Onboard Golden to Hawaii Nov 23-Dec 7

[kayakbob]

We are beginning our fourth day at sea prior to our first port tomorrow. Here are some random observations for this cruise:

 

The Crown Plaza shuttle was efficient. Embarkation was efficient and we were on the ship by noon. After dropping the carryons in the room, went to the dining room for lunch. The greeter suggested that we go up to the buffet; when I politely declined we were seated for a very nice lunch.

 

There is no evidence of the norovirus problem that hit a few cruises ago.

 

Seas have been rough on two occasions, the first sea day had us walking funny with several passengers affected by the rolling. The production show that evening was postponed by a day for the safety of the dancers. The second and third sea days were fine but it was quite rough last night and it is a bit rough today. The pools have been closed for most of the voyage because of the swells.

 

There are a lot of Hawaiian-themed activities onboard. We participated in the flower lei class (free), heirloom lei class ($25-35), hula class (free) and ukulele classes (free). There are lots of musical presentations sprinkled through the day.

 

The naturalist/port lecturer, Rachel Dunham, is outstanding. Her port talks stress things to do rather than shopping. She has also made presentations on Hawaii’s unique animals, coral reefs, volcanoes and Hawaiian history. I believe that she will be on subsequent Golden voyages. The history lecturer, Ed Glick, is a little quirky and I find his ‘stream of consciousness’ presentation style to be a bit irritating.

 

Linda Gentille is an amazing pianist/entertainer and her show should not be missed. You must arrive at entertainment venues early. The show last night was ‘standing room only’ at 15 minutes before the starting time.

 

The internet is reasonably quick by ship standards. Wifi works well in my cabin, deck 8 forward.

[sassyredhat]

Thanks for sharing. :)

We aren't sailing the Golden in April, but we are staying at the CP for the first time. Good to know the shuttle is efficient.

Have a fun trip. I know you will.

Pat

[Celest1022]

Thank you for your review. I was hoping someone would write about the cruise and what the ocean has been like. How long after you left LA did you notice it getting warmer ( I hope)? Where you able to go out on a balcony soon after you left LA or was it too cold? We are on the next cruise after you. Oh big question but I think it's too early to ask but,,please let us know if and when you SEE WHALES!!! I sure hope you do.:D

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing. Enjoy.

 

Keith

[srpilo]

Hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise

 

 

Srpilo

[Bucky3]

Thank you for your comments. We'll be on the December 21st cruise and are so looking forward to spending the holidays onboard the Golden, so anything you have to say is of great interest to us. Enjoy your time in paradise! Aloha!

[Whoo]

Thanks for your review! We will be on the Star at this time next year.

 

What did the ship do for Thanksgiving? Was there a special meal offered?

[HBINLA]

We will be going on the Golden Dec. 21st thru Jan 4th (we can't wait either, Bucky3!). The rough seas are concerning to me as my wife gets motion sickness pretty easily. I'm not even going to tell her what you wrote. Maybe I'll have her wear 2 Scopolamine patches!

 

Looking forward to any more details/info upon your return and prior to our departure. Love the details!

 

Aloha!!!

[Bucky3]

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but I didn't see you on our roll call for the Golden on December 21st. Why don't you hop over and join the group. And about those patches - just be sure they are tolerable for your wife (not sure how you do that!), but my daughter had a real problem using them. Everything she tried to read was blurry. Once she removed the patches, she was fine. That was a couple of years ago, so perhaps they've improved them.

[kayakbob]

Re: questions asked, it has been quite chilly during the four days at sea. I’m in an obstructed OV cabin so can’t comment on the utility of a balcony during the crossing. On the fourth sea day I did enjoy sitting at the rear of deck 14 while reading.

Re: whales, the best place to see them is supposed to be Maui. The season starts in December but the onboard naturalist reports that she saw several during the previous sailing. As reported later, our whale trip saw only one whale.

Re: roughness, I suspect that most seasickness problems could be solved with a dose of meclazine or a scopolamine patch. The crossing had two rough days but nothing too bad.

We had our first port day in Hilo. We awoke to strong surf warnings and brisk winds. We took an independent shore excursion booked with Big Island Aina Tours with trip highlights being Volcano National Park and a black sand beach with sea turtles. This was a 6-passenger tour led by Tina, one of the owners of this 2-van tour company. She is very knowledgeable and friendly and provided a very interesting tour. I selected Aina Tours based on favorable comments on CC and Tripadvisor.

