Review 9/23 Island Princess Hawaii E626

[sashas_mom]

This has been our favorite vacation yet. The sea days were so relaxing and the activities on the ship were so much fun. We arrived at ll:30 and got right on the ship (even though we were told not to be there until 12:30 or 1). We went right to our room to check it out, however, our luggage did not arrive until 5:30 p.m. We just enjoyed lunch and the ship until our luggage arrived and unpacked before going to dinner. The closet and storage is excellent. Lots of hangers. I had read that Dave Cole is an excellent CD and I couldn't agree more. We found ourselves in the wheelhouse bar most evenings where a wonderful duo played perfect music for ballroom dancing. The room was packed every night. We only had one bad sea day, and it was the first day out as others have written about. It woke us from our sleep and we didn't get much sleep that night. Even though it was rough the whole day, the Bonine kept me from getting sick, but I was very happy when it finally settled down. I started the Bonine the morning of the trip and kept taking it just in case. It did the trick for me. The rest of the trip, the waters were fine. Our cabin was perfect for us. More spacious than others we've been in. This was our first balcony cabin, and we enjoyed it immensely. Only complaint is the cabin had a lot of creeking noises at night from the movement of the ship. Had to wear ear plugs because I am a very light sleeper. The CC's we met were all wonderful. We got together Saturday and at least 25 of us showed up. One of the members had posted our pictures on a website for us (thanks so much Neil) so we actually recognized each other before our scheduled meeting. It made the trip even more enjoyable having built in "friends". The CD arranged a party for us another day where we were served champagne, thanks to Gail, who had requested something special be done for all of us. We took three excursions and rented a car for Kona and Maui. If you can afford it, I highly recommend doing the excursions. They were worth every penny, especially if you have never been to Hawaii (like us).

The big tip of the day was to shop for souveniers at Wal Mart. Each Island even had a free shuttle to Wal Mart. It was an excellent tip because we did buy our souveniers there and later saw the very same items, i.e. Kona coffee and Chocolate Macadamia Nuts, for at least $5.00 more in the shops. We have to agree with other posters, the coffee is swill in the Horizon Court. Not much better elsewhere on the ship, but more tolerable. The best coffee was found in the Patasserie in the Atrium. They don't tell you it's free there and freshly brewed. We think people didn't realize it because the signs just mention the flavored coffees, which have a charge. Bring a travel mug with you and get your coffee there in the mornings. We were missing a good cup of coffee so much, that we bought a little coffee machine when at Wal Mart in Kona, and brewed our own coffee in our room for the rest of the trip. An investment that was well worth it ($20.00). The beds are hard as a rock. I requested an eggcrate, which was on the bed when we arrived, however, since I have a bad back, it still wasn't enough. The steward put two blankets doubled over on my side of the bed over the egg crate, and that worked fine. The pillows are also very hard. I requested a feather pillow and that helped as well. The Internet cafe was down the whole trip. It made it difficult for people with businesses, like us, to be out of communication that long. Not a good thing. I know you will hear about the fiasco the day we disembarked. There was another ship that arrived before us, and it delayed us. They had people lined up since 6 a.m. to go through immigration, and the lines were all around the ship. They never suggested that the only people in line should be those who have planes to catch and we weren't broken up into groups according to our luggage tag colors, just complete chaos. Since we live here in California, we just decided to wait it out in one of the lounges and chatted with people until most were off the ship. We got off about 11:30. Most of those in line were there from 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. till about 11:00. Ridiculous. Everyone should have been put in the theaters where they could have been seated and taken to immigration a few rows at a time, that is after the people cleared immigration who had flights to catch. We had some very angry passengers. As for me, and it's easy to say because we didn't have a plane to catch, I wouldn't let that one bad experience ruin the whole trip or my impression of Princess. I would recommmend this trip to everyone if you want relaxation and fun and wonderful ports to stop in (there also were problems with the tenders in Kona, but I'll leave that for someone else to complain about). All of the assistants to the CD were wonderful. They kept the fun going constantly. The food was good in our opinion, just a couple of meals we didn't like, and they just gave us new ones immediately. I like my food hot. It was not hot in the dining rooms, and I don't know why. I did send it back a few times. The fellow passangers on the ship just couldn't be nicer. Everyone was to friendly. This was the first time we traveled by ourselves. We ate with different people just about every meal which we really enjoyed. Anytime dining is the best as far as I'm concerned, especially if you are willing to eat with others. No matter what time we were ready, we just walked right into the dining room. My husband loved all the different types of trivia games, and his teams won quite a few. If I've left anything out, or you have questions, feel free to ask. I'm sure I'll be back as I think of more things to tell you about. This is a GREAT CRUISE!! We just LOVED IT!! Hello and a big hug to all my cruise critic buddies, you helped make the trip a most memorable one!

sasha'smom

[lois1112]

I agree with all the above! Our room was A411....a balcony also. we did hear some occasional running in the lotus pool area, but it did not bother us at all.

