Live from Tahitian Princess

[johnmik1]

Hope your having a fantastic cruise!

 

Do you have the bio of the Captain from the Princess Patter. I believe he's very young and promoted only recently.

 

Many thanks, have fun! :)

Hi Andrew,Ed is an old friend of ours when he was a staff Capt.They had his bio on the P & O site.I have a hard copy but won't bother if you get it there.If you cant find it,I will type it all in. John

[Hulagirl]

Minne Wonka Girl - Caroline we have quite a CC group on the July 12 sailing. Why don't you come over to the roll call board and join us.

 

 

Beth:

 

Again, thank you for all the information. So glad to hear that Alaska is right near the ATN area. I had looked at a layout of LAX and I just wasn't sure if it was close or the picture I had was just not quite right. Glad to hear it was easy. Also happy to hear that ATN and Alaska really do have an agreement with luggage. Had been told that, but I just had my doubts until now. Good.

 

Sounds like you are having a wonderful trip. Can't believe you are all ready on the way to Christmas Island. Seems like this week flew by. Will be anxious to hear what they do on the ship when you cross the equator. My daughter found pictures of the Pacific Princess when it crossed, and it looks like they definitely have a party on deck for this.

 

Interesting about the art auction. Usually they are pushed quite a bit on other ships, even in Europe. Glad to hear it.

 

Yes, all the information you are posting is so helpful and interesting. I copy and paste it on our roll call and everyone is very happy to read it if they haven't seen it here on the Princess board. We truly appreciate your taking the time out to write.

 

Pretty decent day in Seattle today! Not muggy this morning for a change and the sun is actually shining. Enjoying it while we can.

 

Take Care Beth and write when you can.

 

Susan

[johnmik1]

Hope your having a fantastic cruise!

 

Do you have the bio of the Captain from the Princess Patter. I believe he's very young and promoted only recently.

 

Many thanks, have fun! :)

Andy,Here is the site with Ed's bio,John http://www.oceanopportunities.com/popup.asp?page=edward

[Lindypc]

BETH,

It sounds like you're having a blast! I have enjoyed reading your diary! You'll have to do it when we're on the Liberty. We miss you!

[calikak]

Hello everyone! Had another lovely day at sea today. DH's massage yesterday was very nice, and so was my pedicure. Last night's show was called something like Singing Through the Years or something like that, a retrospective on musical trends of the previous century. It was by far the best production show I've seen on a Princess ship. The train did come off the tracks a bit when it got to the 60's (a woman dressed as a go go dancer sang Clouds by Joni Mitchell and a guy dressed like Austin Powers sang Blowin in the Wind) but other than that it was really well written, and very well performed. The dancers are really talented and we've made friends with the shorter one, Chris, really nice guy. Dancers on this ship double as cruise staff so they do things like run the trivia contests, so they're very personable people.

 

Today was the big Crossing the Equator extravaganza. They had the comedy magician dressed as King Neptune, Chris the dancer dressed as Neptune's wife, and several of the other cruise director's staff/dancers dressed as different characters. A couple of crew got coated in jello, raw eggs and whipped cream and then thrown in the pool. Then a couple of newlyweds (who had volunteered) were also covered in whip cream and jello and thrown in the pool. Then all the crew members who hadn't sailed across the equator before were covered in jello and thrown in the pool. Then the captain was thrown in the pool, and that was it. It was pretty entertaining and there was some squirting of the crowd with water, otherwise it's perfectly safe to attend as a spectator. :)

 

The art auction was very sparsely attended today, but trivia remains very popular. DH won $50 at the blackjack tables and I won 20 cents on the slots. :) Afternoon tea yesterday was quite nice, I highly recommend the cookies, they're all quite good, and of course the scones are fantastic. The sea has been a bit rougher today, one of our CC friends got a little sea sick sitting up in the Tahitian Lounge (deck 10 forward) but DH's patches are still working, thank goodness. There have been some times today walking around that I've wanted to hold onto something for balance, which was a first this trip.

 

Tomorrow we arrive at Christmas Island, so that's pretty exciting. No tours are offered through the ship so our plan is just to go ashore and maybe send a postcard (I hear they sell postage-paid ones at the tender pier) and see the crab migration, which is supposed to be going on now.

