Diamond - Hawaii Jan 6-22, 2023. Semi Live

[hozelovr123]

And your sharing of your experience is providing great joy to many, me included! I’m salivating thinking about the trip…enjoying every one of your moments. It makes the anticipation much greater, thanks!

Edited January 14, 2023 by hozelovr123

[AZjohn]

3 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

It’s funny, I also post the same stuff on another social media page and the reactions range all over the map

 

Why do I post, take a gazillion food pics and add my stupid commentary??   Well, mostly because I’m traveling solo and I have 16 days to relax and do whatever I want, whenever I want.   My hubby didn’t want all the sea days, so he said “go and have a blast”.  He’s probably playing his guitar all day, watching TV and leaving dirty dishes in the sink.  He’s the quiet one in our relationship.  I will talk to anyone about almost anything.   I have 16 days to be lazy, and not worry about “what are we gonna do today?”   I’m finding myself just mentally relaxing.   There’s no place I have to be, no cats to feed, no worrying about what to make for dinner, no TV to listen to (yes, I have a tv in my room but I haven’t turned it on yet).   I’ve listened to an audio book and just vegged.  May sound boring to most, but I haven’t been this relaxed in I don’t know how long.    Don’t get me wrong, I miss my hubby and will be glad to see him, but this cruise has just been good for my soul.   
 

Taking food pics is one of those thing people do all the time or they never do.  I probably have more food pics on my phone than I do pics of my grandkids.  Lol.    Again, people either love the pics or wish  I’d Stop already.   LOL. Only 9 more days of pics (if I haven’t lost track of time again)

 

So, that’s a little about me.   
 

 

 

Well, I personally have really enjoyed your thread and writing style. Likely because you write in my kind of language and have a great sense of humor 🙂 

 

Now as far as food pics, you are correct. Your either really into them or not at all (kind of like the Dallas Cowboys). My wife does it all the time so I just learned over the years it’s what makes her happy so I’m cool with that. So, you continue doing what you enjoy girl 🙂 
 

Cheers,

John

[cruzin4us]

It’s a shame there isn’t a Kai Sushi on more ships.  This restaurant is rarely busy which is surprising to me.  Maybe it’s the cost?   I just think it’s better than Sabatini’s and Crown Grill.   The sashimi/sushi far exceeded my expectations for a cruise ship.   Maybe it’s the demographics of the ship?  Dunno, but people are missing out 😁

 

I won’t bore you with the same pics of sushi.   

 

Fresh water eel
 

 

[cruzin4us]

Cute little succulents in the woman’s restroom.   In case you are wondering, it’s not real.    Yes, I had to check 

[cruzin4us]

Another aim and shoot photo that turned out kinda cool.    
 

Honolulu at night with the Diamond Princess on the right 

[cruzin4us]

36 minutes ago, AZjohn said:

Well, I personally have really enjoyed your thread and writing style. Likely because you write in my kind of language and have a great sense of humor 🙂 

 

Now as far as food pics, you are correct. Your either really into them or not at all (kind of like the Dallas Cowboys). My wife does it all the time so I just learned over the years it’s what makes her happy so I’m cool with that. So, you continue doing what you enjoy girl 🙂 
 

Cheers,

John

thanks John!   It’s funny, I hated writing in school because I was never grammatically correct, I put a lot of …..’s after sentences, my punctuation is always off and spell check messes with my posts.   Thanks for making my day!

[cruzin4us]

Now for a fun post.   This is Kona in 1978…..a whopping 45 years ago.   That’s me on the left holding the Mahi Mahi.   Our tunas weighed in at 153 and 158.   I caught the 153 and was never so tired in my life reeling that one in. Had to straddle the side of the ship while my uncle was in the chair since we hooked them at the same time.   I drew the lucky straw that day 😁

[cruzin4us]

Good Morning from Kauai.   As usual I have no plan and I’m making one until I get my quad shot Flat White Coffee.   First Things first.  
 

