Home Again

Yesterday went very smoothly.
We had an early alarm and we watched the sunrise over Vancouver harbour.

We had breakfast in the dining room. The service was VERY slow, in fact I am still waiting for my toast.
But it didn't matter at all because our meeting time was not until 9:50.
We went to the Vista after finishing breakfast and waited for pink 5 to be called. They were about 10 minutes early. We speeded through customs. We were asked nothing. We could have had 10 bottles of alcohol with us. Anyway.. we had called Kerri and she was able to find a parking spots about 2 blocks from the place where we came up out of Canada Place so we did not have to pull our suitcases very far.
We had a short visit with the family. Stewart was working but because it was Easter Monday Noah was home and the little ones were not in day care.
Noah played the guitar for us. He certainly is progressing with that skill.
 Leo and Emmie are so full of energy and they are impossibly cute ( grandmas are allowed). Watching them makes both of us understand why people don't become parents in their seventies. We are just too old to be able to keep up with them.
When we left I took some pictures of the cherry blossoms. Vancouver is breathtaking right now!!

Even though we did very little we were beat last evening and we called it a day quite early. But not before we got our hockey fix and watched the Canucks play a game against LA.
Today we have finished our unpacking.
The next cruise is scheduled for December but with us you never know.
We can't resist a good sale.

Bunnies, Pelicans and Birthday Cake!

Easter Sunday, April 05, 2015

This is the last full day of our cruise. L

We began the day with a room service breakfast. Then we made our way to the Princess Theatre. There was an ecumenical Easter Sunday service. It was nice but very simple. We sat with Erik and Rosalie and after the service we had a short visit with Ziutka and Ken who were sitting in front of us.

We stayed in the theatre and listened to George McGuire’s talk on the Northern lights. I did not find it as fascinating as the others. Perhaps that was because I was sleepy in the first place.

Next we headed for the Piazza where the Easter Party for the children was in full swing. There were lots of activities and there was a visit by the Easter Bunny and by Pelican Pete. It was very festive and I took lots of pictures.

Then we came back to our room. Ken has to pack. I am almost finished because I worked on it yesterday. We both hate packing because it means the end of a cruise.

We managed to get packed and before we knew it the clock said 2:50 and the Hula and the Ukulele Group would be performing in the Princess Theatre at three. So away we went. Rosalie is in both groups and we wanted to support her. We got there on time and we had a great location for pictures. We were so impressed. The groups were larger and they seemed to be more accomplished. We just loved it.

The next thing was to go to the Vista so we could hear Eric in the passenger talent show.

We came very close to being late for dinner but we made it. Ken and I gave the chocolates and the tips and notes to Joe and Satheesh before the others arrived. Dinner service was slow but the meal was very tasty.

Today was Rosalie’s birthday and Eric ordered a special cake for the occasion. It was a  strawberry shortcake with lots of fruit and whipped cream. We were all served ample helpings. The waitstaff sang happy birthday and one even played the guitar.

We finished our dinner finally and everyone left to do final closing of suitcases and to put the cases out into the hall

Almost Over

Saturday, April 04, 2015

Sadly this is almost the end of our cruise. This morning we are at Vancouver time, no more time zones to change.

We set the alarm call for 7:30 and asked for breakfast at eight. Well someone messed up and we were still in bed when the knock came on the door at 7:25. Fortunately a robe was handy.

The reason for the early call was the fact that George was having his talk on Longitude at nine instead of the usual ten. He was enlightening, amusing and entertaining all at once.

After the talk we walked a little and then came back to our room. I did a bit of packing. I think tomorrow will be very busy so I wanted to get a head start.

I checked the e-mail. Our Easter card has gone out and we received many thank you notes. We received our time for disembarkation. We are to be in the Vista at 9:50. I e-mailed Kerri and told her what approximate time to expect us. We will phone when we are closer.

My flowers still look pretty good. The carnations are almost as fresh as new. It will be hard to throw them out tomorrow. But you cannot take such things ashore.

We decided to skip lunch and we just had a piece of fruit. Then around 2:30 we left to go and have a special coffee and listen to the pop choir.

On the way out we noticed that most of my Easter magnets are gone. There are 2 missing baskets, several eggs and some flowers are also missing. I hope it was one of the little children who took them and not a simpleton adult.

