Golden Princess LIVE - 12/20/2009 Hawaii Christmas New Years Sailing

[spook1]

Yes Martin is above the cut. Had him as assistant on Emerald two years ago October Venice to FLL. I usually forget the cruise staff on disembarking but Martin was the exceptuin. Took me back 30 years to Sun Princess and Oriana when the cruise staff WAS the entertainment and ships weren't mirroring Vagas.

[redtop101]

Yes Martin is above the cut. Had him as assistant on Emerald two years ago October Venice to FLL. I usually forget the cruise staff on disembarking but Martin was the exceptuin. Took me back 30 years to Sun Princess and Oriana when the cruise staff WAS the entertainment and ships weren't mirroring Vagas.

 

If anyone wants to see Martin lose several pairs of shorts in the skit "If I were not upon the sea" then check out my YouTube video at

 

[Bucky3]

Thanks for posting that video - always fun and different depending on the crew!! Enjoy the remaining days onboard, and thanks to everyone who has posted such great information for those of us following you from home! It's been a fun cruise!

[Scrapchick]

Another marvelous, fun day at sea on the Golden... Several rounds of Trivia with our team of Helenb, Karatemom, me and our spouses. We came close to winning on more than one occasion. Somehow we squeezed in a spot of lunch and I managed to see Helenb perform in karaoke in order to claim her required signature for the scavenger hunt. The rest of the day flew by and after a nice Italian dinner, complete with waiters bursting into song for their tables, we headed to the Princess Theater for the magic show by Gaetano. It was fairly standard fare, but very entertaining and he has a good sense of humor and made us all laugh as well as wonder how he did what he did. Karatemom and I sat behind our kids and chuckled how the magician was so good he even managed to make our Cruise Director appear-twice!!! We've seen more of Captain Calabrese in the past few days that we have our dear old CD... The Captain is a very genial type and even showed up at the afternoon's trivia event. The CD is clearly a busy man, but he's an invisible one too...

 

The weather has been fairly good, but it's getting cooler and breezier as we head towards the California coast and there's just enough movement by the ship to let us know we're actually at sea, which is nice.

 

I heard that someone posted a link to Martin on Youtube... I'll watch it when I get home and I'm not burning precious internet minutes. Thanks for doing that. Martin was outside the magic show dressed up as Woody from Toy Story this evening. Why, I cannot tell you....

 

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and there are the usual evening parties planned and a balloon drop in the Piazza at midnight. At 2.45PM, which is 11.45PM British Time, there will be the British celebration of New Year's in the Vista Lounge, which should be fun as there are 600 Brits on board. I'm British born and raised, so am looking to that. Not sure I'll make it to midnight so at least I'll get in one celebration. As my Dad always says before a gin and tonic, it's 5 O'Clock in the world somewhere!

 

Anyway, I'm sitting on our balcony writing this on the laptop, listening to the waves below me and enjoying the fresh air. We're in no hurry to get home and hand the Golden over to the next group and are happy to have another two days at sea. Karatemom and I have mapped out tomorrow's agenda and it looks like I may have to give the gym a miss again in order to fit in all the other obligations. Life's hard at sea.

 

Tomorrow night we are going to dinner with Karatemom, Mountain Mom and some other CC'ers and will try to group the adults at one table and the kids at a table next to us so we can keep an eye on them.

 

UPDATE ON THE MEET & GREET...

 

For anyone reading on the Golden.... The Purser confirmed with me that we are meeting on New Year's Day at 5PM in the Skywalkers Lounge and he will put it in the Patter for that day. Please spread the word!

[judyfssw]

We will be leaving for Hawaii on Valentines' Day. Already, I'm dreading the end of our cruise from reading your daily stories. You have made the cruise come alive. Thank you.

[7Grandma]

We are on the Feb. 14th Hawaii cruise and would like to know what nights are the formal nights and what night is the Hawaii deck party? Enjoyed reading some of your adventures on this cruise. Happy New Years and please DO NOT DRIVE back to your stateroom!

[Colo Cruiser]

Enjoy!!

[CanuckCurlers]

!

"Anyway, I'm sitting on our balcony writing this on the laptop, listening to the waves below me and enjoying the fresh air. We're in no hurry to get home and hand the Golden over to the next group and are happy to have another two days at sea."

I am one of the lucky ones who will be taking your hand off. I thank you for sharing your journey and hope our cruise will be just as fantastic. Coming from Canada we now just have to get through airport security and we will be able to relax. :D

[Scrapchick]

We are on the Feb. 14th Hawaii cruise and would like to know what nights are the formal nights and what night is the Hawaii deck party? Enjoyed reading some of your adventures on this cruise. Happy New Years and please DO NOT DRIVE back to your stateroom!

 

I'll have to check which night was the deck party, as I can't remember!

 

The formal nights have been different on this cruise than advertised... Originally, Christmas Eve and New year's Eve were not scheduled to be formal, but have been changed to be so. The formals will probably be different nights on your cruise....

 

The first formal was Day 3. Another was scheduled for Dec 29 (Day 9?) but was changed to Dec 31. Another formal was put in for Dec 24. I think the total is three, which surprised me a bit.

