Hawaii...cruise or hotel? Just do both!! Here is our photo intensive review

[fin]

Those are some really stunning photos. Thank you so much for going to the time and trouble to share them with us.

 

It was fun to see Kaanapoli Beach particularly, as we stayed at the hotel there (which not surprisingly looks a lot like your Turtle Bay place).

[cruisinskier]

Those are some really stunning photos. Thank you so much for going to the time and trouble to share them with us.

 

It was fun to see Kaanapoli Beach particularly, as we stayed at the hotel there (which not surprisingly looks a lot like your Turtle Bay place).

 

Thanks fin! It has been fun to put this together as I get to relive our time in Hawaii :):):)

[scrappydoo]

Such a great, great review. Thanks so much for posting, cruisinskier! LOVE the pics...I feel like I'm there... esp the Teppanyaki one! jaja! :D I'm contemplating giving that a try, but am wondering what the menu is like or what is offered. Can you tell me a little bit about the experience? How much food is ordered, what types of food, is it a long process, do you come out smelling like BBQ smoke? Would you say it was quality food/flavor? :o Sorry for all the questions!

 

P.S. So glad those guys at Avis returned your camera! Otherwise, we wouldn't have enjoyed all these wonderful pics!

[cruisinskier]

Thanks scrappydoo. The Teppanyaki was a good experience and the chef puts on a fun show, balancing eggs, juggling, and working the knives. The food was good with selections including chicken, steak, Filet Mignon and various seafood including scallops and shrimp (and any combination of these you wish). I am sure there were lots of other options I am forgetting along with the soup, rice and dessert. If you have not done this before it was a fun night out.

 

As far as the camera goes, yes it was the pictures that meant the most. The camera is actually older (A Canon Powershot) that I have thought of replacing but it still works fine....and make sure you rent from AVIS!!

[cruisinskier]

After another morning having breakfast on the back deck, I had a 90 minute training session to attend. We were looking forward to a full day on Kauai so the training dragged on but finally it ended, we packed up the towels, grabbed the snorkel equipment and headed off to get the rental car via shuttle to the Lihue airport (yep, AVIS :)). We knew our plans were to come back to Kauai for 4 days post cruise so in addition to having fun today, we were also looking for things that looked interesting to come back and enjoy.

 

Our plan was to drive north as far as we could go which would take us to Kee Beach. We spent a couple of hours swimming and snorkelling and just lying on the beach. Overall the snorkelling was good but not as many fish as in Maui. Also the overcast skies didn't help with visability. But we were snorkelling in Hawaii so all was good!

 

We drove back into the closest town (Hanalei) and stopped for a late lunch at Bubba's Burgers. After lunch, we continued our drive back with our next stop at Anini Beach. We just walked the beach here for a few minutes as it was lightly raining. We had rain on and off most of the day however it seemed to stop whenever we got out of the car (guess we should have spent less time in the car :D).

 

Next stop was the Kilauea Lighthouse. This is a very scenic spot to stop with great views along the coast and lots of seabirds, etc. The lighthouse is on a point with great views in both directions. Apparently there are lots of whales in this area during the winter months but we had missed that. Our next stop was at Kealia Beach to watch some surfers. The waves were not as high as they had been on Oahu but there were lots of surfers still enjoying themselves. We stopped to shop a couple of times as we drove back south.

 

There is really only one major road on Kauai that goes around about 70% of the shore of the island. It does not connect due to the land forms of Waimea Canyon and the Na Pali Coast. Approximately 90% of Kauai is not accessible by road so it is very scenic with a very diverse landscape but it also means the main roads can have fairly heavy traffic (fyi, the percentages I have used are my estimates but I think they are close to accurate).

 

We were now back in Lihue and decided to go to Costco to pick up some Macadamia nuts, Kona Coffee, etc. And for those who feel Hawaii is expensive, there are ways to keep it cheaper if you try. For example, on this night the two of us had a very romantic dinner at Costco. Between us we split a slice of pizza, a sausage (which came with a drink) and an ice cream bar for dessert with a total bill just over $5. Big spender eh! :D

 

After Costco, we dropped the car back in at AVIS and made it just in time to catch the last shuttle at 8:00pm back to the boat (after that you were on your own to find a way back although lots of people keep the car overnight given the 2 days in port). We knew we were not getting off the boat tomorrow so we returned the car.

 

Once back onboard, we decided to go to the Aloha Polynesia show in the theatre. It actually was a pretty good show with numerous dances being similar to what we had seen previously at the Polynesian Cultural Centre...no fire dancers though! After the show, we called it a night.

[cruisinskier]

Arriving in Nawiliwili, Kauai

 

Kee beach..this is also where the Kalalau Trail starts to hike the Na Pali Coast

 

 

 

The Taro Fields

[cruisinskier]

The Kilauea Lighthouse

 

Driving In Kauai...get a convertible!

 

Surfboards at Costco

 

Our Night out on the town at Costco!

[kwbound]

cruisinskier - Thank you so much for the report and photos. We are leaving Friday for Hawaii and boarding POA Saturday.....can't wait!!:D

[sue402001]

Thank you so much for your quick reply about VNP cruisinskier, looks like light jacket will work for me.

