LIVE! Crown Princess Hawaii/South Pacific 10/17 - 11/14

[machineknitter]

......

 

With 800+ elites on this cruise it is taking about 3 days for laundry to come back. I should have packed a couple of extra t-shirts and an extra pair of slacks. ..........

That’s it from near the South Pacific. Later.

 

WOW ccrain. I WISH my laundry had taken only 3 days to come back. Twice it took 6-7 days. Once I washed it myself in the laundromat and it took only 2 hours!! Our final try, when we threatened to sign it with our home address so they could ship it to us, it took only 3 days!!!

 

With this slow service I had to hand wash the small items in the bathroom sink. At least they dried almost overnight. (I should have packed more undies..... or if I had known the service would be so slow, I would have bought more at Walmart in Honolulu!!!)

 

We had to resort to re-wearing clothes without washing them......sprayed them with Lysol......air dried the sweaty things.....hoped for the best. :o:eek: This was NOT the way to treat Elite travelers with close to 500 days with Princess. I was in frequent contact with Riz, our Circle Representative.

 

Princess, don't give me that line about "there are over 800 Elite wanting laundry service." Princess knew the number before we ever sailed. They should have planned better, limited number of items sent in, or reimbursed us for money spent in the laundromat (perhaps up to a certain amount). This will be an increasing problem with future cruises as everyone's number of days on Princess will continue to increase.

 

At least we did not do as others appeared to have done......used plenty of aftershave or cologne/perfume. Some people seemed to be surrounded in a cloud of fragrance, which made it hard for the rest of us to breathe. This was a real problem when we were seated in the crowded Princess Theater.

[machineknitter]

Thanks to Traveling 1969 and CCRain for posting lots of info to this list. I have saved a few of the postings to remind myself of the great tours and things we saw.

 

The Wings over Kaui was a great choice. We had a minor disappointment, as the cameras on our plane did not function, which we did not know about until we got home and got the video they sent. So, we have a video of someone else's flight. We enjoyed the flight and the company did refund the extra we had paid to get the personal video.

 

I really enjoyed CCRAIN's report of the tour with Patrick on Bora Bora. We were on the catamaran too!

 

Wish I could have gotten on the internet more often when we were on the ship. I should have carried my laptop to the Internet Cafe for better reception. I just tried to use it in my cabin, where the reception was poor. ...Maybe next time? (Hey, we did this cruise also in 2013 and loved it then too!!)

[machineknitter]

Some of us did other sea day activities.

 

As you might guess from my nickname (machineknitter) I do love to knit. Every sea day (and some port days too) a large group of ladies met in Skywalkers in the morning to do various needlework projects, which we had brought from home. We did knitting, crocheting, needlepoint, and any other needlework we could think of. As expected, we are a group of independent thinkers......some of us came early for our scheduled 9 am Knitters and Natters group. Others came at any time during the morning up until noon (and beyond that I think). We all enjoyed chatting and doing our "work" for family or charity. There were sometimes up to 20 of us present. The last sea day we held an organized "show and tell" where each of us was spotlighted to describe and show what we had made on the cruise. It was lots of fun.

 

Every sea day a group met at 9 am for the Bible reading (nondenominational) and then some stayed for the Rosary praying. This gave a spiritual start to our day.

 

On Sundays at sea there were church services, provided by passenger volunteers as Princess no longer provides a minister or priest or rabbi, except on big religious holidays. On Fridays there were Sabbath eve services for those who wanted this, also. The last Sunday there was a nondenominational service at 9 a.m. (lead by a Salvation Army person...I don't know if he is called a minister or what but he lead a great service). There was also a Catholic service lead by a deacon at 9 in the Chapel. At 10 in the Chapel was a service for LDS (Latter Day Saints).

 

I found it interesting how much the passengers seemed to feel the need for religious services. I also found it interesting how polite and respectful the various denominations were to each other, just as it should be.:)

 

And, of course, there were those lectures. I loved the destination lectures by Sharon and also the forensics lectures by the man who had worked in the LA prosecutor's office for many years.

 

Frank took part in the ukulele classes and performances. It was fun to see so many participate. Some had even brought their own ukuleles from home!

[Viesczy]

Thankya for the great live from!! Read it with great interest as we originally were supposed to be on the cruise & I had even been the original coordinator for the Bora Bora/Patrick tour.

 

Made me feel like I was there and reliving our great trip from '12!

[ccrain]

Thankya for the great live from!! Read it with great interest as we originally were supposed to be on the cruise & I had even been the original coordinator for the Bora Bora/Patrick tour.

 

Made me feel like I was there and reliving our great trip from '12!

