POA Review - Awesome!

[mousey]

We just returned from our Hawaiian cruise on the Pride of America. We had a really great time. I cruised with the DH and our 14yr DS. First, let me say that I have been cruising since I was 19 and I am now 63. We are not loyal to any one cruise line and have cruised all over the world. The following review is solely based on our personal experiences aboard the POA.

 

Flight:

For the first time ever we booked our flight through the cruise line. I know people have said there is a gamble because of bad flight schedules, etc. We couldn't have been happier with the Delta flights that NCL booked for us. The arrival and departure times were excellent for our needs. We were met at the airport by an NCL representive who was friendly and helpful. Our flight landed at the Honolulu Airport at 11a on the day of embarkation, April 3, 2010.

 

Embarkation:

Because we are Bronze Latitude members this was easy as pie. While the line for the non-members was really long, our Latitude member's line was short. There were only two couples in front of us. We had landed at the Honolulu Airport at 11a and took the NCL transfer van to the port. We were sitting having lunch onboard the POA at about 12:25p! That's how quick and easy our embarkation was. No complaints at all.

 

CC Meet and Greet:

One of our Roll Call members, the wonderful "Mary" had arranged through NCL for us to meet on the ship. Arrangements were made to meet at 5p in the Diamond Head Auditorium. I don't know what I was expecting, but WOW! NCL had prepared a really nice setup of food and drink for our little group. The most impressive thing however was that we were greeted by just about every head of staff on the POA including the Captain himself! They told us that they most definitely read the CC Boards and are very much aware of the negative criticism that is usually heaped on the POA and it's crew and staff. They wanted us to know that they were doing the best they could to turn all that negativity around. They asked us if we would be willing to meet with them again on the last day of the cruise so that they could get our feedback and try to correct any complaints that we may have about the POA. Now that's impressive! For the record, my family had absolutely no complaints whatsoever about the POA or its crew and staff. As a matter of fact, the DH and I were very impressed with the level of service we recieved from every staff and crew member on the POA. We both agree that the POA's crew and staff are the best of any cruise ship we have ever sailed on, bar none! Extremely friendly, courteous, and acommodating at all times. We couldn't ask for better service.

 

Cabin:

We booked really late and as usual we booked an inside cabin for the 3 of us. We were in cabin 4071 on the 4th level of the ship, which turned out to be a really great location. On port days you exited the ship on level 3 and the two main floors were on 5 and 6. We were close to the elevators and we liked our location very much. The cabin is small, but we found it cozy. The DS slept in a bunk bed that pulled down from the wall and the DH and I slept in twin beds that were separated by two small end tables. The bedding was extremely comfortable. I love the NCL bedding. There was plenty of room under the beds for luggage and enough drawers and shelves in the cabin and closet for storing our "stuff". The room had a safe, a small TV, and a small fridge (the fridge was locked but we didn't ask for a key because we didnt' need it). There were two big mirrors, one full-length and one above the desk/dressing table. For seating there was a desk chair and a small leather stool. We were rarely in the room except to shower, nap, or sleep. I would book this same room and location again any time.

 

Food:

This is very subjective. We have no complaints at all about the food on the POA. NONE! We enjoyed, with few exceptions, everything we ate in all the venues we ate at. The few things we didn't like were just our personal tastes and had absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the food itself. I think "Frank" the excutive chef of the POA does an awesome job! I especially loved all the different kinds of bread that were offered everyday, my favorite being the walnut-raisin bread. YUM! The pizza was great, salads were crisp and fresh, pasta was cooked aldente, meats were cooked to your taste, fruit was fresh and delicious, and NO the hot dog buns were not stale. Not on any of the 3 ocassions I tried them. We only ate at one specialty restaurant, the steakhouse, and the food was beyond delicious. Fresh bread, juicy steak, awesome tuffle french fries, it was a really great meal. No complaints at all about the POA's food.

 

Ports:(See my lengthy review on the Members Review Board for details)

With the exception of a golf game the DH booked for himself and the DS in Kauai and the Safari Aviation excursion we booked for Hilo and Kauai, all of our excursions were booked through NCL.

