POA- 5/17-5/24 review

[lostone65]

We just returned home and since my body is still on island time I am going to start this review. I will start with a brief introduction, I'm Tammy (48) and I traveled with my husband Glen (52) and my Dad and Step Mom (81 & 80). This was a trip of a lifetime for me as it was my first trip to Hawaii for me. My husband lived on Oahu for 4 years and my Dad and Step Mom have been there a few times. This was hands down the best vacation I have had!!

 

I did extensive research on the islands and what to do and see. We did not take any ship excursions, We didn't take any 'excursions" at all. I downloaded and printed the Alternative Hawaii drive guides for both Maui and Kauai (triple W's, alternative-hawaii dot com). These guides are wonderful! They show the highlights on each island and had places we never would have seen on a tour. I highly recommend for anyone wanting to explore on their own. I used it in combination with my cell phone GPS and we didn't have any problems. My son lives in the Big Island, Hilo so I rented a van and he and his girlfriend took us around the island both days.

 

About rental cars. I had originally booked discount hawaii rental cars for all our cars. After researching I got much better deals on both Maui and Kauai with Enterprise! Our 2 day rental on Maui (a Honda Accord) was only $59.00! and our one day rental on Kauai (a full size but with a free upgrade to an SUV) was $34.00! Plus the service we got from Enterprise was amazing. The rental car shuttles pick up at the the pier in both ports and the shuttle back is fast and easy. In Maui there are free parking lots for rental cars near the pier, if you have a handicap placard you can park inside the secure area, but the spots fill up fast. On Kauai if you keep the car overnight they will charge you about $20.00 at the nearby shopping area. We choose to return our car at the end of the day on Kauai since the second day is short.

 

We stayed at the Hale Koa resort (military hotel on Waikiki) pre-cruise

[lostone65]

The Hale Koa is beautiful and has everything you need on the property. I wish we had more time there. If you are eligible to use this hotel I highly recommend it! But beware..You must book far in advance as it books up quickly!

 

We hailed a cab from the Hale Koa to the port (The POA uses pier 2) and arrived at the port around 2:30. No lines and we were on the ship by 3:00. The cab was about $20.00 for the 4 of us and all our luggage.

 

The ship is beautiful!! We loved the decor the American history and Hawaiian history on the ship is wonderful. The ship is the prefect size for Hawaii, plenty to do and see and easy to navigate.

 

Before I speak of the service on the ship let me say this, this is NOT a typical cruise. This is a port intensive cruise without sea days. Think of it as a floating hotel, transportation to 3 islands in addition to Oahu and most meals with some pretty good evening entertainment thrown in.

 

The service on this ship is, well...mediocre. I compared it to a Denny's restaurant. Sometimes really good, sometimes bad and most of the time average. Gary, the Karaoke host was fantastic! So much fun! We spend every night in the Gold Rush Saloon listening to Karaoke singers, fun entertainment.

 

The shows were pretty good. We enjoyed most of them. The entertainment staff on this ship is pretty good and they seem to truly enjoy what they are doing.

 

Well that is it for tonight, it's almost 2 am Seattle time and I am beginning to wind down. I will provide more tomorrow and will attempt to post pictures at some point. I will be happy to answer any questions.

[punkincc]

Tammy, you must really be jet lagged! You have a duplicate thread going:). Love your review. We'll be on the POA in August. Glad to see that a 2:30 arrival time worked out. That is what we are thinking to avoid the early rush. What kind of cabins did you guys have? Taking lots of notes!

Edited May 26, 2014 by punkincc

[greatlakesgirl]

Great start! So glad you loved Hawaii and the POA. We went in February and had an outstanding time.

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your adventure! :)

[greatlakesgirl]

Tammy, you must really be jet lagged! You have a duplicate thread going:). Love your review. We'll be on the POA in August. Glad to see that a 2:30 arrival time worked out. That is what we are thinking to avoid the early rush. What kind of cabins did you guys have? Taking lots of notes!