Feel asleep before we left Honolulu and woke up as we were pulling into Nawiliwili.  It looks like another beautiful day!

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by cruzin4us

[CruisnDeb]

6 minutes ago, cruzin4us said:

Good Morning from Kauai.   As usual I have no plan and I’m making one until I get my quad shot Flat White Coffee.   First Things first.  
 

Feel asleep before we left Honolulu and woke up as we were pulling into Nawiliwili.  It looks like another beautiful day!

 

My favorite Hawaiian island. If I ever win the lottery, I’m moving in 🙂🙃🙂🙃

[cruzin4us]

Well, I got off the ship and walked towards Anchor Cove and stopped at the park which was shaded by palm trees and had lots of chickens roaming around.   It was peaceful and a perfect place to veg for a while.    Just saw a mother hen with some baby chicks, maybe just a few days old.   It’s the little things that make me smile 

[LATTELOVE]

Wow!!

Just found your thread.

Glad we did. Trying to catch up on all 

the reading, but so far loving all of your photos 

and postings. 

Thank you so much.

[cruzin4us]

This isn’t the ships Mai Tai that’s for sure.   Wandered into Duke’s and ordered a Mai Tai and Mac Nut & Herb Crusted Mahi Mahi.   Only brought $48 with me and I squeaked by with just enough plus a tip.   Didn’t bring by credit card because I really didn’t plan on buying anything.   Wish I would have because I could have polished off 10 Mai Tai’s no problem.   
Fish was good and hit the spot

[arizonaperson]

cruzin4us, Dukes is delicious. Mac salad,Mai tai, macadamia mahi-mahi - nice.

Love the photos food or landscape. 

[cruzin4us]

After lunch and my Mai Tai I headed down to the beach.  Not really expecting to lie in the sun, I saw Rowena and she asked me if I would like to join her.   
 

About 20 things popped in my head all at once as to why I shouldn’t.   Oh God, will I be able to even get on the ground?   Will I be able to get up?     I slowly took out my beach towel and flapped it expertly in the breeze (some things you never forget) and it was perfectly laid out on the sand. Now for the tricky part (so I thought).  Taking off my shorts without holding on to the wall.  It’s funny how the older you get, you just take things like walls for granted.   Ok, mission accomplished.  Now to lie down gracefully on my towel. Heck, I forgot I just had a second knee replacement and I don’t do the ground anymore.   Crap, now what?   
 

I just started to kneel and my knees just laughed and I pretty much face planted on to my towel.   Lord, I hope no one watched that.    Laid in the sun for a while realizing I was not going to flip over on the towel fit for my 5 year old granddaughter.  
 

The inevitable had to happen, I eventually had to get up…..I’d have rather walked on hot coals in a fire.    Not sure if you know what a stink bug is, but it’s a black shiny beetle that sticks it’s butt in the air (google it).   Well, that was me trying to get up only my backside is very white.      I hope to h…l no one got that on film.    
You know those videos of women trying to get out of a floaty in a pool or the lake?  Yup, me in a nutshell. 
 

By now, I’m hot, sweaty and covered in sand.  What the heck was I thinking?  Do you guys have any idea how nice that recliner was at the Terrace Pool?    
 

I gathered up my stuff and walked back after thanking Rowena for letting me join her.   
 

The walk back to the ship isn’t extremely far unless it’s hot, humid and you got sand in your bathing suit and in between your toes rubbing against the flip flops.   My the time I got back to my room I was hating everything about sand.   
 

Finally starting to cool off after taking a cool shower

 

Think my beach days are over unless I have a chair and an umbrella 😎

Edited January 15, 2023 by cruzin4us

[cr8tiv1]

@cruzin4us

 

This is your best post yet!  I can truly understand your situation.  I had bilateral knee replacement at the same time. 3 years ago.  It has taken me this long to be able to calculate my plop on the floor and requires a very extensive plan on how I intend to get up .... way before I make the decision to go down.  

