Cruise 2011, Days 11-12-13

Tuesday, September 27, 2011, At Sea, Day 11

Ship's position S4°8.13' W152°19.26', speed 18 knots.

Our morning pattern continues, continental breakfast in our cabin, reading and Sudoku puzzles and to the library to pickup today's puzzles and enter our trivia answers. The trivia question is part of the Wake show which we watch every morning. It stars the Cruise Director and his assistant with an occasional guest.

The show recaps the previous days activities, gives the names of the passengers that got the daily trivia question correct and previews the coming days activities. The show is very amateurish but entertaining partly because of that.

We went on deck in the late morning and stayed till mid after noon. We had lunch from the Horizon Court.

Back at the cabin we relaxed some more before supper.

After supper we went to the Vista Lounge and saw Sammy Goldstein singing show tunes.

At bed time the ship's position was S8°55.94' W169°4', speed 16.4 knots.



Wednesday, September 28, 2011, At Sea, Day 12

Ship's position S11°30.26' W150°57.51'

Today was the first time our breakfast arrived between 8:30 and 9 o'clock as we have specified.

Today's trivia question was; what is the longest word that can be typed using only the to row of letters on a standard keyboard? Typewriter?

Gerri checked on our Moorea tour and was able to sell it to another passenger. We will explore by ourselves and then go shopping with Tim and Beth,

We went to a tee short sale and got two shirts for $20.00. We also went by the Internet Cafe and had them check out my notebook, hoping to get better reception. In the cafe we got 5 bars and when we moved up to the Crooner's Lounge,I had 3 bars.

At three we met Bill and Sherry Hogue at the Crooner's Lounge. We originally met them at Lahaina. They are friends of Frank Leemans, who I worked with for years. Bill and Sherry don't use the internet. They are Elite members of the Captains Circle, we are Gold, as such they get 500 minutes of internet time free. Bill gave me the information so I can log on to his account and use his time. This will release some of the presurre on us for online time.

While we were visiting with Bill and Sherry, Tim and Beth came by and we introduced them. We all plan to meet when we get to Pago Pago.

After supper we stopped in the Crooner's Lounge and listened to Sammy Goldstein for awhile.

Tomorrow we anchor at Moorea.

The ship's position at bedtime was S15°10.60' W150°18.70', speed 16.6 knots.

2011 Cruise, Sept. 26, Day 10

Monday, September 26, 2011, At Sea, Day 10
Ship's position N2°50.16' W153°33.70', speed 17.6 knots.
We didn't have any plans for this morning. Later today the ship is having a crossing the Equator ceremony. We don't actually cross the Equator until 6:30 tonight.
I went on deck with my GPSR that was loaded with caches, some of which I hope to do. The nearest one in Moorea was over 1200 miles away.
We watched the crossing the equator ceremony. There were characters dressed up as Neptune and his court. Earlier at 9 the crew had taken volunteers to represent the passengers and stand trial before Neptune. The trials consisted of zany stunts and involved a lot of food being heaped on the participants who then had to kiss a fish. All the crew members who hadn't crossed the equator before were subjected to the same treatment. The participants were dunked in the pool to clean off. After that King Neptune gave his permission for the Sea Princess to safely cross the equator. Those who have never crossed the equator before are called pollywogs and those who have are called shellbacks. Tonight at supper we will all be shellbacks. Gerri bought me a 'Crossing the Equator” tee shirt. We may need another suitcase to get home from Sydney.

Tonight we had supper at a steakhouse with Tim, Beth, Bob and Nina. Mike and Brenda didn't join us, Brenda is a vegetarian. The supper was excellent and there was Creme Broule for dessert, although it had a raspberry flavor.
After supper we went out on deck hoping to see the night sky. There was too much ambient light from the ship to see more than the brightest stars.
At bedtime the ship's position was S1°13.70' W152°50.`2, ship's speed 19.2 knots.

