kgymn

I'm not sure what is provided in the lunches, but since the POA never leaves US waters you are allowed to bring food from the ship with you (unlike most cruises where you cannot take food off of ships), in case the provided lunch isn't to your liking. We did all but one of our excursions on our own (rented cars) and a couple times we brought snacks from the ship with us.

~Katy

Yes the park is definitely open on July 4th! We were there on the 4th of July this year :)

But no there's really nothing special that happens. I had been hoping there would be but no. I believe the closest festivities are in Hilo, we opted to hike to see natures fireworks up close instead ;)

~Katy

From what I recall, they do. Dollar and Thrifty share a desk. Once you reserve through DHCR, as long as you indicated you are a cruise passenger, you should get shuttle info in your confirmation email. There's no risk in booking to double check, as the reservations through discount hawaii car rental are no obligation.

~Katy

I am looking for up to date information about the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. Is it worth it? Taking the bus there easy? Can I purchase breakfast food? Is the area a safe place for solo traveler? Thinking of going before my flight in the afternoon.

Speaking as a typically quite cautious female that does things alone, nearly everywhere on Oahu is safe for a solo traveler. The entire island is pretty darn safe. People don't mess with YOU, just keep an eye on your stuff.

The swap meet is a great place for getting inexpensive souvenirs. I can't really speak to the breakfast food, I've always been in the afternoon though there's someone who sells delicious banana bread and plenty of fresh fruit vendors so if that's your kind of breakfast you're all set!

It should be easily accessible by bus, however make sure to check The Bus website for the routes and schedule and see just how long it takes to get there (and back) via the bus, as you certainly will not want to miss your flight.

~Katy

Hello the wife and I are taking a 15 Day Hawaiian Cruise for our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We have our Plans for the days we spend in Maui and Honolulu , now our next priority is to find a nice resort that offers a day pass in either Kauai , Kona or Hilo . All inclusive with drinks and a meal would be nice but not a deal breaker , we would like to have access to a nice beach to just relax for a day . Any Suggestions ? Thanks in advance

As already stated, you can go to any beach, they are all public access. If you are looking for one day to do a lazy beach day, I'd recommend Hapuna beach on Big Island, Kona side. Then check out one of the restaurants in Waikoloa on the way back to the ship. I believe the parking at Hapuna is $5.

Big island is not known for its beaches. Hapuna is probably the best sandy beach on the island, beautiful long white sand and crystal clear waters much of the time.

Hilo you really should check out volcanoes national park, especially with the lava currently flowing it's a great experience. Recently there has even been visible lava spatter in the crater visible from the Jaggar museum.

Kauai has some nice beaches, however, there is so much more to see there. Waimea canyon is gorgeous and the Na Pali coast is simply not to be missed.

IDK what you have planned in Honolulu, but Oahu does have some of the best beaches in Hawaii. Some people argue that Kauai has the better ones, I happen to disagree. Oahu has more beaches that are swimmable more of the year, all around the island.

~Katy

OP is used to/spoiled by HAL, where the cabins are available by noon at the latest. Not all cruise lines follow that goal/procedure, but HAL certainly does.

Honestly I don't think that the OP is spoiled. I am very low maintenance but the OP is correct that it can take FOREVER for the rooms to be ready. We typically cruise on Carnival, personally. But the only real negative I can think of with out POA cruise was how LONG it took the rooms to be ready. It took so long that I messaged a friend who had done the cruise a week or two prior to see when their rooms were ready, theirs had been ready much earlier though so it seems to be hit or miss which weeks take a long time.

The biggest issue to me was that they tell you when checking in that rooms are supposed to be ready before 3. When it hits 3:00 and only 2 floors of rooms are ready, each minute that passes waiting and waiting drags on. We barely had time to drop our carry on items in our room before our CC meet n greet, never mind that our invitation for that was AT our cabin, but more I felt if it was going to take until 3:30/3:45 for most of the rooms to actually be ready, they should have just said that up front.

It certainly didn't ruin our trip but it didn't leave a very good first impression. I was less bothered by the security, but we only had to show our IDs entering the port area not when getting off the buses last year.

~Katy

Yes our islands have been having some rather wet weather moving through since Sunday. I live in one of the typically drier areas on Oahu and we've had downright downpours nearly every day this week, and last night I was sitting out on my lanai enjoying thunder and lightning because yes it is pretty rare here!

