Checking in from our first stop- Hilo, Hawaii
I’m writing from our stateroom on Wednesday, December 4,
2013. I probably should have written earlier,
but it is vacation and I was veggie out.
I will send this when we get to shore in Hilo tomorrow and have free Wi-Fi
(cheapskate that I am).
We left Colorado on Friday morning after Lisa very
generously drove us to the airport.
Caitie was with us as she was returning to Stanford from thanksgiving
vacation. Together the three of us few
to Dallas airport where she caught her next plane to San Francisco and we left
for LAX . (By the way, my L key isn’t
working so if you notice a word that I missed repairing and is beyond your
recognition, add an L to it.) The flights went well with no issues if you
count flying backwards to Texas to get to California normal. We had frequent flyer miles and it is the
only routing you can get with American miles.
We carried our huge overloaded cruise bags to the hotel
waiting area and grabbed a shuttle to the Renaissance hotel where we spent a
comfortable night. Saturday morning
after a good breakfast we rode the shuttle back to the hotel and met up with
the Princess staff who took our bags and loaded us onto a bus. The entire process at the airport took about
an hour for those of you wondering. We
had to wait around for the bus for a while and the bag check-in was not well
organized, so it took an hour to get on the bus. The ride from the airport to the pier takes
about 40 minutes but then the real waiting happened. We got off the bus (leaving our bags behind
for the Princess people to take to our stateroom) and stood in line to check
in. Apparently the check-in lines were
opened about noon, so the lines had plenty of time to grow by our arrival 45
minutes later. Once we were checked in
we were given a boarding pass with a group number on it, and we sat in a large
waiting room and waited until our group number was called. We estimate that the total check in time plus
waiting was about an hour. When we go on
our Bubbie trip we ought to arrange to wait together as it will make the time
fly by to spend it as a big group.
As unaccustomed to balconies as we usually are, it was
gorgeous to see our balcony digs. After rustling
up some lunch and hanging out through the muster drill we spent several hours
on the deck enjoying the view as we left the harbor. The sun was setting and it was such a clear
and beautiful evening. We met our deck
neighbors and visited for a bit by yelling around the walls. We were pleasantly surprised to find a bottle
of champagne and an arrangement of flowers in our room compliments of Susan,
Lisa and Mom as an anniversary gift.
That champagne made for a very nice round of toasts as we headed out to
sea.
We had difficulties figuring out which dinner to sign up
for, so we changed our mind and ended up on the wait list for the timed
seatings. In the end, they assigned us
to AnyTime dining and after a few days of it we are converts. It has been four or five years since our last
cruise and in that time they changed the dining rooms. They are all smaller with smaller tables. The largest tables sit maybe six or eight and
there are not many of them. The smaller
dining rooms are themed, such as the Southwestern Santa Fe Room or the dark steakhouse,
the Savoy. With AnyTime dining it feels
as if you are eating in a restaurant.
Most meals Mike and I eat at a table by ourselves. It is very nice to “go out to eat” every
night. I feel spoiled.
To answer your questions about the ship. This ship doesn’t have juice available all
day, Leanne. The Horizon Court has
dispensers for coffee and hot water that can be accessed all day, but not
juice. Juice is served by the wait staff
after you sit down, but I did not see any self-service. If you want juice at lunch (Mike asked for
some) they charge you. Regarding Wi-Fi,
it is available at a number of places including the internet café on the 6th
floor . We actually receive it in our
room on the Caribe deck (10). It is the
same price as using their computers though, so there is no cost savings from
having your own computer. During the middle of the day it is very slow, and
therefore expensive, so if you want to use it the internet café manager told us
the best times were before 6AM when no one else is on and it is fast. There is a price discount offered to buy the
minutes before you get on the ship, and they offered the same deal for the
first day on board. We decided none of
our news was time sensitive, so we will check our mail and send this at free Wi-Fi
when we are in port.
Our first full day was Sunday, also known at this time of
the year as football Sunday. Mike had
been concerned about being able to see the games but the concern was for
naught. We grabbed two recliners out by
the pool and watched an entire day of football on the theater under the stars,
also called the jumbotron at the pool.
We were amply fed (the hamburger and hot dog desk was at one end of the
pool deck and the ice cream and popcorn stand at the other). Jessica wanted to know about the activities
on board and I can tell you people were busy, but we were watching
football. And, if it wasn’t enough to do
that all day Sunday, it so happens that this week was Monday night Football
week for the Seahawks so we spent Monday there too. With the time change the game began at 4:30
so we were out there plenty early to get good seats. By the end of the game we were wrapped up in
blankets and coats to stay warm but we cheered the Hawks to victory over New
Orleans. You’ll just have to see for
yourself about the first few days activities, Jecca…. I only know about
football.
The fitness center on this ship is excellent and not only
have we toured it but we actually used it once.
We are also enjoying our “anniversary deluxe package” and have had a
massage. I elected a bamboo massage
where this little tiny Philippine girl rolled warm pieces of bamboo on my back
then massaged all of the knots. It was heavenly.
So, we are totally
relaxed, well fed and massaged. Think of
us as two happy hunks of Kobe beef.
Love, Deanne and Mike
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