 

APH, I'm sorry, I forgot to bring the patter from the first day with me. Will try to do that tomorrow. He did look pretty young as he was being thrown in the pool today, though. :) Actually, lots of the crew I've met onboard have said this is their first contract, including Chris the dancer, Lindall who did my pedicure, and Mark, who did DH's massage, but everything has been great so far. The comedian is tonight, I think his name is Jeff something and rumor is that he's pretty new to the ship.

 

JanetJ, we arrive in Honolulu on the 10th, it's a Saturday.

 

mrbill, we're doing Sterling on the 8th so I'll know more after then if it's worth it or not.

 

Caroline, I haven't met anyone with a forward cabin onboard right now but I've had friends who stayed in a forward Owner's Suite and they said it was windy on the balcony while at sea but otherwise very nice. I guess you can't go wrong with a suite!

 

Have discovered that the guy who works right before dinner in the Club Bar pours heavy. Consider that either a tip or a warning depending on your point of view. :D

 

Lynne, so glad to hear from you, we miss you too! Hope everything went well this week!

 

We're going to go try out the pizzeria in the buffet area tonight. Our dinner table mates are really nice but prone to not showing up to dinner, and the only reliably-present couple told us they're going to Sterling tonight, so they won't be there, so we figured tonight would be a good night to blow off dinner. Our waiters in the dining room (we're at table 3) are good but not outstanding.

 

I guess that's all for now--will try to post after Christmas Island as I think many are curious about that port. Have a great weekend, everyone!

[cnmiranda]

It's been so nice reading your reviews Beth! I am dreaming more and more about Tahiti one day. Have a great vacation! I bet you won't be wanting to get off the ship!

[twobritsonships]

We're really enjoying reading your posts We will be doing the reverse trip in September (leaving Honolulu on the 6th September ). It will be our first cruise, although second trip to Hawaii - can't wait to go! We will be looking out for your posts regularly.

[cruisinbuddy]

This is great, DW & I are planning this cruise for 2009 for our 25th anniv. Thanks:)

[Hulagirl]

Hi Beth:

 

Thanks again for the great update. Sounds like it has been a great cruise.

 

Daughter wants to know if you have been to the library? She is curious if it looks like it is pretty well stocked. We were just on the Sapphire and it was pretty empty still. If you happen to walk through, could you take a look for me? She would appreciate it. Loves to read while we cruise and with the weight restrictions we are hoping there are quite a few books that she can chose from. Not picky about reading, so just hoping there are quite a few books.

 

Did you get a certificate for crossing the equator? I'm presuming that you will before the end of the cruise. We have ours from the Panama Canal and it would be nice to have this with that one. Sounds like it was a fun time.

 

Have not heard of that show. We have seen the same ones several times, so this sounds good. Something new and different. Will be so different with the entertainment staff doubling as cruise staff. Definitely will have to watch for Chris.

 

Interesting that so many of the staff are new.

 

Will be very interested to hear about Christmas Island. Yes, we are very curious about that stop. I do hope you are able to stop there. Have read that the people turn out to meet the ship and are very friendly. Sounds like a fun port just from that perspective. Will send postcards from there also. Glad you gave me a heads up on that or I wouldn't have gotten off the ship with addresses. Would be fun to send from there.

 

We have loaded up on bonine for these cruises. Was looking at the webcam and it did look like the seas weren't real calm.

 

Take care and it is fun reading your posts.

 

Susan

[calikak]