 

On the whole (minus the few problems Eileen mentioned) the trip was perfect! Meeting our cc buddies was the best. I met Joe and Jenny (hi guys) in the embarkation line (thanks again Neil for posting our pictures!) and it just went up hill from there.

 

We did traditional dinning (1st seating) our waiter was excelent, the group at our table incredible. Our food was always hot (maybe we just lucked out) There were a few meals I didn't like (personal prefrence) and I just sent them back for something else.

 

Like Eileen I would be happy to answer any questions.

 

My big hint for everyone...on any cruise.......look at what you are going to pack and take 1/2!

[sashas_mom]

Just thought of a few more things. We used Enterprise car rental for Kona and Maui. On the positive side, it was the closest office to the ships. On the negative side, and it was a BIG negative..they only have 1 person in the office. That means the one person runs the office and has to leave to pick up the customers. We arrived in Kona and didn't have to wait very long for them to arrive. However, when we got the car, there was only a third of a tank of gas in it which meant the very first thing we had to do in our limited amount of time on the island was to look for a gas station and try to guess how much gas to put in the tank without over filling it. I found this annoying.(this was the day we bopped around in the tender for 20 minutes waiting to get to shore because another ship was there the same time as we were). We used them again in Maui. We called them from our cell phone twice from the tender. They kept us waiting 20 minutes before they arrived. Then they came in a car that was too small to hold all of us who had reserved a car with them. They could only take the drivers and the wives were left sitting on the porch of the courthouse for another 20 minutes while our husbands had to back track to pick us up. What a waste of time. I would use Alamo or some of the other car rental agencies that had the vans waiting there for their passengers as soon as we got off the ship. They didn't have to be called and even though they might be a little further from the ship at least you could take off directly from their office and not waste time backtracking.

[sashas_mom]

I think I brought every imaginable thing that was suggested for the cruise. Do bring the power strip and we also brought an extension cord and we used both. What I didn't pack was something for a tooth ache and didn't see it in the ship's shop either. Most of the items in the way of medicine chest items I did see in the shop and didn't really need to bring. However, on the last day in Hawaii, I broke my tooth. Half my molar broke off. I was extremely fortunate that I didn't have any pain and wondered what I would do if I did. That could have been a very bad scenerio. I would suggest packing a toothache or broken tooth remedy. Also, I had nice long nails to look pretty for the cruise (all mine). I didn't think to pack nail glue (which, it turns out, they did have in the shop), or press on nails in case one breaks. I could have had them repaired (I broke 2) in the nail shop, but they wanted $22.00 to do 2 acrylic nails. I realize this is just vanity, but if you like your nails to look nice, bring along some of those press on nails to keep them looking that way. I did have some polish and foil wrapped remover and a file with me.

[sashas_mom]

I keep thinking of new things to tell you as I unpack. We live in driving distance of the cruise ship so we decided it didn't matter how much luggage we brought. We went to Costo and bought a pack of bottled water and put the bottles in a duffle bag with a luggage tag on it. I believe it was 24 bottles. Plenty of room on the closet floor where we left them in the duffle bag, and saved a lot of money on bottled water on the ship and for the islands. We had to buy one bottle of water the last day on the ship. I think they were asking $1.75 per small bottle of water on the ship. I didn't care for the tap water, although some people filled up their empty bottles with it and kept it in the fridge.

[pegpowell]

I can't wait for our trip. Thanks for your great review. Can you comment on the trips you did take-or any information you picked up from others?

[Cruisin' Chick]

Thank you for the review, Sasha's Mom. I was giving a few details to my hubby while he was futzing in the kitchen just now. Sorry you got sick (hubby mentioned the hurricane that was by Mexico) and had a few other problems. On our last cruise, we stayed in our cabin for as long as we could and then went over and sat someplace. We didn't have a flight to catch, so we weren't stressing out. When we go on the Island in about 70 days, we'll be driving in too (or taking a shuttle/taxi/something).

