Saturday, May 3, 2014 – Hilo, Hawaii – Mostly Sunny – 76F

The Grand Princess has successfully completed its Westbound Transpacific Crossing…

Distance from San Francisco to Hilo, Hawaii: 2006 Nautical Miles

A beautiful day in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii…Hilo gets a lot of rain but today the gods are smiling on us.

Hawaii from the Grand Princess

Mini-Local Information.  Hawaii is really the Big Island because it is bigger than all of the other islands combined.  It is approximately, the size of Connecticut.  It has several volcanoes (always, in seems under the clouds) and one active one.  The town of Hilo seems like a throwback to the seventies and eighties – there are lots of “"healing centers” and yoga facilities.  We even saw some Hare Krishna folks chanting down the street – it’s been a long time.  There is a block devoted to the Farmer’s Market and the town also sports several thrift stores.  Hilo Bay is massive and the ship is docked next to a beautiful lagoon. 

This itinerary is being run in reverse with Hilo now being our first port of call.  Our plan today, as in October 2013, is to walk the town of Hilo.  Although it is only in the high 70s today, the humidity is still pretty high so we are trying to walk in the shade as much as we can.

Along the way, we ran into an interesting work of art…

The Hilo Turtle

We missed the last pre-lunch break Hilo public bus so we sat at the bus station waiting for the next one – about an hour.  A passenger indicated she had ordered a cab and asked if we wanted to share the ride back to the ship.  In a few minutes, we were back on the Grand Princess.

Lunch in the Buffet – Pizza from the Trident Grill and salad from the Horizon Court. 

Spent the afternoon spent reading on deck chairs on Deck 15 (back railing). 

Finished “Dust to Dust” by Beverly O’Connor (really liked it and downloaded a second novel – now reading “The Martian” by Andy Weir.

Watched sail away from the top deck – a tug seemed to be pushing the ship –

What is the Tug Doing?

did not see any pilot jump off and the ship made its own way through the pay and through the opening in the breakwater.  We got great views of Hilo and the surrounding countryside.

The sail away was very scenic including a very big turn to exit the harbor..

  

Aloha, Hilo

  

Hotels along the Bay

Hilo, Hawaii

Ellen Deck 16

The Big Turn

Dinner in Alfredo’s Pizzeria – nothing in the buffet.

We attended another show by Kevin Jordan in the Princess Theater.

Kevin Jordan

Still pretty funny but I think the flashlight thing (a possible reference to his career as a patrol cop) might start annoying people.  Nobody likes a bright light in their face. 

No “Motor City” this trip.  We saw a bit of this show last trip – Motown is not really my thing.

The piano player in the Piazza – Robert Deans – is fantastic – wonderful arrangements.

We also caught a few minutes of Party Band Respect in the Explorers Lounge.

We are on tour tomorrow so we are back in the room to rest.

Friday, May 2, 2014 – At Sea – Pacific Ocean – Cloudy - 72F

A much smoother ride last night…

A cloudy morning at sea…

Breakfast in the Horizon Court – Oatmeal, tomato, onion, cheddar cheese omelet, biscuits.  Pretty good.

As repetitive as it may sound, we were back up on Deck 15 Aft to read, relax, and accidentally fall asleep.  I spiffed up my presentation for today and just hung out until lunch time. 

There was nothing for us in the Horizon Court so we got sandwiches at the International Cafe – tuna for me.  The most bizarre meal to date. 

My third talk - “Cold Cases Solved” – a usual winner – drew maybe a few more people than the previous talk (approximately 130).  Again, no highlighting in the Patter – you might say I am employing “stealth technology”.  On the plus side, I did have some nice pre-talk conversations that were very positive.

A change of clothes and back up on Deck 15.  It is nice and warm up there today and the couches are very comfortable.  My afternoon was spent reading “Dust to Dust”. 

We had reservations in the Michelangelo Dining Room and this time we kept them – I had the Macadamia crusted Mahi-Mahi and a house salad.  Ellen had the Ravioli in Walnut Cream Sauce.  I don’t think my fish was Mahi and the dinner was just so so.  Ellen liked the Ravioli. 

We headed to the Princess Theater to catch Don Bryan and puppets, Noseworthy and Annie.  The theater was not full as I expected it would be.  The show was OK – some chuckles along the way.  The coolest part of the show was how Don worked both puppets at the same time – Noseworthy personally and Annie by remote control (he had to have a helper).  It made for an interesting act.

