Pride of America Review (12/15)

[Terre]

Just a warning, this is a long review.

 

NCL Pride of America to Hawai’i

December 15 through 22, 2007

16th cruise, 2nd with NCL

 

 

Pictures:

 

We began our journey from Charlotte to Atlanta at 7:15 a.m. on the 15th. Once in Atlanta we left around 10:00 for Honolulu. We arrived there at around 3:15 and the NCL representatives were right there to take us to our luggage. Once everyone had their luggage, we were taken to the shuttle and we began the most awesome vacation!

 

Embarkation was a breeze…we didn’t have to wait at all to check in. Once in our cabin, we changed into our shorts and headed to the buffet, which was closed. My only complaint about this ship…the buffet closes around 3:30 and when you’re used to other lines having an almost 24-hr. buffet, it’s tough. We headed to the Cadillac Diner. DH had the famous warm chocolate brownie and I had the spinach dip. The Cadillac is a fun place to eat and we ate there two more times during the week.

 

We began to explore the ship and she really is beautiful. We had read some very negative reviews early on about the ship being dirty, unfriendly or rude staff, etc., but we saw none of that. In fact, the ship was exceptionally clean and I really enjoyed the American staff. Everyone was very friendly and helpful and it was very nice to be able to understand what they were saying to you!

 

We had dinner in the Skyline Dining Room and honestly, I can’t remember what I had, I think it was grouper the first night. None of the food stood out as good to us – not like on other ships we’d sailed. It was okay, but nothing to write home about. I did LOVE those Belgian waffles, though; had that every morning!

 

By 8:00 the first night I was ready for bed; it was 1:00 a.m. in my hometown for goodness sake! And we’d been on airplanes for over 9 hours that morning.

 

Day One – Hilo

 

It was raining when we hit Hilo so we decided to visit Volcanoes National Park. We’d rented a car from Alamo and the shuttle took us there almost as soon as we got off the ship. Got the car with little or no wait and took off. The shuttle driver was very nice and told us how to drive in Hilo and which highways to stay on. Perfect advice! We drove around the park for a while and then headed the other direction to Akaka Falls. By this time the skies were clearing and we saw some awesome falls. Akaka Falls and Rainbow Falls are spectacular! All in all this day was pretty good.

 

We stopped at Wal-Mart for some souvenir shopping before turning in our car. Picked up some Hawai’ian made soaps for the girls at work and some calendars with pictures of Hawai’i.

 

Day Two – Maui

 

In Maui, we rented our car from Budget and again we got the first shuttle and got the car with little wait. We headed out for the Road to Hana. We had checked out the “Revealed” books from the library and this proved to be very helpful. We made copies of the pages we needed and followed it carefully. We saw almost everything we set out to see this day. The “Maui Revealed” book was great – it told you what mile marker to look for to see certain sites. We saw many water falls, but the best one was the Waikaui Falls or the Three Bears Falls. This waterfall is awesome! I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere. The Caribbean has nothing that can top Hawai’i when it comes to waterfalls!

 

After we got to Hana we kept driving and came to the Wai’anapanapa Black Sand Beach. Another great find! This place is absolutely gorgeous! Wonderful views of the ocean from the top and the sand really is black! Just past mile marker 42 is Haleakala National Park and this is where the Seven Sacred Pools is located. You have to hike into this park to find the beautiful water falls and other sites, but it is worth the time. We didn’t go far enough to find the pools and there really aren’t seven anyway according to the Revealed book.

 

Day Three – Lahaina

 

On this day we set out to Lahaina to go whale watching with the Pacific Whale Foundation. The town of Lahaina is a quaint little place that is so peaceful. We walked around until our 10:30 reservation and loved every minute of it. The Old Courthouse is covered with Banyan Trees. I am amazed at how these trees just keep growing out of each other.

 

Around 10:00 we headed down to the pier for our whale watching trip and what a trip! We saw around 5-6 whales and I got some great shots of those flukes! We couldn’t get too close so I had my zoom as close as I could get it. When we started out, we had some spinner dolphins that followed the boat. They tried very hard to stay in front, but eventually they had to give up and let us go on without them. On the way back we saw several sea turtles and our guides called it a “grand slam” day because we had the dolphins, whales, and turtles all in one day. That doesn’t usually happen according to them.

 

On the way back to the ship, we stopped at a beach for a while and then stopped along the way for more of those beautiful sites.

 

Day Four – Kona

 

In Kona we rented our car from Dollar at the King Kamehameha Hotel and as usual no waiting. DH had done extensive research on the boards for all of this stuff and we got the best rates possible on all of our cars. Here we had a PT Cruiser…cute little car.

