POA October, 2016 Room 9528

[SonoranDevil]

Hello everyone! This is my first post in the forum! My wife and I will be sailing on the POA on October 29, 2016 to celebrate our 10th Anniversary. We were married in Maui and we wanted to return to the scene of the crime to mark the occasion.

 

We have reserved room 9528, a B6 port side large balcony room. We're hoping the extra space outside will make up for what appear to be fairly small cabins. I was hoping to hear some feedback on the POA (I know she is in dry dock this spring) and anyone's experience with the large balcony cabins. I've come across a few old reviews, but I have not seen anything real recent. Do the large balcony's still have the loungers and chairs?

 

Any feedback, tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We have cruised together twice before (Alaska on the Disney Wonder in 2014 and a chartered concert cruise on an old Carnival ship in 2013). We know this is a port intensive cruise so any island exploring gems of information are welcome too!

[spirit rev]

SonoranDevil - congratulations on your upcoming anniversary.

We recently returned from a POA cruise (Jan 9 - 16) We had the opportunity to look around the divider of our suite balcony onto a balcony of a balcony cabin. We saw a couple of chairs and a table, no loungers. Balconies do seem to be a nice size on this ship compared to other similar sized NCL ships.

 

I'm hoping that while she is in dry dock some of the furnishings will be refreshed. She was clean and seemed well cared for, just a little "tired" looking after her years of service.

 

We found the service in all the dining venues to be very good to excellent. We ate in the Liberty MDR three times, with three different servers. All provided excellent service. In Cagney's Mercy was our server. She is excellent. I found the US crew to be as friendly and responsive as the foreign crew.

 

Yes, it is port intensive. We rented a car on both Maui and Kauai. Rental car companies have shuttles picking you up at the pier and taking you to the rental desk at the airport. (We did have to wait in line a significant amount of time at Alamo on Maui.)

 

ON Maui: visiting the top of Haleakala has always been a favorite. There are several hiking trails you could take advantage of if you are not with an organized tour. Lahaina has some interesting places to visit.

 

We did organized tours on Hawaii - Volcanos National Park, Rainbow Falls, etc. from Hilo and then a visit to the Seahorse Farm in Kona. The Seahorse Farm is a different type of experience and we learned a lot about these little creatures. You can walk to several places of interest from the pier in Kona.

 

Kauai: A trip to Waimea Canyon was a must this trip. We were not disappointed. After renting the car we headed out of town, stopping to pick up some lunch for a picnic as we drove along the canyon road.

 

Oahu: We spent two nights each before and after the cruise. Rental car for a day to have flexibility for our visit to Pearl Harbor before the cruise. After the cruise we took a taxi to the airport to rent a car so we were returning where we rented from when we left to go home. We visited the Polyneasian Cultural Center. There is a lot to see and do there. It can be a long day if you also do one or more of the evening shows. We also visited the Dole Plantation - now I can say I've been there. It is not as high on my list of places to visit again. There are a lot of other things to do on Ohau, particularly beaches to visit. Diamond Head is also interesting. It is about a two hour hike up and back down. The views from the top are spectacular.

[SonoranDevil]

Thank you so much for the information Spirit Rev! We are really looking forward to this. It will be our first extended trip away from our kiddo! We are still mostly up in the air on what we want to do with the exception of our evening in Maui.

 

We were set to get married on Canoe Beach in Maui on November 2, 2006 when the island saw one of the worst winter storms it had seen in many years. There were even water spouts spotted just off shore. It rained all day and the beach wedding was a total wash. Our wedding officiant was unable to make it to the west side due to washed out roads and we were having no luck finding an alternate venue until our planner contacted the Plantation House in Kapalua. In the true Aloha spirit, they agreed to let us use their facility at the last minute if we agreed to dine there that evening. Seriously, they didn't charge us a penny. My wife and I agreed there and then that we wanted to come back for our 10th Anniversary and visit the Plantation House once again. So we will be driving to Kapalua for dinner our night there.

