This American is Proud to Review the Pride of America 4/11 to 4/18

[Wildcatllamas]

mel-b thank you so much for such a wonderful review. I will be sailing with a friend on POA in December 2015. Hawaii has always been on my bucket list but my late husband was never interested. So when my friend's husband didn't want to go she called me. She didn't even get the full sentence out before I said yes.

 

Now I am going to have to copy and paste in bullet point fashion all of the high points to see and eat at so I can go over them with her. I have book marked this review so I can receive alerts when something new is posted. Woo hoo!!

 

Barb

[greatlakesgirl]

Still following along! Looking forward to the rest of it. :)

[marathonrunner123]

Anxiously waiting for the next installment.

[Kattus]

Ditto :)

[PhilNDebbieAtSea]

Great review!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mel-b]

Back in the saddle, ready to wrap up this review of the POA!

I believe I left off on the 2nd day of Maui, that night actually where we dined in Cagney's. I've mentioned having the Ultimate Dining Package. I want to reiterate, if you really enjoy food, this is a must option. It was nice to receive this "complimentary" in the deal NCL was having leading up to April. Unlimited drink package was not available for the POA due to Hawaii laws.

Speaking of laws. I might have already mentioned this. Several reviews I read leading up to our cruise on the POA discussed the American crew in an unsavory light. People not seeing their cabin steward enough etc etc. These employees of the POA are bound by American labor laws. As such, it's my understanding if they are hourly versus salary, they try not to work overtime. They are compensated as they would be off the ship on Hawaii land or the mainland. Overtime = time and 1/2. I actually think because they're not all worked to the bone, they are better rested and interact with the passengers in as friendly if not more friendly of a manner than any other ship not registered in the US. We enjoyed our time with a couple of the bartenders. Certainly the servers in the specialty dining restaurants were awesome (Moderno, Cagney's and Jefferson's Bistro come to mind). I wish I had documented their names better because I would certainly give them a shout-out in this review. Even our cabin steward. She was always pleasant when we ran into her in the hallway. Because we are not high maintenance, we didn't find we needed her for anything specific during the cruise. I would imagine this job category especially would need to be cautious about overtime and overpay..

Next entry - our day in Hilo!

[mel-b]

mel-b thank you so much for such a wonderful review. I will be sailing with a friend on POA in December 2015. Hawaii has always been on my bucket list but my late husband was never interested. So when my friend's husband didn't want to go she called me. She didn't even get the full sentence out before I said yes.

 

Now I am going to have to copy and paste in bullet point fashion all of the high points to see and eat at so I can go over them with her. I have book marked this review so I can receive alerts when something new is posted. Woo hoo!!

 

Barb

 

I am so excited for you! Fulfilling your bucket list - you go girl! I really appreciate you reading here. I hope the review continues to be helpful as you plan your special week on the POA.

Edited July 11, 2015 by mel-b

[mel-b]

Great review!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Thank you for reading!

[mel-b]

Since we only had daylight hours in Hilo, I decided to arrange a semi-private tour through Big Island Aina Tours. Gil and his wife, Tina, are the owners/operators. I had read very good reviews about them (along with a few other operators). I believe several others that utilize cruisecritic have used them as well. They come highly recommended, and I concur.

I reached out to them via email. Gil responded immediately. He is a kind and knowledgeable man. I appreciated his prompt response. We secured our spot with him and did not finalize pay until after the tour.

It was lovely to enjoy coffee and breakfast on our aft balcony as we pulled into the Hilo port. We were able to see the summit of Mauna Kea in the distance with snow on its cap!

 

 

The weather was overcast, and it's my understanding that is often the case on this side of the Big Island.

Much like Maui, Hilo's port is industrial. We docked and disembarked around 8am. We met Gil in the building just outside the POA where all passengers travel through. Once the rest of the party arrived (there was a total of 8 of us) we loaded up in Gil's nice van and took off for Volcano National Park.

