Review - Pride of Hawaii 8/7/06

[AllentownEric]

We sailed on the 8/7/06 Pride of Hawaii cruise and had a fantastic time on and off the ship.

 

When I read posts from some people, I sometimes wonder if I was raised differently than some of you. If I go to my room at 7:00 and there is no chocolate on my pillow, if the waiter does not refill my water glass before it is emptied, or if I have to wait at a bar for more than 2 minutes for a Long Island Ice Tea, I don't consider my vacation a complete disappointment.

 

The ship was beautiful, the live music by the pool made me feel like I was on vacation, the shows were good, the officers and staff seemed to be everywhere and loved to talk, my stateroom attendant couldn’t do enough for me, the restaurants were very nice, and the food was anywhere between ok and good.

 

Here are a few (hopefully) helpful tips:

 

Because we read various posts, we arrived at the terminal at around 2:00 and had absolutely no wait. We walked right through the security checkpoint and went right to the check in desk.

 

Our room was available when we walked onto the ship.

 

We called the receptionist and had all of our dinner reservations made for the week by 3:00

 

We walked up to the Spa area, got a tour, and my wife and daughters had their reservations for a pedicure made by 4:00

 

The safety drill was held at 5:00 and was very smooth and painless.

 

We rented a Thrifty car at every port except Kona. Signing up for the Blue Chip was definitely worth the effort. There were shuttles at every pier that took us directly to Thrifty and because I made reservations with Blue Chip before hand, the paperwork was setting on their desk when I arrived. I was in and out in less than 5 minutes. If I didn’t do a walk around the car looking for dings and dents, we would have been out of there in less than 3 minutes.

 

On Kona, we rented a car from Dollar at the hotel located right across the parking lot from where the tender boat docks. It is the only rental company they deal with.

 

We did not do any ship excursions and with everything that we accomplished, I am very happy with the way we went. Everything was on our timeline and the only thing it cost us was the $35 - $50 car rental and maybe $20 - $40 in gas.

 

While in Hilo, we spent the entire day at the Volcano National Park. We drove the loop and also stopped at several locations. We even did the 2-1/2 hour walk through the crater. Cruising by the volcano that night was awesome!

 

While on Maui, we did the road to Hana, stopping at several locations recommended in the Hawaii Revealed book. What a great time. As long as you do it for the fun and scenery, it is well worth it. If you drive it just to say you did it, don’t. Driving at 20 – 30 MPH for 2 hours can work on you. The second day, we went to the top of the mountain (I am bad with names), and then rode bikes down from just below the top. The peak was at 13,000 feet and I think we started our bike trip at somewhere around 8,000 which was well above the cloud line. If you sign up with a tour company, you need to stay in a pack and ride at the same speed as the slowest person in the group. We opted for a company that drove us to the top of the mountain, let us walk around the top for 15 minutes, drove us to a staging area and then set us free. We were on our own all of the way back to their shop. I would recommend this to anyone. Our 2 daughters took off and we held back and enjoyed the scenery and wind in our faces.

 

While in Kona, we did a little touring but spent most of the day shopping. We needed to go to the receptionist area, get a card with a number on it and then boarded the tender boat when they called out a group of about 80 numbers. Pretty painless. We came back to the ship at approximately 4:00 and the line for the tender was somewhere around ½ hour.

 

While on Kauai, we did an ATV 4 hour tour the 1st day. What a blast. We stopped at several locations where movies were made, stopped to swim at water holes, and took tons of pictures. I had to ride double with my 14 year old daughter because you need to be at least 16 to drive your own ATV. The rest of the day was spent touring the southern end of the island. The Canyon was breathtaking. The second day was spent touring the northern end of the island. It was a long way to the dead end at the top but well worth the drive. When the ship departed that day, we also cruised by the northern end. This end of the island is nothing but green cliffs. Beautiful.

 

Anytime there was a picture taking opportunity, we had our pictures taken. We found our pictures in the photo room and grouped them all together until the last night and then picked out our favorites for purchase. The formal pictures were usually 8 X 10 and cost somewhere around $25. There were several packages available. They did have Memory Stick Photo developing available but I didn’t use the service. The last day they had a special for getting the 2nd print for free.