I can't wait to read more of your review!

[Raison]

Enjoying your review, thank you for posting it!

 

By the way, love the "romantic dinner". :D

[J&RLOVESTOCRUISE]

Looking forward to reading more!

[weary traveler]

i somehow remember being docked in Kona while on the RCCL LOS but what i remember the best was the shops with the flavored popcorn... you experienced the best way to visit Hawaii and its islands.. i just always wondered how they got that indoor outdoor green carpet over the mountains.. just beautiful

[FloatYourBoatSince2003]

Thanks for the awesome review - so much better with the pictures! The ship looks beautiful - more so than I expected.

 

We're down the street from you in North Mississauga - and are connecting through Vancouver as well - thanks for the info. Our layover is getting longer and longer because they keep changing the flight times. How long was yours - how did you kill the time?

 

Ps: the whole family is going - including my very hungry 14 year old son - so I'm thinking a similar "romantic" dinner is not entirely out of the question for us too :D

[spacepotatoes]

We're down the street from you in North Mississauga - and are connecting through Vancouver as well - thanks for the info. Our layover is getting longer and longer because they keep changing the flight times. How long was yours - how did you kill the time?

 

Ps: the whole family is going - including my very hungry 14 year old son - so I'm thinking a similar "romantic" dinner is not entirely out of the question for us too :D

 

I'm not cruisinskier, but I can give you my experience of the long layover at YVR. We arrived at the international terminal sometime before noon and went straight the area for US connections, where you preclear customs. There was an airport agent in the area who told us that we were better off staying in the international part and going through preclearance closer to our flight because there wasn't much to do on the other side. We took his advice and killed most of the 6 hours by visiting the shops and checking out the giant fish tank in the terminal. There are lot of shops, some airline lounges, and a good sized food court. Once you go through to the US connections area, there are still some options available, but not as many. We also brought reading material and ipods.

 

So, if you find yourself in the international terminal when you get to YVR, you may want to find out how long the preclearance counters are open and just hang out for a while. Although when my parents did this trip and went through YVR a few months later than us, they didn't go through the international terminal so they had to do preclearance right away. Not sure why the difference.

 

By the way, your son might enjoy some of the offerings at the Cadillac Diner on the ship!

[bronxite]

Thank you, thank you for this great review and photo's....it was wonderful. We will be sailing next April 9th so it was nice to hear you had great weather. :)

[cruisinskier]

Hi all (including those lingering behind the scenes). I appreciate you following along on what for us was the best trip we have had to date....we will return to Hawaii some day!

 

kwbound, have a great trip and hope you enjoy Hawaii as much as we did! I look forward to reading your trip review....

 

sue402001, glad to assist with the packing...we had brought a pair of jeans and never wore them...the jacket did get used once or twice along the way....

 

wearytraveler, as far as I know Kona is a tender port (at least on NCL) and agree there are lots of favoured popcorn stands in Kona. We didn't get a chance to see much outside of the port but hope to return one day to explore those green hills....

 

Raison, J&RLOVESTOCRUISE and bronxite, thank you all for your kind words and more to follow shortly.

 

I also noticed there were some recent issues with the pictures but I have upgraded the photobucket account so they appear to be ok now....please let me know if any issues. I found when doing my research (when I was hovering on these boards) that there were not many pictures of POA available so I tried to capture as much as I could. Again, I apologize for the delay in posting this review but we are totally enjoying re-living the trip.

 

Jerry

[cruisinskier]

Thanks for the awesome review - so much better with the pictures! The ship looks beautiful - more so than I expected.

 

We're down the street from you in North Mississauga - and are connecting through Vancouver as well - thanks for the info. Our layover is getting longer and longer because they keep changing the flight times. How long was yours - how did you kill the time?

 

Ps: the whole family is going - including my very hungry 14 year old son - so I'm thinking a similar "romantic" dinner is not entirely out of the question for us too :D

 

 

FloatYourBoat, I think spacepotatoes gave you great advice as far as the layover in Vancouver. We also were informed by the US Customs that there was not much available once you cleared customs so we also hung out in the International terminal for a couple of hours. Lots of shops, food etc and if you are looking for a splurge, we bought a great bottle of 2005 Oculus at the duty free which we enjoyed on our balcony at Turtle Bay in the evenings.

[cruisinskier]

Hard to believe but we were already down to our last full day of the cruise. Things were a little different this day as I had my final training session for 3 hours in the morning so we were not able to spend any time ashore. We started the morning differently too with breakfast in the main dining room. Food and service were both good (much better than the dinner we had in the Liberty a few days earlier) and as much as we missed the back deck it was nice to be served breakfast for a change.

 

After I finished my training session, it was time for lunch and we decided to try out the Cadillac Diner as we had not yet been there. Another couple joined us and the 4 of us enjoyed the comfort food and the cheescake alone is worth a stop in here! By now we were pulling out of port and heading back to Honolulu, but not before the highlight of this cruise.....sailing the Na Pail Coast. I will post some pictures but it really doesn't do it justice. These few hours along the Na Pali coast are worth the price of the cruise on its own. This needs to be on eveyone's bucket list!