From there to the Vista Lounge to catch Jeffrey Allen doing his second Elton John Tribute show (not as crowded as we thought it would be).  I had noticed the other night the he did not sound right – he admitted tonight that he was sick and couldn’t hit any high notes.  Because of his voice, he was even more difficult to understand (couldn’t pronounce “Philadelphia” – came out one syllable short).  However, all of this didn’t stop him from performing a great rendition of “Candle in the Wind” with a montage of Marilyn Monroe pictures running in the background.  It worked perfectly.

 

Candle in the Wind

The rest of the evening was spent with Brad Stevens in the Crooners Lounge.  Tonight he did some piano man type songs – still entertaining.

Seas are smooth as we approach the Big Island and Hilo.

Thursday, May 1, 2014 – At Sea – Pacific Ocean – Partly Cloudy – 68F

The first nice day at sea…

 

Still a bit of rock and roll overnight – still wakes me up but I’m coping.

Breakfast in the Horizon Court – almost like home – oatmeal, strawberry pancake with cottage cheese, sour cream, orange marmalade and strawberry preserves.  Very good – sat in the Conservatory area, where it is quiet so I could relax and read.

After breakfast, I went up to Deck 15 Aft (inside – still chilly outside) to go over my presentation for today.  I made a few changes to improve the flow of the material.

About midmorning, the weather had improved to the point where we could sit on the couches outside.  I got ready for my talk and we had lunch in the Horizon Court – salad and eggplant parmesan.  Pretty good.

My second presentation - “Landmark Cases” – is scheduled for 12:45 PM in the Princess Theater.  Today’s attendance was up about 100 percent (from 60 to near 120).  Hopefully, this is a trend – there is still no highlighting in the Patter so people are not seeing the talk.  There is no mini-description either (like on the other shaded events) so passengers are not clear of the content.  Nevertheless, the talk went well.

Up to the couches on Deck 15 to read and hopefully to catch a brief nap (no success).  We again cancelled our dining room reservation upon re-reading the menu.  I am about half way through “Dust to Dust” and still liking it.  At this point, I am vested.

At 5:30 PM, we went to Alfredo’s Pizzeria and both ordered custom pizzas.  I am pretty sure the restaurant has changed its ingredients (especially the tomato sauce) since these pizzas are different than the one’s I had almost every night back in October 2013.  Still pretty good just not delicioso.  I had the Orzo salad from the nearby International Cafe and that was very good.

Entertainment Circuit.  First stop – Princess Theater to hear violinist, Chris Watkins.  We have seen Chris and his Swarovski-laden fiddle before.  He is the first violinist to perform sleeveless – an interesting contrast when he does classical numbers.  At least, there are no tats.

We left five minutes early so we could run to the Vista Lounge to hear Kevin Jordan do his first full show.  The show was funny but it seemed like the whole hour was adlibbed.  Kevin said he was in the middle of a sciatica attack and he looked a bit stiff up there. 

We spent 15 minutes with Retrospective in the Explorer’s Lounge – the lead singer did the best rendition of “A Wonderful World” I’ve heard in a long time – perfect pitch.

Finished our tour with Brad Stevens in the Crooners Lounge – it was mostly Rock and Roll night but we stayed there until it was time to go the room.

Brad Stevens

The seas are smooth tonight – hoping for some sleep.

Monday, April 28, 2014 – Embarkation Day - San Francisco, CA – Sunny – 66F

A nice warm day in The City…

Had the usual Travelodge breakfast of coffee, packaged sweet rolls and muffins – plus bottled water, which we took with us to use on the ship.  I walked over to the Walgreen’s to return some items and took a picture of some interesting buildings across from the hotel.

After checking out at 11:00 AM, we pulled our suitcases the 0.6 miles to Pier 35 to board the Grand Princess.  The walk seemed a bit more difficult this time because my suitcase seemed quite heavy.  We did make it eventually after a couple of stops. 

Rest Stop – Flower Garden Near Pier

Docked next to the Grand Princess was the Crown Princess, stopped here as part of its California Coastal itinerary.

Crown Princess

We got our luggage tags and dropped our stuff off with a porter and entered the incredible chaos that was the terminal building.  After speaking to several representatives, we eventually got into a shorter check-in line.  We got our Sea Pass Cards and boarded the ship. 

We got into an elevator – manned by a Princess employee – and headed for Deck 12 – Aloha, where our cabin – 12105 – was located.  After several attempts to find it, we were told that it was in the crew area (“behind the door”).  The cabin did not work off Sea Pass but a metal key.  When we got inside, our worst fears were realized.

Bunk beds – not the kind of bunk beds we had seen on ships previously (used by the kids) but mini-bunk beds.  The rest of the cabin was OK – it had the biggest sink we had yet seen on a ship (you could do a full load of laundry in that sink).  It has an oversized shower.  There was some storage in the bathroom and loads of storage in the cabin proper – there was a small couch and a single chair.  It did have a phone.