 

Maui: The guys did an NCL bike ride down a volcano - awesome!!!

We booked the NCL Molokini Crater Snorkel excursion - super awesome!!

 

Hilo: We had booked a helicopter tour to fly over the volcano through Safari Aviation, but the weather was bad. They offered to either refund our money or switch our reservation to Fri. morning in Kauai, whatever we wanted. We switched and all I can say is super, super, super amazing! We bought a CD of our flight which arrived yesterday and WOW! is all I can say. The people at Safari Aviation are really great and we would recommend them to anyone who wants to try a helicopter adventure.

 

Kona: We booked the NCL's Captain Zodiac Snorkel and Dolphin Aventure. This was my favorite excursion of all time!!! Not only were the Captain and his crewmate friendly, they were very informative and went out of the way to show us a great time. We saw wild tropical parrots, spinner dolphins that jumped out of the water and spun around. We snorkeled right in front of Captain Cook's Monument and saw lots of fish and an eel. We saw lava tubes and blow holes. But most wonderful of all, we were treated to the sight of a huge pod of Shark-Finned Black Backed Whales. OMG were they beautiful!! This is without a doubt one of the best excursions I've ever been on. I would highly recommend this excursion any time to any one. We were served fresh fruit, cookies, a nut/cracker snack mix, and a variety of soft drinks. After the excursion we walked around downtown Kona and went to see the first Christian church ever built on the Hawaiian Islands, we went to a museum right across the street from the chuch, did some gift shopping and on a tip I got from the CC Hawaii Board, ate some really delicious burgers, fries, and onion rings, at "Splashers" a local restaurant right across the street from the ocean.

 

Entertainment:

We partied at the "White Hot Dance Party" and danced the night away. The Cruise Director wowed us with his angel wings! We saw the Second City players 3 different times, and caught the magician's act once. We enjoyed all of it! There were many other shows and performers, but because of the port-intensive days, we didn't have time to catch them all.

 

To sum it up, all I can say is that this was one of my favorite cruises. I would do it again in a heartbeat and would very highly recommend the POA to anyone, anytime. We loved the cruise. The DS says, "It was Beast!" (That's "awesome" in adult-speak):D

 

I was a little leery about this cruise, given all the negative stuff people say on these boards about the POA and its American crew and staff, but I was greatly surprised to find that none of the negative stuff I had read was true. At least not in our personal experience. It was the opposite, we loved, loved, loved, the POA and its hard working, friendly crew and staff. Can't say enough good things about them.:D

 

If anyone has any questions about the POA or any of the Hawaiian ports we cruised to, I'll be happy to answer them the best I can. I'll be lurking to see if anyone has any questions for about a week; then I'll be off CC until we need to reserach our next spring break cruise! Don't know where we'll be going or on which line we'll be cruising on, but I certainly would cruise on NCL anytime if they are going where we want to go and offer the best price. That's the only two things we consider when choosing what cruise line we will travel with, itinerary and price.

 

ALOHA!

[Molokai-Chuck]

Mahalo for the great review of your trip...

 

What night was the latitudes meeting/party held?

 

Thanks,

 

Chuck

[DMH15]

Thanks for sharing. You gave a very nice review. Especially liked your comments about food. Just because you didn't care for something didn't make it "inedible" or "atrocious"! I am sure you found something else. I like your approach to this.

 

One question. Did you attend the follow-up with the staff you met at the M&G? If so, what happened? This is a marvelous idea.

 

I have not yet cruised the POA, but hope to.

 

Hope your next cruise is just as wonderful.

[Wineshipper]

Wonderful review, thank you for sharing. POA was our first cruise and we also do not understand the negative comments for her. Thought that the POA was a great choice for:

A first cruise

First trip to Hawaii

We also would do it again.

[Sooners]

Thanks for sharing a very nice review!:) We have the POA booked for next year. I can't wait!

