Just Back - Pride of Hawaii 7/3 Cruise - Great Time

[Cruise Leprechaun]

Like many of you I scoured these boards for months and got a lot of good advice from past cruisers, so I wish to return the favor and be available as a reference in case anyone has any questions. I got back last week from a great, family Pride of Hawaii cruise we had a great time and I will give you a mini-review below:

 

Demographics - we were a family of four (we are late 30's to 40 and 2 kids 8 and 11). This was our third cruise (RCL and Disney) and our first time to Hawaii. We live in Florida. We were in a Prt side AF mini-suite on the 11th floor.

 

Quick Summary - Ship - A+, Crew - A, Entertainment - B, Staterooms - A+, Dining - C+, Ports of Hawaii - Priceless.

 

Oahu - Flew in 2 days early to see Honolulu. Stayed at Hilton Hawaiin Village on Waikiki. The hotel was nice but Honolulu was the only disappointing site on any of the Hawaiian islands. Sorry folks but to me, at parts, it was like driving thru the slums on New York City. Where Honolulu was the Bronx, I guess that made Waikiki Manhattan. Like Manhattan, Waikiki had its pretty sites but it was covered with 40 story buildings, tons of traffic, lots of noise at night. And Waikiki Beach itself was pretty rocky and tough to swim in because of the coral. I guess Hololulu was just not what I pictured when I thought of hitting the beach in Hawaii. But enough about how disappointing Honolulu was, the rest of Oahu was beautiful. Over the next 2 days we explored more of Oahu and saw some of the prettiest things I've ever seen. We hiked Maunawili Falls, Pali Lookout, Diamondhead, went to the beach at Kailua and Waimanalo (both some of the prettiest beaches I saw the whole time in Hawaii). We had shaved ice at Island Snow at Kailua (of the 5 or 6 times during the week that we had shaved ice on the various islands, this was the best). We drvove the southern coast and saw the blowhole and From Here to Eternity Beach - very pretty scenary. We also went to Pearl Harbor and enjoyed that as well. To me if I had to do it all over again, I would have stayed at some quiet resort, somewhere else on Oahu but still drive the island to see the sites and just visited Waikiki for part of a day to say I was there.

 

Embark - maybe about 30-40 minutes to get on the boat at about 1:30. Not bad I guess. Didn't need to deal with any of the passport or birth certificate nonsense because of it being a U.S. ship.

 

On board we explored and ate lunch in the Grand Pacific restaurant. (The Grand Pacific and the buffet were open. I figured I'd be seeing a lot of the buffet during the week so we opted for a sit down in the Grand Pacific). By the time lunch was over our floor was called and we went up to see our room. The ship and the room was spectacular. Everything was so clean and new it sparkled. Contrary to some reviews of this and the POA I don't have one unsanitary comment about the cleanliness to make for the whole week. Our cabin steward did a superb job all week cleaning the rooms. Remember to turn the dial to what you want her to do (turn down room or make up room or do not disturb) and they seem to respond care to your room at your schedule. Our bags didnt arrive until about 6 that night but dress is casual on the first day everywhere because they realize that not everyone has their clothes yet. I asked the cabin steward to empty the refrigerator and told her that the safe was broken and both were protmtly taken care of for us. Ate at Papa's the first night, disappointing but I'll get to all the dining seperately.

 

Service - was great. I had some of the best waiters I have ever had serving us as well as the room steward and the nice people you encounter on the ship. I was so relieved to see for myself that all the lazy American comments that I read in some reviews were not true, in my opinion. Honestly I did not encounter one "snippy" or "lazy" worker all week. Now the dining was still a problem but not the fault of the workers.