 

The balloon net is up on Deck 7 in the Piazza and will shortly be filled with balloons. We are off to the British New Year's celebration in a little bit and have just returned from a fantastic pub lunch in the Crown Grill. On the menu... Scampi and Chips, Steak and Kidney Pie, Chicken Curry, Scotch Eggs and Salad. For dessert... English trifle!

[helenb]

Well it looks like you guys have all been filled in on our happenings... we've had a lot of 'second place' finishes in the games, including for Treasure Quest today. But now the games are on hold, because it's New Year's Eve tonight and I am going to indulge myself... and get ready for formal night in a leisurely fashion. Somehow, at home, I never have hours to just work on beautifying myself... and trust me, beautifying MYSELF takes a LOT more work than it used to, and the results aren't nearly as good. Sigh.

 

I should mention that the chocolate/pastry buffet is not to be missed! We just came from there, and we had to roll ourselves on down the stairs.

 

Tonight we're going to all dress up, and take the kids to see the hypnotist and the show (Cinematique) before running off to try and join the Newlywed game. Then we'll see how late we can stay up for New Year's! My only complaint is that it would be nice if we had lost another hour last night, so we could be on the same New Year's as California. But since we didn't, I guess we're going to lose our other hour tomorrow night.

 

The internet is slooooow today... probably because everyone is on right now. But we'll have to post again tomorrow!

[bmench]

Remember guys to please post your pics and patters of your cruise I can't wait to go on our cruise so I am really excited about everything you have please , please , please and let us know about the entertainers. I have been happy reading your posts since there have been some that have posted some not to nice ones of their cruise. Show us the pictures. Thank you!!!!

[partybarbie]

I have a question but I think that I know the answer already. My husband had a stroke and is handicapped. He uses a scooter to get around the ship but can walk (very very slowly). I (we) would love to do the Chef's table with our group of 2 other couples. Do you think that the chef would let us?

 

On my Emerald Princess cruise last March, we attended the Chef's Table with a fellow CC'er who had broken her ankle while on the ship. She was in a wheelchair, with a cast, and the Maitre'D provided her with her very own waiter to push her around. I think that your husband could do the tour. It is certainly worth asking.

[jtagphillycruiser]

Happy New Year to all the posters on this thread. Very nice that the children get along and can hang out....such wonderful memories....Joanne

[scuba diver]

bmench:

 

If you want the Golden's Patters they are posted at:

 

http://cid-48a450147295188f.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Golden%20to%20HI%20Patters

 

Just down load them and you can view them on your computer.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I'll have to check which night was the deck party, as I can't remember!

 

The formal nights have been different on this cruise than advertised... Originally, Christmas Eve and New year's Eve were not scheduled to be formal, but have been changed to be so. The formals will probably be different nights on your cruise....

 

The first formal was Day 3. Another was scheduled for Dec 29 (Day 9?) but was changed to Dec 31. Another formal was put in for Dec 24. I think the total is three, which surprised me a bit.

 

The balloon net is up on Deck 7 in the Piazza and will shortly be filled with balloons. We are off to the British New Year's celebration in a little bit and have just returned from a fantastic pub lunch in the Crown Grill. On the menu... Scampi and Chips, Steak and Kidney Pie, Chicken Curry, Scotch Eggs and Salad. For dessert... English trifle!

 

On our holiday cruise, the formal dinners were switched to be on Christmas eve and New Years Eve. Sounds pretty standard for this.

 

I hope all of you have a great time. Swat a balloon for me.

[bmench]

bmench:

 

If you want the Golden's Patters they are posted at:

 

http://cid-48a450147295188f.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Golden%20to%20HI%20Patters

 

Just down load them and you can view them on your computer.

 

 

Thank you so much for the info. Still looking for everyone to post their reviews on all the coming cruises aboard the golden this way we can all get ready for our cruise. Thank you everyone. Have a safe trip home.

[Techie]

Scrapchick, can you confirm how good is the wireless from your room? I'm hoping it's good and worth taking the netbook....

 

Thanks!

[dazee8]

Can anyone aboard tell me if they had a New Year's Day brunch in the dining room? They did this on one of our Hawaii r/t since everyone got a late start on New Year's Day. It was a wonderful special menu and the crew seemed to appreciate a few extra hours of sleep too.

 

Thanks.

[Scrapchick]

Scrapchick, can you confirm how good is the wireless from your room? I'm hoping it's good and worth taking the netbook....

 

Thanks!

 

It varies... Overall, I would say it's fairly good, about as good as you could expect on a ship.

[Scrapchick]

Sorry, we went for another pub lunch in the Crown Grill.... There is a New year's Day brunch in the buffet, but to me it didn't look any different than the regular buffet. I did glance at the Lunch menu and nothing on it really appealed to me, but it didn't look extra special. However, I didn't pay a lot of attention to it.

