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

[CRUISEBOY305]

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!

 

I'm doing a 'Road to Hana' trip in Maui.

[sjmbruce]

I'm doing a 'Road to Hana' trip in Maui.

 

I loved that drive, have fun!

[sjmbruce]

After returning to the POA, we cleaned up and went to dinner at Cagney's. My picture of the menu didn't turn out so great, but the menu at beyond ships looks accurate. http://www.beyondships2.com/uploads/8/2/4/5/8245255/cr_207_cagney.jpg

The staff were great and recommended the oysters rockefeller to my husband. I ordered the lump crab cake.

And we both had a order of the shrimp trio. My husband had the surf and turf for his main entree....

While I ordered the whole lobster.

My husband didn't like the creme brulee as much as he did at Jefferson's Bistro. And while the chocolate decoration was pretty, I am not sure if it was meant for consumption.

My chocolate cake was delicious and I am only sorry that I was too full to finish it completely.

 

We originally had our third specialty dining reservation for Cagney's again on Friday. The food was good and the service was great, but we preferred Jefferson's for their appetizers and atmosphere. We decided to change our reservation to Jefferson's. The reservation desk on the 5th deck was able to take care of this for us in less than a minute.

Edited May 15, 2016 by sjmbruce

[sjmbruce]

I stopped by the MDR for the last time to take pictures of the menu. The next night I would be way too tired to do anything extra and Friday night I gave my ship card to my husband and didn't bring anything with me when we left our cabin.

Wednesday's MDR Menu:

[sjmbruce]

It was day 6 and we docked in Kauai at 10:00 in the morning. While the port area is industrial, it is within walking distance of two shopping areas, Harbor Mall and Anchor Cove, as well as a decent beach behind the Marriott. There is fresh water that spills into the ocean here so the water isn't as pretty as other beaches, but the water was warm enough and the waves weren't too bad.

 

After disembarking, we waited for a shuttle to take us to our rental car. I wanted to go see Wailua Falls and Waimea Canyon before boarding a smaller boat with Makana Charters to tour the Napali Coast, go snorkeling and explore some sea caves. We booked with Avis and luckily we were the only people on our shuttle heading there.

 

Edited May 18, 2016 by sjmbruce

[sjmbruce]

Unfortunately, the weather was not fully cooperating. It was cloudy had been sprinkling on and off all morning. By the time we got to the falls, it was pouring. Thankfully we had planned for rain and brought the great rain jackets we had bought for Alaska two years ago. The falls were beautiful and I am so glad we took the short trip to see them.

 

 

When we went to Aruba years ago, it poured all morning. Our driver had a radio station on all day and before he dropped us off at the ship, he called the station to have a song played for us. I don't remember the song but I do remember the DJ yelling "it NEVER rains in Aruba!!!!". There were a few people selling food and jewelry out of their vehicles at Wailua Falls, and one of the women gleefully yelled at us "it's ALWAYS sunny in Hawaii!"

 

Edited May 18, 2016 by sjmbruce

[sjmbruce]

After the falls we headed to Waimea Canyon.

 

 

Around mile marker 10 is the first lookout. It's a great view with a parking lot, bathrooms, and a truck with fruit, food and drinks. I was thankful that the sun was starting to peak out from the clouds.

 

 

 

We were a little far from Waipo'o falls but it was still a nice vantage point.

 

[sjmbruce]

Although there was more to the canyon, we needed to get to the meeting spot for our trip with Makana Charters. After getting back on the main road, it wasn't a far drive but we still rushed to change into our swim suits and get there.

 

We pulled into a parking lot that was pretty full of cars. There wasn't anyone in sight but you could tell small boats docked there and picked up passengers. After waiting for 10 or 15 minutes, I went back to the car to check my phone again. With our trip due to start at 2:00, Makana Charters had left a voicemail at 1:35 saying that our trip was cancelled. There were also a few text messages from the same time frame. I called them to confirm the cancellation. They claimed to have called me the day before. I had other texts and voice mails, so the connection wasn't an issue, but nothing from them. When I asked if it was weather, although it was calm and sunny at this point, the answer was "uh, yeah....weather".

 

If they had cancelled yesterday, would it really be due to weather the next day? Why did they wait until 25 minutes before our trip to call me? Either way, I have a feeling they forgot to call me until the last minute. Even more frustrating was that it was obvious that other tour providers had gone out on their trips.

 

Needless to say, I was really disappointed. Plus we had left the canyon in a rush to get to a cancelled trip. Since it was so last minute, there wasn't any time to figure out anything else. We got back on highway 50 and stopped at beach since we were already in our suits.