 

We headed south and stopped first at the Painted Church. Very pretty little church. All the walls and ceiling are painted with scenes from the Bible. Very peaceful place with an old cemetery in the front and a newer one in the back.

From here we headed to the Pu’uhonua o HÇnanau or House of Refuge National Park. Very interesting place. This was the home of the Kona District of the Island of Hawai’i. What makes this place sacred is the bones of the chiefs. Separated from the royal grounds by a massive wall was the place of refuge for defeated warriors and those who violated the sacred laws. Those people came here for safety. It had not been used for many years and in 1819 Kamehameha, II abolished traditional religious practices and many of the old religious sites and structures were destroyed. It became a county park in the 1920s and a national historical park in 1961.

 

From here we drove around and stopped at Greenwell Coffee Plantation and sampled some coffees; didn’t take a tour, though. Again the “Big Island Revealed” book came in very handy for mapping out our trip. While searching for a gas station to fill up our car before we turned it in, we found a Costco. Since gas on the islands is around $3.67 we filled up at Costco and decided to have lunch there. The hot dog and drink is the same price as it is at home -- $1.50. Anywhere else on the islands hot dogs are $3.50! We left Costco and found another peaceful beach near a park. We hung out there for a while and then went to the park and ate the fruit we’d brought from the buffet before turning in our car.

 

That evening we went to the Luau. This is the only thing we booked through the ship. The cast was great and the story was really nice and we enjoyed that part. The food was not that good and I only ate a little of what I’d taken from the buffet. DH said it was as good as a $10 buffet. I guess being from NC (barbeque country) this pig just didn’t stack up to what we have at home. But we did enjoy the show and that was mostly what we wanted to experience. It was a love story and history of how the people came to the islands. The main couple in the story had gotten separated and in the end found each other and got married.

 

Days Five & Six – Kauai

 

On our first day in Kauai, we had decided on AirVentures after reading reviews on Cruise Critic. We loved this tour. We had initially reserved a car here for both days, but decided to cancel the car that morning since AirVentures would pick us up and there were free shuttles to all the stores in town. I called AirVentures to make sure they’d pick us up and then cancelled the rental car. No problems. AirVentures met us around 10:00 and we were scheduled for 10:30. As it turned out, they were running late and said they’d come back around 10:30 to get us for an 11:00 flight. We hung out for a while and the driver called us right at 10:25 and said he was on his way to get us. Once in the air we were awed again by the beautiful sites below. This was a great way to see island. From high in the sky, we saw Jurassic Falls as well as many other canyons and mountains. I am simply amazed that such a beautiful place was created out of fire and hardened lava.

 

After we got back to the ship, we just hung around and lounged on our balcony. The next day we took the free shuttle to K-Mart for some last minute souvenir shopping. You are able to walk from the back door of K-Mart over to the mall and we went to Sears there and picked up some shirts for our son. I got some neat things for the girls at work at K-Mart – some Hawaiian made bath crystals and other things. K-Mart didn’t seem to have as much as Wal-Mart in Hilo did, though.

 

That evening we sat on the balcony as we drifted past the Na Pali coast line. Another beautiful site and quite different from the way we’d seen it with AirVentures.

 

Day Seven – Honolulu

 

We had a late flight from Honolulu to Atlanta so we decided to visit Pearl Harbor. This memorial is a very somber, touching place. We walked around the area before our time to see the Arizona Memorial and it was just very touching to me. My father had served in the Navy during WWII and wanted a memento from Pearl Harbor. I got him a book written by Brigadier General, USMC, (Retired) Jerome T. Hagen. He happened to be there for a book signing that day, so I had him sign it to my father.

 

When they called our number, we went to the theatre to watch a movie with background and history of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Then we boarded the ferry to the Arizona Memorial. Again, very somber and touching for me. Just to know that I was walking above the wrecked ship and to know that those men’s bones are still in the waters below my feet, made me very proud to be an American. You can see parts of the wreckage sticking out of the water and there are several oil leaks still coming from the ship after all these years. There is a huge wall dedicated to those men with all their names and that is also very touching.

 

Once at the airport, we had time to walk around and get something to eat. This airport is so nice. There’s a huge courtyard area with a large flowing pond with the biggest koi I’ve ever seen. It had trees, plants, water falls, pagodas – just very peaceful and nice to walk around in. There were benches all around this area if you wanted to sit and enjoy the peacefulness of it.

 

It was finally time to board the plane for that 8.5 hr. flight home. Took 9.5 hrs. to get there and I have to compliment Delta. On the flight down we had two snacks and a lunch that was pretty dang good for airplane food. On the flight back to Atlanta, they fed us one snack and dinner. This was all at no extra charge. The lunch and dinner were a lot more than we got from USAirways in May for five bucks and the chicken was warm! We did purchase earphones going out so we could watch the three movies they provided. Mine worked fine, but DH’s didn’t. His earphones worked when plugged into my seat, but not his, so his seat where they plugged into was not working. Coming home his worked, but I could only hear out of one side of mine. Every so often I’d plug them in upside down so I hear into the other ear for a while.