2011 Cruise, Sept. 23-25, Days7-9

Friday, September 23, 2011, Lahaina, HI, Day 7
We arrived and anchored off Lahaina early this morning. We have now been away from Las Vegas for one week, three more to go.

From the ship we can see Maui, Lanai and Molokai. We took the tender ashore at about 10:30. We walked around Lahaina for awhile. I did one virtual cache near where the tender dropped us off. We were taking pictures and got a memory full message. I bought a 8 gig card at the ABC store. Shortly after that we started getting a low battery signal. Nothing I could do about that as the camera uses proprietary rechargeable batteries and the spare was on the ship.

We met Tim and Beth and Bob and Nina for lunch at the Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant. After that I tried to find a cache under the restaurant deck. After dodging a lot of waves and looking at what I thought were the most likely spots, and some that weren't so likely, I gave up. Man, I really don't like to log DNFs.
We were hot and tired and headed back to the ship. By the time we stood in line and the trip back to the ship we were even hotter.
Showers cooled us off and we spent the next several hours relaxing. As a matter of fact we relaxed the whole evening away watching the movie “From Here To Eternity.”
The ship's position this evening was N19°46.81' W156°39.68' speed 18.8 knots.
We will be at sea for five more days before reaching our next port of call at Moorea. French Polynesia.

Saturday, September 24, 2011, At Sea, Day Eight
Ships position N16°34.67' W156°3.52' Going southeast at 18 knots.
Continental breakfast in the cabin while trying to learn to solve Sudoku Puzzles. Sudoku Puzzles make my head hurt.
Gerri went to her second of five facial massages. I stayed in the room and finished my first Sudoku Puzzle.
We sat around the pool area reading and attempted to solve more Sudoku Puzzles and then went to lunch at the Horizon Court. After lunch we did more sitting around the pool area. With all that sitting around we had to go to our cabin and rest before getting cleaned up for our second formal night.
After supper we went to the Vista Lounge and saw an Australian comedian.
At bedtime the ships position was N12°25.94' W155°17.61', speed 17 knots.

Sunday, September 25, 2011, At Sea, Day Nine
Sips position N9°32.89' W154°46.84'
Guess what we did for breakfast. Last night we had formal pictures taken at six locations. There was a drawing for free pictures today, we weren't even standing close to the winner.
We set out by the pool and at 11:00 Gerri went to a lecture on pearls. I stayed in the pool area and finished another Sudoku Puzzle. I have to plod through all of the possibilities and use a process of elimination. I have no perception and still check the answers when I finish a line of three to reassure myself. I'm not sure I will ever be very good at these puzzles.
At 2 we went to Carpet Bowls, battle of the sexes. The game is similar to Bocci Ball. The balls are smaller than Bocci and are weighted on one side for curving rolls. Add a little rolling of the ship and it becomes very interesting. There were at least 25 couples and we bowled three rounds. The men won 40 to 35. Yesterday was a different story. We didn't bowl but were told the women won by one point.
After Carpet Bowls we went to High Tea. They serve excellent finger sandwiches. I don't think I ever had a cucumber sandwich before. They had lettuce and tomato on an Italian style bread.
At 4:45 we went to the Vista lounge to see a performance of the Sea Princess Pop Choir. The choir was made up of forty or so members of the guest constituency. They had practiced a couple times under the tutelage of three crew members. One of our table mates, Beth Burton, was a member of the choir. The singing and choreography were excellent. This choir got more applause than any other entertainment we have seen. Of course the audience was made up of spouses, family and new friends from the dining tables.
Back to the cabin to clean up and rest up before supper.
After supper we went to the 12th deck and saw part of the Grand Deck Party.
The ship's position tonight was N5°45.45' W154°4.90', speed 17.8 knots.

2011 Cruise, Sept. 21-22, Days 5-6

Wednesday September 21,2011, At Sea, Day Five

Our last day at sea before reaching Honolulu. The ship's position this morning was N23°55.41' W152°24.96'

Like previous days we started the day with continental breakfast in our cabin.

