POA Live(-ish): 6/23/18-6/30/18

Not sure exactly how “live” it will be, it will probably depend on the cell service and how tired I am every day. [emoji6]

That said, just boarded the first shuttle bus from Marriott Waikiki Beach to the pier. Left our bags in the room as directed which felt so wrong, but I’m assured they’ve “never” had an incident of the bags not making it.

Happy to answer questions about the ship and reasonable requests (I’m not going to go knock on doors to view individual cabins). Also we spent 4 nights at Turtle Bay before our two nights here, so if you have questions about the North Shore I can try to answer those as well.

Aloha! [emoji475]*♀️

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Very quick and easy check-in! Arrived at the pier around 11:15, no line at security, and straight up the escalator to the suites check-in. We received our key cards and the first group was ready to be taken onboard by the concierge. We boarded the ship at 11:45.

He brought us up to the lounge outside Cagney’s, where we were offered champagne. We waited about 10 minutes (with a visit from the spa rep), and were shown in to a table for lunch.

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Very quick and easy check-in! Arrived at the pier around 11:15' date=' no line at security, and straight up the escalator to the suites check-in. We received our key cards and the first group was ready to be taken onboard by the concierge. We boarded the ship at 11:45.

 

He brought us up to the lounge outside Cagney’s, where we were offered champagne. We waited about 10 minutes (with a visit from the spa rep), and were shown in to a table for lunch.

 

 

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We’re going to bring 12006 next December, would love to hear your impressions of your suite and treatment.

We’re going to bring 12006 next December, would love to hear your impressions of your suite and treatment.

We will be also be in 12006 July 2020! Please take pics and share when you get back. [emoji7]

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We will be also be in 12006 July 2020! Please take pics and share when you get back. [emoji7]

 

 

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Definitely!

Lunch in Cagney’s was very good. Of course I need to include the first food pics!

Caesar:

Seafood Fritto Misto:

Diver scallops:

Banana tart:

Carrot cake:

Espresso brownies/macadamia nut ice cream:

Everything was a winner with the exception of the Cobb salad, which my niece did not care for (and I didn’t include a picture).

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Just realized I didn’t even introduce our group in the first post. I’m traveling with my husband, celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, my 13-year-old daughter, and my 24-year-old niece. We’re from the northeast (Massachusetts and Maine) and it’s the first visit to Hawaii for all of us!

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After lunch we headed to Entourage teen club to register my daughter, who thinks she’ll still have plenty of time to go there on this port-intensive cruise (we’ll see).

Then headed to the spa to check out the Thermal Spa, in the event we need a day pass for showers [emoji6]. They still had not called our floor but it was just after 2 so we headed to our cabin and found the hallway open and the room ready.

The suite (12000) is beautiful! A few pictures follow.

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Lifeboat drill was at 4:45. No one likes a lifeboat drill, but I do appreciate that NCL does them in lounges or theaters — no standing on deck in tight lines passing out in the sun.

Hiked up 7 flights of stairs afterwards to avoid the elevators. After Diamond Head, 7 flights didn’t seem so bad!

Visited the Key West Bar and Grill for my first cocktail (not counting the champagne at lunch), but forgot to take pics! Drink of the Day was a Daydreamers Daiquiri.

Booked this suite specifically for the hot tub on the balcony and my daughter and husband wasted no time trying it out. They were in there until sailaway, which happened promptly at 7pm.

Heading to East Meets West for dinner.

Nice double rainbow while waiting for sailaway! Got hit with a little raincloud but it was quick and very localized!

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First night dinner we went to East Meets West. They don’t have this particular venue on any of the other NCL ships I’ve been on but I imagine the menu is similar to to the other Asian restaurants they have. I got no pictures of the meal tonight, but the food was quite good. I particularly liked the Crispy Spring Rolls. Our waiter was Thomas and was just so eager to please, it was really a pleasure.