The drive to the park is not super long. It appeared to be a straight shot from the port. It was raining a bit on the way, but that made for a cozy drive. Gil's wife, Tina, was so kind to make each woman a Hawaiian flower hairpiece. Gil also had fresh pineapple to offer and local macadamia chocolates during our tour.

Our first stop within the park was the Thurston Lava Tube. We were able to hike through to the other side.

 

 

Next, we drove over to the old lava field from a 1970s flow. We were able to walk out over it and view the various formations. Rock, tree molds, and new vegetation.

 

1970s lava field

tree mold

tree mold

[mel-b]

We next drove over to a lookout spot where we could see an old lava bed and steam vents. You are able to hike down to this bed, however I believe the hike is around 1miles in. Therefore, due to time, we did not hike down. I would really like to do this in the future.

 

 

We drove on to the Kilauea crater (the active crater). This viewing location also has a nice museum and restroom facilities.

 

 

The actual lava bed is not able to be seen from the lookout area over Kilauea. I believe it was about 100ft down inside the crater. As I mentioned before, the only active lava flow able to be seen at the time was via helicopter.

Take time to browse through the museum. There are some great photographs and a computer of the current activity.

We drove on to the area where steam vents are located. There were a couple of vents close to a parking area which were fenced off. The other area we walked a short distance and as it was lightly raining, the steam was very evident.

 

 

Overall, this is a great park. I would have liked to spend more time here. As we were on a guided tour, we of course couldn't. If you chose to venture out on your own in Hilo, this would be a must stop.

[mel-b]

Our next stop after the Volcano National Park, as we made our way back down to Hilo, was the Mauna Loa macadamia nut farm. This was a nice, brief stop. A great place to have a snack (they offer ice cream and sandwiches). Of course their gift shop has every flavor imaginable. It was fun to sample all they offer. Since we can buy a few of these flavors at home, we opted to purchase the garlic/onion flavored nuts. I believe you can walk through one of their factory facilities. We opted to stuff our faces :)

The next stop (or perhaps this stop was before Mauna Loa farm? I can't recall) was Akatsuka Orchid Gardens. We didn't stay here for long, just enough time to browse through their many orchids. I had no idea there were so many variations. They even had one that smelled of chocolate. And one that supposedly is worth $20k?!! If you're an orchid fan, you can have them ship the flower back to the mainland.

We drove on to Rainbow Falls, which is located close to downtown Hilo. Let me mention again how great Gil is. He is very knowledgeable, and willing to answer questions. We enjoyed the conversation in the van between stops.

 

 

Rainbow Falls was formed from a lava tube collapse. There are stairs you can climb to the left of the falls. I was told you can hike further on up the falls a ways. We didn't know this at the time. In total, we probably stayed at this stop about half an hour.

After Rainbow Falls, we drove into downtown Hilo for a brief stop to walk through the shops and farmer's market.

Our last stop before returning to the ship was at a black sand beach. I believe this was called Richardson Ocean Park. We walked through the grounds, to the small bit of black sand beach. Lovely grounds. You could easily spend a couple of hours here. Sea turtles were on the rocks. And during whale season, they can be spotted from shore.

 

[jordanandcathy]

Awesome review so far! We will be on the POA two months from today for our 10th anniversary on 9/17. We plan on going skydiving in Kauai to celebrate!!!

[cruiseclues]

Thank You for doing your Pride of America Photo Review. :):):):)

[jenmouse]

Thank you so much for the review. I am looking forward to reading the rest. We are six weeks away from a cruise on Pride of America - we have nine family members sailing together - ages 12-70+.

[mel-b]

Awesome review so far! We will be on the POA two months from today for our 10th anniversary on 9/17. We plan on going skydiving in Kauai to celebrate!!!