 

BTW, do you remember if the cabin doors were magnetic? I was thinking of making a magnet, but I guess I can also bring tape.

[sashas_mom]

Hi,

 

 

I don't recall if the doors were magnetic, but I can tell you the suction cup hooks I brought were useless. I couldn't get them to stay put, and did just fine without them anyway. I would bring tape.

 

As for our excursions, we did the Polynesian Cultural Center in Honolulu, tour HNL-AC, and loved it although it did rain the whole day. They just rerouted us to things that were under a shelter and gave us ponchos when we got off the bus. The show in the evening is incredible and should be seen (it's part of the package). It was expensive, but we felt well worth it.

 

We did tour ITO-CA in Hilo to see the Kilauea Volcano, etc. and had the lunch we loved the day and our tour guide.

 

We did the Bali Hi Tour, can't find the number. It was on the last island we visited, I believe Kaua'i it included lunch at a hotel. Again, it was perfect for us. If you are more physically fit, you might want some of the more energetic tours. This was just right for us.

[lois1112]

Since I've been to the islands before, I mostly did my own thing.However, in Kauai, we did the NaPali coast excursion. This was fun, beautiful and well worth the money!

 

For anyone who has never been to Hawaii, I would recomned the polynesian cultural center and Lauau.

 

If you have question about an excursion ask. I asked alot of people about what they did and how they liked it. (for this board)

 

For all of you who are going on this trip, you will not be disappointed!

[Cruisin' Chick]

thank you for your answer, Mom. I'll bring tape too.

 

Now, I'm going to check out what this "Lauau" is. I don't recall seeing it in the three guide books ;) , I've been reading. it's our little one's first trip to Hawaii but we've been there before, on honeymoon and each once before meeting each other. So far we've booked the Sea Life Park (even tho' daughter wants to do the Dolphin Swim, but the Princess excursions are at separate times which is inconvenient...so if we decide to let her, we'll have to cancel the trip exc. and do it on our own), Molokini Snorkel trip and the Hilo Waterfalls ones. We may just hang loose the other islands.

[sashas_mom]

If you "hang loose" on the other islands and rent a car on Kona, take her to the Hilton Hotel there. They have Dolphins swimming around and there is a restaurant where you can have lunch and watch the dolphins or people who are doing "dolphin encounters" which she might be able to do, where you get in the water with the dolphins and do tricks with them.

[jsiegel]

This has been our favorite vacation yet.

<snip>

I requested an eggcrate' date=' which was on the bed when we arrived, however, since I have a bad back, it still wasn't enough. The steward put two blankets doubled over on my side of the bed over the egg crate, and that worked fine. The pillows are also very hard. I requested a feather pillow and that helped as well. The Internet cafe was down the whole trip.

[/quote']

 

Thanks for the great review. We'll be on the Island to Hawaii in February and your review and comments are helping me get excited.

 

How did you pre-request an eggcrate mattress topper and feather pillows? I'd like to too but couldn't find anywhere on the cruise personalizer.

 

Thanks for the tip about the Patisserie. I'd been on another Princess ship and just assumed everything there was extra charge. I had already planning on bringing a thermal mug, so now I know where to fill it up.

 

Just picked up Hawaii by Michener today at a library book sale. Going to start reading it soon to get in the mood.

 

Jackie

[Katiekakes]

I was so excited to see your post when I went online today. We are going to take the same cruise in February and will be in D626 one deck above your cabin. I have been waiting for a report on the Hawaiin cruise. Glad to see you enjoyed it so much. We will be traveling from the midwest and we will be looking forward to some warm weather this winter. Did you feel that the cruise was less formal and more laid back because it was a Hawaiin cruise? My husband has a closet full of Hawaiin shirts that he wears for golf and can't wait to wear them! ha ha Did you see any whales? We want to do the whale watch in Maui. Did you have a "Hawaiin" night or Hawaiin meal onboard? Did you enjoy the formal nights? Just how formal did people get? How about the movie theater? What movies were playing? Did you have enough activities to do on ship during your sea days? I guess this should be enough questions for a while. Anything else offer would be much appreciated. I am counting the days already! Thanks for the review!

[bdwyer]

Feb is prime whale watching time in Maui. We were there several years ago and you could park and see them right from the overlook on the road.

