Review: NCL WIND Sept. 11-22, 2004

[kapoho2]

PREFACE: Although we live on the Big Island of Hawaii, we still enjoy exploring the islands and consider a cruise the best way to do this. We cruised the 7-nt Hawaii cruise on thte STAR in Sept. 2003 and were scheduled on the canceled STAR repo cruise from HNL in May 2004. We decided to use our credit from the canceled STAR cruise and book the WIND. We knew going into this that the WIND is not the big glitzy ship like the STAR. We have also previously cruised on the Sun Princess, NCL Sea, and Grand Princess.

 

EMBARKATION: After a short 35 minute flight from Hilo to Honolulu, we jumped in a cab and headed to the pier arriving about 1pm. There were lines for baggage check-in, but they moved quickly, and we were soon inside the terminal enjoying OJ and waiting to check in. Once we checked in we went up the escalator where the ladies were presented with beautiful orchid leis and the men were given shell leis. Nice touch that we did not get on our STAR cruise last year.

 

SPECIAL NOTE: At home that morning, the news was constantly reminding us of the horrible events of Sept 11th three years ago. Once arriving at the terminal, I remember thinking to myself that we were really lucky to be in the midst of so many happy and excited cruisers enjoying the anticipation of the next 11 days. At 5 pm that day, the cruise line had a memorial service to remember the victims of 9/11. This was supposed to be up on the pool deck, but a rain shower made them change it to the Stardust Lounge at the last minute. We attended this ceremony, and it was very well done. Singers from the Jean Ann Ryan Company sang the Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America, and the ship's captain said a few words and led us all in a moment of silence. A very nice gesture by NCL.

 

CABIN: We were in cabin 6155..an inside cabin on the Atlantic Deck. It was very spacious, bright and cheerful. Actually nicer than the inside cabin we had on the STAR last year (although the bathrooms on the STAR are incredible)...but this cabin was more than comfortable for the two of us.

 

SHIP: The WIND is easy to figure out....entertainment FWD and food AFT. We knew our way around really quickly. This ship has so many windows...I understand why it was so popular in Alaska. There are many places on the ship where you can stand in the middle of the ship and look out the windows on both sides. We especially enjoyed the Observatory Lounge on Deck 12 FWD with it's wrap around windows. In fact, due to the rain in HNL during sailaway, we sat up there and enjoyed the sailaway view.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: There was plenty to do on the WIND. The Jean Ann Ryan Company is always great and we caught all of their shows. Our favorite was "Jump, Jive & Wail". The lounge entertainment was also good. Jose and Patti performed in the Observatory Lounge nightly...and quickly gained a big following who caught their shows every evening. There was also a pianist named "Skippy" who played in Lucky's Lounge nightly. We could never figure out Skippy...does he have a last name? why is he playing in the dark?...but Skippy was always there!!

 

ANOTHER SPECIAL NOTE: Fred Klett...a comedian, did two shows on different nights. Wear your "Depends" folks....this guy is laugh-out-loud hysterically funny. What a treat!!!

 

FOOD: We ate at all three main restaurants...the Four Seasons, the Terraces, and the Sun Terrace (Trattoria). Enjoyed them all and never felt the need to eat at Le Bistro. Most evenings, the Four Seasons and the Terraces had the same menu, and the Trattoria was slightly (Italian) different. However, on certain nights, like the Captain' Farewell Dinner, all three restaurants had the same menu. All three restaurants have walls of windows and are beautifully decorated. We quicly settled into a routine...cocktails, then off to the 8 o'clock show and then dinner...so we rarely had any wait to be seated.

 

We are not big breakfast eaters, so grabbing a quick cup of coffee and juice at the Pizzeria or the Sport's Bar buffet worked for us. We took our coffee and sat out on deck. We also enjoyed the BBQ by the pool for lunch on sea days, but one day we did sit down lunch in the Four Seasons. Other days we ate lunch at the Sport's Bar or the Pizzeria.

 

POOLS: We very much enjoyed the pool decks on this ship. There are plenty of loungers and lots of nooks and crannies to settle into and enjoy the view or a good book. The Splash Pool Bar is a nice extra...two round pools with benches all around and little cocktail tables built into the pool...a great social place to meet fellow cruisers. We never made it to the pool on Deck 9...yet another place to enjoy the sea days.

