cruise]

8 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Which means three of the eight decks with passenger cabins do not have a Laundromat.

 

Interesting.  I have not investigated some of the decks that now have pax cabins after the Universe Lounge was removed.  Did they add laundromats as well?  I do not know.  There are definitely laundry facilities on decks 8 - 12.

[We_like_to_cruise]

Just now, Denali2003 said:

We were at Pearl Harbor in Oct 2018.  The video you see before getting on the boat is very emotional.  There were several people crying, me being one of them.  On this tour (while doing the USS Missouri tour - which we did through Princess) I met a woman who was 7 years old at Pearl Harbor that day.  Her father was in the Marines.  He had taken the day off because it was his wife's birthday.  Otherwise, he would have been on one of the ships.  She said she went to get the newspaper, like she had done every day, when the bombing started.  Her father rushed home and got them to safety.  This was her first time back to Pearl Harbor since then.  She still has the newspaper from that day.  She could not go into the tour.  Sadly, her husband did go on the tour and left her sitting outside of the entrance on a bench.  I saw her crying on the bench when we were done with our tour.  She just hugged me, crying "I just couldn't do it".  She was 84.  She herself was a Navy Veteran.  While we were doing the USS Missouri tour, she kept correcting the tour guide.  Apparently he was getting some things wrong.

 

Thank you for sharing.  What a story - that poor woman.

[We_like_to_cruise]

Kauai, Hawaii

 

Not a sunny start today – the clouds are thick and dark.  No rain, yet.  This morning we took a waiting cab to the Lihue airport to pick up another rental car.  Our first stop was the Ho’op’I Falls trail.  The trailhead is located in a residential area with plenty of NO PARKING signs posted.  But we lucked out with the last acceptable spot on the side of the road.

 

We headed down the trail and it was slow going because the ground was wet and very muddy.  There was a slight descent right near the beginning and we started to slip and slide.  Not good.  The wet mud was as slick as ice, so we carefully pulled ourselves back up the trail and back to the car.  Fortunately we got back without falling and without injury.  No sense getting hurt.  Earlier our cab driver had cautioned us about the trail.  He noted there were periods of rain the previous evening of two inches per hour. 

 

We then drove all of the way to the northern end of the island to the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge and lighthouse.  In fact this is the most northern point of all of the main Hawaiian islands. Reservations are required and we pre-registered about 8 weeks ago.  This site is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, so with our pre-registration and our senior National Park passes and id we were granted admission.  They were strict and in fact had our names down on their reservation list.

 

This location has the largest population of nesting seabirds in Hawaii and we saw many birds including albatross, frigate birds, red-footed booby and the Hawaiian state bird, the nene or Hawaiian goose.  There were free binoculars to borrow and a staff member had set up a monocular to view an albatross nest with chicks on the distant cliff invisible to the naked eye.  There was also a small gift shop and restrooms.

 

The first pic below is the lighthouse from an observation point along the way; the next few pictures are at the site.

 

After a few enchanting hours, we drove to Opaekaa Falls for some pictures and then headed to Kalapaki Beach.  The skies were still threatening and we did have some sprinkles while driving.  Not really beach weather for swimming, at least for us, but fine for sitting out relaxing and enjoying some lunch.

 

We had a lot more items to visit on our list, but were stymied by three factors.  First, apparently (due to the aforementioned rainstorm) one of the roads was flooded and the traffic was all backed up slowing our progress.  Secondly, although the island is small, some of the sites are far apart and the speed limit is for the most part 35 mph.  Lastly this was a shorter day in port and all aboard was much earlier than in Honolulu.

 

Finally a quick stop for Kauai kookies, return the car and a cab back to the ship. 

It was a nice day but too short!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by We_like_to_cruise

[1emerald1]

Thanks for the pics, my favorite island.

[yoshi]

Thank you We_Like_To_Cruise! What a wonderful journey, so nice of you to take us along 😄

[cruisn43]

@PescadoAmarilloYou mentioned that someone you know is blogging from the cruise.  Can you provide a link?

