Miicah

Hi there,

How did you like Marylou's tour of Hilo?

Thanks!

Angela

Marylou's tour of Hilo was awesome! She was super nice, friendly, and had lots of neat tidbits about how it is living in Hawaii after moving there from the mainland to be closer to one of her kids. We visited Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, the Thurston Lava Tube inside the Park, a cute flower nursury that had a flower that smelled like chocolate! We also visited Mauna Loa, a factory that makes awesome treats with macadamias (bought SO many goodies there, yum), Rainbow Falls, and then ended by seeing some giant sea turtles.

Her tour is customizable, even while you're on it, and she gives a little gift at the end of her tour! (Or at least she did three years ago lol.) Her husband also does tours as part of their business, too. You can't go wrong with Marylou! She was highly recommended when I was looking for tours, and for good reason!

Whoo, gonna follow this!

Anytime I can revisit Hawaii through someone's review is a good time!

Enjoyed your review and all of the fabulous pictures. My DH and I will be sailing on her next May, and have already booked Valley Isles Excursions for Road to Hana (he liked the idea of unlimited soft drinks and the design of their website :D) VI emailed me last night to confirm my booking and mentioned they depart from the cruise dock at 8:05am (when the PoA only gets in around 8am) Did you find that the van kept to its schedule, or were there a few passengers disembarking at 8:10, etc? Just concerned that we miss the bus. It may convince us to upgrade to a suite again so that we have priority disembarkation again like our last cruise!:)

I'm glad you enjoyed it! You will definitely enjoy your trip in May! =D

I don't remember what time the van left the parking lot, but I know there were three vans there from Valley Isles and one left before us and one left after us. It all depended on which group had all their members there and left accordingly. We were able to disembark from the ship early, though, so maybe that also played a part in them waiting. I can't imagine them wanting to leave anyone behind but I don't think they'd wait 20 minutes for someone, either. I don't think you'll miss it, though! ^_^

Ha, I just saw your review Miicah. Great job.

 

(My wife and I were on the POA the same time as you)

 

 

 

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Hey! I remember you from the roll call. It's a shame that never really panned out...or it did and I totally wasn't aware lol Thanks so much for reading! Did you make a review as well?

Woooohoooo, I am now booked on POA. For any Australians researching this cruise check out NCL Aus website for Aloha Australia Mahalo Month deals. I tried to find out today from their hopeless call centre how long the promotion goes for but internet seems to say 1 April-30May (long months in Hawaii???). Prices are in AUD and although it doesn't include any OBC or sweeteners there is an option to add prepaid gratuities when booking and for my oceanview guarantee cabin it was only an additional AUD213.30 for the two of us. Came in at AUD1903.22 inc grat and tax per person.

Yay, have a great trip! Dunno the conversion off the top of my head but in CAD that sounds awesome lol

Hi Miicah,

 

Fellow Canadian here! Loved reading your review. I learned so much. Thank you for doing it. We've done 5 caribbean cruises and I've never felt this overwhelmed trying to plan. Your review was extremely helpful.

 

One question, what time did you leave the POA to start the Haleakala Sunrise Tour and what time did they bring you back to the boat? Looking into doing this and see that it's also offered by private companies and just trying to establish the difference.

 

Happy sailing and thanks again!

 

Rhonda

Hiya Rhonda, a fellow Canuck! Thank you so much for reading! Ah, I'm doing my first Caribbean cruise soon-ish, so it'll be a change for the both of us! =D I love planning trips but there is just SO many things to do and not enough time, I can totally get how crazy it can be.

Oh gosh, that Sunrise tour. I want to say stupid o'clock but that's not a real time LOL It was so early! Hmm, I believe it was 3:30am that we met at the pier. And after the breakfast and the small shopping stop at the store across the street I think we maybe got back around lunch? If not around 11AM-ish or so. I know I was looking into some private companies, too. I really wanted to go to Kula Lodge for breakfast and I wasn't sure if any of them offered that. Whoever you choose it'll be a magical experience!

Holy posts, Batman! I totally didn't get emails about these; I'm so sorry if these responses are too late!

Thank you so very much for your review.

 

I booked the 2 bedroom family suite with 3 of my friends yesterday because of the reduced deposit;) When the representative explained all the suite perks my friends were overwhelmed lol

 

today I checked and category SG is pricing out cheaper debating on switching for more square footage. I saw from your review that you originally booked this suite were you able to compare them?

Thank you so much for reading!