Hello from Christmas Island! Tendering today was a real adventure. They did a ticketing system for tenders here and we were on the third tender of the day. I'd heard the water was shallow but man, it was REALLY shallow! Our tender banged against a rock or something on the way to the island and it sounded like one of the props was banged up. And that was with a local guide onboard each of the tenders, I mean, it's just that difficult to navigate. When we got ashore, there were the ubiquitous booths selling trinkets, like in FP, plus there were groups of children and adults singing and playing guitar. Postcards are available for sale for $1 on shore (so you might want to bring the free ones from the ship) and the post office had a table set up with stamps for sale for 50 cents. Much better deal than mailing them from FP where it was more like $1.50. Lovely stamp with fish on it here. There is an internet cafe right by the tender pier, someone told us it's $6 an hour for those who don't want to spend 50 cents per minute on the ship. We walked up the road a bit (there were some bus tours available but we didn't do that) and found a beach with a nice view of the ship. Then we noticed a big black cloud headed our way so we decided maybe it was time to tender back. Unfortunately, while we were waiting for a tender the sky opened up and we got totally drenched! I'd say in total we spent about an hour and a half on shore and that was really plenty for us. There's not much to see in the area around the tender pier so if you want to see something more interesting, try to get on one of the first tenders and take a minibus tour. By the time we got on a tender to go back all the minibuses were long gone. I'm glad we went ashore, but I just want to make clear that it's a pretty primitive place and not to expect any real amenities here.

 

Tonight is the optional dress code night (smart causal or formal) and they're doing another round of photo sittings. I played the slots yesterday (they have a few machines that are multi-value, 1 2 or 5 cents, plus lots of quarter and a few dollar machines) and am down $3, which for me is actually very good. :)

 

The comedian last night was pretty funny, although his humor is definitely tailored for the over-60 crowd (lots of "Sheesh, kids these days, why when I was your age" type jokes). They also did passenger feud last night (like family feud) and it was 70's night, so the poor cruise staff all had hillariously bad 70's costumes on. Tonight is another stage show I haven't heard of. Kind of nice to see something other than Piano Man for a change.

 

Susan, we did get certificates for crossing the equator, they were delivered to our stateroom. I've noticed a lot of people with the patch on this cruise, and haven't seen many people looking green, but I suppose they tend to keep to their staterooms when they're feeling poorly. There does seem to be a headcold going around, we've come across a few people that have it and Neil the cruise director does too (he mentioned it on his morning show today). But not a lot of stomach issues.

 

I guess that's all for now, will try to check in tomorrow or the next day!

[Hulagirl]

Hi Beth:

 

Intersting about Christmas Island. We were looking at the cruise cam yesterday and knew you were there and it did look a bit dark. Had heard it was a pretty shallow area that they have to take the tenders over and this is the reason they pass it by quite often. Sounds like you were lucky to get in since they must have scraped something. Hopefully we make it just to say we have been there.

 

Thanks for the advice on the postcards. Will have to send a couple from there.

 

Glad to hear you get a certificate for crossing the equator. Not that it is any big deal, but is fun to have. Granted there are a lot of people that have done this before, but not anybody I personally know. This will be interesting to have.

 

Hopefully our Bonine will be enough for this cruise. I do tend to get seasick at times, and have stocked up on this. Haven't used the patch before so I'm hoping this will be enough.

 

Will you let us know how Sterling's is? Have been on 3 other ships, and it has been good on 2 of them. Just curious how it is on this ship. We are thinking of trying it for one of our cruises.

 

Sounds like there are definitely some different shows. Agree, getting tired of Piano Man also. Funny that was the show they had on the Dawn Princess that we both just sailed on. Feel like I know it by heart now.

 

Hope the seas are calm for your last sea days to Hawaii! Hard to believe that you are going to be there in a couple of days. Time is going too fast.

 

Thanks so much for the updates. We, from the July 12 cruise, really appreciate all the information.

 

Susan

[Northender]

Thanks for the posts. I love reading them.:)

Susan - have a great time on your cruise :cool:

 

2009 here we come:D

[j!m]

hi

 

we did the tahiti/marquesa trip about a year ago and enjoyed every minute. the ship was great, not too big.

 

i wonder if you could do me a favour? we are thinking of the tahiti/honolulu trip later this year. at the princess web site, mini suites are variously described as 536 ft or 322 feet. could you tell me if some are actually larger than others and which cabin numbers are the larger mini suites?