 

We did the buffet for breakfast every morning. What a nice set up. There were several stations set up where they would cook your eggs just the way you like them. There was something there for everyone. Give me a Ham and Cheese Omelet and a bowl of Fruit Loops and I am set for the day.

 

The shows were good. Comedian, Magician, Broadway Musicals, Singers. The magician was my favorite.

 

We brought along a plastic shoe holder that we hung over our shower door. This was a great idea. Instead of having all of our hairspray, shaving crème, suntan lotion, hair brushes, flip flops, and whatever laying all over the place, we had a little organization.

 

While on Oahu, we did Hilo Hati, the Dole Plantation, the Arizona Memorial, Waikiki beach, and a lot of touring. We drove the entire loop. The north end was the prettiest and least congested. We were on Sunset Beach the night before the cruise for the sunset. What a place to be.

 

The “Revealed” books are fantastic books. We used them more then I could ever explain. They had things in there that I would be willing to bet that some of the Hawaiians don’t even know. It made every one of our side tours lots and lots better. We knew where to go, what to see, and when to get there. Everything from which waterfall to see and which pool to jump in, to what scenic overlook to stop at and which hike to take. We bought ours through Amazon and it took approximately 5 days to receive all of them. There is one for each island.

 

The book did say to never leave anything in your rental cars when touring. We rented Jeeps on the different islands and took them up on their request. We heard from 2 people on the cruise that had their backpacks stolen. One was at the very northern dead end area of Kauai and the other was by Waikiki Beach. These were only 2 people that we happened to bump into. I am sure that there could have been more.

 

On the day of departure, our luggage had to be outside of our stateroom by 1:00 AM. They gave us colored tags to attach to our luggage. When we departed the ship, there were several staging areas separated by all of the different colored tags. It made finding our luggage fairly easy.

 

There were rental car shuttles waiting outside the terminal. Since we arrived at 8:00 and our flight wasn’t until 10:10 that night, we rented a car for the day. The Thrifty shuttle would not let you on the bus unless you had reservations. He was telling everyone that there were no cars available.

 

So again, we had a great time. I would recommend cruising the islands to anyone that isn’t doing it for a 5 star experience. If you are cruising for a convenient fun way to see the islands, this is perfect. It’s a beautiful ship with a friendly staff. With the exception of some of the waiters and waitresses, everyone seemed to be very polite and friendly. The restaurants seemed to be a little understaffed and it showed on some of the people working there. My 14 year old daughter cried when we left because of all of the friends she made and probably never see again.

 

Enjoy your trip and send me a postcard!

 

Eric, Sue, Tamara, and Erin

[hotspur]

We sailed on the 8/7/06 Pride of Hawaii cruise and had a fantastic time on and off the ship.

 

When I read posts from some people, I sometimes wonder if I was raised differently than some of you. If I go to my room at 7:00 and there is no chocolate on my pillow, if the waiter does not refill my water glass before it is emptied, or if I have to wait at a bar for more than 2 minutes for a Long Island Ice Tea, I don't consider my vacation a complete disappointment.

Nail hit squarely on the head.

[travelling fools]

What a nice upbeat review !

There would probably be alot more good reviews if people had your attitude about not letting the little things like a missing chocolate or bed not turned down ruin their trip and remembering that you are there for the beauty of the islands.

 

We are looking forward to our trip next week.

Thanks!

[hawaiibound24]

Great review. My daughter works on this ship in the buffet area in the evenings. We are going to take this cruise and see her in October.

[HopkinsCruiser]

What a wonderful review!!!! I can't what until March for our cruise. Please post this review in the "Member Review" section. What was the tour company you used for the bike ride downhill?

 

Thanks.

Tina :)

POH 3/07

[Califonria cruiser]

Thanks for posting; it always helps hearing of people's experiences. We are going August 28th and leaving this Thursday for a few precruise days and am still trying to gather info. Was the Dollar location in Kona at the Hotel Kamamaha (sp)? withing walking distance or did you need a shuttle? What time did you get off the boat for Kona?

