Thoughts & Noticings from our POA Cruise

[LadyLion_AP]

This was my 11th cruise: 1st NCL cruise (I’ve cruised mostly with Royal Caribbean but have also cruised with Carnival, Celebrity, & Disney).

 

I’ll start by saying....I haven’t met a cruise I didn’t like but there have been cruises I would not recommend.

 

1) I LOVED this cruise & RECOMMEND it! The Hawaiian Islands are beautiful & I feel we got a good “taste” of each Island. I am appreciative that I had a prior land-based Hawaiian vacation under my belt, as the cruise is really just a “taste”.

Recommendation: Spend additional time/several days in Hawaii before or after the cruise. We added 1 day prior & 3 after the cruise. The first day was a wash, as we were completely jet lagged. 4pm still felt like 10pm.

 

2) The Balcony cabin was the smallest cabin I’ve been in but there was plenty of storage. (I’ve read how small the Balcony cabins are so I was mentally prepared.)

 

3) The service was good & even great at times but not consistent. Some employees griped about their jobs while others were pleasant & positive. One employee even complained about the kids onboard. We rarely even noticed the kids. Our room attendant was the worst we’ve ever had. We had to ask for soap, toilet paper, and for our trash to be emptied (after a cleaning) but he made pretty cute towel animals. [emoji57].

 

4) We ate in the main dining room for dinner twice. We enjoyed our first meal but the second meal was not so good. We ate at Cagney’s twice, Jefferson’s Bistro, & La Cucina. All of those meals were outstanding, with La Cucina being our favorite.

 

5) I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED that there was no pushy salesmen on the ship. No one trying to sell us dining packages while we ate elsewhere, no pushing of photos or soda packages, no one trying to get us to get spa services!

Is this the norm for NCL? If so, I’m sold! [emoji1]

 

6) The ship was nicer than I expected (from reading reviews). It was well maintained & many locations to sit & hang out.

 

7) I was too exhausted each day to go to most shows but did see some of a dance off that was pretty funny! There was also plenty of live music most days.

 

8) Our Balcony was port-side which gave us a great view of the Na’Pali Coast...but also...a great view of the Volcano once the ship turned around! To us, an even better view than what we saw on the starboard side! [emoji3]

 

9) Cadillac Diner is a good option for breakfast but the service is very slow. [emoji52]

 

10) The alcohol tastings are great! $19.95 for several drinks!

 

All in all it was a great cruise. I purchased a couple of cruise next certificates so will definitely cruise with Norwegian again!

 

 

 

 

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Edited July 29, 2018 by LadyLion_AP

[Momtocss]

Glad to hear you had a great time. We were on the POA in June and loved it as well.

[Beachiekeen]

Thanks for the info.! Can you share what you did at each port?

[LadyLion_AP]

Here’s what we did at each port:

Maui: Day 1: Uptown Country Farm Tour (Ocean Vodka Tour & tasting, Lavender Farm (scones & tea included), Lunch at a cattle ranch plus a wine tasting). Later that evening we took a taxi into Wailea to shop & eat. Day 2: Uber to Lahaina. Spent most of the day there. (I know it’s probably cheaper to rent a car but this seemed easier for us.)

 

Hilo: Ship excursion/Rainbow Falls Tour which replaced our Volcanoes National Park Tour. It included about 6 additional sights.

 

Hana: Historic Hana Tour with Roberts Hawaii.

 

Kauai: Day 1: Waimea Canyon. Day 2: shuttle into town to shop & eat lunch

 

 

 

 

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[Beachiekeen]

Would you recommend the Kona Historic Tour with Roberts? It is one I am considering. Thanks again!

[LadyLion_AP]

We visited awesome sites but this tour had one of the least informative tour guides of all tours. All in all it was worth the price, we had a good amount of time at each site & the tour bus was comfortable. So...I’d recommend with reservation. Sorry. I hope that helps. I’d highly recommend the others.

 

 

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[Sauer-kraut]

5) I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED that there was no pushy salesmen on the ship. No one trying to sell us dining packages while we ate elsewhere, no pushing of photos or soda packages, no one trying to get us to get spa services!

Is this the norm for NCL? If so, I’m sold! [emoji1]

The pushy sales pitches are usually found in the spa .... given while having a treatment or massage, so you might not have an exceptionally relaxing time there. :rolleyes:

[LadyLion_AP]

The pushy sales pitches are usually found in the spa .... given while having a treatment or massage, so you might not have an exceptionally relaxing time there. :rolleyes:

 

 

 

Good to know. Thanks! We’ve made the mistake of paying for a couples massage on a Royal ship & said never again. To us...it wasn’t worth the hefty price tag & the sales pitch afterwards voided the stress relief from the massage.

 

 

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[Zippeedee]

The pushy sales pitches are usually found in the spa .... given while having a treatment or massage, so you might not have an exceptionally relaxing time there. :rolleyes:

 

If you tell them you are not interested at the beginning and write "no soliciting" on the charge slip you sign before treatment, they will leave you alone. The other offers are very subtle, just a sign on a table for the water or wine package, etc.