POA 10/17-24 review

[bankofdad]

Hi Merg55,

 

If I were only able to do ONE snorkeling tour, it would definitely be, hands down, no doubt, the Fair Wind tour in Kona. There simply was no comparison to any of the other snorkeling sites. The Dolphin Express tour (pre-cruise, booked on our own) was fantastic as well, but that was more of an "action packed" tour, where you were quickly dropped in the middle of the pods of dolphins. That boat may not be very comfortable for seniors.

 

For a relaxing spectacular spot, pick Fair Wind. My wife does not swim or snorkel at all, and she had a nice time on this boat. The water is crystal clear, the crew great, the food very good. I'm certain that the more senior couple you're traveling with would enjoy this one as well. If you let the tour operator know you're traveling with seniors and would like to board before the others, they will let you board first. On the top deck they have a few lounge chairs which would make your partners very comfortable. Again, by all means, avoid the hype of the Molokini tour, and don't send them on the cruise ship sponsored NaPali Explorer excursion in Kauai (they would be physically miserable).

[bankofdad]

Dalwhitt,

 

Thanks for the kind note. As you know, I was really starting to freak out about this cruise this past August. However, I am glad I stuck with it, because they really have made tremendous strides, and things have dramatically improved.

 

And when I say that by posting this review I'm only returning the favor for the kindness and consideration shown to me by CC members that have previously cruised on this vessel, I'm referring to people like you.

 

Thanks again!

[LizC]

Thank you again Bank of Dad . I need your help, I have tried several ways to Google Dolphin Expresss are you sure that was the exact name? Did you keep any info on it? If you did please email me at:

Lizciardi@yahoo.com Thanks again for all the excellent advise.

[bankofdad]

Sorry about another case of jet lag. The dolphin excursion we participated in was from "Dolphin Excursions" NOT "Dolphin Express", as I had previously posted. Sorry for any confusion on this one!

 

Also, please pardon my typo errors. I hope this all helps!

[LizC]

I'm just glad I found it. Sounds wonderful!!!

 

Thank you for the advice. :D

[ahibunny]

Thanks for the detailed review! Sounds like things are getting better on POA!

[mikefast]

I have to also add my thanks for the good review. We are going May 1, and wish it was this weekend instead. Sounds like it will be a fantastic trip. Right now, we are trying to decide whether to rent a car or take some of the excursions. We are not young by any means, (71) but still have young minds. My main interest is just seeing the scenery, not to do the busy things. Thanks again for your review.

[Aloha]

Bank of Dad,

 

Great review! This cruise sounds as relaxed as the islands they are visiting. You are correct about the fantastic information we get from the locals on the Hawaii Port of Call board.

 

Shelly

[thecleave]

What a great review! I'm glad you had a wonderful trip, and I appreciate your information on the snorkeling. I'm booked to do both the Four Winds and the Fair Winds, but from your experience I'm probably going to cancel the Four Winds on Maui. I've been a little iffy on it anyway.

 

If you have any Navigator questions, ask away! I did the Christmas cruise last year.

[bankofdad]

Another note I forgot to mention; we were NOT charged the "service charge" of $10/day per person. We also were not offered a credit on a future cruise, but that part was not a surprise at all because we had a very nice cruise.

thecleave - thanks for the offer to pass on Navigator tips. I'm sure I'll be asking a lot of questions in order to plan for that trip in the coming months as well. Regarding Four Winds, to each his/her own, but it would suffer dramatically by comparison to the Fair Winds tour in Kona. As I had mentioned, I really wish we would have spent our time in Maui elsewhere (not on the Four Winds).

[bankofdad]

I keep thinking up a few more details as I reflect back on our trip, this one is pertaining to the ship itself.

 

This was our fourth cruise, and all four ships have been in the 70-ton range in size. We did notice the motion of the sea much more on this ship than any other we had been on to date, and the Seas WERE NOT at all rough during our cruise. Initially I thought this might have been because we were in an aft cabin, but my DW reminded me that we felt it no matter where we were on the ship.

 

The motion was not severe enough to cause us to be ill, but it does make me wonder how this ship would perform on rough seas.

 

On the topic of motion, we did purchase and bring along the bio-bands that you may have seen discussed on these boards in the past. We particularly brought them to wear during our catamaran excursion up the NaPali Coast, but the seas were pretty calm (relatively speaking for the season) the day we sailed. I wanted to mention the bio-bands in particular, because the tour operator actually had a number of these on board for passengers in the event that the seas were rough, and they swore by the bio-band performance.

