Trip Report 14 - 21 October 2017

[CRAZYCROSS]

I put this in the cruise reviews but think it may be of more help to people here. Any questions feel free to ask thanks:)

We were celebrating my partners Big Birthday on this trip. We were travelling from Scotland via Las Vegas then onto Honolulu.

 

We sailed on the 14 October around the islands. I have previously only been on one cruise and that was with Celebrity around the Greek Islands and it was excellent. I had read lots of reviews before booking and they were quite mixed, basically saying just to treat it as a floating hotel, so our expectations weren’t too high.

 

We had a one night pre cruise stay at Royal Hawaiian Hotel which was lovely (I will review it separately). Next morning we arrived at the cruise terminal at 11.30, embarkation was easy and we were given a Lei each – we were onboard for noon.

 

Once on board I booked the East Meets West restaurant for the Tuesday evening as I had read that it could be difficult to get booked later on in the cruise.

 

We then had a walk round the ship and took some photographs while it was nice and quiet. We then went to the buffet for lunch and sat outside at the Aloha café. It was nice and quiet compared to the buffet, so we just had a leisurely lunch and a few glasses of wine. Our bar server was John from Canada and he was a lovely guy – really friendly. We spoke to him at various locations during the cruise and always found him to be cheery.

 

We had the drinks package included because we are from the UK. We could have any drink up to the value of $15 with the 18% gratuity also paid. Just about all drinks fell into this price range – the package was excellent.

 

I can’t remember what time we got into our cabin but it didn’t seem to take very long. We had a balcony cabin on the forward, port side (8552). It was smaller than the Celebrity cabin I had previously, but met our needs. There was a sofa bed beside the doors out to the balcony. we didn't use the balcony very much but it was nice to get fresh air into our cabin. You could hear the sea quite a lot at night even though the balcony doors were closed.

 

Because we had the drinks package they had left us our water – 14 litres! I was surprised at this – I thought they would have just left two a day for us. The bathroom was very small and didn’t have much storage space. The shower pressure was great and the water was always warm. We had the usual towel animals. And the cabin was clean. We never met our room steward all week!

 

We went along to the pool and found a bed without any problem. There was a BBQ on for sailaway and a band playing at the pool. It was a great atmosphere all round.

 

All other days ran into one after this, so I will just give a brief summary:

 

FOOD

 

BREAKFAST AND LUNCH

 

We ate breakfast in the buffet most days and it was fine – plenty to choose from. It was very busy, so we usually at in the Gold Rush saloon.

 

We had lunch at the pool bar some days, which was mostly burgers, hotdogs and grilled chicken but it was really nice. We also had lunch one day at the Cadillac diner, which was a nice change. The pulled pork sliders were delicious. The buffet was also very good for lunch with plenty of choice – something for everyone.

 

DINNER

 

We had dinner in Liberty’s every evening except for one when we went to Skyline. We found the food to be very good and the portions big enough for us – we never had a bad meal. There was usually a queue for Skyline but you could walk right into Liberty most evenings. Skyline had live music playing most evenings but you could also hear it in Liberty.

 

East Meets West was a nice change. The portions were a good size. It’s worth booking to break up eating at the main dining rooms.

 

We had no complaints about the serving staff. They were always polite and would have a conversation with you if you engaged with them. TBH we don’t like the over the top friendliness that you sometimes get from servers.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

We enjoyed the bands playing at the pool during the afternoon. They probably wouldn’t win the X Factor but they were fine. It was a great atmosphere. Some people found it too noisy but there were plenty of other places to sit – such as outside at the Aloha Café. There was also a smoker’s bar with a small pool. It looked very nice but we aren’t smokers.

 

There was always a seat at the theatre even if you arrived just before the show started. We watched Vegas the show, which was very professional. We were disappointed that the Jersey Boys show wasn’t on during our trip.

 

We also watched the female singer / guitarist – Carrie – she was excellent and appeared in various lounges throughout the ship. There was also a pianist and a Hawaiian duo. Plenty of variety.

 

BAR STAFF

 

As I said previously, John from Canada was a great guy and we also liked Shiwel form the Key West bar – she was good fun too.

 

There was waiting staff coming round the pool for orders and they brought the drinks quickly. Most servers were very pleasant. We did hear a couple of arguments between staff – something I didn’t hear on Celebrity.

 

TOURS

 

We did two ships tours – the Volcano in Hilo and the Rainforest and Waterfalls tour in Maui. We enjoyed both. We were on a mini bus rather than a coach, so this made the experience better.

 

We did our own thing at the other ports and had a great time. The islands are beautiful!

 

NA PAI COAST

 

We had a great view from our Port side balcony. The ship sits alongside the coast for quite a while, so no need to rush to get pictures.

 

HILO VOLCANO

 

We saw the lava flowing into the sea and the steam coming up as it hit the water – amazing! Bring binoculars for this, as it’s quite a distance from the ship.

 

WEATHER

 

The weather was lovely most days but we had rain one afternoon.

 

SHIP MOVEMENT

 

Just a heads up - we really felt this ship move. Even in bed at night it was very rocky. Not sure if this is normal for Hawaii. We took motion sickness tablets just incase, so we were ok.

 

MY ONLY REAL COMPLAINT:mad:

 

The ship is freezing! The lounges and all public areas are so cold that it is really uncomfortable. People were walking about with fleeces and jumpers on over their clothes. I brought nice dresses and strappy tops to wear but I was too cold – I had to wear trousers every night and wear my wrap around me – come on, this is Hawaii not Alaska! I complained to guest services but they were useless – said that they could give me a blanket! I was also told that it had to be the chief engineer who reduced the air conditioning throughout the ship and that more people complained when they turned the heating up a notch!

 

OVERALL

 

Apart from the cold, we had a great time and thought it was a lovely ship – it was better than expected.

[Clarea]

Sounds like a lovely cruise, thanks for sharing.

[jdvmd]

Thanks for sharing! Glad you had a great time!

[easyboy]

Glad you had a great time!

 

 

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[Keith1010]

Terrific report and glad to hear that you had a great cruise other then the cold.

 

Keith