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

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

Thanks, I'm glad it has been helpful! My husband and I have only been on two other cruises, but both of them were with Princess. The POA just seemed like the best way to do all of the islands and have as much time as possible on them. Have a great cruise!

 

You have done a great job of allowing us to feel we have just come back from Hawaii. Your pictures and commentary are excellent and much appreciated. You take the time to answer everyone's questions.

 

We have sailed quite a few times on Princess and are very familiar with their traditional set time dining and their Anytime Dining. Next Feb will be our 1st with Norwegian on the POA and was wondering what their Open Sitting dining

is comparable to with Princess ?

[el820]

Thanks for the review and pics...bring back fond memories of Hawaii.

 

The fish & chips was my fav at the Cadillac Diner.

[PorkChopKid]

And their milkshakes. They don't have a price on the menu, but they are $5.50:

It doesn't appear to say that the milkshakes are at additional cost, not even a footnote. Do they wait until you're ready to order to tell you? Anything else on the menus are at additional cost? Thanks for sharing. Our turn is coming up on May 7th.

[sjmbruce]

You have done a great job of allowing us to feel we have just come back from Hawaii. Your pictures and commentary are excellent and much appreciated. You take the time to answer everyone's questions.

 

We have sailed quite a few times on Princess and are very familiar with their traditional set time dining and their Anytime Dining. Next Feb will be our 1st with Norwegian on the POA and was wondering what their Open Sitting dining

is comparable to with Princess ?

 

We only ate in the MDR once, but what I've gathered is that NCL's Freestyle dining is comparable to Anytime on Princess. You can make reservations at the MDR if you want or you can just show up every night at different times. I know they'll seat you with only your travel companions or you can ask to be seated with others. I don't know from firsthand experience, but someone on here said you can also ask for the same table or at least the same section if there are wait staff you have come to like.

[olemissreb]

We finally tried shave ice at Hawaii Gelato.

I had blue hawaiian and watermelon flavors:

.

 

 

And their milkshakes. They don't have a price on the menu, but they are $5.50:

 

 

Are the shaved ice's as HUGE as those look? Looks like they could feed 2 people. WOW!

 

Did you really have to post the picture of the Milkshake menu? :) My youngest loves his milkshakes!!! Wish they had a "milkshake beverage package" something like that would be totally worth it for him.

 

We are going to do something similar to your Maui days. The first day though we are going to head toward Lahaina and go ziplining in the morning and then spend the day tooling around Lahaina and then attend a luau that night before heading back to the ship. We'll turn in the car that night. Do you know if I can turn it in around 10:30ish pm? I'd probably just drop one of my sons off with my mother and then my other son can accompany me to the rental car counter.

 

The second day, we are going to do a morning (not sunrise) excursion to the top of Haleakala and then the boys and I will bike back down while Mom rides in the van. The tour ends in Paia and I'm not sure what all is available to do around there. We may just end up back at the ship to rest after 2 busy days.

[sjmbruce]

It doesn't appear to say that the milkshakes are at additional cost, not even a footnote. Do they wait until you're ready to order to tell you? Anything else on the menus are at additional cost? Thanks for sharing. Our turn is coming up on May 7th.

 

There wasn't anything on the menu that even hinted at a cost for the milkshakes. They waited until you were ordering one to tell you. We ate there a few times and each time there were people complaining about it. As far as I know the Cadillac was the only menu that didn't at least say additional cost or have a price. The MDR menus clearly priced items that were extra and the specialty dining places were up front about cost as well. The only other pricing issue we had was that the MDR had some old wine lists with lower pricing but billed at the new, higher price.

[happytrailsandsails]

Thanks so much for your wonderful review. We are sailing June 4th and were only planning to go to Jefferson's Bistro one night to celebrate our anniversary. What was your favorite item on their menu? I would hate to miss the best part since we are only planning to splurge for dining once.

