Pride of America - April 7

[tommui987]

 

Also, take your own bags to Walmart! It's 26cents a bag there.

 

Point of information: all the Islands (except Oahu) are trying to get rid of plastic bags - they clutter up the landfills and going "green". And paper bags means cutting down trees etc.

Hence the "bring your own bags". And Oahu is considering the same.

[genealogyfan]

the major city near me just recently started charging for all plastic bags

[dogo88]

You're doing it right then. I'm going through my pictures today and the memories they bring back are good.

 

You're coming from an extensive HAL background so you and your wife may be like we were for the first 2 days. That's what I wish I had, picture wise. "The deer in the headlight look" shots. Make sure you get them before the culture shock wears off! :D Then it's back to normal. If I could do anything over again it would be to take those first looks on my family's face......but, then again, I'm a little off centre to begin with!

 

While I hope you're wrong, I believe you are correct. Not to jinx this trip, but I'm looking to book an early 2013 HAL cruise. If POA is great then this will just be an adjunct. Otherwise, we will have something to relax on. Clearly POA is not a calm, relaxing cruise, and we're not expecting it to be.

 

Thanks again for your insight and suggestions.

 

Dan

[ejw]

Saturday- Day room at Outrigger on the Beach since we had a late flight. Great day on the beach, a little shopping and a shower before we left.

 

Hi sportsmum,

 

can you tell me which outrigger you stayed at and how you were able to get a day rate. I'm trying to do the same thing.

 

thanks, ellen

[sportsmum]

dogo88: Mu husband was a great 'equal opportunity' cruiser. "We have to do them all", he used to say (until day one of NCL). I told him, 'you know, this is a step up from Carnival?' I don't think my equal opportunity husband made it back from Hawaii. I have a brand new one now! BUT- even he is looking at the pictures fondly so don't worry. Glad you have your back up in order. :D

 

 

ejw: We stayed at Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach. We asked around for dayrates at a lot of hotels on the beach but they were all more expensive than just booking a night at this Outrigger. It's going through reno's so it was a little cheaper. Also, since our flight left at 10:30PM we didn't leave the hotel until 7PM. The dayrate hotels wanted us out by 5-sometimes they said they could push it until 6. We were able to leave our luggage and go for a relaxing dinner then come back and get a cab to the airport.

 

Make sure you check all the hotel discount sites for full night rates too- they were often cheaper than the day rate offered by the hotel.

[ilsteelergrl]

I was just wondering what cabin you stayed in. I am booked on Deck 8 Mid Ship also!!

[scrapper830]

Hey! We were with Tim too. He was fabulous and great at taking family/group shots at each stop. Loved his dog pic at the beginning!

 

We had a bit of a different experience on this cruise. I guess that goes to prove what they say on these boards!

 

Friday- flew in and stayed at the HHV. We were given an exceptional room in the Rainbow tower, high up, and the fireworks exploded in front of our balcony. Amazing! UsedHawaii123 - was quoted $23 but when we got there he charged us $29 after counting our 4 bags. We did not argue but did not use him for other transfers. BTW- he quoted us $24 to the pier from Waikiki. Taxi we got from the hotel was $16.

 

Saturday- boarded and had lunch, hung around until our room was called at 3PM. They had a little children's buffet set up for that day and it was sweet. I never saw it in action again but thought it was a great idea.

 

Sunday- Road to Hana- same thoughts at OP. Great tour.

 

Monday- Rented with Thrifty and went to Lahaina to whale watch with Captain Steve. He cancelled when we arrived for check in at noon and told us we could probably find somewhere else. He said 'high winds' but we suspect we were the only ones booked and it wasn't worth his while. We shopped and headed back to return the car.

 

Tuesday- Lava tour with Volvano Discovery. Amazing, simply amazing. We got right up to the lava watched it erupt many times. It was the highlight of our trip until the second day on Kauai.

 

Wednesday- Kona. We took the $5 (each way) shuttle to Turtle Beach. Loved the speach all the way there about not taking off our yellow wrist band. "if there is a tsunami, I will come and get you if you have the wristband on". :) If you do it they'll tell you there is no snorkle rental at the beach. Yes, there is so you don't have to rent it from them before you go. Nicer swimming beach just before this one, Turtle Beach is not good for swimming and the sand isn't nice.

 

Thursday - We had a doors off helicopter booked with Mauna Loa but again, last minute cancellation when we checked in. Too rainy on the other side of the island. We ran down to Blue Hawaiian and hopped on to there's and there was no rain at all when we hit the other side of the island. Not the same as doors off private tour but lovely just the same.

 

Friday- Skydiving with Skydiving Kuaui. What a way to celebrate Friday the 13th! First time skydiving, but not our last and you can't find a more beautiful place to do it.

 

Saturday- Day room at Outrigger on the Beach since we had a late flight. Great day on the beach, a little shopping and a shower before we left.

 

Loved Hawaii, it was our 6th time there but first cruise around the islands. It was a great way to see them all, I totally agree with that.

 

Honestly, we did not really like the ship. Freestyle cruising is not for us.