That's awesome that they had the reduced deposit going on, since suites have higher ones haha There certainly do seem like more perks than you know what to do with, right? lol That's funny how you're also debating between the two-bedroom and a penthouse. Since I never ended up staying in the two-bedroom I can't say anything from experience, and since one was in the aft and one was forward I never managed to get a glimpse of it either lol If space is important than I'd totally go for the penthouse-- the space in the bathroom alone might really do it for you lol Though considering how long ago your post was you probably already made a decision! xP

Thank you for the detailed review!! I am taking notes for our May 2016 cruise!

Thank you so much for reading! I'm already excited for you and it's still a year away haha

If any of you haven't already checked out BnAv10 review yet, go go go! It's super amazing so far!

So pleased to see all your details about POA. Holding out for a price drop but flights are booked for August.

I'm glad it could help! I'm crossing fingers for a price drop in flights for you!

Aww, omg, you’re totally not talking to yourself! *hugs* I know I felt like I was talking to myself when I was writing mine xP Okay, super long response coming up for everything that I missed, haha.

You really do love those tiki totems! Did you end up buying one as a souvenir? Lol I’m so sad we didn’t walk further down the beach to see more, but at least I can see them from your pictures ^_^ And how awesome is it that you saw a parade?

I know you had to wait in a line to get on, but it still looks like you get there pretty early! I mean, the pool area was still empty! And I did love that duck, lol xD

That’s so cool that you went to La Cucina, that food looks so tasty it’s making me hungry lol That’s a good tip about getting food at the buffet and then taking it out to the deck to eat—you can avoid the crowd and having amazing views! I’ll have to try that next time! Did you end up going to any other specialty restaurants?

I also give props to your husband Brad for driving the R2H! We weren’t able to drive ourselves (though I’m not sure I could’ve handled it even if we were LOL) but it certainly does have its advantages like you mentioned. I would’ve loved to see that Bamboo Forest! Maybe that was down the other trail I didn’t have time to get to =( I’m so lucky I have you guys and your gorgeous photos and videos! I’m so jelly! But that bug in your bra, not so jelly about that LOL Eww, I can do lizards but not bugs lol

That’s too bad about the service you had at the MDR, especially at breakfast, since I really wanted to try having breakfast there during the week. But those cinnamon rolls… *drools* And you got to see the Newlywed show, yay! Glad you enjoyed it!

…And now I’m sad I’ve caught up! I need another update! Can’t wait for more!

(((MIICAH))) I feel like we're bosom buddies now after spending so much time "with" you reading through your detailed trip report. Maybe someday we'll meet on the other side of the rainbow in person. Thank you for reading my review! Yours was so awesome. I don't think i took nearly as many helpful and awesome pics as you did though. Hopefully my review won't be too redundant. ;-)

Awn, totally! And now I can spend some time with you reading your review! It'd be awesome to see each other on the other side of the rainbow! And you're so modest, your pictures are awesomesauce :D

I can't believe you went up that steep staircase! You're a real trooper lol I'm still happy I went up the other way :p And I'm glad you got the video working, I can't wait to see and read more! Keep it coming!

Hey~~! OMG, I am so excited for your report, it makes me feel like I'm going on vacay again! I'm so honoured that I was able to inspire you!

LOL @ the ABC Stores. Like, seriously, they're everywhere :p But I didn't know they sold water shoes, I wish I had some during my trip. That's a shame about the whole NCL hotel and not being able to skip the lines. You told me about that and I totally want to try it sometime.

Can't wait to read the rest! Loving it so far! :D

Hi there! I was in cabin 13508 and as far as I recall there was only three beds-- the main one, the pull down bed beside it and the couch.

Oh, this is a cool idea! I went back in October (had a week pre-cruise stay on Oahu), but hopefully it can still give people some ideas! Condensed version listed below, more detail in my review ^^

Day 1 – Fly to Honolulu

Day 2 – Ala Moana Mall, beach time (Waikiki)

Day 3 – Waikele Premium Outlets, walked around Ala Wai Harbor

Day 4 – Polynesian Cultural Center: All Day + Luau

Day 5 – Climbed Diamond Head, Kahala Mall, beach time (Waikiki)

Day 6 – Island Tour with Ron of Oahu Spot Tours (I really wanted to go to Kaena Point, but no tour operator I spoke to would go there), U.S. Army Museum, walked along the Ala Wai Canal

Day 7 – Parasailing with Paradise Watersports, Royal Hawaiian Center, watched the Firework display (on every Friday)

Day 8 – Embarkation Day

Day 9 – Road to Hana Tour with Valley Isle Excursions. Mom went to Lahaina via a ship excursion.