[fridaythe13th]

When we were ready to leave Haleakala, we decided to head to Lahaina. My original plan was to drive even further and see the heart shaped rock and Nakalele blowhole. However, we had already witnessed a fantastic blowhole on Oahu, we knew there was a possibility of nothing happening, and we'd basically be rushing there to take a few pictures and race back. I'm glad we spent more time enjoying and less time driving. If you do decide to go to the blowhole, still take highway 30 to Lahaina and keep driving. Go back this way too. Highway 340 looks like a better route on a map but google it - it sounds terrifying and our rental agency also forbid driving this portion of road.

It was about an hour and a half to drive down Haleakala and get to our destination. The road to Lahaina is a really nice, scenic drive. It's around 45 minutes to get back to the rental agency from there.

.

 

Do you know if it's worth driving past Lahaina to drive the perimeter back to the airport? If there's nothing there I'd rather save time and head back to town.

 

I booked the sunrise tour after reading your review. I wasn't sure about finding our car at that time of the night. Can't wait, although I'm not looking forward to getting up in the middle of the night!:eek:

[sjmbruce]

Are the shaved ice's as HUGE as those look? Looks like they could feed 2 people. WOW!

 

Did you really have to post the picture of the Milkshake menu? :) My youngest loves his milkshakes!!! Wish they had a "milkshake beverage package" something like that would be totally worth it for him.

 

We are going to do something similar to your Maui days. The first day though we are going to head toward Lahaina and go ziplining in the morning and then spend the day tooling around Lahaina and then attend a luau that night before heading back to the ship. We'll turn in the car that night. Do you know if I can turn it in around 10:30ish pm? I'd probably just drop one of my sons off with my mother and then my other son can accompany me to the rental car counter.

 

The second day, we are going to do a morning (not sunrise) excursion to the top of Haleakala and then the boys and I will bike back down while Mom rides in the van. The tour ends in Paia and I'm not sure what all is available to do around there. We may just end up back at the ship to rest after 2 busy days.

 

The shave ices were colossal. We could have (and should have) shared - but I hate coconut and that is what my husband really wanted to try. The sugar crash that followed was not pretty :)

 

As far as turning your car in that late, I suggest calling the Hawaii location of your rental agency and asking if they are late that open and if they provide shuttles. The agencies we rented from were open late to return cars. We only asked one agency about late night shuttles, and they said 8:00pm was their last shuttle but they would call a cab if needed. I've read of at least one agency that only has shuttles until 4:00. In Maui, the ship is very close to the rental agencies so cabs shouldn't be too expensive but it is not a place I would walk at night.

 

We only drove through Paia, but it looks like there were restaurants and little shops. I think there are also a few beaches. Biking down Haleakala sounds awesome. We passed a lot of cyclists and it looked exhilarating. Have a great time!

[sjmbruce]

Thanks so much for your wonderful review. We are sailing June 4th and were only planning to go to Jefferson's Bistro one night to celebrate our anniversary. What was your favorite item on their menu? I would hate to miss the best part since we are only planning to splurge for dining once.

 

That's such a hard question! Jefferson's was so good. My husband said their lobster tail was one of the best he has ever had. I absolutely loved their scallops and ordered them both nights. If you like escargot, theirs were delicious and extra bread for dipping was necessary. The mussels were good but not great as the escargot. For dessert, I'd skip the fondue as the chocolate seemed cheap. My husband really liked the creme brulee. I loved the profiteroles and napoleon a la noisette. They were delicious and something different. Happy anniversary and enjoy your meal!

[sjmbruce]

Do you know if it's worth driving past Lahaina to drive the perimeter back to the airport? If there's nothing there I'd rather save time and head back to town.

 

I booked the sunrise tour after reading your review. I wasn't sure about finding our car at that time of the night. Can't wait, although I'm not looking forward to getting up in the middle of the night!:eek:

 

In my research, I didn't find anything worth seeing past Lahaina. From what I read, the drive actually takes longer than turning around because of the need to take it slow. High, rocky cliffs on one side and a sheer drop off to the ocean on the other. Winding curves with barely enough room for one car - one account I read had the driver backing up around a curve to make room for an oncoming vehicle.

 

If we did Haleakala again I'd book the same tour you did - sunrise but with someone else driving. Maybe you can sleep a little on the vehicle. Have a great time!