[helenb]

Oh no, it looks as if my previous post didn't make it through! That tells you something about the wireless.... ;)

 

The wireless is certainly more convenient to use, and it allows for offline composition of posts before using up minutes, but I find that I'm often getting 'booted off' on the wireless, and losing posts. That doesn't happen in the Internet room, although in both places the service can be veeeeeery slow. IMHO it's not worth bringing a computer on an airplane, but if you're driving and bringing the laptop is easy, then it's nice to have.

 

There is a New Year's Brunch today in the Horizon Court, but I didn't see one announced for the dining room. A lot of people slept in today. I dropped my kids at the Kids Club at 9:30 am, and there were only 2 kids there in each of their age groups (3-7 and 8-12) ans 10 kids there in each group when I picked them up at noon!

 

This morning is also notable because the Cruise Critics won at trivia! We got a perfect score and won wallets... we didn't even need a tie-breaker! Whoo hoo!

 

Last night was a lot of fun. We had dinner at 5:30 (dressed to the 9s) and then caught the hypnotist show at 7 pm. At 8:15 we saw Cinematastique, and then at 9:30 we saw the Love & Marriage/Newlywed game show (unfortunately we weren't picked). The we spent an hour or so in the cabin before we went down to the bottom of the piazza for the big balloon drop. he kids enjoyed the party, but when they started crying because people were popping the dropped balloons, we knew it was time for bed.

 

Our cruise is fast coming to an end, but it has been wonderful, and we're going to keep on enjoying these last 2 days!

[Scrapchick]

Well, we celebrated New Year's Eve twice on the Golden... First we went to the British celebration at 3PM in the Vista Lounge which was great fun and enjoyed by all. After that we went to afternoon tea and the off for another round of Trivia, before getting ready for Formal Dinner and portraits. We ate with two other CC families and ended up with a party of 14 people spread over two tables. Everyone wore Happy New Year hats and tiaras and blew horns and it was a merry old time in the Donatello dining room.

 

We didn't get out of diner until after 9PM and missed the hypnotist show, so ended up going to see the Cinematastic show at 10.15PM instead, which was really entertaining and quite good. We had gone to the Backstage Tour earlier in the day which was very interesting and informative. I have a bad cold and a very sore pair of tonsils so was keen to go to bed, having seen in the New year once already, but as it was already after 11PM at this point we ended up moving to the Piazza with Karatemom and her DD, where we found a few inches to call our own in the packed atrium under the balloon net and we boogied to live music until a screen was lowered with the time countdown projected on it and we all stood there and screamed out the last 10 seconds until 2010 arrived and Auld Lang Syne rang out. It was hugely fun and a real feeling of unity, packed as we were in the Piazza on a ship in the middle of the ocean with no-one to hear us shout.

 

After that we went to bed and all woke up feeling a bit sleep deprived this morning. We re-assembled for the first Trivia of the year with KarateMom, Helenb and a couple of other regulars we play with and ended up winning the whole thing with 20 out of 20, which was the first time that's ever happened. We were pretty excited about that! We failed miserably in the next celebrity trivia game and went our separate ways for lunch.

 

This afternoon is the Kids Talent Show. Heaven help me, as my 8 year old actually thinks she can sing opera and is going to blast out the chorus line from Figaro live in the Princess Theater. I would give just about anything to sit this out but can't. If we make it through that, there will be more Trivia and then our final CC meeting at 5PM in the Skywalkers Lounge, the graveyard of the ship, and a place I haven't been to up till now, like many others on board!

 

Tonight we are going to the Crown Grill for dinner with Karatemom and Co. My jeans are definitely tighter than they were on Day 1 and my cold has kept me out of the gym for a few days, so maybe it's just as well it's time to get off the ship and get back to reality....

 

Tomorrow we pull in to Ensenada at 1PM to comply with the Jones Act and after that we steam towards San Pedro and at that point I will pack my case and not before!

 

Happy New year to all and Roll Call members... See you in Skywalkers at 5PM!

 

PS... Someone asked when the island party took place... It was on Honolulu night and we were in port until 11PM.

[mycruz]

Thanks for all the updates Helen and Chick! Happy New Year to both of you.

 

Don't forget Chick, "starve a fever, feed a cold" so your jeans are saying your right on track!!!!

 

Helen, congrats on the trivia contest, what? no luggage tags as prizes:eek:?

 

I'm sure you and the rest of the ship are not looking forward to the end of what sounds like a great holiday cruise, however, we are under 60 days now until we board the Golden for our turn. Thanks for keeping the ship in good shape! Mary

[dazee8]

Thanks for the update on if there was a New Year's Day brunch in the dining room. I suppose the year we had it was one of the last and has since been discontinued. Pity, as it was really nice menu and worth it because there weren't a lot of people up at the crack of dawn.

 

:)Aloha + Mahalo!

[mikjr]

HelenB &/or Scrapchick... could you elaborate a bit on the Hawaiian deck party?

 

Last cruise to Mexico, there was supposed to be a Mexican themed deck party, but there was no food and no decorations. Just the band, one cruise staff member, and a lot of waiters trying to sell drinks.

 

Since we are taking the same ship and cruise in March, I'd be interested to know what kind of parties the Golden puts on.