Jump to content

POA Cruise Review, Nov. 4-11, 2017


Blue Eyes
 Share

Recommended Posts

My husband and I returned from a 2 week vacation in the Hawaiian Islands, including the Nov. 4-11, POA cruise. This was in celebration of our 50th anniversary and we have been planning for it for a long time. We are both active late 60's and early 70's that enjoy traveling and being outdoors. We have done many Carribbean cruises and one European cruise. I've done 2 European river cruises. I researched many websites, travel forums, and travel books in our planning. Over the years I've gained a wealth of knowledge from all of the Cruise Critic forums, so I thought I would offer some of my opinions and thoughts. Travel experiences are always subject to many variances and expectations....the following of some of mine....and may not be what you experienced or expected...

 

On the advice of a friend who lives in Honolulu, I worked with a large Hawaii based travel agency to make all of our arrangements. I had researched the cruise and knew what kind of cabin we wanted and had a price range in mind from various online sources. I knew we wanted to arrive in Honolulu several days prior to the cruise and stay several days afterwards on Maui. Because we were traveling from the southeast coast of Georgia we decided to splurge and fly first class. The TA representative put together several packages and we worked back and forth for about a week before we decided on our final plans. We decided on a United Airlines Vacation package, arriving in Honolulu on Wednesday, Nov. 1st staying at the Outrigger Beach Hotel, flying to Maui on Sat. Nov. 11th, staying at the Hyatt Regency Spa and Resort on Ka'anapali Beach until Tuesday, Nov. 14th, returning home that afternoon. Our package included airfares ( including inter island flight), transfers, hotels, and cruise. We did not do any hiking of trails except Diamond Head...due to my very unstable ankles that have resulted over the years in 3 fractures of my right leg and my husband was recovering from major wrist fusion surgery and we did not either one of us need to have a vacation fall.

 

Since this is a cruise information site I will start on the cruise and give some thoughts on our land vacation later.

 

We took the Robert's shuttle from our hotel to the ship around 12:30. We were on a small bus with an older female driver, the hotel bellmen helped load all the luggage of about 12 passengers. I have to admit that I was completely surprised to see no luggage handlers at the port. The driver struggled to unload the luggage and we quickly realized we were on our own to move our luggage to the conveyor belt inside the terminal. Check in took about 30 minutes and we were on board rather smoothly. We were glad to find college football on the TV in the Gold Rush Saloon, so we got our food from the buffet and waited for rooms to be ready.

 

Our room was 8516, forward, port side...It had the large balcony with two lounge chairs and two other chairs with foot rest. The room was clean and what we expected in size and arrangement. There was more than adequate storage, as we have learned you do not need nearly as much "stuff" on a cruise as you think you do, so we pack lightly. The room was kept nicely everyday, bu we never saw our cabin steward until Thursday afternoon and never learned his name. We are low maintenance and I am sure if we had needed him we could have found him. Just seemed strange not to meet him on the first day of the cruise as has been our experience in past.

 

Overall the ship looked good and seemed to be well maintained. I was disappointed to find no lotion, shampoo or condtitioner in our room. First time for that. The pitiful excuse for shampoo in the shower left a lot to be desired. I bought travel shampoo, conditioner and lotion in first port. We ate every morning in the Aloha Buffet and all of the nights in the two main dining rooms, the other night we ate in the buffet. Overall I thought the food was not very good. I had one night when I could not eat the grouper I ordered. I realize that food is very subjective and we are certainly not food snobs or gourmet meal consumers. There was really no entree that we thought was outstanding...everything just average....really no dessert worth mentioning. Our service was average, which I've come to realize from so many other reviews is about what you can expect. Only one night were we even asked if we wanted to see a wine list or order any wine. I think the staff is too overworked to have time to spend with each table. We did not go to any of the speciality restaurants, as I am not going to pay more for food that I have already paid for. Just our opinion on that option. We started crusing when speciality restaurants were not an extra added expense, but part of you cruise fare. I packed extra ziploc bags and a soft sided cooler so that I could fix us some lunch sandwiches several times for our off the ship trips. I asked one of the servers in the buffet area for mayonaise and only once did one tell me that was not an option, when I told them I had gotten it twice before they said they would look for some, but never came and brought any. I got deli meat, cheese, lettuce tomatoes, bacon and bread for sandwiches and usually muffins for a snack. It really saved on buying food during the day.

