An Exhaustive Review of Our Exhausting Hawaiian Adventure

[kwbound]

Bravo, Bravo, Bravo! The very best review ever! Have a question for you... Tommy Chong sure reminds me of Dustin Hoffman?? :rolleyes: Anyone else think that? Look forward to reading your last installments.

Thank you again, for taking us all on a great trip!

 

Kim

 

POA

2/19/2011

 

You're right, he does look like Dustin Hoffman. Or a combination of Dustin Hoffman and Tommy Chong. :D

[scrappydoo]

Aloha Donna,

 

I am soooooooooo sad your review is over! I have loved every minute of it, and every detail. Thank you so much. You've been such a great help to us in sharing all your great info. As I said to cruisinskier (two of the best reviews EVER are yours and his, hands down): MAHALO for it ALL...

 

I'd love to see those dailies, but I know that they are difficult to post.

 

I'm leaving in 2.5 weeks! I can hardly believe it. I hope that my travel companion and I will have just as bright and positive an attitude that ya'll did on your trip! It'll be an adventure! :D

[Browezilla]

Nice wrap-up Donna! I'm like you, I'm a planner. I put everything into a single Word document, including images like like boarding passes. That way, if I lose the paper, I have it on my laptop.

 

Thanks for all of the advice in the review. I tell you though, NCL is different from NCL-America (which owns PoA). I've been on 2 NCL cruises and loved them. Some of the best entertainment we've seen at see, although free-style dining isn't my cup of tea. I've been on NCL-A once. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, but the "cruise" experence was definitely lower than the other cruise lines I've been on. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that NCL is a lot different from NCL-A. Give them a try unless you don't like the idea of freestyle dining.

[kwbound]

Thanks for the great review! I'm making notes of Susan and Tommy in Waikiki. We'll also be staying at the HHV post-cruise so I'm also looking forward to seeing those penguins!

 

Rebecca - Your trip is coming up quickly. I know you are excited. I can't wait to read your review.

 

Donna

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Donna - what a joy reading your very well balanced review! I loved all of your suggestions and am making notes. If the Sea Quest were not in a zodiac I would do it, but I know I cannot maneuver in & out of one of those, however, there are many more things that I am taking to heart. Thank you for taking the time to write the review.:)

[Browezilla]

...I'd love to see those dailies, but I know that they are difficult to post.

...

Here's another review that has the dailies posted: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1215919

[kwbound]

The bad thing about posting a review is going back and reading them, realizing what you left out, seeing the spelling and grammar errors. Yikes! I cringe when I see a misspelling.

 

I left out a hint that I meant to include in the pre-trip section. If you have an iPhone, there is an app called Packing. It is a packing list app that you can use to customize, create and save multiple packing lists. You can even put in things to do prior to the trip like stop mail, etc. It is a great app if you are a list maker like me.

[saffy22]

Without doubt the best, most detailed review. Makes me a bit intimidated to do mine. Haha, Im sure I will. Maybe some of the vendors will chip in for your next Hawaii trip?? I am booking Sea Quest and the Molokini trip you took.

 

I was counting down to our Christmas trip, but now am a bit distracted- Ok its OT - but I got tickets to Oprah in Sydney on DEc 14th!!!!!!

 

Sorry but I have to tell everyone>>

Cheers Guys

Saffy

[sue402001]

:( I'm sad to see this end but I thank you so much for the awesome review Donna. To hear you describe everything puts a wonderful picture in my mind of things I've yet to see. {{{Hugs}}}

[CruisingGoddess]