 

Also, how easy was it to eat at the main dining rooms? Was there a long wait or were you able to get reservations?

 

Jenn

[Zeno]

Nice review!

[u2us4]

Thanks for the detailed review. We have a post-cruise car rented thru Thrifty. I've seen mixed messages on these boards about whether or not they send a shuttle to the ship, but I guess one was waiting for you. That would be great.

[flag fan]

Very helpful review. I think I'll get that shoe holder as you suggested for over the shower door; it sounds like a good idea. It was nice to hear a positive review. All those negative reviews can be discouraging. Thanks for taking the time to post and providing details that will be helpful.

[cya]

Thanks for the great review.When the ship departed Hile at 6:00pm that night, at what time did the viewing of the volcano start? We would like to know so we are not eating dinner at the time .. Thanks

[tomluvsaida]

ha,ha,ha !!!!!!! :D Loved your review! I'm laughing because I read two other reviews that were on the exact same ship at the exact same time as the one you took. One was like yours, except for some minor problems a very positive review. The other one did nothing but complain about the "bad food” and service that wasn't the "cruise experience of other lines". :rolleyes: (To be fair though I think this person's messed up reservations seemed to set the tone for their whole attitude.) I also read a very positive review of the cruise the week before on POH.

I wish this review and the other positive ones I've read were placed in the review section. I think the "review" section is a very poor representation of what the majority really think of a cruise. I say this because the main review section is mostly negative while the boards are mostly positive when talking about POH.

I'm glad you had such a wonderful time. I feel a lot better now about going on our honeymoon at the end of October.:)

[hotspur]

The other one did nothing but complain about the "bad food” and service that wasn't the "cruise experience of other lines". :rolleyes: (To be fair though I think this person's messed up reservations seemed to set the tone for their whole attitude.)

Most of the "terrible," "awful," "poor," "NIGHTMARE," and "BEWARE" reviews we see here fit this model. If everyone had AllentownEric's attitude, we'd see them very rarely.

[hawaiibound24]

The last time we went to Hawaii, it was a land based vacation. On the trip over, one of our flights was cancelled... then they lost one piece of our luggage and we didn't get until the next day. In the condo we stayed at on the North Shore, the A\C didn't work... oh wait, it didn't have any A/C!!! The point is, no vacations go perfect and I agree that people who complain about everything from slow dinning room service (which can happen at ANY land based resturant) to no chocolate on the pillow are hard to satisfy!!! Go and have fun, you are in Hawaii. Also, starting prices for these cruises is about $750. Island hopping to three islands would cost about $250 per person during the week..... and you have to waste a couple hours each transition in airports, plus haul your luggage around and check into hotels. These cruises are deal, even if they would feed you McDonalds for breakfast and Burger King for Lunch!!!!

[dbolling1957]

Most of the "terrible," "awful," "poor," "NIGHTMARE," and "BEWARE" reviews we see here fit this model. If everyone had AllentownEric's attitude, we'd see them very rarely.

 

All of you seem to forget that this website was created for each person, who has gone on a cruise, to describe what they have experienced, whether good or bad. It is each persons OPINION that matters, not just yours that's important.

 

On every cruise everybody has different experiences and expections, so stop putting others down if they have a negitive or positive viewpoint different then yours.

[tomluvsaida]

Most of the "terrible," "awful," "poor," "NIGHTMARE," and "BEWARE" reviews we see here fit this model. If everyone had AllentownEric's attitude, we'd see them very rarely.

I couldn't agree more! I also hope the other passengers are more like AllentownEric.

[minute]

could you please tell me the name of the bike company you used on Maui and the atv company on Kauai. sounds like fun !!

 

Thanks, in advance.

[mbmam2]

Allentown,

 

Glad you had a good time also. We approached the cruise differently (excursions vs rental cars and seeing it on your own) but both had a great time.

