DAY 5- At Sea… still

Today was Barb’s b-day so we started the day with a little celebration and of course breakfast at the buffet!

After breakfast we decided to try out the Line Dancing lessons. It was fun, but really crowded and since we were in the back of the class we kept dancing with the tables so we checked out a little early.

Kenny and I ran off to Ukulele class and then to the formal dinning room for lunch. After lunch Sarah and I went to the Lei making class. We got to use real Orchids which were a treat.  Since it was the last class of the day there were tons of flowers left over so we made one for Barb too. We plan on leaving them at Pearl Harbor when we visit.

Next we went to the Piazza for our daily desserts and just sat and enjoyed our beautiful surroundings.

Then it was time for some Sunday football by the pool and a swim. It was kind of surreal swimming in this amazing pool and watching football on a giant screen above us!

We ended the night with another great show by Joshua Seth. Barb got chosen to participate. He had 3 envelopes, one of which contained a $100 bill and basically the trick was that he could play mind games and make you pick the empty envelopes. Somehow it worked out and he kept his $100 bill!

Today’s Forecast- Mostly cloudy, change of passing showers, High 77 low 64

Day 4- At Sea- Rum, Rum in your Tum Tum

Today we changed time zones again so we got an extra hour of sleep today and we still slept in late! We haven’t made it to the dining room yet for breakfast (maybe tomorrow we will try) so we headed off to the buffet with Sarah and Barb for breakfast. It seems like every time we go to the buffet I end up getting ½ plate of bacon (that is for you Jerry Sr!! ha ha). After breakfast we went to a lecture on Pearl Harbor. It was pretty interesting and I am looking forward to seeing the memorial on Tuesday.

After the lecture Kenny and I were pretty much on our own for the day while Sarah and Barb hung out at the pool. The weather has finally changed and it is nice to be outside, the pools are open and you can enjoy the breeze. Kenny and I went to Ukulele class again. Kenny did really well today and I think we are going to look for our own Ukulele in Hawaii as our souvenir (because I am not paying the $130 they want for one here on the ship!) It is a lot of fun playing a new instrument and when you can finally get the notes down enough to play a song or two it is exciting. We played Amazing Grace and Down on the Boardwalk today. For lunch Kenny and I had the special Italian food buffet they had set up on the pool deck by our room. After lunch we watched an ice carving demonstration which was awesome. They carved out a horse and a swan before our eyes!

Next Kenny and I went walking to find something fun to do and ended up watching a comedian, Alfred Carr on the “streets” of the Piazza Deck and enjoying our daily dessert for the International Café (we will pay for that later I am sure…)

We enjoyed a tropical rum tasting which was actually really a lot of fun.

We learned all about how Rum is made, the different kinds, qualities etc and then got to sample 4 of them. We liked the banana and the Bacardi Superior and even ordered a bottle to take home! That really isn’t like us, but I pretty much don’t like ANY alcohol so when I find something I actually like I have to try to remember what it is! They made several mixed drinks and raffled them off, but we didn’t win, so I bought a mojito for Kenny to try. It was actually pretty good too.

We also signed up for Adventure Ducks which is a photography challenge. Basically they give you a little rubber duck and you take 3 pictures of this duck on his adventures in Hawaii and you have to tell a story to go with the pictures and next Thursday they will show the pictures on the big screen and people will vote for their favorites. The team with the best pictures/story get a free night at Sabatini’s on board which charges a $25 cover (remember the food is all inclusive haha). It would be a really fun experience to eat there since they serve a 17 course meal!!

We started our enchanting evening with a Movie under the Stars. We watched the A team with a cool breeze, listening to the sound of water sloshing in the pool from the sway of the ship.

After the movie we went to “Do we have a deal?” which is the ships rendition of Deal or No Deal.

One of my favorite games to play (don’t really like the show). Kenny and I signed up and he got chosen to go up! He was one of the HOT, brief case models and didn’t end up getting to play to win, but still had fun participating.

