Just back POAM

[pfd104]

We arrived the day prior to sailing and spent the night at Raddisson Waikiki and the morning of the cruise on Waikiki beach (nice way to unwind from the long trip).

Embarkation was fast and simple, from the time we handed over our luggage (2:30pm) to the time we entered the ship was no longer than 15 – 20 mins max. Our cabin was ready at this time too. Our inside 10th floor cabin was small and compact as expected, it was well cleaned and a pre-ordered flower arrangement was placed on the table. I could only find two things wrong with the cabin. After my first shower the drain did not drain and I was stood in about two and a half inches of water! The second was no coffee maker in cabin. I contacted the reception about the two problems, the shower was fixed by the time we came back from supper (very fast), as for the coffee maker…never did get one (certainly not a major issue). The ship overall is VERY clean, bright and I thought spacious. The staff, once again, overall were very good. We did come across some miserable members, but the vast majority was happy to help. I did notice that most of the staff are young compared with other ships, at times I felt that they spent a lot of time trying chat up each other instead of concentrating on the work, (typical teenager/early twenties stuff) The food was excellent, although I’m not convinced the freestyle system works. Its nice to strike up a relationship with a table of eight and discuss the days events and plans as is the eating arrangements on conventional lines. We found that service was slow in the main dinning areas, even though the staff were all busy running around looking after tables at various stages of supper. We also ate at the Cadillac diner and Little Italy, Little Italy was great ….make sure you go once. We did not eat at any of the surcharge restaurants.

As for the days in port, I rented a car through Thriftys at all ports except one, and also rented through them for the post cruise portion of the vacation. My advice……Get the blue chip card from them, no line ups AT ALL! I was VERY happy with thirfty, they had shuttles at all the ports waiting for us (including Honolulu) . The only exception was Kona were I rented through Dollar. As Kona is a tendered port, I was concerned about getting off/on the ship and getting to/from the airport for the car. Dollar has a pick up location at the King Kamehameha Hotel which is a five minute walk from the jetty were the tender stops. For the little extra fee it cost I though it was worth it.

Maui – Day 1

Did the road to Hana, not sure if its worth all the hype? My wife found it boring after only a couple of hours. We also completed the loop instead of returning the same way. The road gets very rough but some of the views are spectacular on this isolated stretch of road.

Day 2

Went to Lahina and Maalaea and Maui tropic plantation

Hilo

Most of the day spent at the Volcanoes NP but stopped off at the Orchid farm and Mauna Loa Macadamia farm on the way back to ship. The cruise by the volcano later that night was a little disappointing. You could certainly see the volcano, but you are long way out. I took binoculars and was glad I did.

KONA

Went to Place of refuge park and the beach beside it. This beach was the one of the best for snorkeling in, spotted three turtles amongst a vast number of different fish. Also went to some coffee plantations and the painted church.

KAUAI – Day 1

Waimea Canyon and then drove up to Haena , Kee beach at the end of the road is worth the drive.

Day 2

Fern grotto area and Wailua Falls and Opaekaa Falls. The cruise past the Na Pali coast was very nice; at times you get very close.

On completion of the cruise we spent an additional five nights at the Raddisson Waikiki.

Anyone wanting further info can contact me.

[lambs2]

Thanks for your super informative write-up of your Hawaiian trip and cruise on PoAm.We will be leaving on June 1 for our June 3-10 week on PoAm! So excited and it is great to read the POSITIVE things people find on their cruises, rather than only reading about the problems. Life is too short to concentrate on the negatives we all find in our day-to-day lives and it is refreshing to read an upbeat detailed cruise report that does not gloss over any deficiencies, but CHOOSES to focus on the GOOD STUFF!! Thanks again for your great vacation insights and tips!

[lhall85917]

Thanks for the review, we love hearing from recent cruisers! Glad to hear that the Thrifty rentals worked out - we have the same plan, except we just aren't renting at Kona at all.

[DaisyL]

Thanks for the review, pfd104.

 

We've really enjoyed our previous cruises on the Dawn and hoping we will not be disappointed with the PoAM. We're very easygoing people and knowing what to expect should help.

 

How far in advance did you make the car rental reservations?

 

Do you remember any of the menus or entrees you enjoyed in the main dining rooms? Glad to hear the food was excellent.

 

I'm really hoping we don't need to make reservations for each night, sort of defeats the beauty of freestyle. Did you make reservations?

 

Did you go to any of the ship's shows or entertainment?

 

Thanks for your help ...

[pfd104]

I made the car reservations a couple of months in advance, if you use Dollar in Kona, definitely make reservations in advance, they only have reserved cars available, as they get them from the airport as required.

Sorry memory lets me down on menu items, as I said on the whole very good, the buffet (which we only had dinner at once) was surprising good.