 

Dining - this was definitely on the below average side. I have given it a lot of thought and I have my theory. Many people jump to the conclusion that it is bad because of the all american crew. I couldnt support this. I truly think NCL is making a business decision about the dining and thats why they really havent fixed it after years of bad reviews. While I can't quote these numbers as accurate, the story it tells could be. Lets just look at dinners. Lets say there are 2,000 guests on board and 7 nights, therefore 14,000 dinners to serve. Truly a buffet is much cheaper than a sit down dinner. Lets say a buffet costs the cruise line $5 per guest and a sit down dinner costs $25. If all 14,000 dinners were at the sit down that would cost the line $350,000 for the week. If they can steer a good # to the buffet (by lower the food quality, not utilizing all the tables, slow service therefore not turning tables quickly) they can force easily 1,200 or so of those 2,000 guests to the buffet or a savings of close to $200,000. Call it a conspiracy theory but the food in the sit downs were not very good, the meals were slow (again I dont think the fault of the servers, just thats how they designed it to be), and there were always empty tables even though they gave you a beeper and said you had to wait. I think they are banking on the fact that people will put up (or pay up for the specialty restaurants if they can get reservations) with the lower quality on the food and slow service to see the islands. You know what, I wasn't happy about it but I put up with it and I would do it again. I can always go to a great restaurant at home and I didnt starve either, but it was the one disappointing thing about this trip that I wish I could change. It helps following advice you get from these boards. Make reservations for the week as soon as you get on the ship (I didnt) and go down and get a pager an hour before you want to eat and it should work out. And plan on eating on land or the buffet a little if it really bugs you.

 

Islands - we rented cars at all islands except Kona (where we did Captain Zodiak).

 

Hilo - drove the Volcano Natl Park. Saw the lava from the ship at night. This was moving, almost worth the price of the cruise right there alone. How many people can say they've had that vantage point?

 

Maiu - went to some south coast beaches day 1, drove half the road to Hana (glad thats all we did. Maybe we missed the best part but we got the idea). Did IAO valley day 2 and went to a west coast beach.

 

Kona - did Capt Zodiak adventure. If you do one excursion, do this it was great!

 

Kauii - Got to feeling that we hadn't seen anough waterfalls so we went looking for some.. Saw Opeak'a and Wailua (Fantasy Island) Falls. Then went and found Kipu falls where you could theoretically swim under. When we got there it was an easy 10 minute hike to the falls but there were a lot of locals there and they discouraged us from going further on the hike to get down to the bottom since it was private land. This was still a fun easy hike to do and worth seeing. Then drove out to Waimea Canyon. This was awesome too, very glad we did it. The boat cruised the Na'Pali coast Sunday afternoon - another beautiful sight.

 

All in all it was the best cruise and best vacation we've been on. I am sure Hawaii made it that but the ship and the service can't be sold short. The dining was a problem but if you go into it with that as a known problem, it shouldnt spoil the week. For those that say because of the revews that they are cancelling their trips, I say you are crazy. This was a fantastic way to see all the islands and to see things that not many Hawaiin visitors see up close (the lava, the NaPali coast, Kuaii). If we had planned a land vacation we would have been packing up, checking out of hotels, getting on planes every 1-2 days Thats the part of traveling that I hate. This way you unpack on board and it brings you to the islands. Either that or we would not have gone to places like Kauii or the Big Island and I would be regretting that we missed those sights.

 

Feel free to ask questions and I'll fill you in with what I know. Oh yeah, our kids loved the kids area. They went every night (on their own desire) from 7 - 10 and met a lot of friends that we'd see around the boat all week.

 

Happy Sailing.

[The Postman]

As we're leaving in less than a week, I'm glad to hear things aren't so bad. I sounds like you had a great trip.

 

Just a few quick questions:

 

How much time should we allow for Volcano's National Park?

 

How was the Zodiac excursion (and how long)?

 

Were there kid's activities/programs on POH?

 

Thanks!

[david2673]

Thank you for the great review.

 

My wife and I are leaving next week for the July 31st sailing of the POH and are even more excited after reading your review. Just one question... When you sailed past the volcano what could you see? Lava flowing or erupting? This will definately be a highlight for me.

 

Thanks and I am glad you had a great trip.