Next was a long day in Honolulu where the weather was clear and warm (perhaps 80 degrees). We began with a local bus ride from the ship to Diamond Head, an extinct volcano that can be hiked to a lookout at the top. This was a nice hike, a bit strenuous at times, but accomplished successfully by a wide variety of people. The views from the top are impressive. We took the bus back towards the ship, walked through Chinatown (not very exciting) and visited the Foster Botanic Gardens. Here we spent a few hours viewing tropical plants and finished in the conservatory where they had a large variety of orchids. We finished the day by having dinner with friends living on the windward side of the island.

We were greeted in Kauai by a moderate misty rain. We booked a ship excursion to tour the Na Pali coast by zodiac. We were taken by van along the south coast towards the Barking Sands naval base. We boarded a very large zodiac that could hold about 40 passengers. We headed out of the harbor towards the Na Pali coast. A large rainstorm was visible in the distance. After going for about a half hour the captain received a radio message from a boat further ahead indicating strong winds and surf. The captain decided to abort our trip and we returned to the harbor. He indicated that the tour operator would refund our fees (our account has been credited). I was very impressed that he didn’t try to extend the trip and put our comfort and safety at risk. We were returned to the ship and we took a short walk to a beach park about ½ mile away. There was a nice sandy beach with a fairly mellow surf where we could swim in comfort.

The Maui stop is at Lahaina, a tender port. The tendering process took about ½ hour each way. We arrived in Lahaina about 8:30. There are a lot of tour operators with booths at the harbor. Upon arrival we booked a whale watching excursion with Pacific Whale Foundation. They operate a large boat that carries a few hundred passengers as well as a small zodiac-style craft that carries 30. We were fortunate to be able to take the small boat which cost about $50/person for a 2-hour excursion. It is very early in the whale season and we saw only one whale. The captain followed this whale at a respectful distance so we saw it come up several times. We wandered around Lahaina for a while, then returned to the ship for lunch and a quiet afternoon.

We are now headed back towards LA, looking forward to more Hawaii-themed activities and more good food. We have been quite impressed with our dinners onboard. We find the soups to be very well done and I really enjoy the various preparations of fish. And the ice cream is always great.

[kayakbob]

We are experiencing the first day at sea of the return trip. Last night was a little bouncy but not too bad.

At breakfast spoke with someone who experienced a tender failure during the passage to Lahaina. A rope became entangled with the prop and the tender was stranded for an hour. They eventually brought out another tender and transferred the passengers. Later that day when they got back to their room there was a note and a chocolate covered strawberry. Seems like a small onboard credit would be more appropriate.

Coffee card: there is a lengthy discussion elsewhere about the new coffee cards that are marked with the ship and the sailing. My wife is one who has purchased a coffee card in order to get the free brewed coffee. The first time that she used it this trip they tried to substitute a card with the info for this cruise. She didn’t want to do this and they let her keep her original card. She hasn’t had any other incidents getting brewed coffee with the old card so we should be ok until our next voyage. If this paragraph doesn’t make sense you may want to read the separate coffee card thread.

The only major disappointment is the scheduling of entertainment. It is important to arrive at least 30 minutes before the show starts to get a seat. As with many Princess ships the main showroom holds far less than one half of the number of passengers. On previous ships to accommodate everyone they have added a third show on the next day but generally not on this sailing. On one evening they scheduled two production shows at the same time, neither repeated the following day (the Frankie Valle/Four Seasons tribute was very well done). The Motown show was scheduled for the small venue for one night only. By 7:45, 45 minutes before the show began, there was a line of several hundred people waiting to enter the small showroom.

[caribill]

At breakfast spoke with someone who experienced a tender failure during the passage to Lahaina. A rope became entangled with the prop and the tender was stranded for an hour. They eventually brought out another tender and transferred the passengers. Later that day when they got back to their room there was a note and a chocolate covered strawberry. Seems like a small onboard credit would be more appropriate.

 

A single chocolate covered strawberry, how generous!

[seafun]

Thanks for your newsy updates. I'm sure they will be very helpful for folks anticipating this trip. (I was on the 10/26 sailing and loved it).

I'm very sorry to hear that your Na Pili coast excursion was cancelled. I was able to take it and really enjoyed it -- although we also ran into some rain, on the way out and on the way back. Fortunately it didn't last TOO long, although everyone sure wrapped up fast in ship's towels for warmth!

The cliffs are spectacular and we were able to enter an incredible sea cave, thanks to our captain's excellent maneuvering skills. Very enjoyable, and they served a nice lunch of sandwiches.

However -- (just my two cents worth) -- it was beastly expensive at $249.00 for the Princess excursion. If you go online you can find rates much lower, but the times don't line up with arrival and departure times, so they kind of have you over a barrel. I debated long and hard before plunking down my money, since I'm more of a do-it-yourself excursion kind of guy. Bottom line? I really enjoyed it and considered it worth the money, since it was the only was to do it.