We lounged around the pool area and ate lunch from the Mexican buffet.

Time by the pool and reading was the order of the day.

We cleaned up and rested before going to supper. I went to the front of the ship and took sunset pictures.

At supper the wait staff sang Happy Birthday to Nina and Happy Anniversary to Gerri and I. Except for a few words both sounded the same. We were also served a special dessert.

The ships position this even was; N22°04.01 W156°07.03, speed 17.2 knots. Tomorrow we make our first port at 7 AM in Honolulu, HI.
Our plan is to spend most of the day on Waikiki Beach with Tim and Beth and have an early supper at Duke's. I also hope to do a geocache, my first in Hawaii.



Thursday, September 22, 2011, Honolulu, HI, Day six

Chillin on the beach at Waikiki

We arrived in Honolulu at 7 AM. It was still gray out. We met Tim and Beth at the Horizon Court for breakfast. We took a Taxi to Waikiki Beach and found a spot on the beach. We rented umbrellas and chaise lounges for the day. Even though the temperature was in the high 80's there were occasional breezes and clouds and it was comfortable.

I walked to Fort DeRussey and bagged a geocache, my first in Hawaii.

We had lunch at thr Shorebird Beach Broiler and lounged on the beach all afternoon.

We had supper at Duke's in the Outrigger Hotel. Very good.

After looking around downtown we caught a Taxi back to the ship. The day at the beach was great, but back in our cabin the shower felt very good.

Cruise 2011, Days 3-4, September 19-20

Monday September 19, 2011, Day Three, At Sea
Our position this morning was N32°40.98' W130°52.89'
Our second full day at sea started with breakfast in our stateroom. A person could be spoiled by not even having to get up and fix coffee.
We played BINGO at 11:30 in the Vista Lounge. We didn't win any games. The couple we sat next to won the fourth game, $400.00. We sat with them after the games and chatted. They were Frank and Gail from Melbourne, Australia. Very nice couple. They were on the Alaska part of the cruise before we boarded.
After BINGO Gerri went to the pool area and I read in the room. Later I was hungry, so I went to the High Tea.
Tonight was the first formal evening. We dressed and went to the Atrium area. We had our pictures taken at six different spots with different backgrounds. We listened to the Captains welcome speech and then went to supper. All of out table mates were there for the first time. It was Tim's birthday.

The song and dance show started at 9:45, So we missed dessert. We went to the show with Beth and Tim. They are from Scottsdale, AZ.
After the show we returned to our cabin and found that our waiter had send dessert to us.
Before retiring I finished reading my first book using my new Kindle.
I also set back the clock we are now two time zones west of home.
The ship's position at 11:30 was N29°02.13 W141°56.71' the sea has been very calm with very little movement of the ship.

Tuesday September 20, 2011, At Sea, Day Four
I was up at 8 AM, the new time we are now two hours earlier than Las Vegas. This morning was sunny but with low clouds in the distance. The sea was calm and our position was N27°27.59' W145°13.86'
We started the day with coffee and continental breakfast in our cabin.
Last evening we had pictures taken at several locations and each location signed a card. This morning a drawing was held, the winner had to be present, the prize was discounts on photos. I was standing behind the winner.
I took a turn around the promenade deck. I saw several schools of small flying fish. I also talked to two couples and took pictures for them on their camera looking over the stern of the ship.
Gerri had stayed in the cabin and watched Casa Blanca. After that we went to see the future cruise consultant and then check to see how many more days of cruising it would take to reach the platinum level. We need five more days. That level gives us more perks, including some free wifi. Gerri and I took a turn of the deck, we didn't see anymore of the flying fish.

We had hotdogs and a cheeseburger for lunch. The couple we sat with had sushi, so Gerri got us a sampling of that. We then sat by the pool for awhile reading. Then it was back to the cabin to rest and cleanup for supper.