 

David

[sunshine 229]

thanks fore your review.

 

I thought your comments about the dining were interesting. The cost of staffing the PO ships must be higher than staffing your average cruise ship with international staff so I guess NCL(A) does have to either charge a lot more for the cruise or else cut corners somewhere. I think your theory about saving money by trying to encourage people to eat in the buffet is worth considering. If that is their idea though, I wonder if it wouldn't be better for them to just ri=un this as a more casual buffet only style ship.

 

That would have the advantage of effectively distinguishing these PO cruises from the other NCL ships and, if they didn't have to bother with staffing the main dining roome they could put all of their resources into doing a really good buffet with enough staff to keep tables cleaned and buffet stocked. then those that just had to have a sit down meal on occasion could book the speciealty restaurants and those who just wanted palatable food could eat quickly and well and concentrate on exploring the islands.

 

If this were going to work though, NCL would have to be smart enough to make this buffet style dining well known in their advertising and to anyone booking the cruise. That way, they would avoid people having unrealistic expectations and coming back unhappy. Better a good buffet (as long as you know that is what you are getting) than a bad sit down dinner.

[Zeno]

thanks fore your review.

 

I thought your comments about the dining were interesting. The cost of staffing the PO ships must be higher than staffing your average cruise ship with international staff so I guess NCL(A) does have to either charge a lot more for the cruise or else cut corners somewhere. I think your theory about saving money by trying to encourage people to eat in the buffet is worth considering. If that is their idea though, I wonder if it wouldn't be better for them to just ri=un this as a more casual buffet only style ship.

 

That would have the advantage of effectively distinguishing these PO cruises from the other NCL ships and, if they didn't have to bother with staffing the main dining roome they could put all of their resources into doing a really good buffet with enough staff to keep tables cleaned and buffet stocked. then those that just had to have a sit down meal on occasion could book the speciealty restaurants and those who just wanted palatable food could eat quickly and well and concentrate on exploring the islands.

 

If this were going to work though, NCL would have to be smart enough to make this buffet style dining well known in their advertising and to anyone booking the cruise. That way, they would avoid people having unrealistic expectations and coming back unhappy. Better a good buffet (as long as you know that is what you are getting) than a bad sit down dinner.

 

First - very nice review to OP - I enjoyed it and I am sorry that the dining was disappointing but relieved that everything else made up for it.

Sunshine: VERY interesting idea. I think that they would have to turn the both the big dining rooms into buffets to make this work and as you said make it VERY clear to anyone booking that it was buffet or specialty restaurant period (no real dining rooms).

Personally I dislike buffets but in this case an upgraded buffet instead of dining rooms just might alleviate some of the dining room problems NCLA has been having. Fewer really well-trained dining room staff would be required (just for the specialty restaurants) and if they turned the big dining rooms into buffet areas the volumes of passengers could probably be handled easier.

As I said I am not a fan of buffets but it certainly is an interesting idea to deal with some NCLA problems.

[nyctohawaii]

Thanks, Cruise Leprechaun, for your review. I'm on the POH in September and it's nice to hear a positive review. A few questions:

 

Was it easy to drive around Kauai? I'll be travelling alone and I get lost very easily but in Kauai I think I may rent a car anyway. I understand it's just one main highway, but what about getting to the various waterfalls?

 

Also, I've read on a few posts that people bring cases of bottled water on board. If I bring a water bottle, is there water easily available on the shhip? Do you have to pay for water at the bars and lounges?

 

How early did you get to Pearl Harbor and how long were you there? I've heard that they run out of tickets if you're not really early, and that even if you get tickets it could be a long wait.

 

By the way, interesting idea about making it an all buffet cruise. Maybe they should try that with one of the Pride ships and leave the others as they are. That way they could find out what people prefer.

 

 

Thanks!

 

Jennifer

[Zeno]

By the way, interesting idea about making it an all buffet cruise. Maybe they should try that with one of the Pride ships and leave the others as they are. That way they could find out what people prefer.