The pop choir was good. They performed the same numbers as before. Again, they could have used more male voices. Ken will have to go in the choir on one of these cruises.

 There was a make- up seminar and I went to watch. That is something I will never learn to do. It is too fussy and it takes too long to perform all of the steps.

I picked up 2 of the Ultimate Mai Tai since it was happy hour and you get 2 for the price of one. I brought them to the room for Ken and I to enjoy. I then began to write the thank you notes to go with the extra tips. I have to check on the spelling of Sadtheesh’s name. I think that is correct. I will let you know later. He is from India.9I found it ...Satheesh)

This is formal night. I plan to wear my navy outfit. That skirt and jacket is now 12 years old and it still looks great and I still like me in it.

Ken wore black and white with his Tux. Dinner tonight was lobster again and I enjoyed escargot for my appetizer. There was another Norman Love Chocolate journey. So the meal was terrific. I brought Easter Eggs to give to everyone.

After dinner we went straight to the theatre for the production show, British Invasion. We enjoyed it as usual. Then we went to the International Café for a coffee. We had gotten our order when Erik and Rosalie arrived. They shared a table with us and we visited for almost an hour. Then we called it a night. Tomorrow will be a busy day again.

Our last day, we have to pack and get ready to disembark on Monday morning.

Good Friday

We continued our straight line across the Pacific. Today the sea is dead calm, we are experiencing the doldrums. The air is getting cooler, bathing suit and short weather will come to an end for the stalwart ones today. It ended for the rest of us yesterday.

 We lost another hour last night and as a result we woke a bit late, too late for breakfast in the dining room. We got dressed and went to Horizon Court because we wanted to go to hear the lecture by George McGuire. His topic today was Sir Francis Drake in the Pacific Ocean. So we both had a light breakfast, cereal and fruit, and then we headed for the theatre. George was up to his usual high standard and we enjoyed him immensely.

He finished at 10:45 and there was to be a Good Friday service in the theatre at 11:30. That gave me time to check out the ten dollar sale ( there was nothing new so again my card stayed put away).

To my delight there is now a display of Easter decorations in the Piazza. I was able to get several photos and a skinny latte before heading back to the theatre.

 The service was interdenominational and it was being conducted by Chaplain Allen Brooks and Pastor Julianne Barlow. Pastor Barlow did most of the service. It was actually quite nice and Ken and I enjoyed it. The hymns were familiar and we were able to sing along. They announced that there will be a communion service on Sunday. It will also be in the theatre.

Right after the service there was a lecture by Roy Prevost. His topic was Pirates of the high seas. I must admit that he does not impress me. Mainly he has a power point presentation which he reads. He knows only what is on the screen or at least he only presents what is on the screen. I could do better with my eyes closed.

When he was finished boring us we decided to take in the Pub Lunch today. Ken went back to the room to get his beer while I waited for him. I met Ken Connelly (our table mate from dinner) and he and I visited as the line moved slowly. We were at the door and neither Ziutka nor Ken had arrived. I waited outside for them both and Ken went inside and got us a table. Ziutka arrived first but within the next minute Ken came along.

We had a very nice lunch together. They even showed us a couple of card games and we may just get together tomorrow to play.

After lunch I came back to the room to Blog and Ken went topside to get more sun.

After blogging and having a short nap it was time to get ready for dinner. Tonight was American night with a tribute to the assistant waiters and the parade of the Baked Alaskan.

Ziutka skipped dinner because she is fasting because of Good Friday.

On the way to the Vista we checked out some of the pictures that have been taken by Princess. We will not be buying any this voyage.

We went early to the Vista Lounge because we wanted a seat for the show with Scott Harris. He was very funny as we expected.

Then we decided to come back here and call it a night. We lose an hour again tonight. We will finally be back to Pacific Daylight Saving time.

Tomorrow George’s talk is an hour earlier, at 9:00 so we will have breakfast in our room. The order has been placed on the door.

April2nd

April 2^nd

This is Thursday and it is our second sea day on our way back to Vancouver.

The navigator tells us that during the day the Grand Princess will maintain a north-easterly course across the Pacific Ocean. The map on the television shows us making a bee line from Hawaii to Vancouver with never a bend in the path.

