PO Aloha - 4/1/07 cruise observations

[jerseyjk]

Just back from the 4/1 sailing of the Pride of Aloha with a few observations. I'm not much of a writer but here's a few observations from the trip ...

 

Whoever advised me to look at this like a "floating hotel" was dead on. Anyone who is really into the "cruise experience" will probably be disapppointed. I personally am not that crazy about the whole cruise experience and I dislike sea days. I'm on a cruise mostly for the ports, so this trip was perfect for me. Unpack once and see four islands ... what could be better?

 

Embarkation was a breeze at the new pier 2 location. I arrived at the pier at around 2:30 and was on the ship in under 10 minutes from the time I stepped out of the cab. Disembarking we had our choice of what time to get off. We choose 9am luggage tags and tagged all but one piece of luggage and set it out on Saturday night. Disembarkation was similarly smooth process. Our color (red) was called at 9am and we had our luggage and were out of the pier and on the rental car shuttle within 15 minutes of being called.

 

I found the staff (with a couple exceptions) extremely friendly and helpful. Lots of hellos in the hallway from the housekeeping staff, bar staff and matre d's who asked how our day was or asked about what we did that day. They were happy to talk about where they were from, or how they liked working the boat, how they ended up there, what they liked to do with their time off or where they liked to go on the various islands. Curiously, the exceptions to my friendly staff experiences all seemed to be in the main dining rooms where at least four of the staff we met were obviously not where they wanted to be. Other than those few, the staff we met were terrific.

 

Food was passable for the most part. Not five star by any means, but there was usually something that was particularly good and something that was pretty bad. Kahili and Pacific Heights were quite good. Service was fairly slow in the dining rooms, the buffet could get crowded at times, but other times would be empty. Never waited more than a minute for a table in the dining room. Had no trouble getting reservations for Pacific Heights and Kahili a day or so in advance. Reservations after 9:00pm were half price (we had 5:30 reservations for both so we didn't take advantage of that special).

 

Soda cards were $35 for adults, $18 (I think) for kids. Gratuity was not included. If you buy them in advance through bon voyage gifts they are $40.25 because they include 15% gratuity. Teen passport was $40 but the bartender did not put through my son's name because he didn't receive the promised invites to the special parties (he ended up going anyway).

 

We decided to pick a few things on each island that we wanted to do and didn't try to do everything. I would highly recommend choosing one or two "must-do's" and not trying to do everything. We met folks who tried to see the waterfalls, HVNP and the black sand beach when we stopped in Hilo. They were exhausted that night and when we spoke to them about VNP it was obvious they rushed through it so fast they didn't enjoy any of it, whereas we just did VNP and saw nearly all of it that we wanted to.

 

Comedy and magician shows were entertaining. The POAloha band was OK. There was another music act onboard which I didn't care for so much. We didn't see any of the other entertainment. Just too tired after active days on shore.

 

The 10-12 kids group did a good job entertaining my 10 year old son, but my 12 year old daughter would not go. The group was mostly younger boys so I don't blame her much. The teen club did a fine job entertaining what is typically a hard-to-entertain bunch (teens). They had ongoing games as well as loosely structured activities and unstructured time in the teen club. My 14 year old spent most of his free time in the group and with the kids he met there.

 

The ship itself shows it's age quite a bit, but I know what a beating a cruise ship takes. It's a constant battle with upkeep on any ship. Pride of Aloha was no exception and was perhaps less well kept than other ships I've been on but not as bad as others.

 

No problems with chair hogs, other than a group of drunken Canadians who seemed to be playing one perpetual beer drinking game at one of the poolside tables. I'm not entirely sure they ever left the ship at any port.

 

Hand sanitizers were everywhere with staff sometimes present reminding people to "sanitize please". They were particularly diligent when returning to the ship at port frequently using a spray bottle to hit the hands of anyone who even thought about approaching the gangway. I didn't hear of any problems with noro so I suppose their efforts were worthwhile.

 

Ports were fabulous ...