 

 

Thanks!

 

Jennifer

 

That's a good idea - experiment on one ship and if it seems to work better - go with it!

 

BTW - only tap water is free on NCL/NCLA ships (and it is fine) - bottled water will cost you extra anywhere. So drink the tap stuff (you can ask for a glass of ice water at the bars - I have done this on NCL ships) or bring your own bottled water on board

[Smooth Sailing]

To OP - great review - we will be on POH for the 9/25 cruise - we have a port side AF on deck 11 - How large was your cabin - what was above you - did you get much noise from above - Thanks.

[Cruise Leprechaun]

Postman:

1) We probably spent 5 hours doing Volcanos Natl Park including the drive to and fro. We drover around the main loop and stopped at most of the stop offs. We walked thru the Thurston lava tubes. It was kind of a rainy and chilly day there so we felt like we saw enough. You could always spend more time there, probably several days, if you wanted to hike. There was a road that veered off the main loop (Chain of Crater road or something) that they said woudl take you down an hour, and back, closer to newer lava where you could hike to get to the new stuff. With the ship leaving at 5 that day, and having to return the car, I didnt feel like we had that amount of time to invest. Still think we saw it prett good with what we did. The real bonus was at night when the boat went past it.

2) Zodiak - was probably 3-4 hours on the boat including about 1- 1 1/2 hour of snorkeling. It left around 830 a.m and we probably got back aroun 12 - 1230. They take you on a motorized rubber raft maybe 45 minutes down the coast to Kalakeou (?) Bay into some amazing snorkeling. This area is inaccessible except by boat or kayak os it was very pristine. Our kids liked it and were able to snkrkel (their first time snorkeling).

3) Kids activities - pretty much the kids area is only open at night from 7 - 10 because so many people are off the ship during the day. They did things as a group like played games, egg drops and other stuff. Our kids wanted to go every night so they really liked it.

 

David:

1) Volcano - saw red lava flowing (slowly) down the mountain, falling into the ocean and where it went into the ocean the steam cloud rising up. Not erupting - or spewing in the air. Still very impressive, expecially when you see how close the boat comes to it.

 

Sunshine:

Interesting thoughts about the buffet. I dont know enough about if that kind of line would work. personally by Day 7, I was sick of the buffet. I think the point to take here is, lower your expectations, do what you can day 1 to line up all your dinner reservations for the week (you can always cancel later) or get pagers from the restaurants early in the night and dont be upset if you wait an hour to get beepeed, and dont blame the servers - they are just the messengers.

 

NYC:

1) All the islands, with the exception of the area around Honolulu and Waikiki, were east to get around, Kauii included. I know everyone says it, but I'll say it too, Get the Revealed books (Kauii for you) and its got good maps with just what you need to know to get around without all the other noise. You can probably get it from Amazon for about $15 - good investment. The two waterfalls I mentioned (Opeaka and Wailua) were easy to find, right on the road. Kipu was a ittle more difficult but step by step described in the revealed book. Waimea Canyone was also easy to find, a steep, couple hour drive though.

2) Water, on board is actually very, very good and I'm a picky person. I read about the filtration system they use and its actually pretty sophisticated. I frequently drank from the tap but we also brought bottles on board (more to throw in our backpack when we hiked). You were always served water at the sit downs and there was a station at the buffets to get water or ice tea or lemonade or coffee. I never ordered water at a lounge so I dont know about that.

3) Pearl Harbor. We actually disembarked at about 8:00 on the last day and got a cab to Pearl Harbor, probably got there around 8:30. We had a 1:00 flight out that day so we weren't sure if we would get to see the Arizona. As it turned out we waited in line and got a ticket to go in to start teh attraction at 11:30. This was too late for us to make our flight. However, I am very glad we still did what we did. Its free to get the ticket and go in the visitor center, the only thing you wait for is the movie and then the launch to see the memorial. I'm sorry we didnt get to go out to see the memorial but there is so much history right there to see on that base. There are exhibits about all the subs that were lost in the war, plaques that showed what happened on that day, and you can still see the Arizona memorial across the harbor. In short I am glad we did what we did, it gave our kids a sense of history, I wish we could have done more but if yu are doing it then yes, you should get there around 7:30 to maybe get out to see it at 10 or so.

