New Pride of Hawaii review (long)

[Library Chick]

• First of all, go to www.cruisecritic.com and read the experiences of past cruisers. Get to know your fellow cruisers by joining the roll call board for your cruise ship and meet as a group after muster drill that first day aboard. It’s such fun to have a ready made group of friends sailing with you!
  
• Bring lots of SPF 50 and a good hat to protect you from the sun. Believe me when I tell you that 30 SPF is not enough. And there is no such thing as drinking too much water. Bring something that allows you to keep that water iced down, such as a collapsible cooler and Ziploc bags to carry ice.
  
• My husband and I are both 50 year old professional librarians with no children. We booked our Southwest and ATA flights, this cruise, plus a Pleasant Holidays hotel and travel package through our local AAA travel agency. Pleasant Holidays representatives met us at the Honolulu airport and took us to our hotel. We stayed at the relatively inexpensive Ohana Waikiki West with a few goodies thrown (travel advice from the helpful ladies working the Pleasant Holidays desk at our hotel, breakfast orientation, $60 worth of vouchers to use on a tour, vouchers for Hilo Hattie and Maui Jewelers, and use of the pink/shopping trolley). At the end of our trip, Pleasant Holidays took us and our bags which were heavier than when we’d arrived (how did that happen?) back to the airport with no fuss at all.
  
• We boarded the Pride of Hawaii just before 4 p.m. on Monday, August 27. The line seems to stretch forever, but you’re all funneling into about 10 different help desk workers so it doesn’t take too long to actually get onboard. My advice is to think of this ship as your floating hotel room, not as your actual travel destination. Remember that the Hawaiian Islands are your vacation home and the cruise ship is merely a very comfortable (and less expensive than staying on the land) way to get from fun spot to fun spot.
  
• Order the romance/anniversary package from NCL for $79 prior to cruising. You’ll receive more than $79 of goodies in return. Keep the paper which tells you what you’re entitled to. We taped ours to the wall of our cabin to keep it handy. Book your reservation at the Bistro for that first night or for the first night by calling the dining reservation number from your cabin phone. Then each night call to make your reservation for the following night. We liked Jasmine Garden, Papa’s Italian, Le Bistro and the breakfast buffet eaten at a table on the “back porch” otherwise known as the Aloha Buffet lanai. We did not like the food at Paniolo’s Mexican, but we might have liked it if we’d ordered the fajitas.
  
• For anyone still uncertain whether or not an NCL Hawaiian cruise is worth it, my opinion is "yes, it's worth the money and the long plane flight". My husband and I loved every minute of our 7-day Pride of Hawaii cruise. The jet lag is a pain, but "this too shall pass". We booked the least expensive cabin (5th floor inside), because we weren't planning to be in the cabin except to sleep, shower and get dressed. When it was time to exit the ship, we merely walked down one flight of stairs instead of waiting for an elevator that had room left in it. The itinerary is so wonderful, we were off the ship and on an island as soon as possible each day and returned just before all aboard time. We weren't interested in gourmet eating (but Le Bistro, Papa's Italian and Jasmine Garden all had delicious food). The comic, the magician, and the "Fountains" show starring sweetheart Jen Richardson were all entertaining, but we skipped the singing/dancing shows in order to get to sleep early most nights. Think of the NCL Hawaiian cruise ships as your floating hotel room and you'll have a blast soaking up the "Aloha spirit" of my favorite state, Hawaii. Don't let little details steal your joy on this unforgettable vacation experience.
  
• If your room steward was an American, it meant having to take care of yourself mostly. If you wanted something extra (the mini bar emptied so you could use the fridge space, 4 washcloths and 4 towels per day, ice in your ice bucket every day, or the 3rd and 4th life vests removed from your room) you had to ask your room steward in a respectful manner and leave kindly worded post-it notes on the bathroom mirror. Sometimes you got what you requested and sometimes you didn’t. We eventually found a place to stuff those 2 extra life vests; we took some of the mini bar contents out and stored them in a plastic bag near the fridge and put the items back at the end of the cruise. It did no good at all getting huffy about things not being done just the way you wanted. Our room steward was a young American man who wasn't happy when we asked him to switch our bed arrangement so that each bed was against an outer wall (instead of pushed together as a double bed in the middle of the room with my side of the bed blocked by a table). Despite his obvious unhappiness with this extra work, we smiled and thanked him profusely and remained friendly. We didn't see much of him even though he made up our cabin daily, but we were prepared to pretty much fend for ourselves room-wise so we weren’t surprised. The rest of the staff (reception desk, restaurants, breakfast buffet staff) were just fine whether American or foreign. When a certain staff member stood out from the rest (such as the personable Jason at the reception desk on Pride of Hawaii), we would seek out that staff member when we had a question. Jason answered our shore excursion question which saved us standing in a very long shore excursion desk line the first night of the cruise. Ask someone for help at the reception desk if that shore excursion line is too long, okay? You can also use the drop off box at the shore excursion desk instead of waiting in line (or pre-book your own less expensive excursions and pre-reserve your rental cars on each island). The assistant cruise director, Jen Richardson, was exceptionally kind and helpful. If someone on the staff does a good job for you, fill out one of the cards which allows you to comment on their performance. There are 2 of these cards in your cabin and a pile of them available in the reception desk area. Several of the staff members we wrote cards for (which get dropped off at the reception desk) told us they had already received their cards a day later and expressed their gratitude to us for writing them. Whenever a staff member has a compliment card written about them, it gives them a chance to win prizes (such as time off). You only have to write down the staff member's name (it's okay if you only know their first name), the place the work on the ship, and a brief description of the excellent service you received from them. I encourage all cruisers to not merely tip with money, but also turn in these "good job" comment cards to show your gratitude.

