POAM 9/9 thru 9/16

[dyslexic pirate]

We had a great time! Wish departing Honolulu airport for the redeye last night hadn't been such a disaster. *Word of warning they have upped the over limit fee to $50 on any bag over 50 pounds. It had been $25 up until 6 weeks or so ago. Don't dawdle getting to the airport if you have a night flight!! It was a sweaty, hot, frustrating two hours and this was after we'd already printed our boarding passes on line.

 

Our balcony cabin was smaller than we are used to. We adjusted within a few hours. It was always kept top notch clean by Yolanda. She was just a doll. Tipped her at the start of the cruise. Told her what we wanted on a consistent basis and she did everything we asked of her and more! Loved the kissing towel swans and towel bunnies/extra chocolates she would put on our bed after the morning cleaning. (usually at night we just met her in the hall and swapped dirty towels for clean and skipped the whole turn down thing.) Yolanda is Philipino and has worked in the cruise industry for at least 8 years. I think we got lucky getting her!

 

Ship was clean. Staff is friendly, new, terrified, lonesome and adjusting to working with strangers and bosses that rotate on a monthly basis. Met a crew of 30 on the plane over that were in for a big surprise with what they'd gotten themselves into! (they'd just finished the mandatory 3 weeks training in Maryland) Apparently NCL does a great job with their "recruitment" fairs. But many of the recruitees have never been on a cruise before or worked/experienced the level of service that is expected on a cruise and for many this is their first time away from family and friends. Oh Boy...:confused:

 

We rented a car at all ports except Kona, did the Captain Zodiac excursion, and yes it does live up to all the hype. Saved HUNDREDS of dollars by renting cars (some just $35 a day plus gas) and visiting the FREE state parks on our own as well as all the other FREE sights. This site was very helpful! I grabbed maps and info as we got off the ship and had done my homework online/Frommer's Hawaii book.

(used SPF 50 applied it a few times throughout each day and never got sunburned even with hours of "topless" driving ;) ) "convertible" - I'm not that brave! or endowed!

 

Thought the food was good. The humans got a little excited whenever the feed was put out in the buffett. Watch your fingers or someone will chew them off!:p Alot of folks never did catch onto the "island system" and would line up single file each day rather than fanning out to get what they wanted.

 

The reservation system for the pay restaurants was a little frustrating. When we had the chance we'd call the same day and find out what if anything was open and then book it.

 

Cruise Critic meeting was fun! I wish I hadn't been so road weary from flying in the same day. My head was pounding and I needed some food and a nap so I didn't stay very long. It was fun running into some of the CC bunch at the different ports.

 

Ran into Crabby people who sulked because they didn't know they needed reservations until they tried to walk up to a pay restaurant on the very last night. Reservations Strongly Recommended is printed on each and every Freestyle Daily that comes out.

 

It was fun! Only thing I would have added would be a day at sea just to unwind and get organized at the very end. It is a whirlwind trip and several times I accidently referred to the ship as the hotel, because that's how we utilized it.

 

No comment on entertainment or onboard activities as we didn't partake. Focus was the islands. Saved big bucks on trinkets/towels etc. for the kids at Walmart in Honolulu. Wished NCL Air program had been more accomodating. Red eyes home are never fun.

 

Now it's time to get back to the real world and start plotting our next adventure! Thanks to everyone who has left thier ideas/opinions/comments/etc. they ALL came in handy in one way or another. :)

[Cobra1365]

Hey Guys! Good to meet you! We'll post our review in a day or so....we're still too numb from the travelling!:eek:

[dyslexic pirate]

A couple of other things:

 

tried the unusual soups (pumpkin/cranberry and a pumpkin/lobster bisque both very good!)

 

Took the ziplock bags filled a big one with ice and ordered very tasty turkey clubs from room service. Packed it all up in my little collapsible cooler and we had some great picnics out in the middle of nowhere! It was great! Never explained to room service that I was planning to pack the sandwiches off the ship, just did it.

 

Didn't smuggle any booze but saw lots who did getting busted. They really check all bags at each port. They have hired an independent

security group to do this. I think they are also looking for drugs being smuggled off the islands.

 

We saw more traffic and people toting surfboards than we expected. Don't cut yourself to close on time as you may get stuck in a traffic jam. Lots of cars on the roads and lots of construction projects really slow things down.

[dyslexic pirate]

More little tidbits that may help future cruisers:

 

Really make sure you fillup the gas tank before heading over to Hana. We did the drive on the second day we were there and planned to do the back route and completely circle the island. We wound up in Hana with just a quarter tank of gas left. It was $4.50 A GALLON :eek: And the irritating thing was that we knew better than to let the tank get that low!!

 

Pre book all your car rentals on line. At each port we witnessed frustrated people trying to get cars at the ports because their TA's told them it wouldn't be a problem to just rent a car once they got to the islands.

 

Cell phone (Sprint PCS) worked like a charm almost the entire time, even when at sea.

 

Football games come on really early in Hawaii. If you are football fans don't get your hopes up about catching the games. They may not even be shown on the ships tv and you may be hard pressed to find a sports bar by the time you get off the ship.

[woodley]

Thanks for your review. I have a couple of questions you could probably help me with. How long did it take you to drive the road to Hana all the way around? How often did you stop and was it worth the drive? Thanks for your help.:)

[newlywedcruisers]

Great review, thanks for posting. Your sidenotes made me laugh btw.

[dyslexic pirate]

Thank you newlywedcruisers! We saw quite a few newlyweds on board and some even had silver wedding bell decorations on their doors (and their door dials were usually set on "do not disturb ;) )

 

Cool Cruiser: We are very used to mountain driving and stopped just a few times, took some shots and kept on rolling. It took us about 4 hours to do the whole trip. We saw some folks really cautiously feeling their way and looking a little terrified. The road really is an adventure. I wouldn't take it in a bus excursion because to me that looked more dangerous than a car and the slow pace would have driven me crazy. One other warning: You gotta watch out for the locals coming from the opposite direction in big trucks/vans etc. They drive like adrenaline junkies! (yeah, like we didn't!:rolleyes: )

[dyslexic pirate]

Hana Drive: Did it the second day at port and only saw a few other tourists on the road. Get off the ship just after 6am and hit the road. I understand the first day in port the road is congested. Do it early on the second day and you should make it back to the ship in plenty of time.

[woodley]

Thanks for the information.