Back from POAM/ Feb.10-17(LONG)

[scuba wife]

We had a great experience with this ship & a wonderful time in the islands.

I'll try to cover things that will be helpful to others.

We arrived on Thursday & had arranged for Passport Shuttle (808-227-1491) to pick us up at the airport. It cost us $30 to be picked up & driven to our hotel & it was worth every penny. We had reserved a car but after seeing it was Pro Bowl week we decided to skip the hassle of driving ourselves.

We stayed at the Ohana Waikiki West & I would never stay here again. We did not book this hotel on our own & if we ever return to Oahu we would stay on the beach. We were on the 11th floor facing the street & did not sleep because of all the noise. This street is one that the prostitutes prowl at night. Need I say more?

Friday we booked a dive with Captain Bruce (800-535-2487) & were picked up at 7 a.m. Good dive & seen several whales.

Saturday we had Passport Shuttle pick us up at 10 a.m. & we were off to the Pro Bowl. We didn't want to be stressed about time & traffic so we were picked up shortly after the 3rd quarter, taken back to the hotel to pick up our luggage & dropped off at the Aloha Towers. Traffic was no problem & check in was a breeze. We were in our room, 11536 right at 5:00. In hindsight we could have stayed for the whole game & taken our time getting there but when you don't know the island that well & not sure of the traffic situation, it's better to be safe than sorry.

The ship is beautiful & well maintained. We were amazed at how we were able to unpack our luggage & scuba gear & store luggage under the bed. Plenty of shelves & drawers. The bed was comfortable & the rocking of the ship at night lulled us to sleep. We asked for extra coffee & creamer & we always had more than enough. The balcony was roomy & the chairs comfortable. Plenty of privacy from your neighbors.

We were up every morning at 5:00 & worked out in the gym. Very nice, plenty of machines & weights & clean.

We decided before hand that we weren't going to worry about making reservations at the specialty restaurants & just wing it with the dining.

We ate at the Skyline & Liberty Restaurants two times each & were pleased with our meals & selections except for the last night which we felt were the leftovers & nothing great. Attire was casual & we felt comfortable wearing shorts & nice shirts. We never waited to be seated. We ate at Jefferson's Bistro one time & it took almost three hours to get our meal. Heard from several others the same so if you don't mind waiting this place is for you. The food was so so. I want to mention the Aloha Cafe & while the food pretty much stayed the same everyday, it was handy for us to go get a plate & just bring it back to our room. Sometimes we just felt like relaxing in our room on the balcony & this proved to be the way to go. Now I understand we differ from alot of people in regards to dining but we live by the rule that we eat to live not live to eat. The dining experience was not of huge importance to us. I did notice in the Aloha cafe they had a nice area set up for kids where they could serve themselves. Cute & kept up well.

Seeing all the different islands was a great experience. We rented a van from Thrifty with every stop & are Blue Chip members. Never had a problem & would go through them again.

In Hilo, we drove the volcano park drive & that evening enjoyed the lava flow from our balcony.

Maui is our island that we go to most of the time so we spent our first day in front of the Maui Prince in Makena at their beach. We've always seen sea turtles there & it was a relaxing afternoon. That evening we walked around Lahaina until about 9:00. We were warned not to come back around 8:00 since there would be bus loads of people from the luau. Unfortunately when we returned parking was scarce & we ended up parking quite away from the ship on a dark unpaved road. Anyone after us was forced to take their car back to the car rental. Some unhappy people.

The next morning we had a dive with Extended Horizons (888-348-3628) so we were on the road by 6:00. Easy to get off the ship. Sailed to Lanai & it was a bit rough. A couple of people got sea sick. Saw whales & dolphins. While diving you could hear the whales singing. (On these dives, my husband dives, I sit up top & watch.)

That afternoon we had lunch in Kahana at the Fish & Game. My husband dropped four of us off at the dock & he & another friend went to gas up & return the van. They got caught in some nasty traffic & we had a call to our room from boarding asking if they planned on returning to the ship. After some stress on the wives part, they finally got there & were the last ones on. Whew! Lava Flows for all!!!

The morning in Kona, my husband went diving with Big Island Water Sports (808-324-1650)& since it was Valentine's Day, two of us wives were treated to a massage. The spa is very nice & we had a wonderful Lomi Lomi massage. Bought some nice product & felt it was a relaxing way to start the day.

We took the tender in to Kona & shopped for about an hour then down to the beach to try snuba with B.I. Water Sports. They had locked storage for all our stuff & we went through a 15 minute instruction class then off to snuba. It was a good time with six of us doing it but one did not like it at all. I felt bad she wasted $80 but now she knows what the experience is like. My husband was able to scuba dive beside us & he took pictures of us. After trying this I will definately try scuba diving next.

Arriving in Kauai was beautiful. Definately more green than the other islands. Spent our first day sight seeing, The Spouting Horn, a couple of waterfalls & the monk seals on Poipu Beach.

The second day we got up at 5:00 & drove up to Waimea Canyon to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful & breathtaking. Went to the very end of the road & looked down at the Na Pali Coast. So glad we got up early & did this. Avoided traffic & loved every minute of it. Sailing by the coast was a highlight that afternoon.

Just a note here, when we first arrived in Kauai one of the guards told us to immediately go over to the Aloha Center Marketplace & pay the $10 to have a spot reserved for us that evening. Parking is limited & after Maui we were happy we did it.

We signed up for the EZ Program. My husband was accepted, I was not. Happened to alot of people, makes no sense. We opted to cancel & stored our luggage at the Aloha Towers for $5 a bag. Some of the people in our group that went ahead with the Ez Program did not have luggage when they arrived home but eventually did get it. The airline blamed the cruise ship & the cruise ship blamed the airlines.

Our last day in Oahu we rented a car & drove the North Shore. Relaxing way to end the trip & we flew home at 10:00 that evening.

All in all, the cruise was a great way to see the islands. We were happy with the crew, the ship was great & we loved the free style dining & atmoshere. Disembarking was easy. We felt they went out of their way to make all things easy & carefree. On a very positive note, my husband does not like cruising but even HE said he would do this cruise again.

Sad to be home & can't wait to get back.

[scuba wife]

Not sure why this posted twice. sorry.

[Texas]

Thanks for the great report. I have copied it to take with me next month when we cruise POA. Question re: Passport Shuttle. Was the cost from the airport to the hotel $30 per person or for two or how many? Did you use them to take you from the hotel to the ship? Again, how many in your party and what was the charge? We are a party of 6 adults and we figured on taking a couple of taxis, but this may be the way to go. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

 

Angie

[scuba wife]

Hi Angie,

The cost was for two of us. They also picked us up from our hotel, dropped us off at the Pro Bowl, picked us up there when we called, took us back to get our luggage from the hotel & then dropped us off at the cruise ship. The total cost for that day was $110. We had the same driver the entire time & he drove a nice, clean van. I would imagine he could take your party but call to check out their prices for six. It will be alot cheaper if you are only going from your hotel to the port. Have fun on your cruise!

[spleenstomper]

Was you room port or starboard? Thanks!

[scuba wife]

I believe we were port.