 

Another easy thing with Delta was booking our seats. We had booked the air through NCL since it was cheaper than booking ourselves. We kept reading on CC all the problems people had getting their seats assigned so I was dreading this. Once I got my e-mail from NCL and got our flight numbers and times, DH and I got on Delta’s website and picked the seats we wanted. I called Delta and told them the seats we wanted and they assigned them to us with no hassle. Took about 10 minutes and they e-mailed me an itinerary with assignments within 20-30 minutes. I’m really beginning to like Delta, just don’t like having to change planes in Atlanta.

 

Miscellaneous Stuff

 

Our initial cabin, 7522, was directly over the Mardi Gras lounge and since we went to bed before the party people, we were not able to sleep because the music radiated up to our cabin. It seemed as if the speakers were right under our bed. I called the second night to complain and the desk said they’d ask the DJ to turn the volume down. I believe he did, but we could still hear it. On Tuesday night, the same thing. At around 1:30 a.m. I called and asked the desk to have the hotel director to try to move us. I was very nice, but firm. She said she would have him call us. When we got back from our day in Kona, we stopped by the desk before going to our cabin to talk to the hotel director. He took us to his office and said that Katrina had talked to him at 7:00 a.m. about my call and he had spoken with the DJ and the cruise director about it. Unfortunately, there were no other cabins he could move us to. He offered an on-board credit but DH told him we weren’t trying to get anything out of it, we just wanted it quieter. He was very appreciative that we were not more angry and upset than we were. He made reservations for us at Lazy J’s Steakhouse for that evening and picked up the tab for our dinner.

 

The Latitudes party was that evening just before our reservation at Lazy J’s and as we were going through the reception line, Mr. O’Hara pulled me aside and said that a cabin had just opened up on deck 10 and they would be moving us. He was excited about it and I didn’t want to give up my balcony since we’d picked this cabin because its balcony was a little larger than most, so I asked him if it had a balcony. He said, with hesitation, “Yes.” Then he said, “It’s a suite, you should take it.” A suite! How the heck did this just open up? DH and I found a table and were pondering this question when Mr. O’Hara brought our new keys to us. He said that this never happens but that he’d gotten a call from the people in that suite saying that they had a family emergency at home and had to leave. Man! I’m sorry for their emergency, but I was excited to have a suite! Turned out to be a Penthouse Suite!

 

After dinner we went up to check out our “new” cabin. Wow! I am so spoiled now! The balcony was twice the size of old balcony and the room itself was probably double if not more in size. The bed was a king and a half (we had a king in the former cabin and I’m not exaggerating when I say that this was a king and a half!) It also had a sofa that opened to a bed the same size. We had a flat screen TV with a DVD player!!!! A walk-in closet and a desk and vanity area! Girls, you would love this vanity…bright lights and a magnified make-up mirror! I’m telling ya, I’m spoiled now…every cruise from here on out will have to be a suite.

 

Food: Like I said we were not impressed with the food. Can’t even remember what we had and since I didn’t gain any weight, it couldn’t have been very memorable! Even our complimentary dinner in Lazy J’s was not all that good. Mr. O’Hara had first said he’d give us dinner at Jefferson’s Bistro and then we talked about Lazy J’s. Since DH had said he wanted to eat there when we booked the cruise, I said that he would probably enjoy that more so that’s where he booked us. It was lobster night and DH wished he’d eaten in the main dining room so he could have ordered three or four lobsters!

 

I was impressed with the kid sized buffet…cute little area just for kids with a buffet at their height and little tables and chairs.

 

We brought an insulated lunch box from home and filled up baggies with fruit and rolls from the buffet each morning for our lunches. On the Road to Hana day, we ordered sandwiches from room service that morning. This was a great way to save money since everything is expensive on the islands and in some cases we weren’t able to find a restaurant where we were.

 

The Ship: The ship was really pretty and very clean. Our cabins were both always cleaned up and no dirty sheets liked we’d read about. Our first cabin stewardess was Shequita from Virginia. Someone else had mentioned her in their review and she was very good. Very sweet girl and loved our Cruise Critic door sign I’d put on the door. Danailo from the Philippines was our steward for the suite and he did an excellent job also.

 

I was never cold like some others had mentioned. Never needed a jacket or sweater anywhere and our first cabin was never cold enough for us. The suite, however, had a great air conditioner and got cold enough for us.

 

The Staff: We actually enjoyed the American crew very much. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. We encountered no rude staff at all. The staff that we talked to even said they were proud to work on the America.

