An Exhaustive Review of Our Exhausting Hawaiian Adventure

[kwbound]

I am so sorry I haven't been responding to posts! For some reason I stopped received notifications. I didn't even realize people were still reading my review. I am going to resubscribe to the thread and hopefully will start getting notifications again.

 

We did not have to show any type of corporate ID at Thrifty.

 

Happy planning and sailing!

 

Aloha!

 

Donna

[JLC@SD]

I got so involved in this great review, and I was half way through it before I realized it was 2 years old. But it was so good and I loved the photos, I had to finish reading it. Thanks for bringing it up on the boards so we could find it and enjoy your trip.

[Just4You]

Donna, almost 80K hits! Your review continues to be my favorite! Hawaii hasn't changed that much since you first posted this.

 

If you want to read my latest review of Hawaii Nov 2012 (and see lots of pictures of my tattoos, i.e., your henna design):

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1742282

[lknlady]

Donna- Thank you so much for your honest report on the ship but even more for all your wonderful tips and information. I like our trips to be well planned and have been working on our Feb. 2 cruise and will incorporate a lot of your information. Lots of good ideas on local places not to miss.

 

Alice

[ride4806]

I realize that this review is three years old but the information in it is SO great that I just had to bump it up. Donna-I know you are on a cruise right now -I am sure you are loving it-just want to thank you for ALL the information that you shared here-you really have helped me a great deal in planning my trip. I smiled when I saw that your DS went to college in San Marcos-so did my DD-she worked at the Factory stores there and still lives in the area now. Thanks to everyone who has added information to this wonderful review-off to continue my planning :D

[mellowrose]

Thanks for the bump, its a great review!

[Sharonbel]

Hello Donna.....great review......I am sailing in October on the Millenium from Ensenada to Hawaii......your review got me soooo excited.

 

Now for the good news.....Trader Joes markets carries Potato chips that say they are Hawaiian style....they are awesome.....I am not suRe if you have Trader Joes markets in Texas but you can Google them and maybe they will ship some to you.

 

I made lots of notes for my trip in the fall.....Thanks!!

[kwbound]

Hello Donna.....great review......I am sailing in October on the Millenium from Ensenada to Hawaii......your review got me soooo excited.

 

Now for the good news.....Trader Joes markets carries Potato chips that say they are Hawaiian style....they are awesome.....I am not suRe if you have Trader Joes markets in Texas but you can Google them and maybe they will ship some to you.

 

I made lots of notes for my trip in the fall.....Thanks!!

 

:D:D:D:D

 

Yes we DO have Trader Joes! I'm going to go this weekend and check out the potato chips. Thanks for letting me know. I will report back if they are the same or how they compare.

 

Glad my review was helpful. Y'all will have a wonderful time. We are tentatively planning on going back for a 3 island land vacation in fall 2014, so I will start planning pretty soon.:D

[kwbound]

I realize that this review is three years old but the information in it is SO great that I just had to bump it up. Donna-I know you are on a cruise right now -I am sure you are loving it-just want to thank you for ALL the information that you shared here-you really have helped me a great deal in planning my trip. I smiled when I saw that your DS went to college in San Marcos-so did my DD-she worked at the Factory stores there and still lives in the area now. Thanks to everyone who has added information to this wonderful review-off to continue my planning :D

 

LOL - DS worked at the outlet mall too! He worked at the Williams Sonoma store. He'd still live there too if he could find a job in the area! Our friends that went to Hawaii with us have a retirement home on the river in New Braunfels so we are lucky to be able to visit the area often.

 

Have a wonderful trip! Aloha!

[soakedbythesea]

When yall left the ice bucket outside the door, did you ever see it again? :confused:

We look forward to our Jan cruise on POA, even though it sounds like we'll roughing it - more like Motel 6 than 4 seasons. :cool: Hope they leave the light on for us.

