POA review March 16-23

[diverearl]

Pre-cruise Day 3:

 

We couldn't see the lighthouse, but it was still a nice view.

 

Our next stop was going to be Lanikai Beach, but we had to stop for lunch first. On the way to the beach, we happened upon a little town with a plate lunch stop. I don't remember the name of the town or the plate lunch- but I wish I had written it down or taken a picture. This was the highlight meal of our trip. It was somewhere near Bellows AFB. It was just a local stop- order at the window, pick it up when they call your name, eat inside or out, no restrooms, etc. DH and I split the pork, because we were trying to hold out for the shrimp trucks on the north shore (which we never actually made it to). The serving we got was huge- we couldn't even finish it. It came with macaroni salad and white rice, with some sort of slaw underneath the pork. It was so delicious. During the rest of the trip, we compared every local meal to that plate lunch!!

 

I think the place you ate is called Keneke's on Kalanianaole Hwy 72 at Wailea St. We stayed on Oahu for a couple of weeks in a rented house on the windward side at Kailua and the lady that owned the house told us about Keneke's. The hardest thing we did was try other places on the island without comparing the meals taste, portions and prices to the little hole in the wall called Keneke's.

 

The only place on Oahu we liked better was called Buzz's steak house in Kailua.

[mnchkn11]

I think the place you ate is called Keneke's on Kalanianaole Hwy 72 at Wailea St. We stayed on Oahu for a couple of weeks in a rented house on the windward side at Kailua and the lady that owned the house told us about Keneke's. The hardest thing we did was try other places on the island without comparing the meals taste, portions and prices to the little hole in the wall called Keneke's.

 

The only place on Oahu we liked better was called Buzz's steak house in Kailua.

 

Yes- that's it! Thank you! Keneke's. We loved it as well.

[rocklinmom]

Enjoying your review! Can't wait to read the rest. Such a help for those of us doing the same cruise soon.

[Dirkgun]

Thanks for the review.... they are a fun way to relive your cruise vacation. We are going on this cruise the 1st of June 2013 and love the info. Thanks again... keep it coming.:D

[NOLA_Cruiser]

Awesome info, brings back so many memories. I am currently planning our next cruise of Hawaii in February 2014. I cannot remember what side of the ship is best for viewing the lava flow & the Na Pali Coast. I'm thinking starboard; I may just need to contact NCL to see what cabin we had last time. Love hearing about all the whales you got to see!

[Jodez]

Loving your review and all the photos!

Did you book the cruise through NCL, and is that how you were able to also book your pre-cruise accommodation and transfers?

Jodie

[kcfoxy]

Awesome info, brings back so many memories. I am currently planning our next cruise of Hawaii in February 2014. I cannot remember what side of the ship is best for viewing the lava flow & the Na Pali Coast. I'm thinking starboard; I may just need to contact NCL to see what cabin we had last time. Love hearing about all the whales you got to see!

 

I'm not the OP but can tell you Port is better for Napali coast, even though the ship does turn around to loop back around the northside and then back to Oahu.

 

You can see both sides but closer, better light conditions on the left/Port side IMHO. The distant lava flow (if flowing that night) is Starboard...binoculars or good telephoto lens recommended here.

 

Of course AFT or topside for viewing are other options... ;)

[mnchkn11]

Awesome info, brings back so many memories. I am currently planning our next cruise of Hawaii in February 2014. I cannot remember what side of the ship is best for viewing the lava flow & the Na Pali Coast. I'm thinking starboard; I may just need to contact NCL to see what cabin we had last time. Love hearing about all the whales you got to see!

 

I think it's port side for the Napali Coast and starboard for the lava flow. We had a forward port room. We watched the Napali Coast from our room. We had to go on deck for the lava- which we probably would have done anyway.

[mnchkn11]

Loving your review and all the photos!

Did you book the cruise through NCL, and is that how you were able to also book your pre-cruise accommodation and transfers?

Jodie

 

We actually booked through Travelocity. We got a really good deal. So Travelocity then contacted NCL (like a travel agent would) and got us the hotel and transportation deals. I booked the transfer from the airport to the hotel on my own.

[mnchkn11]

Day 8 Kona: This was a tender day. We chose to do an NCL excursion so that we wouldn't have to worry about the tendering. We did the Historic Kona tour. We met in the Hollywood Theater at 8 a.m. and they ushered us off the boat through some secret tunnel (it was pretty neat). The tender off the boat was easy- everyone followed directions and we were off. The water was a bit rough, but not terrible. The ride was about 5 minutes. When we got off the tender, we got right onto the bus. There was a restroom at the terminal (no soap). Our tour guide was Dennis- he was informative and amusing. Our first stop was going to be the coffee plantation, but there were too many buses in the lot so Dennis decided to stop there last.