 

Entertainment: We only saw Chris Alpine’s first show. He is very funny and we enjoyed him. We saw Milano’s magic show and he was pretty good; we’d seen him on other cruises. The only production show we watched was “On the Radio” and it was pretty good.

 

Embarkation and Debarkation: Both were very smooth and easy. We bought the Easy Fly program for $20 a person. With this program, you are given your boarding passes and airline tags for your luggage. You simply put the airline tags on your luggage instead of the ones they give you and set it outside your cabin the night before like you normally would. Your luggage, however, does not go to the pier terminal for pick up the next morning; it goes directly to the airport and you don’t see it again until you get to your home airport. This was great for us because we had a late flight and wanted to visit Pearl Harbor. You can’t take bags of any kind into the memorial area so this worked great for us. When we got off the ship it appeared that almost everyone had opted for the Easy Fly as there were very few bags waiting to be picked up. Lucky for those guys – this made it easy for them for find their luggage!

 

Be sure to check your boarding passes and luggage tags carefully, though. I had boarding passes for both our flights (Honolulu to Atlanta and Atlanta to Charlotte). DH only had a boarding pass from Atlanta to Charlotte. We went to the reception desk and the girl I spoke with said that the host server to Delta was down and that’s why he didn’t get his first boarding pass. We could get it at the airport. This upset me since the whole purpose of the program is to not have to go through check-in at the airport! I asked her to try again and after a few minutes Gary comes out and says that DH was not accepted into the program for the first leg of the flights. I said that didn’t make sense that he would be accepted for the second leg and not the first. He said “that’s why we tell you that about 9% don’t get accepted for one reason or another.” I kept saying that didn’t make sense and he sarcastically said that he could cancel the whole program for us. We got really upset at that comment and I kept pushing him to try again. We waited for about 30 minutes and he comes out and magically DH had his boarding pass for the first leg! Gary was very nice by this time since we had dropped Mr. O’Hara’s name during the conversation.

 

Once back in our cabin we began packing and DH said he didn’t think the tags were correct. I looked at them and they were for the Charlotte flight number and departure time. So off to reception I go. They printed luggage tags for him for Honolulu to Atlanta. Back in the cabin, I look at them carefully and discover that they said Honolulu, but had the Atlanta to Charlotte flight number and departure time. Off I go, a little faster this time, to the reception desk. I was standing in line with one hand on my hip, not looking very happy. Gary comes out and sees me and waves me over. I show him that DH’s tags don’t match my Honolulu tags. Very nicely and apologetically, Gary, prints correct tags for DH. Now I can finish packing!

 

Other than the Easy Fly fiasco and the music from the lounge, this was a fantastic trip. A cruise is the best way to see the beautiful state of Hawai’i. I’d do it again if I didn’t have to fly 9.5 hours!:D

[Terre]

I forgot to mention that if you go to the lava tube, be sure to take a flashlight and wear old shoes. It is wet and somewhat muddy inside the tube.

[whale-watcher]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review...we will remember to pack a flashlight!

[skogler]

Terre,

 

What about the dress code in the dining rooms? My wife wants to know whether to pack pants, skirts, or even jeans. I know it is supposed to be very laid back.

 

Did you have any problem parking your rental car in Maui? I have heard mixed comments regarding the parking around the port.

 

Thanks,

Scott

[Terre]

Scott,

 

I took two nice pair of capris with some "Hawai'ian" shirts to go with them. I took a long skirt and top for formal night but we forgot about it being formal night and I wore the casual capris that I wore on the airplane to dinner that night. It was about half and half with people dressed formal. You can wear jeans in the Skyline dining room , but not the Liberty. They did turn people away there. Of course you can't wear them to the specialty restaurants.

 

She won't be out of place with whatever she wears.

 

We returned around 4:30 on our fist day in Maui and had no problem parking along the sea wall, but you may want to park farther down where no one can block you in. The next morning we saw a lot of double parking. If you are later that 5:00 coming back, you may have to park at the airport and take the shuttle back. I think it runs until around 10:00 p.m.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[UlvaZell]

so much for such a comprehensive review. DW and I will sail on POAm in June...

[Sally Forth]

Great review, but there is also a good lesson in there for how to effectively complain. Your decency and good manners were well rewarded!

 

Viv

[ohioNCLcruiser]

Great review and congrats on your cabin upgrade! John O'Hara is a great hotel director and im very happy to be working on his ship. Thanks for the nice comments about the crew also. James

[Terre]

James, you are so right! Mr. O'Hara is very nice and we appreciate his concern and willingness to help us so much. BTW, we met you the first day as we were strolling through the buffet. So many of the crew we met and talked to feel the same as you -- they are proud to be on staff of the America. That says a lot to me about those running the ship!