 

Two comments:

 

First, there are some real service issues among some of the crew on POH that need to be addressed. That being said, with careful planning and good dinner reservations, most can be avoided. The purpose of reviews is to learn what to look out for. We knew to make the reservations in advance from comments on this board. If it were simply a matter of waiting a little while for more water or a missing mint, I would not have commented. The service in the Grand Pacific was terrible.

 

Second, I have tried to get my review posted on the review section. I submitted it several days ago and it has not shown up yet. Anyone have a clue why this might happen. Do they exclude reviews that have already been posting in the messages? I did add a few things I forgot on my original review.

 

I too am glad that there have been more good reviews of POH. They have a way to go, but I recommend the cruise.

 

My $.02.

 

MBMAM

[tomluvsaida]

All of you seem to forget that this website was created for each person, who has gone on a cruise, to describe what they have experienced, whether good or bad. It is each persons OPINION that matters, not just yours that's important.

 

On every cruise everybody has different experiences and expections, so stop putting others down if they have a negitive or positive viewpoint different then yours.

I think you seem to forget this site is also for those that HAVE NOT been on a cruse yet so they can get USEFUL information. I find not all negative reviews are bad. Letting us know that reservations are needed so you won't have long waits is a good thing. I plan on making reservations in all the restaurants when I first get on board the ship because of that. The only time I tend to roll my eyes :rolleyes: is when a person does nothing but bitch and moan without really saying anything specific or just blame it on being "an all American Crew"! (I wonder how well they do in all American hotels and restaurants.) Also as I pointed out, I see completely opposite reviews about the same ship on the same dates. At first I thought the person with the negative review was just a fussy impossable to please kind of person. When I pointed out the positive reviews on the same ship at the same time this person responded with a very good reason for being upset. Apparently all their reservations got messed up! I'd be upset about that too. I just wish he'd explained that in the first place.

[2166RET]

AllentownEric...

 

Was the bike Co. you used by any chance the Haleakala Bike Co.??..My wife and I are going on this trip in Oct. and one of our objectives is to do the bike ride down Mt. Haleakala..how long did it take you to go down at your own pace....I do definitely like the idea of your own pace and not doing one at the pace of the slowest person thru other Co...any info would be greatly appreciated...you can e-mail me if you wish at davee2@cox.net would like any info you can give me on the bike ride..

 

thanks,

Dave

[AllentownEric]

Wow, thanks for all of the responses to my original post.

 

I think that it all has to do with personalities. You can ask two people who sat at the same table for dinner how everything was and one person will tell you all of the good things about dinner and the other person will tell you all of the bad things about dinner. It makes you wonder if they were really at the same table.

 

Anyway, to answer the questions that I was asked:

 

In Kona, the Dollar rental at the local hotel was definitely within walking distance. The hotel is located no more than 500 feet from where the tender boat drops you off. I don’t remember exactly what time the first tender leaves the ship but I think that it is at 8:00 AM. We departed the ship at approximately 9:00 AM.

 

On Kauai, we went on an ATV tour and used Kipu Tours. It is an approximately 4 hour tour. According to the Revealed Book, they are the best on the island and I can’t dispute that. They have no governors on their engines and they had no problem with “playing” as long as you didn’t go crazy. According to the Revealed Book, all of the other companies max you out at 15 MPH. The web site for the company is http://www.kiputours.com/ and we did the 4 Hour Waterfall Picnic Tour. Make sure you wear a bathing suit under your clothes and bring along a towel. You can bring a back pack along with you.

 

On Maui, we went on tour of Mt Haleakala Volcano and biked down the mountain. We used Maui Sunriders and their website is http://www.mauibikeride.com/options.html and we did the Summit Tour. This tour departed their shop at approximately 9:30 AM and by the time they drive to the top, let you walk around a bit, take you to the staging area, set you free, and then stop, to eat, shop, and take pictures, I think that we got back to their shop at approximately 3:30. I would think that if you “down hilled” it all of the way without stopping, you could be back by 1:30 or so. They also offer a sunrise tour which leaves their shop at 3:30 AM but we opted for the extra sleep. Their shop is located just up the road from where the ship docks. I would guess that it took us 10 minutes to drive there once we got to our car.