 

If only the young-ones understood that growing old and growing old gracefully takes a lot of planning.  

 

BTW...nice pedicure.  

I'm from Hawaii and never liked the beach/sand/ocean/heat/humidity.  

Edited January 15, 2023 by cr8tiv1

[AZjohn]

Freakin hilarious!

 

Thank you for reminding me to not take my physical limits serious as I’m getting older.

It wasn’t that many years ago we would do shore dives off the beach in Kaanapali all the time. The last time I tried a couple years ago I’m crawling on all fours trying to come out on shore after the dive, huffing and puffing, throwing my weights off and tank because I couldn’t even stand up anymore…

 

Yes, getting older is a very humbling experience that I don’t think you really understand until you start going through it. I got to remember to have your humor outlook about it instead of getting pissed about it. It’s just part of the deal with living a full life 🙂 
 

[cruzin4us]

I was so grateful to remember I had a cold beer in the fridge.   Downed that quickly I was so hot.  
 

Decided to go watch the Charger game on the big screen on deck 15.   Found an empty lounge char in the full sun.  Lasted about 10 min.  My front side was starting to tell me to get out of the sun.  Kauai was beautifully today and super hot on deck with no breeze.  Ordered a dirty banana and hightailed it out of the sun.  
 

Glad I got off the ship today even though I didn’t do a whole lot.  Gonna head back to my room and find the aloe Vera.   
 

We set sail at 5:00 and will be in Maui tomorrow.   
 

 

[cruzin4us]

10 minutes ago, AZjohn said:

Freakin hilarious!

 

Thank you for reminding me to not take my physical limits serious as I’m getting older.

It wasn’t that many years ago we would do shore dives off the beach in Kaanapali all the time. The last time I tried a couple years ago I’m crawling on all fours trying to come out on shore after the dive, huffing and puffing, throwing my weights off and tank because I couldn’t even stand up anymore…

 

Yes, getting older is a very humbling experience that I don’t think you really understand until you start going through it. I got to remember to have your humor outlook about it instead of getting pissed about it. It’s just part of the deal with living a full life 🙂 
 

Yup, it’s very humbling and it happens so quickly.  I don’t remember when, just woke up one day and WHAM, I became old.   My mind doesn’t feel old, I think I’m still young at heart but dang, my body doesn’t cooperate like it used to.  
 

That is one of the nice things about cruising, it really is nice for us the older we get.    
 

I remember looking at excursions and I always picked the ones that were listed as strenuous.   Then one day I thought

maybe “moderate” might be more realistic.   Now “easy” is looking more and more appealing 😁

[cruzin4us]

It’s amazing how hungry you get after sitting in the sun.  
 

Got to dinner at 5:20 and walked right to my table.   I couldn’t decide what to order tonight so I crossed my fingers and I’m hoping I made the right choice.   I wanted the veal scaloppine but I was afraid to order it after Sabatini’s being like shoe leather.   
 

opted for the following:

 

Steamed Green Asparagus - I thought I should eat some veggies since I’ve been lacking in this dept lately.  It justifies my next order.    Probably backfired because there was lots of crispy bacon and some caramelized onions.  Asparagus cooked perfectly. Bacon kind of overpowered the dish.   The onions left a really overpowering taste in my mouth for a long time.  But I ate it all anyway.   It was good, but I’d order the shrimp x2 next time.  

 

Coconut shrimp with Pineapple Cocktail Sauce - Really good and the pineapple cocktail sauce was delicious, had a pineapple/horseradish flavor - could have ordered for a main course and I’d have been happy 

 

Ravioli de Ricotta con Crema do Nici - This comes with a walnut cream sauce so I was hesitant to order it seeing as I’m allergic to walnuts.   Not deathly allergic but they usually make my mouth raw like eating too many strawberries or too much dark chocolate (that’s the best way I can describe it).    Anyway, the walnuts didn’t bother me in the sauce and I picked off the walnuts from the top.  Arrived nice and hot and cooked Al dente.  Really rich and good.  