[DMorris]

Thanks for the great review. Can't wait, we sail in 2 weeks. As for all the ports; did you get there earlier than scheduled? I am particularly interested in Honolulu, Kona and Hilo... we have a tight schedule and want to guage our time. I loved your review and it has made it even more exciting. Thanks for posting all the information.

[sashas_mom]

Thanks for the great review. We'll be on the Island to Hawaii in February and your review and comments are helping me get excited.

 

How did you pre-request an eggcrate mattress topper and feather pillows? I'd like to too but couldn't find anywhere on the cruise personalizer.

 

I called Princess and confirmed they had that for me even though I requested it through my TA. You can also request it from your cabin steward once on ship (that's what I did regarding the pillow after a stiff neck for a few nights). I don't think I'd wait for the cabin steward though, there might not be any left by then. Intersting thing though, the eggcrate is like a double bed side, the two twins together are queen size, I believe. Therefore, you have a double size eggcrate in the middle of the queen size bed. Each of you have about a 6" drop off. Don't you think they can figure out they need a queen size eggcrate?

[sashas_mom]

I was so excited to see your post when I went online today. We are going to take the same cruise in February and will be in D626 one deck above your cabin. I have been waiting for a report on the Hawaiin cruise. Glad to see you enjoyed it so much. We will be traveling from the midwest and we will be looking forward to some warm weather this winter. Did you feel that the cruise was less formal and more laid back because it was a Hawaiin cruise? My husband has a closet full of Hawaiin shirts that he wears for golf and can't wait to wear them! ha ha Did you see any whales? We want to do the whale watch in Maui. Did you have a "Hawaiin" night or Hawaiin meal onboard? Did you enjoy the formal nights? Just how formal did people get? How about the movie theater? What movies were playing? Did you have enough activities to do on ship during your sea days? I guess this should be enough questions for a while. Anything else offer would be much appreciated. I am counting the days already! Thanks for the review!

 

My husband loves Tommy Bahama. I finally made him buy some solid Tommy Bahama shirts because I've seen about as many flower shirts as I care to. He brought all his shirts and shorts on the cruise. They were the perfect attire for daytime. As for the formal nights, it ran the gammut. Some very dressed up, tuxes and long dresses for the women, to suits for the men and nice dresses or dressy slack outfits for the women. There are three formal nights. One is the second or third day out. It was too soon for us, and we knew we had two more coming, so we opted to just eat in the Horizon that night (which by the way, has the same food that is served in the dining rooms at dinnertime). I do prefer eating in the dining rooms, but didn't that night. I rarely go to the movies, but wouldn't you know it, the ones they showed are the few I saw last year. Since I don't go to R rated movies, I can understand why that happened, because the movies have to be ones that the family can watch. Miss Congeniality 2, War of the Worlds, and a few more I can't think of right now. We didn't see any whales. I don't think they migrate until January or so. There were more activities on the ship than we could do. I would highlight my Patter in the morning over coffee, and miss a number of things I wanted to do. We love trivia, and there were different forms of it all day. The games at the pool were a hoot. They did a survivor contest, a boat building contest and countless other things up there. We just relaxed on the deck by the pool part of the day, played games here and there in between, ate when we wanted to (the pizza and grill by the pools is pretty good by the way). It was simply grand. We were never bored or anxious to get off the ship. It was a perfect blend of activities vs. doing nothing but relax or read, etc. There is also a beautifully equipped gym. I was told it was less formal than some of the other cruise liners, but found it to be the same as the cruises we took to Mexico on Princess. Then again, perhaps Mexico is also a casual type cruise. I think during the day, people dress very casual regardless of the ship or destination. In the evening some were still very casual, some a little dressier casual.. Doesn't really matter...no one cares. If you want to eat in the dining room in the evening, you need to be "smart casual" meaning no shorts for dinner. Your husband will be thrilled to know he can even wear his shirts to the dining room for dinner but with slacks instead of shorts.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

Thanks for the great review. We'll be sailing 2 weeks from today.

Can't wait.

[sashas_mom]

Thanks for the great review. Can't wait, we sail in 2 weeks. As for all the ports; did you get there earlier than scheduled? I am particularly interested in Honolulu, Kona and Hilo... we have a tight schedule and want to guage our time. I loved your review and it has made it even more exciting. Thanks for posting all the information.

