POA Review 4/23 Sailing

[yusi1906]

I booked the flight and cruise about 6 weeks before departure, on March 9th and 10th. I didnt start booking tours until about 3 or 4 weeks before the cruise. I was so overwhelmed with so much information on this board that I had a hard time picking and/or choosing what to do.

 

We only rented cars in two of the islands: Maui and Kauai. We didnt want to drive too much. Since we were so undecisive as to whether to drive or book tours, I didnt make car reservations until 10 days out. Maybe this is the reason why it came out so cheap. We rented a Ford Focus on each island, the one in Maui came out to $24.11 per day and the one in Kauai was around $32. The night before we left, when I went to the Thrifty website to write down our reservation confirmation, I decided to check once more on the rates and they had dropped down even more. Maui was $15 and Kauai was $24....however when my husband got the email confirmation, it said on it $15 Sunday (for maui) and $1 for the extra day! I guess it was a misprint or we got lucky. When we got to Maui, the rep at Thrifty had the prices shown on the reservation and we showed him the email and he adjusted the price:D. When I made my original reservation, I checked rates with the corporate rate codes that I got from this board and regular rates and believe it or not, the regular rates were cheaper. So my humble opinion is to check for both rates before finalizing your reservation.

 

My husband and I departed Newark at 6:50am on 4/21. We were checked in and in our room at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach by 2:30pm (latest). I booked directly through their website and got AAA rate.

After freshing-up, we headed downstairs to check the hotel grounds. As we were walking from the bar, beach, ocean house restaurant area, we were called over by a rep. I saw the sales pitch a mile away but I wasnt going to be rude so I walked over as my husband did. The girl was very nice but it just felt ackward. She offered us a $100 certificate for dinner at any of the hotel restaurants without mentioning anything about time share presentation. So I said and what will it REALLY cost us? LOL...she preceeded to talk about the presentation. We nicely refused and walked away. She is right by the side of the elevators of the ocean tower, the back tower overlooking the pool and ocean...

 

We booked a Pearl Harbor and Island Circle Tour with Discover Hawaii Tours for the following day (Good Friday). I booked over the phone because I had found a code for 10% off but the website was not taking it. It was a 10% for any Pearl Harbor tour with the code VALOR; maybe since the tour I wanted included the Island Circle Tour the website wasn't recognizing it? So I called and they honored the code. This saved me more money that using a $5 off code: HULA or FBOOK%OFF.

 

I'm so glad we did this. It was a small minivan and Ken, our driver/tour was not only courteous but funny as well. We were picked up around 6:15am and got back around 5:15pm-5:30pm. We didnt have too much time for happy hour at the pool bar....drinks at happy hours were $6

 

There is a starbucks on the hotel that opens at 4:30am, can't remember the closing time.

On Saturday we got up, went for breakfast, came back to the room and checked out close to noon. We asked them to hold our bags while we went shopping. I booked through Roberts Hawaii (gorabbitgo.com which is for cruise travelers) a pier shuttle at 2:15pm for $12 (for husband and I) and they got there just before 2:15pm. We had the bus to ourselves before he proceeded to the Holiday Inn Beachcomber to pick up another couple. If you are not in a rush, I would recommend embarking at this time, no lines at all. We were in our room within 30 minutes after arriving at the pier. As we were walking in, we got the Freestyle Daily for the day and someone from the spa was also handing out flyers.

 

More to come later.....sorry but I have to run....

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you for the review. I am anxious to read the rest. We leave in one week from today!:D

[andianna]

I agree I am also looking forward to more. Thank you

[yusi1906]

Our stateroom steward, Wilmer, was great. He wasnt talkative but he was nice and always kept our room clean. One night I wasn't feeling well (allergies) and when I heard him on the hallway for the turn down service, I went to the door to put the do not disturb sign and exchange one of the beach towels and he asked whether I needed something else and handed me a FreeStyle Daily for the following day. There isnt much storage space in the bathroom. There are 3 mirrors above the sink. Left, middle, right. The only one that opens up for storage is the right one because there is a hand soap dispenser attached to the left one. Since the right one is on a corner, the three shelves are shaped like a triangle so there isnt much space. The shower has a dispenser as well of shampoo and body wash so just bring a conditioner for your hair. The fragance is like a coconut with eucalyptus? I cant really tell what it is but I know is a coconut fragance along with some woodsy fragance; I liked it. Make sure you bring after sun lotion, not only were we red like lobters (lol) but our skin was very itchy as well.....