Day 10 – Haleakala Sunrise excursion via the ship, breakfast at Kula Lodge

Day 11 – Hilo Tour with Marylou of Marylou’s Big Island tours

Day 12 – I had a snorkeling excursion through the shop in Kona. Mom had a Kona Tour with Marylou of Marylou’s Big Island tours (they do both sides of the island).

Day 13 – I went horseback riding through a ship excursion. Mom had a Waimea Canyon/Fern Grotto tour with Roberts Hawaii.

Day 14 – Through unexpected circumstances this became a sea day, though we were able to see the Na Pali Coast. I originally had a ziplining excursion with the ship, and my mom didn’t have anything planned.

Day 15 – Debarkation and fly back home.

Thank you so much for a w serf ul review. We've looked at this cruise and never really had the I formation until now

 

Thanks vey much

Awn, glad my review could be of help! Thanks so much for reading!

Micah, Oh my! This is by far the best review I have ever read! You should do this for a living! (What fun would that be?) You have definitely inspired me to look into my big trip for 2017, on the POA and discovering Oahu. Thank you so much for a wonderful review!!

If only I can do this for a living, eh? lol Thank you so much for that compliment, and for reading it in the first place! I'm so glad I could inspire you! I hope that dream trip goes well, and thanks so much again!

I logged onto NCL yesterday and checked in for my cruise 296 days away. How will I wait?! Guess I can re-read this great report.

It looks like our cruises are so far away, eh? I don't know how we'll make it, I'm itching to go now lol But yay for reviews keeping you going ^^

Miicah,

 

I was wanting to know a few things about the tour you took through NCL to the Haleakala Sunrise. Would you recommend this tour? We are looking into getting a rental car while we are in Maui and are trying to decide if this is something we could do on our own or if we should just book the excursion with the ship. Would you do this tour again, and do you think you could have driven yourself? Thanks for the info!

I would totally recommend this tour, though only if you're:

a) prepared for the chance that you might not see the sunrise (as we didn't),

b) willing to get up that early (there was a portion of an extended family in our group who didn't manage to convince the rest of their family to wake up that early lol)

and c) take the small van tour over the large bus tour that NCl also offers (I'm not too fond of the large groups and they don't have the option of going to Kula Lodge for breakfast. I don't think they have extra sweaters in case you get cold, either).

I can't comment on driving up there on your own as I haven't done it myself lol But it'll be dark (obviously, since the sun hasn't come up lol) so you should have some idea where you're going as I'm not sure how the visibility will be for signage, but other than that it's totally doable on your own. Once you hit the mountain there's a whole train of people you can follow up to the top. I'd get there early, too, to claim a parking spot and a spot near the railing for a good view.

I loved the review and the pictures. We went on this cruise in Dec 2010 and had a blast. We spent the first 2 1/2 days on the island. You can see my photos below. Your detail of the cruise makes me want to go back. Thanks for taking your time to do this review

Awn, thanks so much for reading, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I will definitely take a look at your pictures (I saw that you also went parasailing, too, isn't that a blast?).

Miicah, thank you so much for this; it is exactly what I was looking for, and I spent a big chunk of my day reading it. The housework I missed will still be there tomorrow. ;)

Hi Jennifer! Haha, oh noes, well, at least it was better than doing chores lol Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!

Hi Miicah it's me again:o. I recall you said you had wished you had discovered Skyline for breakfast sooner, was it that much better than Cagneys, a different menu or the atmosphere?

Did you have the mini fridge emptied and did it go a good job of keeping water or soda cold...not just cool?

One more for now, the lovely photo of you, your mom and the captain, when and where was that taken?

I'm getting giddy with excitement I started on the clothing thing and have our summer clothes all over the place.:eek:

Hey Lorey lol For Skyline I think it was more of the menu for me. I've been told you could order the same things from Skyline at Cagney's but it's not listed on Cagney's menu's and I wasn't too keen on ordering off the menu. I found the atmosphere on both to be quite lovely.

I did ask to have the fridge emptied, and I guess it was cool? Not like the fridges at home, that's for sure lol But the drinks weren't warm, and that was good enough for me. Oh, and the picture with the captain, that was on the 'formal' night, the second day in Maui for us. Not sure if it changes or not. It'll be listed in the Dailies. And it was taken in the captiol atrium-- where the fancy staircase is lol.

And yay, excitement is awesome! Nice to bring those summer clothes out after such a long winter!

