Thursday Evening

Catalina Island

We are relaxing in the cabin, enjoying a glass of Norton Reserva from Chile.  But we know we have to get dressed and head out.  Our evening starts with heading down to Explorer’s Lounge to participate in the TV Theme Trivia, we join a lovely couple from the San Francisco area and we don’t do too bad but we did have fun.  Zara hosted and we love Zara.

Douw, Jasper and Bernie

We decide to get some dinner now and head to Portifinos for a meal, this sailing Portifinos is being used for early traditional dining at 5:30 but opens for anytime at 7:45.  We have no problem getting a table at 8:15 and Douw takes very good care of us as usual.  Our assistant waiter is on his first cruise on his first contract and you can see he is nervous but does a great job.  I skipped the appetizer and salad and went straight for a lovely chicken dish that was served with carrots, asparagus and zucchini.  Then of course dessert of cream Brule! We also enjoyed a bottle of Wolfe Blass, and corked the remaining wine for another time.  Princess now gives you a little ticket that states the wine and your cabin number and where you dined.  They have done this for awhile now but we always seem to loose the little ticket, but they still are able to locate the wine.

We discuss options for dinner tomorrow and decide since tomorrow is formal night we would try and get a reservation for Sabatinis – Douw runs off and comes back with a confirmed reservation for Friday at 7:30.  Wow thanks for the personalized service Douw!  But all the head waiters are amazing and bend over backwards for all passengers.

 

We decide after dinner to check out the comedian Jim MacDonald in the Princess theater.  We join Murray and his friends (cruise critic friends).  Jim MacDonald we have sailed with before in fact we have probably seen his shows about 5 times but we love his video montage he does at the end.  My favorite line was “all the teens sailing, trying to be cool, yeah dude it is spring break and I am on a cruise”  yeah but not so cool that you have to share a cabin with your grandmother.  Laughing!!!  So if you are on a ship with Jim make sure you check out his show. 

 

It is now 11 pm and it is rather quiet around the ship except for the jazz band in the atrium and lots of people listening, they are very good.  We wander around the outside Promenade and then head back to the room.  Clocks go forward tonight and I swear as soon as our heads hit the pillow we are out!

Wednesday Evening to Thursday Catalina

Jasper checks out some souvenirs

After a quick dinner in the Horizon Court we checked out the Beattles’ trivia in Explorer with Matias – we sucked at that.  Then came back for the Princess Pyramid Game, we joined a couple Rudy and Mabel from San Francisco area and we had a good time, both Bernie and I attempted to guess the answers, but once again we sucked.

Matais - Deputy Cruise Director

There is a Welcome Aboard Show, one time only 9:45 and I say we never go to the Welcome Aboard Show so lets go, we arrive right at 9:45 and it is quite full but still able to find a few seats.  Martyn Moss is our Cruise Director and I really enjoyed the show.  I loved how they showed a video of the amenities on board and Martyn described what the passengers could expect.  Love it!

We are in bed early and we need it! 

We awake and feel refreshed and ready to enjoy the day.  We head to Amafi dining room for breakfast and have a lovely meal with a lady - Audrey.  We get to meet Rui the new Maitre d’Hotel and of course Douw is there. 

Rui - Maitre d'hotel

The sad news is that they don’t have the wine card on board this voyage.  Apprently it is because there is no sommelier on board.  Really I think, now all the times we have ever sailed we have never purchased wine from the sommelier, we have always purchased our wine directly from the very knowledgeable bar staff, waiters and head waiters.  Oh well we were going to get it but we will pick up some wine in Catalina instead, Princess you are loosing sales here.

Our meet and greet is today and we are about 30 people it is nice to put names to a face.  We have a bit of time to kill before arriving in Catalina at 1 pm so we wander around the stores (even buy a lovely Fossil watch) grab a latte and read a bit and chat up with a few passengers.

We choose not to get lunch before getting off because we really want to grab a meal ashore. 

Catalina is a tender port and we head to the tender around 1:30 (one of the perks of elite is you get priority tendering).  A short trip to shore and we are off like bandits.  We stop at the information booth and find out where we can get information for a hike, they direct us to the Catalina Conservatory where we find out better info on where to go. 

We walk past the golf course up the hill side thru the campground (follow signs to the botanical garden).  At the end of the campground is a sign directing us to the trail with a warning of rattle snakes!

What I say!  And I make Bernie lead the way.  The hike took about 45 minutes to the lookout and what a view! 

We feel great and so glad we decided to head out on this hike.  We hike back down and stop for a meal at a great Mexican restaurant.

love this -- a golf cart tow truck

After the meal we wander down the street to find a grocery store to get some wine.  We get six bottles (they even offer a 10% discount when you buy six). 

Not sure what we are up to this evening, we aren’t hungry but do want to do the trivia at 7 which is the tv theme song trivia, then we would like to see the comedian Jim MacDonald.  We have seen him before and really enjoy his show.

May 16 All Aboard the Golden Princess

Golden Princess - Embarkation Day

We woke up early and we are both excited as we know we are getting to cruise today. We head downstairs to enjoy a quick breakfast at the hotel that is included. It is busy down there today... lots of cruisers.

Bernie parks the car in the parking long term parking lot and we gather our stuff at the front and wait for the shuttle bus. We booked Seattle Express http://www.seattleexpress.com/ and for only $12 each we don't have to worry about crowds and parking. The shuttle shows up right on time and we head to the next hotel where Karin and John along with Rose and Jerry are waiting for us. Both couples we have sailed with before, twice with Karin and John and once before with Rose and Jerry. We have already started laughing, something tells me this trip is going to be lots of fun.

The shuttle ride is only about 40 minutes to the pier. We get there and it is deserted. There are no lines anywhere, we are able to check in right away and head right on board the ship.


We meet up in the Horizon Court and start our tour of the ship and of course laughs. We had arranged prior to wear the Mardi Gras beads to identify us as Cruise Critic members www.cruisecritic.com

Check out the golf course, with the birdie sounds on the speaker.

The children's area. On the first day they allow you to check it out but after the first day no adults allowed unless you have kids there. Looks like a fun place.

Sail away! No music, no band, no MUTS (Movies Under the Stars) what is going on? We later find out that Seattle doesn't allow it because of the noise pollution. Now did it ruin sail away, no way, but it certainly did take away the fun/party atmosphere that comes with sail away.

We meet up with so many of our Cruise Critic Friends and drinks, laughs and basking in the Seattle sun just the start of a great cruise.

This is Jeannie, now this is one organized lady. Not only does she have a spreadsheet of the cruise she even has what she wears on the spreadsheet to help with packing and keeping the weight of the bags down. She is a good person to know.

After sail away we agree to meet for drinks at 7:30 and then dinner. We had a great meal and lots of laughs and fun. We head to the production show tonight, and check out the entertainment for the week. Jim MacDonald is the comedian and he is hilarious. His full show will be tomorrow and we will make sure to check him out. www.comedianjimmacdonald.com