 

Day 3 – Hilo, The Big Island – Volcanoes National Park and Richardson’s Beach Park

 

This was our originally scheduled itinerary:

 

Sunday, October 10 – Hilo, The Big Island

8am Disembark and pick up Jeep Wrangler from Thrifty

Prior to disembarking, we may want to slap a few sandwiches together, or order some muffins or something from room service and take a cooler along with some drinks with us. I will bring some zip locks and our collapsible cooler.

 

8:30a-1pm Volcano National Park http://www.nps.gov/havo/ – $10/per car - Hit the high points: visitor center movie, steam vents, Kilauea Calder Overlook, Jaggar Museum, Kilauea Iki Overlook, Thurston Lava Tube, Chain of Craters Road to arch (if time allows).

 

1pm-2:00pm Drive back to Richardson Beach

 

2pm-4:30pm Richardsons Beach Park – Black sand beach south of Hilo, between ship and volcano, best snorkeling on that side of island, facilities http://www.letsgo-hawaii.com/beaches/richardsons.html

 

4:30p-5:30p Return rental car and get back on board ship. Sail away at 6pm.

 

Locations for GPS:

 

Volcano National Park

 

Richardson Beach Park

Drive to the end of Kalanianaole Ave, Keaukaha, Hilo

19°44′5″N 155°0′49″W,

 

Thrifty Rental Car

1 GENERAL LYMAN FIELD

HILO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

HILO, HI UNITED STATES

 

 

This is what we actually did:

 

We went to the Aloha Café for the breakfast buffet. I found POA’s breakfast buffet to be better than any on previous cruises. They had two types of eggs Benedict available every morning – one with spinach and one with ham. I love eggs Benedict but I’ve always had to go to the dining room to find it before, which I never have time to do except on sea days. They seemed to have a wide variety of breakfast food available. I can’t imagine that anyone would not be able to find something they could eat. There were omelet stations, fruit stations, waffles, pastries, etc. Each morning we would take our breakfast out on the Aloha Deck at the very back of the ship and enjoy breakfast outdoors. We never had a problem finding a table. Each morning prior to disembarkation, one of the Hawaiian Ambassadors would speak on the Aloha Deck about the island we were on that day, history and suggested activities. We were sometimes gone before they started their talks, but I enjoyed and appreciated the ones I heard.

 

We had brought with us sandwich bags and zip locks to make picnic lunches from the buffet and a double sided collapsible cooler. They provide items on the buffet for this: white or wheat bread, croissants, condiment packages, lunch meats (ham or bologna), peanut butter and jellies, etc. About the lunch meats – they did not look good at all, especially the bologna which I probably wouldn’t eat if it looked like the best in the world. However one of their hot breakfast items was sliced breakfast ham with a pineapple glaze. We used this ham for our sandwiches. We also made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and took some muffins and pastries. We gathered our ingredients together and took them back to the room to assemble our picnic lunches.

 

We were getting ready to leave and I called guest services to request that during the day our ice bucket be filled and that the fridge be emptied of the hospitality items, knowing that we were going to bring some bottled water and sodas back on. On this ship, at least in this room, you can’t call housekeeping directly. You call guest services and they relay the info. The operator told me that she would send someone, but we would have to be in the room and it might take 30 minutes. Again – Huh? Why would we need to be in the room? Weren’t they going to come in and clean it? We wouldn’t be there then. DH suggested that we leave the ice bucket setting outside the door and not worry about the fridge until we got back, which is what we did.

 

We were in line to disembark the ship when they opened the doors. There was a Thrifty shuttle waiting. The driver already had all the Blue Chip members’ paperwork ready, as well as a Hilo brochure and map. Yeah Thrifty. We had reserved a Jeep Wrangler with a convertible soft top for today, with the intention of removing the top if the weather was nice. Total cost for the day was $67. There were a couple of problems. The first problem was that the weather was never good enough to make taking the top off feasible. The second problem was that it was a two door. We always travel with the DHs in the front seat and the DWs in the back seat. Climbing in the back seat through the front door was a little bit of a challenge. I’m sure it gave some people some chuckles watching the DH’s push our fannies up and through the door. DFH actually thought it was funny enough to take some video of DFW climbing in. That video will not be posted here and had better not wind up on YouTube!

