POA 10/17-24 review

[WaldosPepper]

Bankofdad, thank you so much for your exceptional, insightful and honest review! Your observations, and detailed descriptions made me feel as though I were there! Simply amazing that you've managed to be so descriptive and helpful so soon after your arrival home. Done in true Marine Corps fashion - timely, concise and complete! Semper Fi, brother!

[meadcher]

Thanks for the info we are going in Feb and your info will be a big help, especially about the free shuttle from the airport to the Marriott.

 

Our Anniversary is the Sunday we board would you suggest the pay for dining for that, we bought a romance package and get one night with that.

 

Thanks again Cher

[bankofdad]

Hi Meadcher,

 

The Bistro (pay restaurant) was definitely more intimate than the main dining rooms, no question at all about that. That restaurant was definitely a more formal, private (low lights) setting. I would definitely choose the Bistro over the Pacific Heights (one of the other pay restaurants), but in all fairness, we did not go to the Kahili (the Italian specialty restaurant, my wife does experience allergic reactions to garlic, which is often prevelent in Italian dishes), so I can't compare that one for you.

 

Based upon what I know, if I were going to plan a romantic shipboard dinner for a special occasion with my wonderful, wife like an anniversary (on the POA), I would definitely choose the Bistro. Please note that this is MHO, and anyone that has experienced the Kahili restaurant should offer their opinion on this one so that you have all of the viewpoints.

[M&MCruisers]

bankofdad

Thanks for taking the time to give us such an informative review. We are three couples going on the POA on Jan 2, 2005. I've printed all 19 pages of your review and will forward the good news. We personally want to thank you for the information regarding luggage storage area at the airport. Our flight leaves much later than yours, 10:45 pm as a matter of fact. Even our TA couldn't give us that information when we asked. Thanks again for your review.

 

M&MCruisers

[ladytc]

THANKS A MILLION BANKOFDAD!

Ditto what Merg55 said. NCL owes you!! I have fresh expectations and eased fears.

[BobbyBear68]

We did eat Sunday night at Kahili. We had a wonderful italian dinner. They do use a lot of garlic. The shrimp scampi was called 40 cloves shrimp scampi. The actual restaurant was very intimate being long and narrow, only 2 rows of tables with booths on one side and small two people tables at the windows. The speciallty restaurants were all more formal. We also ate at the Bistro but not the Pacific Heights. We enjoyed them all. We were celebrating our 30th anniversary on the trip but did not buy the package. When we were in the Bistro, there were three other couples sitting near us that were celebrating the same anniversary. We enjoyed the regular restaurants so much we only did the two nights in the special ones. We have been saying that the regular restaurant are more on the informal side, but they did still pull the chairs out for the ladies and lay the napkins on their laps and such, just not quite as formal as the special restaurants or a high priced land restaurant.

 

We did have a sit down breakfast at the Palace on Sunday the last day of the trip. The newsletter had a misprint in it, which we were warned at the down before we were seated. We preferred sit down. I try to stay away from Buffets, because I tend to overeat. The Buffets on ship had the biggest plates I have ever seen. Although we walked through, we only ate there for lunch one time and went through the line on the Lanai where they had hamburgers and hot dogs and really good salads.

[meadcher]

Thank you Bank of Dad for the information about the Bistro, I will tell my husband and friends we are going with. Do you think if we make the reservations at the Marriott on Friday that we can get seating for Sunday evening? that is our Anniversary day.

 

It is good to finally hear good reviews, we have been on 7 cruises some with Carnival one with Princess and 3 with RCCL and have enjoyed all of them, so I was really worried about this one since Hawaii is one of our dream vacations.

 

Do you have the website for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel? I will search it but if you have it I would like it, just in case.

 

We plan to rent cars at all the Islands, but in Maui we also plan to book the Blue Hawaii Helicopter tour.

 

Againd Thanks Cher

[Minybear]

Do you have the website for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel? I will search it but if you have it I would like it, just in case.

 

 

I am not bankofdad but here is the web site for Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Just click on Hawaii. http://mandarinoriental.com/.

