Holiday Aloha on the Golden Princess 12/22/10 to 1/5/11

[Cruisin' Chick]

Friday, December 31, 2010 – A day at sea

 

After breakfast, I headed for the Hawaii Activity Desk and got my ticket for the ribbon lei making class on Sunday. Then I headed for the gym where hubby was already working out. More time on the treadmill for me.

There was an emphasis on Indian food in the buffet today. Saw some guy filling with his plate with just shrimp. Then we checked out the Outrigger Bar and Horizon Terrace, right outside the back of the Horizon Court on the Lido Deck.

I headed for the Vista Lounge around 2:15pm for the hula class.

[Cruisin' Chick]

It was formal night, but hubby decided to first put on his “tuxedo” long sleeve tee that he purchased years before on Ebay. I put on my little black dress and we went out to check out the action. He suggested we go pick up a pager at one of the dining rooms (he figured there would be a wait as there was on Christmas Eve), and then return to the cabin so he can change to his suit. But when we showed up, the head waiter signaled for us to come on in. If she was disturbed by his outfit, she didn’t show it at all. And neither did the waiter who escorted us to a table. There were a couple already seated – the man in a tux. They didn’t bat an eye either. Then two more couples were seated with us. The first couple had already ordered and were given their first course.

[Cruisin' Chick]

 

At some point, a group of officers and their wives were seated at the next table. Hubby looked over and said one of them was the captain (the dark haired gentleman in the first photo).

 

 

[Cruisin' Chick]

Pheasant:

[Cruisin' Chick]

Just to go back to lunchtime:

[Cruisin' Chick]

Decoration outside one of the dining rooms:

 

After dinner, we did a check of the various parties. We ran into our girl, and reminded her that the balloon drop will be in the piazza (she was disappointed five years ago when we had left her in the kids’ program on New Year’s Eve, thinking there would be the scheduled party – which didn’t happened).

 

The balloons ready for the stroke of midnight:

[Cruisin' Chick]

There wasn’t a lack of festivities. The Wheelhouse featured a Scottish Hogmanay New Year with pianist David Moore. Nexus performed in the Explorers Lounge. Resident DJ Eddy got the pool party going up on deck for the New year’s Eve Party Under the Stars. Passion provided the music in the Piazza.

 

Passion:

Hubby and I made our way to the Piazza to listen to the band. We talked to one couple who came from England. They had left home a few days ahead of the cruise and visited Las Vegas before heading to LA. A kid enjoying the festivities:

[Cruisin' Chick]

 

Lady Moo is ready to celebrate:

[Cruisin' Chick]

A screen was dropped down and tuned into Fox News. Probably because it had countdowns. But I noticed it kept showing the wrong time zone (I guess Fox News wanted to keep showing 10pm EST over and over again). A short time before midnight, the girl showed up and disappeared into the gathering crowd under the balloon-covered ceiling. We stayed just outside this mass, talking with Mary and Scott and some other people. Everyone started counting down when there were just seconds to go and then the balloons dropped. Some people were intent on popping them while some others bounced them around.

[Cruisin' Chick]

[Cruisin' Chick]

Saturday, January 1, 2011 -- Day at Sea

 

 

The buffet station today was the Oriental Soup Station I saw in the Patters that the Fiesta Bowl was scheduled to be shown in the Players Bar today. Wondered how non-smokers could handle that.

I checked out the Rose Bowl game by the pool, asking some passengers what the weather was like in Pasadena (which would be similar to the weather where I live). This couple were wearing Wisconsin tee shirts, but said they were from Encino (near me) and were cheering for the Badgers as their daughter is a student there. I then got some chicken sandwiches from the grill and brought them over to the nook where my hubby was playing his guitar.

At 1:30, I went to the Hula ‘Auana Class in the Piazza.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Hubby back to strumming:

 

Moo checks out the Princess Pop Choir practice:

 

Moo gets a key lime tart from the International Cafe:

[hermajestylanie]

It was formal night' date=' but hubby decided to first put on his “tuxedo” long sleeve tee that he purchased years before on Ebay. I put on my little black dress and we went out to check out the action. He suggested we go pick up a pager at one of the dining rooms (he figured there would be a wait as there was on Christmas Eve), and then return to the cabin so he can change to his suit. But when we showed up, the head waiter signaled for us to come on in. If she was disturbed by his outfit, she didn’t show it at all. And neither did the waiter who escorted us to a table. There were a couple already seated – the man in a tux. They didn’t bat an eye either. Then two more couples were seated with us. The first couple had already ordered and were given their first course.

 

I LOVE the tux shirt- so funny! What a fantastic cruise you had- that would be a great time of year. Thanks for sharing with all of us.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Thanks. It was fun and relaxing!

[Cruisin' Chick]

As on many of the days, we headed for afternoon trivia:

[Cruisin' Chick]

We went to the Motor City show, which was pretty good. One of the featured singers had a wardrobe malfunction early on, but after a quick trip off stage (one of the male singers got in a “see, it’s live”), she returned in another outfit, pursuing that show business adage, “the show must go on.”

[Cruisin' Chick]

Here’s some of the Hawaiian activities that were available on my cruise:

Hula classes, ukulele lesons, lei-making classes (orchid, ribbon, heirloom), the Halau Hula Olana show (an award-winning troupe of hula dancers come on in Honolulu), naturalist talks about life, sea life on Hawaii.

The musical duo of Elua (David Soreff &n Faline Leialoha Kini) have been particularly instrumental in bringing the feeling of aloha onboard, through promoting the culture of Hawaii. As I said, I haven’t heard of any other ship really doing this when it comes to promoting the itinerary onboard (other than port talks, that is).

[Cruisin' Chick]

Sunday, January 2, 2011 -- Day at Sea

 

There was a photo in the Patters of the most traveled on Princess couple, from Lake Oswego, Oregon with 1,168 days. That was the couple we were eating with earlier in the cruise! Today a Lebanese Buffet was featured in the Horizon court.

I went to the Wheelhouse Bar and signed up for the “On Deck for the Cure.” It was very windy and each time I passed by the bow of the ship, I had to literally hold on to my baseball cap.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Lunch in the Horizon (chicken, pasta, pear, salad):

 

Later on, I went to Sabitinis for my ribbon lei class. The crew member that was teaching the class was already helping one passenger, so I found an empty table and figured out how to make them from the instruction sheet. Took a while to get it going, but by the time the crew member stopped by my table, I was cooking. She said, “brilliant,” and moved on. After that I went to the Vista Lounge for the Hula Masters class.

[Cruisin' Chick]

At Captains Circle party, it was announced that 864 passengers were gold status, 454 platinum and 214 elite, The most travelled: 1168 days, 905, 652. There were three parties scheduled. We were hurried out of there before 7.

the elusive cruise director:

the captain:

[Cruisin' Chick]

[Cruisin' Chick]

[Cruisin' Chick]

Cruiselover57 (Laurie) and her husband

Moo and her free drink

[Cruisin' Chick]

After the free drink and the Princess plugs, we headed for the dining room with Laurie, Michael and their son. Among the others joining us, was the retired principal we dined with the week before. She told us one scooter-jockey managed to run over her foot. We also heard that one family was being kicked off the ship in Ensenada.

[Cruisin' Chick]

After dinner, we went to the International Crew Show at 10:15. After some cruise directors' staff tossed out balloons (which were bounced about, until one or two people popped them), the show started with a slide show of various crew members with their nationality listed. Canada and the U.S. got a lot of applause. There was a Thai couple who danced, some singers, one rock band. The cruise director’s staff did some running gags in between and did the finale, “If I weren’t upon the sea” song.