Seas2mountains

Crew Bar.

Environmental area where all trash is sorted by type. Some guests don’t ask for a Sharps container for used neddles which is so risky for the crew members to handle when mixed with general trash.

We had the Behind the Scenes tour at 8:10am. Barbara, the Cruise Next Manager, did a wonderful job with the tour. On POA, the main crew hallway is called Route 66 instead of I95 like other NCL ships. Laundry area - separated by clean and dirty areas. Room full of baggage carts.

We went to Skyline for breakfast at 7:30am as we had the Behind the Scenes tour at 8:10am. My husband was concerned about being done with breakfast in time. We asked to be seated in Lou’s section since we had great service from him. Lou took great care of us as we had all this breakfast food by 7:40am! We never said we were in a hurry but we both ordered the Express Breakfast which was fast.

Last night was dinner with the officers. We had a great time visiting with the four officers and three other couples at our table. On this ship, everyone had an opportunity to sign up for this dinner and some of the couples were new to NCL. We met up for the dinner at 6:15pm and walked out of the dining room at 9:05pm. We enjoyed listening to music in Pink’s Champagne / Martini Bar. The Glow party was last night and we saw a few people dressed in white. They also had a sock hop with 50’s and 60’s music but we were at the dinner.

Yes, I think it means you need to come back! Have a wonderful time and have safe travels. Maybe you can share some photos in some of these CC posts.

Good morning from Kaua’i!

We took the risk of sending out our laundry late yesterday morning. It all came back clean and neatly folded or on hangers this afternoon. Specialty dining update. We canceled one reservation made in error and asked about specialty dining. We were told that POA strictly enforces One appetizer or salad or soup, one entree and one dessert. They don’t allow any substitutions such as an extra appetizer instead of dessert.

The balconies have a neat feature - foot stools!

We are now sailing away from Kona on our way to our final port of Kawai’i tomorrow and Friday.

The final stop was at Gypsea Gelato for a tasting of any two types of Gelato we wanted to try. I had a coconut crunch and a chocolate with coconut gelato. The food tour started at the pier and ended at the gelato place. It took 15 minutes to walk back to the pier to get on the tenders.

The sixth food stop was at Fosters Kitchen which was featured in Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. We were served one small piece of fish and some chips with a taste of the Cole slaw and homemade tartar sauce. It was all tasty.

The fifth location was at a restaurant called Kai. They served a yummy pizza with a super crispy crust. Apparently, the owner travels to Italy to get the sour dough started once per year is what we were told. The pizza was topped with pork, BBQ sauce and pineapple but they had half of one pizza without pineapple so I could eat it. It was paired with a small glass of Pina Colada.

The fourth stop was to the Pa’akai Deli where delicious Ahi Poke that practically melted in your mouth was served, It was served with rice with a tasty nut and seaweed mixture on top with edamame We were also given a section of a green skinned orange fruit to try.

The third location was to the historic Kona Inn to try what is claimed to be the best Mai Taii on the island. My husband got to enjoy two as I can’t drink pineapple. He said it was really good. We could see the POA in the distance.

The second stop was to hear about the history of Kona while tasting spam with rice and seaweed. I probably wouldn’t have tried this on my own. It wasn’t bad but wasn’t great either.

Our tour and lunch was a walking food and drink tour booked with Kona Tasting Tours. It was a fun way to learn more about Kona from two local tour guides. We were two of fourteen people on the tour. Our first stop was at The Fish Hopper for their famous clam chowder soup paired with a glass of Prosecco. It was really good.

The tender boat process to get to Kona took about 10-15 minutes and a bit longer coming back as we waited for the tender to be filled. Once we got to Kona, we saw a green sea turtle swimming.

We had breakfast in Skyline restaurant again. This time, service was fantastic. We arrived at about 8:20an. The dining room was very busy and there was a short wait for a table. We were seated near a window but not at the window. We saw there were three window tables being set so we were one of those annoying people who asked if we could be moved to one of the window tables. Our waiter,Ron, took care of getting it approved and got us coffee, water, juice and specialty coffee for my husband. Then he let us know we would have a different server due to the table change. We ordered and everting was delivered as requested. The food was excellent and it was brought out faster than we expected. We left a little after 9 am.

Aloha from Kona! I missed catching a sunrise photo. This is the tender port. Tender tickets were needed before 10:30. We are having a leisurely morning as our tour is at 12:15pm.

Thank you! I hope you have a great vacation. I could have stayed staring at some of the scenic areas for hours but it was also a little hot, humid and the mosquitos were trying to bite even with mosquito repellant. Land vacation?

Thank you! I hope you had a great cruise.

Aww. Thank you. We are having a great time. I don’t think they have the brownie ice cream dessert unless you mean the brownie cheesecake? They do have the daily milkshake specials.

Some sail away photos from Hilo.

Dinner at La Cucina. Pretend you see a Caprese salad and a Mixed Green salad with Gorgonzola cheese and pears. Forgot to take photo until after a few bites. Main course. Pizza for my husband and Osso Bucco for me. The staff was constantly in motion getting orders and delivering food and drinks. Everything was delicious. Dessert. Gelato for me and Tiramisu for my husband. No complaints. Service and food were excellent.