Back from 10/3 POA Cruise

[Carib210]

Hi everyone, Just getting settled after POA cruise & a few days stay in Oahu. This was our 22nd cruise and 1st time to Hawaii. Here are a few of our observations/opinions:

Flew direct from Newark (if you remember I was the one concerned about the flight length and I'm glad to report it wasn't so bad). Stayed at the Hale Koa 2 nites then boarded POA. We boarded about 2:30 and basically just walked on- no line. Had an aft cabin, and after calling twice for maintenance because it was next to impossible to close the balcony door, it was fixed the next day & all was well.

Speciality restaurants: Ate at the following and found all to have excellent food and service:

Lazy J Steakhouse: $25 p/p cover charge

Bistro : $15 p/p

Italian: $10 p/p

*FYI, on top of the cover charge you are charged tax & tip. Don't remember that from other cruises.

 

Prime rib night in buffet was excellent, dining room was good.

 

Prior to cruise read about all the attitude from the crew and never found that to be the case. We talked to many of them and most seemed eager to have a conversation. In fact, in all our cruises it was the first time the head waiter in a speciality restaurant gave us his cell number in case we had any problems or needed reservations. We really had only 1 bad encounter in the dining room- it was luau night and we believe many crew have the night off. We were seated in the "black hole" spot in the dining room- no one claimed us. Finally a female server approached & was upset that she was serving us as she felt we were not in her section. It took over a 1/2 hour to get an appetizer and bread, whereas others seated after us were served before us. When we inquired as to where our food was, there was a definite attitutude from then on. But again, this was our only negative encounter with the crew.

 

Really liked the decor of the ship and the fact that it was different from their other ships. Sometimes it feels like all their ships are the same.

 

Maui: Road to Hana tour with Valley Isle Tours It was pouring rain, but that resulted in seeing great waterfalls.

 

Maui 2nd Day: Haleakala Crater Tour with Roberts Hawaii

 

Hilo: Volcanoes National Park Tour with Roberts Hawaii

Lava flow night from ship Great sight.

 

Kona: Ironman competition on Saturday, so port was busy. Took shuttle to Kahaluu Beach Park- Turtle Beach. Beautiful beach, but not sandy. Lots of rocks & lava & coral made getting into or out of water tricky. Good snorkeling.

 

Kauai: Helicopter ride with Blue Hawaiian. Unbelievable sights: NaPali Coast, Waimea Canyon, crater, waterfalls, etc. Highly recommend heli ride. It was a nice clear day, great conditions. Highly recommend this company. Booked off web site, and group from ship arrived shortly after us and I know the prices much higher from ship. After heli ride, rented car from Alamo for the day and saw Hanalei Beach, Wailua Falls (Fantasy Island), and PoiPu Beach. Had lunch at Brennecke's and found the view of the beach from restaurant to be one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Went for swim and again, very rocky and actually hurt our feet.

 

Kauai 2nd day: Raining all morning so stayed on board as we were up early every day and relaxed on board. Cruised the NaPali coast in afternoon and even tho cloudy, it was beautiful. Felt it was so serene, even spiritual.

 

Oahu: All week passengers were calm and polite. No rudeness as we have sometimes encountered. It was so pleasant people being polite. Not so for their last meal...breakfast was cutting lines, being pushy, oh well, geting ready to return home I guess. Disembarking was easy. As we were returning to the Hale Koa for a few days, we took our time getting off ship. Rented car from National on Saturday and returned car to airport 5pm on Tuesday.

 

Saw and Did on Oahu: Hanauma Bay Reserve, Dukes for sunset birthday dinner for my husband- had Monchong fish: best fish we ever had, $14 Mai Tais at the Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai Bar, Pearl Harbor, Punchbowl National Cemetery, Chinatown, North Shore: Waimea Bay Beach park, Banzai Pipiline, Sunset Beach, Hau'ula Beach, Kualoa Beach park, Lanikai Beach, Giovanni's Shrimp Truck for shrimp scampi, shaved ice for dessert, and on the way back to hotel we saw the largest rainbow we have ever seen. It seemed like it went from one end of the city to the other. Luau at Hale Koa- good show, but squashed into tables when they had many empty. Wasn't too happy since there was high humidity- even the locals were feeling it. The tradewinds had stopped.