KONA

1) We showed up in the atrium all ready to go at 7:30 a.m. and received our tender tickets. As soon as we hit land, we walked to the taxi area and DaKine Taxi 808-329-4446 drove us straight to Fair Winds II. Our friendly driver was Joe Cabanas and you can even have him give you a tour. By the way, he appreciates being given fruit such as apples and pears from the ship. Some of the fruit on the breakfast buffet is very expensive or even unavailable on the islands.

We called to let Fair Winds know we were on the way and they promised to save 2 spots for us (because we weren't smart enough to pre-book like you will). We stood in line and were allowed to join the morning snorkel even though this put them over by one person. Whew! We had to wait around until they actually boarded the catamaran around 9 or 9:30 a.m. so there is plenty of time for you to make this morning snorkel when you visit Kona. It was an absolutely fabulous snorkel trip and they fed us well. My husband says it’s the best snorkel he’s ever had, because of the large number and variety of fish in clear shallow water.

2) After the snorkel trip, we walked around the shopping area. I bought a dress and my husband bought a shirt at one of the shops from very friendly staff. Other shopping highlights were shaved ice at the shop with the two tall ice cream cones outside located near ABC store #63, pure Kona coffee at Hula Bean Coffee, chocolate covered macadamia nuts at Donkey Balls located past ABC store #62, and we walked past the Kona Inn to find the Kava stand where you can drink a magical yet nasty tasting drink called kava. You’ve just gotta experience it at least once in your life and be sure to take pictures of the big bowl of kava. Just ask for one cup of the basic kava drink and chat with the bartender and the locals hanging out there. Kava makes you feel calm and nice, but your tongue gets numb.

MAUI

Here's what we had planned to do: Rent a car and then get back to the pier in time to park somewhere near the ship so we could just hop into it that second day in Maui.

 

Here's what actually happened: We had so much fun watching the sun set from our table by the window at Cheeseburger in Paradise in Lahaina that we didn't get back to the pier until 9 p.m. Everything except the K-mart parking lot was filled (which was an $8 taxi ride back to the ship and not a secure parking lot).

So ... we went back to Alamo rental, returned the car, got the last Alamo shuttle back to the ship and picked up the car again the next morning.

The first day in Maui we got high. Okay … what we actually did was drive up Haleakala which was 2 miles high. Amazing views for those of us who live in the flatlands (Florida for us). We listened to an interesting presentation by one of the park guides who turned out to be from a small town in upstate NY right next to the small town where I was born and raised. Don’t tell me it’s not a small world after all.

After coming down from our Haleakala high, we drove to Lahaina and walked up and down charming Front Street. One of my favorite shops was Lahaina Scrimshaw. Ask Larry Colombo to tell you about his treasures and buy a piece of his wife Bonnie’s lovely scrimshaw such as a pendant for $15. He has scrimshaw from loads of top artists, but I just went for something small. We ate at Cheeseburger in Paradise and our guidebook (the Revealed guides from Wizard Publishing) recommended the coconut shrimp and fries – delicious.

The second day in Maui we drove the Hana Highway up to mile marker 20. We followed the tour written in our guidebook and had a blast. The highlight was hiking down to 3 Bears Falls and sitting with our feet in the pool soaking up the good vibes. I wish I’d worn my swimsuit.

HILO

We rented a car and traveled to some of the waterfall spots first – Rainbow Falls was beautiful and PeePee Falls and the Boiling Pots are both right in Hilo. We saw the stone Kamehameha lifted to become king in front of the public library and the statue of Kamehameha. Then we drove to Volcano Winery just past VNP entrance, tasted all 6 wines and ordered 6 bottles which they shipped home for us (additional charge), We finally arrived at Volcanoes National Park where we spent the rest of the day. We saw lots of steam vents and deep craters, but you had to take a helicopter to actually see red lava inside the active volcano 7 miles away. This was the only rainy day of our vacation and was pretty much confined to the park. We squeezed in a brisk visit to the Mauna Loa Macademia Nut Factory on a run back to the ship.