 

Kauai we rented a car from Thrifty. They were the last shuttle to show up and I don't think they even knew what the Blue Chip Club meant. We got a rickety van ("upgrade" from a full size) that sounded like it was gonna die. It held together for the day though. We drove north with several stops at various beaches and shave ice stands all the way to Ke'e beach which has a spectacular view of the Na'Pali coast if you walked up the beach a bit.

 

 

We had Tubing the Ditch booked for 2:30 so it was north or south. Honestly, I don't think you could go wrong either way. What a heaven on earth kind of place Kauai is. Had lunch in Princeville at a place in a strip mall called the Paradise Bar and Grille. Decent bar-type food.

 

Tubing the Ditch through Kauai Back Country Adventures was terrific. I was a bit hesitant to book it, but DW and the kids insisted. What a fun time.

Four wheel drives up into the countryside with a stop a scenic lookout, an hour floating through hand-dug caves on waterfall fed irrigation ditches with a funny helmet with a flashlight on your head and then lunch in the middle of nowhere next to a small pool with a waterfall. The guys running the tour were a lot of fun and very informative. It's not the most scenic thing you can do on a very scenic island, but it was a great day for the entire family.

 

An early Blue Hawaiian helicopter tour on the second day.

They do a nice job narrating the trip with music and catch all the highlights from around the island. Sell you a DVD of the trip with scenes from inside and outside the helicopter for $25. We bought one.

 

1:00pm departure to cruise the Na'Pali coast. What an incredible place on earth. The narration was choppy (something seemed to be wrong with the guy's microphone) and if you used your stateroom television on channel 26 everytime he stopped talking, blaring music came on. I finally shut it off and just enjoyed the scenery.

 

Hilo we again rented with Thrifty. Blue Chip club was a big time saver. Our contract was ready and waiting at a special window. It allowed us to jump past at least 6 groups waiting on line. It's absolutely worth joining Blue Chip. Thanks CC'ers for that one.

 

Drove to VNP and wound our way around the caldera and down Chain of Craters Rd. We hiked to the steam plume viewing area, then to where the half buried street sign was then back to the ranger station. Finished off with a walk through Thurston lava tube. Stopped at Big Island Candy company on the way back for "take homes" (only about half of what we bought actually made it home though, the rest was eaten en-route). Returned the car and got back on board. We could have made the hike to the active flow if we had gone straight down CoC road and did the 2.5 mile hike (each way) and only that. You're just too pressed for time to do the lava hike and the rest of the park and be back onboard by 5:30pm. We opted for the leisurely trip around the park instead of hiking to the active flow. I was a bit disappointed, but it was probably the better choice for us.

 

The lava viewing from the ship at night was remarkable. Something that NCLA really has going for it. I don't know how better to see it. Pictures came out as red blobs though. I thought later that maybe video clips would have turned out better, but by then it was too late.

 

Kona I had a rental car reserved but didn't use it. We had Fair Winds snorkel trip booked and decided since that took up most of the day we didn't really need the car. We were on the first tender at like 7:30. It was only half full. We didn't really need to be that early, but I was afraid if I waited for the later tender I'd get stuck in line. A $20 cab ride to Keauhou bay to check in by 8:00am. Trip left at 9am with about 40 minute ride to Kealakekua Bay, sight of the Cook Monument. Beautiful relatively unspoiled location. I was amazed how many kayakers completely disregarded (disrespected) the marine park and climbed all over the coral and up on shore. The Fair Wind captain did a great job hammering in to his passengers that this site was not only a marine park, but also sacred land. His staff put up floating lines to mark off no-swim zones. They maintained a constant vigil to watch for those passengers who hadn't bothered to listen to the captain's speech and warn them out of the no-swim zones. I even heard them scolding some of the kayakers who were walking around on the coral in waist deep water.

 

While the snorkeling is good, I've snorkeled much more interesting spots in Turks and other caribbean waters, but I was not disappointed. I was, however, glad to be on the Fair Wind with the slide, and diving platform. My kids thoroughly enjoyed taking the big leap (25' or so) off the top deck and hitting the slide over and over. Add a decent lunch of burgers and such and it made for a terrific trip. Much better than a snorkel only trip. Very relaxing for us, and entertaining for the kids.

