BURNSMN

Agree that the drop off at Valley Church can be tough on a lot of people. The last time we were there I spent a LOT of time helping people trying to get out of the water.

We have been to all of these beaches and always felt safe. There have been a few vendors at each but a polite no thank you has always worked. Each beach has a restaurant and chairs and umbrellas for rent. All of the taxis we have used have always returned to pick us up. We have prebooked rides when we wanted to beach hop to more than one beach but if just going to a single beach we have always just caught a taxi at the port.

bernardstours.com Augustin Bernard, one of St Martin's top tour guides

Was at Orient Beach last week. Went with Bernard to Le String. Total cost of $70 per person included transport from and back to ship, beach chairs and umbrella and a THREE COURSE LUNCH at the restaurant along with a drink. A tremendous value for the price.

Just in Antigua last week and can confirm that the licensed taxis charged $40 each way to Jolly, Darkwood, Valley Church Etc.

Leaving on the Edge on Friday. The menus on my app just showed up a couple of days ago.

We have always been able to work out beach breaks through Lawrence of Antigua.

If you use your Barclays Princess Visa to purchase these gift cards will you still get your double points from Princess?

Yes you do get charged tax on every drink while in port.

We love Captain Zodiac and snorkeling by the Captain Cook monument. It is a very intense ride, sitting on the side of an inflatable boat at high speed while holding on tightly. The snorkeling site is excellent and on the return trip you will zoom by the rock shoreline and slightly enter some sea caves. We have now doen this twice, the first time booked independently and this time through NCL. Tried to book it on our own again but had to go through NCL. A great time if you can handle the boat ride!

Thank you. This was the week when most of the crew quit wearing masks. Also, very few of of the passengers were wearing them (5-10%). There were hand sanitizers scattered throughout the ship, but we were one of a few using them. Pre pandemic NCL had staff paying attention to hand cleaning but now you are on you own. Specialty dinners took between 75-90 minutes.

Just back from POA Cruise ending 9/17/22 folowed by five day land vacation on Maui. There has not been much info on Cruise Critic about these sailings since they returned earlier this year so I thought I would give a current report. This was our second voyage on POA, our first being ten years ago. We spent one night at the Outrigger Wakiki prior to boarding. POA WHAT'S OPEN: Restaurants: Cagney's 5:30-9p, Jefferson's Bistro 5:30-9p, Teppanyaki (Just reopened, not listed at all in Freestyle), Skyline 5:30-9p, Aloha Cafe (Continental Breakfast 6-6:30a, Breakfast 6:30-10a, Lunch 12-2:30p, Snack 2:30-3:30p, Dinner 5-9p) Cadillac Diner 24 hours. Bars: John Adams Deck 5 (6:30a-9:30p), Mardi Gras Lounge Deck 6 (7:30p-2a), Napa Wine Deck 6 (5-9p), Ocean Drive Deck 11 (8:30a-6p), Pink's Champagne Deck 6 (5p-Midnite). Entertainament: Hollywood Theater (One show per night, most nights 7:30p, exceptions Aloha Polynesian Maui first night at 7p and Kauai first night show at 9:30p). Mardi Gras (One or two shows, parties, or DJ a night). Pink's (Various performers nightly). Atrium (Hawaiian performers at various times throughout the week). Misc: All shops were open along with Kids and Teen Clubs with limited hours. Gym 24 hours and pools from 8a-8p. OUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ABOVE: Restaurants: We ate at all the restaurants other than Teppanyaki. Made all specialty reservations when we got on the ship. Just walked up to Skyline for main dining. No problem getting any specialty times (had two Platinum dinners and one with booking special). Only had to wait once at Skyline. Aloha Buffet was only crowded before first morning at ports. We thought the food and service were excellent at specialty, better than expected at main, and ok at buffet. Bars: This was the most annoying area of sailing with reduced capacity and staff. Having only one pool bar with limited staff and closing at 6p was unacceptable. If you want a drink during busy times be prepared to wait. They also had very limited staff serving the areas around the pool. There is a small drink area in the buffet where you could get limited beer and wine offerings. The lower level bars were also very busy during dinner hours. Entertainment: The Hollywood Theater was never crowded for any of the shows. Most nights it was less than half full even with only one performance. This cruise is about Hawaii not shows. We did go most nights and saw Vince Acevedo (comedian), Aloha Polynesian ( local performers), Three Guys Worldwide (singers), ICONS (production show), and Jassen Allen (singer). We did not go to the magician and the last night was supposed to have been another production show but was changed to Jassen Allen with no reason given. We were happy to see that the Aloha Polynesian show and production shows have returned to the ship. We enjoyed all the shows and also attended many others in Mardi Gras and Pinks. The Hawaiian performers are also a nice touch. GENERAL: The weather was beautiful for this trip with highs normally in the 80's, warm breezes, and little rain. We bid on and received a balcony cabin upgrade which was on Deck 10 midship portside. Great location, good for viewing and suprisingly quiet. The ship staff began the week with a lot of mask wearing but by the end of the week NCL rules for employees changed and most were no longer wearing them. They seemed to be quite happy about the decision and for the first day was being discussed by them all over the ship. We did the following shore excursions: Maui: Road to Hana (Independent) and Grand Wailea Beach Day (NCL) Hilo: Volcano Safari Aftermath of Last Eruption (Independent) Kona: Captain Zodiac (NCL) Kauai: Royal Sonesta Day Pass (Independent) SUMMARY: This was our second cruise post pandemic and it felt almost back to normal. Reduced capacity and service are evident but this was a great cruise overall. We knew what to expect from our research and had a wonderful time in Hawaii. We finished our vacation in Maui staying at Kaanapali Beach Hotel in a beachfront room. We can't wait till our next cruise and are so happy to be travelling again. Happy to answer any questions.