Aloha is Love - Review of POA in Hawaii with Pics, Menus & More

[fridaythe13th]

We bought a specialty dining plan that included three dinners for the two of us. I made reservations online for all three dinners, choosing the nights of Hilo and Kona as well as our final dinner on Friday night. At this point I was starving for a good meal. I felt gluttonous but we both ordered escargot and mussels. Keep some bread for dipping.

 

 

 

I absolutely loved my scallops and they were the best I have had in a long time.

 

I didn't get a picture of my husband's lobster tail as it was gone before I even knew it was at the table. For dessert he had the creme brulee and loved it. I wasn't impressed with the fondue - the chocolate seemed cheap and it only came with fruit. The bananas and strawberries were good but it was odd dipping grapes and melon in chocolate.

 

 

Our server was kind and attentive, a perfect compliment to the soft, romantic atmosphere. I would definitely recommend a meal here.

 

How were the prices in Jefferson's Bistro? I see it's a la carte. Looks yummy!!

Edited May 6, 2016 by fridaythe13th

[CanuckCruiser16]

I remember that dancer on the right have pictures when they performed Hula in the main theatre looks like he's still enjoying ship life, awesome!

 

 

 

After taking some pictures of the ship, I picked my husband up and went to our now ready room. We returned to the main pool for a Hawaiian blessing and some hula dancing.

 

 

[sjmbruce]

I'm going to back track a bit, as I forgot to post the menu with prices for Jefferson's Bistro and fridaythe13th's post reminded me.

 

 

 

 

[sjmbruce]

After an eventful weekend (my sister graduated from college, mother's day and my 30th birthday) I am back and ready to finish this review. I'll continue with the port of Kona.

[sjmbruce]

Kona is a tender port and we were there from 7am-5:30pm on Wednesday. The daily from Tuesday let us know to meet in the Mardi Gras lounge starting at 6:45 Wednesday morning for the tender process. There were NCL employees standing at a podium on the dance floor. When we walked in, we needed to go up to them and receive tickets. The tickets were numbered and let you know what group you were in. We got there right at 6:45 and were given tickets for the first group. The tenders were ready around 7:00 and we were off. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take any pictures, but dolphins greeted our tender and it was a great way to start the day. We were off the tender by 7:15 or so. We were told that it is not always that fast, choppy water can lengthen the tender process quite a bit.

 

[sjmbruce]

My husband and I are usually pretty active on our trips. We always joke that we need vacations from our vacations. I couldn't go to a Hawaiian island and not go see something unique or do something new. If you're the opposite or just need a more relaxed day in Hawaii, Kona is the perfect port to not have a huge and busy plan. When we got off the tender, there was a band playing right at the pier. There was also a bathroom. (Random tip - very few of the restrooms anywhere in Hawaii have soap available. I'd recommend bringing dry soap or hand sanitizer). On one side of the pier is a small beach and the other side has an area suitable for snorkeling. There are shops nearby to rent simple gear. The water is beautiful!

There are tons of restaurants, bars and shopping right there. Hulihee Palace and Mokuaikua Church are within walking distance. There's also a small farmer's market with fruit and souvenirs.

[sjmbruce]

We weren't due to meet Kyle from Island Wide Family Tours until 8:30 so we took a walk down and around the main tourist street. Most of the stores were not open at 7:30 in the morning. We did find a spot with a good view of the POA:

 

We walked back to the pier, spying on the sea life as we went along the water.

 

 

The crabs were kind of creepy.

 

[CRUISEBOY305]

Love your photos.

Thanks for doing this review. I've really enjoyed so far.

 

Looking forward to reading about your experience with Kyle from Island Wide Family Tours. I'm booking him for our stop in Kona next year on Radiance of the Seas. :D

[Kattus]

We left VNP and went to Volcano Village which is just a few minutes outside the park. It has restaurants and some lodging. We stopped at the Eagles Lighthouse Cafe. It is a small, local restaurant with fresh, homemade food. Orders are made inside, then you take your food outside. The food was really good and we would not have stopped here or known about it, so I'm glad Kea brought us here.

We also went to the Volcano Winery where wine tasting cost $5. They were different than any wine I have ever tasted, especially the Hawaiian guava-grape. We bought two bottles to bring home with us and they offered thick bubble wrap bags to pack them in.

At this point we weren't in any danger of being late for all aboard, but we did have to start being choosy with our time. We decided to skip the normal stops to the orchid nursery and macadamia nut shop. We drove to Richardson's Beach Park and I was happy to see it was close to the ship. Sometimes turtles sunbathe on the rocks here, but unfortunately none were out.

 

 

 

 

It was still a good way to end the day and we boarded the ship around 5:00. Security took our wine and gave us a receipt with a detailed description of the bottles. We headed to our cabin to shower and change as we had reservations at Jefferson's Bistro.

