Last Sea Day Of Hawaiian Cruise

   Today was day 5 of the crossing from Hawaii to Mexico. Tomorrow we will be in Ensenada which is at the northern end of the Baja Peninsula. We managed to fill most of the day between exercise and eating!

   We were up early enough to try Tai Chi again. I still don't feel the life force after each movement but I suspect that that would come with more practice. That was followed by the last zumba class of the cruise. It was another good class with the same instructor that we have had the last few days. We stopped by the Onboard Outlet Sale but we did not find anything. When we do a crossing they always has the tees on sale but because this ship is doing another Hawaii run, no bargains were available. The culinary demonstration followed. It showcases how some of the food is made. Today they made a pasta, a shrimp dish and black forest cake. The comedy comes with the head waiter pouring the entire salt shaker into the pasta to “give it some taste”. Same with the garlic! It is always an entertaining time and follows the routine that we have seen before.

    After our seafood lunch (huge prawns), we attended the review dance class where we did the Merengue, Cha Cha and the Rhumba. It is too bad that we have not had a dedicated time to practice with the cruise staff teacher there to help out. The classes were much better than others that we have attended in the past. Then we sat in on the Ensenada Mexico port lecture. They get 1or 2 cruise ships a day during the season and the port looks like it is very tourist friendly. She also mentioned that the winery tour we are taking is excellent with plenty of free samples. We passed the line dancing while in progress and had a nice cup of tea.

Ready For Dinner

    This ship has not had a few of the set piece entertainment that we have seen on other ships. The pub night entertainment put on by the staff was not scheduled. We have seen it recently on other ships. The rock and roll night as well as the western line dance night are also gone. Both of those were very tired and need to be scrapped or updated.

  The night was full of entertainment. There was the comedic impression of Mike Wilson who was very fully. Our Scottish friends did not like him but admitted they did not get some of the jokes. Funny we felt the same way when the British comedians performed when we sailed around England. The venue was packed even though we arrived 25 minutes early. We got the last seats in the lounge. Dinner (baked Alaska night) was followed by a musical entertainer. He was good but you needed to enjoy a particular type of humour. A full night! We tour the winery tomorrow! We will follow in a Carnival ship into the port.

Lazy Day At Sea

8-12 Foot Swells

    Finally a day to rest! After 4 days of touring, 3 of which were full days of touring we had a day to take it easy! The schedule for the ship reflected that as the number of activities in the morning were limited. We skipped a big breakfast and managed to make the 10 am lecture! The talk was part of the enrichment series dealing with the development of the Hawaiian Islands from a geologic point of view. It included the volcanic eruptions and the Pacific hot spot. A walk on deck followed but there are restricted areas. There are very large swells and the ship is rocking a bit. We did got away at 6 this morning and as promised the storm is having an effect. The swells are classified as rough with 8-12 foot swells. The storm is expected to kick up the swells for the next 2-3 days before they subside.

     A quick lunch and it was time for Zumba. The cruise director taught the class and it was not zumba gold. There was way too much jumping for me, especially since the ship is rocking it's way towards Mexico. It shutters and tosses out huge sections of white water. After that we looking in in the line dance class and then rested before out formal night snack arrived.

    We had the Captain's Circle party tonight at 5 pm. That is the earliest party that we have even had because the group was split into 2 parties. There are 510 Elite on this cruise which is far lower than other cruises that we have been on. We had an idea that it was fewer Elite on this cruise. The Captain is a Canadian who lives in Vancouver but grew up in Alberta. When we met him we introduced our self as being from Windsor. Immediately he said the Spitfires! Apparently he is a huge hockey fan and follows the game closely. We did have a few drinks which is different than in the past. Usually you get one and done as far as drinks go. After the party, we wandered about until dinner.  Lobster was on the menu.

  The production show was “I Got The Music”. We have seen this show a number of times. That ended the Lazy day at sea.

Valentine's Day on The Emerald Princess

Valentine Day Party

     Today being Valentine's Day there were some special

Cake

activities on the Emerald Princess. The biggest thing was a special celebration in the Atrium. There was a Group Renewal of Vows Ceremony. Everyone was invited to renew their marriage vows. The band played, they handed out beads and “Love” wrist bands as well as a printed program with the vows printed. The Captain led the entire ceremony. We have see many activities in the atrium of Princess ships and we have never seen as many people in the area at one time. At the conclusions the red and white balloons were dropped and the dancing continue!

 

June and Ed Table Mates

  The weather continues to cool as we are under the same system that is slamming the west coast of the U.S. We are expecting showers by tomorrow. The seas have picked up a bit so we were not able to walk outside again today.