We woke around eight and decided that we would have breakfast in the dining room. We were sat at a table for ten which is something we don’t like. There are too many people and it is too hard to visit. But we did end up sitting next to a very nice couple from Mill Lake. The other three couples were from Vancouver Island. I have heard that over 2000 of the 2600 passengers are from Canada and I’ll bet 1900 of them are from British Columbia.

After breakfast we headed for the Princess theatre to listen to George McGuire and his talk on Puzzles and Paradoxes. He would have been something to have as a son or as a student. At 4 he wanted to know how long was now. He has since concluded that now doesn’t exist , it is always past or future. He certainly knows how to make a person’s head spin.

After that I checked on the Hawaiian Market place and found that everything was so highly price that nothing was worthwhile.

Then I made a quick stop at the Fruit carving demonstration and took some pictures.

Ken and I had never tried the pizza at Alfredo’s so we decided that today was the day. The atmosphere is very nice. Ken took one of his beer from the mini bar and enjoyed it in his mug. I had a coffee. We had the vegetarian pizza. It was the thin crust type and it was good but it couldn’t hold a candle to the ones from Ocean Park.

Back in the room I stumbled upon one of the Mission Impossible movies with Tom Cruise, so between that and doing the blog the afternoon disappeared. Ken was busy getting more sun. He has developed quite a good tan. I have a little but not anything compared to his.

We got dressed for dinner . This was Italian night and they had Lemonchello.

They no longer have the cordial glasses so the cost was three dollars instead of six. Four of us bought it and much to our pleasure and surprise we got a late refill. We took our glasses to the theatre with us when we went to the theatre to see the comedian Scott Harris. He was hilarious and since he hails from Canada we related to many of his jokes. Perhaps all of the lemonchello helps to make him funnier.

 We sat with Erik and Rosalie. They enjoyed it as well. They are really enjoying their cruise which was so nice to hear.

They headed to Explorers for Pub Night but since Ken and I have seen it a couple of times we did not go with them.

Our original plan was to go to the International café and have a special coffee and brandy. But the lemon drinks made us change our minds. We had had enough alcohol.

We both were thirsty so we took our coffee mugs and our water bottle topside to Horizon Court. We filled the containers and had a glass of ice tea. Ken had a piece of wonderful chocolate cake and I had some fruit.

That is how we finished our day.

April Fool's Day

April 1st/2015

This is our first sea day of the return voyage.

Our clocks were moved ahead one hour overnight and so today began later that usual for us. Normally we wake up between 7 and 8 but this morning we were later than normal. We had not ordered room service and because we were late we had to go to Horizon Court for breakfast. Quite accidently we ended up sitting with Ken our evening table mate. As soon as we finished we went to the Princess theatre to hear George McGuire. His lecture was titled The Pleasure of Thinking. As usual he thrilled us and challenged us and entertained us all at the same time.

I had an appointment to get my hair done at eleven so I went directly from the theatre to the SPA. My appointment was with Phinole . She did my hair on the last cruise and she does a great job. This is formal night and my hair is going to look great.

Because we had a big breakfast we decided to basically skip lunch. I had an orange and took my meds.

I had a short nap and then got ready for the Wine Tasting. This is the event that is complimentary to Elite members. It was being held in the Botticelli dining room. The turn out was pretty good and we were treated to 5 different wines including 2 white, 2 red and 1 sparkling. The thing that really angered us was how rude some of the people were. Instead of listening to the facilitators they were chatting and laughing and being VERY rude. I cannot understand how some people can be so disrespectful;. These people were English speaking Canadians who should have known better. I was so embarrassed by them and angry with them and ashamed of them.

Then we returned to our room to get ready for dinner. This is the evening of the Captain’s Circle Party. We had arranged to meet Zuitka and Ken at Crooners so we could get into line early and get a good seat for the party. Ken and I usually like to sit nearer the back but Zuitka wanted to sit in the very front row. I was actually uncomfortable there and would not sit there again. But we did survive the evening and again we did not win a bottle of champagne. We learned that the most travelled passengers had 1200 sea days, next was 6oo days and the third place was just over 500 days. We also learned that there are 224 passengers with Elite cards on board.