 

We've seen quite a bit of Maui, so we're not sure what we'll do there with the rest of our time. We have not had the opportunity to visit the other islands, which is why we chose the cruise to sample what each have to offer. I'm pretty sure we'll want to see what we can of the volcano when we stop in Hilo and that we'll want to see Waimea Canyon when we visit Kauai. We'll be spending the day before embarkation on Oahu and I'm pretty sure we'll visit Pearl Harbor that morning. Everything else is up in the air. We'll be renting a car in Maui but we're unsure whether to replicate that on the other islands or to take organized excursions.

 

I'd love to hear other cruisers' experiences as well!

[tempus137]

We did the POA cruise 12/5 - 12/12/2015 in cabin 9522, right next door.

 

The large balcony is super. When we boarded it only had 2 chairs and a table. We asked our steward, Stefon, for loungers & he had them brought in while we were ashore the first day on Maui. The cabin itself is a little on the small side, but room in the closet & drawers for everything. Our luggage fit under the bed.

 

We booked all except 1 of our excursions through Roberts Hawaii. They have package discounts (either 3 or 5) that really brings the cost down. The 1 other excursion that we did was the Road to Hana, through Valley Isle Excursions. They can be booked through adventuremaui dot com.

 

The cruise itself was great, except we had a late sailaway from Kauai, so we didn't see that much of the Na Pali coast, since it was very close to sunset. October should be better.

 

If you are getting to Honolulu early, I suggest going into a local supermarket & getting a case of bottled water. It's a lot cheaper than buying the bottled water package on the ship, or even individual bottles on board. We had an extra luggage tag printed on full sheet label paper, then trimmed it down & stuck it right on the shrink wrap on the case. The porters took it with the rest of our luggage and it was delivered to the cabin.

[spirit rev]

You just reminded me - when we got of the ship in Maui and got into the building where there were a couple of local vendors set up... Right in the center was an honor system bottles of water display. Only $1. Same size as the ship was selling for more.

[SonoranDevil]

We did the POA cruise 12/5 - 12/12/2015 in cabin 9522, right next door.

 

The large balcony is super. When we boarded it only had 2 chairs and a table. We asked our steward, Stefon, for loungers & he had them brought in while we were ashore the first day on Maui. The cabin itself is a little on the small side, but room in the closet & drawers for everything. Our luggage fit under the bed.

 

We booked all except 1 of our excursions through Roberts Hawaii. They have package discounts (either 3 or 5) that really brings the cost down. The 1 other excursion that we did was the Road to Hana, through Valley Isle Excursions. They can be booked through adventuremaui dot com.

 

The cruise itself was great, except we had a late sailaway from Kauai, so we didn't see that much of the Na Pali coast, since it was very close to sunset. October should be better.

 

If you are getting to Honolulu early, I suggest going into a local supermarket & getting a case of bottled water. It's a lot cheaper than buying the bottled water package on the ship, or even individual bottles on board. We had an extra luggage tag printed on full sheet label paper, then trimmed it down & stuck it right on the shrink wrap on the case. The porters took it with the rest of our luggage and it was delivered to the cabin.

 

That is great to know! How cramped did the loungers make the bacony feel? I'm really glad we went with the larger balcony! And what a clever idea about the luggage tag on the case of water. I'll have to file that one away!

[SonoranDevil]

You just reminded me - when we got of the ship in Maui and got into the building where there were a couple of local vendors set up... Right in the center was an honor system bottles of water display. Only $1. Same size as the ship was selling for more.

 

This is also good to know! I'm not sure we'll go through an entire case when there is so much wine to drink :).

[tempus137]

That is great to know! How cramped did the loungers make the bacony feel? I'm really glad we went with the larger balcony! And what a clever idea about the luggage tag on the case of water. I'll have to file that one away!

 

The balcony was not cramped at all. Plenty of room for the 2 chairs and the 2 loungers. We probably could have even fit a 3rd lounger.

[SonoranDevil]

The balcony was not cramped at all. Plenty of room for the 2 chairs and the 2 loungers. We probably could have even fit a 3rd lounger.

 

Thank you! This makes me happy!

[tempus137]

Thank you! This makes me happy!

 

Enjoy the cruise & Happy Anniversary in advance.

[SonoranDevil]

Thank you tempus137!