 

Don't count on getting there early. We had problems a few days. If you are doing an excursion they will make sure you are off the ship in time, excursions get the priority. If you are doing your own thing, the tenders in Kona were very problematic (read my review) we got off the ship late and we floated in the water for 20 minutes..that was just our tender we were the second tender. Some didn't get off the ship that morning until 12 because of the tender problems..they could only dock one tender at the port because another ship was there the same time. don't know how many people a tender holds, maybe 30-40, and there were hundreds wanting to get off the ship. Some we talked to gave up and decided it wasn't even worth getting off by the time they could, because by the time they got their car and drove around they would have to get back to the ship. Hilo and Honolulu were docks and the disembarking was much faster so that should work out fine for you. Just keep in mind anything can delay you and don't schedule yourself too tightly so that you are stressed unnecessarily.

[LindaJo]

Thanks Sash'smom for the great review and all the info. Will be traveling with karalun and Dmorris on the 10/23 cruise and can't wait.

[Splinter]

We had a great time and it was so much fun meeting with other Cruise Critic members and make many new friends.

 

We had E506 which is a wheelchair accessible room. Had E507 on our previous Island cruise, so this was just a mirror image. Access was good except for the day the drain on the roll-in shower clogged and we had 4 inches of standing water in the bathroom and water on the carpet in the bedroom. They did get this fixed while we were at breakfast and it worked well afterwards. Used suction cup hooks in the bathroom on the wall with no problems. Also used a lingerie holder (smaller and lighter than a shoe holder) on the back of the door which did not interfer with the hook on the door. There is only tiny shelf space in the bathroom...totally insufficient for 3 with one in a wheelchair, so this worked well for us. We never did get the eggcrates we requested. Our cabin steward was very efficient in most ways, but spoke so little English that we had a lot of problems with special requests being understood. Bunk bed reading light leaves a lot to be desired, and there needs to be a way to keep the bathroom door open (we used a bungy cord) when needed for wheelchair access. Closet space, drawers and hangers were good for 3.

 

Lovely to be Elite (my parents, not me) and have priority tickets for tendering and free laundry and dry cleaning (we even took a few things with us dirty and got them cleaned as soon as we got on the ship!). We did not get our free canapes until the next to last day though, and then they were mostly caviar, which I am allergic to, so we threw over half away.

 

Since I am Platinum I was esp. bummed by having the internet working only 2 days out of 15. Feel this is the only advantage of being Platinum, so had no benefit at all on this trip.

 

It only took us 4 phone calls and 3 faxes before the cruise, and finally a long discussion on-board with the Princess Excursion staff to get wheelchair accessible tours lined up in Kauai and Hilo. I wish they could understand that "wheelchair accessible" transportation is not something that only requires "a couple of steps" for someone who cannot walk or stand at all and requires a power wheelchair (and when this is indicated on the Profile, which we had been incorrectly told would guarantee this type of transportation for our tours).

 

Food was good, but not great, but dining room service was good (for the most part). We had a great table (traditional, second seating) with 2 couples from Wales and 2 elderly ladies from Scotland and had a great time.

 

Entertainment was good for the most part. The production numbers were better than the last trip. We only left early from a few shows. Many rude people who did not need it took the companion seats in the wheelchair accessible seating area, and Princess staff were no help with this. We sat in other areas a lot of the time, but would have preferred to be able to sit with my mother. Universe Lounge is well set up for wheelchairs, unlike the Princess theater. Jazz in the Bayou Cafe was very nice. I wish they could make all the indoor bars except the Churchill smoke-free though...the areas are so confined that you were subject to a lot of second hand smoke even sitting in the non-smoking areas.

 

Had lots of trivia contests, some themed, and had a lot of fun meeting new people and setting up teams. Wouldn't it be nice if you could win points to put toward something nice in the giftshop instead of the small items they give out? What are we going to do with 6 luggage straps, 4 water bottles, 2 travel clocks, a duplicate passport cover and 4 Princess tote bags? (stocking stuffers for Christmas I guess)???

 

Having to have luggage out in the halls no later than 8PM the last night was a problem. Don't understand why this cannot be the usual 11PM or midnight used on most ships to facilitate being about to change after dinner and not have to wear your dinner clothes home the next day. Same the last cruise.