Hilo does typically get much more rainfall than Kona. I believe that the Kona area is even drier on average than the dry parts of Oahu. Somewhat surprised they've missed the rain that's been brought in by the weather system, but not too much since mountains disrupt wind flow in weather systems so that could keep it away from that region. Heck, even tropical storms don't seem to be any match for Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa!

~Katy

You are mistaken, SMerritt. You mistakenly said that Kilauea was dormant during your last cruise and unless that was over 30 years ago that is false. It simply wasn't flowing into the ocean. Kilauea has been continually erupting for 3 decades now.

But yes it is now flowing into the ocean. We already have threads talking about the current active lava flow, since it became accessible by foot about a month ago (which is when the POA began doing the sailby again, as they could see the active flow coming down the pali)

~Katy

You know we always disagree on this;).

 

I think the POA is the perfect solution for a first timer who has no idea what the islands have to offer. Have you done this cruise? I think you underestimate the time it offers you on shore. At least 16 hours on the overnights and more if you stay ashore in the evening. That is about the equivalent of three port calls on any other itinerary. I can pack a lot into 16 hours.:p

I completely agree with punkincc on this one. POA is perfect for getting a solid taste of every island.

A land vacation you can only get in 2 islands reasonably in the same amount of time. And you can spend weeks on each island and still have things left to see anyways! On POA you get a feel for what each island has to offer, which is both great if it will be your only Hawaii vacation since you get to all the main islands, and also great if you plan to go back for a land vacation later so you have a better ideas of which island(s) you want to see more of.

~Katy

Not sure how much hiking will be required to view the ocean entry from land. I am thinking at least several miles each way. But, the view from the ship should be spectacular!!

Oh absolutely! I imagine there are some boat tours one can take to view it, as well. I'm thinking about making a day trip. Also, great timing for the POA this week as I am certain they missed at least one of their days on Maui due to the storm, getting to see this should more than make up for that! At least it would if it were me.

~Katy

I honestly have no clue about the bus or the trolley, as we had a car. I doubt the bus stop is far. The entire stretch of road there is under the highway, H1 runs directly on top of Nimitz for the stretch past the airport.

~Katy

Cash is not harmed by getting wet...stick it in your hubby's velcroed pocket!

Or get a water wallet! Keeps things dry and you can keep it with you. I use one as my regular wallet right now, a small one fits a few cards, ID, and a reasonable amount of cash.

~Katy

Aloha Katy,

 

Which side of the island are you on? I live right in Honolulu so we got hit hard. Never saw Kapiolani Blvd ever get flooded but it did last night. It was the most amazing (in every since of the word) weather I probably bore witness to.

 

 

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I live in Kunia. The times I checked the radar everywhere west of pearl harbor had spotty rain and occasional downpours but east of it was a big long band of nothing but heavy rain moving north all directly over that half of the island. So much rain! I found it interesting that even though the weather was caused by the huge storm system, the dry side still stayed drier!

~Katy

The Best Western and Airport Hotel are sister properties, they are run by the same people and you can charge meals to your room at both properties.

We stayed at the Best Western for a month when we moved to Oahu. The Airport hotel is right down the road. The area is safe enough, I would feel comfortable staying there (at either property) alone.

~Katy

I think everyone else has basically said most of what I would say to you. POA is a great option, and you sound like exactly the right kind of people to make the most out of this particular itinerary. My husband and I went last year (late 20s/early 30s) and we LOVED it! Hawaii is great for adventures and the lack of sea days will be perfect for you.

I don't think you can go wrong with either a land vacation or the POA cruise. We've mostly done land vacations since because we can do long weekends but we absolutely plan to do the POA again as soon as we can get a week off and have the money for it!

~Katy

We are getting SLAMMED here in Oahu! Will post an update tomorrow with the damage to each island so far. Could've been worse, but the hit on Oahu was a little unexpected.

 

 

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Just in town and windward, though. Looks like the rain just slammed that whole side of the island! This side got some rain of course and some heavy downpours but nothing like Honolulu and Kaneohe etc got it! I was laying in bed last night watching the lightning in the distance, and we couldn't even hear most of the thunder. But man from the looks of the radar and lightning town got SLAMMED last night!

~Katy

PCC is great as a day trip but for the luau there's better options IMO. I've been to Paradise Cove and Germaines, both on Oahu. I enjoyed them both though they're pretty different!

We did Paradise Cove with my family when they visited, ages 3-72 and everyone enjoyed it. There's a lot to do there, little activities and cultural demonstrations. GORGEOUS setting, right on a lagoon and perfect location for the sunset. (I live close by, and drive over to that area to enjoy the sunsets very frequently.) There's multiple things going on at once up until dinner, and there's a bunch of vendors there selling cute things.

