Just off POA - some hints and thoughts!

[AllisonJames]

Happy New Year!. Just disembarked Sat 1/4. Family of 5 adults: Mom, Dad and three young adult kids. Haven't been on a mass market line for five years (last five cruises Azamara and Viking) so please understand some of my comparisons are related to small vs. larger ship and mass market vs. premium cruises. Overall most of the experience was as expected and of course Hawaii is spectacular so this cruise is about Hawaii and not the ship like other cruises.  The most time we've spent off a ship in total of 15 cruises (Europe, Alaska and Caribbean). Have previously sailed NCL on Spirit and Pearl and think it's a nice solid product. Had two balcony cabins and one studio cabin. Booked 16 months in advance (studio cabins book up fast) paid through the nose for a holiday week and never saw the cost lower than what we paid.  Overall low value for accommodations, ship amenities and food/beverage and high value for seeing so many spectacular Hawaiian locations.  Food and service were just okay, we found food very heavy and somewhat lacking in healthy options compared to premium lines (even when there was fish it was drowned in cream sauce and lack of healthy vegetables except salad bar). Very surprised there was no local fish served: "Boston Cod"? "Atlantic Salmon"? but you don't take this cruise for the food or service. Dining room service very underwhelming, in 7 dinners only one time did anyone come back at dessert and ask if we wanted tea or coffee, basically food was delivered and you never saw server again so if you didn't like it, oh well. Cabin service was fine. Cabin was a bit smaller than I expected. There's no conditioner or body lotion provided (just "conditioning shampoo in the dispenser) so if you need either bring it. No laundry facility on board, but if you need an iron and board ask the attendant and they will bring it. Balcony paid off during the time at sea as deck was mobbed.  I kept expecting them to bring out more lounge chairs but they didn't.  We carried on 11 bottles of wine (yes, we were THOSE people) and were really glad we did.  The wine prices at Foodland on Oahu were reasonable and in addition to saving quite a bit of $, we had the advantage of wine we liked.  For example La Crema Chardonnay was $49 on the ship plus tax and automatic gratuity.  POA has a unique, quirky decor, quite the contrast from the sleek design and consistent color schemes of Viking and AZ, and yes, it's going to drydock soon and needs it.  It also has an interesting overall layout (kind of chopped up in terms of moving around the ship) and we missed the overall Observation Bar/Lounge other ships have.  Much of the ship is very closed in unless you are actually on deck.  We were pleasantly surprised by the large number of hot tubs and private nooks on deck, a very nice feature.  Gym was also decent.  Shore time:  we devoted a lot of research and planning to this and were glad we did because this is what the cruise is about.  If you take only one ship's excursion, make it Kona, the only tender port. We missed this port because of high seas and so we were refunded our money.  Also, even if you make the port, NCL shore excursions will get priority for tenders.  Maui:  first day, Road to Hana with Valley Isle Excursions, excellent and groups of only 12 because there's a lot of on/off the van and it's easy to move around.  Guide (Scott) was awesome.  Only improvement I can think of is wished we had more time at Black Sand Beach. 2nd day: two of us golfed, other three rented a car and went to Kaanapali Beach (park in Whaler's Village). We'd been here 15 years ago and wanted to return.  Hilo, Volcano National Park and then brief stop in town of Hilo. Again, rented a car.  Missed Kona, unexpected day at sea -- NCL added activities because of this -- it was New Year's Day and many people ended up enjoying this respite! Kauai (my husband and I had been here last year so had a good idea what to do and how to navigate) rented a car, went to Waimea Canyon, town of Waimea, then Poipu Beach Park for snorkeling.  2nd day two of us drove to North Shore to visit many beaches (left the ship at 6 due to needing to return at 1), 1 golfed, 1 went to the nearby Kalapaki Beach and 1 stayed on board and slept!  Very pleased with all our choices and the vast scope of what we saw and did.  Had a 10:30 p.m. flight the day we disembarked, booked a room at Courtyard Marriott Waikiki, well worth the expense to have a place to relax/nap/shower before the long trip home!  Happy to answer questions:  this is a cruise everyone needs to do once in their lives!

[Beachiekeen]

Wow loved your observations and agree a resort day before the flight home is the way to go, I did not anticipate how tired we would be after the cruise and was so glad we did this. Bummer you missed Kona. I can’t wait to go back!