Thank you for such a wonderful review. Having grown up on Oahu I can tell you really covered a lot of the island. We were there in Oct and stayed a week at my brothers place in Makaha then did the Pride of America. We had such a great time. Thanks again for all of the great pictures I really enjoyed them.

Thanks so much for reading! I'm glad that I was able to cover a lot of the island, that makes me really happy to know, thank you! And OMG, I just realized we were on the same sailing back in October! That's crazy! I'm glad you enjoyed your trip and this trip report ^^

Just spent a good portion of my day reading through your very thorough trip report. Thank you so much for all the details! I love details! It really is helpful to the rest of us planning ahead.

 

I am headed to the POA in just a couple weeks, and am so excited I just can't wait! I've booked a few nights in hotels pre and post cruise because like you, I always get that depressed feeling when leaving the ship so I like to ease out of it. And I'm firmly against flying into port same day as embarkation. Better safe than sorry, and also like to rest up and get over jet lag before starting the cruise!

 

What a great tip to look for condo rentals through VRBO! I will definitely do that next time around. Looked like a great spot you had.

 

Pre-cruise we are booked at the Marriott simply because of the advantage of checking into the cruise at hotel, the hotel to ship transfer, and bypassing that huge line at the port. I think waiting in that line is the worst part of cruising so we do pay a premium to book that hotel through NCL to get that special deal. However, it sounds like if you book a suite you get to bypass that line too... might have to try to swing that for next time.

 

Thanks again and you have inspired me to keep a detailed journal of my trip and do a trip report when I return as well. I think the dailies and the restaurant menus are super helpful. I don't know why the cruise line doesn't post those on their site.

 

Until next time, aloha and mahalo!:)

Aloha and mahalo for reading my review! I'm glad it was able to help you! I'm pretty OCD about planning (it's part of the fun for me!) and I figured if I was gonna do a report I might as well do it right and just cram all the information I can in it.

And yay, happy for you going on this cruise soon! I wanted to do a post-cruise stay as well but my mom didn't see the logic in staying in a hotel/condo twice so she shot that down :rolleyes: But I enjoyed the week pre-cruise. Yeah, I heard horror stories about flying in on embarkation day, and if we had the delayed flight that we had coming in a week earlier I'd hate to think if it happened when we were flying on the day of :eek: That's not the kind of stress I need before a relaxing vacation lol

And yeah, VRBO is definitely my go-to now if I'm going to have long land vacations or long pre-cruise stays, and just do hotels for those one or two days (plus since I learned about that whole Hilton MVP code thing I can also save if I go the hotel route to, which is nice). Though I've read some horror stories about VRBO, too, though, so I'm glad it worked out for us. Definitely was an amazing rental.

And OMG, I never thought that booking a hotel through the cruise line could get you pass that insanely long check-in line at the port. That's interesting...definitely something I might look into now, especially since I'm not sure if and when I'll be in a suite again to bypass the line that way lol :p But yes, one of the perks of being in a suite on NCL is that you do get to jump that line (and have a nice reception area while you wait to check in too ^^)

And awn, yay for inspiration! I'm looking forward to reading your trip report now :D And I wish I had taken more pictures of the menus but sometimes you just get lost in the moment, haha.

Thanks again, and have a safe and amazing trip!

We were not in that suite but in a SF #13518 and there were outlets by the vanity/desk area in the cabin as well as on each of the night stands. The 4 of us had no problems with charging phones all week and my daughter used her straightener at the vanity in the room. It even has a nice light for it that was perfect to get ready there while the bathroom was in use. We had s different bathroom layout but had no vanity in the changing area outside the bathroom. I did keep the light on at night in that hallway with the beautiful frosted glass sliding door closed for a nightlight when the boat was moving. If it was not closed it would move open and shut while the boat moved making noise. It was the perfect amount of light. On nights we stayed in ports I used the light around the bathroom vanity for a night light with the bathroom door partially closed. The suites are beautiful and boy were we spoiled with all that space. Gonna be hard to adjust to a balcony cabin on the Breakaway this June! We have separate a room for our girls next door do we have more space.

 

Micah thanks so much for your review, it was great to relive our trip of a lifetime through you. We had blah weather and not much sunshine our time in Hawaii so your pictures showed us how much more beautiful it really is there. Some day I hope to ho back but we have a few other trips on our bucket list to get to first!