 

Viv, you are so right...I have found that you really do get more and people will go out of their way to help you when you are nice when complaining.

 

UlvaZell, you will love the ship and the itinerary. Just don't forget to change the dial on your door!

[KTG UK]

Just a warning, this is a long review.

 

NCL Pride of America to Hawai’i

December 15 through 22, 2007

16th cruise, 2nd with NCL

 

 

Pictures:

 

We began our journey from Charlotte to Atlanta at 7:15 a.m. on the 15th. Once in Atlanta we left around 10:00 for Honolulu. We arrived there at around 3:15 and the NCL representatives were right there to take us to our luggage. Once everyone had their luggage, we were taken to the shuttle and we began the most awesome vacation!

 

Embarkation was a breeze…we didn’t have to wait at all to check in. Once in our cabin, we changed into our shorts and headed to the buffet, which was closed. My only complaint about this ship…the buffet closes around 3:30 and when you’re used to other lines having an almost 24-hr. buffet, it’s tough. We headed to the Cadillac Diner. DH had the famous warm chocolate brownie and I had the spinach dip. The Cadillac is a fun place to eat and we ate there two more times during the week.

 

We began to explore the ship and she really is beautiful. We had read some very negative reviews early on about the ship being dirty, unfriendly or rude staff, etc., but we saw none of that. In fact, the ship was exceptionally clean and I really enjoyed the American staff. Everyone was very friendly and helpful and it was very nice to be able to understand what they were saying to you!

 

We had dinner in the Skyline Dining Room and honestly, I can’t remember what I had, I think it was grouper the first night. None of the food stood out as good to us – not like on other ships we’d sailed. It was okay, but nothing to write home about. I did LOVE those Belgian waffles, though; had that every morning!

 

By 8:00 the first night I was ready for bed; it was 1:00 a.m. in my hometown for goodness sake! And we’d been on airplanes for over 9 hours that morning.

 

Day One – Hilo

 

It was raining when we hit Hilo so we decided to visit Volcanoes National Park. We’d rented a car from Alamo and the shuttle took us there almost as soon as we got off the ship. Got the car with little or no wait and took off. The shuttle driver was very nice and told us how to drive in Hilo and which highways to stay on. Perfect advice! We drove around the park for a while and then headed the other direction to Akaka Falls. By this time the skies were clearing and we saw some awesome falls. Akaka Falls and Rainbow Falls are spectacular! All in all this day was pretty good.

 

We stopped at Wal-Mart for some souvenir shopping before turning in our car. Picked up some Hawai’ian made soaps for the girls at work and some calendars with pictures of Hawai’i.

 

Day Two – Maui

 

In Maui, we rented our car from Budget and again we got the first shuttle and got the car with little wait. We headed out for the Road to Hana. We had checked out the “Revealed” books from the library and this proved to be very helpful. We made copies of the pages we needed and followed it carefully. We saw almost everything we set out to see this day. The “Maui Revealed” book was great – it told you what mile marker to look for to see certain sites. We saw many water falls, but the best one was the Waikaui Falls or the Three Bears Falls. This waterfall is awesome! I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere. The Caribbean has nothing that can top Hawai’i when it comes to waterfalls!

 

After we got to Hana we kept driving and came to the Wai’anapanapa Black Sand Beach. Another great find! This place is absolutely gorgeous! Wonderful views of the ocean from the top and the sand really is black! Just past mile marker 42 is Haleakala National Park and this is where the Seven Sacred Pools is located. You have to hike into this park to find the beautiful water falls and other sites, but it is worth the time. We didn’t go far enough to find the pools and there really aren’t seven anyway according to the Revealed book.

 

Day Three – Lahaina

 

On this day we set out to Lahaina to go whale watching with the Pacific Whale Foundation. The town of Lahaina is a quaint little place that is so peaceful. We walked around until our 10:30 reservation and loved every minute of it. The Old Courthouse is covered with Banyan Trees. I am amazed at how these trees just keep growing out of each other.

 

Around 10:00 we headed down to the pier for our whale watching trip and what a trip! We saw around 5-6 whales and I got some great shots of those flukes! We couldn’t get too close so I had my zoom as close as I could get it. When we started out, we had some spinner dolphins that followed the boat. They tried very hard to stay in front, but eventually they had to give up and let us go on without them. On the way back we saw several sea turtles and our guides called it a “grand slam” day because we had the dolphins, whales, and turtles all in one day. That doesn’t usually happen according to them.

 

On the way back to the ship, we stopped at a beach for a while and then stopped along the way for more of those beautiful sites.