 

Minybear

[bankofdad]

Hi Meadcher,

 

We also arrived at the Marriott on Friday, and made our dinner reservation at the Bistro for that Sunday as well. When the NCL agent at to Marriott was taking our reservation, she had a clipboard with all of the restaurants listed on it for pre-cruise customers making advance reservations.

 

We noticed we were either the 4th or 5th party making a reservation for the Bistro for that evening. Also, when we did arrive at the Bistro for our seating on Sunday night (6:30PM) there were only a few other couples dining, and the resteraunt was never crowded while we were there. The Matre D even made a point to say that Sunday was the "slow" night for them during the cruise, so I do not believe you will have any problem getting the reservation and time you desire.

 

Once you do make your reservation, make sure the NCL agent gives you a blue reservation card with your name, time, and the number in your party written on it. The reservations card is about the size of a business card.

 

Be sure to bring the card with you when you go to the restaurant. I recall reading a previous CC post where that particular passenger group made the advance reservation, arrived at the Bistro for dinner on Sunday evening, and the Bistro did not have their name on the reservation list. Fortunately they did have in their possesion the reservations card, so they were seated. It sounds like NCL is probobly using the reservations lists to staff the specialty restauants appropriately each evening, and if they don't have you on their list, you may risk being seated if you don't bring your reservations card with you.

 

I hope you have a great vacation!

[dalwhitt]

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!

 

Kind words, for sure. Thank you, and you're welcome.

[meadcher]

Thanks again Bank of Dad.

I was thinking about my post yesterday after I did it and thought well the ship doesn't go out of port until 8 maybe they would only have the Buffet's open so I am glad it is open and will not worry about reservations until we get to the Marriott Friday.

 

By the way my husband like your Bank of Dad title, we have 2 grown sons and 4 grandchildren and can relate to it, the interest rate is so good they can't resist our bank and most of the time they don't pay back so it is even better. One thing they don't get out of our bank is our cruise money, I am 57,my husband 59 and this will be our 40th anniversary so that money was out of reach.

 

Meadcher

[bankofdad]

Happy anniiversary Meadcher! I hope you have a great trip!

[Roselin]

BankofDad,

 

From one Wisconsinite to another, thank you for a great review. The details you provide are so helpful for others planning their trip. I had been debating about the luau, and after your experience, I've decided that Cabanas sounds like a much better place to spend the evening! We still have over 4 months to wait, but I'm getting really excited now, especially after reading good reviews. Thanks again for taking the time to share.

[lbryant]

Bank of Dad, reading your review brought back memories of our trip earlier in the month. Your review seems to be a hit! Sounds like we did many of the same things; but I thought I would weigh in on a couple questions you recieved:

Kahili: the Sunday we started our cruise was my 40th BD, so we spent a lot of time trying to decide where to eat. After looking at the menu, we choose Kahili and had a FANTASTIC dinner. I choose the 40 garlic shrimp scampi and it was the best I've every had (not swimming in butter or really any kind of sauce, but a very reduced, intensive roasted garlic that enhanced, but did not overwhelm the prawns - 6 big ones). My husband had a beff filet that was really good too. for what it's worth, I ate very, very slowly so I could savor every bite.

Service was, I thought, very formal, though I agree with B-O-D about the seemingly casual manner many of the waiters seemed to have. To me it felt as though the less experienced staff knew the mechanics of how to serve a "formal dining experience" but were not always fluent in executing it. But they mean well and they're trying and hey, I'm not a political dignitary. Back to the food: the dessert was also fabulous (I think I had the Zupa - a white and dark chocolate cream dessert thing that didn't sound that good on the menu but was outstanding). We ate at Kahili twice and Pacific Heights once (which we also really enjoyed). Made reservations at Bistro, but didn't make it back to the ship in time for our reservation. I thoroughly enjoyed Kahili and would highly recommend them for any special occasion.

 

Snorkel cruises. We've done the Fair Winds on Kona several times and loved it! Water is great, the boat is great, the crew is great, even the food is great. While on the subject, not far from the Cpt Cook monument is the Place of Refuge. Just off of here is a snorkel area that is also very, very cool. All in all, Fair Winds is a fabulous snorkel cruise that we highly recommend to anyone going to Kona.

