Two weeks before we boarded her, the Star Princess was in Victoria so we headed to Ogden Point to check her out. It seems unreal to be in a city where cruise ships dock. Earlier in the summer we went down to see the Queen Elizabeth, a Cunard ship.For this trip, we boarded the same BC Ferries Connector bus we had used when we did the Alaska cruise (North to Alaska!). There were two buses this time and they were packed. We got the 'milk run' one but knew we had plenty of time to enjoyed the scenic route around Vancouver. Turns out we were lucky to make the ferry crossing as the second bus 'forgot' to pick up passengers so had to turn back and almost missed the ferry. Not a great way to start a holiday.
The Vancouver cruise terminal (Canada Place) is very well organized and we zipped through customs and boarding with no problems. One of our suitcases was at our cabin door when we arrived (the other came while we had lunch). We unpacked and settled in then headed to the top deck to watch the ship leave Vancouver. Usually there is a big outdoor party but the weather was rainy so it was cancelled. It's always fun sailing beneath the Lion's Gate bridge.
The first day out was rough and some suffered from seasickness. Glen and I were lucky and didn't have any problems but we couldn't walk the promenade deck as it was pretty wet with the splashing waves. As you know, we always do a walk in the morning while on board. The Star Princess had a wonderful promenade deck that went from bow to stern. Two trips around the boat was a mile. Most days, we walked two miles before attending the enrichment lectures.
There were two lectures given each morning, one by a Hawaiian naturalist and one by a retired physics professor. Both were knowledgeable and entertaining. We learned about the formation of the Hawaiian islands, their volcanoes, their history, coral reefs, the attack on Pearl Harbour, and 3 talks on Captain Cook. We also learned from the on-board hula teacher, the history of the Hawaiian monarchy. Her husband taught those who wanted to play the ukulele (pronounced in Hawaiian oo-koo-lay-lay).
We often enjoyed the music of a dance band at lunch on the pool deck or the jazz band in our favourite Wheelhouse Bar. Some afternoons we had coffee in the Atrium and listened to a string trio playing different styles of classical music. We went to the casino once and I lost $40 in 15 minutes which put a damper on my play time. We often caught the end of Trivia games that seemed to happen at all hours of the day and night. There were oodles of craft and culinary demos to enjoy so no one on board was bored.
For some reason, we never seem to make the evening variety shows but one night we did catch comedian, Steve Caouette and he was very funny. It was nice seeing comedy and not have to worry about swear words. While in Hawaii, a local Hula School (Halau Hula Olana) entertained us with song and dance. The little girls doing the hula reminded me of Meg when she was a young dancer.
AMA, our travel agency, treated us to two meals in the specialty dining rooms, one was Italian, the other a steak house. Normally, you pay about $30 US/person to reserve a table in these restaurants. We treated ourselves to a meal in the Crown Grill to celebrate Thanksgiving. Little did we know that most of the ship's passengers were Canadian and the dining rooms hosted a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Usually most people on a ship are from the States so this was an unusual cruise.
Rumour had it there was no Clamato juice on board so Canadians couldn't have their favourite drink--a Caesar (invented in Calgary). We did see two flats of Clamato juice bottles being loaded on the ship when we got to Honolulu so that problem was resolved. Princess must have also underestimated Canadian's love of draught beer as they ran out of Heineken (which Glen was drinking) two days before we disembarked. Fortunately, they still had Newcastle Brown Ale which was what I was drinking.
One of the best things about cruising is the dining experiences . We ate a wide variety of food and cooking styles. I even had cooked vegetables for breakfast. I think Glen had bacon every day--a treat he never gets at home. Don't worry about his cholesterol as apparently it doesn't register on any scale. The buffet lunch featured sushi a couple of times, ramen, tacos, Indian, and Chinese cuisine. as well as wonderful soups and sandwiches. On formal nights, where you dress up for dinner (a cruising tradition), the dining rooms served lobster. I ate mostly seafood meals but indulged in a steak once and it was amazing. Glen had dessert every night and they were always a feast for his eyes as well as his stomach.
Glen's happiest moments, other than when he scanned the horizon for other ships, was charting our latitude and longitude as we headed south. We had three time changes spaced over five days and gradually the sun got warmer until we were definitely in the tropics. Seeing flying fish as we walked the promenade was a treat.
See some pictures of our shipboard fun here.
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