[sailincajunns]

Fantasy Islands, Eternal memoriesWhere to begin? As the introduction states, this was our first NCL cruise and our first time to Hawaii. We live near New Orleans, so many of your cruise experiences over the last several years have been on Carnival. We had been following the reviews on CC with regard to the P.O.A. with some concern, as many of the reviews are, shall we say, less than positive. That being said, we are very much 'take the weather with you' folks, and were confident we'd have a good time in Hawaii, no matter how the shipboard experience evolved.

I'll start at the very beginning, with the booking process and customer service process itself. Perhaps I am spoiled, but the process NCL employs where there are different numbers/contacts for different departments (cruise booking/ shore excursions/ air logistics) was much less 'user friendly' than what we have experienced with Carnival. Everyone was helpful and friendly, but I liked the concept of a 'single point of contact'.

NCL handled our air arrangements, and since our time was very limited, I am certain their choices and options were limited as well. Our flight arrived in Honolulu at 5:15 PM on April 3, as scheduled and we were greeted by an NCL representative at the gate, and taken to baggage clain and then to a waiting shuttle. The process was very efficient. We were one of the last two couples onto the ship, and I must say I was disappointed that the 'welcome aboard' photo station had already been removed, as those 'welcome aboard' photos are normally the 'cover picture' for each of our cruise albums.

Luggage was delivered to the stateroom very promptly with no complications or issues. We were dead tired, but we did manage to grab some dinner at the Aloha Cafe' and then basically crashed.

Service on the POA was at least up to the same standard we have encountered on our Carnival cruises. Everyone on the staff that we encountered or interacted with was friendly, out-going, and a real pleasure. No one exhibited any of the 'rude' or 'tired' behaviors that have been posted all over the web. Perhaps we were lucky, perhaps NCL is able to focus enough attention to the one ship left in the NCL America line, but there were no service/staff issues on this boat on our sailing. In fact, our Cruise Critic roll-call group had two opportunties to meet with several of the Officers of the POA. We missed the first meeting (since we were still enroute) but I was able to attend the 'end of cruise feedback' session where 8 officers/staff met with our little group and listened to our concerns and comments. How refreshing.

Ports We booked all excurions via NCL. I know there is a 'premium' to the price, but we like the simplification of the process, and we've never been disappointed on any cruise-line affiliated shore excursion. Maui We did a Whale Watching excursion with the Pacific Oceanographic Institute. Great vessel, great staff, good cause, and we saw many, MANY whales, even though we were at the 'end' of the season. In the afternoon we rented a car. We booked thru Avis, and while there were no complications with the process, the car itself (Mustang convertible) was not the newest model and had three areas of damage when we picked it up. Our 1999 Mustang at home is in better shape. Maui is an easy drive, and everywhere you look, there is a postcard for the 'viewing'. Our second day on Maui we did the Hana Sky Trek. Our group used Air Maui, and they were super. Our pilot Captain "Kirk" did a great job of narration, as well as an awesome job of sharing in our excitement. We had never been in a helicopter before, so this was a double thrill for us. I will say this, the DVD of your flight that they sell is not 'cheap', but DO NOT pass up the chance to buy the DVD of any flight tours you do. They are simply awesome to view. After the flight up to Hana, we took a passenger van down the 'road from Hana'. Our driver "Sue" was amazing, and they served us an amazing lunch on the beach.

Hilo Circle of Fire Helicopter tour, by Blue Hawaiian Helicopters. Our pilot was Julie. She did an amazing job of making certain we got to look into a lava tube, and again the views from the helicopter and the DVD capture are beyond words.

Kona We did the historic Kona tour, pretty much the standard 'drive and look' bus tour, but the vistas and views are so amazing. Simply cannot express in words.

Kauai We did the Kalamaku Manor house and Show. This by-passes the 800 person 'buffet' for a sit down dinner in the Manor House, and you are then escorted into the show theatre with perferred seating. The show was fantastic. The visuals were impressive, but the story is what made the impact.

