Day 1 Hawaiian Cruise

Thursday October 27,2011
At Sea: Forecast: High 71 Low 59 Sunrise 6:25 Sunset 5:41

Awake at 5 AM (as usual)
There seems to be quite a bit of programming lined up for today:
•Sue has yet to find the library- if they are ready for her
•Tickets available for the lei classes with fresh orchids (need to buy a kit)
•Sue is scheduled for a deep tissue massage
•Introduction-orientation to the ukulele lessons
•2:30 Jacqueline Kennedy event (Jackie jewlery)
•ceramics at sea

(none of this happened for us as it turned out except finding the library)
Last night we jostled our way along. Nothing big just the slight feeling that your head may not be working the equilibrium task easily. Its a whole lot different from the sharp jolts we felt coming into northern California on our Alaskan cruises.
Overall the ship has a "big" feel about it. The Golden Princess was constructed in 2001 in Italy. It has been reconditioned since its construction in 2009.
In homage to my daughters that always find new friends at breakfast in the dinning room, I had breakfast there. A nice conversation was had.the ladies were u for talk and their husbands kind of softballed it. One of the husbands was a borderline diabetic and the other one was a diabetic. The wife of the borderline said that it didn't keep him from eating sweets. Fare for breakfast was cheese and mushroom omelette with a small piece of Italian sausage and fresh tomatoes.
I had previously used my coffee card (you can buy one to cover the coffee and tip) to get a cappucinno and a creme filled donut.
One couple at breakfast was from Deleware. They were concerned about a company supported by the state called Bloom. They are investing the people's money without the people becoming stockholders. It uses natural gas to make what sounds like fuel cells. The by product is water.
One lady told me about her daughter. After 45, started out as a PE teacher and went back to school to become a HS counselor so she could help out more.
I met a man who did cross country for 33 years outside of the internet cafe/library.
The internet cafe doubles for the library. This makes mobility on issue for the library folks. Early in the morning only 3 out of 40 pcs were being used.
I checked my g-mail and found a note from Natalie, the house overseer. She reported that the house cleaners were there and she was going to see that the trash cans were put out on the curb Thursday night. The cats were giving her the cold shoulder but she recognized that they probably would come around.
Sue had soda and a couple of donuts for breakfast using my coke card. The coke card allows you to get soda at any bar for 67dollars for the trip. A little sticker is issued on your card and a tumbler is issued. She did some prowling in the library and found a couple of books that will keep her entertained. She bought a light orange pair of pants on"trail" at teh gift shop. (They didn't fit too well so she returned them later in the cruise for credit). We also picked up some postcards .. mostly of the ship.

For lunch the set up of stir fry station outside of the buffet looked good.

The cooks stuffed stir fried veggies (that they did on the spot) with shrimp and a little ham and packed rice on top of it into a small ramkin. They flipped the rambkins upside down and on to a plate  for serving. Available with a viable hot and sour soup it made a great lunch.
I ate lunch on the pool deck. A couple asked if I could save their place at my table. I said sure. The wife was widowed and so was the husband. They were both lost their spouses within six months of each other. They live in Sierra Vista part of Southern Arizona. She has a job passing out coupons one day a week at the military commissary. He worked 20 yrs each at the same job both military and  civilian When pressed he said it was intel. Russian was his specialty. He was a linguist. It came in handy when they cruised to St Petersburg. He could speak to the natives in their own language. That pretty much floored them.
She now does a lot of travel agency work. Not for the money but for the experience. The first shot at ceramics was a bust... no one showed or they didn't have it. Sue was disappointed.
In the afternoon, I watched a pbs special on the sharks of Co Co Costa Rica on the jumbo outdoor movie screen.


Two Worlds Collide
The two servers in the buffet were busying around their preps. Its easier to "organize" than provide service. So far no complaint about service from me. there seems to be enough servers to do the job so these servers were milling around their support station, both of them Philippine natives.
A middle aged platinum blond approaches them, She says,"I would like some lemonade."
The server says, "Your glass is full."
She said,"I want some lemonade . In wild flourish he grabs a pitcher and says,"here"
He pours her cup from the pitcher. She walks away and and says "That is an Arnold Palmer. "
The server says "Arnold Palmer," with his accent.
"Yes," She said. "When I ask for an Arnold Palmer you can get me an ice tea with lemonade in it."
"An Arnold Palmer, "she repeated.
I asked the servers after she left if they knew who Arnold Palmer was. They ignored me, but were laughing because the server had filled up the glass with more ice tea. The servers were laughing at the big joke they had sprung on the passenger.
That was passing as humor from the server station from server to his server buddies. They all thought it was funny that she didn't get he mix.
So for the servers had no problem with me getting a diet coke in or out of the designated cup.


Dinner for Day 1
Sue:
Strawberry soup
Lettuce wedge salad
salmon

Pat:
Pinapple chopped up with other tropical fruits
corn chowder (no cream)
Pork shoulder with chimmichuri sauce
warm brownie with vanilla sauce

Our table mates were from Long Beach. They were celebrating their 25th anniversary. He works for Disney in the an executive function for theme parks and cruise ships. He is currently working on modifying the Hong Kong Disney Park. They have two sons in college. One is studying film like father did and the other is hoping to be a screenwriter. They live up by the Long Beach airport.
I am not sure that we will be able to keep our table. Despite so few eating at the 8 o'clock seating, Sue was concerned about getting her powerchair in and out of the table gridlock to the current spot. She also had to climb up a couple of steps to out table in the back.

One of the interesting tales that our table mates told us was about getting the newest Disney ship out of Germany and sailing with it to the Canary Islands and on to the United States before the public had a chance to get on it. It was in the winter and people lined the banks to see Mickey and Minnie at the head of the ship pass through the bridges in the middle of the night. They also came to see the fireworks that the ship set off as they passed under the low bridges. They had to go at low tide to get under some of the bridges.
It was winter clothing to start the trip and shorts as they hit the Canary Islands. The biggest obstacle was dodging the film crews as the ship made its way. They were filming promo spots all across the ocean.
Sue left early before desert .
I watched the movie Arthur on the Movies at see Stars Screen outside our pool deck. It got chilly at 11:15. There seemed to be a significant reduction in swales in the middle of the night.