 

The disembarkation was a disaster and the worst we have ever experienced in many years of cruising. The two ships at the dock before us were improperly positioned, requiring us to wait nearly 2 hours to get to the pier while they repositioned these ships to give us room at the pier (fault of the port, not Princess). This resulted in no immigration staff onboard until 8AM, with people told to get in line at 6AM for immigration. The lines snaked all around the ship and did not move at all for the first 3 hours, and Princess staff were few and far between, insufficient signage, and no help to many elderly and disabled who could have used some extra chairs and assistance during this wait. We rushed to get out of our room by the 8AM requested time, then found ourselves sitting in the library until after 11AM. By then the immigration line was down to 15 minutes, but the lines to get off the ship (1 hour after our group was called) was another hour and in a very hot and crowded area outside the staterooms on deck 5. Again, a big problem for elderly and disabled, and no staff in sight. Once we got off the ship had to stand in another line for 20 minutes just to get a porter for luggage assistance. With 3 ships in port, the Harbor Fwy at the port exit was a parking lot, so our ride was nearly 45 minutes late as well.

 

The only reason we needed to go through immigration was the stop in Ensenada. I much prefer the way that HAL handles this for the same cruise...they stop for 1 hour in Ensenada from 11PM-12PM to satisfy the Jones Act and don't let anyone off. Thus, no immigration check in is required. Princess has screwed up the organization of this disembarkation twice for us on the same cruise so I guess they don't care that the last day (after they have our money and completed satisfaction surveys) they can treat passengers like this. They certainly have not made any improvements such as those suggested above.

[ssantow]

sasha'smom, you mentioned David Cole was the CD. I have heard he will be there till the first of the year. Can you confirm this? We are hoping he will be there for our December Cruise.

[Hornet]

How lucky for all you Island to Hawaii cruisers – you still have this wonderful cruise to look forward to. We had the best time ever and so enjoyed meeting with all our CC friends. Hopefully all of us can add little bits to sasha’s mom’s review and answer questions. There may be additional reviews also.

Dave Cole will be your CD until January when Richard Joseph will take over. Dave had a great staff with Martin and Darryl and Tyler. Don’t miss London Pub Night – it was crazy and so much fun - was last half of trip in Universe. The talk/lecture with Dave and Martin was great – all about life working on a cruise ship and many personal stories.

I requested a CC party from Dave and they had it in Crooners the last half of cruise and served us champagne. We had a nice size group of about 25. We also got together with some of the girls from our CC group for tea one afternoon (the guys met in the Wheelhouse).

Our time went so fast and we had so many things to do – you will not be bored.

We had mini suite C717. I thought there would be extra perks starting in Sept for the minis and suites – but not yet here. Everything was the same as our last mini except the shampoo and lotion were in little bottles instead of paper packets.

We took 4 excursions and I would be glad to comment on any of them if someone is interested. Kona – Catamaran sail & snorkel Hilo – Hilo & Kilauea Volcano Maui – Rainforest & Waterfall hiking adventure Kauai – Kipu Ranch waterfall & ATV adventure.

Sasha’s mom was one of 6 finalists for the Princess Pop Star contest. We were all there to cheer her on. She sings beautifully. Those of you that can sing will love all the karaoke contests. They also had a variety talent show for additional talents.

We enjoyed the productions that we saw (did not see all of them). Different movies in the theater each day and some repeated on TV. Library has plenty of good books to check out and lots of games too.

Hope you all have as much fun as we did.

[coo359a2]

We will be on the 1/6/sailing. Have already presigned for the tours. We will be doing the Maui – Rainforest & Waterfall hiking adventure and the Kauai – Kipu Ranch waterfall & ATV adventure. Would love to know what you thought of them. We had thought we might rent a car on Kuai and drive to the Canyon. Also signed up for the Kilauea Hiking Adventure and the KonaSnorkle/Cultural.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Wow, some really great info. Splinter, sorry for the inconvenience you had to endure. I've only been in a wheelchair for one week when I got injured while delivering our child -- except for one trip to the doctor, I stayed in the house but had trouble manuvering around. My hats off to you for having to get around with all the obstacles.

 

Hornet, did you email David about setting up the CC party or did he check the roll calls and contact you? What info does he need to know (actual names, cabins, what else ?????) or does he simply put in a notice in the Patters and CCers show up?????

 

My hubby plans to take his guitar so I guess it's a matter of trying to talk him into the talent show. He may just prefer to hang out in a lounge and play, though.