PoA May 19-26--Long trip report

[cleophus12]

I struggled with whether to post this on the NCL board or here, but since I learned so much from the Hawaii board, I decided to post here. Be warned: it's long.

 

Just back from our Hawaii vacation which included a week on the Pride of America. To start at the beginning, we flew from Charlotte to Salt Lake City to Honolulu on May 18. Our flight from SLC to HNL was delayed in SLC for 7 hours because the plane had been struck by lightning on its way into SLC. In all honesty, I was happier for the delay (which was caused by waiting for another plane to arrive from ATL) than I would have been to get on that possibly damaged plane. I am a very bad flier, and the thought of going across the ocean on a plane that could have a pin hole sized problem (the gate agent’s words), was not putting my mind at ease. So we arrived in Honolulu about 10:15 Friday night. I had arranged transportation with Hawaii23 and had been in touch with Mark when we found out we would be delayed. He assured me that they would be waiting for us, and they were. The drive into Waikiki was a little dicey, but we arrived at the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach shortly after 10:30. We were given a newly renovated 16th floor room with a partial ocean view. The room was lovely and quite spacious. The only renovation we were even aware of was the pool reconstruction. Otherwise, the renovation is hardly noticeable and very much worth putting up with for the discount the hotel is currently offering.

We woke up early about 6:30 and my husband walked on the beach and made some great pictures. When he returned, we got dressed and went to the Hula Grill for breakfast. The lovely view almost made up for missing our reservation at Duke’s the night before. We did the $9.99 early risers special and our breakfast for 3 was just over $30. After breakfast we walked the beach heading west then walked up to the main street and shopped. We wound up at the international Marketplace across the street from the hotel. By then it was almost time to go to the ship. So we went back to the room, got our things together and got a taxi to the pier. The taxi fare was right at $20 and when we arrived at the pier at 12:30ish, the ship was boarding.

We received a shell lei as a greeting. We later learned that there is a shortage of orchids on the islands, so the shell leis are the alternative. However, we made a flower lei later on the cruise. More about that later. Embarkation was relatively painless. Lines moved rather quickly and within 30 minutes we were on the ship and dining in the Aloha Café. Our room was ready about 2:30 and our luggage arrived shortly thereafter. All in all, I think NCL has the Honolulu embarkation down to a science. All went very smoothly.

We were in stateroom 9528 with a large balcony. I usually choose to stay in a midship room because of motion, but I went with the forward location in order to get the large balcony. The balcony was almost half the size of the room and was literally like having another room. The balcony had two regular chairs and two loungers with a tiny table. Although many say you are not in the room enough to really use the balcony, we made good use of it. I had my coffee out there every morning, and while getting dressed for dinner each evening, one of us was on the balcony (we had three in the room). I will say that since the ports in Hawaii are not primarily tourist ports, the view from the balcony while in port was not always the greatest, and sometimes there was a lot of noise. Still, we wouldn’t do this trip without a balcony. Our cabin steward was Charles and he was great. He promptly introduced himself the morning of the second day. We requested an egg crate for the fold out bed, and he put one on that night. It made a big difference in the comfort of the fold out.

Dinner on night 1 was in the Liberty dining room. We were not impressed with the service that evening as our waiter and assistant were not at all friendly. Yes, I know they have a job to do and take it very seriously, but it doesn’t take any extra time to be friendly. We would only go back to the Liberty one other time during the week. I had the lobster and fish and it was actually quite good. I wish they had offered it again during the week. We attended the Welcome Aboard show that evening, and it was not very good I am sorry to say. We usually go to all the shows on a cruise, but we quickly decided that we could skip most of the ship’s shows. The comedian was pretty funny, but otherwise, the talent was sorely lacking. The Four Seasons tribute group was really off. We had seen a Four Seasons tribute on the Radiance of the Seas two years ago and they were great, so we had high hopes for this group. Sadly, it was not to be.