While in Maui, we did the Four Winds cruise to Molokini. We had planned the morning trip, but our ship itinerary change made that impossible. We went with the afternoon cruise knowing they may not go to molokini crater. As luck would have it, they did go. There was 1 other boat at the crater that day (the crew said that morning, there were 40 boats). The boat tied up pretty close to the crater and we had no problem snorkeling right up to it (can't touch it, but you can look). The water was really clear and the coral was quite beautiful. I didn't see as many variety of fish as we usually see in Kona, but there were lots of them. We also had a morey eel, an octopus and a reef shark (let me say, the picture of the reef shark freaked my kids out - share your photos with caution). The boat was about 1/2 full, so it was probably a much more relaxed tour than the mornings. Food was good, crew was good, boat was good and the 1 hour going to and coming from the crater were very enjoyable. If the day is clear and the wind is calm, I would highly recommend looking at their afternoon cruise. NO guarantees they will go to molokini, but you'll have a lot of fun.

As for the rest, I agree completely with Bank of Dad. I wrote a 2-part review on the boards, but didn't get much response to it. We had a great time and are even considering the POAmerica for my in-laws 50th anniversary in 2006.

To all future POA cruisers - you can safely get excited about this trip again.

Mahalo to all - Laura

[Host CMLA]

I wrote a 2-part review on the boards, but didn't get much response to it.

Laura you might want to repost your review or bump it up because the recent POA reviews have been really helpful to other members.

[bankofdad]

Hi Laura,

 

Thanks for the kind words. I really appreciated your review and found it to be very helpful. I think Cecelia's suggestion to bump your review up or repost is a fantastic idea.

 

Thanks again for taking the time that you did to help me out before my trip!

[louiskam]

BOD and others... do you prefer the POA "freestyle plus three paid dining" arrangement? I'm familiar with the "fixed seating plus one paid dining" type of sailing and recently had the Diamond Princess "fixed seating and four theme (free) dinings plus one paid dining" experience but not the NCL type. Thanks for sharing your view in advance.

[bankofdad]

Hi Kam,

 

I'm not familiar with the Princess offering, so maybe others that are can comment on that. With NCL (and this was my first NCL cruise), they did not offer an option to pre-purchase specialty restaurant evenings at all. You could try to make a reservation in advance (either the first day if you purchased a pre-cruise package or after that no sooner than the day before your reservation), but nothing was guarenteed with any kind of pre-package-purchase (did I understand your question correctly?)

 

With POA, we spent the first two nights dining at specialty restaurant for two reasons; first because we read reviews about how good those restaurants were and wanted to try them, and second, because we were preparing ourselves in case the main dining room dinner and main buffet service had not improved from earlier cruises.

 

In our case, we were very satisfied with the main dining rooms and buffets once we experienced them, so we did not make additional specialty restaurant reservations. HOWEVER, I have to say the two times we were in those restaurants, the food was very good (wish I could have experienced Kahili, but garlic is a BIG no no for DW).

 

While I'm thinking of it, I don't think the specialty restaurants were as full as in the "dark days" of POA. I did notice that the specialty restaurant reservation desk stayed occupied from early until late, and near the middle of the cruise, they even began to place large "posterboard advertisements", along with a sample prepared dish near the reservation table. I think they may have been trying to drum up additional business(?) Other POA cruisers - did you notice that at all?

[BobbyBear68]

Bankofdad,

I also noticed that the reservations desk was available to make reservations during much of the day, every day and there was never a line. The person occupying the desk seem to be very bored at times. We also found the two main restaurants were quite adequate and never made another reservation at the Specialty restaurants the rest of the week. We thoughly enjoyed our meals at Kahili and the Bistro on Sunday and Monday and still highly recommend them. Just saving some money.

[SunPacific]

We had a starboard balconey cabin on deck 10; our steward was George and he was great. Bankofdad, your reviews are right on the money. Although we took different shore excursions, I agree with your on-board observations.