We dropped off our bags and headed for the Horizon Court to have lunch.  I had the salad bar and Tilapia (which was actually Mahi Mahi) – I also had some of the pizza available on the pool deck).  I didn’t eat much of that so we also tried some some pizza at Alfredo’s Pizzeria in the Piazza. I remember it was better last time but it was just the first day.

We visited the Maitre D in Sabatini's to inquire about anytime dining and he said we were set for that.

We attended the Lifeboat drill at 3:30 PM and following that, we met with Lexi – assistant to the Deputy Cruise Director, Kelly Engelen.  Lexi said I had the day off tomorrow but that I would be giving all nine lectures including one on the morning of the Ensenada stop.  I dropped “Christopher Columbus” and added “Identifying the Famous and Infamous” as number 9.  We also asked if anything could be done about our room and she said she would check.

It was chilly on the open deck for the Sail Away so we started there and eventually went inside.  I did get some nice pictures of the ship as it backed out and eventually passed under the Golden Gate Bridge.

On Deck – Pre-Sail Away

 

Me on the deck

Backing out – Crown Princess along side

   

  

Bye Bye San Francisco

  

A Ship waiting for Pier 35

 

The Bay Bridge’s new section and East Bay

 

Alcatraz and the Seagulls

Alcatraz Island

Open Up Your Golden Gate

We had dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room at 5:45 PM.  Ellen got us Table 46A – a quiet table in the corner away from rushing waiters and flying dishes.  We shared the Fettuccini Alfredo (with Salmon on top).  Before that, we had Spring Rolls (very good), mushroom soup (very good), and a small Cesar Salad.  I had a sundae for dessert. 

After dinner, we caught acrobat-comic, Uber Rossi in the Piazza.  He was on our cruise on the Grand Princess in October.  He is totally crazy and you should never sit close to the front with him or you will be part of the act.

 

Uber Rossi – Doing his Crazy Stuff

We went to the Welcome Aboard Show at 8:30 PM in the Princess Theater – Cruise Director Gavin Chandler previewed what was going to happen over the next 15 days and entertainment was supplied by comic, Kevin Jordan, who was funny but a bit hard to understand.

We hung out in the Piazza until we could no longer stay up and headed to our room in the sky.  The seas were a big angry and the ship was really moving – it was difficult walking around in our room. 

Getting in and out of the lower bunk is an exercise in flexibility and I was probably going to be doing that at least twice during the night.  The best way to describe the lower bunk was a cross between an early MRI machine and a coffin. 

Adding to the mix was the serious rock and roll of the ship – felt more at the higher decks.

Good night and good luck…

Wednesday, April 30, 2014 – At Sea – Pacific Ocean – Cloudy – 66F

Still waiting for a nice day at sea…

What a difference a few months make…

What started off as a smooth evening turned into a very rocky ride about 3 AM in the morning.  Accumulating a huge sleep deficit.

Well our little rollercoaster cabin is now official with the “Placing of the Name Tag” ceremony.  Even with the name tag, the Hotel Manager, one of our neighbors here on Mt. Olympus, stopped and asked us what we were doing in the crew area.  A good question when you think about it.

This morning, I headed down the long hall of Deck 12 (over 250 paces – yards) to the Horizon Court.  I had a bowl of very good oatmeal and a chocolate chip pancake and a fried egg.  The coffee was good and hot.  I brought some boiled eggs and watermelon back to the room for Ellen.

Tonight is formal night 1 so I made reservations for the Dining Room for 5:30 PM.

After breakfast, we sat out on Deck 15 Aft for a while but I retreated into the “One 5” Lounge because it was too chilly and breezy on deck.  I went through my talk for the day and made just some minor changes.

At 11:00 AM, I went to the Trident Grill and Pizzeria to order a veggie burger.  This was a most unusual veggie burger consisting of potatoes, mushroom, and other unidentifiable veggies.  It was very soft and squished out of the bun with every bite.  It did taste OK but I think I will be passing on the veggie burger from now on.

I got ready for my first talk “The CSI Phenomenon” – 12:45 PM in the Princess Theater and showed up at the venue about 12:30 PM.  

The set up was quick and the AV equipment was great – clean and crisp picture and an effective headset mic.  Only thing missing were people – six passengers when I arrived.  At the end, there were about 68 people in the theater – some people came in early to make sure they got a good seat for “Blue Hawaii”. 