 

Our room was an oceanview with french doors, midship on 7606. Some may think it's not an ideal stateroom being that is right on top of the Cadillac Diner but we never heard any noises.

Speaking of the Cadillac Diner, if you have a soda program root beer floats are free; the only item that has an extra fee are the milkshakes. Chocolate shakes were $4.15. They had a variety of flavors: strawberry, vanilla, oreo cookie something, peanut butter something, lol.....not sure if different flavors would have different charges??

 

Maui- first Day in Maui we went to Black Rock Beach and to the luau at night. We were seated on the 3rd row from the stage. Majority of pictures had people's back of the head, lol. Our server Angel was outgoing and kept the drinks coming.

Second Day in Maui we went to Iao Valley and turned in the car early, around 2-2:30pm.

 

Hilo- we went on a tour with Marylou's Big Island Hawaii Tours. We went to the National Volcano Park, Rainbow Falls, Akaka Falls, Orchid Garden, Coffee Farm and a Black Sand Beach. My allergies started acting up this day and she said is the sulphur dioxide that the Kilauea Caldera (in National Volcano Park) spills. That night I stayed in the room because as the day went on, the allergies got worse.

 

Kona- we booked a snorkeling trip with Fair Winds. You need to grab a taxi and tell the driver to pick you up at 1:30pm because taxis don't go there unless you call them. They serve breakfast on the way to Kealakekua Bay; it consists of coffee, juice, croissants, bagels, cream cheese and jelly, muffins and fruits. Alcoholic drinks ranged between $5 and $8. I also saw a price of $1 for soda and although I didnt ask, this was probably if you wanted sofa before lunch because they put out soda during lunch (no charge). They had burgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, chips and cold salad.

 

Kauai- first day in Kauai, we drove to Waimea Canyon, what a view!! Make sure you visit all the lookouts so that you can view the coast as well....

On the second day we took a fixed wing airplane tour with "Wings over Kauai". They picked up us at the ABC stores on that little mall right outside the pier. We felt as if we knew them already because they constantly used our names and were very friendly. Bruce the pilot was great, he was informative during the flight and he seemed such at ease that it shows he's been doing this for a while. We got a video DVD at teh end, not of our flight but a flight video they have pre-recorded.

 

Service on POA- we never had any issues except at the main dinning room- Liberty. By the way, Syline and Liberty are the same as far as menu options. We found the service throughout the ship to be nice; nothing above and beyond but nothing poor either. We only made it to the Liberty Main Dining Room twice because we always had big lunches while on the islands so we always had a snack at night at the Cadillac Diner. It was so convenient to go being that it was just just down a flight of stairs. The first night at the Liberty, I had cheese tortellini and it was as if they took it out of the fridge instead off the hot stove. After two bites, I didnt even touched my plate anymore. My husband said his steak was good. The main server made small conversation at the end of the dinner but didnt even asked how the food was. The second time we went, the server (different one) didnt make any conversation and she didnt even realize the card that the maitre'd gaves us to bring to our table (celebrating our anniversary) until after we were done with main entree, right before dessert. This time the pasta (chicken alfedro) was warm but my husband's steak was like chewing leather (he said). The server brought dessert and said good night.

As we were walking out the maitre'd asked how everything was and we said OK and asked what was the celebration card for (other than the server saying happy anniversary). She asked if we got our mini cake and we said no. She apologized and didnt let us leave without the cake. She must've mentioned something to the server because she came over to apologize as well. They were supposed to sing too, lol While waiting for the cake, we overheard the maitre'd say to another person (maybe her assistant?) that it was the 5th time tonight she had received a complaint. We didnt want to complain but since she asked how everything was, we simply asked what was the card for.

 

We did not try any of the specialty restaurants. In Maui we went to the luau and in Kauai we went to Duke's. The rest of the days, like I mentioned before we werent that hungry at night so we just strolled down to the Cadillac Diner.