We did spend some time trying to find the setting on Gerri's camera that would let the flash be on for every picture. No luck. I looked for the flash always on setting on my Nikon. The manual was a lot clearer on the topic. After finding the setting for constant flash on the Nikon, I was able to transfer the knowledge to Gerri's Canon. Overall Gerri's camera has more capability than mine.

After supper we went to a show featuring a hypnotist and capped off the night with a sing along in the Crooners Lounge with Sammy Goldstein.
Ships position was N25°13.06 W149°48.69, ship's speed 17.9 knots.

Cruise 2011, Days 1 & 2, 9/17-18

Saturday September 17, 2011, Day One, Leaving San Francisco
We were up at about 9 AM. I made coffee in the single service coffee maker in the room. The coffee tasted fine, but wasn't very hot.
I used Gerri's phone to check on nearby geocaches, it showed closer caches than my preloaded Geomate, Jr. I tried one a block from the hotel entrance but had the same problems as yesterday with the GPS when I got near the cache. I never found the cache.

At about 11 we went to the lobby and settled the bill. We then waited for time to get on the bus to the cruise ship dock. We were on board the Sea Princes before 1pm. After lunch we had a safety drill. The ship sailed at 3:30. We found a place on deck to watch and take pictures as we went past Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate Bridge.

After passing the Golden Gate we headed south west for Hawaii. The ship cruises at just under 25 knots.
Our supper seating is at 7:45 at a table for eight. We met 5 of our table mates. The supper was delicious with a lot of choices.
By 10:30 we were back at the cabin and ready for bed.
We haven't decided yet whether to purchase a wifi plan. My blogs will probably cover several days each and probably won't include pictures. We will post pictures later.
One of the TV channels runs a crawler with the ships position. When I started writing this blog our position was N37° 4.00 W124° 22.48.

Sunday September 18, 2011, Day Two, At Sea
After a long day yesterday we slept very well. The sea was only running about 1' waves so there was little motion on the ship.
We started the day with a continental breakfast delivered to our stateroom.

Our position at 9 AM was N35°16.40' W124° 16.40' I was noticeably warmer this morning on our balcony. We are on the port side of the ship. There were some clouds but the sunlight sparkled on the sea. No white caps in sight. There is a channel on the television that shows the view from the bow. Of course there is only sea to be seen. The same as the view from our balcony. This is the first time I have been out of sight of land.
Gerri made a reservation for a spa treatment this morning and came back feeling great after having a facial. We then signed up for the wifi service in our stateroom. We signed up for 500 minutes for $175.00. If we spread that over the entire trip, it comes down to 18 minutes a day. We hope that is enough time to collect e-mail and post this blog. No time for games and very little for Facebook.
After walking around the Promenade, Deck 7, it is the only deck that goes around the entire ship, we had lunch in the Horizon Court. We checked out some other areas of the ship and at 2pm we went to the pool area where Gerri laid out in the sun, reading her Kindle while watching and listening to a Paul McCartney concert on the huge movie screen which she said was like being at a live concert. I elected to sit in the shade in a regular chair and read my Kindle and since it was right by the ice cream stand enjoyed a vanilla cone. After the concert we headed to one of the dining rooms which was serving High Tea, our first time going to this type of activity. They served scones, tea sandwiches with a white-gloved service and of course, tea...very good. At 4pm we went to the Vista lounge and played a trivia game. Neither of us did very well, only getting half the answers right. After that it was back to the stateroom to rest awhile and get cleaned up for supper. Only two of the couples came to the table.
After supper we went to a show in the Vista lounge. The show was a standup comedian named George Casey. He had a lot of funny material.
Back to the stateroom we relaxed and it was almost midnight when we went to bed.

Looking out

Loking in

The ships position was N32° 54.59' W133° 40.98' just before we went to bed.