 

We first went to the Painted Church. We were the only ones there when we arrived- that was very nice. Dennis gave a short talk about it and then we had about 20 mins to explore. The church and grounds were beautiful and very relaxing. After this stop, we went to Place of Refuge. We had about an hour here. It wasn't too crowded when we arrived. Another beautiful location. We had a brochure that explained the walk. The clouds started rolling in at that point, but it didn't start raining yet. Back on the bus and the final stop was at the coffee plantation. We had about 30 mins there. They had samples of fresh coffee- the 100% Kona and the blends. The 100% Kona was expensive but soooo good. We bought a couple bags for ourselves and for gifts. I wish we had bought more for ourselves! By the time we got back on the bus, it was raining.

 

We got back to Kona about 12:30 and it was pretty heavy rain- but we were just going to lunch, so no big deal. We saw that the tender line for the ship was very long- people must have been scared off by the rain. The water was very choppy at that point. We went right across the street from the pier to Splasher's Grill. Since it was raining and lunchtime, it was very busy. We waited a few minutes for a table, but it was worth the wait. I had the fish tacos with ono and DH had an ono sandwich- so fresh, so good. Everything was local. It was still raining when we were done with lunch, but we did some shopping nearby and the rain stopped within the hour. We walked a bit further down the street for some shopping and sightseeing- there is a church and a museum, but we only just walked by. There were some people training for the Ironman (which starts and ends here), so we watched them for a bit. We bought some more Mauna Loa macademia nuts (the best) and found some Donkey Balls (chocolate covered macademia nuts- the original store is on the Big Island and we only found them in Kona).

 

Around 3 p.m. we decided to get back on the boat- the wind had died down and the water was less choppy. The tender line wasn't long- we went through security and were getting on the tender in just a few minutes. This trip didn't go as easy as the morning. No one was paying attention to directions, and people were fighting for seats. The water was choppier than it had been earlier in the day, and the floors were wet and slippery. While trying to find a seat (like I said- people werne't following directions and were just sitting anywhere and not sliding over and fighting for seats), the boat got hit by a big wave and since the floor was so slippery I almost fell. Luckily, 2 people caught me- but it was scary. That made someone slide over and make room for me to sit- thanks a lot. Anyway- be careful on those tenders- and follow directions. We got back to the room and just relaxed a bit until dinner. The last tender was at 5 p.m. for 5:30 sail-away. I watched the tender boats being reloaded onto the boat - they came from the port side- and saw something splashing in the water. At first it looked like salmon jumping- I thought that was odd. We got out the binoculars and there were spinner dolphins following the tender boats! There were a lot of them, jumping and playing. When the ship started to move, they followed the ship for a while. It was quite a sight to see! We had a good sunset that night- went to deck 12 or 13 to watch it. Then we had dinner at the buffet- food was ok, dessert was of course the best part (crepe station again).

 

Here is the Painted Church and Place of Refuge and sunset.

[Ilovesailing]

We just got back from our cruise (I can't believe how fast it went!)

 

That is why we do b2b cruises.

[mnchkn11]

Day 9 Kauai- We only rented a car for one day on Kauai. We knew that on the second day, we had to be back on the boat by 1:30, so we figured we would just walk around town that day. We were up early and watched the boat pull into harbor. Breakfast on the Aloha lanai. We did another Thrifty rental this day. We got on the shuttle pretty close to 8 a.m. and were on our way. The Blue Chip really paid off this day- we skipped a very long line and had our car within 10 mins. We had decided that we would try to do the whole island that day (north and south shore), since the next day we wouldn't have a car. But we knew that may be a lot, so we were flexible. We didn't want to go to Waimea Canyon because we've been to the Grand Canyon and thought it would be similar. The clouds had started rolling in, and we thought it may rain soon.

 

We quickly made it to our first stop- Wailua Falls. It was a bit off the road, and DH kept telling me I had given him the wrong directions. But at last we found it at the end of the road. There was no one else there, so we had time to enjoy the falls in peace. After that we headed straight for Kilauea Lighthouse and National Wildlife Refuge. We were afraid it was going to rain, so we wanted to make sure we made it through our planned outdoor activities. (I won't keep you in suspense- it never rained. The rain stayed in the center of the island that day. It was cloudy at times, but no rain at all where we were.) There is a lookout you can stop at, but we wanted to go all the way to the lighthouse. We found parking with no problem and paid the $5/person fee to get in. The walk up to the lighthouse is not long, and there are great views. There was a high surf advisory that day, so the waves were unbelievable. We saw lots of birds and- of couse- whales. We stayed there for just about an hour walking around and taking it all in.

 

After we left, DH wanted to see if we could find some bigger waves. We kept driving along the north shore and pulled over at different spots to watch the waves. We headed towards Anini Beach- but there were no waves there. This beach was well protected, so even though the waves were big elsewhere along the north shore, the water was very calm at this beach. It was a good swimming beach. After seeing lots of amazing waves- must have been at least 15 ft- we headed towards Hanalei.

 

We decided to stop for lunch in Hanalei, and ate at Kaypso Island Bar and Grill. We were seated right away even though it was busy. I got some sort of turkey sandwich - I think it was a panini. It was ok, but I wouldn't get it again. DH got the taro burger, which he enjoyed very much. After lunch we walked around town a bit, then started heading towards the end of the road. We stopped at Haena Beach Park and went into the Maninholo tunnel. There was a park where people were camping, and there were a few food trucks. I had a shave ice. There is one thing to mention about Kauai- there are "chickens" on every island, but they run rampant on Kauai. Apparently they are called junglefowl- and they are the most ornate, beautiful "chickens" you will ever see. They are not scared of people, and are especially interested if you have food.

 

We drove to the end of the highway where the Napali Coast begins- there was no parking, so we turned around and headed back. We were so exhausted at this point we thought we'd go back to the boat- but it was only 3 p.m. and we did want to see the south shore. Kauai is a very small island, so it wasn't that much farther. We stopped at Small Town Coffee Co. in Kapaa for some organic cofee- so good. We relaxed there for a bit, bought some dried fruit that we had been looking for that my brother had specially requested (Uncle Mikey's- hadn't seen it anywhere else) and a recycled t-shirt junglefowl bag for me (came in handy at the end of the cruise). The cofee was very good, and we felt rejuvenated. We stopped at Opaekaa Falls and saw the Wailua River. Not as impressive as Wailua Falls. After that we went through the Tree Tunnel and ended up at the Spouting Horn. The waves were pretty big, so that was a good sight. We went to Poipu Beach just for a minute- just to see it, since we heard it was nice. It was, though smaller than I expected. We had considered staying for sunset, but were too hungry and exhausted and headed back to the boat instead. The south shore was a lot more built up and had fancy resorts- so it was busier than the north shore. Finally we stopped for gas, dropped off the car, and headed back to the boat. We were back in time for dinner, and ate at the buffet. Crepe station for dessert, of course.

[mnchkn11]

Day 10 Kauai- We didn't even end up getting off the boat our second day on Kauai. We had decided the night before that we were exhausted and would sleep in a bit. We did, and when we got up (still early) it was a dreary rainy day. We decided just to stay on the boat and relax. We had a leisurely breakfast at the buffet- inside unfortunately. We walked around the boat a bit, made sure there weren't any pictures we wanted to purchase, looked in the shops. We went back to the room to pack for a bit. Since we were doing an NCL tour on disembarkation day, our tags for the bags were delivered right to our room. I believe that other people were able to choose what time they wanted to walk off the ship- there were tags and times near the guest services desk. We had lunch at Skyline because we heard it was good- it wasn't. I had the fried calamari appetizer and DH had the chicken soup. The calamari was not great- didn't look like any calamari I'm used to at home. DH couldn't even eat his soup, and he's not a picky eater. We both had the salmon and shrimp salad because it had avocado. It was not good- I barely ate any of it- it wasn't seasoned well and I felt like it was going to make me sick. I only ate the tiny bit of avocado. We went back to finish packing before sail-away. We tried to sit on deck for sail-away, but it was pouring rain. We sat on our covered balcony - the coastline was very pretty. It was fun to sail by the Kilauea Lighthouse and Hanalei Bay where we had been the day before. We saw more whales, of course. We got close to the Napali Coast about 4:30 (there was a live presentation that started at 5, we couldn't really hear it from our balcony) and it started pouring rain again. Needless to say, we didn't have a spectacular view of the Napali Coast. We saw bits and pieces, but it wasn't as beautiful as we had thought it would be (due to cloud cover and no sun). We did see some rainbows. We had a perfect view from our port balcony. The ship sailed by slowly on the port side, and then we turned around and sped up to head back towards Honolulu. We finished packing and went to Skyline for dinner. We were- unexpectedly- seated with another couple. It was fine, but we were just surprised since we had not had that happen before and were not even asked. We had a fun time swapping stories about our island adventures. The food was very good- I had salad for appetizer and the veggie rissotto and enjoyed both. I don't remember what DH had, but he was pleased. We skipped dessert because we wanted to hit the crepe bar one last time! We headed to the buffet for our last dessert on the ship. We put our bags out in the hallway before bed, and that was the beginning of the end of our awesome adventure.

 

Here is the Napali coast.

[mnchkn11]

Day 11 Disembarkation- Our flight was at 3:30 p.m., so we had signed up for the Early Bird Pearl Harbor tour through NCL. We got up early and had our last breakfast at the Aloha Buffet. The lanai was not open on the last day. It was very crowded, but we found room in the Gold Rush Saloon. We met in the Hollywood Theater at 7:45 a.m. From there we got off the boat, found our luggage, brought it over to the bus and boarded for the tour. Our tour guide had gotten us tickets for the USS Arizona for 9:30 and 10:30. He handed out the tickets as we got off the bus (we got 9:30) and told us to be back 11:45. Pearl Harbor is a very moving place. We walked around a bit before our tour. At 9:30 we were led into a theater for a short movie, then got onto a navy vessel to go out to the memorial. It wasn't a long ride. We had about 15 mins on the actual memorial. There was a park ranger there to answer any questions that people may have. I was very moved by the memorial, but it was very crowded and people were not being as respectful as I would have liked. Still, it was a good experience. When we got back to the park, we got a snack and walked through the museums before heading back towards the bus. Everyone was back on the bus a little before noon, and we were at the airport within just a few minutes. Our flight wasn't until 3:30, so we had plenty of time to get lunch and get ready for our long flight back home (about 9.5 hrs). The flight was uneventful, and we got back to the cold New England weather.

 

Overall, we had a great experience. I was glad we did the cruise, since we hadn't been able to decide which islands to go to. If we ever get back to Hawaii, we will have had a taste of the islands and know which ones we want to expore more or re-visit. POA was great- it was a floating hotel on our adventure in the Hawaiian islands, and we had a wonderful time.

[Molokai-Chuck]

mnchkn11 .... fine review ...thanks for taking the time to replay your trip for us.

 

Chuck

[mnchkn11]

mnchkn11 .... fine review ...thanks for taking the time to replay your trip for us.

 

Chuck

 

Glad you enjoyed it! I had hoped to be a little more detailed- since I found the details so helpful in other reviews- but I find myself forgetting the tiny details that I had wanted to mention. Oh well!

[kapoho2]

Very good review. Sounds like you made the most of your days in the islands. And, I agree with you about the crepes in the Aloha buffet....delish!!

[Aussiegirl58]

Have loved reading your review. We will be on POA in four weeks. I will definately have to try the crepe station you make it sound so tasty.

[NOLA_Cruiser]

I think it's port side for the Napali Coast and starboard for the lava flow. We had a forward port room. We watched the Napali Coast from our room. We had to go on deck for the lava- which we probably would have done anyway.

 

Thanks for the cabin info, I looked at our pics from 2009 & saw that we were on the port side & yes, we too had watched the lava flow from an open deck.

[kcfoxy]

Very good review. Sounds like you made the most of your days in the islands. And, I agree with you about the crepes in the Aloha buffet....delish!!

 

Big kine Foodie here...what flavors are we talking about? :p

[lgerrish]

Thank you so much for your detailed reviews and photos. It's good to know about the views from each side of the ships, as we have a port side cabin and don't want to miss a thing!

 

I will be rereading your reviews and taking notes for the next few months. :)

[Flatland]

It was great to meet you on the cruise! Thanks again for that Thrifty rental code. We used it for the last days we had after our cruise.

 

Enjoying your review too! We took so many pics, I still haven't got thru all of them. :D

Kev

[mnchkn11]

Big kine Foodie here...what flavors are we talking about? :p

 

They had a lot of different choices- fruits, whipped cream, brown sugar, cookies'n'cream. Very good.

[mnchkn11]

It was great to meet you on the cruise! Thanks again for that Thrifty rental code. We used it for the last days we had after our cruise.

 

Enjoying your review too! We took so many pics, I still haven't got thru all of them. :D

Kev

 

Nice to meet you too! Glad the Thrifty code worked out for you. We saved a lot too!

[irishone127]

Nice to meet you too! Glad the Thrifty code worked out for you. We saved a lot too!

So where does one find this code? Inquiring minds would love to know.