My daughter headed off to Entourage for a Meet and Greet and the rest of us did a quick ship tour to see what we’d missed earlier. There was an 8:30 welcome show which we missed as we didn’t get out of dinner until 8:45. I don’t know if everyone was at the show but I did note that the ship was EXTREMELY quiet already. I don’t want to say “dead”, but I have certainly never seen a ship that quiet before 9pm. This is not an issue for us as we aren’t really big on attending the parties and such, but I do mention it as some people have asked about the ship’s nightlife on the boards in the past. We walked by Jefferson’s Bistro at 8:45 and there were 2 couples in there. I mean, it was QUIET. Many bars were also closed.

Back in our room I finally tried out the hot tub on the balcony myself, only to find that it was NOT hot. Barely lukewarm. So this might be something more enjoyable during the day when the sun is out! At night with the breeze, it was too chilly.

So far we have found the staff to be extremely friendly and helpful.

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I see some references by others to 12006 but it looks like you mention are in 12000 and from the pics that would be like 12000. We had 12502 and it is a great room type.

Yes, the Asian restaurant name is unique on POA but the restaurant menu is the same as the Asian restaurant on ships in the Dawn/Jewel class.

Welcome to the beautiful Valley Isle of Maui. We hope you enjoy your stay here!!

Following! Considering this cruise for 2019. I guess you are in an Owner’s Suite right as they are the only ones with a hot tub?

We had quite a Day 1 on Maui today. The ship arrived just after 7:30 and we were cleared to go ashore by 8. We had arranged a private Road to Hana tour with an operator I read rave reviews about on TripAdvisor. His name is Charlie and his business is called Blue Soul Maui. In addition to Hana tours he also teaches surfing, outrigger canoeing, and various other tours.

When we got outside the port building we had to cross the street to the Whole Foods parking lot to meet Charlie. He had a great 4-door Jeep which comfortably fit our group, and we quickly got underway, by 8:30. The great thing about having the private tour was the ability to stop where/when we wanted, and at a few more local spots.

Our first big stop was at a bamboo forest, where we hiked down through the forest and along a stream until we came to some more slippery rocks and a questionable-looking plank to cross, where you had to scramble up more slippery rocks on the other side. The bamboo forest was great, a little steep and muddy but not too hard to navigate because you can hold on to the bamboo. After the crossing of the plank, you had to hike another 5-10 minutes to get to the waterfall, which is great for photos. Apparently there are a couple of more pools and waterfalls even farther in with some more strenuous hiking, but that’s as far as we went. Back to the car after the first adventure.

Other notable stops were at a little roadside Vegan ice cream (!) stand (actually pretty good stuff), another stand to get some banana bread, obviously the famous black sand beach, and a few other vistas and photo ops. For lunch we went to a BBQ place which was a little beyond Hana town, and it was probably the best BBQ chicken I’ve ever had. Lunch was included with the tour. (I should add that Charlie was also well-stocked with water, juice, wine, beer, chips, muffins, and other snacks.)

I have to say after all those one-lane bridges on the road to Hana I wasn’t looking forward to the ride back, but Charlie is one of the few tour operators who actually continues around the south side of the island and returns to Kahului that way. Instead of the one-lane bridges there is quite a bit of ROUGH, unpaved road — but it was great to see the completely different vegetation and landscape of the south side. It’s hard to believe that in one moment you’re in dense, lush greenery, and the next you’re in dry, windswept country. We saw plenty of “locals” on the south shore (cows and wild goats), and lots of great views.

We got back to the pier right around 4pm, so it was a very full day. If you are considering a Road to Hana tour, I highly recommend Charlie as a tour guide. When I was planning our trip, many, many people on the boards recommended just driving the road to Hana on our own, and I’m very, very glad we didn’t do that. Not just because of the places we might have missed (or the busier, more popular tourist spots we might have been caught up in), but truly, the windiness of the road cannot be overstated enough. Could we have done it? Sure. Would I have enjoyed it with my husband driving? Not at all.

As some people have also stated on the boards, the road to Hana is more about the journey than the destination. There is not a lot to “do”, it is mostly about the beautiful views, the occasional glimpse of a waterfall, that beautiful cliff road by the ocean, etc. You will spend a lot of time in your car or tour bus on a Hana excursion. If you don’t want to sit that long, and/or if you are prone to motion sickness, this might not be the adventure for you. However, our group all gave the day a huge thumbs up.