 

Day Four – Kona

 

In Kona we rented our car from Dollar at the King Kamehameha Hotel and as usual no waiting. DH had done extensive research on the boards for all of this stuff and we got the best rates possible on all of our cars. Here we had a PT Cruiser…cute little car.

 

We headed south and stopped first at the Painted Church. Very pretty little church. All the walls and ceiling are painted with scenes from the Bible. Very peaceful place with an old cemetery in the front and a newer one in the back.

From here we headed to the Pu’uhonua o HÇnanau or House of Refuge National Park. Very interesting place. This was the home of the Kona District of the Island of Hawai’i. What makes this place sacred is the bones of the chiefs. Separated from the royal grounds by a massive wall was the place of refuge for defeated warriors and those who violated the sacred laws. Those people came here for safety. It had not been used for many years and in 1819 Kamehameha, II abolished traditional religious practices and many of the old religious sites and structures were destroyed. It became a county park in the 1920s and a national historical park in 1961.

 

From here we drove around and stopped at Greenwell Coffee Plantation and sampled some coffees; didn’t take a tour, though. Again the “Big Island Revealed” book came in very handy for mapping out our trip. While searching for a gas station to fill up our car before we turned it in, we found a Costco. Since gas on the islands is around $3.67 we filled up at Costco and decided to have lunch there. The hot dog and drink is the same price as it is at home -- $1.50. Anywhere else on the islands hot dogs are $3.50! We left Costco and found another peaceful beach near a park. We hung out there for a while and then went to the park and ate the fruit we’d brought from the buffet before turning in our car.

 

That evening we went to the Luau. This is the only thing we booked through the ship. The cast was great and the story was really nice and we enjoyed that part. The food was not that good and I only ate a little of what I’d taken from the buffet. DH said it was as good as a $10 buffet. I guess being from NC (barbeque country) this pig just didn’t stack up to what we have at home. But we did enjoy the show and that was mostly what we wanted to experience. It was a love story and history of how the people came to the islands. The main couple in the story had gotten separated and in the end found each other and got married.

 

Days Five & Six – Kauai

 

On our first day in Kauai, we had decided on AirVentures after reading reviews on Cruise Critic. We loved this tour. We had initially reserved a car here for both days, but decided to cancel the car that morning since AirVentures would pick us up and there were free shuttles to all the stores in town. I called AirVentures to make sure they’d pick us up and then cancelled the rental car. No problems. AirVentures met us around 10:00 and we were scheduled for 10:30. As it turned out, they were running late and said they’d come back around 10:30 to get us for an 11:00 flight. We hung out for a while and the driver called us right at 10:25 and said he was on his way to get us. Once in the air we were awed again by the beautiful sites below. This was a great way to see island. From high in the sky, we saw Jurassic Falls as well as many other canyons and mountains. I am simply amazed that such a beautiful place was created out of fire and hardened lava.

 

After we got back to the ship, we just hung around and lounged on our balcony. The next day we took the free shuttle to K-Mart for some last minute souvenir shopping. You are able to walk from the back door of K-Mart over to the mall and we went to Sears there and picked up some shirts for our son. I got some neat things for the girls at work at K-Mart – some Hawaiian made bath crystals and other things. K-Mart didn’t seem to have as much as Wal-Mart in Hilo did, though.

 

That evening we sat on the balcony as we drifted past the Na Pali coast line. Another beautiful site and quite different from the way we’d seen it with AirVentures.

 

Day Seven – Honolulu

 

We had a late flight from Honolulu to Atlanta so we decided to visit Pearl Harbor. This memorial is a very somber, touching place. We walked around the area before our time to see the Arizona Memorial and it was just very touching to me. My father had served in the Navy during WWII and wanted a memento from Pearl Harbor. I got him a book written by Brigadier General, USMC, (Retired) Jerome T. Hagen. He happened to be there for a book signing that day, so I had him sign it to my father.

 

When they called our number, we went to the theatre to watch a movie with background and history of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Then we boarded the ferry to the Arizona Memorial. Again, very somber and touching for me. Just to know that I was walking above the wrecked ship and to know that those men’s bones are still in the waters below my feet, made me very proud to be an American. You can see parts of the wreckage sticking out of the water and there are several oil leaks still coming from the ship after all these years. There is a huge wall dedicated to those men with all their names and that is also very touching.

 

Once at the airport, we had time to walk around and get something to eat. This airport is so nice. There’s a huge courtyard area with a large flowing pond with the biggest koi I’ve ever seen. It had trees, plants, water falls, pagodas – just very peaceful and nice to walk around in. There were benches all around this area if you wanted to sit and enjoy the peacefulness of it.