 

bobbybear, DH Tom and I participated in the Not-So-Newleywed-Game. We were next to that darling Aussie couple. I wish I had known you were "in the house"!!

 

To all contemplating the POA, DO IT! This was our first trip to Hawaii and we had a fabulous time. No, we were not extremely pampered etc. as on other cruises, but we knew this going in. The ship is beautiful, the staff is friendly and anxious to please.

 

Couple of tips: We tipped our steward $20 the first day and told him we appreciate good service, which we got. We gave him $50 on the last day. Take a power strip - you will need it. We took some wire hangers and left them there. They came in handy. Drawer space is very limited - DH kept his shorts, socks and undies in his suitcase, which he used as a drawer by sliding it in and out from underneath the bed-worked great.

 

Thanks to all for the helpful hints and comments on this board over the last couple of months. Aloha! :)

[BobbyBear68]

SunPacific,

We were also on Deck 10, Starboard side, and George was our Steward. We must have been pretty close to you. If I remember right, you did pretty good in Not-So-Newleywed-Game. You looked like you were having a lot of fun and I know we had a lot of fun watching all of you.

 

I must say that I never thought about tipping George at the beginning but he still did a wonderful job and we tipped him well at the end of cruise.

 

So sorry we didn't meet.

[CTTWIN]

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!

BobbyBear68,

Thanks so much for the wonderful review and I am grateful you enjoyed the entertainment and activities on the Pride of Aloha. Shona and Jimmy's efforts to inform the guests while also keeping them entertained is appreciated. You cannot always please everyone although it appears they try. I am sure that bankofdad is referring to "twisted karaoke" where Jimmy was only trying to get audience response as other guests performed. After reading bankofdads review I only wish he spent more time at the many activites and entertainment than he posted. It can be difficult to get guests involed after a long day in port, however they make a deffinite effort while they are back onboard. The positive and negative reviews are read and as always, very helpful. Thanks for your reply and we hope you return to Hawaii. It is emotionally uplifing after bankofdads post to hear positive responses. I wish you good health and happiness in your bright future ahead!

[jillann39]

BankofDad, Thank God I found this website and your review. My boyfriend WON a cruise on POA through his company and we were so excited. Neither of us has been to Hawaii and this cruise seemed ideal - that is until I started reading the horror stories about the service and the ship and NCL...Yours is the first positive thing I've read and I'm so relieved. They were going to instead book us on Princess or Royal Caribbean for 10 or 11 night cruise that they thought would be more luxurious, but I don't like the other itineraries and don't like the idea of 4 days at sea just because they have to. I thank you for your detailed post and hope others who have sailed recently do the same, because it does seem as if it's getting better - not worse. Most recently I read that they are extremely short-staffed, down to 750 crew instead of 900.

Thanks again, and now I can't wait to go!

[Minybear]

With BankofDad posting how great their stay was (thank you). I am a little concerned about the other new ship to Hawaii Price of America. We have resv's for that ship next December/2005. I hope that ship doesn't have the problems like Aloha did. I hope everything goes fine with our ship/sailing.

[bankofdad]

Hi CTTWIN,

 

Thanks for joining us with your first post. I hope there will be many more to follow, and really appreciate your comments.

 

Regarding Jimmy the cruise director, as I've said in a follow-up post on this thread, I am glad this appeared to be an isolated incident, and am happy that this wasn't normal:). Also stated was that my exposure to him was limited, so keep that in perspective. I just felt a need to make that comment because it was the one and only time during our entire vacation (both on the ship and on shore) that I felt offended in any way by anyone in the least. Just MHO, please take it for what it's worth. I'm very pleased for future passengers that others have just the opposite opinion of Jimmy than we (and others around us) were able to develop.

 

As I'd also stated, his staff was fantastic! We saw them around the ship during our cruise, and we enjoyed them very, very much. We were at evening activites on four occassions during our cruise (although maybe not for extended periods of times) and thought they were wonderful. Very friendly, hard-working, were very humerous, and were very personable. Anyone sailing will appreciate their energy and enjoy them very much.:D