I wish we would've done that - arrive later. We got there around 12:30 and it was a zoo!:eek:

[sugarnyc]

Sorry to hear that you had mediocre service.

 

I was on POA in November and had very good service overall- thankfully! Even the hotel director, Klaus, and cruise director, Marky Mark, would say hello to my family by name when they saw us. We met them and a bunch of the other staff at our meet and greet the first day.

[lostone65]

Tammy, you must really be jet lagged! You have a duplicate thread going:). Love your review. We'll be on the POA in August. Glad to see that a 2:30 arrival time worked out. That is what we are thinking to avoid the early rush. What kind of cabins did you guys have? Taking lots of notes!

 

I have no idea what happened to create the duplicate thread. So strange. I'll try to get rid of the other. Sorry about that.

 

We were in standard balcony rooms. They are on the small side but worked well for just the 2 of us.

 

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[lostone65]

Great start! So glad you loved Hawaii and the POA. We went in February and had an outstanding time.

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your adventure! :)

 

We loved it! Hawaii is so beautiful. I am still in awe!

 

I don't understand why people would arrive so early on this cruise since you have basically the entire day on Oahu before boarding.

 

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[lostone65]

Sorry to hear that you had mediocre service.

 

I was on POA in November and had very good service overall- thankfully! Even the hotel director, Klaus, and cruise director, Marky Mark, would say hello to my family by name when they saw us. We met them and a bunch of the other staff at our meet and greet the first day.

 

The cruise director was Malu and she is part Hawaiian. We seldom saw her around the ship. She did the typical opening of shows and speaking after but other than that we didn't see her. Not sure who the hotel director was. We saw the food and beverage manager a lot, he was all over the place.

 

I expected worse service than we had so it's a win :D:D

 

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[punkincc]

We loved it! Hawaii is so beautiful. I am still in awe!

 

I don't understand why people would arrive so early on this cruise since you have basically the entire day on Oahu before boarding.

 

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Yes, we are squeezing in a tour the morning of embarkation day, and it will not finish until around noon, so we plan on having lunch and a little rest at the hotel before grabbing a taxi and heading over to the ship around 2:00. Hoping we can just walk right on.

 

We are doing this trip to see Hawaii! The staff would have to be downright rude and obnoxious before it would have any effect on us!;). I am not expecting the customer service to be much different then we get at home sometimes. If it is good to mediocre we will be fine. If the hotel director Klaus is the same one I have heard about, he is excellent. Maybe he will bring about some good changes.

Edited May 26, 2014 by punkincc

[sugarnyc]

Yes, we are squeezing in a tour the morning of embarkation day, and it will not finish until around noon, so we plan on having lunch and a little rest at the hotel before grabbing a taxi and heading over to the ship around 2:00. Hoping we can just walk right on.

 

We are doing this trip to see Hawaii! The staff would have to be downright rude and obnoxious before it would have any effect on us!;). I am not expecting the customer service to be much different then we get at home sometimes. If it is good to mediocre we will be fine. If the hotel director Klaus is the same one I have heard about, he is excellent. Maybe he will bring about some good changes.

 

 

I would believe later in the day you should not have a line. Much different experience than other US cruise ports I sailed out of.

 

I am sure it is the same person! Klaus was very personable. I am sure they must of brought him aboard to make some positive changes! He told us he was going to fly to Germany after our Thanksgiving cruise to start the Getaway.

 

Marky Mark is also from Hawaii and he was all over!

 

We had very pleasant staff taking care of us. I was nervous when I was reading past reviews. Glad to have taken the reviews with a grain of salt. I was nervous that I was going to sail on a ship with "only elderly people" based on reviews. Not sure if it was b/c it was a holiday- but a great mix!

 

Went to all the major shows. But used POA primarily as a floating hotel.