Photography Services: We didn’t have any formal portraits made and we didn’t buy the embarkation photo or any of the photos taken as we left the ship. In two of the ports they had some really cheesy looking costumed characters to pose with. I think one was a sea turtle and one was Uncle Sam. The photographers did take some good photos of the lava sail-by. You could purchase 4 shots for $12.95. We also purchased a digital photo book package and that was a big mistake. For $69.95 you get a 100 page (50 sheets) photo book that you can load your photos from the trip into. It also has several pages with descriptions of the ship, ports, etc. If you purchased any of the ships photos, they will upload up to 5 of those digitally, but only the pictures with you in them, not the lava photos. We were led to believe that the book was much more customizable than it actually is. The name of the photo book company is Panraven and if I had done any research, I would have known not to buy it. But it looked good at the time and we made the impulse purchase of two copies, costing a total of $159.90 w/S&H. Of all the online photo book services available, Panraven has to be the least user friendly and the least customizable. It may be ok if you don’t have very much experience with digital scrapbooking, and want to take what is basically a promo book for NCL and just drop a few pics into their layout. There are only 30 layouts to choose from and you can’t edit the layouts at all, can’t rotate or move picture placement, can’t put text where you want it, no embellishments at all. On most of their page layouts the picture boxes are square. Pictures aren’t square. So you have to decide which part of the beautiful Na Pali coast pics you want to cut out. It is ridiculous. I have contacted Panraven and NCL about a refund. You can only contact Panraven by email and each response takes days. NCL doesn’t have a customer service email address. You can call them, but if you are requesting any type of action, that has to be put in writing and faxed or mailed. I have a feeling I’m going to have to eat the money in order to put a decent book together. When I do get it together, regardless of which service I wind up using, I will make sure to post a link.

 

Sorry to hear about your dislike of Panraven. We have ordered 2 photo books from them from our Princess and Royal Caribbean cruises and have been happy. The quality is absolutely great! It's true that you don't get a lot of freedom with layouts. It's mostly drag and drop and you can write text if you want but that works for me. I don't want to spend a lot of time customizing it (even though I can because I have web/graphic design experience).

 

I'm actually very happy to hear they offer Panraven packages onboard because I didn't know they did and I plan to buy one now. I finished my Alaska cruise photo book in September. Here's a link in case anyone is interested in how they look:

 

http://www.panraven.com/newstoryviewer/NewStoryViewer.html?storyId=171729

 

Either way, if you aren't happy, I hope you can get a refund quickly.

 

Anyway, I can't thank you enough for your fantastic, well-written review! In less than 2 weeks, we'll be in Hawaii!!

[cruisinskier]

Donna, as I said previously, fantastic review! I totally agree with your wrap up that the helicopter trip is an absolute must do. I also agree that the dining room on the POA had the worst food of any of our 6 cruises.

 

I have to admit that the food quality on POA had us a little scared about NCL as we had already booked the Epic. However the food on Epic was absolutely top notch and hard to beleive it was the same cruise line. So if you are looking for another NCL cruise, that would be my suggestion.

 

I am also the planner in our family, with detailed spreadsheets of activities, confirmation #'s, etc. Even if I am spending the day just snorkelling and lying on the beach, I need to know which beach has what facilities and where the best snorkelling is. You just never know if you will get back to these places so I need to plan to maximize my time (and get the best out of the money you are paying).

 

Thanks again for all your valuable insight, all your tips, and of course your great pics. And thanks for letting those of us who have cruised the islands have a chance to revisit through your eyes. Mahalo!! :)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Sorry to hear about your dislike of Panraven. We have ordered 2 photo books from them from our Princess and Royal Caribbean cruises and have been happy. The quality is absolutely great! It's true that you don't get a lot of freedom with layouts. It's mostly drag and drop and you can write text if you want but that works for me. I don't want to spend a lot of time customizing it (even though I can because I have web/graphic design experience).

 

I'm actually very happy to hear they offer Panraven packages onboard because I didn't know they did and I plan to buy one now. I finished my Alaska cruise photo book in September. Here's a link in case anyone is interested in how they look:

 

http://www.panraven.com/newstoryviewer/NewStoryViewer.html?storyId=171729

 

 

Either way, if you aren't happy, I hope you can get a refund quickly.

 

Anyway, I can't thank you enough for your fantastic, well-written review! In less than 2 weeks, we'll be in Hawaii!!