[sjmbruce]

Here is the MDR menu for the third night of the cruise, second day in Maui:

 

 

 

This was NCL's "Formal or Not" night. I didn't think the menu reflected a formal atmosphere and I didn't like that it was after two long days in Maui. Plenty of people dressed up but we were exhausted from waking up at 5:30 both mornings to drive and hike. We didn't wear anything dressy and just avoided the areas where the fanciness was occurring.

[sjmbruce]

I snapped a few more pictures of the ship since most people were at dinner or shows and we were planning on a snack at the buffet and going back to our room.

Poolside grill and bar:

 

 

The buffet:

 

 

There was a kid's area, but they never had any food at the small buffet:

 

Before our snack we headed out on deck for sail away to to say goodbye to Maui.

 

And then it was bedtime so we could get up early the next day and explore the Big Island.

[mbliving]

Thanks so much for all your time and effort! We leave in a few weeks and was so excited when I popped on Cruise Critic and saw your review. We have been on a few NCL cruises and have liked them alot but I heard this one was a bit different. We have sailed Princess as well.

 

Hawaii looks beautiful!

[sjmbruce]

Thanks so much for all your time and effort! We leave in a few weeks and was so excited when I popped on Cruise Critic and saw your review. We have been on a few NCL cruises and have liked them alot but I heard this one was a bit different. We have sailed Princess as well.

 

Hawaii looks beautiful!

 

Thanks! Hawaii was so beautiful, enjoy!

[thefamilytravelagent]

Wow! A ten hour flight with no IFE! I didn't know anyone did that anymore.:eek:

 

We just did the same flight...with our 3 small children... :eek:

[thefamilytravelagent]

Waimanalo Beach was next and is our favorite beach on Oahu. The colors were beautiful and there were only a handful of people there. The surf was a little rougher than other beaches we'd visit but it wasn't concerning and we spent a lot of time in the water. I could have spent all day here.

One more because I love this beach!

 

You're making me so "homesick". Even though it's not my home. We rented a house on Waimanalo for a week, in May. It was the best week of our lives and truly felt like home. Your photos are bringing back so many wonderful memories.

[sjmbruce]

You're making me so "homesick". Even though it's not my home. We rented a house on Waimanalo for a week, in May. It was the best week of our lives and truly felt like home. Your photos are bringing back so many wonderful memories.

 

That would be so amazing to stay in that area for a week! It was so beautiful.

[sjmbruce]

It was day four of the cruise, and we were in Hilo, ready to explore this side of the Big Island from 8:00am until all aboard at 5:30pm.

A little background on my planning for this port. I researched what I wanted to do and see while here. At first I really wanted to see Punalu'u Beach but as much as I tried to fit it in with everything else, the drive was just too long. I decided the places I most wanted to see were Akaka falls, Rainbow falls and Volcano National Park.

My next decision was if we should rent another car or not. We had already driven on Oahu and Maui and had another car rental booked in Kauai. Compared to the other ports, we would have less time here and I didn't want to use an hour or more waiting for shuttles and filling out paperwork. For Hilo and Kona, I decided on a small tour from local guides would be best.

I can't even remember which tour company I emailed first, but they didn't have any availability and recommended contacting Marylou Tours. After sending a few emails back and forth regarding our day in Hilo, I decided to go with a private tour for my husband and me. Their standard group tour only had eight people total and plenty of stops, but didn't include Akaka falls. They said it could be done, but only if everyone in the group agreed. I didn't want to take that chance or for it to be awkward, so I booked the private tour to guarantee that it would be only us and we could go where we wanted.

[sjmbruce]

Once you're off the ship there is a building to walk through. We were given instructions to look for someone with a sign that said "Marylou's Tours". The guide was pretty easy to find and we were headed to our van less than five minutes after debarking.

A note about Marylou's Tours: The tour company had very good reviews on here and on other websites. I was expecting either Ken or Marylou to be our guide. Apparently their son Kyle was doing tours under their company's name and then branched out with his own company, Island Wide Family Tours. He recently added his girlfriend, Kea, as a tour guide with Island Wide. When Marylou and Ken are booked, they pass their additional customers onto Kyle and Kea. So even though you are booking with Marylou's Tours, your guide may not be Ken or Marylou but their son or his girlfriend from Island Wide. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't what I had researched or expected. Our guide for the day was Kea. She was really nice and I liked that she wasn't a transplant but a local. Of course everyone needs to start somewhere, so we were the first group she took to Akaka Falls. Again, not a bad thing, but not what I had expected. Either way, we met up with Kea, got into the van, and headed for Akaka Falls.

