POA 4/18 Questions?

[hz6pl8]

Hello. We are sailing on POA on 4/18/09. Hope you can help with a few questions!

1) Do you think there will be plenty of kids onboard? - it is Spring Break in Northeast?

2) Has anyone seen a listing of kids activities other than the freestyle daily's?

3) How far is the drive to the Black sand beach past VNP in Hilo?

4) Our itinerary is Hilo, Maui, Kona, Kauai. Do you know if they still do the lava sailby?

5) We are planning on the Old Laihana Luau in Maui on Monday - we plan to have a beach day first then get cleaned up for the luau. Any suggestions on place to shower without having to travel back to the ship? YMCA's - day pass at hotel?

6) We are staying at HHV 3 nights before cruise. Any suggestions for cheap breakfast/lunch outside of hotel?

7) Finally, has anyone been to the new Starlight Luau or the Paradise pool at the HHV? Any feedback.. thanks for all your help!!!!:D Can't wait

[TeresaJ]

You might want to send HollyT a reply - check the NCL boards under "Live from the POA - Any Questions." She's on the ship right now corresponding to people with questions.

[TyrnaD]

1) We sailed last week and there were a good amount of kids, sounds like you are wondering if your kids will find enough playmates and have fun with the activities, and I think you'll be fine in this regard.

 

2) They have kids activities in the children's club and teen club, depending on the ages of your children. Also a lot of parents of the younger kids went to the activities with the Hawaiian Ambassador, Malu. Every day there is a hula lesson, a craft (like 3 different kinds of lei making), and a Hawaiian language lesson. These usually take place in the afternoons, ours were between 3 and 4:30. The kids had fun and at the end of the week there is a hula show in the theater that everyone can perform in.

 

3) We only drove to VNP, but calculate the distance at about 35-45 MPH since it is one lane with not much passing room.

 

4) We did the lava sailby, last week there was a lot of new lava as well so hopefully that is still there when you go.

 

5) No suggestions on that, but I can say that we were glad to get up an extra hour or two earlier so we could get back to the ship in time to shower and unwind before the evening activities. If you have kids it may be nice to have that time back in the room before heading back out for the Luau. Lahaina itself was a pretty small town and we saw a lot of shops and a few restaurants, but I didnt notice much else (although I wasnt looking)

 

6) Wailana Coffee House is on the corner across the street from HHV. Great breakfast, open 25 hours, they have all you can eat pancakes for about 6 bucks as well as a lot of other items. Great variety you could go back for many times, and large portions you could order a few different things and share. There is usually a line out the door, but that is because the inside waiting area is small and the line moves very quickly.

 

7) We didn't get to swim in the pool but we walked around, looks nice and the beach was the nicest looking thing to me at HHV in terms of lots of space to hang out and play /swim.

 

Have a GREAT time!!

[msmusic]

I can't help you with the cruise questions because we don't go until the end of May. However, our family stayed at the HHV for a week in June 2007. Here are some suggestions for inexpensive places to eat nearby:

 

Wailana Coffee House as noted by previous poster (and many others). We liked it so much we went back a couple of times.

 

There is a McDonalds and a Subway not far from the hotel heading west. My daughters got a kick out of the fact that they serve pineapple at the McDonalds.

 

The Hale Koa Hotel is a military hotel next to the HHV and they have an inexpensive snack bar which anyone can go to.

 

The International Marketplace is a bit of a walk from the HHV (for kids anyway) but it's a good place for souvenirs and there is a food court in the back with quite a selection of vendors, including Korean, Portuguese, Japanese food. My daughters liked the Katsu chicken which is a large, breaded fried cutlet with rice and the serving large enough for them to share.

 

We ordered food from the Thai place across the street one night (sorry, can't remember the name, kiddy-corner from hotel, and across from Wailani Coffee House). The food was good but a bit higher than we are used to paying, which is typical in Waikiki. It might be better for lunch.

 

The picture by my name was taken at HHV. The grounds are really pretty. I hope you enjoy your cruise and your stay at HHV.