 

The balance of the afternoon was spent enjoying the views of the Na Pali coast and enjoying some sun in a lounge chair (ok, and maybe a refreshment as well!). There were always empty deck chairs on the upper decks, sometimes with hardly anyone around. The POA had lots of quiet spots to enjoy a book or take a nap...not that there was much time for that!

 

Dinner tonight was in our final specialty restaurant of the week, Little Italy. The food and service were good although it depends on your definition of Italian food. They have various pastas, chicken, pizzas, etc but don't look for a lasanga.... Overall I think we got great value from our culinary passport throughout the week. After dinner we went to see the final Second City show which was disappointing and not as good as earlier in the week. We live just outside Toronto so are very familiar with Second City as Toronto & Chicago are the two home cities for this troop. Being improv, I think alot depends on the input and creativity of the audience when they are yelling out suggestions for the various scenes so I am going to say this audience was below par.....

 

After the show it was back to the cabin to pack up as tomorrow was the end of the cruise portion of our trip. :(

[cruisinskier]

Cadillac Diner

 

 

Lots of empty deck chairs

 

Lots of room to yourself on the upper decks

 

The staff of POA

[cruisinskier]

Double Rainbow

 

 

 

Note the boat on the water to put this in perspective...

 

 

 

[cruisinskier]

Well the final morning was upon us so what are we do to but head to our favourite spot on the back deck for one final breakfast overlooking the Port of Honolulu. Luggage tags had been available 2 nights back with different colours representing different disembarkation times. We were not doing a shore excursion or heading out on a flight so we selected a later departure time. Our colour was called around 9:00am, there was only a short line of maybe 5 minutes to swipe your card, the luggage was easy to find sorted by colour, and we were off. One benefit of this cruise is that there is no customs to clear as all the ports are domestic.

 

We came into this cruise with not overly high expectations. We had read numerous reviews which were on the negative side. Reflecting back on our expereince the positives included:

• the Jefferson Bistro
  
• the great itinerary
  
• a very competent room steward although we did not meet her until the 3rd day
  
• breakfast outside at the back of the Aloha Cafe
  
• a good variety of food
  
• the hardest working staff we have seen (but not necessarily the best overall service). Given the American crew, the laws prohibit them from working the hours that other crew do on other ships..but that doesn't mean they hire extra staff. This is one reason you may not get turn down service, etc.
  

Our negatives included:

• the service level, especially in the specialty restaurants (excluding Jefferson Bistro) was just not the same level as we had experienced on other ships...there wasn't necessarily anything wrong with it, it just wasn't "special"
  
• there was no interactive TV to book shore excursions or check your account balance (apparently this used to be in place and the company who serviced it went bankrupt. It is on the list for upgrades at the next dry dock)
  
• overall nightlife was quieter but then again we were pretty tired with this port intensive cruise
  

Overall, the POA exceeded our expectations. There was no "WOW" factor to the boat such as we experienced on the Freedom of the Seas or the Epic, but there was nothing wrong with the POA either. It is a great way to see numerous islands (with two overnight ports on the the normal itinerary) and only have to unpack once. I would gladly do this cruise again!

[Ontario cruise duo]

Cruisinskier, your post and pictures are helping me re-live our cruise back in March/April 2006 all over again. A belated 25th wedding anniversary cruise to each other. One main difference for us was that, that Spring Hawaii was having horrible rainfalls (or should I say "record level" rainfalls) so our pictures are not as vibrant as yours. Really makes me jealous!! We always said we would head back there one day for a land vacation, but really makes me think we should do another cruise together with a land vacation just like you did!! Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures with us, and with pictures like that, who needs a new camera? Not you!! P.S. Way to go AVIS!! From another Ontario (not too far away) cruising couple!!!

[cruisinskier]

Cruisinskier, your post and pictures are helping me re-live our cruise back in March/April 2006 all over again. A belated 25th wedding anniversary cruise to each other. One main difference for us was that, that Spring Hawaii was having horrible rainfalls (or should I say "record level" rainfalls) so our pictures are not as vibrant as yours. Really makes me jealous!! We always said we would head back there one day for a land vacation, but really makes me think we should do another cruise together with a land vacation just like you did!! Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures with us, and with pictures like that, who needs a new camera? Not you!! P.S. Way to go AVIS!! From another Ontario (not too far away) cruising couple!!!

 

Thanks Ontario friends! Hawaii was actually experiencing record low rainfall when we were there. The water levels were low and the waterfalls were drying up. We really noticed this on our helicopter tour of Kauai, but I am getting ahead of myself here. I will post some info about our post cruise stops over the next few days. Glad you are enjoying the post and congrats on 29 years now!

[sue402001]

The review continues!

I love the pictures from the NaPali Coast and can't wait to read about your helicopter tour in Kauai!

[chelegirly]

Wow, this is the best review I've read on CC. I do have one request: Please book many more cruises and then come back and post reviews!! :D Thanks for the great read!