This was lobster night in the dining room and the lobster was enjoyed by all. I especially enjoyed the crab cakes that went with the lobster.

Tonight we were treated to another special Norman Love chocolate journey. It was so rich that I ate only half of it. I could just see my blood sugar going through the roof, especially since I had 2 rum punch at the Captain’s party.

We left the dining room and headed back to the Princess Theatre because the feature was a production show “Stardust”.

It is such a grand show and it makes people feel good. What a great day to finish a day!

Flopping Waves!!

OOPs,

We had a very nice leisurely breakfast and then we headed for the Princess Theatre around 9:20. We were to be there at 9:45.

We were given our identifying sticker and shown to a seat to wait . They were a little late but after a relatively smooth tender ride we were on our way to a bus which would take us to Kaanapali Beach. It was less than 20 minutes away in spite of fairly heavy traffic. When I stepped from the air conditioned bus I was shocked by the intensity of the heat. My first thought was that this was a mistake, a big mistake. We played follow the leader and headed around the complex to the beach. We had paid 69 dollars each for this excursion and we were told it included a beach chair and a complimentary drink and a discount on our dinner. The bus would head back to the ship at three o’clock. We would be in this intense heat for more than 4 hours.!!

We were then told that upgrading from our Tommy Bahama chair to a lounger would be an extra 6 dollars, getting an umbrella would be another 21 dollars, and getting one of those shade cabanas would be an additional 46 dollars. I was not impressed and I was not going to spend that much more. Well I was beginning to feel terrible at the end of the 5 minute walk to the beach. We were given our chairs at the end of this walk and the inviting beach lay in front of us.

My first impulse was to remove my shoes. That was a big mistake. The sand was so hot that it actually felt like my feet were being burned. I did manage to get the sandals back on and we found a spot near the water. I told Ken right away that I would be heading back the way we came to look for shade very shortly.

Well we put our things on our chairs and headed for the water. The beach was full but there was ample room. As soon as we reach what I could see had been wet sand I was able to remove my shoes and the breeze from the water hit me and I felt a bit better. We had swim suits under our clothes so we quickly removed our outer items and headed for the water. Ken had brought umbrellas in his pack and I had brought a wide brimmed hat. So you have to picture me in a swim suit wearing a hat and carrying an umbrella. (You are supposed to call it a parasol when it is not raining).

This shoreline is very steep. The sand is soft and wonderful and it drops off quickly. These conditions make it very different from the beaches I am accustomed to. The waves don’t exactly break on the shore. It is more like they flop and roll over. The result is a smashing affect and an unbelievable undertow as the water rushes back. Children with boards were having a grand time. They would walk out a few yards, watch for a wave, turn with their backs to a wave, jump on the boards and ride the wave into and up on the beach. The ride would be about 20 yards or more.

For almost an hour I watched the children play. I made sure not to go in very deep, but it was deep enough that the waves would splash me and I was being kept cool. Ken was out deeper bobbing up and down in the waves. I took pictures and he took pictures. The area was beautiful with swaying palm trees and all things tropical.

I was standing next to Ken when before I knew what hit me I was down trying to get back up. The wave rushed around me and as the water retreated the sand was washed out from under my feet and I was down with my hat missing and my umbrella was broken into pieces and the top of it came flying toward me. Ken was trying to keep me up and a man came over to rescue my hat and offer to help. Then I felt the pain in my ankle as it twisted under my off balanced weight.

I managed to get out of the water and up on the shore. The ankle was a bit swollen but not too bad at all. Thankfully I was able to put weight on it and managed to get to a place with some shade. Ken brought me my chair and I rested. Ken got us our complimentary drink. It was a very good Mai Tai.

Another couple decided to go back to the ship early and they were going to call a cab. We went with them. We got back to the dock just as a tender was getting ready to leave and they had room for us.

Our shore excursion came to an end..

I rested and we ordered room service for lunch. We each had a club house sandwich and a piece of chocolate cake. I had one of my diet cokes from our mini bar. Then I lay down with my foot up on a pillow. I was able to go to dinner with no problem. After dinner we came back to our room and called an end to the day.

My ankle seems fine today.