We just got back a bit ago from our day in Hilo with this company, had Marylou (and her husband Ken's group kept meeting up at our stops) and I can't recommend them highly enough! What a great day! We had a group of six in our van, and while we didn't do the Volcano winery, the Hilo coffee grind was excellent [emoji2]

 

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[granny6]

I'm enjoying your reviews, we are going in April, 2017. Is VNP and Akaka State Park doable with a rental car for the day and time to return? Thank you.

[granny6]

Thanks for your reviews. We are going April, 2017. Is VNP and Akaka State Park doable with a rental car in the time allowed? Can we get it returned and back to the ship in a timely matter? Thank you.

[sjmbruce]

Love your photos.

Thanks for doing this review. I've really enjoyed so far.

 

Looking forward to reading about your experience with Kyle from Island Wide Family Tours. I'm booking him for our stop in Kona next year on Radiance of the Seas. :D

 

Thanks for reading! I should have the snorkel review up by this evening. It's a good choice for snorkeling two step.

[sjmbruce]

We just got back a bit ago from our day in Hilo with this company, had Marylou (and her husband Ken's group kept meeting up at our stops) and I can't recommend them highly enough! What a great day! We had a group of six in our van, and while we didn't do the Volcano winery, the Hilo coffee grind was excellent [emoji2]

 

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

 

My husband had randomly mentioned Hawaiian beer and wines, so our guide recommended trying the winery. We were the first group she brought there as part of a tour. It was a good experience, although I am sure my husband would have enjoyed the coffee just as much. Next time ;)

[sjmbruce]

I'm enjoying your reviews, we are going in April, 2017. Is VNP and Akaka State Park doable with a rental car for the day and time to return? Thank you.

 

If you'll be on the POA with the same time at port, I think both VNP and Akaka can be done. We probably spent less than 20 minutes or so walking to and looking at the falls. We weren't the ones driving and we stopped at Rainbow Falls on the way to VNP, so it's a little difficult to estimate time, but I'd say VNP is about an hour drive from Akaka and then 45 minutes back to Hilo. We spent a couple of hours at VNP and also had time for wine tasting, lunch and Richardson's Beach Park.

[sjmbruce]

We were about ten minutes early and Kyle was already there to meet us. We walked for a few minutes to get to the van and headed out. Our first stop was at a scenic viewpoint, but I thought it was too cloudy to take a good picture. Next we went to Greenwell Farms. They had free coffee tasting with several types to sample. The farm really didn't grow a lot of their own coffee. The original trees were still there

and there were some fields

but it sounded like they mostly bought beans from farmers and processed them.

Since it wasn't harvest season, there wasn't much going on. Still, I had never seen how coffee grows and about half of the tour was interesting. Plus, I was able to see this guy in his tree:

 

[sjmbruce]

Our next stop was the scenic Captain Cook monument look out, also known as Kealakekua Bay.

 

We drove to Big Island Bee's Honey Farm and I felt kind of bad but we told Kyle we didn't want to go in. I don't like honey and I really wanted to snorkel. It was still cloudy and starting to look like it could rain at any minute. I wanted to get in the water. We left the honey farm and passed Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, the place of refuge.

 

 

This was right next to where we would snorkel at Honaunau Bay, also known as two step. The nickname comes from the rocks forming two natural steps into the water. Kyle drove around a little trying to find a spot but eventually parked in a paid lot. Kyle had two full face snorkel masks, similar to these:

https://jet.com/product/detail/e9f0044c7f8e49509906a7811b33b279?jcmp=pla:ggl:gen_sporting_goods_a1:outdoor_recreation_boating_water_sports_diving_snorkeling_a1_other:na:na:na:na:na:2&code=PLA15&ds_c=gen_sporting_goods_a1&ds_cid&ds_ag=outdoor_recreation_boating_water_sports_diving_snorkeling_a1_other&product_id=e9f0044c7f8e49509906a7811b33b279&product_partition_id=161714221740&gclid=CMex4fGZ08wCFYU2aQod19oBmA&gclsrc=aw.ds

Kyle only had one flotation device. My husband is a much stronger swimmer than I am, so he let me use it. If you or your group want or need a vest or anything, I'd let them know ahead of time. The walk to the water is over a lot of rock, but they were flat enough that it didn't really hurt too much. There was indeed two rock steps and just like that, we were in the ocean.

[sjmbruce]

The coral was beautiful, especially where it opened up to the ocean floor to reveal a bright blue. The most prominent fish were trigger fish and yellow tang, but we did see a few others such as the parrot fish.

 

 

 

 

At one point we were going through a space in between some rocks and coral to go farther out. I was the last one to go through. Between the natural tide and the guys kicking in front of me creating additional current and bubbles, I couldn't find my way to the other side. Kyle turned back, took my hand and pulled me through. We went out into more open water to follow some dolphins. Once again, they would only let me see them from a distance. What was really awesome was that we could hear them talking to each other when we were under the water. Not exactly swimming with the dolphins, but it was amazing!