[FraudBroad]

On 1/27/2023 at 4:02 PM, shamrockace said:

We are also on the world cruise. The food in the dining room seems better than our November cruise on Enchanted. But the specialty restaurants have been disappointing. The steak house is part of the Cajun restaurant and the steak was really good but the few sides were all Cajun with no substitutes. The Italian restaurant last night was disappointing too. Service was good, but the food wasn’t. We walked out during the main course. To their credit, the manager tracked us down in the wheelhouse bar and took the specialty charge off our bill. 
 

the Irish couple singing in the wheelhouse bar are awesome. The line dance classes have been awesome and trivia is where Princess excels. Our cabin is great too. All help is friendly and helpful.

 

we love Cole and Angela, the entertainment staff. My recycled watch band / medallion holder broke while we were riding motorcycles in Kauai and the lady replaced it for free. The dealers in the casino are friendly although they take my money. Casino isn’t busy at all. 
 

 

Angela is one of my favorite people ever! She's amazing! Tell her I said hello!

 

Natalie

[GonzoWCS]

We love Kauai, we did the same thing a few years back. Just rented a car and had a great time.  Glad you had a fun time.

 

Cheers

[Denali2003]

@We_like_to_cruise Do you know if they are doing Arts & Crafts on sea days?  I enjoy doing those on cruises.  I remember back in 2009, they used to do ceramics.  You paint the ceramics and they had a kiln.  That has since been long gone.

[PescadoAmarillo]

1 hour ago, cruisn43 said:

@PescadoAmarilloYou mentioned that someone you know is blogging from the cruise.  Can you provide a link?

Sorry, I don’t feel comfortable doing that without asking her. And since she didn’t post it here herself, she might not want to make it public. But I’ll ask her. 

[shamrockace]

5 hours ago, Denali2003 said:

@We_like_to_cruise Do you know if they are doing Arts & Crafts on sea days?  I enjoy doing those on cruises.  I remember back in 2009, they used to do ceramics.  You paint the ceramics and they had a kiln.  That has since been long gone.

Many painting classes, lei making, jewelry, etc. 

[We_like_to_cruise]

4 hours ago, FraudBroad said:

Angela is one of my favorite people ever! She's amazing! Tell her I said hello!

 

Natalie

 

Angela is a hoot.  So funny and vivacious.  She was in the "Little White Lies" show last night.  But, she couldn't lie very well and we almost all knew when she was making things up!

[We_like_to_cruise]

3 hours ago, Denali2003 said:

@We_like_to_cruise Do you know if they are doing Arts & Crafts on sea days?  I enjoy doing those on cruises.  I remember back in 2009, they used to do ceramics.  You paint the ceramics and they had a kiln.  That has since been long gone.

 

Yes definitely.  A&C have been held every sea day so far from 9am - 10:30 am in the Bayou Cafe.  I have personally not partaken in this activity. 

 

DW has been saving the daily patters and some activities in the past included:

Flower Card

Origami Box

Hat with Flowers

Silk Flower Leis

Butterfly Card

Large Tissue Flower

Padded Photo Holder

Wind Chime (note:  I am glad my balcony neighbors did not make one of these!)

 

and today-

Decorated Flip Flops

 

[We_like_to_cruise]

Hawaiian ambassadors

 

Our evening in Hawaii concluded with a folkloric show in the Princess Theater.  Dancing, singing, and music were on the program.  The kids were especially cute to watch.

 

As noted earlier, since LA our Hawaiian ambassadors Tui and Maile have been a constant presence on the ship.  They continue to offer classes in ukulele, hula dancing and lei making and offer entertainment in the evening.  They are both very personable and love to interact with the passengers. 

 

The last sea day before we reached Honolulu a performance was held in the atrium.  Volunteers from the ukulele class performed a few numbers followed by some hula dancing by passengers in the hula dance class.  Then a combination ukulele / hula dancing performance was presented.  Tui and Maile accompanied the ukuleles and directed the group.