So, back to YOUR thread, LOL...:o

Sorry you weren't able to do the trip, but Congratulations! You saved a big chunk of money! :D

[Celest1022]

Re: questions asked, it has been quite chilly during the four days at sea. I’m in an obstructed OV cabin so can’t comment on the utility of a balcony during the crossing. On the fourth sea day I did enjoy sitting at the rear of deck 14 while reading.

 

Re: whales, the best place to see them is supposed to be Maui. The season starts in December but the onboard naturalist reports that she saw several during the previous sailing. As reported later, our whale trip saw only one whale.

 

Re: roughness, I suspect that most seasickness problems could be solved with a dose of meclazine or a scopolamine patch. The crossing had two rough days but nothing too bad.

 

We had our first port day in Hilo. We awoke to strong surf warnings and brisk winds. We took an independent shore excursion booked with Big Island Aina Tours with trip highlights being Volcano National Park and a black sand beach with sea turtles. This was a 6-passenger tour led by Tina, one of the owners of this 2-van tour company. She is very knowledgeable and friendly and provided a very interesting tour. I selected Aina Tours based on favorable comments on CC and Tripadvisor.

 

Next was a long day in Honolulu where the weather was clear and warm (perhaps 80 degrees). We began with a local bus ride from the ship to Diamond Head, an extinct volcano that can be hiked to a lookout at the top. This was a nice hike, a bit strenuous at times, but accomplished successfully by a wide variety of people. The views from the top are impressive. We took the bus back towards the ship, walked through Chinatown (not very exciting) and visited the Foster Botanic Gardens. Here we spent a few hours viewing tropical plants and finished in the conservatory where they had a large variety of orchids. We finished the day by having dinner with friends living on the windward side of the island.

 

We were greeted in Kauai by a moderate misty rain. We booked a ship excursion to tour the Na Pali coast by zodiac. We were taken by van along the south coast towards the Barking Sands naval base. We boarded a very large zodiac that could hold about 40 passengers. We headed out of the harbor towards the Na Pali coast. A large rainstorm was visible in the distance. After going for about a half hour the captain received a radio message from a boat further ahead indicating strong winds and surf. The captain decided to abort our trip and we returned to the harbor. He indicated that the tour operator would refund our fees (our account has been credited). I was very impressed that he didn’t try to extend the trip and put our comfort and safety at risk. We were returned to the ship and we took a short walk to a beach park about ½ mile away. There was a nice sandy beach with a fairly mellow surf where we could swim in comfort.

 

The Maui stop is at Lahaina, a tender port. The tendering process took about ½ hour each way. We arrived in Lahaina about 8:30. There are a lot of tour operators with booths at the harbor. Upon arrival we booked a whale watching excursion with Pacific Whale Foundation. They operate a large boat that carries a few hundred passengers as well as a small zodiac-style craft that carries 30. We were fortunate to be able to take the small boat which cost about $50/person for a 2-hour excursion. It is very early in the whale season and we saw only one whale. The captain followed this whale at a respectful distance so we saw it come up several times. We wandered around Lahaina for a while, then returned to the ship for lunch and a quiet afternoon.

 

We are now headed back towards LA, looking forward to more Hawaii-themed activities and more good food. We have been quite impressed with our dinners onboard. We find the soups to be very well done and I really enjoy the various preparations of fish. And the ice cream is always great.

Thank you for taking the time and answering all my questions. I hope it's smooth sailing for the rest of your journey. One last question,,if you don't mind,,,,,is the ship decorated for the holidays and do they have a snow machine in the piazza. I read that they will have this but not sure when. Merry Christmas!!!!!!:D

[San Diego Ellie]

Thanks for taking the time from your cruise to post. We will be embarking the day you disembark, and I am wondering about early morning coffee and continental breakfast. I understand that the International Cafe is now the 24 hour venue. What time do they offer yogurt and such? Also, do you have to have a coffee card for very early morning coffee (i.e. 5:00)? Last, did they let you use an already partially punched coffee card for brewed coffee during the day?

 

Thanks!

Ellie

[Woobstr112G]

Enjoy your days at sea en route to Ensenada.....:):):)

 

Bob

[HBINLA]

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but I didn't see you on our roll call for the Golden on December 21st. Why don't you hop over and join the group. And about those patches - just be sure they are tolerable for your wife (not sure how you do that!), but my daughter had a real problem using them. Everything she tried to read was blurry. Once she removed the patches, she was fine. That was a couple of years ago, so perhaps they've improved them.