 

We rented cars in each port except Kona. I used Discount Hawaiian Car Rentals and chose which one gave me the best deal on that particular port. In Maui (Kahului) we rented for two days and returned the car to the airport parking lot for overnight parking. The shuttles were very convinent, only waiting maybe 10-15 minutes to return to the ship. I used the Revealed series for Ohau and Maui to help plan our daily trips, and lots of notes from all of you here on CC. We booked the snorkeling trip in Kona through the ship because of the need for a tender ticket to get off the ship and it was only $20 more for the two of us as to booking it indepedently.

 

MAUI...after getting our car we headed out to Haleakala National Park. What a drive!! I don't think we were prepared for the drive...folks we are flatlanders...no hills...no switchbacks...everyone talks about the Road to Hana...well let me tell you this...this road is a challenge, too. But so beautiful and interesting the way the terrain changes as you climb, climb...and climb....We came prepared for the cold as I packed some down jackets and we certainly used them. If you plan to go at sunrise or sunset you will definitely need warm warm clothes. The views are worth the drive, but do not think my husband would have done it had we realized how nerve wracking it would be. This is one of the days we had a picnic lunch. We stopped at the Kulu Lodge and Marketplace on our way up. This is a beautiful interesting place and worth a stop. We also stopped on the way down to visit the Curtis Wilson Cost Art Gallery. He is a local artist who paints the most beautiful landscapes. Very very expensive, but there are prints and cards available. My husband bought a beautiful print for about $100 and I bought some nice note cards. Very friendly and nice lady was working there that afternoon. Also right down the road is the Ali'i Kulu Lavender Farm. What a treat to behold. The fragrance is wonderful. Would love to visit when the lavendar is in full bloom. It is really a botanical garden with lots of beautiful flowers and plants. I took the walking tour, $12, that lasted about an hour and explained all about the gardens. I met my husband back at the gift shop for some tasty lavender scones and lavender tea while overlooking th e gardens. A favorite stop for me, that was suggested by the rental car lady while giving us a map. After getting our car on Monday we headed out to the Road to Hana. Our decision to do his was based on the fact that we did not have to go all the way to Hana. After driving to Haleakala, my husband did not think this road was that terrible...challenging but doable. There are certainly many beautiful sites along the way and we decided not to stop on the way up, but to mark where we wanted to stop and do so on the way back. We drove until we reached Pua'a Ka'e State Park at MM 23. As we headed back we made several stops at the lookouts. Both of us enjoyed the ride, but two days in a row driving was enough for us. We made a splurge stop at Ma's Fish Camp for a late lunch. There was a kite boarding and wind surfing tournament right by so that was really fun to watch also. Ma's is just so beautiful....the view to the ocean throught the coconut palms...the breathtaking flower arrangements in the restaurant...and the food....we had crab cakes and lobster stuffed mahi mahi....now that is great food....be aware it is expensive....lunch was around $200 (I would rather picnic several days to spurge on such wonderful food). We returned our car and headed back to the ship. We knew we were going over to the other side of Maui for a few days so we concentrated to places to see on the east side of the island.

 

I'll add more in a few days...would love to add some pictures...tried but failed...any advice and I will try again

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We made a splurge stop at Ma's Fish Camp for a late lunch. There was a kite boarding and wind surfing tournament right by so that was really fun to watch also. Ma's is just so beautiful....the view to the ocean throught the coconut palms...the breathtaking flower arrangements in the restaurant...and the food....we had crab cakes and lobster stuffed mahi mahi....now that is great food....be aware it is expensive....lunch was around $200 (I would rather picnic several days to spurge on such wonderful food).

 

We prefer your name for the restaurant, but in case anyone is looking for it the actual name is"Mama's Fish House".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the nice comments...