 

I'm upset I missed The Beatles show because it was done by the same performers as the ones that did The Eagles show. Although I'm not a fan of the Eagles, the show was packed and the performers were good singers.

 

On Friday, the stores had a sale of 50% off. They had journals, pens, key chains, magnets, pencils, book markers, childrens bathing suits (well little girls because I didnt see anything for boys). The women's tshirts were 50% off ($10). The other tshirts on sale were mostly mens and those were buy one at regular price ($12) and get the second half off (so $6); therefore technically they came out to $9 each.

 

I've never been on NCL before so I'm not sure if this is something they do for all their ships. They charge the gratuity fee ($12 per passenger, per day) directly to your OB account on a daily basis. When I've been on RCCL, you get an envelope at the end of the week for gratuities OR you have the option of charging it to your bill as well. We gave our steward an extra tip because I felt he deserved it. Another thing that was different than other cruiselines and again I dont know if they do this with all the NCL ships, is the soda program. They give you one of those souvenir lon mugs but you CANT use it to get soda on the ship. So that meant extra trips to the bar for a soda refill. The soda program was $43.75 per person for the week plus tax and gratuity (around $53).

 

Overall, our trip was much better than I expected. On the service level, I was expecting much worse. We are truly not picky eaters (heck, we were happy with eating at the Cadillac) but I feel that for the money they charge for this cruise, the main dining room food can be better. We took a (12 night) Mediterrenean cruise last year and it was cheaper for a balcony and food was much better.....but this is just my humble opinion.

[brunolvr]

yusi, how did you like the Marylou tour?

[FloatYourBoatSince2003]

Thanks for posting a review.. Sounds like you did just fine with the planning - last minute or not!

[yusi1906]

yusi, how did you like the Marylou tour?

 

It was good. She is nice and very laid back. If you want to skip something during her tour, it's OK. You can hear in her voice how laid back she is, LOL. I know her husband does tours as well. That morning her husband's vehicle was full with his tour so it was just my husband and I with her.

We saw her the next day in Kona, as we were walking off the pier (from tender) and she offered to take us to the snorkeling company. We felt bad but she insisted so we went with her. We gave her a $20 bill and we basically had to keep it in her hand because she didnt want to take it.

 

Are you booked with her and her husband?

[yusi1906]

Thanks for posting a review.. Sounds like you did just fine with the planning - last minute or not!

 

FloatYourBoat, yes we did fine! However I did worried because for our honeymoon Mediterranean cruise, I started planning about 8 months ahead.....

[brunolvr]

It was good. She is nice and very laid back. If you want to skip something during her tour, it's OK. You can hear in her voice how laid back she is, LOL. I know her husband does tours as well. That morning her husband's vehicle was full with his tour so it was just my husband and I with her.

We saw her the next day in Kona, as we were walking off the pier (from tender) and she offered to take us to the snorkeling company. We felt bad but she insisted so we went with her. We gave her a $20 bill and we basically had to keep it in her hand because she didnt want to take it.

 

Are you booked with her and her husband?

 

We are booked with Ricky's Tours in Hilo and Marylou in Kona.:)

[jessrose18]

we are looking into marylou's tour in hilo....do you know what black sand beach you visited? was it punaluu? that is the one we would like to visit.... also did she take you down the chain of craters road? thanks....

[yusi1906]

we are looking into marylou's tour in hilo....do you know what black sand beach you visited? was it punaluu? that is the one we would like to visit.... also did she take you down the chain of craters road? thanks....

 

I can't remember which beach we visited. I know it had a small little park/swing sets for kids and a Police substation. There were also small ponds of fresh water (?) nearby. I dont know if these bits of info helps you.

 

Where would this chain of craters road would take you?? I'm trying to remember....

[True North 23]

Could you open the French doors in 7606?

[yusi1906]

Could you open the French doors in 7606?

 

To be honest with you, I dont know. We didnt look to open them since we didnt know that was an option. Do some of them open? If they did then someone can easily fall down to the floor below which thankfully in our case, it would have been the deck walk/jogging track (whatever they call it, lol)..............