 

Maui - Another Thrifty rental. They were only taking people with reservations on the shuttle because it was a holiday weekend and they had no cars available. Once again, Blue Chip saved me a lengthy wait. We drove the road to Hana the first day but it was obvious that it's been dry on Maui lately. The waterfalls were not what they should have been. We made several stops for freshwater pool swimming, waterfall viewing, banana bread and a lengthy stop at Wai'anapanapa State Park with the black sand beach, great scenery and freshwater caves. Be prepared for mosquito bites if you plan on swimming in the one cave that's suitable for swimming. Finally ended up at O'heo gulch. Swam in the pools, watched some nuts jump from the 25' cliff into one of the pools until the rangers showed up to stop them. Overall it was a fun day, but long and tiring. The road wasn't all that crowded which made it bearable. I probably would not do that drive again, but glad I did it once.

 

Second day we drove to Lahaina for a stroll along front street. We then drove around the north side to the Nakele blowhole (kinda cool) then on to what Maui Revealed calls the Olivine Pools. This was great. It's a somewhat treacherous climb down the cliffs to the pools, but once at the bottom it was amazing. Swimming in lava pools on a peninsula with the ocean crashing around you on three sides was a once in a lifetime kind of thing.

 

Oahu we basically had the day to kill before a 9:30pm flight. Rented a car from National on Ala Moana. It was Easter Sunday. We drove up to the Dole Plantation for more "take homes" in the form of pinapple salad dressing that is delicious. Over to Pearl Harbor for a walk around the visitors center (didn't get a chance to take the launch to the Arizona) and a trip on the Pali Highway with stop at the lookout. Then over to Kane'ohe bay to see Coconut Island (kids just had to see Gilligan's Island) and up to see Chinaman's Hat. Back to Honolulu on the Likelike highway. Drop the rental at the airport and check in for the overnight flight home.

 

Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable journey. I was a little worried with all the negative reviews in the past, but the recent string of mostly positive reviews seen here on these boards were more accurate.

 

If anyone has any specific questions, I'd be glad to answer them. I have copies of all the dailies, but the ones supplied a couple weeks ago by 2xayear haven't changed. If you have those, you don't need new ones. If you don't, I can post them for you but it'll take me a couple days. I also have copies of the teen and 10-12 year old kids club schedules if anyone wants them.

[LateCruiser]

Fabulous review with great pictures. Thanks!:D I assume you brought the Dr. Pepper on board??

 

My son is on the Pride of Hawaii right now. Can't wait to get his report also.

[RSWBADGER]

Great Review, glad to hear your familly had a great time!

[umwife11]

Welcome home! And thank you for the wonderful review and all your tips, tricks and observations...

 

Every one of these I read makes me that much more excited for our trip!

 

Thank you again! Glad to read you all had a good time :)

[umwife11]

OOPS! sorry for the double post!

 

Having computer issues today :(

[alpal1993]

Thanks for the review.The pictures were great.Do you have any more of the ship you can post?

[jerseyjk]

Fabulous review with great pictures. Thanks!:D I assume you brought the Dr. Pepper on board??

 

I did bring the DP. Purchased a 12 pack at the Walmart on Kauai.

 

Thanks for the review.The pictures were great.Do you have any more of the ship you can post?

 

I do have some more of the ship I believe. I'll try to get them up in the next day or two. I'll post here when they're up.

[Zeno]

Excellent detailed review!

It shows that realistic expectations and planning = a good vacation

[cruiselove-7]

hi me and my sister are going on the pride of aloha on may 6th.your post really helped great pictures and info.i have a few questions to ask you.the age of people on the ship? were in our late 30s.is roberts tours good?the best luau?when we get off the ship in oahu,is it best to rent a car? are they open early?is it easy to get around?in maui do i need a car there,and how hard is it to park overnight?i would like to go to a luau there ,but its a drive and that ferry to the island lanai i heard was nice.im sorry i have alot of questions. i love to cruise this is # 30 for me. i like newer ships but i got a great deal on this one so im going.one more thing im on the 10th floor are the rooms pretty sound proof? quiet?thanks so much. happy cruising:)

[ute_fan]

Great review! Thanks for sharing your impressions with us.