 

 

Edited May 18, 2016 by sjmbruce

[sjmbruce]

Since we had left the canyon so quickly, we decided to drive back up. We stopped at the first lookout again to change into regular clothes and buy some fruit. This is where my husband became addicted to sugar cane. We then headed toward the next official lookout, Pu'u Ka Pele, near mile marker 13. This wasn't as good of a view as the first one. It was the improvised lookouts along the way that were the best.

 

 

It was starting to get foggy so the pictures weren't the best, but it was great being able to get closer to the falls.

 

 

And I was able to hang out with some chickens.

 

[sjmbruce]

On our way back to the airport to return our car, we hit some major traffic and sat in a jam for awhile. Also, the rain had started again. Traffic moved slowly along, but I am glad we gave ourselves extra time. We turned in the keys and caught a shuttle back to the cruise ship. At this location, Avis had shuttles running until 8:00. We had dinner at the buffet and wanted to get some rest. Although I don't need them to have a good cruise, it made me smile when we found this guy in our room.

 

Edited May 21, 2016 by sjmbruce

[sjmbruce]

It was the last day in Kauai and the final day of our cruise. I booked an extended waterfall tour with Mauna Loa Helicopters. We didn't realize that their meeting spot was within walking distance at Harbor Mall, so we spent a lot of time the night before trying to find transportation. We called Avis since we had rented a car there and they gave us a number for a taxi service. The guy that answered said he didn't have anyone authorized to pick up inside the port area and recommended another service. Once outside on Friday, it was difficult to figure out where we were allowed to wait and where our ride was allowed to pick us up at. We eventually found our driver, and took the shortest taxi ride down the street for $5.

Edited May 22, 2016 by sjmbruce

[sjmbruce]

I booked with Mauna Loa due to their private tours as their helicopters only seat three passengers. With other companies holding several people and seating being based on weight, I was afraid both of us would end up in the middle seats and knew at best only one of us would be seated next to a window. Plus, they had an extended waterfall tour option. I was so incredibly excited.

 

I will post the bad news first, then post the pictures we were able to take to try and end things with some positiveness.

 

My husband starting to get nervous when we realized their office was an old, probably broken down tour bus that was parked in what amounted to the alley of the shopping center. I figured if this setup saves them money, that saves us money. We checked in, were weighed, and watched a safety video. We then got into a van with two other couples and were taken to the airport. A pilot came over and took me and my husband first as we were the only ones booked on the extended tour.

 

This is when I started to get nervous.

[sjmbruce]

The helicopter was old. Blue Hawaiian and other companies were parked nearby and their helicopters looked really nice. Mauna Loa's were worn and although I don't know very much about helicopters, theirs looked outdated. I felt like we were getting into a station wagon from the 1970's while everyone else was boarding shiny new sports cars.

 

Once we got into the helicopter, I began to get nervous. There was duct tape, yes duct tape, holding things together. The seat belts didn't match. Our pilot assured us that everything was safe and he wouldn't fly if it wasn't since he wanted to go home that night too.

 

We began to fly and I started to let go of my worries. We flew into an area with some waterfalls and the music from Jurassic Park began playing as we approached the falls from the movie. I was a little disappointed with how little time we had to see the few waterfalls we few by. I was trying to get over how built up Jurassic Falls had been with my excitement and the music only to whiz by them when we starting entering a canyon. What an exhilarating feeling. Luckily I was right behind the pilot so I couldn't see the gauges, but my husband could.

[sjmbruce]

My husband said he could see the needles slowly enter the yellow zone on the gauge, then creep into red before swiftly going all the way back down. After this happened a few times, the pilot announced the helicopter was experiencing some type of mechanical failure and we had to turn around.

 

Of course, safety first. I would rather turn around and land alive then continue to tour and have something happen. But I was so disappointed. To have spent all this time getting to the helicopter, taking off, and then having to land within 10 minutes of our tour starting. To only have seen a few waterfalls and completely missed Waimea Canyon and the Napali Coast from the air. The fact that the other couples were still on their tour. It didn't help that our snorkeling and sea cave tour had been cancelled yesterday. I felt like we were wasting our time in Kauai gearing up for tours that wouldn't happen.

 

Most of all, it was that Mauna Loa's helicopters were completely sub par and mechanical issues have to be a consistent issue.