We ended the night watching Joshua Seth, a Hypnotist…. I am not sure what to think of the whole hypnotizing thing, but the show was hilarious! Here are some clips-

Today’s Forecast – Mostly Cloudy High 69 Low 60

DAY 3- At Sea - Snails and Frog Legs

Last night went MUCH better! The ship is not rocking near as much (plus I am staying on top of my medicine). We all went to breakfast together so we could examine the itinerary for the day and figure out our excursions for the upcoming Hawaii days. Sarah and Barb surprised us buy telling us they would pay for one of our excursions as our Christmas gift! We were super duper thrilled! After lots of figuring and discussion we finally decided on our excursions for the trip. Kenny and I have Kayaking, Zip-lining and snorkeling planned and we hope to get in para-sailing as well. Barb and Sarah are going to see the Fern Grotto and Botanical Gardens.

Then we had to decide what to do with the day. We started with some Ukulele lessons. 

Everyone tried, but I think I am the only one who really loved it. It provided some laughs and a good hour of entertainment either way.

Next we split up and Kenny went to work out in the gym and us girls went to support Barb at Karaoke. She did such a great job and really had everyone going with Jose Cuervo. Later in the day people kept stopping her and tell her what a great job she did.

We did some exploring of the ship. This is the 7th floor... my favorite- Here is Barb and Sarah hanging out-

That night we went to the formal dining room and boy oh boy that was an experience! 

We ate something like 6 courses, but somehow I wasn’t stuffed at the end… you will see why. We started with Escargot—that’s right snails…

They actually tasted pretty good, but the texture was disgusting and slimy. I guess you can put anything in butter and garlic and I would eat it… 

We also got some traditional food like fettuccini Alfred which was to die for, some salad, but then came the main course… FROG legs! They had a really fancy name for them which I wish I would have written down, but didn’t. I don’t know what I was expecting, but when it came to the table and looked like this-

 It made me a little sad. I tried it anyway, but hardly ate any of it. I thought it tasted like chicken… although others at the table disagreed with that comparison. 

I am loving the food on this ship and don’t even care about the weight I am probably gaining! I am here and am NOT going to have any regrets!

We had a SUPER full night tonight with entertainment! We saw a variety show/comedian, Dan Bennett, who was pretty funny. Not great, but okay. Then we ran to the other side of the ship to see “Stardust” which was a musical type show with music of years past. Although, I am not a fan of musicals I still really enjoyed this one and liked looking at the costumes and watching the dancing.

Lastly we saw Don Ware again (same comedian as last night, but different jokes) who was SO dang funny he had Barb rolling with tears coming down her face!

Today’s Forecast: Mostly Cloudy High 64 Low 58

Day 2 – At Sea- and we ate and we ate and we ate

Wow what a night! It felt like we were sleeping in the wave pool, the ship was rocking so much! I woke up about 10-15 times during the night and was sea sick when I woke up for the day. We tried to get some fresh air in one of the open decks and eat breakfast, but I just couldn't do it. I ended up going back to the room and taking a nap. While I was sleeping Kenny, Barb and Sarah went exploring and checked out some of the shops on board. Kenny came back to check on me and woke me up. Luckily I was finally feeling better by then and we took off to go play some Bingo since we had a free ticket from the scavenger hunt. We didn't end up winning anything, but it’s always fun to play and to be honest I was just happy I felt good enough to leave the room!

Next we decided it was time for lunch. I tried some stir fry (which was really good) and everyone else got the buffet. After lunch everyone was tired so they went to rest. Since I had rested ALL morning I went to a craft class and made this silly flip flop frame. I just LOVE all the activities they have planned all day!

We all met back up and went for a Chocolate sipping sampling at the Confectionery Shop on board. It wasn’t great, but then we attacked some of these FREE desserts instead! 

