Surf's Up!!

Aloha Kakou!!

Well, it's been a rather busy little bit here in Hilo. My Mom had a great visit and left us after a month of wonderful food, drink, music, TCM on the lanai and her fantastic company. A month may seem like a long time to have someone staying but the time just flew by and we were so thankful that she was able to come. She tried some new things, and we found her a regular Tuesday night haunt, which I will talk about now.

This may not look like much, but it is the front of the Hilo Town Tavern, which has become our regular Tuesday night outing. There is inexpensive, very cold beer, friendly locals, and the amazing Kanakapila playing Hawaiian music from 6:30-9:30pm. Or as the band like to say, from about 6:30 to 9:30p...maybe. They are a great group of local musicians, and the ukulele player is an ex-classmate of Leialoha's named Victor Chock. He is an amazing musician, and a heck of a great hang. So, if you are ever in Hilo on a Tuesday night...make an effort to get over there...you won't be sorry.


So on to the title for today's blog...I warn you, it is a little self serving, because I am very excited about sharing a few things with you all. So, you may think I am going to tell you about all the choice waves I have been catching here in Hawai'i Nei, at all the great surf spots, right? Well, I have never really been a beachy person...well, I like going there, just not getting in the water too much. I don't surf, I don't paddleboard, I don't kayak and I don't para-sail. I really have only had one hobby in my life, and that is playing golf. Now, since I do not have any golf clubs here with me, (they were left behind in Florida) I really do not have any sort of a hobby. I do go to the gym every day, but not for fun...it's strictly so I can indulge in my favorite local food and not balloon up like I once did. So, what do I do to fill up my time? Well, I practice steel guitar, and work on music. When I am done with that, I take a break, and then start all over again. Now, just because I don't surf doesn't mean I am not fascinated by surf culture...in particular the surf culture from the 60's...and most specifically the music of the surf culture. I am a big surf music fan. I think I can trace it back to this man:

This is the fantastic Dick Dale and I can remember seeing him perform in some of those fantastic Beach Blanket Bingo movies. (This also ties in with my love of cheezy films) It was my first exposure to reverb drenched double picking and drums played with a backbeat and heavy on the tom toms. It was a sound that has stuck with me for years. Now since I have concentrated primarily on steel guitar these last few years, I got to thinking what it might sound like to do some of this music on the steel guitar. There are certainly great musicians who have done this before, but I had to try it myself and see how it sounded. So, I present to all of you the beginning stages of a new CD that is going to be called "Surf n Steel". I have done some demos to see how it would go, and I want to share it with all of you.  So please take a few moments to give it a listen.

Walk Don't Run

Surfer Girl

Tear Drop

I am still trying to figure out a few things to translate some guitar techniques to steel guitar, but I think there is some good stuff here. I will keep everyone posted as to the progress of this CD.

We are also about 2/3 of the way through the new Elua CD. We try to record a new one every other year, and this one is going to be a "by request" CD of many songs that our guests have asked us for and that we have worked into our sets in the past few years. It will be all hapa haole, (with one exception)  and the tentative song list is:

I'm Going To Mau'i Tomorrow
Pineapple Princess
Blue Hawaiian Moonlight
Mau'i Waltz
On The Beach At Waikiki
Hapa Haole Hula Medley (This is a medley of songs originally done by the legendary Kahuanu Lake Trio)
Pua Olena
Princess Pupule
Can't Help Falling In Love (this is actually from the movie Blue Hawai'i)
Lahaina Farewell
Ukulele Lady
I'll Remember You

So, that is what takes up my time...someday I will try to actually get up on a board and try some surfing, but for right now, the twangy sound of guitars dripping in reverb will be the closest that I come. So to quote Gone With The Wind, "tomorrow is another day" and tomorrow means ukulele tracks for the new CD and doing steel solos on some of the the songs.  I'll be back soon with some more music to share and some more tales from the Big Island.

A Hui Hou e Malama Pono!!
Dave

The Randomness Of It All...

Aloha Kakou!!

Well, it has certainly been quite a while since I've been writing here on the Eluaworld Blog...it has been quite an action packed few months, of which I will talk about a little later...but something happened the other day that got me to thinking about something. Let me start with this:

What is this you might ask? Well, this is a rather small, (in the scheme of things) dent that we have in the front of our car. How did it get there? Well, on a drive to Kona, we were heading up the Hamakua Coast when a truck on the other side of the road flung out a rock...it flew towards us and what you see is the result. It made a rather loud clunk, and I didn't think much of it, until Leialoha pointed out the damage when we were parked in Kona. Well, it certainly bummed us out, as we have only had the car for a short time, but the more I reflected on it, the more I thought of the seeming randomness with which things occur in our lives. Let's use this rock meets car event as an example.