I loved your book. I got a lot of good ideas from it. I especially liked your pages on the ship, itinerary, etc. Great!:D

 

My Photobook maker of choice is Picaboo. I like the fact that I can even use my own photos as backgrounds. It is very user friendly and very easy to customize. If you would like to see mine I will be happy to e-mail you a copy. Unfortunately I can't provide a link. E-mail me to see a copy of my Alaska book.

 

Have a great time in Hawaii! I can't wait to see your book for that one, too.:)

[CruisingGoddess]

I loved your book. I got a lot of good ideas from it. I especially liked your pages on the ship, itinerary, etc. Great!:D

 

My Photobook maker of choice is Picaboo. I like the fact that I can even use my own photos as backgrounds. It is very user friendly and very easy to customize. If you would like to see mine I will be happy to e-mail you a copy. Unfortunately I can't provide a link. E-mail me to see a copy of my Alaska book.

 

Have a great time in Hawaii! I can't wait to see your book for that one, too.:)

 

I've never used Picaboo but it looks very similar to MyPublisher, which I have used. They also allow you to use your own photos as backgrounds. When I made my first photo book for my honeymoon 4 years ago, I actually custom designed every page in Photoshop but it took FOREVER. I don't have that kind of patience now. I've got more cruises to plan!! ;) (Seriously though, I'm going to Asia in April and haven't started. It's totally stressing me out. Ugh!)

[Travelicious]

Thanks for all the time and effort you put into this great review! Much appreciated!

 

Do they serve wine in the Aloha Buffet?

[kwbound]

Thanks for all the time and effort you put into this great review! Much appreciated!

 

Do they serve wine in the Aloha Buffet?

 

Yes. They set up a little bar in one of the buffet stations. I'm not sure if you can get mixed drinks there or not, but there appeared to be a pretty good selection of wines and beers. I never got anything there, but it is one of the stations nearest the entrance to the buffet, so I walked past it each time we went in.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I've never used Picaboo but it looks very similar to MyPublisher, which I have used. They also allow you to use your own photos as backgrounds. When I made my first photo book for my honeymoon 4 years ago, I actually custom designed every page in Photoshop but it took FOREVER. I don't have that kind of patience now. I've got more cruises to plan!! ;) (Seriously though, I'm going to Asia in April and haven't started. It's totally stressing me out. Ugh!)

Goodness! You are busy. I know you are a planning fool just like me. Asia would be a major project for me. I would not know where to begin - but I know you will be very thorough and have a wonderful time.:)

 

I don't have the patience for Photoshop myself. I have not been able to take the time to learn it properly. I can imagine custom designing each page that way would take too long for me, too. Picaboo is kind of the best of both worlds, with templates already there for you to choose (there are LOTS of templates) plus you can move them around. I adjust my brightness, straighten, crop etc my pictures in Picasa and then just drag and drop into the templates. I will usually either use my own photos for backgrounds (I am the one you see taking pictures of grass, sand, bricks, etc all over the place) or pick a plain color from my picture for a background color. I love doing it and it makes my vacation come alive to me over and over again. I hope you post a link to your photobook after you get home. I know I will love it!

[CruisingGoddess]

bump

[CruisingGoddess]

Goodness! You are busy. I know you are a planning fool just like me. Asia would be a major project for me. I would not know where to begin - but I know you will be very thorough and have a wonderful time.:)

 

I don't have the patience for Photoshop myself. I have not been able to take the time to learn it properly. I can imagine custom designing each page that way would take too long for me, too. Picaboo is kind of the best of both worlds, with templates already there for you to choose (there are LOTS of templates) plus you can move them around. I adjust my brightness, straighten, crop etc my pictures in Picasa and then just drag and drop into the templates. I will usually either use my own photos for backgrounds (I am the one you see taking pictures of grass, sand, bricks, etc all over the place) or pick a plain color from my picture for a background color. I love doing it and it makes my vacation come alive to me over and over again. I hope you post a link to your photobook after you get home. I know I will love it!

 

You're right! It worked! LOL! Thanks for the info about Picaboo! I'll have to try it out sometime!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

You're right! It worked! LOL! Thanks for the info about Picaboo! I'll have to try it out sometime!

