More Fun at Sea

On the fifth day of our cruise, the lovely Robin took a class in making "heirloom leis" (above), like the kind worn by Hawaiian royalty (she was apparently a little sleepy when I took the photo above, which is understandable since we had to turn our clocks back three hours on the journey across the Pacific). Beautiful, huh? The lei, too.

At midday we watched the "King Kamehameha Festival" where hula students and unsuspecting passengers were persuaded to compete in a hip-shaking contest. Robin declined. I was eliminated in the first round. Apparently the ship can only take on so much vibration.

In the evening we thoroughly enjoyed the "Motor City" show, featuring the ship's singers, dancers, and orchestra. Wow. So much fun. So much funk. So many bell bottoms.

The Princess@Sea "app"

One of the many enjoyable and helpful aspects of my recent fortieth anniversary cruise with the lovely Robin was something we didn't have on our four previous cruises: the Princess@Sea app. 

It wasn't an app we downloaded to our phone, but it was a free, mobile-friendly web tool. We were able to plan our day's events and activities, review the ship's itinerary and port guides, browse restaurant menus, and access our stateroom account using the ship's wifi (for this use only; we didn't buy a wifi plan). It was really helpful. For example, at one point, I logged in to our stateroom account and saw a charge for drinks we hadn't made. I went to the service desk and it was corrected in minutes. Princess@Sea made it easy.

Dining on the Grand Princess

I mentioned in an earlier post that our recent fortieth anniversary cruise to Hawaii was our fifth cruise (our first Princess Cruise). This time we really hit our stride when it came to eating. With two exceptions, I think, we ordered room service breakfast every morning, so I could eat when I was ready and Robin could sleep a little longer and eat when she was ready. I know the above spread looks like breakfast for two or three people, but all that was for just me. Mmm mmm good.

Our meals in the dining room were outstanding. We expected gourmet dining, of course, and were still surprised at the amazingness of the food, from the appetizers (crab cake, above)....

...to the entrees (short ribs, vegetables, and mashed potatoes, above, and steak, potatoes, and carrots, below)...

...to the desserts (below).

Robin fell in love with a soufflé and I enjoyed multiple servings of pineapple brûlée (below).

Our waiters, Alex and David, were the finest we've ever had, and our table mates were thoroughly enjoyable company. The whole experience was memorable. Thanks, Grand Princess!

Day 3 on Our Anniversary Cruise

It took no time at all for me to get used to our daily routine of leisure and enjoyment on the Grand Princess for my fortieth anniversary cruise with the lovely Robin. Leisurely breakfast. Exercise in the fitness center. Ukulele class. At noon, Robin went to a "Ladies Pampering Session" in the spa, after which we had an "English Pub Lunch" in the Crown Grill.

Robin attended another hula class, and we also enjoyed a short program of Hawaiian melodies by her hula instructor, Rowena, and our ukulele instructor, Brian (above). We napped. I took in some piano playing in the Wheelhouse Bar before dinner.

The evening entertainment, in the Princess Theater, was "Stardust"--singing and dancing by the excellent ship orchestra and cast of singers and dancers. This was our fifth cruise (first on Princess Cruise Line), but we've never been this impressed by a ship's entertainment. First rate. 

At Sea on the Grand Princess

The first morning of our recent cruise to and from Hawaii on Princess Cruise Line's Grand Princess brought cloudy skies but a strikingly calm sea. I took the above picture from our balcony while enjoying my room service breakfast. Hardly a ripple in the ocean. I guess that's what "smooth sailing" means.

I found the fitness center and, surprisingly enough, they let me in! I guess you don't have to be fit to get in. Soon the lovely Robin and I attended the first of nine or ten ukulele classes we enjoyed while cruising, each "at sea" morning at 10:30. What fun. I am now a seasoned incompetent on the ukulele.

Later, while Robin attended a hula class (I was hoping for grass skirts to be issued...to no avail), I attended a Rock 'n' Roll Trivia game in one of the ship's lounges. However, the game was heavily slanted toward the 50s, so I didn't win. That was the only reason.

That evening we enjoyed the vocal stylings of Claude-Eric in the Princess Theater, the largest venue on the ship, before grabbing an ice cream cone on the Lido Deck and heading back to our room, still a little jet-lagged from our travels.

Cruising on the Grand Princess

My long-awaited fortieth anniversary cruise with the lovely Robin finally arrived on April 23. Aaron, Nina, Miles, and Mia dropped us off (after church and lunch) at Pier 27 in San Francisco Harbor, and we boarded the Grand Princess (above) for a fifteen-day cruise to Hawaii!

We were delighted to check in to our mini-suite with a sizable balcony on the Dolphin Deck around midship. Our home for more than two weeks.

It took about fifteen seconds to tour the suite, but it gave us all the room we needed for our cruise. After taking a few quick photos and checking email and texts one last time, we unpacked and settled in.

Once unpacked we attended the mandatory safety drill and then headed up to the Lido Deck for the sailing away party. It was windy and chilly, but we stayed for a bit waiting for the ship to cast off. When departure time came and went, we headed off to explore a little.

The ship finally cast off a little before six o'clock while we were eating our first dinner in the elegant Botticelli Dining Room (the dining rooms were named after artists). We didn't have a window table but I took the above photo from one of the windows as we sailed toward the Golden Gate Bridge. Next stop: Lahaina, Maui!

What a relief, after many months of waiting and a little worry about making all the connections and so on! And what a blessing it was to look forward to two whole weeks of leisure, entertainment, and food.

The Point Church, San Jose CA

It's hard to believe it's been almost three weeks since the lovely Robin and I visited The Point, a great church in San Jose, California--which also happens to be our son's and daughter-in-law's and grandchildren's church. So we went with them, since they were going anyway.

The sprawling church facility sits on a hillside overlooking a sunny vale (though it's not in Sunnyvale; don't make that mistake). We were immediately welcomed and found our way into the auditorium, where the congregation was already worshiping.

The worship band (full disclosure: led by our family's friend, Archie) was top-notch. The sound and flow and passion of worship was some of the best in which I've participated. I was sad to see it end.

I was also a little sad that our kids' pastor, Greg, was not the speaker of the morning (we were warmly welcomed by him and others after the service), as I would have liked to have heard him preach. However, a conversational presentation by Dan and Nancy Duarte of Duarte Presentations (who should offer me a job and relocation package, by the way) on faith in the workplace was a fine surprise. 

We have heard much about The Point from our kids, of course, so were thrilled to visit and meet some of the people they've fallen in love with (we did, too). It is a friendly church with a great vision. In fact, they host not only to 10:30 Sundays English-language service we attended but also host Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese congregations. How cool is that. 

The Point is located at 695 Rose Terrasse Circle in San Jose, California. We hope to return often.