[tricruisers]

Fantastic review Bankofdad. We are going in 4 weeks and can't wait. Thanks again for the review.

[Zeno]

Great detailed review bankof dad ! I am glad you had a good time. When we did our "land" trip to Hawaii several years ago we used Wizard Publication's books - they really are useful for self-guided tours.

[bankofdad]

Plug strips! Don't forget to pack a plug strip. This was a CC tip that helped alot.

 

The only visible receptacle in the stateroom area (I really didn't look for one in the bathroom) was located just above the desk top on the wall. It is a single reptacle (not a duplex). The plug strip really came in hand for our cell phone chargers, camcorder/camera charger, hair dryer, curling iron, etc......

 

Our room had also had a coffee maker (I had heard only the balcony staterooms and suites had one, but can't confirm that for sure), but that was equipped with an IEC (European style) line cord, and the dedicated mating receptacle for it was located on the wall above the desk top as well.

[Host CMLA]

Thanks for the great review bankofdad. And I'm glad you were able to post it. Those pesky character limitations get in the way of a lot of reviews. You were very smart to do it over several posts under the same thread. Fantastic.

[BobbyBear68]

BankofDad's review was great and for the most part reflects my view also. I would like to add a few comments though. One thing is I had a different opinion of Jimmy the Cruise director. I think his training comes from the comic side of the entertaining industry. I always had a good time when he had a mike in his hand. I'm sorry I was not in the Blue Hawaii bar the night Bankofdad had the problem however. Jimmy and his assistant Shona had a great show on morning ship's tv that was was both funny and informative. These little sniplets were about 15 minutes long and repeated during the day. One day they explored Shona's cabin (standard crew cabin), another day they visited the galley, and another was a view of the ship's bridge.

 

We did see all the shows, we thought they were all fantastic. The Jean-Ann Ryan Company did a great job in each. The Crew's talent show was really good with the first act that was a very professional singer. I remember thinking that they probably had this woman in the wrong job if she was waiting on tables or cleaning rooms. At the end of her singing we found out that she was the Captain's wife and for most of her career she was a cruise director. We saw many of the little shows using guests to participate such as the Friendly Feud Game show and the newly wed game where the contestants were anywhere from two days married to I think 47 years married. We laughed alot. The two day married couple from Australia were the funniest.

 

We used NCL for all our excursions. One reason is that we had not cruised in a while and even though I researched the trip very well and listened to all the comments on the board, we wanted to take all the tension out of the equation. We had a great time, we took on some less strenuous ones than Bankofdad. I am 52 and my wife is 53, kind of in the preretirement group. In Kauai we saw Waimea canyon, which included a very knowledgable bus driver and a trip to a coffee plantation. We enjoyed this very much. At the summit for the canyon there was a hike up some stairs that kept a couple older people at the bus. In Hilo we when to see Nani Mau gardens and Akaka Falls. Another knowledgeable bus driver. My wife liked best the Glass bottom boat in Kona. The water is so clear there. In Maui, the first day we went to the Maui Ocean center and the Iao Valley. If you been to a big aquarium somewhere in the states you might want to skip the Maui Ocean center but I found it to be interesting and highlighted Hawaiian fish. The second day was Lahaina on your own. Nice bus trip. We felt like we got our money's worth.

 

One thing, like Bankofdad said most of the cruiser were retirement age, we saw very few children and when we did see them they seem well behaved. We were sitting in the balcony for the Sea Legs Cirque when they brought in about 20 kids from the kid's club and you never knew they were sitting next to you.

 

Our experience was remarkly similar to what Bankofdad had already explained to you especially food and staff. I totally agree that as far as service, the informalty of a Outback restaurant in your hometown is the standard which I also found very acceptable.

 

As I think of more things, I will post them. We had a great time!

[Host CMLA]

I totally agree that as far as service, the informalty of a Outback restaurant in your hometown is the standard which I also found very acceptable.

Do you think this is just an American crew thing? I've found in recent cruises that the service isn't what it was back in the mid 80's when I started cruising. It seems to have gotten more relaxed and more cookie cutter versus personalized. Maybe that's because cruises are so much cheaper now and in order to appeal to the masses at a reasonable price, quality goes down a little? I'm OK with service similar to Outback, Applebees, or Bennigan's but I can see where more veteran cruisers would not like the informality of it all.

 

Thanks for your take on the same cruise that bankofdad took.