We did go to three shows; The Newlywed show – good; The America tribute show (not sure of title) and the female comedian – very good. The America tribute show was as good, if not better than I have seen on a ship, but…….IMHO….I found it a little tacky (very patriotic show).

As for meal times, we had breakfast at the buffet everyday, Small tip….go to the outdoor aft section of the ship at the buffet, there is a servery with the same items as the main buffet area, but far less crowded and a pleasant shaded area to sit.

As we are very active tourists, we never had lunch on board, so I can not comment on lunch. Dinner was the only area of disappointment for us. It seemed you had to think in advance for where you were going to eat at night. Monday night we arrived at 5:30pm at Little Italy’s with no reservations and got a seat. Tuesday night (formal/lobster night) we arrived at the main dinning area at 7:30pm and found a 90 minute wait line!!!! Could not get in at any other restaurants. We ended up eating at the buffet in our formals!!! My wife was not very happy!! TIP…. definitely book a table at ANY (including main dinning areas) restaurant that night. We booked a table for Little Italy’s on Thursday night and the other evenings were spent at the Main Restaurants

[mikefast]

Just a couple of quick questions. you mentioned that the service in the restaurant was slow. What time did you go eat? The reason I'm asking is, we were on the Pride of Aloha in May of '05, and that was one of the biggest gripes of the cruise. However, we were always there by the time the restaurant opened, and our service was always fast and good. The people that got there at 7 sometimes took up to three hours to finish a meal. Another question, did you sail around the Napali coast at Kauai? Thanks for your review. My wife fell in love with Hawaii, and we have been fortunate enough to have been there twice in the last four years, and hope to go again if not this fall, then next year. We are trying to decide between a cruise again, or staying on one of the islands.

[pfd104]

We liked to be start dinning around 6:30pm, it never took more than 60 - 70 mins to complete the meal, but seemed longer. Yes we did cruise the Napali coast on Friday pm. Very nice - little rain, little sunshine and rainbows.

[chas]

First, Thank you for taking the time to review. I wanted to ask about car rental , but also wanted to make sure that the order that you listed the ports was not the order in which you stopped at them? ( I see you had Maui first and I thought it was Hilo, Maui, Kona, Kauai)

 

I just went through and reserved for all ports and they are all airport locations. We are using Budget, Thrifty, National and Alamo due to pricing issues. Is that a problem distance-wise at any ports as far as getting to the airport or do most of these companies have shuttles at the piers, or are a short cab ride away. I saw what you said about "Dollar" and Kona, and see that we have Alamo for Kona (maybe we need to change??). Any advice would be helpful.

 

I also wanted to know what night you went past Kilauea, and did they do a "Volcano Party" on the deck?

 

 

Thanks,

Chas

[TG2005]

tring to find out what night is lobster night, any help would be greatful.

[DaisyL]

I made the car reservations a couple of months in advance, if you use Dollar in Kona, definitely make reservations in advance, they only have reserved cars available, as they get them from the airport as required.

 

Sorry memory lets me down on menu items, as I said on the whole very good, the buffet (which we only had dinner at once) was surprising good.

 

We did go to three shows; The Newlywed show – good; The America tribute show (not sure of title) and the female comedian – very good. The America tribute show was as good, if not better than I have seen on a ship, but…….IMHO….I found it a little tacky (very patriotic show).

 

As for meal times, we had breakfast at the buffet everyday, Small tip….go to the outdoor aft section of the ship at the buffet, there is a servery with the same items as the main buffet area, but far less crowded and a pleasant shaded area to sit.

 

As we are very active tourists, we never had lunch on board, so I can not comment on lunch. Dinner was the only area of disappointment for us. It seemed you had to think in advance for where you were going to eat at night. Monday night we arrived at 5:30pm at Little Italy’s with no reservations and got a seat. Tuesday night (formal/lobster night) we arrived at the main dinning area at 7:30pm and found a 90 minute wait line!!!! Could not get in at any other restaurants. We ended up eating at the buffet in our formals!!! My wife was not very happy!! TIP…. definitely book a table at ANY (including main dinning areas) restaurant that night. We booked a table for Little Italy’s on Thursday night and the other evenings were spent at the Main Restaurants

 

pfd104, thanks for all the info ... it really helps with our planning...

 

It was really unfortunate that you had to miss the formal/lobster night..:( ... I guess we'll make reservations for that night ...

[TG2005]

tring to find out what night is lobster night, any help would be greatful.

 

Thanks, Daisyl, missed the lobster quote in the orignal posting

[lambs2]

Recent PoAm cruisers: What night was the half-price night in the

 

Specialty restaurants? Is it Sunday night or Saturday night? This would

 

help us as we plan our "reservation" list for the week! Thanks in

 

advance.....

[lhall85917]

Also, if someone could let us know about the chocolate buffet - does it still take place the afternoon you are in Kona?

 

thanks:D