Maui was the first port and we had rented a car from Hertz. Be aware that if you rent from a third party, such as Priceline as we did, you do not receive any of the Gold benefits from Hertz, so no VIP check-in and no Hertz points. Even so, we received a very nice car and were on our way in a matter of minutes. We drove to the Iao Valley Needle and then to Lahaina. It was a beautiful day and we walked the streets and shopped for several hours. After Lahaina we drove to Kamaole Beach. Being a Sunday, the beaches were crowded with families enjoying their time off. We had a picnic at Kamaole III, played in the water, and headed back to the port. We had the car back by about 3:30 or 4 and had some time to relax before dinner. We ate in the Skyline on night 2. Our service was friendly and timely, and we really enjoyed the atmosphere in the Skyline. We tried to eat there each night. By the way, we ate breakfast every day in the Aloha Café. We found one of the chefs at an omelette station to be very friendly and remembered us each day, so we went to her every morning for our omelettes. On the days we had rental cars, we fixed sandwiches for our picnics from the sandwich station in the Aloha Café. That was very convenient. Be sure to take baggies and a fold out lunch bag for your picnics.

On the second day in Maui, my husband and daughter biked down Haleakala with Mountain Riders. They picked up my family at the pier and delivered them back when the tour was over about 1:30 or so. They loved the ride and luckily they had a beautiful clear day for the ride. They were glad they had not done the sunrise tour. I had chosen Mountain Riders because they follow their riders down with a van and that offered me some security for their safety. After their return from the bike ride, we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon by the pool. Dinner again in the Skyline was good. Chef’s special fish was really good that night. I think this was the day the local hosts began the lei making classes which my daughter and I did for the next three days. We made Kukui nut leis, flower leis, and ribbon leis. This was a highlight for us because we had something we could take away from our trip as a souvenir. And since we didn't receive a flower on embarkation, we got to make our own.

After a fairly smooth ride to the Big Island, we arrived Tuesday morning in Hilo. Again we had a rental car, this time from Thrifty. We waited 10-15 minutes for the shuttle because we missed the first one. Be aware that their shuttles only seat about 12 people, so they fill up fast. Thrifty was very understaffed that day and only had one person at their counter. So while I waited in the Blue Chip line, the agent was working with other people who had lots of questions. However, for “waiting patiently” as the agent said, we were upgraded to a Mustang convertible which was great. We got our car and drove to Volcanoes National Park. We had a great morning there and had our picnic in the car at the visitors’ center. We did not find any picnic areas in the park. We headed back toward Hilo and stopped at the Mauna Loa nut factory. They give lots of free samples and have an ice cream bar, so it was a good snack stop. After getting back into Hilo we headed North to Akaka falls. This is a great stop with a good little hike on a paved trail around Kahuna and Akaka Falls. After the falls we returned the car and went back to the ship. Dinner that evening was in the Liberty dining room. Again the staff was not overly friendly, but our waiter did ask when we sat down if we were trying to make the 7:15 show. When we said we were, he worked very hard to be sure we were served in a timely fashion. Food was just okay. This was the second time my husband or daughter ordered steak and both times it was not good. It was tough and tasteless. We did not try the Lazy J steakhouse although I understand it is quite good. I just don’t think one should have to pay $25 each for a good steak when we have paid almost $5000 for a cruise. It wasn’t that long ago that a good steak could be found in the main dining room on a cruise ship. The move toward specialty restaurants has not been a positive change in my opinion. The show was the comedian this night and he was quite funny. However, his show is based on audience participation, so he is only as funny as the people he chooses to participate. And I must say, his show felt a little repetitious after awhile. Still we laughed a lot and enjoyed the show overall.