 

The weather could have been better, but he can't control the weather. His people were great at both snorkeling locations and the food was fantastic.

 

But Hiro's tour was pretty good as well on Moorea. Not as elaborate a buffet, but the snorkeling in the protected lagoon was a lot better in inclement weather.

 

And we did enjoy the tour on Apia as well. I would hazard a guess that you can't go too wrong in the South Pacific with a snorkel and beach BBQ!

[judygund]

Had a nice cruise. Wondering if anyone knows the name of the lead singer for band Fusion? Really enjoyed them.

We were in the Orange 1 to get off the ship...went so well and the

Supershuttle ride to airport was a breeze. No problem being there 2 hours before our 12:10 FLIGHT. Flight was early landing in STL.

Only second Princess cruise.

Thanks to all who made it so nice.

Judy

[digiscrap829]

My husband and I were on this trip last year, it was fun to read how your trip went. We had an extra day on ours due to a crew member having a medical emergency(appendicitis). We had to back track to Nuka Huva to evacuate him.

Traveling 1969 I must live near you. I live in Oswego county where we measure snow by the foot not inches!

[DMCruiser]

I loved following the live posts from this cruise. I feel that I was there with you and now really want to do this in the near future. Next year we are doing the 15 day LA to Hawaii, so maybe in 2017 we will tackle the 28 day to the So. Pacific. Thank you for taking time from your trip to share with all of us. Now enjoy the holidays!!!:D

[L&S80]

Machineknitter..................can you tell me how much Primetime shuttle was(port to airport)??? Just wanting to know how much to budget for the shuttle..........

 

 

 

Sharon

[traveling1969]

Thanks, Harry, for arranging the Prime Time Shuttle. Sorry we made you wait for us.....it was extremely hard to catch an elevator down from 14th floor with our luggage. Glad you made it to your plane on time! Getting to the airport early made it a breeze for us to get through check-in and security. I heard from others that getting there by 10 or later meant they had long lines to get through.

 

Please don't trouble yourself; no apology necessary. We only waited a few moments and the weather was delightful as was the company and as you said, we all made our flights with time to spare. See you on the water.

 

Harry

[traveling1969]

My husband and I were on this trip last year, it was fun to read how your trip went. We had an extra day on ours due to a crew member having a medical emergency(appendicitis). We had to back track to Nuka Huva to evacuate him.

Traveling 1969 I must live near you. I live in Oswego county where we measure snow by the foot not inches!

 

We live just down the road in the Town of Mexico and near the Mexico Point Boat Launch. Love that lake effect!:rolleyes:

 

Machineknitter..................can you tell me how much Primetime shuttle was(port to airport)??? Just wanting to know how much to budget for the shuttle..........

 

 

Sharon

 

 

I arranged the Prime Time shuttle for our group which included machineknitter and HawaiianMongoose. The total cost for a seven-person private van was $70 not including your choice of tip. I believe that the rate for two persons in a shared van was quoted by the curbside rep as $37. There were plenty of vans at the curb so the most folks had to wait for a shared van was 10 or 15 minutes till the van filled up.

 

Harry

[Viesczy]

The weather could have been better, but he can't control the weather. His people were great at both snorkeling locations and the food was fantastic.

 

But Hiro's tour was pretty good as well on Moorea. Not as elaborate a buffet, but the snorkeling in the protected lagoon was a lot better in inclement weather.

 

And we did enjoy the tour on Apia as well. I would hazard a guess that you can't go too wrong in the South Pacific with a snorkel and beach BBQ!

 

Agreed about Hiro's tour being fantab as well! We were going to do both.

 

If pressed, I wouldn't be able to pick which is "better" as they both have their charms.

 

Even a snorkel in a wading pool in SP gotta be good! ;)

[L&S80]

Harry......................thanks.............that's what I was looking for........not bad for a wait......I can handle 10-15 minutes.........

 

 

 

 

Sharon

[ccrain]

I'm ready to go again! Who's with me? Blizzard hit last night into late morning. 24" to 48" snowdrifts. Whiteout on the way to work this morning, 20MPH, flashers flashing, 4WD engaged, I25 closed, schools, bases all closed.

 

Why am I still doing this?

[san diego sue]

Also was on this fabulous cruise. Didn't add to the post because internet just didn't like me or my new travel computer. Totally blocked Yahoo for days then hit and miss getting or sending email , so only way to tell family what was happening was to post on Facebook and that came up quickly.

I have been reading the live that was mostly posted by Charles Crain.

After reading for an hour had to take a break. I saw him every morning busy at his computer drinking coffee on deck 5.