I did have my first blind attendee at this presentation and she answered a few of my questions.  The talk went well in spite of the low attendance.  One person said he didn’t know about it until someone told him about it. (Later, I wrote a note to Kelly asking to get my presentations “shaded in” like all the other activities of the same type).  Maybe people will bring their friends.

After the talk we took another look at the dining room menu and decided to pass on the sit down dinner.

I started a new book - “Dust to Dust” by Beverly Connor.  The story revolves around Diane Fallon, a forensic scientist who is the head of the Crime Lab in a small town in Georgia.  Diane also is the director of the Archeological Museum in which the Crime Lab is housed.  I already like the Diane Fallon character – she is like Kay Scarpetta on just a bit more caffeine.  The supporting characters are very interesting and the forensics takes major stage in this book.  This could be the start of something.

We spent most of the day reading in the lounge on 15 Aft.

We did have dinner in the Horizon Buffet – did not dress up – stayed in my presentation uniform.  Dinner consisted of salad, spinach in butter sauce, some potato-macadamia fritter, and a wonderful rigatoni in sage cream sauce.  It was good and not hectic.

Tonight is the first Production Show by the Grand Princess Singers and Dancers - “Stardust”.  Even though we have seen this show before, we could not remember any of it except that there were four main singers and two ancillary singers, who mostly worked stage right.  I thought all of the singers were terrific – the dancers moved very well on a small stage shared by the orchestra.  A great show with recognizable songs all performed perfectly.

 

Above - “Stardust” Sequence

After the show, we once again sprinted to the Vista Lounge only to find that it was full.  We stood in the back for Uber Rossi’s full show.  He was a total hoot tonight with some new material and great interactions with the audience.  His was the longest show we have yet seen on Princess but every moment was funny.

Next stop – the 9 PM show by Brad Stevens in the Crooners Bar.  We got there a bit early and the String Quartet was still playing so we diverted to the Explorers Lounge to hear the party band, “Retrospective”.  A lead female singer plus three guys (who also sing).  They were very good – easy to listen to and great voices.  The lead singers sings with a British accent.

Retrospective Party Band

When their set ended, we went back to Brad Stevens, who was offering up mostly classical music tonight (not my favorite but he is good).  Later in the set, we got back into some Broadway and Ragtime and added some comedy by making up lyrics to well known songs (“Doe Re Mi” sung by Homer Simpson – all about beer).

Back to our room to settle down – another sea day tomorrow and my talk (still no highlighting) is once again at the witching hour of 12:45 PM. 

The ship is rocking a little – hope it stays this way – there is significant creak so earplugs go in.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014 – At Sea – Pacific Ocean – Headed SW – Overcast and Chilly

We moved our clocks back one hour last night to start our move toward Hawaii time…

 

The sea was very choppy all night and only smoothed out a little bit around 2:30 AM – Didn’t get much sleep but did managed to get in and out of the bunk with minimal bruising.  The cabin was very quiet except for the creaking (due to the chop).  we do have some very important neighbors – the Captain is right across the hall from us.

Got about five hours of sleep.  Good thing I have the day off today.'

We ordered room service over the phone last night and it came a bit early at 6:25 AM (Ellen was going to go to exercise class).  Because of the options for room service, we may not be doing this that often.

After breakfast, we talked to the Administration Officer about our cabin situation and she indicated that were no options available.  We will adapt.

I made reservations for the Michelangelo Dining Room for 5:30 PM.  I requested the same table but no guarantees.

The morning will be spent organizing my talks and blogging the trip (as I am doing right now at 10:42 AM up on Deck 15).

Ellen on a not-so-sunny back deck

So far, the best part of the day was the yummy chocolate donut Ellen procured in the International Cafe.  A real American style donut.  Bigger and better than a Dunkin Donut.

Lunch in the buffet and then back up on Deck 15 Aft – still pretty chilly up here.

The entire afternoon was spent reading on the deck – the weather never improved but the seas quieted down for the rest of the day.  I made good progress on the Pendergast novel - “Two Graves” – a tale about Nazis, Brazil, and some strange characters with a connection to Agent Pendergast.  I will finish the novel tonight.

We went to dinner at 5:30 PM and immediately had to change our table – we could not get 46A and instead were seated at a table right next to a waiter stand.  I asked to be moved and we were given a nice table for two away from the flying dishes.  However, we decided not to stay because of the paucity of menu items.  Next stop was the Horizon Court, where we also found little to eat.  Final stop was Alfredo’s Pizzeria for their Vegetariana Pizza – I put together a green salad in the buffet and brought it down to the Pizzeria since they do not offer anything but pizza.  The meal was good and we got a chance to hear the Hawaiian Duo, Brian and Rowena, sing and dance (in this duo, only Brian sings – Rowena does the hula to some of the numbers) but spends most of her time hugging and kissing the customers.