To start, imagine if we had left the house only five minutes later or five minutes sooner. Chances are we would not have this dent. But, if we had left the house five seconds later then we did that day, the stone may very well have flew up into the windshield, caused much greater damage and possible bodily harm. Of course, you can play this game to the nth degree...what if the truck driver had stopped for gas...what if the load of rocks that he was carrying was not full enough to spill over the sides and let one drop onto the highway...what if, what if, what if. Then I got to thinking about this:

What are the seemingly random events that led Leialoha into my life and me into hers? Well, on my side, there was my Mother deciding to go to nursing school in Boston. It was there that she met my Aunty Bobby, (she was a class ahead of her) who was married to my Uncle Donny who was my father's best friend and they set my parents up. Take that a step farther, and if my father and my Uncle Donny had never met when they were young men...and my father had never taken up piano...well, you can play this game from all sides for the better part of eternity. I guess it is related to the Butterfly Effect...if you have never heard of it, check this out: Butterfly Effect In all of our lives, in every aspect of our life, it seems that we are just one milisecond or one centimeter away from a totally different reality. So, take a few moments, or a few hours, or a few days to think about the randomness in our lives and how wonderful it can make it.

So, in keeping with the seeming randomness of things, let me insert a video here...but not just any one...it will be the first video I can find from the first artist that plays from my iTunes Library when I spin it and stop...here goes...and the winner is...The Brothers Cazimero...and here is the first video I find on YouTube when I do a search:

Well...that worked out rather well...I think I may try that again sometime. Try playing that at home as well...could be fun!


So, where have we been all these months? Five months to be exact? Well, we were of course on the Golden Princess for the Hawaiian season, and what a great season it was. So many ukulele players and hula dancers and listeners and lei makers...truly a great season! Right now we are back at home in Hilo. BUT, Leialoha and I had the most wonderful experience as Princess asked us to go to Japan to cruise on the Sun Princess and perform Hawaiian music for the passengers, and to implement a mini-cultural program. The Japanese people are crazy for Hawaiian music, ukulele, hula and the guests on the Sun Princess were wonderful to us. They were especially enamored of the sounds of the steel guitar, as to most, that is the sound they associate with the islands, and I loved playing it for them. Leialoha's hula class was packed every time and they were some very lovely dancers on the cruise. We are hoping to find a way back next summer without interfering with our "regular" season, and also give us some time at home.  so I will keep everyone posted. I am going to try to find some pictures to share with all of you from our time in Japan. It is a beautiful country, with wonderful people and some of the best food we have ever had...MANY pictures of that will be shared!

Now we are home in Hilo and we had a wonderful month long visit from my mother Doris who was in from Boston. We are also expecting our good friend David Cole for a visit as well in September. David is a dear friend of ours who we have worked with numerous times over the years, and between the three of us, we developed the Hawaiian cultural program that Princess has on its Hawaiian itinerary ships. We have been enjoying all that Hilo has to offer...we take drives around the island, we listen to local music, we shop at the Hilo Farmer's Market, and Leialoha and I are diving into baking. But, we also have work to do...lots of work. We are finally going to get our Elua website active, as well as getting Leialoha's going for KiniKreations, her outlet and business for her Hawaiian crafts. The long awaited hula video is in progress as well. I will also be working on another steel guitar CD, as well as another ukulele play-a-long CD. So, as the summer passes, keep checking back for updates and some sneak peeks at the tracks.

So, for today, I will say aloha...but I will return...VERY soon!

Malama Pono,
Dave
(of Elua)

Good Things Come In Small Packages

Aloha Kakou!!