 

 

Edited January 30, 2023 by We_like_to_cruise
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[We_like_to_cruise]

Bayou Café & Steakhouse

 

The Bayou Café is the other specialty restaurant on the Island Princess.  Many of the dishes have a Cajun flair but additionally there are your standard porterhouse, strip steak and filet options.

 

The manager recognized us from a previous cruise and greeted us warmly.

 

Pictured is the 10 ounce filet which was cooked perfectly medium rare and very tender.  The sides of Brabant Potatoes and Succotash were unremarkable.  Service was excellent.

 

We did enjoy the (messy) Mardi Gras Peel-n-Eat Shrimp Piquante and the Seafood Gumbo Ya-Ya.

 

Finally, who could say no to Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar for dessert???

 

 

 

 

 

 

bayou-cafe-menu.pdf

 

 

Edited January 30, 2023 by We_like_to_cruise
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[cr8tiv1]

On 1/28/2023 at 12:11 PM, We_like_to_cruise said:

 

Yes, here are a few pix.  Personally I prefer a more upright position whilst reading, but they are okay for me for short periods if I would like to sit outside.  These posted pix are the chairs in their full upright position.  Our personal balcony seating is more comfortable and adjustable IMHO.

 

 

 

 

Beautiful wide promenade.  Pathetic looking chairs.  What a waste of real estate.

[Tyskie]

9 hours ago, Denali2003 said:

@We_like_to_cruise Do you know if they are doing Arts & Crafts on sea days?  I enjoy doing those on cruises.  I remember back in 2009, they used to do ceramics.  You paint the ceramics and they had a kiln.  That has since been long gone.

I loved that!  This was from 2008 CB repo NY-FLL via Caribbean ❤️

[We_like_to_cruise]

Just now, Tyskie said:

I loved that!  This was from 2008 CB repo NY-FLL via Caribbean ❤️

 

That is lovely!

[We_like_to_cruise]

Crossing the Equator Ceremony

 

Our ship would be crossing both the Equator and the International Date Line at the same time – somewhat unusual.  It was explained we would again cross the date line a few times over the next week.  So, we would basically ignore that and deal with it in February.

 

But crossing the Equator – this was a big deal.  A line crossing ceremony has been held by sailors for hundreds of years.  All cruise pollywogs (passengers crossing the Equator for the first time) were invited to sign up for the ceremony that would convert them to honored shellbacks.  A few hundred did sign up; some would be selected for additional ceremonies.  That included lucky (?) us.

 

The night before the crossing we received a summons “demanding your attendance” to stand trial before King Neptune and his Queen.  Ominously the dress code was “swimsuits or any clothes you don’t mind getting dirty”.  Yikes!

 

We showed up at the appointed time and nervously waited for King Neptune, his Queen and the rest of his court as they made their way around the extremely crowded Lido Pool.  Crimes announced and judged included being “too sexy”, “vickery’ (??) and “drinking all of the ship’s gin”.  The Captain gave a speech and got the proceedings started.

 

I don’t want to ruin it for future pollywogs, so I will not divulge all.  However, every person accused was found GUILTY by both the court and the loudly chanting passengers.  Punishments included gallons of sticky marshmallow fluff, buckets of spaghetti, giant bowls of Jell-O and other assorted yucky but harmless substances all over one’s body!

 

I will say that it took quite some time in the shower that afternoon to finally feel clean again.

 

Cole, our Cruise Director, was also a pollywog.  He was forced to walk the plank into the swimming pool as highlighted in my last picture posted below.

 

A couple of hours after this hilarious ceremony we actually did cross the Equator accompanied by an announcement from the Captain and a long blast of the ship’s horn.  Welcome to the southern hemisphere!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by We_like_to_cruise
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[clutchcurrier]

My Brother, who was in the navy, went through this ceremony when he crossed the equator on his ship.  He said was all done in good fun.  I still have some of his pictures.  This was in the 70's.