A few things to add:

Neville the Maitre'D, was trying something different this cruise. It was basically something he asked a limited amount of people (not advertised), just came around and asked and Dining staff signed us up. It was a fabulous luncheon paired with wines.Staff was costumed and we each had a rotating host sit with us(kept changing every few minutes). Wines tasted were expensive, some in the over $100.00 a bottle. Very generous pours, not like typical wine tasting. And the food was gourmet. Cost was $25.00 a person.Neville said first time they tried this and it will only happen on longer cruises.After all the wine, I could hardly stand up.

We did Private tours in Apia, Bora Bora, and Tahiti. The rest of the islands did Princess.

In Apia, our private tour besides seeing the Island, went to a secluded beach. That tour was all about enjoying the warm blue waters, eating a tasty lunch etc.

In Pago PagoAmerican Somoa) did a Princess tour of island and last stop was $2.00 beach which we enjoyed. We could see Tisa's bar just a little beyond that.I am glad we did the Princess tour. Open air bus but mechanically was great. (In Apia we prayed we would get back to ship in one piece as one of the buses did go off the road and was tilted on its side, and our bus had really hard time getting up hills)

 

Patrick's tour was as expected, fabulous. Lunch on the Motu

was authentic. Beer, wine, soft drinks all included.His tour guides, as expected, stripped down and we could see cheeks. There were 3 small boats and a small Catamaran. Either type of boat was good.Patrick performed for us on the Motu. He looks fabulous.

Now the next day in Moorea I did a Princess tour also to a Motu. There were somethings we like better on this one. Didn't have to jump off boat in water to see and play with stingrays (on Patricks tour) . We got to Motu and in very shallow water the stingrays came right away. For a non swimmer, this was a big treat.

In Tahiti, our private tour was just 8 of us on a 4x4. Got to go up in the mountains and really saw a good amount of the island. Our guide was native Tahitian, very knowledgeable of all native plants, flowers, and knew his history. He showed a great love of his culture.

WE were traveling with group of 7. Three of our balcony cabins were in a row on Caribe deck. We had the balconies opened to each other. At every sailaway we played the Loveboat theme song and entertained all the people on surrounding cabins. At one point we had everyone singing with us. People got to know that this was happening and came out just to join in. Fun times and lots of wine drinking. Sorry this great trip is over.

For us and our group, we sail again on the 50th Anniv cruise next month. Home just long enough to do laundry, celebrate Thanksgiving and pack again.

[san diego sue]

Didn't mention Hawaii because we didn't do any tours there. Been many times so walked a lot. Did go to Hilo Hatties big store in Honolulu, as it was the last day and it was closing forever Big bargains. My husband benefitted from that stop.

Also close to the ship in Honolulu(two blocks away) is a huge Walmart which I think may have been a Macy's at one time. We repleneshed soft drinks and got some wine.

Now even though we have the bottle a person limit to bring on the ship in San Pedro (more, you pay corkage), no one cared we had wine brought on board. So in each Hawaii port, we brought two.

Strange thing boarding in San Pedro, no one cared about our wine. People with water bottles were stopped. There was a table set up to register your wine but we weren't directed over there in San Pedro or any other ports.

[traveling1969]

Did you enjoy this cruise as much as we did? If so, please share your stories on the review thread on this board. your fellow cruise critics will be glad you did.

 

Harry

[CRUISEWITHH]

Didn't mention Hawaii because we didn't do any tours there. Been many times so walked a lot. Did go to Hilo Hatties big store in Honolulu, as it was the last day and it was closing forever Big bargains. My husband benefitted from that stop.

Also close to the ship in Honolulu(two blocks away) is a huge Walmart which I think may have been a Macy's at one time. We repleneshed soft drinks and got some wine.

Now even though we have the bottle a person limit to bring on the ship in San Pedro (more, you pay corkage), no one cared we had wine brought on board. So in each Hawaii port, we brought two.

Strange thing boarding in San Pedro, no one cared about our wine. People with water bottles were stopped. There was a table set up to register your wine but we weren't directed over there in San Pedro or any other ports.

 

I was on the same cruise and I was directed over to the table to register my wine. Maybe it was because I was carrying both the 2 bottles in my carryon since my husband cannot carry anything while driving his scooter.

 

Also, I saw a table set up at each port embarkation location to register extra bottles brought on at that port. They told me that I would need to pay the $15 corkage fee for each bottle at each port.

[XBGuy]

I've been away for the last week and have just finished getting caught up on this thread. I would like to thank all the contributors for the time and effort that they exerted sharing their experiences. Your work was excellent and very much appreciated.