Wednesday was Kona and we had reservations on the Fairwind II out of Keauhou Bay. Because the Fairwind was scheduled to leave at 8:30, we needed to be on a very early tender. I got up and went up for the tender tickets at 6:15. Only one other person was there, and no one else even showed up until about 6:40. The ticket distributor arrived about 6:50 and all the people who were there at that time got on the 1st tender. Be sure your whole family is ready to go when you get the tickets, because when they call your number, you have to be ready to go. Tendering was easy. The taxi ride to the bay was $30—a little more than I had thought. But the morning was great. They served muffins and fruit on the ride to the bay which takes about 45 minutes. Once we arrived at the Captain Cook monument and Kealakekua Bay, I realized why this area is inaccessible by land. But it is truly beautiful and the snorkeling is great. I am claustrophobic, so snorkeling is hard for me. One of the crew members pegged me right off and offered me a View Box which is just what it sounds like—a big box with glass in the bottom so you can just look down through it at the fish below. It’s like having your own glass bottom boat! I was able to enjoy the view of the fish without having to breathe underwater! While we were in the water, the captain started grilling burgers and dogs and served a full lunch before leaving the bay. We were back by about 1:00 and had our taxi drop us off in town so we could walk the main street in Kona. It was an easy but good walk back to the ship. Tendering in and out of Kona was no problem. When we arrived back at the dock, we were loaded onto the first available tender so we didn’t even have to wait. We had a great day in Kona. Dinner that night was in Skyline and we had a great wait team that night and a table one row from the aft window tables. We asked every night for a window seat and never were able to get one. The trip from Kona that night was fairly rough. Winds were just below Gale force and we could feel the movement in the forward of the ship.

We had rented a car in Kauai and the Thrifty shuttle was right there when we walked off the ship. Again, the blue chip agent was busy with other customers so we waited quite some time for our turn in line. The car we were given was supposedly new, and although it was nice enough (a Nissan Versa) it had very little power. On our drive to Waimea Canyon we wondered a time or two if the car was going to make it up the mountain. From the Canyon we went to the Spouting Horn and then to Poipu. We ate lunch at Puka Dog in the Poipu Shopping Village. Great lunch. But be prepared to wait in line. This is a popular lunch spot. From there we went to Poipu Beach and spent the rest of the afternoon before returning the car. Dinner in the Skyline again.

Friday in Kauai we just walked over to the Marriott and admired their property and sat on the beach. We also had Hula Pie at Duke’s which we had been denied by our late arrival in Honolulu. It was great! We returned to the ship and spent the afternoon at the pool until the motion of the ocean forced them to close the pool because it was making big waves. The Napali Coast sailby was spectacular! We had a room on the Port side so we were able to watch from the balcony. We missed the narrartion which I wish they would run through the room TVs. But it was beautiful. Last night’s dinner in the Skyline. We went to the Four Seasons tribute because my husband is a big fan, but the group wasn’t very good and we were somewhat disappointed. The trip back to Honolulu was very rough and we didn’t sleep much that night. I think we had Gale force winds that night. Several people told us it was unusually windy for this time of year.

All in all I would say the trip was a great success. The family had fun and we saw some beautiful scenery. The itinerary cannot be beat, and while I had read some mixed reviews about the condition of the ship, we were pleasantly surprised. She is in good shape and nothing looks worn out. The TV's are a bit dated, but considering the programming you have to choose from, the TV is hardly worth complaining about. If the ship has stablizers, they should put them to use when the ship is rocking so much. I know they use up a lot of fuel, but it seems like it would have been worth it to stop some of the motion. I'm not entirely sure I would cruise with NCL again just because I'm not crazy about the whole freestyle dining thing. It was nice to be able to go to the dining room when you wanted to, but if you went after 6 pm, you had to wait 15-20 minutes. And frankly, I like having a waiter who knows I like lemon in my water and that my daughter will order fries every night with extra ketchup. I asked for lemon every night and only got it once. So I'm not sure if the freestyle thing is really for me. I wouldn't refuse to cruise NCL again, but if given a choice (which you don't really have in Hawaii), I'd probably choose another cruise line.

[Molokai-Chuck]

cleophus12 ....A big Mahalo for your trip report. I too like the snorkel area at the Capt. Cook monument. And also miss those cheeseburgers being grilled while I am snorkeling there.

 

Chuck

[genealogyfan]

It was such a great way to see the islands, would love to do it again. Great review

[OzarkCruisers]

Thanks for your report. I love reading about everyone's experiences!

[ctnecruisers]

Great review. Thanks for posting. We are on her in 5 days and I can't wait. Thanks for the heads up about the tenders in Kona.

[Zeno]

Thanks for a most useful review!