 

PORTS: For obvious reasons, we did not disembark in Hilo. On Maui, we booked the Atlantis Submarine tour through the ship from Kahului. This same tour is offered in both Kahului and Lahaina, but we opted to do it from Kahului to enjoy the 45 minute bus ride across the island at no additional cost. The submarine was awesome. We will do it again. In Lahaina, we tendered and walked around town for shopping and a shave ice. In Kauai, we booked the "Kauai Movie Tour" on our own. They picked us up at the pier. We drove around the island and watched clips of movies or TV shows on a monitor in the minivan...and then got out and explored the actual sights where these movies and shows were filmed. In between sights, they had us singing theme songs!! A wonderful overview of the island of Kauai...and really fun, Highly recommended!!!

 

We were looking forward to returning to Fanning Island and could see the "progress" that the regular NCL visits has brought to the island. We tendered over to the island and swam, shopped, had lunch and celebrated my husband's birthday. In Kona, we stayed onboard, along with about four other people (!!), and pretended we were enjoying our own private yacht!!

 

SEA DAYS: Tons of activities were available...from Bingo to financial seminars to talks on digital camera use. My husband I were so busy one day...we had to laugh..we felt like high-schoolers running from class to class. Lots to do!!

 

FELLOW PASSENGERS: We met people of all ages from all over the world. Everone seemd to be having a good time and all shows and activities were wery well attended. According to one of the Youth Counselors, there were only 17 kids onbaord...12 of which were participating in the Kid's Program.

 

THOUGHTS: We loved this cruise. Although the WIND is not big or glitzy, it is comfortable, well taken care of and very clean and bright. We plan to do this cruise again before this ship is retired. The price is more than right and it is a terrific value.

 

There are so many more things I could write about, but this is long enough...so if you have any questions....fire away!!

[maryjoe]

PREFACE: Although we live on the Big Island of Hawaii, we still enjoy exploring the islands and consider a cruise the best way to do this. We cruised the 7-nt Hawaii cruise on thte STAR in Sept. 2003 and were scheduled on the canceled STAR repo cruise from HNL in May 2004. We decided to use our credit from the canceled STAR cruise and book the WIND. We knew going into this that the WIND is not the big glitzy ship like the STAR. We have also previously cruised on the Sun Princess, NCL Sea, and Grand Princess.

 

EMBARKATION: After a short 35 minute flight from Hilo to Honolulu, we jumped in a cab and headed to the pier arriving about 1pm. There were lines for baggage check-in, but they moved quickly, and we were soon inside the terminal enjoying OJ and waiting to check in. Once we checked in we went up the escalator where the ladies were presented with beautiful orchid leis and the men were given shell leis. Nice touch that we did not get on our STAR cruise last year.

 

SPECIAL NOTE: At home that morning, the news was constantly reminding us of the horrible events of Sept 11th three years ago. Once arriving at the terminal, I remember thinking to myself that we were really lucky to be in the midst of so many happy and excited cruisers enjoying the anticipation of the next 11 days. At 5 pm that day, the cruise line had a memorial service to remember the victims of 9/11. This was supposed to be up on the pool deck, but a rain shower made them change it to the Stardust Lounge at the last minute. We attended this ceremony, and it was very well done. Singers from the Jean Ann Ryan Company sang the Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America, and the ship's captain said a few words and led us all in a moment of silence. A very nice gesture by NCL.

 

CABIN: We were in cabin 6155..an inside cabin on the Atlantic Deck. It was very spacious, bright and cheerful. Actually nicer than the inside cabin we had on the STAR last year (although the bathrooms on the STAR are incredible)...but this cabin was more than comfortable for the two of us.

 

SHIP: The WIND is easy to figure out....entertainment FWD and food AFT. We knew our way around really quickly. This ship has so many windows...I understand why it was so popular in Alaska. There are many places on the ship where you can stand in the middle of the ship and look out the windows on both sides. We especially enjoyed the Observatory Lounge on Deck 12 FWD with it's wrap around windows. In fact, due to the rain in HNL during sailaway, we sat up there and enjoyed the sailaway view.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: There was plenty to do on the WIND. The Jean Ann Ryan Company is always great and we caught all of their shows. Our favorite was "Jump, Jive & Wail". The lounge entertainment was also good. Jose and Patti performed in the Observatory Lounge nightly...and quickly gained a big following who caught their shows every evening. There was also a pianist named "Skippy" who played in Lucky's Lounge nightly. We could never figure out Skippy...does he have a last name? why is he playing in the dark?...but Skippy was always there!!