On the second day in Kauai, we did the Heaven and Earth helicopter tour. As luck would have it, Domi Ransac was our driver/ tour guide. Domi was the actor who portrayed the King in the previous night's perfomance at the Luau. He was an amazing and warm Hawaiian, and we were lucky to have been able to meet him. In any case, the helicopter tour of Kauai was fantastic, and it was followed by a wonderful scenic journey all over the Island with Domi as our guide. If you have a change to fly the 'Black Beauty' helicopters in Kauai, make it happen and ask for Domi as your tour guide. Our pilot was John, who did a great job narrating our flight tour.

Oahu We had booked Pearl Harbor for our return Saturday, but it was closed due to construction, so we selected the North Shore tour. This was another very standard 'bus tour', but the sights are so amazing there can be nothing 'normal' about anything in this American paradise.

Stateroom Our cabin was the smallest we've ever had, but our balcony was large, and we spent almost no waking time in the stateroom so it was never an issue. All of our things fit easily, and we had all of our purchased shipped or mailed back home, so that was not an issue.

Dining Ok, I'll keep this short (or not). The Main Dining Room experience is very much on par with what we have encountered over the last several years of cruising. It is not what 'cruise dining' was 15-20 years ago. It is good food served in a nice setting. Not 'five star', but good food. Jefferson's Bistro is amazing. Do not miss the Creme brulee. The Bistro is well worth the 'cover' charge. Little Italy is wonderful. Well worth the cover charge. The Cadillac Grille is fun and very 'empty' in the early days of the cruise. As people learn about it, it becomes more popular, and thus less attractive. We never had bad food or bad service in any of the dining venues onboard.

Really can't comment on kids club (ours are grown) and really did not see any of the entertainment............

Debarkation was simplified by the fact we were on a shore excursion 'after the cruise'

Overall, we were pleased with our first NCL experience. I see that NCL is planning on having a ship in New Orleans year round, so it's good to have another option.

The level of concern shown by the staff and officers of the POA were impressive.

This is not an inexpensive vacation, but since we saw this as a 'once in a lifetime' chance, we packed as much of Hawaii into this trip as we possibly could.

I appreciate that NCL offering the 7 day inter-island option makes it possible for folks with limited time to get 7 days 'in the Islands' to fit into a 9 day vacation schedule. Cabin pics available malcomlandry @ charter.net Aloha

:D

[AuntieBarb]

Thanks for the awesome review!

 

We share your sentiments of this cruise for all of our NCL cruises, but we've yet to book POA. It was great to hear positives, which I was confident had to be out there. We look forward to being aboard her someday!

[LJH1]

Great review!

 

Is it possible for you to copy and paste this to the reeviews section of cruise critic. It will stay around on that board much longer than here.

[mousey]

Here are answers to your questions.

 

Molokai-Chuck

Our CC Roll Call Meet and Greet was set up by one of our roll call members "Mary" who did an awesome job working with the staff of the POA. The first meeting was held on embarkation day in the Diamond Head Auditorium. I don't remember offhand what the exact date of the official Latitude's Member party was, but I'll check my "Dailys".

 

DMH15

Our follow up CC Meeting with the heads of the POA staff was held at 3p on the last day of our cruise. The POA staff was very interested in our feedback and were happy to hear what we had to say. They really do want to do the best job possible on the POA. They weren't just giving lip service. Except for a minor complaint about some slow beverage service in the MDRs there were absolutely no complaints from any of us, at least not at the meeting, because the cruise was just wonderful and the people who work on the POA are super friendly and acommodating.

 

LJH1

I have posted a much longer and more detailed review of our cruise on the Members Review board here on CC.

 

I'm glad you are all enjoying my review. In all honesty I expected to get "flamed" to death for giving such an upbeat review of the POA as I know there are some NCL haters out there in cyberspace. LOL:D Maybe they just haven't read my review yet!;) Anyway, I gave an honest account of my family's experience on the POA and it is what it is.

 

I'll keep lurking for about a week to answer any further questions anyone may have. Just to let everyone know, I saved and have a copy of all the "Dailys" from each day of our cruise. So, if you want to know a specific time or day for an event you may be interested in, just let me know and I will look it up for you. Sorry, but I'm not a savy computer person so I don't know how to download them onto a post. But, I don't mind looking up anything you want to know about.