 

:)

[Debathome]

We too are home safe and sound but it's taking me a while to get caught up on everything.

 

Thank you for starting up this thread and for those participating. I didn't have much internet after trying to send out delayed email so didn't have an opportunity to post while on board but I did follow.

 

It was so great to meet so many of you wonderful folk.

CCRain, I think I saw you the least and you were our next door cabin neighbors! :)

For those of you that I didn't personally see on board, hopefully one day!

 

We really enjoyed this cruise, the tours, the weather, the staff and crew....

Really not much to complain about at all.

 

I did do a 'blog' that I tried to keep up on board but because I couldn't access Shutterfly, I couldn't, so I did a lot of copy and pasting when I got home.

 

Harry, I won't be doing a review but I look forward to those that will. I am interested in hearing about other tours and things done on board so that when I book my next one, I can arrange it around that.

Hoping to do the 2017 one. We are booked for the Med next year at this time for Hubby's retirement but after he's heard all about this one, we may be doing the 2017 sailing.

 

If anyone is interested in browsing through my long winded notes, I can post the link here.

https://ourhawaiiansouthpacificholiday.shutterfly.com/

 

I did take quite a few photos and I do have some with my C.C. folk in them.

 

Gerry, I am glad that you received yours and I look forward to seeing the one's that you took.

 

Iobject, let me know if your pics came through

 

Eyegirl, so nice to be keeping up with your email. I want a pic of our Trivia win!

 

Adelle, I have some of you that I would like to share if you would drop me an email because I can't seem to access yours. My # can be found on the coordinators list.

 

JudyGund, I have a funny one of you getting the big smoocheroo from Mr. Bareass but I won't post it here. If you would like it sent to you, let me know.

 

Sue & Dennis, it was such a great opportunity to chat with you. Thanks for the therapy and conversations. I hope one day you make it to the Intercontinental, it was a lovely hotel.

 

Myrna and Maureen, so glad to have met you and thank you for sharing your hut with us! Myrna, you kept Jude in stitches. It's been a while since she had a good laugh. I can't thank you enough.

 

I can't post pictures to C.C. any more. Either my computer or the site won't allow me to copy and paste or to download unless they are little wee things.

 

Mike and Betty, I am so sorry that we didn't get to spend more time with you but it was truly our pleasure to have met you. Hopefully with Betty's continued recovery, we will see you in 2017!

 

Honestly, there has never been a more friendly and social group of passengers on board any ship, anywhere.

We had some great conversations and wonderful evenings spent with so many of you. Thank you.

 

I know we kind of got the reputation as Oh, ....'those Canadian sisters' :D

We wear it with pride! :p

[diddlydi]

Thank you everyone for their input on this forum.

 

It was a great cruise.

 

Loved your blog Debbie and enjoyed meeting you and your sister. We were in C742 at the end of your hall. Loved meeting everyone that we did meet. You all were great.

 

This trip was on our bucket list and we loved it . Some bad experiences with organization but what the heck.

 

Hope to meet some of you again.

Dianne and Bill

[judygund]

Deb,

My husband would love the picture of my big kiss. LOL

If you could email to gund43 at htc dot net

Thanks! It was a fun cruise.

 

Thanks, Judy

[san diego sue]

Weird that we got through with our wines each time and others didn't.

In San Pedro we were there very early and security staff didn't know what to do.My husband heard them comment wine okay but not booze or water.

In each Hawaii port we brought two bottles on board and (we each carried one) and again no one asked us to stop at tables. Except for Maui, the port had the security not the ship.Always a table set up once we boarded the ship, but those people had no knowledge of what we brought on because the scanners were in the port not ship.

Edited November 20, 2015 by san diego sue

[Debathome]

Deb,

My husband would love the picture of my big kiss. LOL

If you could email to gund43 at htc dot net

Thanks! It was a fun cruise.

 

Thanks, Judy

 

Judy, pics are on the way. Let me know that you received them okay.

That fella was a character!

D.

[Debathome]

Thank you everyone for their input on this forum.

 

It was a great cruise.

 

Loved your blog Debbie and enjoyed meeting you and your sister. We were in C742 at the end of your hall. Loved meeting everyone that we did meet. You all were great.

 

This trip was on our bucket list and we loved it . Some bad experiences with organization but what the heck.

 

Hope to meet some of you again.

Dianne and Bill

 

With so many names, C.C. names, faces and amount of guests, it was hard to keep track! I do remember you. I called you DiddlyDEE and you corrected me! Lol :D so lovely to meet you. Were you one of the lucky ones with the suites at the end?