KAUAI

Because of our switched itinerary (Kona and Hilo were reversed due to a canoe race in Kona) we had a late start (10 a.m. docking) in Kauai. We rented a car and immediately drove back to the Aloha Center Marketplace (which had excellent gifts) by the pier and purchased our parking spot for the night. Then we drove toward Waimea Canyon with a stop at Jo Jo’s Shaved Ice for #2 on the menu with mac nut ice cream inside and a chat with the eccentric guy who works there. Ask him about his “wives”. Waimea Canyon was awesome, so take lots of pictures. I suggest you go all the way to the summit and work your way back – otherwise you may not get far enough into the park to see the change from dry arid landscape on the way into the high rainforest in the interior. Then we watched the sun set at Spouting Horn. We walked right down to it and sat on the rocks talking with a very nice couple and their son who rent out their villa when they aren’t staying there themselves. I told them I’d pass their information along to my fellow Cruise Critics. Marc & Leah Fleischmann can be contacted about their Kauai vacation rental, villa 54, at thefleischmanns@msn.com and you can view the villa at www.kauaidigital.com/RPR/VK54/vt

Parking the rental car for the night was easy since we’d pre-paid for a spot. The second day we walked off the ship and drove to Princeville. Hey, try to look classy people because the Princeville Hotel is a first rate paradise. After marveling at the view from the terrace restaurant where we most certainly did not pay $60 per person for the breakfast buffet, we drove back a few blocks to the small parking lot for the Queen’s Bath. We took the slippery slope down to Queen’s Bath. Once we finally made it down the muddy, rocky path, we were rewarded with a nice snorkel in a calm pool filled with fish. Afterward, we used wet wipes to clean the mud off our limbs and were happy to see no major scrapes on our skin. It was hikes like this one that made me nag my husband to take us to Hawaii before we got too arthritic. We took a brief excursion to see the ‘Opaeka’a Falls. Do not miss the view of the river across the street from the far end of the overlook. Once we returned to the ship by the 1:30 p.m. all aboard time, we had a chance to see the Napali Coast from the ship. For heavens sake, folks, bring your binoculars!!! Sharper Image makes a nice lightweight pair which will enable you to see waterfalls and offerings left at sacred caves. Looking through the camera lens just isn’t enough magnification. Stay close to your sweetheart as you stand there gawking on the deck, because the ship’s photographer comes along to take pictures. There was a double rainbow while we were cruising past which made a beautiful backdrop. You are also cruising past the canyon (now looking upwards into it) you were looking down into if you went all the way to the last lookout on Waimea Canyon.

Disembarkation – I liked NCL’s civilized way of basically booting us off the ship to make way for the next cruisers. Princess Cruises aims to get you off ASAP that final morning, but not NCL. As long as you’ve put your luggage outside your cabin door the night before by midnight and looked over your final bill the day before, you are set to eat a leisurely breakfast in the buffet (sitting in the Aloha lanai at the very back of the ship is always the best spot). When we walked off the ship with our carry on luggage, we found our suitcases easily (as we had marked them all in a unique way). We took a taxi back to Ohana Waikiki West where we stayed on for 3 nights until our flight home the 4th evening, Thursday.

OAHU

Our favorite breakfast spot was Galaxy Steak House at 2301 Kuhio Avenue (2nd floor Waikiki Town Center – sit by a window and watch people on the street below) which is run by Dave Moskowitz, an interesting guy to chat with. Sometimes he’s out front holding a sign advertising his great prices (and he’s not kidding). But the best coffee is at the ABC Stores.

The Pleasant Holidays staff helped us book Germaine’s Luau for the first evening we were off the ship. FUN and three alcoholic drinks were included (I recommend the Blue Hawaii - each person can only carry away 2 at a time). The real Hawaiian beers costs one ticket plus $1. It’s $2 extra if you order more complicated drinks. If you aren’t a drinker, go to the Polynesian Cultural Center Luau because the food and entertainment are supposed to be much better, but there is absolutely no alcohol as it is run by the Mormons.