[sjmbruce]

Akaka falls wasn't too far of a drive.

Once in the parking lot, head to the beginning of the trail. If you go left, you'll arrive at the falls a little faster, but I suggest going right for the full loop trail. It's only .5 miles and is a nice walk.

Along the trail there is a sign for Kahuna falls and it appears that it could be a long walk - it's not. It's about five steps to the viewing platform but it's not much of a view, the vantage point is not a good one. You can barely make out a little water on the left:

I have seen slightly better pictures online, so I'm not sure if Kahuna was just really dry, if the platform used to go further, or if people hiked off the trail for a better view.

Edited May 1, 2016 by sjmbruce

[sjmbruce]

We made it to Akaka, and it was worth it. The 422 foot waterfall is gorgeous.

 

It even had a rainbow for us.

 

And even with the fencing, it still made for a decent picture.

 

The walk back was nice as well.

[fridaythe13th]

Once you're off the ship there is a building to walk through. We were given instructions to look for someone with a sign that said "Marylou's Tours". The guide was pretty easy to find and we were headed to our van less than five minutes after debarking.

A note about Marylou's Tours: The tour company had very good reviews on here and on other websites. I was expecting either Ken or Marylou to be our guide. Apparently their son Kyle was doing tours under their company's name and then branched out with his own company, Island Wide Family Tours. He recently added his girlfriend, Kea, as a tour guide with Island Wide. When Marylou and Ken are booked, they pass their additional customers onto Kyle and Kea. So even though you are booking with Marylou's Tours, your guide may not be Ken or Marylou but their son or his girlfriend from Island Wide. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't what I had researched or expected. Our guide for the day was Kea. She was really nice and I liked that she wasn't a transplant but a local. Of course everyone needs to start somewhere, so we were the first group she took to Akaka Falls. Again, not a bad thing, but not what I had expected. Either way, we met up with Kea, got into the van, and headed for Akaka Falls.[/quote

 

We decided to rent a car and hope we made the right choice! Decided not to spend the $$ on a private tour.

[pe4all]

Thank you for reviewing a MaryLou tour. I was definitely going to book through her for a private tour for my family of 4 - just in case we wanted to spend more or less time at a site. Loving your whole review - we go Christmas week, and as I am a planner, I am ready to book our excursions now!

[sjmbruce]

Once you're off the ship there is a building to walk through. We were given instructions to look for someone with a sign that said "Marylou's Tours". The guide was pretty easy to find and we were headed to our van less than five minutes after debarking.

A note about Marylou's Tours: The tour company had very good reviews on here and on other websites. I was expecting either Ken or Marylou to be our guide. Apparently their son Kyle was doing tours under their company's name and then branched out with his own company, Island Wide Family Tours. He recently added his girlfriend, Kea, as a tour guide with Island Wide. When Marylou and Ken are booked, they pass their additional customers onto Kyle and Kea. So even though you are booking with Marylou's Tours, your guide may not be Ken or Marylou but their son or his girlfriend from Island Wide. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't what I had researched or expected. Our guide for the day was Kea. She was really nice and I liked that she wasn't a transplant but a local. Of course everyone needs to start somewhere, so we were the first group she took to Akaka Falls. Again, not a bad thing, but not what I had expected. Either way, we met up with Kea, got into the van, and headed for Akaka Falls.[/quote

 

We decided to rent a car and hope we made the right choice! Decided not to spend the $$ on a private tour.

 

If we went again we would rent a car (especially since our return trip would be land based with a few days on the Big Island). For us, it was a time factor and the exhaustion factor. The private tour was pricey ($400 for the two of us all day) so renting a car is definitely more cost effective. There were a few places I don't think we would have found on our own, but most spots were easy to drive to. I'm sure you won't have any trouble at all.

Edited May 2, 2016 by sjmbruce