 

It was finally time to board the plane for that 8.5 hr. flight home. Took 9.5 hrs. to get there and I have to compliment Delta. On the flight down we had two snacks and a lunch that was pretty dang good for airplane food. On the flight back to Atlanta, they fed us one snack and dinner. This was all at no extra charge. The lunch and dinner were a lot more than we got from USAirways in May for five bucks and the chicken was warm! We did purchase earphones going out so we could watch the three movies they provided. Mine worked fine, but DH’s didn’t. His earphones worked when plugged into my seat, but not his, so his seat where they plugged into was not working. Coming home his worked, but I could only hear out of one side of mine. Every so often I’d plug them in upside down so I hear into the other ear for a while.

 

Another easy thing with Delta was booking our seats. We had booked the air through NCL since it was cheaper than booking ourselves. We kept reading on CC all the problems people had getting their seats assigned so I was dreading this. Once I got my e-mail from NCL and got our flight numbers and times, DH and I got on Delta’s website and picked the seats we wanted. I called Delta and told them the seats we wanted and they assigned them to us with no hassle. Took about 10 minutes and they e-mailed me an itinerary with assignments within 20-30 minutes. I’m really beginning to like Delta, just don’t like having to change planes in Atlanta.

 

Miscellaneous Stuff

 

Our initial cabin, 7522, was directly over the Mardi Gras lounge and since we went to bed before the party people, we were not able to sleep because the music radiated up to our cabin. It seemed as if the speakers were right under our bed. I called the second night to complain and the desk said they’d ask the DJ to turn the volume down. I believe he did, but we could still hear it. On Tuesday night, the same thing. At around 1:30 a.m. I called and asked the desk to have the hotel director to try to move us. I was very nice, but firm. She said she would have him call us. When we got back from our day in Kona, we stopped by the desk before going to our cabin to talk to the hotel director. He took us to his office and said that Katrina had talked to him at 7:00 a.m. about my call and he had spoken with the DJ and the cruise director about it. Unfortunately, there were no other cabins he could move us to. He offered an on-board credit but DH told him we weren’t trying to get anything out of it, we just wanted it quieter. He was very appreciative that we were not more angry and upset than we were. He made reservations for us at Lazy J’s Steakhouse for that evening and picked up the tab for our dinner.

 

The Latitudes party was that evening just before our reservation at Lazy J’s and as we were going through the reception line, Mr. O’Hara pulled me aside and said that a cabin had just opened up on deck 10 and they would be moving us. He was excited about it and I didn’t want to give up my balcony since we’d picked this cabin because its balcony was a little larger than most, so I asked him if it had a balcony. He said, with hesitation, “Yes.” Then he said, “It’s a suite, you should take it.” A suite! How the heck did this just open up? DH and I found a table and were pondering this question when Mr. O’Hara brought our new keys to us. He said that this never happens but that he’d gotten a call from the people in that suite saying that they had a family emergency at home and had to leave. Man! I’m sorry for their emergency, but I was excited to have a suite! Turned out to be a Penthouse Suite!

 

After dinner we went up to check out our “new” cabin. Wow! I am so spoiled now! The balcony was twice the size of old balcony and the room itself was probably double if not more in size. The bed was a king and a half (we had a king in the former cabin and I’m not exaggerating when I say that this was a king and a half!) It also had a sofa that opened to a bed the same size. We had a flat screen TV with a DVD player!!!! A walk-in closet and a desk and vanity area! Girls, you would love this vanity…bright lights and a magnified make-up mirror! I’m telling ya, I’m spoiled now…every cruise from here on out will have to be a suite.

 

Food: Like I said we were not impressed with the food. Can’t even remember what we had and since I didn’t gain any weight, it couldn’t have been very memorable! Even our complimentary dinner in Lazy J’s was not all that good. Mr. O’Hara had first said he’d give us dinner at Jefferson’s Bistro and then we talked about Lazy J’s. Since DH had said he wanted to eat there when we booked the cruise, I said that he would probably enjoy that more so that’s where he booked us. It was lobster night and DH wished he’d eaten in the main dining room so he could have ordered three or four lobsters!

 

I was impressed with the kid sized buffet…cute little area just for kids with a buffet at their height and little tables and chairs.

 

We brought an insulated lunch box from home and filled up baggies with fruit and rolls from the buffet each morning for our lunches. On the Road to Hana day, we ordered sandwiches from room service that morning. This was a great way to save money since everything is expensive on the islands and in some cases we weren’t able to find a restaurant where we were.

 

The Ship: The ship was really pretty and very clean. Our cabins were both always cleaned up and no dirty sheets liked we’d read about. Our first cabin stewardess was Shequita from Virginia. Someone else had mentioned her in their review and she was very good. Very sweet girl and loved our Cruise Critic door sign I’d put on the door. Danailo from the Philippines was our steward for the suite and he did an excellent job also.

