Ms. Belp

[Whippets]

Hello. Know you just sailed on POA in Hawaii for a birthday celebration. We are considering this cruise for an anniversary. Have read many different conflicting posts about this ship, it's crew, etc. Remember James (crew member) that used to post frequently too. Hope you will be posting a review with your thoughts.

[nona0541]

Hello. Know you just sailed on POA in Hawaii for a birthday celebration. We are considering this cruise for an anniversary. Have read many different conflicting posts about this ship, it's crew, etc. Remember James (crew member) that used to post frequently too. Hope you will be posting a review with your thoughts.

 

Try cruiseshipcrew on twitter. He is still on POA and posts pic often.

[Whippets]

Thanks, will look on twitter.

 

Meanwhile, still looking for Ms. Belp.......

[DAGVBSB]

Salty Dingo is on his cruise on the POAm just last week. I think he had a post cruise extension, so we should be hearing from him by the end of the week.

 

I think Ms. Belp's cruise was early September.

[Whippets]

Just bringing this back to the top. I believe Ms. Belp sailed POAm on August 13th. Can't wait to see what she has to say.

[Sauer-kraut]

I think she's around, maybe just hasn't seen this thread. :o

[susanrobert]

We sailed the PoAm 7/31-8/7. We had a great time. I'm not Ms. Belp but I'd be happy to answer any questions.:)

[Ms belp]

Hi, here I am! I'm sorry to disappoint but my cruise is NEXT year on my birthday. 8/13/11. I wish it weren't so far away. I would love to get information as well. Those of you with experience, please share!

 

I'm sorry OP but it is nice to see "my name in lights"!:D:)

[chrisbd1]

Hi, here I am! I'm sorry to disappoint but my cruise is NEXT year on my birthday. 8/13/11. I wish it weren't so far away. I would love to get information as well. Those of you with experience, please share!

 

I'm sorry OP but it is nice to see "my name in lights"!:D:)

 

She made me look, she was so happy to see her name :D

[Ms belp]

I would love to see what SusanRobert has to say about the recent cruise.

[susanrobert]

Ms. Belp-- We had a wonderful time. It was a bit tiring but really beautiful. We stayed 4 nights at the Hilton Hawaiian Village prior to the cruise.

 

We thought the food was very good. We found a really good waiter in the Skyline dining room and requested him each night. We had a suite so we ate Breakfast and a couple of lunches in Lazy J's. We never ate at the buffet. We did eat at the Cadillac a few times.

 

Our cabin steward, butler and the concierge were all excellent.

 

My only complaint would be the public restrooms.:eek: :eek:

 

I will be happy to answer any specific questions you have. We did not do any ship excursions we rented cars and went out on our own.

[Ms belp]

Thank you, Susan. Since my eyesight is failing and I'm afraid of heights I'm concerned about driving over there. Did you meet anyone who had a good time on the excursions? We have always done them and but all seemed more expensive than the private ones. We were always comfortable with them. More sandwiches?:)

[susanrobert]

Ms. Belp, The driving was pretty easy. There are only a few main roads and the tourist sites are pretty well marked. We didn't speak to anyone who had done their excursions through the ship. Maybe someone on the Hawaii board can be more help with that. There did seem to be Roberts buses everywhere. If I remember correctly when I was doing my research, people said they are about half the price of NCL's.

[Whippets]

Dear Ms. Belp,

I am sorry, missed the year on your postings, just noted the August date. My bad!

 

We are considering this cruise for our anniversary next March. We have been to Hawaii, although it was many years ago. We were on a land vacation and rented cars and drove.

 

Susan, thanks for your input. After reading so many posts about poor food, rudeness, etc. I had started to wonder if this was the NCL that I have been sailing on. Will you be writing a review?

 

Also would love to hear from other NCL sailors with their thoughts.

 

Sounds like private excursions is the only way to go. That is what we have always done in the past anyhow.

[susanrobert]

Whippits--I probably won't write a review. But, I am happy to answer any questions you may have. I thought the crew was extremely friendly. The concierge James was the best we ever had. We never went to the buffet except for the ice cream and we ate all our breakfasts in Lazy J's so I cannot comment on the main dining or buffets for breakfast.

 

We went to Iao Valley Park, Lahaina and Wailea Beach (rough) in Maui. VNP, Akaka Falls and Richardson State park in Hilo. Kona we went to Turtle Beach (Kahalulu) and Kauai we went to Waimea Canyon and Punalulu Beach on day one and the beach at the Marriott on day 2. I think it's called Kalapaki but I'm not positive. See my memory's failing--that why no review:p

 

We did everything on our own. We rented from Thrifty. We joined their Blue Chip before we left and bypassed the waits and the check-in counter.

[CruzKnitr]

Sorry, my info is 5 years old (Pride of Aloha). But, we rented a car too the days we were in port overnight and drove to Waimea Canyon, Poipu Beach and the Road to Hana. Ship excursions for everything else.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

I was going to say I can't believe I missed her cruise but glad to see its next year!

 

James

http://www.twitter.com/cruiseshipcrew

[Ms belp]

Hi James, that is so sweet. I'm looking forward to meeting you next year. Maybe we could share a piece of birthday cake. I hope you will still be on the ship!

 

Any tips you have to offer would be appreciated as well.

 

Take care.

[Whippets]

Thanks everyone! Lots of good ideas here! Great thought on the Thrifty car rental and registering early.

 

If we book for our actual anniversary it would be the week of March 3rd, as our anniversary is the 7th. Our son in law is very sick right now so we have things on hold for the time being. Looks like James will be on the ship when we sail. Hope he is back when you are on Ms. Belp.

 

 

Diane