We bought all day tickets for the Blue Line Trolley which gave us a narrated tour of the area. If you don’t like your bus driver’s personality, just hop off and wait for the next bus. Our lady (I think her name was Pua) was a big bundle of Aloha Spirit and we sat right up by her when seats came open and enjoyed her giggle party on wheels. She stopped and rang her bell at every wedding and hollered to the bride “You look beautiful, darling!” and she stopped by each preschool if kids were out at recess and we waved and yelled “Aloha” to the keikis (children). When we finished the Blue Line Trolley, we ate lunch at a small Vietnamese restaurant and then got on the Red Line Trolley (free if you had paid for the Blue Line). This was a more historical tour with great information shared by our driver, Gregory. He seemed quiet at first (anyone would after the vivacious Pua), but Gregory was a really kind man who knew a lot of history and didn’t mind being asked questions.

The next day we rented a car and traveled all around the North Shore. Most sites won’t be labeled so bring a good guidebook so you can find the Bonzai Pipeline, Shark’s Cove (very rocky to get in), Turtle Beach (watch for tree stumps as you walk down the path and try not to upset the “turtle guards” as you swim in the water near turtles). Three Tables was the better snorkel area at the time. Waimea Beach Park was easiest to get to, the snorkeling was pretty good, and it’s fun to watch kids jump off the huge rock with the sign “no climbing on rocks”.

Final day in Oahu:

Our flight wasn’t until 10 at night, so we booked the Kai Oli Oli catamaran tour. There’s nothing like saving the best for last. What we thought would be a simple snorkel trip with a fresh water shower on board to prepare us for the flight home, turned out to be a little bit of heaven on Earth. While the hotel held our bags, we were picked up and driven to Ko Olina where we boarded the Kai Oli Oli catamaran. In addition to a most excellent snorkel with green sea turtles and plenty of fish, the captain and his crew made sure we stopped to enjoy pilot whales, spinner dolphins, bottlenose dolphins and flying fish. Wow! On the ride home (after eating good food and enjoying Mai Tais for free, my husband and I stood at the bow of the ship and got in touch with our inner child. Soaked but happy were we – and I don’t think that was just the Mai Tais talkin’. I bought a shirt from the crew before leaving the ship and told them they needed to advertise themselves more. The Kai Oli Oli catamaran is a “must do” in my opinion. The shower using their warm water hose got us clean enough to catch the free ride to Duke’s Canoe Club Restaurant for a final fantastic dinner on the beach. We ordered two appetizers – the Poke and the Wontons and then split one entrée – the fresh fish. Save room for the Hula Pie which you share with someone you love. The plate is a special Hula Pie plate that says Aloha in the middle (but you won’t see that until you finish the delicious pie). No need for alcohol this evening as we were high on life, hangin’ loose, and already discussing what we’d do the next time we came to Hawaii.

Buy a neck pillow and sleep on the flight home. Aloha.

 

 

 

Library Chick

l.goff@lycos.com

[byucougs]

:) Thanks for the great review. Still debating on the Kava.:eek:

[lburg7]

Great review!

I, too, am interested in trying Kava, (awa), but I am seriously wondering if I can do so and then expect to come back to the "real world" and pass a drug test...:rolleyes:

[beachchick]

Good and detailed review. I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves. It's nice to read a review that includes the good and the bad, and examples of both.

 

I do have to take a bit of an issue with this though:

If your room steward was an American, it meant having to take care of yourself mostly. If you wanted something extra (the mini bar emptied so you could use the fridge space, 4 washcloths and 4 towels per day, ice in your ice bucket every day, or the 3rd and 4th life vests removed from your room) you had to ask your room steward in a respectful manner and leave kindly worded post-it notes on the bathroom mirror. Sometimes you got what you requested and sometimes you didn’t.

 

We (and many, many others) have had good to excellent service from the US crew, including the stewards. I think it would be more accurate to say that this is what you, personally, experienced with your steward. I don't doubt for one second that things happened exactly as you wrote. And you are certainly not the first to mention these kinds of issues. But I think a blanket statement that "if your cabin steward is American then this will happen" is far too broad. It might, but it very well might not. I'm not in the least little bit excusing the poor service you received. No way; that was unacceptable, IMO. It's just that it's not a given or accurate "if, then" statement.

 

beachchick

[KKCruisers]

I'm jealous, you guys got to stay 4 more days! That last snorkel trip sounded like a blast. I wish we knew about that one.

 

Galaxy was right next to our Hotel, the Waikiki Wave, and we went there too. Great Pancakes! We also met the guy with the sign and had a conversation with him before we entered. Did you, by any chance, use the ladies room? If you did you will know what I mean.

 

Thanks for the great review. I know we ran into each other throughout the week and heard about what you were doing, but it was nice seeing it all put together. I'm still trying to finish mine. I wish we took a picture of our group when we were at Balai Hai. Do you know if anyone took any pictures?

 

It was great meeting you and your husband and the rest of the CC's. Maybe we can all go back to Hawaii again someday!

 

Mahalo,

Kat