 

Keep 'em coming.

[Smooth Sailing]

Dining - this was definitely on the below average side. I have given it a lot of thought and I have my theory. Many people jump to the conclusion that it is bad because of the all american crew. I couldnt support this. I truly think NCL is making a business decision about the dining and thats why they really havent fixed it after years of bad reviews. While I can't quote these numbers as accurate, the story it tells could be. Lets just look at dinners. Lets say there are 2,000 guests on board and 7 nights, therefore 14,000 dinners to serve. Truly a buffet is much cheaper than a sit down dinner. Lets say a buffet costs the cruise line $5 per guest and a sit down dinner costs $25. If all 14,000 dinners were at the sit down that would cost the line $350,000 for the week. If they can steer a good # to the buffet (by lower the food quality, not utilizing all the tables, slow service therefore not turning tables quickly) they can force easily 1,200 or so of those 2,000 guests to the buffet or a savings of close to $200,000. Call it a conspiracy theory but the food in the sit downs were not very good, the meals were slow (again I dont think the fault of the servers, just thats how they designed it to be), and there were always empty tables even though they gave you a beeper and said you had to wait. I think they are banking on the fact that people will put up (or pay up for the specialty restaurants if they can get reservations) with the lower quality on the food and slow service to see the islands. You know what, I wasn't happy about it but I put up with it and I would do it again. I can always go to a great restaurant at home and I didnt starve either, but it was the one disappointing thing about this trip that I wish I could change. It helps following advice you get from these boards. Make reservations for the week as soon as you get on the ship (I didnt) and go down and get a pager an hour before you want to eat and it should work out. And plan on eating on land or the buffet a little if it really bugs you.Happy Sailing.

I had very similar comments about the food in the main dinning rooms on a review I did last November after our NCL Sun cruise. I also suggested that this was an intentional cost cutting measure and an effort to have the Specialty resturants full every evening - If you want a decent meal on NCL - it's not free :eek:- but, It's still not outrageous.:D

[Cruise Leprechaun]

Smoothe:

We were in an AF on 11, Port. 11502. Great room, no noise. In fact I just replied back to the other post that had the wieghts noise. We were maybe 10 or 20 doors down, below the gym or the spa, and never heard a peep. Im sure they had what they had but a few doors down can make a big difference apparently. We loved our room and it was big enough for 2 adults and 2 kids to live in.

[nyctohawaii]

I spent some time in Borders last week reading through the Revealed book and I think you're right, I should just buy it. For Pearl Harbor, I'm considering the NCL excursion that goes to Pearl harbor, a few other Honolulu spots and finishes at the airport. My flight is at 5pm. I figure it'll save me the trouble of dealing with luggage and make sure I get to see the Memorial. That way I can spend my pre-cruise time in oahu doing other things.

 

Also thanks for the water info. I'm spoiled by NYC tap water, so it's good to know the ship water will be okay. Water's really all I drink and I want to be prepared.

 

Did your kids like the food? I have the palate of an 8 year old :p so their review would probably be more relevant to me than a grownup's.

[Smooth Sailing]

Smoothe:

We were in an AF on 11, Port. 11502. Great room, no noise. In fact I just replied back to the other post that had the wieghts noise. We were maybe 10 or 20 doors down, below the gym or the spa, and never heard a peep. Im sure they had what they had but a few doors down can make a big difference apparently. We loved our room and it was big enough for 2 adults and 2 kids to live in.

Thanks - I think we are just below the intersection of the fitness center and the pool area - cabin #11536.