 

TIP: As you are leaving Hilo to go to VNP, you will pass a shopping center with a Walmart, a gas station/convenience store and a Hilo Hatties across the street. We stopped here for ice, waters and soft drinks. It is near the airport and a convenient place to fill the car up with gas before returning it.

 

It rained on us off and on during the drive to VNP, and for the remainder of the day for that matter. But it was still a lovely drive and didn’t seem to take very long at all to get to the park’s entrance. When we arrived at the Visitors’ Center, one of the rangers had just started a talk outside next to a 3D model of the park. It was a very interesting talk and he answered questions following the talk. We looked around inside the visitors center for a while and then walked across the road, past the Volcano House Lodge which is closed for remodeling and to the short trail to the Caldera Overlook. This was my favorite place and favorite view in the park. I think a lot of people assume that because the Lodge is closed, all the trails around it are closed and that it not the case. While we were at that spot the sun was shining. It was so quiet and peaceful. Here are some photos:

 

,

View of the Kilauea Caldera from the Caldera Overlook with steam rising from the Halema'uma'u Crater. (Please don't think I'm typing these names from memory....I have the park map for reference.)

 

 

 

 

View of Mauna Loa in the distance.

 

 

Ohi'a lehua flower...there is a story about Pele and this flower, but I don't remember exactly what it is right now. Suffice to say it is pretty.

 

Next we drove a short distance along Crater Rim Drive to the steam vents.

 

 

To be continued....

[mikefox2hotmail.com]

I have NEVER spent this much time reading a review. I too am a little obsessive when it comes to planning and plotting so I thank you for some great information. We are spending five days/nights in Oahu pre-cruise to get in all the sight-seeing we would like. I am intrigued by your idea of getting off the ship a day early to spend more time on a different island. Mohole!

[kwbound]

I'm so happy that 3 years later people are still getting info from my review.

 

I wouldn't consider the POS quite as low as a Motel 6. And I believe it has been refurbished since we sailed, so your experience may be better. We did get the ice bucket back.

 

We are planning a land trip to Hawaii next summer. We are doing 4 nights in Oahu, followed by 4 nights on Kauai and then 1 more night in Oahu in Waikiki before flying home. It is so much fun planning!

 

Aloha!

[Kim_KS]

I'm so happy that 3 years later people are still getting info from my review.

 

 

I am really enjoying your review! I just wish I could see the pictures. Are they still online? Can you post a new link? I tried the picassa link but it didn't work. Thanks!!

[Kim_KS]

I am really enjoying your review! I just wish I could see the pictures. Are they still online? Can you post a new link? I tried the picassa link but it didn't work. Thanks!!

 

Nevermind - it was just the first few days that don't work - the rest seem fine. Loving the pics!!

[cr8tiv1]

They are good, better than snow cones, but we all agreed that they weren't ALL that. So if you go to Hawaii and don't manage to get a shaved ice, don't feel like you missed all that much. They are inexpensive tho, I will give them that.

 

This is the view across the street from Matsumoto's looking down towards the ocean

 

This is why I always recommend Waiola Shave Ice (2 locations...google it). Their shave ice is really, really, really fine and very reasonable.

 

Thanks for your review.

 

Displaced Local Girl

[cruisnpat]

Thanks Donna for the great review. There are 6 of us adults planning a cruise from Vancouver to Hawaii. Stopping on Maui, Hilo, Kona. and Oahu and then staying for 11 days at Waikiki and in some of my research I found your review. It will be a great help on our planning, a lot of what you did on Maui and Hilo are things that we thought we would do. You cleared up some of our questions on the road to Hana as we are also renting a car and driving to Hana. Just don't know if we will drive all around the loop or go to Hana or the 7 pools and then turn around and come back the same road. Love this planning. Thanks again.[/size

[kjcombs89]

I just came across your review as I'm planning for our POA trip this coming October (2014). I LOVED it so much that I sat here at computer for 2 hours straight reading it and taking notes. Thank you SO much! :)

 

I have a question, if you even remember the answer! :)

 

Why did you choose to do your two snorkeling excursions through private companies rather than through the ship's excursions? We are hoping to do the same two that you did, but I had originally planned to book them through NCL. Now I'm re-thinking that and looking at the two companies you used. So, just curious!

