POA Pictures from 12/18/2010

[dleighb]

Yes, I know I am slow. I also have a book of a review on my computer, but I am not sure anyone really wants to read it. It is VERY detailed down to conversations I didn't necessarily want to forget.

 

But, I have finally posted the pictures from our trip if anyone cares to see them. I'll be happy to answer any questions if you have them.

 

Really, there aren't any much different than the thousands of others, but if anyone is wondering about the quality of pictures you can get on an open door helicopter ride or the conditions of the Kalalau Trail, I recommend the Kauaii albums! Best days ever!

 

http://www.pbase.com/dleighb/2010_hawaii

[chachi]

Thanks for posting your pictures. They are beautiful.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

Great pictures. Thanks for posting for us. The balcony looks like one I will be in. The big balconies on the front. I'll be on deck 8 #8520.

[brunolvr]

Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures. I especially like the pictures of all the flowers -- how lovely!:)

 

I'd love to read your review! We need all the info we can get in planning our cruise in September!;)

[tone1]

Sure, please share your review with us. :) Your pics are great, but I think there are lots of useful details that you could include that might be fun for you to tell us about and help answer some of my questions already.

 

Like, was that Road to Hana on your own or with a tour? What did you do on the ship on your lazy day? Did you miss not going whalewatching or did you see any whales from just being on the ship or somewhere else? Which helicopter company did you choose and why for Kauai?

 

Did you really take that farewell picture from your departing flight? It's really good! Tell us your thoughts on the ship, staff and your dining and entertainment experiences.

 

If there are a lot of details, edit some out and do your posts day by day, just like your photos. I'm sure there will be many others waiting to ask you questions as you blog your cruise and just waiting for the next post.

[khr316]

Thanks, your pictures were great! I lived in Hawaii from 1972 - 1980 and hiked in to Hanekapiai (4 mile beach) on the Kalalau trail a few times. It wasn't easy then (of course, I was wearing flip-flops) . . . We are thinking of trying it when we are on the POA cruise in May -- hopefully, it will be less muddy at that time. Not sure that I can do it now, but will give it a try, it was so beautiful . . . thanks for the memories!

[sue402001]

Thanks for posting your pictures dleighb. The Farewell picture is awesome!

 

I have a question for you. Were you able to open the door to the adjoining balcony? My sisters are in the room next to us and we'd love to be able to share balcony's.

 

Thanks again!

[Kylie]

I have a question for you. Were you able to open the door to the adjoining balcony? My sisters are in the room next to us and we'd love to be able to share balcony's.

 

 

We are wondering this same thing!

[cruiserone]

We have not cruised NCL only Princess, Celebrity, RCCL and Orient. I hear conflicting reports about the ship and the crew. We want to cruise Hawaii but not sure this will be the ship. DH says YES! One week on ship and another week at Disney's new resort. Any comparison to other lines you have been on? I guess the scenery would outweigh any discomforts on the ship. Your photos are beautiful and I could smell the ocean and the flowers.

 

THanks, Carol

[JLC@SD]

Great photos, thanks for posting them, we just got back from our Hawaii cruise a few weeks ago and enjoyed seeing your photos.

[dleighb]

To answer some of your questions before I get to editing the review.

 

 

Tone1--The Road to Hana was a private tour with Carey Limousines/Town and County Limousines.

 

 

I can’t remember what all we did on our Lazy Day. We walked out of the docks and to a music store where my brother bought a ukulele. It was the grandfather of ukulele stores and not the tourist kind. We also visited the small mall area looking for Santa Hats. No luck. I participated in the hula and lei making classes. We had dinner and went to the evening show.

 

 

We were early in the season for whales, so I do not feel like we missed out terribly on a whale watch excursion none of which could “guarantee” whale sightings until January. We saw some from the helicopter and the ship and that was cool. We’ve also been on whale watching excursions out of Cabo, so we did not feel like this was a deal breaker that we were unable to do a specific excursion.

 

 

We chose Jack Harter for our helicopter tour because we wanted to take picture without fighting the glare from the windows. I was in the worst spot for taking pictures and still got good ones. I can’t wait for my husband to process his as we made sure he would be in the prime photographer spot.

 

 

Yes, I did take the “Farewell” picture from the window of my United Airlines flight. It was probably against regulations since my camera is an electronic device and they did not allow us to use them yet, but as it does not communicate with the outside world in any way, shape, or form, I didn't worry about it too much in light of the cool picture opportunity! I did do a fair amount of cleanup on the photo adjusting the contrast and shadows and highlights and noise reduction so you could see through the haze. The effect was to give it the nice soft effect you see here.

 

 

 

Sue40201 and Kylie--Yes, we were able to open the doors on the adjoining balcony. However, you really had to have the appropriate tool which I believe was an allen wrench of some kind. My dad had his Leatherman supertool which happened to have something that worked in lieu of the allen wrench. However, there is nothing to prop open the door so it sort of flops about when you are sailing. And depending on how your cabins are configured and which side your cabin/balcony doors are on, the balcony door will end up blocking the balcony entrance if you have propped open. But we did open them for the lava flow sailby and it was fun to go in between the balconies to visit.

 

 

 

Cruiserone—That is probably in the detailed review. We have been on Disney, Holland America, and now NCL. They were all different. We did not have high expectations of NCL POA after reading a lot of the reviews. For the most part, we were very pleased. As always, there are some odd things that could have been improved on (like the lunch seating in the main dining room which had us overlooking the port side even though the dining room was completely empty and there was a lovely mountain/harbor view on the other side. When we asked to move they told us “no” because they always seated people in a counterclockwise rotation. Seems to me, that could be improved on.)

[brunolvr]

Yes, I know I am slow. I also have a book of a review on my computer, but I am not sure anyone really wants to read it. It is VERY detailed down to conversations I didn't necessarily want to forget.

 

But, I have finally posted the pictures from our trip if anyone cares to see them. I'll be happy to answer any questions if you have them.

 

Really, there aren't any much different than the thousands of others, but if anyone is wondering about the quality of pictures you can get on an open door helicopter ride or the conditions of the Kalalau Trail, I recommend the Kauaii albums! Best days ever!

 

http://www.pbase.com/dleighb/2010_hawaii

 

Do you remember what side of the airplane you were sitting on to get that great picture?

[cruisinskier]

Really enjoyed your pictures. Agree Kauai is a must see....especially by helicopter!

[fayerussell]

what type of camera, or cameras did you use on your trip???;)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you for posting the pictures. I would also like to see the review.

 

I have a few questions, too.

 

What hotel did you stay at in Waikiki pre-cruise? We just booked a partial ocean view at the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach and it looks as if you could have been in one of those rooms.

 

Did you do a tour of Pearl harbor or go on your own?