For those of you going on the POA in the future, I highly recommend, if it's your type of adventure, the NCL Captain Zodiac Raft Snorkeling and Dolphin Adventure in Kona. It was amazing and worth every penny we paid for it. Also, the helicopter adventure we booked on our own with Safari Aviation, both in Hilo and Kauai, were great!

 

ALOHA

 

PS: Hi Sailincajunns! It was so nice to meet you on the POA! Maybe we'll all cross paths on another cruise sometime!:D

[annecolorgreen]

I do have some questions ;).

 

Is there an onboard luau one or more nights? I want to be sure not to book specialty dining on that night. Also, did you reserve dining ahead or just when you got on the cruise?

 

Is there a soft drink package?

 

Any special party nights? I heard about a pub crawl...is that on the POA?

 

Any trouble getting off the boat to head out to excursions quickly? I want to drive the Road to Hana but heard it's best to get started earlier to avoid traffic. That means we'll have to pick up a rental car quickly.

 

Are there always CC meet and greets? It would be great to meet some other people!

 

THANKS!

[bcakes]

I also wanted to add my thanks for a positive review. My husband and I sailed on the PoA last September. I was pretty nervous after reading so many negative reviews, but found that the trip far exceeded my expectations. (Of course, I suppose I could have found something to complain about if I tried. My husband and I still talk about a conversation we overheard in the MDR after visiting Hilo. A woman was complaining about "horrible" Volcanoes National Park where the dirt paths are muddy after it rains.)

[M&D]

Great review! We did the POA 18 months ago and felt the same way as you---wonderful crew-wonderful cruise--a lifetime of memories in a week!

 

M&D

[1rocky]

Thanks for a great review.By booking through safari aviation was it cheaper doing both Hilo and Kauai. How did you pick which was the best to do . I have noticed after doing internet searches prices range immensely. I m tossing up whether to do one or both tours. Also has anyone flown in a helicopter with the doors off. Thanks for any feedback.

[mousey]

Thanks for a great review.By booking through safari aviation was it cheaper doing both Hilo and Kauai. How did you pick which was the best to do . I have noticed after doing internet searches prices range immensely. I m tossing up whether to do one or both tours. Also has anyone flown in a helicopter with the doors off. Thanks for any feedback.

 

 

We chose Safari Aviation because it was cheaper than the NCL excursion. We booked a flight out of Hilo to see the volcano but the weather was bad so after 5 mins. in the air we had to turn around and go back to the heliport. They offered us our money back but when they found out we were going to be in Kauai on Friday the gave us the option of changing our reservation to Kauai. That's what we opted to do and the helicopter flight over Kauai was incredibly beautiful. I highly recommend this excursion. It was worth every penny we paid for it. The people at Safari Aviation couldn't be nicer. We paid for a video of our flight and it was sent to us the week after our arrival home. It is a wonderful video we will always treasure. I don't know of anyone who has ever been in a helicopter without doors.

[mousey]

I also wanted to add my thanks for a positive review. My husband and I sailed on the PoA last September. I was pretty nervous after reading so many negative reviews, but found that the trip far exceeded my expectations. (Of course, I suppose I could have found something to complain about if I tried. My husband and I still talk about a conversation we overheard in the MDR after visiting Hilo. A woman was complaining about "horrible" Volcanoes National Park where the dirt paths are muddy after it rains.)

 

It takes all kinds! Of course you could always find something to complain about but its people like you and my family that look at the picture and see the glass 3/4 full!:D

[Marfuz]

First- Great review... thank you.. DH and I will be on POA on 5/1/210 Yeah!! I noted you did the NCL Molokini Crater Snorkel excursion - I'm glad you liked it, How was the water temp? I noted some posts had mentioned the need for a wet suit. I would appreciate your feedback.

Thanks so much.

Also, if not too much trouble, what are the fees for the speciality restaurants? and did they offer in the dailies a buy 1 get 1 or some other discount?

Thanks again.:)