 

ANOTHER SPECIAL NOTE: Fred Klett...a comedian, did two shows on different nights. Wear your "Depends" folks....this guy is laugh-out-loud hysterically funny. What a treat!!!

 

FOOD: We ate at all three main restaurants...the Four Seasons, the Terraces, and the Sun Terrace (Trattoria). Enjoyed them all and never felt the need to eat at Le Bistro. Most evenings, the Four Seasons and the Terraces had the same menu, and the Trattoria was slightly (Italian) different. However, on certain nights, like the Captain' Farewell Dinner, all three restaurants had the same menu. All three restaurants have walls of windows and are beautifully decorated. We quicly settled into a routine...cocktails, then off to the 8 o'clock show and then dinner...so we rarely had any wait to be seated.

 

We are not big breakfast eaters, so grabbing a quick cup of coffee and juice at the Pizzeria or the Sport's Bar buffet worked for us. We took our coffee and sat out on deck. We also enjoyed the BBQ by the pool for lunch on sea days, but one day we did sit down lunch in the Four Seasons. Other days we ate lunch at the Sport's Bar or the Pizzeria.

 

POOLS: We very much enjoyed the pool decks on this ship. There are plenty of loungers and lots of nooks and crannies to settle into and enjoy the view or a good book. The Splash Pool Bar is a nice extra...two round pools with benches all around and little cocktail tables built into the pool...a great social place to meet fellow cruisers. We never made it to the pool on Deck 9...yet another place to enjoy the sea days.

 

PORTS: For obvious reasons, we did not disembark in Hilo. On Maui, we booked the Atlantis Submarine tour through the ship from Kahului. This same tour is offered in both Kahului and Lahaina, but we opted to do it from Kahului to enjoy the 45 minute bus ride across the island at no additional cost. The submarine was awesome. We will do it again. In Lahaina, we tendered and walked around town for shopping and a shave ice. In Kauai, we booked the "Kauai Movie Tour" on our own. They picked us up at the pier. We drove around the island and watched clips of movies or TV shows on a monitor in the minivan...and then got out and explored the actual sights where these movies and shows were filmed. In between sights, they had us singing theme songs!! A wonderful overview of the island of Kauai...and really fun, Highly recommended!!!

 

We were looking forward to returning to Fanning Island and could see the "progress" that the regular NCL visits has brought to the island. We tendered over to the island and swam, shopped, had lunch and celebrated my husband's birthday. In Kona, we stayed onboard, along with about four other people (!!), and pretended we were enjoying our own private yacht!!

 

SEA DAYS: Tons of activities were available...from Bingo to financial seminars to talks on digital camera use. My husband I were so busy one day...we had to laugh..we felt like high-schoolers running from class to class. Lots to do!!

 

FELLOW PASSENGERS: We met people of all ages from all over the world. Everone seemd to be having a good time and all shows and activities were wery well attended. According to one of the Youth Counselors, there were only 17 kids onbaord...12 of which were participating in the Kid's Program.

 

THOUGHTS: We loved this cruise. Although the WIND is not big or glitzy, it is comfortable, well taken care of and very clean and bright. We plan to do this cruise again before this ship is retired. The price is more than right and it is a terrific value.

 

There are so many more things I could write about, but this is long enough...so if you have any questions....fire away!!

I'm glad to hear you had a great cruise on the Wind. We are also doing the Wind in Oct. Will post review. Can you tell me which days were formal nights? We're actually looking forward to them, since we don't often do so. Also, which day do they have the laundry bag deal.

[Ann&Chris]

Thanks Kapoho2. What a super review. I've been reading everything I can on cruising Hawaii, particularly on Norwegian Wind, and your comments have only made me more convinced that we should do it, despite the long flights! Since you are a local, I assume September to be a good time to do this cruise as we are thinking of mid-September next year.

Thanks again

Best wishes

Ann

[kapoho2]

On the 11- night WIND cruise the optional Formal Night was the evening of the first sea day heading down to Fanning Island. I'm not sure about the 10-night cruise. All other nights were listed as Resort Casual or Hawaiian. Some folks did dress up a little more for the Captain's Farewell Dinner on the next to the last night, when the photograhers were stationed all over the ship taking portraits. I would say about 50% of the passengers opted to dress up for the formal night. This is when the Captain also has a reception and the portrait photograhers are out in full force.