[Cruise Leprechaun]

NYC:

Food - On a scale of 1-10 I'd probably give it only a 4. Not great. At the buffets my kids ate a lot of hamburgers and fruit. They also had pizza but it wasnt too good and always looked like it was dried out under heat lamps. Breakfasts my kids ate great, cereal, fruit, ham, bacon etc. I was disappointed most in desserts. Not a piece of chocolate cake or brownie to be found all week. Mostly stuff that didnt look too appealing (hence the reason I think they dont want you to eat too much). Remember, lower your expectations about the food, and you'll have a good time.

Water - I am a transplanted New Yorker living in Fla now. I too am picky with water. I would drink NY water out of the hose when I was a kid but I will not drink the water out of the tap in FLorida. I did drink the ship water, if that tells you anything.

[Breezey]

Thanks for your uplifting review. And thanks for offering to answer some questions. Here are mine:

 

1) Breakfast - Not sure if you ever ordered room service for breakfast. One of our favorite things is eating breakfast on the balcony. How's the room service menu (sorry know you were with kids so not sure if you had a chance) and is the balcony big enough to enjoy outdoor eating?

 

2) Dining - not clear if you ever went to the specialty restaurants. Any ratings on those as seems that our plan is to reserve asap.

 

3) Boarding - we arrive in Honolulu day before the cruise, so wondering how early we can/should get to the ship.

 

4) How's the coffee?

 

5) OK so here is a real dumb one. Do we need hiking shoes or will sneakers suffice to walk around the volcanoes national park?

 

6) Food on the islands - any particular places you ate on the islands that you would recommend?

 

Tks!!!!

[Cruise Leprechaun]

Breezy:

1) Never ordered room service once. Apparently there is an on TV system where you can order it. About 2-3 days into the cruise I thought about doing that but then couldnt figure out how to do it on the TV. A few days later I found cards in the cabin for ordering but it was just continental stuff. Plus, the buffet was actually quite good for breakfast and we wanted to kids to fill up before hitting the adventures for the day so we always headed up there and off the boat from there. The balcony is plenty big enough to eat out on and it sounds like a great idea, maybe if we were kidless.

2) Specialty restaurants - we only went to the free ones. Papa's, mixed reviews, I liked my food, my wife didn't. Regardless it was a long meal and we had mae a reservation for later in the week that we ended up cancelling so it wasnt spectacular. Paniolis - was good, we liked this one and would have done this twice if we had reserved it twice. You also can make reservations for the regular restaurants day 1 as well which I'd recommend doing some of if you didnt want to pay to eat each night.

3) Boarding - I am guessing around noon? We boarded probably 1:30 and there were plenty of people on board already.

4) Not a coffee drinker - never had a cup the whole time. Heard it was good if that helps.

5) Sneakers at VNP is fine if you are doing the normal tour of it. If you are one of the brave ones and have the time to do it, by hiking down to the new lava, I hear that can be hot on the shoes and destroy them but my guess is very few cruisers get that experience due to the time limitations to get back to the boat. It was the 4th of July at VNP and it was cold up there (and rainy) so a poncho and sweatshirt or jacket believe it or not though.

6) Food on the islands? Theres probably someone better than I to answer this. We pretty much ate big breakfasts before leaving the boat, got shaved ice, or snacks everywhere during the day (Island Snow in Kailua - Oahu was the best, some place in downtown Pa'i on Maui on road to Hana was the worst if that helps) and then ate back on the boat later in the afternoon. Someone on the Hawaii thread board can probably help better with that one.

[Katesowner]

Cruise Leprechaun - Great info.

Did you attend any of the entertainment? What was it like?

[Ga_Girl]

Thanks - I think we are just below the intersection of the fitness center and the pool area - cabin #11536.

 

Smooth Sailing--We are sailing with you on 9/25 (we've "chatted" on our roll call) and we just recently upgraded our cabin, so we, too, will be in an AF mini-suite on Deck 11! We are 11622 and my parents are 11618, so we'll probably see you around!