Edited May 26, 2014 by sugarnyc

[punkincc]

Tammy, just a few questions about some things I read about in other reviews that sounded good to me.

 

1. Was there lobster for up charge in the specialties on "Kona" night? I have heard it is either flown in to Oahu or brought aboard in Kona.

 

2. Was there a poolside BBQ starting right after the safety drill? Just the usual burgers, etc. I have seen ones that had BBQ chicken. We are thinking we might be wiped out from the time change and and a very early tour that am and be ready for an early turn in after the BBQ or buffet.

 

3. Is Willie K. still onboard? ( Hawaiian Grammy nominee.). 2 shows at Club Mardi Gras on Sunday night ( Maui).

 

4. How about comedian Bill Hildebrandt? Was listed for Thurs night Kauai in another review.

 

5. Did you attend the Silver and up Latitudes party on the bow of deck 7 at sailaway, last day in Kauai? Worthwhile? By that I mean alcohol, snacks, nice view for sailaway?;)

 

Thanks.

Edited May 26, 2014 by punkincc

[lostone65]

Tammy, just a few questions about some things I read about in other reviews that sounded good to me.

 

1. Was there lobster for up charge in the specialties on "Kona" night? I have heard it is either flown in to Oahu or brought aboard in Kona.

 

2. Was there a poolside BBQ starting right after the safety drill? Just the usual burgers, etc. I have seen ones that had BBQ chicken. We are thinking we might be wiped out from the time change and and a very early tour that am and be ready for an early turn in after the BBQ or buffet.

 

3. Is Willie K. still onboard? ( Hawaiian Grammy nominee.). 2 shows at Club Mardi Gras on Sunday night ( Maui).

 

4. How about comedian Bill Hildebrandt? Was listed for Thurs night Kauai in another review.

 

5. Did you attend the Silver and up Latitudes party on the bow of deck 7 at sailaway, last day in Kauai? Worthwhile? By that I mean alcohol, snacks, nice view for sailaway?;)

 

Thanks.

 

We didn't notice lobster on the menu in the main dining rooms at all. We ate at the sail away bbq the first night and it was right after the safety drill. Standard food of hamburgers, hot dogs and sausage. There was chicken also I think. Tip** They are serving right on the pool deck and the lines were horrible, but if you walk up a deck to the bar they are serving the same food up there and you can still enjoy the sail away festivities. We ate in Teppanyaki the Kona night so there might have been lobster in the main dining room that night.

 

I didn't notice the comedian, there was a magician on board who did a couple shows and there was a singer/band Tony Beau who were pretty good. They did an Eagles tribute on the last night that was pretty good. I don't think Willie K was on board.

 

We were invited to the deck 7 special Lattitudes sail away party but it was canceled due to weather (horrible rain the last day/night). They were handing out free glass of Champagne coupons for all who showed up. Somehow our group got 5 coupons and since I'm the only one who drinks champagne I got them all. made for an interesting last night. :p

 

Hope this helps!

[lostone65]

 

Just testing how to upload pictures. This is the view from our room at the Hale Koa

 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2014 by lostone65

[greatlakesgirl]

We loved it! Hawaii is so beautiful. I am still in awe!

 

I don't understand why people would arrive so early on this cruise since you have basically the entire day on Oahu before boarding.

 

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We had to be out of our hotel room by 11:00AM and Mom-in-law had to schedule our shuttle (RobertsHawaii) for noon, so that's our excuse. lol :D

 

But yeah, if we had to do it over, I would try to find a way to arrive later. Definitely.

[punkincc]

We didn't notice lobster on the menu in the main dining rooms at all. We ate at the sail away bbq the first night and it was right after the safety drill. Standard food of hamburgers, hot dogs and sausage. There was chicken also I think. Tip** They are serving right on the pool deck and the lines were horrible, but if you walk up a deck to the bar they are serving the same food up there and you can still enjoy the sail away festivities. We ate in Teppanyaki the Kona night so there might have been lobster in the main dining room that night.