 

When we were taken back to their "office" I was told they were going to charge us for part of the tour, since we had after all flown for 10 out of the 55 promised minutes. I was so disappointed I didn't even care, I just wanted to get out of there. When we arrived home, I found out Mauna Loa had not only neglected to refund the original charge, they had charged my

credit card the full price twice. It took emails and voice mails for the manager to finally call me back. Thankfully, she took both the full charges off and did not charge me a partial fee for flying in a failing helicopter.

 

I don't know if it would have been cutting it to too close, but Makana Charters had offered to put us on a morning tour to make up for the cancellation the previous day, but we said no as we had the helicopter tour booked. We wasted a few hours with Mauna Loa, taking up most of our short day in Kauai and preventing us from doing anything major.

 

I really wanted our last day in Hawaii to be fantastic, just a "yay Hawaii!" feeling to leave with. In no way did this ruin anything, but it did put a damper on the end.

 

If I did Kauai again, I would book with Blue Hawaiian or Island Helicopters. They have transportation right at the pier. I would book the tour that lands at Jurassic Falls.

 

Next I will post some of the pictures we were able to get from the helicopter, as it wasn't a complete waste.

[horseymike]

it is surprising this company is allowed to operate

[Freckles_51]

Sorry you had such disappointments in Kauai.:( I'm surprised about your experience with Mauna Loa - I'm certain that is the company my daughter used in 2012 and they had an awesome experience (doors off), and Trip Adviser reviews look good :confused:

[sjmbruce]

Sorry you had such disappointments in Kauai.:( I'm surprised about your experience with Mauna Loa - I'm certain that is the company my daughter used in 2012 and they had an awesome experience (doors off), and Trip Adviser reviews look good :confused:

 

I forgot to mention that the doors off option was another factor in booking with Mauna Loa. I also read the Trip Advisor reviews and felt confident in my decision. I just couldn't believe how old and pieced together our helicopter was and that we actually had to turn around due to mechanical failure. Live and learn I suppose.

[greatlakesgirl]

Aww...I'm sorry that happened to you.:(

[sjmbruce]

Here's the best of the few pictures we were able to take. It wasn't all bad, I was just so disappointed at its quick, scary end. I would definitely recommend a helicopter ride on Kauai, but not with Mauna Loa.

 

 

What I was able to take as we flew past Jurassic Falls:

 

 

 

tops of trees:

 

 

[/img]

Edited May 25, 2016 by sjmbruce

[sjmbruce]

After leaving the "office" and not receiving a refund, I may or may not have cried in a field full of chickens before going back to the POA. I felt like we had wasted our entire last day due to the 2:00 sail away time, but my husband wanted to try and enjoy our last couple of hours on Kauai.

 

We changed into our swimsuits and took a five to ten minute walk to Kalapaki Beach. It's pretty easy to find but if you're having trouble, it is right behind the Anchor Cove outdoor shopping mall. We crossed a small freshwater river, put our stuff on the beach and spent some time in the water. The water isn't the most beautiful but it was our last chance to be on the beach in Hawaii.

 

On our way back to the ship, we cut through Anchor Cover and stopped in Papalani Gelato. They had gelato, regular coffee selections and a bunch of fancy treats to eat and drink. This website has a decent represenation of their offerings: https://locu.com/places/papalani-gelato-anchor-cove-lihue-lihue-us/#menu

The prices were about the same as the ship but twice as delicious.

Edited May 25, 2016 by sjmbruce

[Kattus]

I'm so sorry about your experience with Mauna Loa; will definitely not be using them when we return to Kaua'i in the much distant future. :mad:

[cardbucfan]

Thanks for your review. DH and I have just started talking about doing this cruise in two years and there's really good information here!

 

We did a land trip to Hawaii 11 years ago but could only get to Maui and Hawaii and your pictures brought that trip back.

[sjmbruce]

Thanks for your review. DH and I have just started talking about doing this cruise in two years and there's really good information here!

 

We did a land trip to Hawaii 11 years ago but could only get to Maui and Hawaii and your pictures brought that trip back.

 

 

Thanks for reading! There's more to come I have just been caught up in future vacation planning :)

I would love to return to Maui and Hawaii on a land trip! This cruise was such a great way to visit the major islands though.

[BirdTravels]

We lived on Kauai for 3 years, not too far from Waialua Falls, and your pictures and descriptions bring back many fond memories.

[Luvmypups]

Thanks for your review. My DH and I have done this cruise 3 times we liked it so much, the last time was 9 years ago. We would love to go again but it's crazy how much more expensive it is now!! I'm sure we will bite the bullet to go again one day. It's been nice going along for the ride. [emoji41]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Edited May 30, 2016 by Luvmypups