The POA was late leaving from Maui Monday due to a terrible car crash on the roadway from the west side to the east side. Reports said that 4 people lost their lives as the car went over the cliff into a ravine. Three large excursion buses and over 200 private cars/passengers were caught in the almost- 4-6 hour delay. The ship finally sailed around 10 PM, but we made up lost time and arrived at Hilo on time..

Hilo...after breakfast we took the shuttle to the airport...I think we waited maybe 10-15 minutes for the second or third one of the morning...Our plan today was to drive to Volcano National Park. After the previous 2 days of mountain driving we were not sure if we should make the drive. Several people assured us the drive up to the summit was easy...and they were right...nice wide 4 lane highway a lot of the way and then a gradual assent to the park. We made a stop at the visitor's center and talked to the park rangers and viewed the topographical maps to learn about the area. We headed toward the Jagger Museum stopping along the way to view the steam vents and our first look at the Kilauea Caldera...wow such a vast desolate area...the museum is filled with many different panels explaining about the volcano and the history of volcanoes in and around the Hawaiian islands. There is a large overlook into the Halema'uma'a crater which is the active area. We did see several eruptions of red lava while we were there...thanks to a ranger telling us where to look. We stopped as we headed back to the visitor's center at the picnic area where we ate our lunch I had packed from the ship. We drove over to the Thurston Lava Tube...be forewarned...parking is very limited...you may have to wait until a car pulls out to get a spot...fortunately we only waited about 5 minutes...what a change in scenery...so lush and tropical...we were glad we stopped and took a look...after talking with a ranger at the Museum as she was giving several hikers advice about how to see the lava flow we decided not to drive the Chain of Craters Road as we were not going to be any where near the lava flow, unless we were hiking many miles..we opted to return toward town and make a stop at the Mauna Loa factory...with promise of lots of free samples....the drive into the plant is a nice tree lined road...the promise of samples is real...and we enjoyed some delicious macadamia nut ice cream...we returned our car and headed back to our home away from home...another great day in paradise...

Kona...we both like to be in the water and Kona looked like a good place to snorkel...I researched several snorkel trips and usually book out trips off the ship...however since this was a tender port I was concerned about getting a tender time that would work with the early snorkel departure...so I booked the trip from the ship and it was only about $10 a person more than booking it myself....we had a beautiful ride out to the reef all along the coast...stopping to see the spinner dolphins..all the-while looking for whales...but no luck...we were both so glad the water was warm...about 80-83 degrees....this was the first time we've snorkled using pool noodles...there were lots of fish...nothing that we had not seen in the Caribbean and the water is crystal clear...lots of water toys and the crew was very friendly and helpful...we thoroughly enjoyed our time in the water....on our way out there was a continental breakfast with fruit, muffins, bagels, juice...etc.....and while we were in the water hamburgers, hot dogs and all the trimmings were put out for everyone to enjoy...it was a great day on the water...after docking we walked around the town checking our some of the shops...and visiting the local church..a beautiful structure anchoring the town...we made another stop at a local ice cream shop for some more delicious ice cream before we headed back to the ship...after we got back to the ship I decided to wander around the ship as we had been so busy we had actually not taken the time to explore....the outside decks have a lot of areas of seating and if this had not been such a port intensive cruise...I am sure we would have enjoyed the amenities more...

Next our final stop and our island time...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love your travel style and your review has been a treat to read. I didn’t see any mention of nighttime sailing past the Kilauea Volcano - one of the main reasons I’ve booked a February Cruise. Did you see it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love your travel style and your review has been a treat to read. I didn’t see any mention of nighttime sailing past the Kilauea Volcano - one of the main reasons I’ve booked a February Cruise. Did you see it?

 

We did go out on deck and watched as we passed the lava flow. It was not very active that week but we could see the red glow off in the distance....if I remember correctly we watched from the aft deck bar...I would say that it was disappointing that the recorded music continued to play all during the talk by the ship information person...that made it hard to hear all that was said about all the legends of the Hawaiian gods and legends....hopefully your week the volcano will be more active...don't forget your binoculars...we did...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...