 

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Hiya there gmazz, thanks so much for fielding a question lol And you are certainly right about being spoiled with all the space, especially that balcony, holy crap. I've read the reviews about the balcony cabins on my upcoming cruise and it's just gonna be an adjustment lol

Thank you so much for reading! I'm glad you were able to go down memory lane and that my pictures was able to show you a different kind of Hawaii. That's too bad you didn't have good weather during your stay :( That's the same for me, wanting to go back to tackle the things I missed but have a long list of places to visit before that, haha.

Oh please refresh my memory about the elevator issue was it that we should only use the forward elevator? I'm thinking we could walk down to deck 11 and walk to the aft to get to the buffet. Was there a separate vanity area in the walk in closet, I read that somewhere that there was in some suites. If so is that were the hair dryer is, if not where is it, I suppose the desk could be used as a vanity if there's a plug there. Do you remember if there are any outlets in the bathroom? So sorry for the 20 questions I'm so glad I got your suite so you could answer all my silly questions. HAHA.

Yes, that's right, only use the forward elevator to reach the suite. It isn't a walk in closet, haha, but there are two closets in its own hallway leading to the washroom (one of which has a full-length mirror on the doors), so there isn't a space for a vanity area there. That desk is the vanity area, and as gmazz mentioned the mirror does have a light around it. There are plugs in this area, and pretty much everywhere else all over the room. Plugs was not hard to come by here haha As for the hair dryer, I don't think I ever remember seeing one, which is strange. I just went back and looked at the video I shot of the cabin since I thought there was one in the bathroom, but no, nothing. Maybe it was hidden in a drawer there and I don't remember. There are plugs in the bathroom-- one underneath the sinks by the trash can (which I think is one of those European ones since it was circular) and one above the circular magnifying mirror by the door. And no problem about the questions, haha.

I stayed in Oahu for a week pre-cruise and on one of the days I booked an island tour with Oahu Spot Tours based on the fantastic reviews they had on TripAdvisor, and I really enjoyed Ron. He felt like a friend and was knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating on trying to include everything you want to see.

Thanks for the review. We went on the POA on Feb. 28, 2015, we had a great time.

Thank you so much for reading! I'm sorry I wasn't able to finish it before you left for it, but I'm happy you had a great time on your cruise!

Loved your review and your photos! POA has been on my list of 'to do's' someday since hubby has not been on a cruise in Hawaii. I sailed on the old SS Independence back in the 80's and vowed to do a 7 day sail around the islands again someday, which is now limited to POA, which is fine by me!

I stayed at the Outrigger Reef back then and it is so convenient to everything! Looking at some of the photos took me right back - oh, the nostalgia! Got me excited about going again! When I lived in California, we use to alternate going to Hawaii or Mexico for vacation every year because both were so close (and cheap compared to now!!!) Thank you!

Aw, thank you so much for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed it and that it brought back so many memories!

Haha, omg, the Outrigger Reef! I still can't believe the chances of staying in the condo right beside it, haha. How is it there? But it really is in a nice location. Man, just thinking about it again makes me want to go back, haha. At least you were able to take advantage of visiting Hawaii and cruising the islands when it was cheap!

I'll be sure to watch for your review this November. What ship will you be on?

I was thrilled to get a complimentary upgrade to a SE suite and I was able to get the same suite you had 13508. I have been drooling over your photo's of it. Any thing I should know about the suite or the location would be so appreciated. I'm so excited only 5 more weeks to wait.

Haha, yay, at least I know I'll have one person reading my review in November ^^ I'll be on the Royal Princess.

And OMG, you got my room! Congrats! I guess they really do have trouble selling those suites, eh? But all the better for us, heehee. Hmm, well I already mentioned about the whole elevator issue. The suite isn't that far from it, just around the corner and down the hall. There is a short hallway connecting port and starboard nearby that I often see the stewards leave their carts, but it was never an issue for me-- plus, if I ever needed a steward that'd be the first place I check, haha. I'm not sure if it's because someone spilled something or if they were pretty diligent on the cleaning, but I could often hear a fan blowing the carpet dry. You can't hear it form inside, but it'll hit you hard when you open the door. That's something else I really liked about the cabin-- how soundproof it seemed. I'm not sure if that's for all the rooms but I never heard a peep from my neighbours-- I wasn't even sure I had any until I saw everyone out on the balcony for the Na Pali Coast lol And one of my neighbours had kids who were loud, so yeah :)

OMG, I'm so excited for you! Just over a month left, eh? Will you be doing a review yourself?

Such an awesome review. Thank you for sharing so many wonderful photos and details. My husband and I are going in August with my parents. Can't wait!!!

Thank you so much for reading it! You and your family will have an awesome time! :D