Well, the title says it all...for most of my life I have been looked on as a rather teeny person, coming in at a tad under 5'6". When someone is small like I am, it can gomone of two ways, either you accept it, make the best of it and find the goodness that comes from a low center of gravity or you develop a serious case of SPD, Small Persons Disease. (Think Napoleon) I have always strived for the former and frowned on the latter, and am glad to say that I have been lucky to have my dear Leialoha's share the same philosophy. Sure, you have to sit much closer to the steering wheel, and now and then you are forced to ask people to reach things for you on a higher shelf, but for the most part, it is all pretty good. So, what does this have to do with anything? Well, it is all about this:




This in my new iPad mini that the wonderful Leialoha gifted me. She is always responsible for bringing new wonderful things into my life. I am an iPader from the first gen and I have been debating whether to get the latest one or the mini. She made the decision for me, and I am so happy she did. This does everything my iPad does and more. While it takes a little adjustment for typing, it is definitely worth it...and I am doing today's blog from it. I always get heeled out by new things, but I can see that except for onstage, this new mini will take the place of my other iPad. It is much lighter, it takes pictures and video, and is much easier to hold and read. All around, it's a winner and it will now never leave my sight...except when sleeping of course.

So since the last blog, (which I am sad to say was at the end of November) the Hawaii season has just zipped by. We are now ten cruises in, and we are very pleased by the return of David Cole as cruise director. David is the CD who we developed the Hawaiian Enrichment Program with years ago, and he had been transferred over to the Sapphire Princess for all of last season. He has a great love for Hawaii, and always puts out a great program. I also split ukulele teaching duties with him and he will sit in with us from time to time as well. Between the three of us, we have come up with some pretty cool classes and presentations, and I urge folks to come and see us here on the Golden or on the Star for next year. Also, just as a heads up to anyone reading this from the Princess Cruising community, Leialoha and I will be disembarking the Golden a little early this season. Princess has requested that we go to the Sun Princess in late April to perform on a Japanese cruise for nine days. The Japanese cruise market is a blossoming one, and Princess is looking to position themselves it he market. The Japanese love Hawaiian culture and music, so they have asked us to do the inaugural sailing to give the guests an added treat. I have never been, so it will be a real treat for me, and to perform for a different kind of cruise passenger. We will miss the Golden, but we are company folks, so off we go!

So that is just a little quick aloha and news from Lahaina. I will endeavor to be better about posting...I guess you can say that will be my New Years Resolution...in February!

Malaga Pono e Aloha!!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Wainee St,Lahaina,United States

A little Blast From the Past...and the Barter System Is Alive and Well

Aloha Kakou!!

Another beautiful day in Hawai'i Nei, with a beautiful breeze coming down the Ko'olau range and pushing some fluffies lazily through the sky. Days like this are when I wish I worked the outdoor gigs that used to make up the majority of my schedule when I lived in South Florida...but of course not actually IN Florida...same gigs, just in Hawai'i. Most of my gigs back then were of the "tiki bar" variety, feeding a constant diet of Jimmy Buffett, James Taylor, Bob Marley, CS&N and the ilk to outdoorsy folks looking to escape the winters of the north, or those who had permanently escaped and lived down there. I moved to South Florida in 1997 when I left the employ of Dolphin/Premier Cruise Lines and went into music full time. I spent an interesting seven or so years there, playing to a lot of people, meeting and playing with great musicians and always fearing for my life when I drove on the highway at night..or the daytime for that matter. Here are a few pics from "back in the day":

This is how I could usually be found in SoFla...on a small stage, with the tip jar out, and Bruce Freeland playing bass with me. Bruce is one of the best musicians I know, and he was in my large band as well as being at many of my other gigs. We did a ton of work together and had a million laughs...and almost as many beers. This is from our regular Monday gig at the Aruba Beach Cafe.

Bruce and me again at a city concert from Cooper City in Florida. This was with my band, Dave Soreff and the Coral Reef Revue. We started as a tribute band to Jimmy Buffett but became a tropical party band in the end...here is our promo video that got sent to the agents around the country...we used to do a lot of corporate work around the country...Colorado, Atlantic City, Puerto Rico...lots of air miles and lots of fun. This was back in 1998...many pounds ago...the core of the band stayed, but we ended up with a different guitarist and percussionist...the wonderful Fred Weng in the video moved over to percussion and was replaced by the amazing Eddie Saez.

Here is a shot of us in Atlantic City, playing at Trump Marina...this features two of my closest friends, Robert and Mandy France. They were at the beginning of the band, all during the middle and at the end as well. Great performers and even better friends. Many a night was spent with them over sake and sushi.

Lastly is a picture of the late amazingly great Carlos Benthien. We were so lucky to have Carlos in the band for a little while. He played with many of the greats and actually played Woodstock with Santana. He brought a whole new groove to the band...he passed away a while ago from cancer...he is still missed by anyone who knew him or played with him.