 

The laundry special was on Sunday, which was the 9th night of our cruise. It was for wash and press only (not dry cleaning) and the clothes had to be in the bag on Sunday morning and they would be returned Monday eve. We did not use this service, so I don't know anything else about it.

 

We like cruising in Sept. as the prices are usually very good. There is always the possibility of a hurricane here in the Pacific, but so far, the last two Septembers have been OK. Last year there was a hurricane...in late Aug. that caused the STAR to alter the itinerary and they did not go to Fanning Island. The weather here in Hawaii tends to be hot in Sept....so we enjoy being on the ocean to capture the ocean breezes.

[gena777]

PREFACE: Although we live on the Big Island of Hawaii, we still enjoy exploring the islands and consider a cruise the best way to do this. We cruised the 7-nt Hawaii cruise on thte STAR in Sept. 2003 and were scheduled on the canceled STAR repo cruise from HNL in May 2004. We decided to use our credit from the canceled STAR cruise and book the WIND. We knew going into this that the WIND is not the big glitzy ship like the STAR. We have also previously cruised on the Sun Princess, NCL Sea, and Grand Princess.

 

EMBARKATION: After a short 35 minute flight from Hilo to Honolulu, we jumped in a cab and headed to the pier arriving about 1pm. There were lines for baggage check-in, but they moved quickly, and we were soon inside the terminal enjoying OJ and waiting to check in. Once we checked in we went up the escalator where the ladies were presented with beautiful orchid leis and the men were given shell leis. Nice touch that we did not get on our STAR cruise last year.

 

SPECIAL NOTE: At home that morning, the news was constantly reminding us of the horrible events of Sept 11th three years ago. Once arriving at the terminal, I remember thinking to myself that we were really lucky to be in the midst of so many happy and excited cruisers enjoying the anticipation of the next 11 days. At 5 pm that day, the cruise line had a memorial service to remember the victims of 9/11. This was supposed to be up on the pool deck, but a rain shower made them change it to the Stardust Lounge at the last minute. We attended this ceremony, and it was very well done. Singers from the Jean Ann Ryan Company sang the Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America, and the ship's captain said a few words and led us all in a moment of silence. A very nice gesture by NCL.

 

CABIN: We were in cabin 6155..an inside cabin on the Atlantic Deck. It was very spacious, bright and cheerful. Actually nicer than the inside cabin we had on the STAR last year (although the bathrooms on the STAR are incredible)...but this cabin was more than comfortable for the two of us.

 

SHIP: The WIND is easy to figure out....entertainment FWD and food AFT. We knew our way around really quickly. This ship has so many windows...I understand why it was so popular in Alaska. There are many places on the ship where you can stand in the middle of the ship and look out the windows on both sides. We especially enjoyed the Observatory Lounge on Deck 12 FWD with it's wrap around windows. In fact, due to the rain in HNL during sailaway, we sat up there and enjoyed the sailaway view.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: There was plenty to do on the WIND. The Jean Ann Ryan Company is always great and we caught all of their shows. Our favorite was "Jump, Jive & Wail". The lounge entertainment was also good. Jose and Patti performed in the Observatory Lounge nightly...and quickly gained a big following who caught their shows every evening. There was also a pianist named "Skippy" who played in Lucky's Lounge nightly. We could never figure out Skippy...does he have a last name? why is he playing in the dark?...but Skippy was always there!!

 

ANOTHER SPECIAL NOTE: Fred Klett...a comedian, did two shows on different nights. Wear your "Depends" folks....this guy is laugh-out-loud hysterically funny. What a treat!!!

 

FOOD: We ate at all three main restaurants...the Four Seasons, the Terraces, and the Sun Terrace (Trattoria). Enjoyed them all and never felt the need to eat at Le Bistro. Most evenings, the Four Seasons and the Terraces had the same menu, and the Trattoria was slightly (Italian) different. However, on certain nights, like the Captain' Farewell Dinner, all three restaurants had the same menu. All three restaurants have walls of windows and are beautifully decorated. We quicly settled into a routine...cocktails, then off to the 8 o'clock show and then dinner...so we rarely had any wait to be seated.