[calikak]

Hello from somewhere in the north Pacific! We've been having rougher seas the last couple of days--yesterday was the hoe down in the Tahitian Lounge and it was hard doing the line dances with the ship moving around that much! They put up the "warning high winds" signs on the doors to the pool deck and it's been mostly rainy today (yesterday was rainy then sunny then rainy). They've been doing a great job keeping us busy on sea days despite the rain with trivia contests and art auctions (we bought a couple things, very exciting) and blackjack tournaments and bingo and arts and crafts and all sorts of activities. Tonight is another stage show--the last one was just so-so, I think it was called Gotta Sing or something like that, it was a medley of show tunes. Tonight's show is called C'est Magnifique" but if the rough seas keep up, I'm wondering if they'll need to cancel.

 

j!m, I'm not sure about the minisuites--we have a balcony aft and the interior of the cabin is the same as the other balcony cabins but the balcony itself is larger. The downside is we have more vibration than some of the other cabins and we do get a little bit of soot on our balcony but nothing major.

 

Today is a Meet the Captain event and they're going to auction off the navigational chart. And tonight is the Captain's Circle cocktail party, and formal night. Interesting that they waited until the second formal night to have it.

 

Some other tips I can't remember if I covered: there's one laundry room for the whole ship, on deck 7 just forward of the aft staircase on the port side. $1 to wash, $1 to dry, and the laundry soap is free so you don't need to bring your own. The sign in the laundry room says it takes 45 minutes for a dryer cycle but it's more like an hour.

 

Susan, you should be fine with the Bonine. Our friends who get seasick have been using just Bonine and were well enough to eat at Sabatini's last night in spite of the rough seas. I think our Sabatini's reservation is for the 8th, so that's still a couple of days off.

 

Oh, one other tip: I had tried to sign DH up for sport fishing in Kauai, but the cruise personalizer website stopped showing it as a tour and erased the booking we'd made. But it is available as a tour to be booked onboard. So, if the tour you wanted isn't available on the website, try to book it when you get onboard.

 

I think that's all for now, hope everyone is having a great day!

[SeaYa52]

Can't wait to read your adventures every day. Hope the seas calm down and it's smooth sailing the rest of the way. Thanks so very much for the posts.

Sandy

[TahitiTina]

Hi Beth,

Thanks for your posts, after months of waiting for info on this route, I look forward to everything you have to say!

We've been on the TP for the 10 day, looking forward to our 12 day cruise in August!

I do get seasick, so I already have patches, etc. ready, but it's nice to know that people are getting by ok as long as they have the right meds!

My questions for you:

How was the helmet dive excursion??? Was it booked thru Princess?

Thanks again, Tina

[madepaz]

Beth,

I am glad to hear that you are having such a great time. My parents and I disembarked on May 30th which is when you boarded. Like you, we had a wonderful time. We also had a few cloudy and on and off again rainy days but it was all worth it when we woke up in Morea and saw a complete rainbow. The view was breathtaking and unforgettable.

I am sorry to hear that your dining room service isn't as good. Our waiters, Marius and Florin, were not only sweet but incredible. They were always one step ahead of us. Our head waiter was Benito who was also very attentive and sweet. If you see them tell them we say hello. Our favorite bartender was Jose. Actually they called him skinny Jose and he is from Mexico. Like your cruise, our cruise was also over the age of 55.

Well I hope you continue to have a wonderful time. Can't wait to hear about your adventures the next couple of days.

[Hulagirl]

Hi Beth:

 

Can't believe you are in Hawaii all ready. Was just looking at the webcam and it says you are in route to Kona! Are you going to Kona? I know our cruise doesn't, so I'm a bit confused about that. After Hilo we go to Maui, so it will be interesting to see where you are tomorrow.

 

Sounds like the cruise has been wonderful. How was the Captain's Party? I'm curious if there were a lot of repeat passengers and how many days the most traveled person had. Seems like these cruises don't always have a lot of people that have sailed with Princess a lot of times.

 

You should be going to Sabatini's tomorrow night I see. We are thinking of going on our first cruise. Can't wait to hear how it is on this ship. Only have gone once and it was very good.

 

Glad to read that Bonine should be fine for us. I'm was a bit concerned about this, but you have put my mind at ease.

 

Will be looking forward to hearing from you when you get home or before if you have a chance to write.

 

Take care and thank you for all the great information. I'm getting our clothes ready for our cruises and it is feeling a bit overwhelming right now.