 

I was never cold like some others had mentioned. Never needed a jacket or sweater anywhere and our first cabin was never cold enough for us. The suite, however, had a great air conditioner and got cold enough for us.

 

The Staff: We actually enjoyed the American crew very much. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. We encountered no rude staff at all. The staff that we talked to even said they were proud to work on the America.

 

Entertainment: We only saw Chris Alpine’s first show. He is very funny and we enjoyed him. We saw Milano’s magic show and he was pretty good; we’d seen him on other cruises. The only production show we watched was “On the Radio” and it was pretty good.

 

Embarkation and Debarkation: Both were very smooth and easy. We bought the Easy Fly program for $20 a person. With this program, you are given your boarding passes and airline tags for your luggage. You simply put the airline tags on your luggage instead of the ones they give you and set it outside your cabin the night before like you normally would. Your luggage, however, does not go to the pier terminal for pick up the next morning; it goes directly to the airport and you don’t see it again until you get to your home airport. This was great for us because we had a late flight and wanted to visit Pearl Harbor. You can’t take bags of any kind into the memorial area so this worked great for us. When we got off the ship it appeared that almost everyone had opted for the Easy Fly as there were very few bags waiting to be picked up. Lucky for those guys – this made it easy for them for find their luggage!

 

Be sure to check your boarding passes and luggage tags carefully, though. I had boarding passes for both our flights (Honolulu to Atlanta and Atlanta to Charlotte). DH only had a boarding pass from Atlanta to Charlotte. We went to the reception desk and the girl I spoke with said that the host server to Delta was down and that’s why he didn’t get his first boarding pass. We could get it at the airport. This upset me since the whole purpose of the program is to not have to go through check-in at the airport! I asked her to try again and after a few minutes Gary comes out and says that DH was not accepted into the program for the first leg of the flights. I said that didn’t make sense that he would be accepted for the second leg and not the first. He said “that’s why we tell you that about 9% don’t get accepted for one reason or another.” I kept saying that didn’t make sense and he sarcastically said that he could cancel the whole program for us. We got really upset at that comment and I kept pushing him to try again. We waited for about 30 minutes and he comes out and magically DH had his boarding pass for the first leg! Gary was very nice by this time since we had dropped Mr. O’Hara’s name during the conversation.

 

Once back in our cabin we began packing and DH said he didn’t think the tags were correct. I looked at them and they were for the Charlotte flight number and departure time. So off to reception I go. They printed luggage tags for him for Honolulu to Atlanta. Back in the cabin, I look at them carefully and discover that they said Honolulu, but had the Atlanta to Charlotte flight number and departure time. Off I go, a little faster this time, to the reception desk. I was standing in line with one hand on my hip, not looking very happy. Gary comes out and sees me and waves me over. I show him that DH’s tags don’t match my Honolulu tags. Very nicely and apologetically, Gary, prints correct tags for DH. Now I can finish packing!

 

Other than the Easy Fly fiasco and the music from the lounge, this was a fantastic trip. A cruise is the best way to see the beautiful state of Hawai’i. I’d do it again if I didn’t have to fly 9.5 hours!:D

 

 

Hi, Lovely review. just wondered what cabin you got moved to?

 

Thanks x

[Terre]

Thank you KTG, I can't remember the number, but it was 10 something and was the last one on the left just beside the Owner's Suite. I'll dig through my "stuff" that's still waiting to be put into a scrap book and find it...someone else had asked that question. If you look at my pictures, you'll see why I loved that suite so much!

[Terre]

Okay, the first cabin number was 7522; our Penthouse Suite was 10508.

[FencingCruiser]

Thanks for posting that great slideshow. You did pretty close to the activities I had in mind so it was especially exciting to see all the awesome sights. Plus I am excited to see pics of the pride of am now that I am switched over :)

[Terre]

Glad you enjoyed them. I go back and look at them almost every week wishing I was still there!

[dnoble74]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review of the POAm cruise. The pictures are so good! My son and I are booked on this ship for 10-25-08 cruise, a family reunion. Mom is from Hilo and though we have been to Hawaii quite a few times, this cruise will be a very different way to experience it.

 

Aloha, Debbie

[Terre]

Oh, Debbie, you will love the POAm. I believe a cruise is a good way to see Hawai'i...in fact, we had several people on our cruise who lived in Hawai'i!

[David West]

Terre,

Thanks for sharing your review. You gave me so much useful tips and information.

 

I'm hoping to book this cruise in sept. 2009 . If I can get the wife to fly for 8.5 - 9.0 hours. :eek:

 

Thanks ;

[Terre]

Thanks, David, and good luck with the wife. I love to fly but it is a long, tiring flight, but I'd do again in a heartbeat! I loved Hawai'i.

 

Glad you were able to get some tips from my review. Happy Sailing!