We started the day with Tai Chi! Actually the session runs just before our Zumba class ans since we arrive early we tried it. I think that you need to do it continually to get some benefit from it. We had the same instructor today. It was a good session and she finished with Proud Mary. I smile when they play it.

 

Bonnie and Ed Table Mates

   After the mid morning Valentine's Day activities, we had lunch in a restaurant. We skipped line dancing and went to the Ballroom dance class. She reviewed a few of the dances that we have done during this cruise. The Pop Choir had their short show and then we attended the lecture on volcanoes. By then it was time for our canapes to arrive. The day seemed to go quite quickly.

At Dinner

We were out early for the Farewell Cocktail party but there were no balloons this time. That was for the morning. It was the usual last formal night activities. The waiters did not seem to be as inundated this time. They actually came around a few times. Dinner was (beef wellington) with a chocolate journey dessert. It was very good. The production show was “Disco.. Blame It On The Boogie”. We think we have seen it before. Tomorrow is the last sea day of the cruise. Then Mexico and then the cruise ends.

Mid Point Of Our Sail Back to Mexico

Judy And Curtis

The weather turned cooler and cloudy and the wind picked up to “gale force 7”. We tried to walk on deck but the wind made it nearly impossible. Most people were staying in the ship today.

Ready For Dinner

   We have had 3 different zumba instructors. The one today was mid way between hard and easy. It was just right for me. Perhaps that was because the ship is rocking a bit more and she toned down the routines. So far we have not seen anybody fall! Good thing. At breakfast we sat with a woman that fell in Waikiki. She took a miss-step and fell on her face. She is healing but is black and blue. She had to spend the night in Hospital in Waikiki and flew to the next port to rejoin the ship. You hear about these things happening so we know that it was not just a roomer.

Ready To Eat

   After zumba, we took in the lecture on the development and migration of the Hula from Samoa to the islands. It was interesting to note that originally only the men did the Hula and women were forbidden to even watch. It started as a war dance much like the Maori continue to do in New Zealand. Actually there has been quite an evolution in the dance over time.

     Sweet Home Alabama was the big line dance of the day! Then it was on to the ballroom blitz dance of the day. Today it was the swing. We had seen it at the Stockyard but today I think the teacher was a bit clearer and we could almost do it! We can't wait to try it at one of the dances in the future. The it was on to the Sotto Voce Duo which is the violin duo on the ship. One of the violinists was on the tour with us in Hawaii so we stayed to listen. They play all types of music. Finally we booked a wine tour in Mexico. It was the only thing that was of

Ravioli

interest.

    Tonight we saw a short show by a piano player. She was very good. We had enjoyed her performance the other night. Then it was off to the specialty dining experience that was a gift from our agent at the automobile club. We went to a restaurant called Share by Curtis Stone. He is a chef from Australia who now lives in the U.S. And is on T.V. It was a 6 course meal. The pace was slow and everything is prepared just as you finish one course. There was a starter, salad, pasta, sea, land and dessert.

Dessert

Everything was very tasty – exceptional really. The entire experience took over 2 1/2 hours. We could not have enjoyed it more and afterwards we did manage to see the end of the comedian in the Princess Theatre. The place was packed and every seat was taken. He was very funny. Another clock change is on tap for tonight! The weather is steadily getting worse as the ship has started to rock again. 2 more sea days before Mexico.

Sunny and Smaller Swells

    We are experiencing nice warm weather and smaller swells although we are still under the influence of the storm system that is far away. The weather continues to be warm and sunny. After the Captain's party last night where our “friend” Gunter (from Indonesia) kept bringing us glasses of wine, we had a really good night's sleep. It was shorted because we needed to “gain” one of the hours that we “lost” on our way to Hawaii. So the clocks went ahead an hour.

    We made our way to the buffet for a light breakfast, picked up the Sudoku (still working on it) and found the morning zumba class. It must seem like a rut but exercise in the morning seems to get us going. After the class we attended a lecture on Natural Disasters in The pacific mainly on tsunamis and tropical storms. The lecturer is the naturalist on board and is an excellent speaker. The other lecturer was also presenting but we left immediately. The one time we heard him he was terrible. We saw the line dance class where they were doing the Wobble! That took care if the morning.

    The afternoon was filled with the pub lunch followed by the ballroom dance class. Today the Waltz was the dance taught 1 2 3 123 etc. It was also the day for the Grapevine Wine tasting where they talk about 5 different wines. We have gone to them many times as it is part of the Elite package. In the past there was always a list of what wines were being demonstrated. Not today. Our waiter just filled the glasses before the wine was talked about. Usually they show you the bottle and the label. Our waiter did not do that.  He was in a hurry to get out of there. The wines on board have gotten more expensive as have the drinks. It may be just on this cruise. We have seen variations of the prices before based on the itinerary of the ship. Some outside time ended the afternoon. The pool areas are filled with people enjoying the warm weather.