 

Food- We never ate at the Liberty or the Skyline since even when we tried to make reservations they said it could be up to a 20 minute wait. We saw the lines outside these rooms at prime time and it wasn't worth the bother. Did not care for the Cadilac Grill although it was far easier to get into. Buffet - The food, although varied, was quite salty for our tastes. When we asked the meat carver for a piece from the other side of the shank of beef (one side was really well done and the other looked nicer to us) we were asked, 'what's the difference?" and our request was not honoured. We ate at the Bistro the first night hoping for the 'sampler' but it was not offered. We asked when we made the reservation and he said he believed it was going to be there. Tepanyanki (sp?) was very nice and fun but the cover charge was more than what we spent at the Janpanese restaurant on the Hilton property!

 

Ship- We encountered crowds in almost every hallway. It didn't seem to have a nice flow to it. Front desk people were extremely nice when I asked about ice bucket liners. They couldn't do it but were very nice about it. Why? We passed by an open cabin door and saw a man soaking his foot in a bucket. Quick look but it stuck with us. By the end of the cruise I had gotten used to the colours everywhere.:D Best hairdryer in the room on any cruiseline we've travelled on to date.

 

Staff - I had read about the staff and knew to not expect a lot. Lovely people at the front desk. Nice fellow called half way through. Took a shuttle to Kmart on Kuaui and was delighted to see that the staff hung back until all the passengers were on first even though it was their time off. Yes, I found the staff at the buffet could have worked a little more instead of gathering in groups and talking. We didn't need to hear who snuck who into their room either. Hand spray guy got a little rude when he didn't see us use the robot sanatizer because he was busy with his own personal life. But all in all, I have seen worse!

 

Room Stewardess- this is where we really had issues. She did not introduce herself to us at all during the cruise. We actually didn't know it was a girl until the Friday when we had to call down to the front desk to ask that our room be made up at 3PM. The service was sproradic in both our rooms (we had side by side). Don't know how to put this nicely- she stole. Granted, it wasn't major but the fact remains that she took things and we have never encountered this in 14ish cruises and many land vacataions. We bought 3 boxes of cookies (20 each) from the Hawaiian Cookie Comapny. Each boxed was packed by us with our favourite kind. Single flavour in each box. By day 3 I thought mine was a little light since I had only had a couple so I counted and we left for the day. When we returned I counted again and sure enough some were missing. My boys thought I was taking theirs and we counted those too. Yep, next day(s) missing. Their cans root beer from the fridge too. We did not call down since we were there to enjoy the islands not spend a short enough holiday in an office with paperwork. Reported when we returned. For those who wonder - 15 from my son's room, 13 from mine. We stopped eating them to see how low she would take it!

 

There were a few other things that probably could happen anywhere and were just kind of the icing on the cake. We went to see all the islands and that happened. There wasn't a massive amount of ship time so other than putting us off NCL it didn't ruin our holiday.

 

we are taking this cruise on 7/14/2012 and have also heard it is more of a floating hotel and not to expect too much! Our daughter & son-in-law took this a few years ago. Just curious which room you were in -- hoping to not have the same room stewardess as you!!

[DaisyGoldberg]

We were on the POA last month and saw no attitude from the American staff - service was as good as previous cruises we'd taken with Norwegian, Celebrity and Princess that had more of an international staff.

 

The colors looked horrific to me on the website, but in person they weren't that bad -- maybe because I'd already been in Hawaii for a few days and was in a bright, cheerful mood?

 

The rooms are small (we had a midships balcony, floor 9) and if I really looked I could see where it's probably time for new carpets, but I saw none of the disrepair that other posters have complained about. It's an older ship, I'll grant that. I haven't been on the newer mega-liners, so maybe coming from that frame of reference it seems awfully dowdy. Again, frame of reference.

 

I wasn't impressed with Jefferson's Bistro, and in fact we ate the majority of our meals in the buffet, mostly for time constraint reasons. Since the dining room menu entrees were also served in the buffet, we didn't see a reason to take 2 hours for them to be brought to us bit by bit -- more enjoyable just to graze. Again, personal preference. We did our fine dining in Oahu before the cruise, and after being out on excursions all day, staying casual and grabbing a bite was all we wanted.

 

Take a hat to the muster call if it's outside - after years of having my muster station in a nightclub or casino, on this cruise I was outside in direct sun, staring straight into the sun for a half hour. Or, rather, with my back turned to the wall for most of that time. Next time I'll be prepared!

 

We used the ice bucket - eek. I also had a box of those Hawaiian cookies, but had a different steward, because she didn't take any! (They're really, really good, folks -- the ones shaped like pineapples!)

 

The cabin is quite small, but there is room for everything once you're a bit creative. We got used to it quite quickly. If you're sharing a room with a friend, note that the beds are really close together, and you might end up touching in the middle of the night if you reach for something on the bedside table and they happen to have their arms or head in the general vicinity. Not that that happened to us or anything.

 

It really is such a unique itinerary/set up that if you treat it as a vacation hotel instead of a luxury cruise you'll probably be more than satisfied.

 

And ladies, if you have dry skin, the kukui nut oil is amazing. Got a small bottle in the gift shop for $20 after the Hawaiian ambassador lady said it was good for eczema. Thought I'd suggest my niece try it. Then I got a bad sunburn on my legs, snorkeling. The bottle said it was good for sunburn, so I tried it. Seemed to help - I never peeled! But then I had it on my hands, so I wiped it on my arms. Arms felt great. So I tried it on my face -- a half hour later I looked like I'd just paid $150 for a facial!

 

I've used it a couple of times a week since then and the difference is dramatic.