Kyle noticed some people in his dad's group needed help getting in the water, so he made sure we were comfortable before going to help them. We probably spent around two hours in the water before we were ready to get out. We waited until the steps were clear of people, went up to them and let a wave help push us up onto the first step. Keep your hands flat. Curling your fingers can land them in a crevice where a sea urchin resides.

Overall, the large amounts of coral and the colorful fish made this a successful snorkeling trip.

Edited May 12, 2016 by sjmbruce

[sjmbruce]

Kyle offered to take us into the Place of Refuge to look around, but we were tired and declined. If you snorkel at two step on your own, pay the fee and park at the Place of Refuge where there are facilities. There wasn't a whole lot of free parking available at two step and we ended up paying to park there anyway without a changing room or restroom.

We did do a quick stop at the painted church.

 

 

 

 

We then ate at Keokoi's Fish and Chips. Lunch was included. Kyle ordered for us and then offered to go get some poke down the street. We don't do raw fish, so we stuck with the lightly fried stuff at Keokoi's. The ono was 'ono!

 

 

Kea, our guide from yesterday, was there with her tour group for the day. They were also passengers on the POA and shared the same sentiments as we did about the ship: okay service, bad experience at the MDR, not a lot of choice at the buffet, specialty dining was worth it, and the itinerary was awesome.

Edited May 12, 2016 by sjmbruce

[sjmbruce]

After lunch Kyle took us back to town. He dropped us off at the far end of the street so we could walk back to the ship and pass by all of the shops, restaurants and the farmer's market. At this point it had been lightly raining for about 15 minutes. My husband and I rarely split up on vacation, but he wanted to have a couple of Hawaiian beers and I was worried the rain would become heavier and cause the farmer's market to close. He let me know what bar he would end his search at and we both agreed that if at a certain time we hadn't found each other, we would tender back to the ship and meet at out cabin.

 

The farmer's market was a decent size and had fresh fruit and souvenirs. I did some more shopping on the way back to the boat and found a jewelry store that sold the same type of pendants and necklaces as Na Hoku but at a better price. I hadn't really done any shopping at all in Hawaii and ended up doing all of it in Kona within sight of the POA.

 

I also stopped at Mokuaikaua Church, the oldest Christian Church on the Hawaiian Islands. It was open to look around.

 

 

 

 

I should have also went into Hulihee Palace, the former home of Hawaiian royalty, but didn't want to take too long.

 

 

I found my husband finishing a flight of Hawaiian beer. The last tender was due to leave at 5:00 so we got into the long line. After another negative experience with port authority, we were on our way back to the POA. Of course there aren't any pictures, but dolphins swam by our tender to bid us farewell.

[CRUISEBOY305]

WOW...so Kyle's tour is more than just snorkeling :eek::eek:

[sjmbruce]

WOW...so Kyle's tour is more than just snorkeling :eek::eek:

 

Their website isn't 100% clear on if they always stop at every destination. The day we went there wasn't anyone else touring with Island Wide that wanted to snorkel, so we ended up in Kyle's van by ourselves. I think I read that you were putting the tour together with others on your roll call. Maybe everyone on the tour can discuss ahead of time what they'd like to do and see so there's a plan beforehand.

[CRUISEBOY305]

Their website isn't 100% clear on if they always stop at every destination. The day we went there wasn't anyone else touring with Island Wide that wanted to snorkel, so we ended up in Kyle's van by ourselves. I think I read that you were putting the tour together with others on your roll call. Maybe everyone on the tour can discuss ahead of time what they'd like to do and see so there's a plan beforehand.

 

yes I'm organizing the tour. So far I have about 6 people so I think it'll be a great tour. :D I think I'd want to snorkel on this tour since I really have no water related activities on this trip to Hawaii. Kona really would be a cool place to do it. And Maui but I have way too much going on in Muai lol. :eek:

[steveknj]

Great review. This cruise is on our list in the near future. I figure it is the best bang for the buck for first timers to Hawaii. It's just somewhat expensive by the time we fly there and the cruise. We'll wait until we are empty nesters to do this one.

 

We already did Alaska on NCL some years back. My favorite trip ever.

[sjmbruce]

yes I'm organizing the tour. So far I have about 6 people so I think it'll be a great tour. :D I think I'd want to snorkel on this tour since I really have no water related activities on this trip to Hawaii. Kona really would be a cool place to do it. And Maui but I have way too much going on in Muai lol. :eek:

 

It's a good place to snorkel. What are you doing in Maui? I really would have liked to snorkel the Molokini crater, but like you, I had way too much planned to fit in anything else!

[sjmbruce]

Great review. This cruise is on our list in the near future. I figure it is the best bang for the buck for first timers to Hawaii. It's just somewhat expensive by the time we fly there and the cruise. We'll wait until we are empty nesters to do this one.

 

We already did Alaska on NCL some years back. My favorite trip ever.

 

Alaska was so beautiful! I'd like to go back on a land trip someday. Hawaii was the most expensive trip we've gone on so far, but definitely worth it.