 

Susan

[calikak]

Hello from Hilo! We were supposed to leave here at 4:30 but due to "mechanical difficulties" we're just sailing out of the harbor now. Bad news is we won't make it to Kauai. Good news is that instead, we'll be sailing on the south side of the island past the lava flows tonight and anchoring in Kona at 7:30 tomorrow morning, for a full day in port there. Since we weren't getting a very long day in port in Kauai anyway, this really seems like it couldn't have turned out much better if they had planned it this way in the first place. :) They're working on arranging tours as we speak so they'll be open for booking first thing tomorrow morning. DH and I had booked ship's tours so those will be refunded automatically. I'm sad to be missing Kauai, but all day I kept thinking, "Gee, I wish I had another day to explore this island" and now we do! :) No word on what exactly the "mechanical difficulties" were, will let you all know if they tell us but I doubt it. I guess they first announced something was wrong around noon (our tablemate stayed onboard today and he said that's when he first heard an announcement about it) and then at 5 when we hadn't sailed yet, that's when I first heard about a mechanical issue. They did another announcement around 6:15 or so saying that they thought we wouldn't sail until at least 10 but we're leaving now. I told DH, "It's like Scotty from Star Trek--tell the captain it'll take until 10 and when you finish at 8 you're a miracle worker!" :D Most people seem OK with the change. We were all grumbling a bit before we knew we were going to Kona but now that we know we're going to Kona everyone seems fine with it.

 

We're supposed to pass the lava flow at 11:30 tonight, I'm looking forward to that! We drove around Volcanoes National Park today (car rental here is very easy, they have free shuttles from the pier and the airport is only 10 minutes away) and I was wishing we could see the actual lava but of course I'd never hike out there to see it, I have no death wish. :D

 

DH loved the helmet dive, he said there were tons of fish and it was really fun and I heard other people raving about it. We booked it through the ship. He went in the first tour of the morning and said the fish were all over the bread they gave him to feed them.

 

Weather today was mostly sunny but we did just have a bit of rain that started around 7PM. Hopefully our luck will hold out tomorrow! Will try to post to let you all know what's up with the new call in Kona. :)

[j!m]

thank you very much for taking time to try and help me out. the reason i was asking is we are thinkin on doing same trip and i travel with two girls who take up a lot of room.i dont want to pay for the o/s category if the m/s will do.

 

i look forward to your report on cruising past lava flow. i assume it will be spectacular. last time we were on tp we had cabin right on stern of ship it was great for viewing and despite some rough seas near the marquesas the motion was not too much to deal with and we are all somewhat succeptible to motion sickness.

[TexasMom2]

Thanks for the daily reports, Beth, we've all been living vicariously through you. :) Hope the lava flow cooperates and your day at Kona is spectacular.

[P&J]

Thanks for the Great Post! We will be on the Hawaii to Tahiti cruise July 24th. Sounds like it will be fantastic!!:D

[mstv]

Hi!

 

Thanks for all your info! My husband and I will be taking our honeymoon cruise on July 12th on the Tahitian Princess. It leaves from Tahiti and end in Hawaii. It will be my 1st cruise.

 

I'd love to hear any more tips or suggestions about the Tahitian Princess or cruising in general.

 

did you personalize your cruise on line? If so, were they good about keeping up with your requests?

 

Hope you're enjoying your trip!

[Nalu]

Hi Beth:

 

Glad to hear you are goiing to get to Kona. It is one of my favorite places on earth. The following question was posted on the 7/12/06 TP messagesboard:

 

Beth: When you first arrived in Tahiti, what were Customs like? Did they go through your luggage? Or, was it mostly just passport stamping?

 

What was your experience?

 

Thanks,

 

Joe

[Hulagirl]

Hi Beth:

 

I see you are on the way to Lahaina right now and it is a beautiful day there. The webcam show clear skies! Can't wait to get there.

 

How was Kona? Wondering what all you did while there. I know there is so much to do there and we have never been, so that would be a good stop also for us.

 

Can't believe tomorrow is Honolulu for you. Sounds like you have had a wonderful cruise. Looking forward to hear even more when you get back.

 

Susan