Anyway, just a few pictures from the past...I will cull through the archives in the coming days and see what else I can find.

So, like many guitar players, I have played, bought, sold, traded, trashed, lost, modified countless instruments over the years. My very very very first guitar was a Madeira acoustic guitar (a less expensive division of Guild) and I have played a variety since, ranging from Alvarez to Fender to Guild to Carvin to Godin to Rickenbacker to Gibson to Ovation to Breedlove to...well, name it and I have probably played it. (This of course does not include my real love...steel guitar) Guitarists are strange in that we very rarely find one instrument that stays with us for a loooooooooooong time. There are exceptions of course, but we are mostly looking out for the next great instrument. Now and then it comes in handy...let me explain. In trying to lighten my load, I went through many of the instruments I owned last year and tried to sell or give away or just plain divest myself of many of them. One in particular never suited me, and it was this one:

I got this one to play in the Wheelhouse on the Dawn Princess, and it just never looked or felt right on stage. Into storage it went until last year when I brought it into Dan's Guitars in Honolulu, who do all the work on my steel guitars. I thought they might take it in and sell it on spec, and I guess most everyone else felt the same way as I did, and it stayed unsold...until today, sort of. I brought in my steel guitar for some work...a double neck 8 string requires a lot of patience to change all the stings...and they did some other work as well...and I thought I would throw out an idea to the owner. Straight up trade...services for the guitar...bingo! The barter system is alive and well. Mahalos to Dan and the guys at the store for doing a rush job on the steel...it plays great once again and makes me oh so happy! It got me to thinking that maybe we as a society should look a little deeper into the barter system. What do I need? Do I have something that you need? A service, an item...something I have been keeping in the garage for years that will never see the light of day again? Can you paint my house if I play your daughters wedding?

Nice pic eh? A very quaint way of looking at the barter system.


So we are now parked at beautiful Pier 2 in Honolulu and Leialoha and I are getting ready to go play Sailaway. there have been some big changes on board the Golden in regards to entertainment, and in my opinion, for the better. This means more work for us but truth be told, a better product for the passengers. So, we will be playing our tunes under the Honolulu stars as we sail off to our next stop:

Nawiliwili!!

Location:Kailua, Hi

I'm Taking Requests!

Aloha Kakou!!

Greetings from beautiful Waiakea...otherwise known as Hilo! It is another beautiful day here, with a gentle breeze blowing through and a few clouds in the sky, promising us a little liquid sunshine later in the day. It is something that we are quite used to here...it keeps everything green and looking lush. Speaking of lush...I have caved. Many of you may know that at our house, the lawn mowing and care is my responsibility. Having not done this for a very long time, (and of course not having owned a house before) I was actually looking forward to it, as part of my "manly duties". (Please not cries of sexism...I was being sarcastic...who do you think had to remind me exactly how to mow lawn? Yes, Leialoha) It was fun for all of about two times, and then became, for lack of a better term, a pain in the ass. So, I have caved. There is a very nice young man named Bryson who now comes to our house every two weeks and mows, edges, weeds and just generally does the things that I don't really want to do. I feel I may have dropped the standard of Tool Time Tim

But, as my Mother always says, when you don't want to deal with something like this, throw money at it. So, I get an extra hour to do things I want to do, like practice, or veg out, or write a blog entry. Hooray!!

There have been a few changes on the ship in the last week or so, as the Golden Princess changes its entertainment format on board to make it more of a non-stop entertainment venue. It is actually a very good idea, and the result is that there is very little "down time" for the passengers...if they wish to avail themselves of it. It has also resulted in a little more work for Leialoha and myself, but in a positive way...if that is possible. The set times are coordinated throughout the ship with the shows and the theme parties to make a better traffic flow, and to allow guests to see ALL of the shows if they wish, and to have some form of ebtertainment going at all times in the evenings. We no longer do sets in the Piazza, but they are billed as concerts. While they are not concerts in the real definition of the word, it does make for a little different atmosphere, and the result is that I think we get a little more of a connection with the crowd, as we choose to speak a bit more then we might, and to link up our material...all in all...a good thing.