[raider23]

Bankofdad,

THANK YOU so much for the extremely detailed review. We got some good info out of it. We cant wait to board, glad to hear you & your family had such a good time.

raider23:D

[Minybear]

Our arrival evening at the Marriott (pre-cruise), we had made dinner reservations at the Cabanas Restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. This came as a recommendation from a CC friend (thanks Spleen), and we were not disappointed! Individual cabanas are set up Oceanside on the beach in from of the hotel. We arrived at 5:30PM, and enjoyed sunset and dining beside the tiki torches by the ocean. The dinners are meant to be shared, and we had the best prepared Kulua pork, ocean prawns, shrimp cocktails, and asparagus spears we’ve ever had. Service was outstanding to top it all off.

 

This is a great idea. How much does this cost? There would be the 2 of us. This would be a great idea for the 2nd night in Honolulu.

 

I love your review. I cannot wait for our cruise.

 

Minybear

[bankofdad]

Hi Minybear,

 

The total cost for all food and drinks (my wife had several frozen mixed drinks, and I had several large draft Kona Brews with my meal), after a generous tip, was $120.00. After paying the bill, we left feeling like we got a real bargain for the meal, service and setting. This was an absolutely fantastic first evening in Hawaii. If you try it, I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did!

 

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel's website has some photos of Cabanas, and some sample menus (however there is much more to the menu than what they list on their website). The pictures are very realistic. We were also able to make our reservation a month in advance, and they did call me the day before we left for our trip (on my mobile phone) to confirm the reservation. We chose to make the advance reservation so that we were sure to get the 5:30 time slot (it was a Friday evening, and we wanted to be there for the sunset). Within 1/2 hour of our arrival, all of the oceanside cabanas were occupied, but the cabanas are spaced well enough where you really have a very private and intimate feeling; no "crowdedness" at all.

[Queen of Adventure]

Thank you for the thorough review! I am also interested in the details of the Dolphin excursion on Oahu:D

[Minybear]

Hi Minybear,

 

The total cost for all food and drinks (my wife had several frozen mixed drinks, and I had several large draft Kona Brews with my meal), after a generous tip, was $120.00. After paying the bill, we left feeling like we got a real bargain for the meal, service and setting. This was an absolutely fantastic first evening in Hawaii. If you try it, I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did!

 

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel's website has some photos of Cabanas, and some sample menus (however there is much more to the menu than what they list on their website). The pictures are very realistic. We were also able to make our reservation a month in advance, and they did call me the day before we left for our trip (on my mobile phone) to confirm the reservation. We chose to make the advance reservation so that we were sure to get the 5:30 time slot (it was a Friday evening, and we wanted to be there for the sunset). Within 1/2 hour of our arrival, all of the oceanside cabanas were occupied, but the cabanas are spaced well enough where you really have a very private and intimate feeling; no "crowdedness" at all.

 

bankofdad

 

I was on the web site today and was very impressed. I was concidering staying at this hotel long time ago due to I saw it on Great Hotels on the Travel channel. I later on decided the resort was way to expensive for us.

 

I am really amazed at the price especially at an expensive hotel like the Mandarin Oriental. Yes, in my opinion you did get a bargan:). I was thinking at least $75 per person for this meal which didn't include tax or grat.

 

I will definately book this one month prior to our cruise. I will put that down as one of the "must do's" on our vacation. Thanks again for your trip report.

 

Minybear

[Ocean Spirit]

Thanks again Bank of Dad,

I think you should look into writing cruise ship reviews as a part time job!!!

Also think NCL should send you a BIG thank-you card. Your review was a big turning point for me. For the first time since I booked my cruise on the POA, I'm so excited about choosing this cruise. I literally have gone from tears to cheers!

 

Merg55

[bankofdad]

Hi Queen of Adventure,

 

CC Member 10X (his real name is Denny) posted this link to some underwater photos he had taken on his trip, some of which are from the dolphin excursion (www.dolphinexcursion.com) I chanced upon this information while looking at an unrelated thread on the Hawaii CC board, and it convinced me to try this one.

 

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4074962&a=31166402&f=

 

I hope you try it and have a great time!

[bankofdad]

Hi BobbyBear68,

 

Thanks for your post, especially about Jimmy the Cruise Director. It sounds like you had much more exposure to him that I, and I truely am very happy that your perception is quite opposite of mine. ALL of the other staff members were spectacular, and it was somewhat bothersome to me that I felt about someone in that particular position in the way that I had.

 

Like they say, sometimes first impressions are the most lasting, so it really helps others to hear about your experience, which sounds very positive.

 

Thanks again!