 

I had gained so much info from this board and was so glad we saw and did everything I wanted to. My husband thought we were doing our "Bucket List" since we were always on the go...lol.

 

Any tips I might offer are: bring swim shoes. The beaches are beautiful, but since it is a volcanic island the beaches have lots of rocks and lava. Brought water and soda on board with no problem. This cruise was different from our previous cruises which were mainly to the caribbean. There's no push for rum drinks, no casino or bingo on ship, and no pushy vendors. In fact, we found the Hawaiian people to be extremely friendly, helpful and happy. If you are planning a cruise and visit, you will have a great time.

Aloha

[lovesandiego]

Thanks, we're leaving next Saturday and really looking forward to it.

[Philob]

The tax is Hawai'i's tax; which has a tax on all levels including wholesale to wholesale.

[Ann262]

Glad you had a good trip!

[flashdog_1]

I love learning new stuff when reading reviews. Appreciated the heads up on tax and tip added to bill in specialty restaurants. Assume this was not for alcohol drinks, but the food?

 

Did you have trouble getting the reservations for those specialty restaurants, or did you just walk up and be seated?

 

Also, good tip about arriving at 2:30 with no lines!

 

Was your aft cabin on the stern where you had 180° view if you stood at the rail? How was that for viewing the lava and NaPali coast? or did you go elsewhere to do that?

 

Do you know ahead of time when the buffet is having the prime rib? I mean is it in the Freestyle Daily or is there a menu board showing what will be served that night?

 

Is it still true that the main dining room is not open for lunch on embarkation day nor the rest of the week at lunch? I've read conflicting info on the subject.

 

Thanks!

[Carib210]

We called for specialty restaurant reservations and didn't have a problem. We tried one night just walking up and the time they had available was too late for us. If you have a preferred time, I suggest you make reservations in advance. The aft cabin had a nice viewing area. For the NaPali coast we went on the promanade deck- didn't want to take a chance missing anything. I think with an aft cabin its better to watch from the deck as you can really encompass the whole coastline. When we returned to the cabin we still got a good view. For the lava viewing, the cabin was fine. We got to see the red hot lava flow into the water and the steam that rises from the lava into the cooler water. Prime rib night was listed in the Daily Freestyle. Lobster nights were the 2 nights we overnighted in port. Guess they feel more people will stay ashore so less lobster they have to serve! As far as the main dining room lunch, I believe it is closed on embarkment day. As for the other days, I'm not sure as we were out on the islands all day long. The only day we were aboard was the last day when we had a 2 pm departure and I remember we read the lunch menu that day.

[McDebbie]

Thanks for the review, we are thinking of Oct or late Sept for 2010, I will have to look into the Ironman as I have seen it has impacted a few cruisers. Glad to hear the flight was not as bad as you had anticipated, can you give me some details on that? When you left, lay overs, airline, etc? That is one of my biggest concerns also.

[Carib210]

We flew direct out of Newark airport on Continental. 1:30 pm flight and 10 hrs flying time to Hawaii. Return was 7:40 (took off 8 pm) and 8 1/2 hrs. back. Total gate to gate 8:50.

Going they fed us 3x, return 2x. Flight not as bad as I anticipated.

[dvert]

Thank you for the info, there are six of us going Feb 2010

[ohioNCLcruiser]

We flew direct out of Newark airport on Continental. 1:30 pm flight and 10 hrs flying time to Hawaii. Return was 7:40 (took off 8 pm) and 8 1/2 hrs. back. Total gate to gate 8:50.

Going they fed us 3x, return 2x. Flight not as bad as I anticipated.

 

I love Continental flight 14/15. I get a much better sleep on that flight then the flight to Houston. Glad you enjoyed the cruise!

[msm713]

Hi everyone, Just getting settled after POA cruise & a few days stay in Oahu. This was our 22nd cruise and 1st time to Hawaii. Here are a few of our observations/opinions:

Flew direct from Newark (if you remember I was the one concerned about the flight length and I'm glad to report it wasn't so bad). Stayed at the Hale Koa 2 nites then boarded POA. We boarded about 2:30 and basically just walked on- no line. Had an aft cabin, and after calling twice for maintenance because it was next to impossible to close the balcony door, it was fixed the next day & all was well.