 

Macadamia & Panko Crusted Mahi Mahi - not sure why I ordered this since I had the same thing at Duke’s earlier.   - Well it wasn’t Duke’s, it was actually moister but the crust was much more soggy.   It was served hot and has an excellent flavor.  Veggies cooked perfectly again 

 

Cherries Jubilee - I always except it to be the same….small cherries with half melted vanilla ice cream.  Ok, there can be a difference.  The cherries were massive and the vanilla ice cream wasn’t melted.   Best I’ve had in a long time!

[LouChamp]

Aloha. Thank you again for your pictures and posts.  There are a few local establishments in Honolulu which make a proper Mai Tai and most on the Islands make them correctly because they are closely monitored.  On the mainland and on most ships, they add grenadine which really detracts from the accurate flavor. I never order them in NY as in my opinion the east coast mai tai is horrendous.  Since I fly Hawaiian Airlines regularly, I learned years ago that they serve On The Rocks Mai Tais which are made in Texas but come pretty close. My local liquor store in NY sells them and 

definitely is a must for me. Of course I need the umbrella lol but I do have some tiki glasses!  The Halekulani hotel in waikiki makes great ones as well as some local restaurants I frequent but oh no…never in NY !
Enjoy.

[cruzin4us]

Wow. I woke to a start today.   Since I always book an aft cabin I was completely unaware of what the anchor sounded like when being dropped.  I flew out of bed ran to the door and looked at the door.  I swear I thought we’d hit something.    Didn’t realize it was that noisy and would rock my room.  

 

The sun is just coming up and it should be a beautiful day in Lahaina.    No sun bathing today.   Still deciding if I want to Duke’s with credit card in tow so I can get me a Hula Pie and the more expensive Mai Tai that was on the menu.   
 

coffee first before I can make any life long decisions 
 

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by cruzin4us

[cruzin4us]

Yay, I saw a whale!!!   I’m one of those that is always a few seconds to late.   I snapped only 1 pic but I managed to get the tail smacking the water.  
 

I ditched the idea of getting off the ship.  As soon as I walked out in the sun my sunburned shoulders screamed at me.   And, now I know I can see whales from the ship, I’m going to find some shade and go on whale watch.  

Edited January 15, 2023 by cruzin4us

[XBGuy]

On our last two HI cruises, Mrs. XBGuy has not tendered to shore at Lahaina.  She has been happy sitting on our balcony with binoculars watching for whales.

[Cruisin Camper]

Thanks so much for the delightful posts!  We too are sailing on the 29th.  Good info to have, kinda scared that we booked Sabatini's for one of our Specialty dinners.  First time on Princess, but long time cruiser on multiple lines.  Hoping to meet some great folks at our Meet & Greet.  Edit3d post to ask if you know if they have Captain Morgans Private Stock Rum onboard.  While their regular stuff is ok, we prefer the private stock.  If not, we shall just explore other options.

Edited January 15, 2023 by Cruisin Camper
Forgot a question.

[vivian02]

You have a really good review going here for Hawaii. Our first cruise to Hawaii back in 2003 I got up early on the morning we were to arrive in Kona. My wife will usually sleep in but on this particular day my wife found out what the anchor room was all about. It was about 7:30 am when the anchor was dropped. Sleeping in a cabin next to the anchor room meant you would hear each link of the anchor chain hit that last piece of metal after being dropped. Once I made it bac to the cabin, I got chewed out for booking a cabin next door to the anchor room. I at least have an idea of what you heard while getting out of bed. For those who book a cruise in the front of the ship just know what ports you will tender in. Make sure to get up before the anchor is dropped. There is nothing worse than to be on a cruise and have your whole morning rattled. Keep up the good work I am really enjoying this reading on the Diamond. Tim