Thanks for the bump! My post was stuck in cyberspace somewhere.:D I see your e-mail link. I will see if I can e-mail you a copy of my Alaska book so you can see how I did it. My descriptions are not as complete as yours, though.

[morecrus]

Thank you for creating and publishing the best review I have ever read. This is an outstanding review with excellent pictures. We are going on the POA in July of 2011 and this review has been invaluable . Thanks

[musicitul]

Donna-

 

You have gotten me so excited, yet streamlined my itinerary so much with your review!! A heartfelt thankyou for the time and effort you have put into this. I have even been showing some of your pictures to family and friends when they ask what we have planned to do, since we have the Canon D10 I hope my snorkeling adventures come out as beautifully as yours.

 

Many Happy Sailings for your future,

Sarah

[scrappydoo]

Day 6 – Kona – Our Best Day

Our originally scheduled itinerary:

Wednesday, October 13 – Kona, The Big Island

7am Get off ship on earliest tender. Take taxi to SeaQuest Rafting – Mel’s Taxi reserved with Grace. $23-$25 to Keauhou Bay. Will be at pier at 7:15am. We should call if we will be later. 808-987-7254

8:15a-1:15p SeaQuest Rafting Snorkel – Expedition South Kona - $109/pp, includes snacks and lunch. Will snorkel at Kealakekua (Capt Cook’s Monument), Honaunau Bay (Place of Refuge) and a 3rd location. 45 min of snorkeling at each location. http://www.seaquesthawaii.com/Expedition_South_Kona.html

1:15-5pm Return to Kona and do walking tour. http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2010/05/22/content/visitors_guide/visitor02.txt Rick may want to do an open water swim where the triathlon is held, if it is allowed. We have to find him an Iron Man t-shirt. Also, the Kona Inn has a webcam. We can have a drink there and call the boys and tell them to look at the webcam. http://www.konaweb.com/index.shtml#WEBCAM

5pm Catch tender back to ship.

6pm Ship sails

 

 

kwbound, I didn't catch if you had actually done this or not, but did you ever check out the webcam at the Kona Inn?? Was wondering if it was worth a stop just for fun... :)

[kwbound]

Thank you for creating and publishing the best review I have ever read. This is an outstanding review with excellent pictures. We are going on the POA in July of 2011 and this review has been invaluable . Thanks

 

I'm glad you enjoyed my review. You will have a wonderful time...wish I was going back!

 

Donna-

 

You have gotten me so excited, yet streamlined my itinerary so much with your review!! A heartfelt thankyou for the time and effort you have put into this. I have even been showing some of your pictures to family and friends when they ask what we have planned to do, since we have the Canon D10 I hope my snorkeling adventures come out as beautifully as yours.

 

Many Happy Sailings for your future,

Sarah

 

Happy sailings to you too Sarah! We love our Canon D10. It is my go-to camera now for underwater or land shots. When shooting underwater, just remember that the shallower the better, the closer you can get the better, and try to keep your own shadow off what you are shooting. Also, the higher the sun is overhead, and the brighter, the better the pictures will turn out, IMO.

 

Have fun!

 

 

kwbound, I didn't catch if you had actually done this or not, but did you ever check out the webcam at the Kona Inn?? Was wondering if it was worth a stop just for fun... :)

 

We did go to the Kona Inn, which I was was expecting to be a hotel/restaurant, but it actually a little shopping complex with a restaurant bar on the water. We didn't have time to do the webcam because we were getting our toe rings sized and doing some shopping, plus the DH's were down the street. But I do still think it would be a fun thing to do. Whenever we are in Key West, we always got to the webcam on the sidewalk in front of Sloppy Joe's bar and call people just to say "Look where we are!"

[kwbound]

FYI - I am still planning on posting a condensed version of this review on the review boards. It is just a lot to condense and my time is limited right now. It may be Thanksgiving weekend before I get it done. But I'm going to to it!

[KimS.]

Glad to hear your still planning to post on the review board-I've been checking!