   We were out early to get to some of the entertainment venues before dinner. One of the cruise staff did a show which was quite entertaining. From that point on, it was on to dinner. We were able to catch some of the Queen show put on by the house band. The show in the Princess theatre was a trumpet player. Enough said!

Volcano Site Seeing On Hawaii

End Of The Road

Judy Inspects a tunnel

    Today we were on another full day tour of Hawaii, the island where the most recent volcanic eruptions have taken place. This was the last of the 4 straight days of ship tours. I don't think we ever took that many ship planned tours before. We have been hearing about a large storm that is in the area for the last few days. We were suppose to leave tonight around 6 pm but we have been delayed for 12 hours to let the worse of the swell move on. Another announcement about sea sickness! So we will remain in Hilo until the morning.

Recent Eruption

Lava Flow

   Our all day tour today took us on a crater hike to Kilauea volcano. There were only 24 people on this tour as it was billed as a strenuous activity for fit people. Judy thinks we were the oldest people on the tour. We travelled the Volcano highway to the National park to do our hike. It was a 2 mile walk down a highway that is now blocked because of the collapse of the road and other dangers. Hardly more than a stroll! Along the way we stopped in an area where ash had fallen. Walking on ash from a volcano is like walking in course sand. Hard to believe that there is no solid ground underneath. The rim of the volcano provided us with our first real look at the size of Kilauea and why a volcano would be so destructive. The caldera really is a massive area. A final stop at the cracked, collapsed highway and then we headed back to the van.

Volcano Floor

      The next stop was an area of steam vents. Add water any you have hot pools or geysers. We also viewed the full extent of the crater. Again the reaction was awesome! As we made our way back to the city, we had the required stop at a store. This one was a macadamia farm. We had more than enough time there. The final stop was the Rainbow Falls and then we headed back to the ship. It was another long tiring day.

Rainbow Falls

     The sail away party was held on the aft deck and not in the pool area where there is plenty of room. About 100 people were there and if we had sailed it might have been a good idea. It did not turn out that way. Dinner with friends and then the ventriloquist was on stage. A few parts were funny but it was all we could do to stay awake. Judy had a much stronger reaction.

Sailing tomorrow morning at 6 am. Formal night and Captain's Circle party tomorrow as well.

A Full Day in Kauai

Blow Hole

Wailua Canyon

   Today we were on a full day tour of the garden island. We were off the ship at 8 this morning and returned after 4:30. In fact our bus was the last one to get back and the CO announced shortly after that we were ready to sail. He also mentioned that he was close to skipping the port. It is probably the tightest harbour that we have ever been in requiring a tight z turn to get out. Other cruise companies (Holland America, etc.) have already cancelled the port for tomorrow because of the high winds.

Coastline

   This island has some wonderful scenery and has been the location for a number of movies including Blue Hawaii (we saw the hotel), King Kong, Raiders Of the Lost Arc to name a few. Our first stop was the Wailua Canyon. It has the nick name of the Grand Canyon Of The Pacific. It took us about 90 minutes to get there and the road to the rim was a true snake road of tight turns as we made our way up. The view was spectacular but the wind was blowing so hard that hats were flying off. In addition the dirt particles from the canyon were so strong it was like having a facial. Besides the wind and dirt, it was unfortunate that the sun was shinning right down the canyon which made picture taking difficult.

Fern Grotto

    We next made our way to the Spouting horn which is a blow hole in a lava tube. The coastline in the area was very scenic. It was not the same as we had seen in Australia years ago but it was still very interesting. We made our way through towns that are booming because of

Forest Tunnel

the number of tourist coming to the island. Last year they had 1.2 million tourists arrive by air and about the same number by cruise ship. There are some wonderful golf courses in the area. The PGA calibre course we saw charges $32.00 for 18 holes cart included. The golf course was part of the location for a very tasty lunch.

At The Grotto

    The afternoon included a boat ride up the Wailua River to the Fern Grotto with Hawaiian music along the way. The grotto area itself is an old lava tuba was quite interesting as we walked through a forest area filled with flowers, tall bamboo plants, etc.    After a short ride and a stop at the twin Opaekaa Falls, we returned to the ship.

We are expecting a bit of a rocky run to the big island of Hawaii, our last stop in the islands. Dinner was good. Our regular waiter was ill for the second time in 3 days. The piano player in the Princess theatre was quite entertaining. That ended a long tiring day. Tomorrow we hike to a volcano. Should be interesting!