 

I didn't notice the comedian, there was a magician on board who did a couple shows and there was a singer/band Tony Beau who were pretty good. They did an Eagles tribute on the last night that was pretty good. I don't think Willie K was on board.

 

We were invited to the deck 7 special Lattitudes sail away party but it was canceled due to weather (horrible rain the last day/night). They were handing out free glass of Champagne coupons for all who showed up. Somehow our group got 5 coupons and since I'm the only one who drinks champagne I got them all. made for an interesting last night. :p

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

Thanks, Key West Bar & Grill it is for BBQ! From what I understand, there is no MDR or buffet lobster on the POA. Only for up charge on Kona night in specialties. I read that you need to make early reservations, as they sell out by 8:00 PM. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

Maybe the magician is the comedian I read about? Will just have to see. I'm sure many acts are short term contracts.

 

Too bad about the rain out of the Latitudes Party. I am a champagne drinker too, so I would not have complained too much.

 

Thanks

[greatlakesgirl]

 

Just testing how to upload pictures. This is the view from our room at the Hale Koa

 

 

 

Beautiful!

[punkincc]

We had to be out of our hotel room by 11:00AM and Mom-in-law had to schedule our shuttle (RobertsHawaii) for noon, so that's our excuse. lol :D

 

But yeah, if we had to do it over, I would try to find a way to arrive later. Definitely.

 

We're going to try for a late check out, but if not, most hotels will hold your luggage by the front desk until you are ready to collect it.

[lostone65]

 

East side

 

 

More east side

 

 

Blow hole

[lostone65]

Thanks, Key West Bar & Grill it is for BBQ! From what I understand, there is no MDR or buffet lobster on the POA. Only for up charge on Kona night in specialties. I read that you need to make early reservations, as they sell out by 8:00 PM. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

Maybe the magician is the comedian I read about? Will just have to see. I'm sure many acts are short term contracts.

 

Too bad about the rain out of the Latitudes Party. I am a champagne drinker too, so I would not have complained too much.

 

Thanks

 

The magician is a comedian also, has his wife and son on board with him. He is pretty good. Forgot his name though.

 

The champagne was wonderful...:D

[greatlakesgirl]

We're going to try for a late check out, but if not, most hotels will hold your luggage by the front desk until you are ready to collect it.

I hope it works out for you!

 

Our pick up time was noon, so it didn't really matter anyway.:)

[lostone65]

 

 

Last one of Ohau. I have more on my cell phone camera but haven't downloaded them to photo bucket yet.

[punkincc]

I hope it works out for you!

 

Our pick up time was noon, so it didn't really matter anyway.:)

 

We have not decided how we are getting to the pier. It does not sound like a big shuttle like Roberts will work for us as we're not sure when we'll be ready. Sounds like Tammy's $20 taxi is our best bet.

[punkincc]

Beautiful pictures! Where were the mountain views of "East Side" Oahu taken? I HAVE to go there!

[sugarnyc]

Thanks, Key West Bar & Grill it is for BBQ! From what I understand, there is no MDR or buffet lobster on the POA. Only for up charge on Kona night in specialties. I read that you need to make early reservations, as they sell out by 8:00 PM. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

Maybe the magician is the comedian I read about? Will just have to see. I'm sure many acts are short term contracts.

 

Too bad about the rain out of the Latitudes Party. I am a champagne drinker too, so I would not have complained too much.

 

Thanks

 

Sounds like things may of changed but in November they did have steak and lobster tail the 1st night in the MDR. I had that. I was told their was Kona lobster brought onboard and served in the speciality restaurants. I did not go to a speciality restaurant that night.

Enjoyed a nice dinner & great service at Jefferson's Bistro.

The latitudes sail away party was nice. Champagne and chatted with some of the staff and passengers.

Edited May 26, 2014 by sugarnyc