 

We are not big breakfast eaters, so grabbing a quick cup of coffee and juice at the Pizzeria or the Sport's Bar buffet worked for us. We took our coffee and sat out on deck. We also enjoyed the BBQ by the pool for lunch on sea days, but one day we did sit down lunch in the Four Seasons. Other days we ate lunch at the Sport's Bar or the Pizzeria.

 

POOLS: We very much enjoyed the pool decks on this ship. There are plenty of loungers and lots of nooks and crannies to settle into and enjoy the view or a good book. The Splash Pool Bar is a nice extra...two round pools with benches all around and little cocktail tables built into the pool...a great social place to meet fellow cruisers. We never made it to the pool on Deck 9...yet another place to enjoy the sea days.

 

PORTS: For obvious reasons, we did not disembark in Hilo. On Maui, we booked the Atlantis Submarine tour through the ship from Kahului. This same tour is offered in both Kahului and Lahaina, but we opted to do it from Kahului to enjoy the 45 minute bus ride across the island at no additional cost. The submarine was awesome. We will do it again. In Lahaina, we tendered and walked around town for shopping and a shave ice. In Kauai, we booked the "Kauai Movie Tour" on our own. They picked us up at the pier. We drove around the island and watched clips of movies or TV shows on a monitor in the minivan...and then got out and explored the actual sights where these movies and shows were filmed. In between sights, they had us singing theme songs!! A wonderful overview of the island of Kauai...and really fun, Highly recommended!!!

 

We were looking forward to returning to Fanning Island and could see the "progress" that the regular NCL visits has brought to the island. We tendered over to the island and swam, shopped, had lunch and celebrated my husband's birthday. In Kona, we stayed onboard, along with about four other people (!!), and pretended we were enjoying our own private yacht!!

 

SEA DAYS: Tons of activities were available...from Bingo to financial seminars to talks on digital camera use. My husband I were so busy one day...we had to laugh..we felt like high-schoolers running from class to class. Lots to do!!

 

FELLOW PASSENGERS: We met people of all ages from all over the world. Everone seemd to be having a good time and all shows and activities were wery well attended. According to one of the Youth Counselors, there were only 17 kids onbaord...12 of which were participating in the Kid's Program.

 

THOUGHTS: We loved this cruise. Although the WIND is not big or glitzy, it is comfortable, well taken care of and very clean and bright. We plan to do this cruise again before this ship is retired. The price is more than right and it is a terrific value.

 

There are so many more things I could write about, but this is long enough...so if you have any questions....fire away!!

 

 

 

Kapoho2,

I am new at this site, so I hope I am doing this right.

Thanks for a great review! We are sailing the Wind Oct. 23, for the 11 day Hawaiian cruise. I have been reading the other reviews and getting alittle anxious. This is our first cruise so we are learning little tidbits from everyone who writes. Your review made me want to scream "I Can't WAIT, I WANT to CRUISE!" If there is any words of wisdom, or make sure you... or don't do... ect. please feel free to let me know. Glad to read you had a great time. My Husband and I have already decided to sit back and love it.

Thanks again,

Gena

[rtroeh]

I'm glad to see that Jose and Patti are still there. Patti has an incredible voice. We finished out every night in the Observatory lounge when we were on the Wind in February.

[cdbisme]

On the 10 night cruise, there was one formal night and it was also the first sea day. We did the cruise just before this one, the one that ended on Sep 11. It was an awesome cruise.

[kapoho2]

rtroeh,

 

You are right...Patti does have a great voice. And, they seem to have so much fun with the audience. It's hard not to enjoy their performances. I guess they will be on the WIND until Nov. on this contract....hope they keep coming back...I'd love to enjoy them again on our next WIND cruise.

[Welove2cruise2]

Is there a casino on board? It's my understanding there is not one on the POA, but wondered about the Wind... not that we like to gamble or anything:rolleyes:

[kapoho2]

Sorry...no casino on the WIND.....Hawaii Law..blh,blah,blah. You can see where the casino used to be, but the area is now used for stretching classes in the morning and art auctions in the afternoon.

 

There is Bingo several times a day on the sea days down and back from Fanning Island. I won won a $500 jackpot..but had to share it with 2 other winners. Oh well, at least we each walked away with $166...better than nothing!!

 

They also sell Krack-its if you want to try your luck.