 

Susan

[tomluvsaida]

thanks fore your review.

 

I thought your comments about the dining were interesting. The cost of staffing the PO ships must be higher than staffing your average cruise ship with international staff so I guess NCL(A) does have to either charge a lot more for the cruise or else cut corners somewhere. I think your theory about saving money by trying to encourage people to eat in the buffet is worth considering. If that is their idea though, I wonder if it wouldn't be better for them to just ri=un this as a more casual buffet only style ship.

 

That would have the advantage of effectively distinguishing these PO cruises from the other NCL ships and, if they didn't have to bother with staffing the main dining roome they could put all of their resources into doing a really good buffet with enough staff to keep tables cleaned and buffet stocked. then those that just had to have a sit down meal on occasion could book the speciealty restaurants and those who just wanted palatable food could eat quickly and well and concentrate on exploring the islands.

 

If this were going to work though, NCL would have to be smart enough to make this buffet style dining well known in their advertising and to anyone booking the cruise. That way, they would avoid people having unrealistic expectations and coming back unhappy. Better a good buffet (as long as you know that is what you are getting) than a bad sit down dinner.

 

I like your idea! I also think it would work. The Pride ships are for the most part about the islands. I plan to eat maybe in at the most 3 specialty restraunts and the rest of the time in the buffet. I don't really see the point of the main dining room since it is neither a buffet or a specialty restraurant. If the buffet is at least as good as say an average Vegas buffet I'm happy.

[tomluvsaida]

Smoothe:

We were in an AF on 11, Port. 11502. Great room, no noise. In fact I just replied back to the other post that had the wieghts noise. We were maybe 10 or 20 doors down, below the gym or the spa, and never heard a peep. Im sure they had what they had but a few doors down can make a big difference apparently. We loved our room and it was big enough for 2 adults and 2 kids to live in.

 

I'm glad to hear good things about the AF mini suite. We have a gty AG mini suite for our honeymoon cruse on October 3oth. From what I understand the AG is exactly the same as an AF, just on a different deck.

I'm also so glad to hear it was a clean room throughout the week!

[smarterman64]

Sounds great. Could you post freestyle dailies if possible? I'd like to get an idea what i'm getting myself into :p

[Smooth Sailing]

Smooth Sailing--We are sailing with you on 9/25 (we've "chatted" on our roll call) and we just recently upgraded our cabin, so we, too, will be in an AF mini-suite on Deck 11! We are 11622 and my parents are 11618, so we'll probably see you around!

 

Susan

Hi Susan - Hope to see you on our cruise.

[Cruise Leprechaun]

Kate:

Entertainment was good, but not extraordinary. We went to a comedian show in one of the lounges, but he was pretty cheesy and we laft half way thru (asking people in the crowd where they were from and then proceed to tell them how stupid people from that city are). We went to a Broadway review show in the theatre and that was good, the two female lead vocals were as good as anything you'd see on Broadway. We also saw a newlyweds game in the theatre which was fun but I've only been on 2 other cruises and I feel like I saw the same show with the same questions (different participants of course) before. Still funny though. We weren't real late nighters with the daytime island agendas being our priority. We did go to the karaoke lounge a few times and enjoyed that too. I think they also had a magician show one night in the theatre which we did not attend as well as another night they had some sort of staff talent show, again we did not attend.

Smart:

Sorry, I didnt keep the freestly dailies so I do not have to share.

[Nieuwcruiser]

Thanks for the more positive review. We too have decided,after reading some of the negative ones, that we're not going to let those reviews get us down. We don't cruise for the food. Knowing ahead of time about the slow service will help us decide where to eat and not too have high expectations.

I'm real excited to see Hawaii and the ship is simply our accommodations and transportation to the islands.:D

[dinobja]

We are going on the POAM 8/26 and I too am following the Revealed books. Could you please tell me more about your Road to Hana experience? How far did you go? What out of the book was worth/not worth it? How long did it take? Thank you so much.