 

Someone asked what time it was when we cruised by the Volcano while near Hilo. I think we left port at approximately 8:00 that night but we were cruising by the lava flow area by 9:30 and stayed in that general area till around 11:00 or so. They cruised by in one direction and then turned the ship around and then cruised by in the other direction.

 

If there are any other questions, please ask.

 

Enjoy your time in Hawaii.

 

If you make things happen, you will have a blast. If you wait for things to happen, you may be disappointed.

 

Eric

[hawaiibound24]

All of you seem to forget that this website was created for each person, who has gone on a cruise, to describe what they have experienced, whether good or bad. It is each persons OPINION that matters, not just yours that's important.

 

On every cruise everybody has different experiences and expections, so stop putting others down if they have a negitive or positive viewpoint different then yours.

 

I think part of the issue her is that some reviews make it sound like this was the worst experience of their life, and others considering going are scared to death to make the investment because of that. It is still a vacation. Kind of reminds me of the line in Titanic... "how are the accomadations in steerage? Best I've seen, hardly any rats." Land based vacations are full of dirty sheet, old bathroom fixtures, etc. Heck, I stayed in a three star name brand hotel once (name withheld) and the mattress was discusting, and there were undergarments between the mattress and headboard from the previous person. All said, doesn't mean I wouldn't stay at that hotel chain again. It is one of my favorite hotel chains.

[Kylie]

Hawaiibound24-

My son is waiting to leave for his NCLA training. I would like to ask you some questions about your daughter's experience.

Please email me -

 

jkbult1@hotmail.com

[Kylie]

double post

[Zeno]

I think you seem to forget this site is also for those that HAVE NOT been on a cruse yet so they can get USEFUL information. I find not all negative reviews are bad. Letting us know that reservations are needed so you won't have long waits is a good thing. I plan on making reservations in all the restaurants when I first get on board the ship because of that. The only time I tend to roll my eyes :rolleyes: is when a person does nothing but bitch and moan without really saying anything specific or just blame it on being "an all American Crew"! (I wonder how well they do in all American hotels and restaurants.) Also as I pointed out, I see completely opposite reviews about the same ship on the same dates. At first I thought the person with the negative review was just a fussy impossable to please kind of person. When I pointed out the positive reviews on the same ship at the same time this person responded with a very good reason for being upset. Apparently all their reservations got messed up! I'd be upset about that too. I just wish he'd explained that in the first place.

 

You have made a very good point. Some reviews (both negative and positive) are much more useful to future cruisers than others because of the excellent detail they provide. I agree it is especially useless if someone just rants on about how everthing was terrible but provides no details. One person's idea of "terrible" or "bad" food is not necessarily another's. I like the negative reviews where people actually DETAIL what they did not like about the food - it was too spicey, not spicey enough, too bland, not enough variety, not hot enough, too hot - whatever they did not like. That is what REALLY gives me an idea about what to expect.

[tomluvsaida]

Allentown,

 

Glad you had a good time also. We approached the cruise differently (excursions vs rental cars and seeing it on your own) but both had a great time.

 

Two comments:

 

First, there are some real service issues among some of the crew on POH that need to be addressed. That being said, with careful planning and good dinner reservations, most can be avoided. The purpose of reviews is to learn what to look out for. We knew to make the reservations in advance from comments on this board. If it were simply a matter of waiting a little while for more water or a missing mint, I would not have commented. The service in the Grand Pacific was terrible.

 

Second, I have tried to get my review posted on the review section. I submitted it several days ago and it has not shown up yet. Anyone have a clue why this might happen. Do they exclude reviews that have already been posting in the messages? I did add a few things I forgot on my original review.

 

I too am glad that there have been more good reviews of POH. They have a way to go, but I recommend the cruise.

 

My $.02.

 

MBMAM

I noticed that all most all the member reviews get posted around the 5th or 6th of each month. POH is nothing but the 6th. I have a feeling your review may show up then. For POH there are very few of them in the member review section but a lot of and mostly positive reviews in the message boards. I'm begining to wonder how many reviews were submitted to the member review section that didn't make it and why.:confused: