POA - Just returned~!

[jdblakeslee]

I'll be happy to answer any questions about this lovely ship and the beautiful ports she sails. I haven't had time to put together a trip report but I want to assure any future passengers that it's a fine cruise, food is delicious, service is great, staff is very organized and helpful, and we virtually have zero complaints about anything regarding the cruise.

 

Don't ask me about American Airlines, however. They are on my ....list.

 

Just sayin...

 

Jennifer

[Nalagh]

I'll be happy to answer any questions about this lovely ship and the beautiful ports she sails. I haven't had time to put together a trip report but I want to assure any future passengers that it's a fine cruise, food is delicious, service is great, staff is very organized and helpful, and we virtually have zero complaints about anything regarding the cruise.

 

Don't ask me about American Airlines, however. They are on my ....list.

 

Just sayin...

 

Jennifer

 

Welcome home!! I just want to know EVERYTHING!! :D I am so looking forward to your review!!

 

Cherie

[greatlakesgirl]

Same here! Can't wait to read all about it! :)

[mattia1996]

I know you said not to ask but what was wrong with AA? We are flying with them from Chicago on the Friday.

[sanedeb]

Can't wait for your review, we are going in 98 days!

[Cruisin&Relaxin]

I'll be happy to answer any questions about this lovely ship and the beautiful ports she sails. I haven't had time to put together a trip report but I want to assure any future passengers that it's a fine cruise, food is delicious, service is great, staff is very organized and helpful, and we virtually have zero complaints about anything regarding the cruise.

 

Don't ask me about American Airlines, however. They are on my ....list.

 

Just sayin...

 

Jennifer

 

Looking forward to your trip report.

[puddles99]

I'll be happy to answer any questions about this lovely ship and the beautiful ports she sails. I haven't had time to put together a trip report but I want to assure any future passengers that it's a fine cruise, food is delicious, service is great, staff is very organized and helpful, and we virtually have zero complaints about anything regarding the cruise.

 

Don't ask me about American Airlines, however. They are on my ....list.

 

Just sayin...

 

Jennifer

 

Welcome home from paradise - isn't it bittersweet? Looking forward to reading your story :)

[Lexi731]

Glad to hear that you had a great cruise!

 

I am sailing soon and only have A few questions still left unanswered -

 

1. How are the renovations progressing? Did you notice the work that is being done?

 

2. Did the put new mattresses in the staterooms?

 

3. Do you know if it is possible to carry a case of bottled water on board? I have read conflicting answers to that question due to port security in Honolulu.

 

Thanks & I look forward to seeing the POA very soon. :)

 

Karen

[Aussiegirl58]

DH and I brought some soft drink cans on our first day in Maui and had no problem bringing them back on.

[MarcyL]

Can't wait to hear all our your trip - we go in Oct. Glad to hear that all was good on board tho!!!

[Keith1010]

Welcome home.

 

Keith

[rocklinmom]

Can't wait to read your review! We will be on the POA in July.

[Socref124]

So glad you had a fantastic time. I have tons of questions for you. The first is this. I have read over the past couple years of the horrendous service on POA. I have also read lately that the service has improved immensely. Now I'm pretty laid back and can put up with some pit falls here and there, but, DW wants the champagne service on the beer budget, so to speak, and doesn't mind voicing her displeasure when the service is lacking. Honestly, in your opinion, how was the overall service onboard? Stateroom, dinning room, lido deck and in the bars and lounges?

Thanks, I appreciate your assistance.

[jdblakeslee]

First the answers to the few questions about the POA...

 

No problem bringing on bottled water. Buying on the ship is expensive. We asked the room steward to clear out the minifridge and remove the shelf and it's tall enough to stand up bottles of water and wine (purchased on board). A lifesaver.

 

We thought the service was great. Having said that, it may not be the "over the top" service some are expecting, but all the service personnel we dealt with were happy, smiling, eager to please. There is more than enough crew members to keep you stocked in beverages by all the pools, the buffet was kept full and fresh, and the staff in the Skyline Restaurant were wonderful. I find that if you treat the staff in an appreciative manner, as you would want to be treated, you will get great service. We had two different sets of waiters in the Skyline Restaurant at night and always requested to be seated at one of their tables. We even waited for a table to empty a couple of times. The waiters appreciated our remembering them and, you can imagine how well we were cared for.

 

We purchased the wine package at lunch the day we boarded the ship. We drank a glass each from the first bottle then and took the rest of the bottle to our cabin. We asked that they bring two more bottles to our cabin and they appeared that afternoon before we left port. A note of interest...we drank all six bottles before the end of the cruise and ordered one more for our last dinner and we still received the 20% discount from the original wine package offer on that 7th bottle. I thought that was nice.

 

There were two robes in the closet and we used them in the mornings when we sat on our balcony with coffee. I enjoyed having them available and was glad I didn't have to bring a wrap from home. We had room service every morning for breakfast and they were timely in their delivery. Always brought what we ordered. Even on the disembarkation morning, they were still delivering breakfast with room service. There are cards you can fill out and leave on your door with your breakfast order for room service but we just called in when we were ready. Pleasant staff, we always tipped them a $ 5 each morning.

 

I didn't care for the soap/shampoo dispensers but I had brought a bar of soap from home with us so it was a nonissue for us. We had plenty of fresh towels every time we returned to our cabin, both after day trips and after dinner in the evening. Ice always in the bucket.

 

I've forgotten what else was asked. I'll post this and reread comments. Sorry I was so long checking back in...I'm a bit behind at work and trying to catch up...

 

Jennifer

[jdblakeslee]

Renovations...well, we walked through the 13th deck area being worked on quite by accident and it's coming along...It doesn't look close to being ready to me, but these workers can complete jobs in such a short time span, don't bank on my opinion. It will be beautiful when it's completed, though, I can verify that.

 

Mattresses...hmmm, well, I don't know. All I can say is that hubby and I slept an average of 9 hours every single night. Period. It may have been because we played hard, were so relaxed, and generally happy to be in Hawaii, but it was not a problem for us.

 

I'll post a bit about our drama with AA after lunch...what a mess...

 

Jennifer

[Lexi731]

Thanks for the responses.

 

We are so looking forward to our cruise!

 

Karen

[jdblakeslee]

Let me preface this by saying that I use a local travel agent that has been a very good friend of mine for ages. I usually do all the research and present her with what we'd like to book and she does her thing.

 

Our outbound flight was GPT to DFW to HNL. Our GPT flight was due to depart at 10:30 a.m. At 11:15 a.m., the gate attendant announced that the flight was delayed in DFW (American Eagle that goes back and forth between GPT and DFW several times daily) because of mechanical issues and would be arriving at 11:30 a.m. So we're already starting out an hour late before we even board, and we only had 1 1/2 hr layover at DFW to make our connection. Once we boarded, we sat AT THE GATE for another hour while the plane crew and the ground crew tried to reconcile the passenger list. Computer issues. They finally walked through our cabin and asked our names and checked them off a master list. Permission granted to close the door and we taxied away from the terminal.

 

Then, still on the tarmac, the pilots and whomever tried to calculate to see if we had ENOUGH FUEL to get us to DFW since the new flight path was taking us a further route to avoid any weather issues around DFW related to all the tornadic activity in the area. An hour later, when the powers that be decided that we would NOT have to veer off course, we headed to DFW. Our flight to HNL had already taken off before we were even in the air from GPT.

 

Meanwhile, I had been emailing and calling my travel agent about all this, hoping she could get us rebooked on a later flight to HNL...but no available seats in any combination of flights that would have gotten us to HNL on our departure date. She booked us a room at the Hyatt Regency at DFW for that night, and we were confirmed on the first flight to HNL the next morning. AA did not offer to provide any sort of voucher for a room or food and we made our way to the hotel and had an early dinner.

 

The next morning, I couldn't print off boarding passes at the hotel so we checked in with the AA counter. The sweet gal there assured us that our bags would be flying with us and when I told her what had occurred yesterday, she asked why we weren't given vouchers...duh...??

So she documented my little recap and told me to request to be reimbursed for our expenses when we got home. Flight to HNL was fine and our bags were waiting for us at the baggage claim. Thank you, Lord.

 

Cruise and excursions amazing...great week.

 

So, it's time for us to fly home and we printed off our boarding passes at the Waikiki Marriott where we had a day room off the ship. We got to the airport early, checked our bags, paid our $ 50, and proceeded to the gate. The area started filling up and before too long, the AA counter reps were asking for three people to give up their seats as the flight was oversold. Shock.

 

So, get this...for the three seats, AA would guarantee flights home the next day on the first flight out, pay for a room at the Waikiki Marriott, and give you $ 400 each to spend. Well, the line to grab that deal was a mile long. I'm sitting there thinking, well, we had to pay for a hotel room, food, and a few essentials because this unorganized airline didn't have the plan in place to fuel at the gate and to check passengers, and THIS is what they are having to pay for three seats that shouldn't have been sold????

Plane is at the gate, all this time....

 

We board. Flight is to leave at 10:10 a.m. Everyone gets in their seats, door closes, and we pull away from the gate. On the tarmac for about 30 minutes and there are planes backed up, ready to take off...and the pilot comes and says that they are recalculating the mileage since we are being directed over LA and they might not have ENOUGH FUEL, so we may have to return to the gate to refuel. Really???

 

Sure enough, back we go to the gate and we sit there for 30 minutes while they add more fuel. See where this is going? We are going to miss our connection in DFW back to GPT...I'm seething by now....

 

Pilot comes on, we pull back on the tarmac, take off, and he's going to try and make up some of the time but he feels sure that some passengers are going to miss their connections.... I am just stunned....is this standard protocol??

 

We land in DFW and are at the gate by 8:20 a.m. (time difference) and our flight to GPT leaves at 8:30 a.m. We are in row 32. No way we are even going to be off the plane in ten minutes. Meanwhile, the co-pilot tell us which gates the connecting flights are located and the flights that have been missed, he doesn't even mention...so we're sorta thinking, well, we know the drill...

 

Just as the door opens at our gate, the co-pilot says "All passengers for the GPT connecting flight, meet the AA rep at the gate. You will be escorted to your plane." I'm laughing so hard at this point, the folks sitting around us were tickled, too.

 

We met the rep and realized that there were 14 passengers that needed to make this connection (six military guys headed to Keesler AFB in Biloxi).

So here we go from Terminal D to Terminal B...and we get there and they have not even started boarding yet! No lights in the tunnel to get from the gate to the plane. Finally the lights come on, we board, fly, land at home, luggage is at baggage claim and I make a solemn promise to NEVER FLY AMERICAN AIRLINES AGAIN!

 

Way more than you wanted to know but be prepared. They only give out beverages on AA. If you want any food, even for an 8-hr flight, bring it with you or be prepared to purchase it. Not even pretzels or nuts.

 

OK, I feel better...not really. I hate trash-talking companies but this whole experience was so unbelievable, I just couldn't leave it unaddressed.

 

Jennifer

[mattia1996]

Jennifer

Thanks for the info.

At least you enjoyed the cruise.

I hope we have more luck with AA

[irishone127]

For the amount of $ NCL is charging, what do you actually get for the day room? Transportation from Cruise ship? How did you get back to the airport? How early could you check in? It will be the last day of a two week vacation for us and we have to fly back to Newark NY. We are flying United and not AA and I made sure we have a non stop flight since my husband is deaf and it's hard to communicate with him when he removes his hearing aids. He cannot wear them in flight. Thanks for you wonder write up and all the information you have shared!

Aloha

Lori

[jdblakeslee]

Lori, the day room we booked at the Waikiki Marriott through NCL was $250. They transferred us from the ship, handled our luggage, and room cards were ready to hand out to us when we arrived.

 

Having said that, we were the last passengers to leave the terminal at the port and it hardly seemed worth the money for the few hours we were there. Our flight out was at 6:30 pm but we had to leave for the airport around 4:30 pm to allow for traffic, security, etc.

 

If we had it to plan over, we would have waited to tour Pearl Harbor on disembarkation day. The timing would have been perfect for our flight times and we would have been more tired out for the long flight home.

 

Btw, that Marriott advertises day rooms for $99 based upon availability. We had to pay for our taxi to the airport.

 

Jennifer

[peggylee48]

Welcome back. Looking forward to your review also. Glad to hear you enjoyed the trip

[jdblakeslee]

Just wanted to follow-up on my tirade about our flight debacle when flying American Airlines to and from Honolulu...

 

I mailed in all my receipts and documented activity and received two $300 vouchers for future travel with AA. It covers the additional money we had to spend for our missed flights but I'll have to fly AA again to use the vouchers.

 

If something like this happens to you, please press through to the airlines.

 

Jennifer

[jamminlion]

So glad they made it good in the end. Air travel is so frustrating - but we are a captive audience, right?

 

Question: how long did you actually spend on board - not counting sleeping? I look at the price and think wow! It's Hawaii. I get it. But then I look at the itinerary, and see how much port time there is, and think - is it really worth the price? Do you really really have time to enjoy the amenities on board, or is everyone off enjoying the island you are docked at?

[tiggrbaby]

Glad you had a lovely time on the cruise! I am thrilled to hear that the staff seems to be so prompt and polite. We are planning on doing room service breakfasts so we can get off quickly as we are self-touring in the ports.