Category: Star Princess

… And New Beginnings…

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I’m starting this on New Year’s Eve. Preparations are underway for midnight on the ship. However, we can begin celebrations at 4 PM since there will be a recognition of the Zero Meridian New Year.


We shall see if I can include a picture of the balloons dropping at midnight ship time.
The “Brits” on board just celebrated with their homeland.

The next event is dinner on the last formal evening and the menu included lobster.
We spent the last evening of 2017 watching the show “Born to Dance” and actually dancing. We did say welcome to 2018 and the balloon drop.

Happy 2018 to all.

… A Reluctant Return…

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We are, somewhat reluctantly, eastbound toward the mainland. Officially, there is one more port, Ensenada, Mexico. It’s not one that interests us.
The Cruise Director’s try to make the return trip as much of a party as possible. New Year’s Eve is the party target. We have to decide whether we will celebrate the New Year at midnight ship time or Eastern time.
A couple of galley staff did the traditional ice carving. A fascinating if temporary art form.

This morning there is yet another art auction. Personally, if I were interested in purchasing art a cruise ship auction would not be my first choice. I suppose there is a money to intelligence ratio required for such purchases. I guess the art sales, bars and casinos create the profits.
Three groups of passengers continue to prepare for performances. Some participate in a choir, others learn ukulele, still others learn hula. All will be on stage during the final days of the cruise.
We have found two groups that play danceable music, so when we are not at a show of some kind we can be found dancing. The Janos quartet has been fun.

More in 2018.
Happy New Year

… A Sail With Whales…

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Occasionally I have been asked “how tall are those cruise ships?” Well, here is part of the answer. I am currently on deck 11 of 17 and am 165 feet above the sea. I’ll let you estimate the rest.
From our balcony we can see the port of Lahaina, Maui and the island of Molokai to the north.


About 11 AM we boarded one of the ships tenders to go ashore since the Star Princess is much too large for the port of Lahaina. Because of the heavy traffic our 12 minute tender ride took about twice that time.
While wandering around encountered a group of Edmontonians vacationing in Maui. More accurately, they noticed Gail’s Canada T-shirt.
Our whale watching tour was late starting, again because of the heavy port traffic. The wait was rewarded with lots of whales all around the boat. The final scene was played by hundreds of spinner dolphin. I didn’t even try to photograph the show. I’ve failed in several previous attempts.
The return to the ship was very quick. A tender was waiting as we stepped off the whale watching boat.
Now, hot tub, shower, dinner and dancing will finish the day.

… A Swim With Some Fish…

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Nawiliwili is a “day time only” port on the island of Kauai, the garden isle. The Star Princess sailed slowly into the port entrance at about 7:15 this morning.

The sun was just rising.

This afternoon we started out to snorkel with the fish but it was canceled by unsafe conditions at the site. As an alternative, we walked to a nearby beach at Anchor Cove.

The water temperature was rather cold, snorkeling would not have been too enjoyable. We settled for a visit with the local Kauai chickens that run wild only on this island.

Here is a recipe for Kauai chicken.
Place 1 chicken in a suitable pot.
Add 1 medium lava rock.
Add water to cover both.
Bring water to a boil.
After 1 hour, check regularly with a fork.
The chicken will be ready to eat when the rock is tender.

Maui on Wednesday.