Speciality restaurants: Ate at the following and found all to have excellent food and service:

Lazy J Steakhouse: $25 p/p cover charge

Bistro : $15 p/p

Italian: $10 p/p

*FYI, on top of the cover charge you are charged tax & tip. Don't remember that from other cruises.

 

Prime rib night in buffet was excellent, dining room was good.

 

Prior to cruise read about all the attitude from the crew and never found that to be the case. We talked to many of them and most seemed eager to have a conversation. In fact, in all our cruises it was the first time the head waiter in a speciality restaurant gave us his cell number in case we had any problems or needed reservations. We really had only 1 bad encounter in the dining room- it was luau night and we believe many crew have the night off. We were seated in the "black hole" spot in the dining room- no one claimed us. Finally a female server approached & was upset that she was serving us as she felt we were not in her section. It took over a 1/2 hour to get an appetizer and bread, whereas others seated after us were served before us. When we inquired as to where our food was, there was a definite attitutude from then on. But again, this was our only negative encounter with the crew.

 

Really liked the decor of the ship and the fact that it was different from their other ships. Sometimes it feels like all their ships are the same.

 

Maui: Road to Hana tour with Valley Isle Tours It was pouring rain, but that resulted in seeing great waterfalls.

 

Maui 2nd Day: Haleakala Crater Tour with Roberts Hawaii

 

Hilo: Volcanoes National Park Tour with Roberts Hawaii

Lava flow night from ship Great sight.

 

Kona: Ironman competition on Saturday, so port was busy. Took shuttle to Kahaluu Beach Park- Turtle Beach. Beautiful beach, but not sandy. Lots of rocks & lava & coral made getting into or out of water tricky. Good snorkeling.

 

Kauai: Helicopter ride with Blue Hawaiian. Unbelievable sights: NaPali Coast, Waimea Canyon, crater, waterfalls, etc. Highly recommend heli ride. It was a nice clear day, great conditions. Highly recommend this company. Booked off web site, and group from ship arrived shortly after us and I know the prices much higher from ship. After heli ride, rented car from Alamo for the day and saw Hanalei Beach, Wailua Falls (Fantasy Island), and PoiPu Beach. Had lunch at Brennecke's and found the view of the beach from restaurant to be one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Went for swim and again, very rocky and actually hurt our feet.

 

Kauai 2nd day: Raining all morning so stayed on board as we were up early every day and relaxed on board. Cruised the NaPali coast in afternoon and even tho cloudy, it was beautiful. Felt it was so serene, even spiritual.

 

Oahu: All week passengers were calm and polite. No rudeness as we have sometimes encountered. It was so pleasant people being polite. Not so for their last meal...breakfast was cutting lines, being pushy, oh well, geting ready to return home I guess. Disembarking was easy. As we were returning to the Hale Koa for a few days, we took our time getting off ship. Rented car from National on Saturday and returned car to airport 5pm on Tuesday.

 

Saw and Did on Oahu: Hanauma Bay Reserve, Dukes for sunset birthday dinner for my husband- had Monchong fish: best fish we ever had, $14 Mai Tais at the Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai Bar, Pearl Harbor, Punchbowl National Cemetery, Chinatown, North Shore: Waimea Bay Beach park, Banzai Pipiline, Sunset Beach, Hau'ula Beach, Kualoa Beach park, Lanikai Beach, Giovanni's Shrimp Truck for shrimp scampi, shaved ice for dessert, and on the way back to hotel we saw the largest rainbow we have ever seen. It seemed like it went from one end of the city to the other. Luau at Hale Koa- good show, but squashed into tables when they had many empty. Wasn't too happy since there was high humidity- even the locals were feeling it. The tradewinds had stopped.

 

I had gained so much info from this board and was so glad we saw and did everything I wanted to. My husband thought we were doing our "Bucket List" since we were always on the go...lol.