 

Sorry for the delay in answering - I'm still trying to get used to figuring out how to navigate my way around these boards! I will add our names to the list. Thanks for the invite!

 

She has used the patches, and she tolerates them just fine. The crazy thing is when we get home and she removes them, she experiences a crazy rocking experience, as if she was seasick (and no, we don't live on a houseboat...lol). Upon going to our ENT Dr., he said that a small percentage of people that use the patch, get the symptoms in reverse. Something to do with the inner ear, equilibrium and some other factors. Her luck, she gets seasick on solid land!!! Complete craziness. But, I guess it's like child birth, after awhile she forgets about it and wants to go for it again. Thank God we have 2 kids and have been on 8 cruises, and not the reverse!!!

 

Looking forward to more details and information from everyone.

 

Only 18 days to go...is it too early to pack? :-)

[lovevacadays]

We are experiencing the first day at sea of the return trip. Last night was a little bouncy but not too bad.

 

At breakfast spoke with someone who experienced a tender failure during the passage to Lahaina. A rope became entangled with the prop and the tender was stranded for an hour. They eventually brought out another tender and transferred the passengers. Later that day when they got back to their room there was a note and a chocolate covered strawberry. Seems like a small onboard credit would be more appropriate.

 

Coffee card: there is a lengthy discussion elsewhere about the new coffee cards that are marked with the ship and the sailing. My wife is one who has purchased a coffee card in order to get the free brewed coffee. The first time that she used it this trip they tried to substitute a card with the info for this cruise. She didn’t want to do this and they let her keep her original card. She hasn’t had any other incidents getting brewed coffee with the old card so we should be ok until our next voyage. If this paragraph doesn’t make sense you may want to read the separate coffee card thread.

 

The only major disappointment is the scheduling of entertainment. It is important to arrive at least 30 minutes before the show starts to get a seat. As with many Princess ships the main showroom holds far less than one half of the number of passengers. On previous ships to accommodate everyone they have added a third show on the next day but generally not on this sailing. On one evening they scheduled two production shows at the same time, neither repeated the following day (the Frankie Valle/Four Seasons tribute was very well done). The Motown show was scheduled for the small venue for one night only. By 7:45, 45 minutes before the show began, there was a line of several hundred people waiting to enter the small showroom.

 

Thanks for your detailed report. Sounds like you are enjoying your cruise. I've thought of doing this cruise. I do like sea days but have been concerned that there are so many and so little time in the Islands. Would love to hear if you are happy with this itinerary and any thoughts you might have.

 

Also, did I read your post right? Princess left a (meaning one?) chocolate covered strawberry in their rooms. Or did they leave the typical chocolate covered strawberry tray?

[kayakbob]

We are currently in the third day of the five day return voyage. The weather is cloudy, quite cool, and there is a significant swell causing the ship to bounce around pretty well. The indoor pool is netted off. For some reason the outdoor pool is still open but there is currently about 3 foot waves sloshing back and forth making it unsafe for swimming.

Like last Sunday there are 3 NFL games scheduled for MUTS. They also show them in the cigar lounge but that venue smells like a gas chamber. Yesterday there were no college games broadcast on MUTS but there was at least one in the cigar lounge.

We have been very happy with the dining room food. The ‘fish of the day’ has been consistently very good to excellent and the prime rib last night was excellent. I’ve never liked the buffet lunches so generally get a bratwurst at the grill or some pizza. The International Café has a really nice light lunch selection with Panini, quiche and soup plus a variety of cold salads. British pub lunches have been offered about every other sea day but the one time I looked at opening time there was a large crowd gathered. I ordered room service breakfast by filling out the card and handwriting ‘bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon’ and ‘bacon’ on the card. This worked. My wife ordered cereal but didn’t specify milk so she got dry cereal. Apparently they are quite literal when reading the cards.

Entertainment seating at the main venues continues to be a problem. In order to get a seat it is necessary to arrive at least one-half hour before showtime. Bring a good book. For whatever reason they seldom repeat shows on a second day making the competition for a seat pretty fierce.

Today they offered a ‘backstage tour’ including a Q&A session with performers and production staff. We were allowed on stage, then taken through the dressing area. Definitely worthwhile.

[kayakbob]

Responding to some earlier questions:

--re: itinerary: I find this to be an excellent itinerary but I enjoy sea days. The four days on the islands give you a chance to sample each island; if more time is desired a follow-up land-based tour would be appropriate. During sea days there are lots of activities, many Hawaii-themed. My wife has participated in the ukulele lessons and the hula lessons and she plans to perform hula during the passenger show. The onboard naturalist does a great job. We have made both flower and ribbon leis and plan to make more when we return home. There are lots of passengers that repeat this itinerary every year or two and several do back-to-back voyages.