Back on board, we hit up back-to-back trivia contests in the Gold Rush — Star Wars trivia and Rock and Roll Trivia.

Dinner was at La Cucina. I think a lot of people do a luau on the Maui overnight, so once again the restaurants just didn’t seem that busy, although there were certainly more people here than at Jefferson’s last night.

After dinner we finally got the hot tub hot, so we enjoyed that on the deck for awhile, with the nice industrial sounds of the port going on around us. ;-). At least we had a pretty evening and enjoyed looking at the lights.

This is my first time cruising as a Platinum member so I filled my free laundry bag for pickup in the morning. We’ll see how that works out — I don’t think I’ve had laundry done on a cruise in about 20 years.

I’ll try to remember to add photos tomorrow (if not, at some point I will definitely get to it!) of some of our Hana highlights.

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Following! Considering this cruise for 2019. I guess you are in an Owner’s Suite right as they are the only ones with a hot tub?

Yes, it is an owner’s suite. I don’t know what all the levels are but I know there has to be at least one or two higher than we are as I kept getting the upgrade emails encouraging me to try to upgrade pre-cruise. We specifically didn’t want to upgrade because some of the higher-level suites don’t have them — and, in fact, not all the Owner’s Suites have them either.

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Welcome to the beautiful Valley Isle of Maui. We hope you enjoy your stay here!!

Thanks, day one was great and we’re looking forward to seeing Mt. Haleakala tomorrow. :-)

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We’re going to bring 12006 next December, would love to hear your impressions of your suite and treatment.

Actually the door of 12006 has been open a few times when I’ve passed by, so I’ve gotten a pretty good look. Does anyone in your group play piano? Seems a shame to waste that baby grand. ;-)

I’ll probably write more of a summary on the suite and the services at the end of the trip, but so far, so good.

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The categories on the POA are kind of weird and don't match up to the rest of the fleet in areas. The SA category was added two drydocks ago and along with the one SA room (DOS) would be "higher" than the SC OS category. I'd only consider the DOS really an upgrade though.

And yes, not all OS on POA have the hot tub out on the deck.

Actually the door of 12006 has been open a few times when I’ve passed by' date=' so I’ve gotten a pretty good look. Does anyone in your group play piano? Seems a shame to waste that baby grand. ;-)[/quote']

 

Not to worry. It is a player piano.

Enjoying your report. We sail on her in about 2 weeks. Since you are currently on the ship, may I request a favor of you please? Can you see if they have grits available for breakfast? (Yes; I’m a Southern girl through and through.) Hoping to find out in advance. Thank you in advance. Looking forward to your further reviews especially about the ship and things you enjoyed most and least. Have a terrific trip.

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The categories on the POA are kind of weird and don't match up to the rest of the fleet in areas. The SA category was added two drydocks ago and along with the one SA room (DOS) would be "higher" than the SC OS category. I'd only consider the DOS really an upgrade though.

 

And yes, not all OS on POA have the hot tub out on the deck.

That should have been "SB" which on other NCL ships is an OS.

My live review has come to a screeching halt thanks to login issues with Tapatalk. I specifically downloaded it so I could include pics but I have somehow been logged out and my CC credentials are not logging me back in. So frustrating. As soon as I figure it out (or, alternately, get home and use my computer, I’ll get back to it.

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I was really enjoying your trip report, I hope you find time eventually to get back to it.

-- Kevin

Enjoying your report. We sail on her in about 2 weeks. Since you are currently on the ship, may I request a favor of you please? Can you see if they have grits available for breakfast? (Yes; I’m a Southern girl through and through.) Hoping to find out in advance. Thank you in advance. Looking forward to your further reviews especially about the ship and things you enjoyed most and least. Have a terrific trip.

 

 

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Cruz happy,

Would you be able to post the dailies from your July cruise when you return? Please and thank you!

John

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Clearly my attempt at a live review was disastrous ... I do intend to organize my notes and complete the review in any case, but it may not be this week.

CruzHappy, they definitely had grits in the buffet for breakfast. I only tried the ones at Cagney’s and I did not enjoy them. It took a LOT of cheese and seasoning to make them taste of anything. But they are there so I’ll be curious if you find them palatable!

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