 

Thank you for reading! And happy anniversary! Even though our 10 year anniversary was this past Thursday, we took the opportunity in April to celebrate! Kauai would be an excellent place to skydive. I firmly believe they who dive together, survive together! :)

Our first date was skydiving... LOL

[mel-b]

Thank You for doing your Pride of America Photo Review. :):):):)

 

Thank you for reading it!

[mel-b]

Thank you so much for the review. I am looking forward to reading the rest. We are six weeks away from a cruise on Pride of America - we have nine family members sailing together - ages 12-70+.

 

Thank you for reading! I'm excited for you! I think this being a family cruise will be fabulous. You'll have to let me know how it goes for the kiddos in your group. Even though we went solo, I wouldn't hesitate to take our three.

[mel-b]

As I was doing the pre-planning and research for our trip, I kept getting stumped over Kona. I wasn't sure if I wanted to coordinate a rental car since we were only there for the day. We could've hooked up with a tour company, but since we had done that the day before in Hilo, we weren't as jazzed about being captive to an organized outing. Not to mention, this stop in Kona is in the middle of the cruise week. We were tempted to take the day and just relax. This is ultimately what we decided to do.

From what I could gather, most rental companies are located at the airport. I was told there are a couple of rental car companies in downtown (Enterprise/Dollar/Budget), but don't hold me to that info.

I think getting a rental in Kona is really no biggie (probably much like obtaining a vehicle in Maui or Kauai). However, POA tenders in Kona. From what I could gather before the cruise, the tender situation is a bit messy (I concur, it's a bit more messy than any other areas I've tendered before). Of course you can't just immediately disembark the ship onto dry land. So one must consider the time to take the tender boats to shore. I had read the actual process aboard (obtaining tender tickets, standing in line to disembark etc) is a bit time consuming. This is true.

*Note - plan to disembark early (unless you're in an organized NCL excursion, those times are already worked out) and be one of the first to obtain a tender ticket as soon as you can. That will get your day going. If you are having a leisure day ashore like we did and don't need to get somewhere fast (like a rental car company), just take your time and plan to be waiting a bit.

 

Here are some of the activities we considered. Mary Lou's Tour comes highly recommended on both sides of the Big Island if I'm not mistaken. Ricky's Tours does as well. I'm not sure if Gil from Big Island Aina Tours also provides service on the Kona side. Since we went with him in Hilo, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him on the Kona side if he provides tours there.

We considered a helicopter tour, but since we had one planned for Kauai, we decided not to do two. I would like to go back and see this island from the air. Especially if lava flow can be seen.

There are several coffee plantations (Hula Daddy Coffee does a tour) and this would be fun if we had a rental. In fact, Kona has a coffee festival in November of this year (konacoffeefest dot com). There's also at least one chocolate orchard on the Big Island. In fact, there's a huge chocolate festival on this side of the island in May (bigislandchocolatefestival dot com). Suffice it to say, I want to return for one of these festivals!

Snorkeling is supposed to be good on this side of the BI. Especially in Honaunau Bay (also called Two-Steps). I'm not sure if there are tours (NCL or otherwise) to this location. Should you decide to rent a car and like to snorkel, this would be a good stop.

Kohala coast on the west side of the Big Island is beautiful. Good whale watching from here should that be the season.

 

Ok, so what did we do? We took our sweet time having breakfast and getting ready. We were looking forward to a relaxing day. My DH could've easily stayed on the ship and explored. But, that seemed weird to me since we had never been to Kona before.

So, we walked on down to the deck for disembarkation. And...we clearly did not pay attention to the process. We did not obtain the requisite ticket which I honestly couldn't even tell you where that's done. This was probably around the 10am hour if not later, so many had already tendered to shore. The way we came down to the deck (2 I believe, via elevator) put us next to a NCL employee who was guiding the crowd. Thankfully, the line was not super long as in going UP the stairs, otherwise we would've been the most hated couple. She allowed us to disembark versus going back upstairs to wherever the tender tickets were being distributed. This was very kind of her. But, would the line have been insane where we would've been rudely cutting, we would've gone back up and followed protocol.