Germaines my husband and I did just as a date night. It's pretty cool because it was a families home in the past and has a bit of an old hawaii feel to it. There's not much to do before the dinner and the show, they do the imu ceremony and I actually liked theirs better cause we were closer to them pulling the pig out of the ground and it came up as a whole pig when they dropped it on the ground and it literally all fell right apart. Definitely a more laid back atmosphere than Paradise Cove. Since we weren't walking around checking everything out we had more time to socialize and got to know some of the people sitting near us which was nice. It is right next to the water though it's next to a rocky coastline, not a good spot for dipping feet even if they didn't have a rope keeping you away from the shore, but it's still a nice view and relaxing hearing the waves. Not the best view of the sunset especially in the summer, but in winter when the sun sets farther south it's pretty setting behind the lighthouse which is next to the luau.

It really depends on what you are looking for in a luau. I didn't pay THAT much attention to the shows and I'm not a good judge of food (feed me Kalua pig and day and I am happy as a clam.) If you like more entertainment, Paradise Cove is for you. If you like more laid back, Germaine's is better.

~Katy

I'm not sure about Paywave specifically. I haven't really seen it at bars and restaurants at all, but at places like Longs drugs or McDonalds I have seen similar technology if not payave specifically. My husband frequently pays with his apple watch at places like that. So some places certainly have the technology the question really is if they are setup to use paywave or just the other ones like applepay. Definitely I'd say no as far as bars and restaurants though.

~Katy

This makes me wonder if the ships with casinos leave Hawaiian waters to operate their casinos or if there is an exemption. POA never leaves Hawaiian waters, so must always abide by state laws. And the state is very strict about gambling.

~Katy

7am Hawaii time is when the tickets are released. Some are released 60 days out, and more are released (for certain times) the day before.

I've not heard of calling to reserve tickets before. I am only aware of the website which you can book through which I have used twice for next day tickets.

If you don't get to the website quite early the 60 days out, there's a good chance the tickets will say sold out. The tour companies tend to snatch those up quickly unfortunately. The day before tickets seem to be more readily available, though as more people learn about it those tickets will also be a bit harder to come by. You can also get tickets at the site the day of, though it's recommended to go early.

~Katy

Ko Olina (where Aulani is) has a transportation service. I see the limos with the Ko Olina name on them allllll the time on the highway here. Unfortunately their website is being redone and has like no info on it, but you can call them at (808) 853-4325. The definitely do airport shuttles and I'd be shocked if they couldn't arrange transportation to the pier the day of your departure. You may been to book separately for the transfer from the pier to the airport at the end, but they may be able to set that up for you too.

BTW good choice staying out west side- Ko Olina gets amazing sunsets! There's also a great circle island tour that I have been on that leaves right from Aulani if you want to see the rest of the island :)

~Katy

I've read of instances of people having cars towed there, though second hand. It sounded like they more recently started enforcing it but who knows for sure.

~Katy

There's a person you go to about the parking in Kauai. It's not like metered parking, you just pay them and they give you a slip of paper with the date for a pass. I can't see how it wouldn't be profitable, it would be very low overhead. Maybe one part time employee if there's not already an employee who could do it. I think in Kauai you get it through a shop that books excursions though my memory is fuzzy on that. And maybe a little paint if they want to designate a specific area for the overnight parking.

~Katy

The owner of the mall could get smart and start to charge to park overnight. That's how it works in Kauai, there is a shopping plaza that charges for you to park overnight, you get a parking pass for the night and have to have the car out of the lot early in the morning.

Unless Maui county has an ordinance about parking in a lot of that type overnight I'm sure a mutually beneficial arrangement is possible but the right person will have to make that happen.

~Katy

The lava is now somewhat accessible. A week after your post there was a new breakout from pu'u o'o which has since been moving towards the ocean. Last week it made it's way to the base of the pali (cliff) is visible ay night from the end of chain or craters road or a closer view (but still not right next to it) walking all the way down the county emergency access road either from the end of highway 130 (the recommended route) or from chain of craters road in volcanoes national park.

Tour companies are now leading guided lava hikes (6 hours over black hardened lava in, not a walk in the park) right up to the flow.

It's heading still towards the ocean. They expect it to cross the emergency access road, which could make it much more easily accessible at that point IF conditions permit for them to allow people to approach it very closely (sulfuric fumes are toxic after all)

Not sure when you will be visiting. Things can change very quickly with the volcano!

~Katy