First stop on the Entertainment Train was Elton John Tribute artist Jeffery Allen. 

He had the look and mannerisms of Elton John down pretty well and he sounded great on his first song, “This Is Your Song”, but he did something to his voice while shouting up the audience.  From that point, his voice was struggling and I couldn’t understand a word he was saying.  Still entertaining.

From there we sprinted to the Vista Lounge to see ventriloquist Don Bryan (and Noseworthy).  Low key humor but funny nevertheless.

Final stop was the Crooner Bar, where we spent an hour with Piano Man, Brad Stevens.  Very entertaining combination of show tunes, classical stuff, and ragtime.  Might be our go to guy for non-show entertainment.

From there to the cabin.  With little fanfare (no bold and no “Princess Pick” status in the Patter), I am scheduled for 12:45 PM tomorrow.  Could be a cozy audience.

The sea is smoother tonight…hoping it lasts.

Grand Princess – Hawaii Cruise – Roundtrip San Francisco – April 28 – May 13, 2014

We loved this trip so much when we took it in October 2013 that we signed on for another go-round. 

Travel Day – Sunday April 27, 2014

Our Luggage Ready to Go

We have an early flight this morning – 7:30 AM departure – and have arranged for the cab to pick us up at 6:00 AM.  We are anticipating no traffic on Sunday and there is only light rain to deal with.

Our cab is right on time and the trip to the airport takes only 15 minutes so we have plenty of time.  Also, both of us are TSA pre-check so our pass through security is almost instantaneous.  Our plane is at gate H11B and it is still just drizzling.

AA1585 – Gassed and Ready to Go

We boarded right on time and this pilot positioned the flaps and slats as soon as the engines spooled up (my preferred option) (usually that happens once the plane starts to roll)  No waiting on the runway and we are off right on time – and that was the last smooth moment of the flight.

This is a 737-800 so Ellen and I are across from each other in exit row 14.  The fellow sitting by the window is not into looking out the window so as soon as the plane took off, he shut the window and didn’t open it again until we were on final approach to SFO.

After a pretty bumpy ascent, the plane leveled off in the soup at 37000 feet.  The pilot came on and said we were going to be flying between two weather systems and the unstable air was going to make this a bumpy flight.  Once past the Missouri River, things should smooth out a bit – otherwise, he was going to keep us in our seats until then.  At one point, he told the flight attendants to take their seats (not a good sign) and the beverage cart didn’t come down the aisle until about two hours into the 4.5 hour flight.

I did try to make a run for the bathroom about an hour into the flight but once in the washroom changed my mind because I was being tossed from wall to wall.  I tried two more times to make a washroom run with minimum success – just getting back to my seat was an adventure.  I could see through the other window that we were above the cloud tops but that didn’t seem to help the ride.

At one point, I felt the plane decelerate a bit and reduce altitude – things smoothed out – the seat belt light went out – and I headed for the washroom.  As soon as I got in there, the chop restarted and the light went back on.  My fault, I guess.

Well, needless to say, it was a flight demanding good self control – we only had about 10 minutes of smooth air total.  Once in California and on initial approach, things got calmer but then the seat belt light came on as we began our descent.  The pilot apologized for the “A” Ride but after looking at the radar post flight, I saw what he was dealing with.  Thank goodness, the rivets on the plane were tight.

We took the Airport Express Shuttle to the Travelodge on Columbus at Fisherman’s Wharf (still haven’t changed the shocks) ($18/person – I think we added a buck to the quoted price so I reduced his tip by like amount).  It was too early to check in so we left our bags at the desk and took a little walk – I took the opportunity to buy some sourdough bread to snack on.

We called our friends, Mark and Celia, who had driven in from Napa to have lunch with us.  We had set this up a few weeks ago and we were looking forward to getting together.

We went to a great place called Liverpool Lil’s, where I had the Fish and Chips and Ellen had the Veggie Omelet – the food was excellent and it was good to catch up with Mark and Celia (we saw them last in 2009 on the Pacific Princess). 

Lunch with Mark and Celia

They took us back to the hotel, where, at about 3 PM, we checked in.  We are in Room 102 – close to the Lobby and no stairs to climb but we do have heavy footed neighbors to the north of us.  We walked across the street to the Walgreen’s to get some water and other items for the trip.

We were pretty tired after the long day so we spent the evening reading and relaxing in our room.  While the room was pretty noisy during the early evening by 10 PM, things got quiet.

Hope to get some sleep.