 

Thanks again for all of the helpful information! :)

[kwbound]

I just came across your review as I'm planning for our POA trip this coming October (2014). I LOVED it so much that I sat here at computer for 2 hours straight reading it and taking notes. Thank you SO much! :)

 

 

 

I have a question, if you even remember the answer! :)

 

 

 

Why did you choose to do your two snorkeling excursions through private companies rather than through the ship's excursions? We are hoping to do the same two that you did, but I had originally planned to book them through NCL. Now I'm re-thinking that and looking at the two companies you used. So, just curious!

 

 

 

Thanks again for all of the helpful information! :)

 

 

I'm glad you found my review helpful. In all our cruises, we've only booked a ship's excursion one time. That was in Belize which requires a long tender ride. I typically find non-ship excursions to be less expensive and less crowded (based on seeing ships' passengers lined up for their excursions). And it seems you can get more for your money. The SeaQuest snorkel trip in Kona is still our absolute favorite excursion ever. I think the NCL rafting snorkel trip in Kona only goes to Capt Cook's monument. The SeaQuest trip took us to 3 snorkel locations plus the caves and arches along the coast and the black sand beach. I would do it again in a second. I do a lot of research for our trips and many times I call or email the operators with specific questions. You can't really do that with ships excursions. In Maui one reason we picked that tour was because it has the shortest travel time from where the catamaran picks you up until you get to the crater. Also, I think with private tours, a lot of times you will arrive at the destination ahead of the large ship tours, so you won't be faced with so many crowds.

 

Have a wonderful trip! We are doing 9 nights on Oahu and Kauai in August and can't wait. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited April 1, 2014 by kwbound

[kjcombs89]

Thanks for the quick reply! Well, we may re-think this and keep our car for both days in Maui and I will check into the companies you recommended.

 

And for the Molokini trip, do you remember if you have to pay to park at the resort?

[kwbound]

Thanks for the quick reply! Well, we may re-think this and keep our car for both days in Maui and I will check into the companies you recommended.

 

 

 

And for the Molokini trip, do you remember if you have to pay to park at the resort?

 

 

I don't think that we paid for parking at the resort. I'm pretty sure we self parked and wasn't charged. You can contact the snorkel company to verify. The resort was beautiful.

[kjcombs89]

I don't think that we paid for parking at the resort. I'm pretty sure we self parked and wasn't charged. You can contact the snorkel company to verify. The resort was beautiful.

 

Thanks again! We are excited! :D

[kjcombs89]

Our originally scheduled itinerary:

What we actually did:

We were excited about today because this is our first opportunity to snorkel, and we love to snorkel. We didn’t have to make a picnic lunch this morning this morning or even go to breakfast because both were provided on the excursion. We left the ship as scheduled at 7:30am.

 

Sorry! One more question for you...do you remember how early you can leave the ship on the second day in Maui (and/or Kauai)? There are a few different snorkeling excursions that I'm researching, and some require check-in at 7:30am, meaning we'd need to leave the ship at 6:30am. Is there any restriction for getting off at any time?

 

Thanks again! :)

[kwbound]

Sorry! One more question for you...do you remember how early you can leave the ship on the second day in Maui (and/or Kauai)? There are a few different snorkeling excursions that I'm researching, and some require check-in at 7:30am, meaning we'd need to leave the ship at 6:30am. Is there any restriction for getting off at any time?

 

 

 

Thanks again! :)

 

 

At the ports where you overnight, you can leave the ship as early as you like on the second morning. Some people take that excursion to watch the sunrise from the top of Haleakala and they leave ridiculously early. On the first night you can stay off the ship as late as you want, just make sure you are back in time on the second day.

[Malynnda]

Thank you for your information! Looking forward to reading about your trip.

[dishafer1]

WOW! Great journal writing!!! Are you cruising again in Jan 2015?