 

Any tips I might offer are: bring swim shoes. The beaches are beautiful, but since it is a volcanic island the beaches have lots of rocks and lava. Brought water and soda on board with no problem. This cruise was different from our previous cruises which were mainly to the caribbean. There's no push for rum drinks, no casino or bingo on ship, and no pushy vendors. In fact, we found the Hawaiian people to be extremely friendly, helpful and happy. If you are planning a cruise and visit, you will have a great time.

Aloha

 

 

Great review, thank you.

We are leaving this Friday, also, via, Continental from Newark.You mentioned they fed you 3 times. What did they serve?

Also, was it cold when you viewed the lava flow and Napali coastline?I am wondering if I should bring jeans to wear then. Otherwise, I am mainly bringing capris and one dress.I am bringing jeans for the Halekeala sunrise.Thanks for your help.

[Carib210]

Hi, While we were there it was hot (average 86-88 degrees) and in fact, a few days very humid which it seems is unusual. There were no tradewinds on the humid days. We wore long pants one night for dinner in the Liberty Dining room. Otherwise very casual.

As far as the plane food, 1st serving was hot dog in a dough roll, 2nd was a sandwich and finally some snack which I forgot. Didn't even have the snacks we brought along. Have a great time. Hawaii really is beautiful.

[keishashadow]

For the NaPali coast we went on the promanade deck- didn't want to take a chance missing anything. I think with an aft cabin its better to watch from the deck as you can really encompass the whole coastline. When we returned to the cabin we still got a good view.

 

.

 

im :confused:

 

is your preference of going up on deck to get more of a panoramic view of NaPali coast vs a sail away view from aft balcony?

 

im hoping my vacation request comes thru so we can keep the aft cabin i booked;)they evidently go fast!

 

btw, thanx for the great review, going into my planning bookmarks:)

[vacation 24/7]

Did the tour with Valley Isle pick you up at the dock or did you need to take a cab to them? We are looking to do this tour. How did you like the tour with Roberts? This is another we were looking at. I have plenty of time before we go,but like to plan ahead. Thank you for any info. Angela:)

[Carib210]

I would definitely keep the aft balcony. But I think viewing of the NaPali coast is best on deck for the panoramic view. It was magnificent, and as I said before, we found it actually spiritual. It was a bit foggy, people were in awe so it was quiet where we were viewing. It just made for great viewing. As far as Valley Island, we did the road to Hana with them in the van with captains chairs. You meet them right outside of the dock- maybe a 3-5 min walk. it was just that the day we did it, it was pouring rain! We were soaked when we got on the van. If you want comfort I suggest this type of bus. If you're comfortable in a regular van, that will be fine, but remember: the road does really twist and turn. As far as Roberts, we found their guide in Hilo to be especially nice and informative. He really appreciated tourism to his island. Just for some info, I'll give the ship's price for tours we did vs. what we paid. I know some people are afraid to take tours if not offered by the ship, but I would tell them to try private tours on the overnight days. Then there are no worries of missing the ship and Hawaii is not like some Caribbean Islands. I love the Caribbean, but there are some islands we would NEVER venture out on our own.

 

Road to Hana Tour: Island Valley: $237 (captain chairs)

Ship: $280 (regular van)

 

Haleakala Crater: Roberts: $70

Ship: $120

 

Volcano National Park: Roberts: $90

& Rainbow Falls Ship: $120

 

 

Right there is about $120 extra dollars to spend on un-needed t-shirts and grass skirts!!!!

[vacation 24/7]

thank you so much for the info:)

[mscasey95]

Hi, we enjoyed a Nov. 2007 PO Aloha cruise in Hawaii, when the cruise length was 12 days! There were 3 ships and they were all going all the time, don't know what happened, but sorry they cut down to 7 day cruises. Always say, if I go again it will be a B2B cruise, making it 2 weeks! (I can wish, can't I)!

Simply heaven, glad you got to see everything, my best trip ever.

 

Now for the question, I see you have taken Carribean cruises before. Want to know what are the differences/highlights between an Eastern and a Western Caribbean Cruise.

Looking into the Epic next summer (hopefully)!

Any and all info from fellow CC'rs will be appreciated and welcomed!

 

Welcome home, back to reality and the cool weather (and leaves) if you're from New England!

 

Patti

[smrtypnts]

Thank you very much for the review.