We loaded onto the tender boat which happens to be the lifeboats. The ride to land was maybe 15 minutes or so. Downtown is all within walking distance once you tender in. There is also a small beach/snorkel area very near the tender drop off.

 

beach area near tender drop off in Kona

View of the POA from Kona

There is a nice sidewalk that butts up next to the water.

Local painter

[mel-b]

We decided to explore by walking down the sidewalk and came upon the painter. I regret not purchasing one of his works, they were awesome! We didn't make it very far as we saw an oasis calling our name across the street. We ended up sitting in Chillin' On the Bay drinking Mai tai's and beer, looking out over the water and the POA.

 

Chillin' On the Bay

 

So one drink lead to another and before we knew it, some friends we had met on the ship happened to walk by. We met these folks while standing in line for the Jeep rental the first day in Maui. They happen to be from our area of Texas and were in Hawaii for the original reason we were, a work conference. In fact, they were attending the same conference in Honolulu after the cruise. I love meeting people like this!! So, more drinks and a pizza later, we were limin' as they say in the Caribbean.

This bar is located next to some local shopping. So I browsed through and bought a couple of things which I'm sure when I got home was like, "Why did I buy this?!" Oh, yeah, I probably wasn't thinking straight!

We decided to move on to Kona Brewing Company. We wanted to compare pizzas so we said. The walk seemed so arduous..I wonder why..

We made it. Settled into an outdoor table and ordered one of their pizzas and some beer. I recall thinking Chillin's pizza was tastier than Kona Brewing's. That may or may not be true..

After our drunken/gluttonous outing, we walked back down towards the tender area. Grabbed some Kona coffee beans to take home and lounged on the beach near the tender. It began to drizzle rain, so we called it quits and tendered back to the POA.

It was an awesome day!! We needed this brainless, random time. I would, however, really like to get back to Kona. The festivals they have sound awesome. I'd like to explore the town more, that whole side of the BI actually.

[jordanandcathy]

Thank you for reading! And happy anniversary! Even though our 10 year anniversary was this past Thursday, we took the opportunity in April to celebrate! Kauai would be an excellent place to skydive. I firmly believe they who dive together, survive together! :)

 

Our first date was skydiving... LOL

 

 

Haha. That's awesome. Best first date EVER! Lol

[marathonrunner123]

We are also stuck on deciding what to do on Kona. We might just follow your example and have a rest day

[Wildcatllamas]

mel-b I was reading a couple of other threads where they talked about actual lobster being served in Cagney's and Jefferson's on a certain night. Do you remember seeing that and what night it was?

 

Thanks.

[mel-b]

We are also stuck on deciding what to do on Kona. We might just follow your example and have a rest day

 

I wondered if we were the only ones feeling stuck about Kona! I'm happy how our day went. Even though we didn't see much of Kona or that side of the BI, it was nice to have a relaxing time on such a port heavy cruise.

[mel-b]

mel-b I was reading a couple of other threads where they talked about actual lobster being served in Cagney's and Jefferson's on a certain night. Do you remember seeing that and what night it was?

 

Thanks.

 

Actually, my next post was going to be about Jefferson's Bistro the night of Kona! We didn't know until we sat down in the restaurant, but yes Kona is where they pull fresh lobster aboard if it's available. The server told us they bring it aboard in large white coolers which we may or may not have seen on the return tender due to our, ehm, condition!

I believe Cagney's serves it that night as well as Jefferson's. I would suggest having an early reservation to make sure there is plenty available!

[mel-b]

See my post just above this one as I mentioned lobster in Jefferson's Bistro. We didn't know the POA brought aboard live lobster from Kona. It was a very nice surprise once we sat down in Jefferson's Bistro. We were told Cagney's offers this lobster too. First come first served basis. So if you're really really wanting fresh lobster, consider the night of Kona in either of these two restaurants and book an early enough reservation.

 

Next post - Kauai!