--re: Christmas decorations: the ship is tastefully decorated with two large Christmas trees in the piazza and garlands on the railing surrounding the piazza. There are a few trees elsewhere on the ship and some wreaths in the Horizon Court. No snow machine in the piazza, at least on this voyage.

--re: International Café: I’m not a coffee drinker and certainly not up in the early hours so I have no idea what the coffee situation is at odd hours. My wife continues to use her old coffee punch card for free brewed coffee. As mentioned earlier, they tried to get her to exchange her old card for a new one specific to this cruise but she was able to keep the old one. Again, check out the ‘coffee card’ thread elsewhere in the Princess forum.

[phillies fan]

Thanks for posting these. It's quite helpful to learn from others' experiences.

 

You mentioned that on Embarkation Day, the greeter at the dining room "suggested" you have lunch at the buffett, but when you insisted, you were seated and enjoyed lunch in the dining room.

Are people allowed, but discouraged from eating lunch there on that day?

 

Looking forward to your continued updates.

[Celest1022]

Responding to some earlier questions:

--re: itinerary: I find this to be an excellent itinerary but I enjoy sea days. The four days on the islands give you a chance to sample each island; if more time is desired a follow-up land-based tour would be appropriate. During sea days there are lots of activities, many Hawaii-themed. My wife has participated in the ukulele lessons and the hula lessons and she plans to perform hula during the passenger show. The onboard naturalist does a great job. We have made both flower and ribbon leis and plan to make more when we return home. There are lots of passengers that repeat this itinerary every year or two and several do back-to-back voyages.

--re: Christmas decorations: the ship is tastefully decorated with two large Christmas trees in the piazza and garlands on the railing surrounding the piazza. There are a few trees elsewhere on the ship and some wreaths in the Horizon Court. No snow machine in the piazza, at least on this voyage.

--re: International Café: I’m not a coffee drinker and certainly not up in the early hours so I have no idea what the coffee situation is at odd hours. My wife continues to use her old coffee punch card for free brewed coffee. As mentioned earlier, they tried to get her to exchange her old card for a new one specific to this cruise but she was able to keep the old one. Again, check out the ‘coffee card’ thread elsewhere in the Princess forum.

Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate it. I hope you have smooth sailing for the rest of your cruise. Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!:D

[kayakbob]

We are now in the final sea day back from Maui before Ensenada later this afternoon and LA in the morning. We awoke to very calm seas and a bright sunny sky—not a cloud in sight. It is still a bit cool at 9AM but perhaps will be ‘pool weather’ later this afternoon. The indoor pool remains drained but the main pool and the adult pool are both open.

Yesterday the sea has calmed considerably. The adult pool and the indoor pool were both drained. The main pool was netted earlier yesterday but was open in the afternoon. However it was cloudy and quite cool so no swimmers. Most of the people on the deck were wearing jackets.

Yesterday’s program featured a culinary demonstration which was presented more seriously than other ‘slapstick’ Princess culinary shows that I have attended. I skipped the galley tour. I also attended a presentation on ship navigation which was very informative and entertaining.

The ‘British Invasion’ stage show is very well done and is not to be missed. Very high energy. This group of singers and dancers has one more voyage before taking a one-month vacation. Then they will move to the Star for five months. A new group of singers and dancers will join the Dec 7 voyage of the Golden. The first week shows will be performed by the current group and then the new group will take over.

To clarify embarkation day lunch, as we approached the dining room (deck 6 midship) a greeter came forward and said something like “the buffet is located on deck 14, perhaps you would like to go up there”. I responded that I preferred to eat in the main dining room. We were quickly seated. It seems that they discourage people from the main dining room but will allow you to eat here if you are assertive. During lunch there was a handful of people participating in the ‘bon voyage experience’; they pay $39 for lunch with a glass of wine. While onboard they can participate in a ship tour and have the option to purchase a future cruise deposit. I believe that if they purchase a cruise within the following few months that their $39 is refunded. Generally people that do this are joining someone who is sailing but we were told that anyone can participate in the program. Participants in this program get early boarding.

Overall I was very pleased with this cruise. There were enough activities to make the days at sea enjoyable. The Hawaiian program designed by Elua and David Cole is outstanding. The naturalist provided great lectures. I can see why this cruise attracts so many repeat cruisers.

[oskidunker]

I enjoyed the whole thing on the Grand but did not particulary like the skewered meats which seemed luke warm when we ate them. hoping they might do Lobster or something else from time to time.