San Francisco, CA Friday September 16, 2011

Wow! It is finally here the day we start or 40th wedding anniversary celebratory cruise.  We were up at 5:30 AM so we could be at the airport at 7 for a 9 o'clock flight.

Back up a little.  We got home from our motor home trip on the 1st.  Since then we have been occupied with taking care of financial matters and doctor appointments.  Actually our two plus weeks at the house were more enjoyable than that.  We got a chance to catch up on and visit with the Las Vegas grandchildren.  We also were able to worship in person with our Church family at Oakey Boulevard.

After supper with Curtis and his family at the Lindo Michoacan  Mexican Restaurant, Gerri picked up Barbara Smith who is staying with Glenna while we are on the cruise.  Barbara is Gerri's brother's sister-in-law, she has stayed with Glenna in the past when we went to Mexico.

I digress.   We had finished most of our packing last night.    We were loaded up and ready for Barbara to take us to the airport by 6:30.  Barbara got her first shot at driving the Lincoln by driving us to McCarran Int. Airport.  A challenge for someone familiar with the airport and the car they are driving.  We did the curb side check in and stopped before going to the gate to finish our coffee.  We proceeded to the D gates and were quickly reminded of why we like motor home traveling.  The line to go through security was very long.  Off with belt, shoes, empty pockets and lay out lap tops.  Then put it all back.   We may have been late for the flight except for a weather delay in San Francisco, imagine there was fog in the bay area.  The flight was uneventful, smooth take off, flight and landing.  After landing we were deplaned at the international terminal instead of the domestic terminal.  We waited until people trying to make connections were off the airplane.  We got to the baggage area and were met by an agent of Princess Cruises.  She had arraigned our transportation to the Mark Hopkins International Hotel.  After checking in we were shown to our room.  I don't think we have ever stayed in a hotel room with a doorbell.  The doorbell could be turned off and lights up a do not disturb light by the door.  We relaxed for awhile and then went for lunch at the famous Top of the Mark. 

After lunch Gerri took a nap and I fired up the Geomate Jr. and went to look for a nearby cache.  As it turns out I should have used Gerri's phone.  I didn't find the cache, these tall buildings play havoc with GPS receivers.  I walked over a mile and a half and never found the cache.  Gerri's phone showed a cache within .12 miles of the hotel.  I may try it in the morning.

Since we had a big lunch we waited until about 9 and ordered a pizza from room service.

Tomorrow we board the ship.

Las Vegas, NV Thursday September 1, 2011

I got up at 7 and made coffee.  Gerri was awake and ask what time I wanted to leave.  I told her 9, after I do a couple of caches.  I unhooked the Jeep and did a cache on the north side of I-40 at the same exit as the RV Park.  The second was off the next exit west, Two Guns, AZ.  There is nothing there except an abandoned gas station and a lot of ruins left over from the heyday of Route 66.  The cache was right on the edge of Canyon Diablo.  This cache makes 94 I have done on this trip, June 17-Sept. 1.  Although not large by any standard, Canyon Diablo was a formidable obstruction to east west travel until a bridge was built.  When we got on the road with the motor home it was interesting to note that the next canyon west was named Padre Canyon.
We were on the road by 9 AM.  The trip was uneventful except for the wind.  At Seligman I decided to get off I-40 and continue to Kingman on old US 66.  The old highway is much smoother than I-40.  Someone had put up several of the old Burma Shave series of signs, very entertaining.  The only problem taking this route is the stop and go traffic when arriving at Kingman.
We stopped in Kingman at the Cracker Barrel, opting for a heavy dinner and no supper tonight.
We got to the house at about 3:30 after driving a distance of 307 miles.
I plan to fuel up at Sam's before parking the coach at Bill and Elaine's.  We only unloaded the things we need tonight.
My next blog will be when we are on our anniversary cruise from San Francisco to Sidney, Australia.  I don't know what or if Internet access will be so they may be sporadic.