They had the Piazza decorated for Thanksgiving- 

After our afternoon dessert it was time for a little exercise on the sports deck. Kenny and I played a little game of checkers (yes those are chess pieces but we don’t know how to play Chess)…

 He won! (and was very humble about it by the way)

It was so nice out on the top deck ! This is the view toward the back of the ship. 

We got to be on the Princess Pyramid Game Show next! The game was set up like the game show on TV or like the game Taboo. Kenny was our spokesman and gave us clues while the rest of us guessed. Kenny did a great job up on stage! Although we dominated most of the game we didn't end up winning. 

For dinner we went to the formal dinning room. Kenny looked awesome, but I was worried the rest of us wouldn’t get in because we weren’t wearing dresses… luckily they let us in anyway. 

We ended being seated with 3 other couples at a large table. I am not a fan of this group seating and would have much preferred to eat our Thanksgiving feast with just the four of us. We were all pretty disappointed in the food too… our Thanksgiving Feast with all the trimmings did not include good ol’ mashed potatoes or corn… The turkey was okay, but they put a sweet, rich sauce on it so I barely ate any of it.  The dessert was pretty though- 

Kenny was the entertainment of the table! He surprises me sometimes since he always says he is so shy, but seems to really dazzle people and make everyone laugh. Speaking of laughing, after our 1 ½ long, disappointing, fo-fo dinner we were off to see Comedian Don Ware. He was SO awesome! Just the type of humor we really enjoy (no swear words or dirty talk). In fact he used to be a writer for BILL COSBY, my all time favorite!

Today’s Forecast: Partly Cloudy High 66 and low 49

Day 1- Eager

First day of vacation and we are up at 2:45AM! Makes sense, right? We really wanted to get on the road and make sure we left time for car trouble, traffic or anything else that might go wrong! We made excellent time and gained an hour going over to California and got to our port about 10 AM! We were all amazed by the sheer size of the Golden Princess Ship! Here are some stats on the ship:

Built 2001* gross tonnage 109,000* net tonnage 71,763* length 951 feet* breadth 118 feet* 2649 tons fuel capacity* 2731 tons fresh water capacity* 2600 passenger capacity* 1150 crew capacity* cruising speed 22.5 knots* 

 

I think it is too funny how much larger Kenny's suitcase is than mine... he says it is because his clothes are bigger... lol 

 Getting ready to board the ship!! 

We ended up boarding WAY early and being the FIRST group on the boat! We spent the extra time exploring the ship and ended up doing a fun scavenger hunt which gave us a chance to win $1000 in prizes! We ran all over the ship ooowing and ahing at everything and jumping around like little kids. The ship is more beautiful than I expected and there are so many things to see!

We didn’t win anything, but ended up getting a sampling of the massages the Lotus Spa had to offer! It was really nice, but we probably won’t be going back for $129 massage!

After our emergency drill we were ready to take off! They had a Bon Voyage party on our deck which was really fun.

They even did some hula dancing lessons that Barb participated in. It was freezing so I didn’t try it (plus I am a giant chicken!)

For dinner Kenny and I went to the buffet because we were so dang exhausted (Barb and Sarah turned in early). The food was pretty good.  And pretty too!

So far we really like everything! We like the food a little too much… since we have already tried out 3 restaurants and only been here ½ a day! We broke down and bought the $59 unlimited soda card… we are just going to share it. Our room is great and I think will be plenty of room for us. I know a lot of people think not having a window is a big deal, but Kenny and I really don't care at all. In fact he sleeps better without the window light coming in. I did notice a small odor and asked for some air freshener… they guy brought us ice… we couldn’t quite figure that out…

There are so many people here from other countries! I have never heard so many accents in the same place before! Another trend on this cruise is most of the guests are over 60…

The turbulence (not sure if that is the right term) has been really bad today, but so far the Bonine has kept up with the sea sickness and I have been fine. We are still getting our ‘sea legs’ which is pretty funny to watch I am sure…

Today’s forecast: Mostly cloudy- high 64 F Low 58 F