So, to todays title. Many of you are not on FB, or my friends, so you may have missed my last post regarding a new steel guitar CD. A few years back, I had the audacity, (I really wasn't thinking straight) to record a steel guitar CD after having played for all of about a year. I liked how it turned out, but three years later, I think I can do better. Now, besides Hawaiian music, I have an affinity for surf music. in particular, the sound of these two things:

These are standard issue for surf music...a Jazzmaster and a Twin Reverb...but my days of being a guitar hero are long gone, so in my twisted mind I thought, why not a surf CD done on steel guitar...dripping in reverb and tremelo. I'm very excited about it, and I have a good idea of some of the songs going on it, but I do love to please everyone wherever possible. So, if you have a moment, make sure to drop in some requests in the comment section of the blog. There are "traditional" surf tunes, but almost any rock, pop, jazz or country song can be given "the treatment"...so i ask of you all dear readers, send me some ideas. If I use yours, I will send you a free copy of the CD when it is done.

My last thought for today has to do with the upcoming holiday season...I am all for celebrating each and every one of them...and everyone should be able to do it in their own way, but for hecks sake, can we not wait until it is actually the season to do so? We are just about to insert our holiday songs in the set list, which we do each year..but I for one, will always refuse to do so until it is at least December. Sorry, no Jingle Bells before Columbus Day is done. Soreff out!!


Malama Pono,
Dave

I Am In Love Again

Aloha Kakou!!

First of all, an apology for being away for so long. I had some drama with my laptop, and once it was fixed and fine, things here on the ship kind of took over...and maybe I got a teensy weensy lazy in keeping up with the blog. I promise to be better about it. I am humbled at all the people who have mailed me about the blog, and say how much they enjoy reading it and keeping up with our loves, both on the ship, and on land. So while I can't make any concrete promises, I will try my best to be more regular...some would say try bran.

So, to todays blog title..not to worry...I have not forgotten my one life love Leialoha...let me introduce you to my new love:






This is what is called a steel guitar. Some would call it a non-pedal steel guitar and this particular one is made by Fender, and is called a Stringmaster. Technically it is called a D8 which stands for Double 8 meaning that there are two necks and on this one, eight strings on each neck. For the uninitiated, steel guitars can have one, two, three or even four necks. These are used to give the player access to different tunings, which enables the player to play different kinds of chords, voicings, and to just generally expand the tonal palette. So in many peoples minds, the Stringmaster is the epitome of what a steel guitar should be. Up until now, and I have been playing for four years now, I have never laid my hands on one. But, just two weeks ago, I found out from my teacher Alan Akaka that a friend of ours Derrick Mau was thinning his heard of steels. (We steel guitarists tend to collect a bit) He had this one for sale, and he was reluctant to ship to the Mainland. Long story short, even though I have five steel guitars already, and had no intention of buying more, it was too good a deal fore too good a steal. So I got it this last Tuesday, and have been in love ever since. It plays beautifully and plays like a dream. It has been a slight adjustment to eight strings from the usual six that I use, but it is coming along. I am going to try to do a little recording with it and then I will post the samples here so you can hear for yourself just how special the sound of this classic instrument is.

The other thing that has been on my mind, is this whole issue about Christmas music playing in malls and stores as we speak. On Tuesday, while walking in Ala Moana Mall, I noticed that not only were the stores ALREADY decorated for the holidays, but there was non-stop holiday music playing. Now, granted it was local style performed by local artists, but call me old school in my belief that these things are meant to start after Thanksgiving. It just seems that each year it starts earlier...I imagine that if I live long enough, I will see holiday music start right after Labor Day...or Memorial Day...or possibly even the day after Christmas itself. Heck, why not do it year round...it would make things so much simpler...for the people who decorate the stores anyway.

So we have had a bit of change on the ship, as we had a new CD come on this past cruise. (Cruise Director) The funny thing about this business is that if you work in it long enough, chances are that you will see a lot of the same faces over and over again. Our new CD is Sammi Baker, and she is one of my oldest friends in this business. I met Sammi back in 1993 on the old Royal Majesty, when she came to take over the ship and I was just plain old newbie cruise staff. She came to us from the late lamented Sitmar cruises as well as Princess, and she was, and still is a force of nature. Lots of energy, lots of craziness, (in the best possible way) and a really good boss, as she promoted me to assistant cruise director quickly, and is one of my mentors in this business. We last worked with her back in 2009 on the Dawn Princess as part of the world cruise and were very happy to learn that she would be coming here to the Golden. It will be a wonderful rest of the season, as Sammi will be here for three months, and then our good friend David Cole will be returning. David is the CD that we developed the Hawaiian Program with back in 2008. He is similar to Sammi in many ways, not the least of which is that they are two of the hardest working CDs I have ever met.

So we are in Lahaina today, which means one thing...pedicure! And poi! Life can be filled with rituals,some good, some bad...but in Lahaina, we always go to get our feet cleaned up and buffed...this is important, as we spend much of our life in slippers here in Hawai'i and you want your feet to look presentable...and up until Leialoha introduced me to pedicures, my feet did not look presentable...I will be posting the results from todays scrubbing/sand blasting. The sound in my ears now is the anchor dropping, so it is time to fight for a seat in the tender...have a great day everyone! A hui hou!!

Aloha No
Dave

Location:Lahaina, Hi

Lost In A Storm...Without My Laptop

Aloha Kakou!!!

I am as I write this, a little lost and at odds with the world. Why is that? Well, about a week ago, my Mac decided to take a vacation, get sick, go kaput, screw the pooch...whatever descriptive you may choose to use. It is at times like these that I realize how much I depend on this little wonder machine. Never mind the fact that it is my primary way of keeping in touch with family and friends around the world. Never mind that I do all of my banking and bill paying online. Never mind that it holds much of my music that gets me through two hours of lei making class. Never mind that I use it to flesh out, compose, arrange and often record the music that I perform with. Never mind all of these things and about a million other wonderful things that it does for me. If the only thing I used my computer for was to write this blog...I would still miss it a ton. So, for the next two weeks, I will be writing this blog from my iPad as I try to figure out this new app...BlogPress.

Apps and I have a strange relationship, as I am always amazed at how they make ones that are so great at increasing and refining our productivity, and I love those ones. Yet, they also have the ones that make flatulant noises and let you kill hours by flicking wadded up paper balls at trash can...and I love those ones too. But, the one thing I am consistent with, is that I usually do not get an app that needs more then a minute to figure out. So dear reader, stick with me while I figure this one out...for better or worse. For instance, I will right now, randomly try to insert a picture into this blog...heaven knows what I will find in my photo gallery...I'll be right back....





Ahhh....glad I found this one. This gentleman is named Bobby Ingano...in my estimation, one of the finest steel guitarists in the islands...or anywhere for that matter. He has a touch and a tone in his playing that I would gladly sacrifice some part of my anatomy to attain. Let's see what else is in the gallery...






This is a picture of one of the famous backyard kanikapilas that used to take place at the home of slack key legend, Gabby Pahinui...his music figures very prominently in the great movie, The Descendants. He is a revered figure in Hawaiian music, and at his home in Waimanalo, on O'ahu, there used to be famous jam sessions that would last the weekend with music, food, fun, drinking and lots of aloha. By the way, three of his sons are very well known musicians here in Hawai'i...Cyril, Martin and Blah...wonderful slack key guitarists all. Let's spin the photo wheel and see what else we have...





This is a good one, and something that we ran into when buying our home in Hilo. As some of you might know, the BI has volcanic activity. So, there has been a map made to reflect the Lava Zone of a given area, and the danger of there ever being lava flowing through your backyard...for instance, Leialoha and I live in Waiakea Heights in Hilo. Our zone is 3...it is when you get to 2 and 1 that you have some real problems getting financing and so forth. Believe it or not, there are people who live in Zone 1...they cannot get a mortgage, and I believe they cannot get insurance. In other words...one big crap shoot. That's living on the edge my friends. One more photot and we are done with random photo night...







This a great old photograph of downtown Hilo...I cannot find a year on this, but I might put it in the 20s or maybe the 30s...I have always been interested in old photos of places I know...and I am always fascinated to see how things have changed and developed. Believe it or not, you can go into Hilo today, and still see some of these buildings...not many, but enough that you can almost get a feel for what it may have looked like.

We are now a cruise and a half into the season for the Golden Princess, and I have to say, that it is looking to be one to remember. We are having a great time with the passengers, and so far, we have been overwhelmed by the aloha...especially from our repeaters. We seem to get a lot of repeaters and there is not one Sailaway that we do now that we don't have at least five or six couples or individuals come up to us to say hello and to reintroduce themselves to us. It's a very wonderful feeling to know that we have some positive impact on people's experience...all we can say is Mahalo nui!!

So...be on the lookout for more frequent updates and blogs everyone...tomorrow is Nawiliwili, and that can mean only one thing...Hamura's Saimin. ONO!!!!

Aloha Nui,
Dave

Location:Kailua, Hi