[jerseyjk]

hi me and my sister are going on the pride of aloha on may 6th.your post really helped great pictures and info.i have a few questions to ask you.the age of people on the ship? were in our late 30s.

 

It was a pretty good mix of ages now that I think about it. Quite a few my age (pushing 40, but not quite yet) a lot of families. Quite a few older folks and a few younger couples / newlyweds. Not a huge party crowd of single 20somethings though.

 

is roberts tours good?

I only used Roberts for the airport to Waikiki transfer. The bus was aged and I would have done better with a cab from the airport because there were 5 of us. I can't say anything about their tours. I did feel they were milking the "official shuttle of the State of Hawaii" for all it's worth.

 

the best luau?

I didn't do a Luau as surprising as that sounds so I can't say for sure

 

when we get off the ship in oahu,is it best to rent a car? are they open early?is it easy to get around?

 

The National office on Ala Moana Blvd opens at 8. The airport locations may open earlier, but you probably won't be off the boat before 8 anyway. Whether you need a car or not depends on when your flight leaves. I had 10 hours on Oahu so a car was the only way I could get around without going stir crazy. It is easy to get around Oahu, although the road to the north shore was closed by a rockslide last weekend, so I couldn't go full circle.

 

in maui do i need a car there,and how hard is it to park overnight? i would like to go to a luau there ,but its a drive and that ferry to the island lanai i heard was nice.

 

A car is fairly necessary on Maui. Not much for public transportation there. Parking at the Pier is simple. There is a close lot that fills up early (I didn't get a spot there and I was back by 6pm) and another lot just around the corner near the seawall which is a short walk. Both are free.

 

one more thing im on the 10th floor are the rooms pretty sound proof? quiet?thanks so much. happy cruising:)

I found the rooms fairly sound proof. I was on deck 9 and could hear kids jumping upstairs a couple times and some banging next door once in a while, but nothing to complain about.

[Duffys wife 1957]

Thanks for the great review.....:D

[jerseyjk]

I didn't have as many shots of the ship as I thought (most of them were shots of people on deck that I can't post).

 

A few I do have are at http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m265/JerseyJK/POAloha/

[Lyn2005]

Thanks for the info, your room is the approx. location that we may be booking in the next week. Approx. what size would you say the balcony is? Was there room under the bed to stow a suitcase?

 

Thanks

[marcyjane]

Thank you so much enjoyed your review and the photo's

Got about 5 weeks til May 2oth cruise on the Pride of Aloha.

I'm going with the idea that a lot of people on the boards are that the Pride of Aloha is a floating hotel and the best way to see as much of Hawaii as possible.

Glad you enjoyed your trip.

I so looking forward to Hawaii, just treading that longgggg plane ride over.

Marcy

[jerseyjk]

Thanks for the info, your room is the approx. location that we may be booking in the next week. Approx. what size would you say the balcony is? Was there room under the bed to stow a suitcase?

 

The balcony is approximately 5 x 10 ... maybe 5x12. I think the dimensions are on NCL's site. It was seriously small. The chair in the picture is way smaller than it looks. Very uncomfortable.

 

There is room under each bed to store a moderate size suitcase. We were five people with five bags in two outside cabins ... we managed fine. The cabins are very small though.

 

One other invaluable piece of info that's been shared many times before on this board, but bears repeating ... bring a power strip. There is only one plug on the desk and one in the bathroom. We had a few phones, cameras and ipods all needing charges almost daily. Without a power strip, we'd have been out of juice in no time.

[PDAZ]

Reservations after 9:00pm were half price (we had 5:30 reservations for both so we didn't take advantage of that special).

 

A recent change? We were on the 3/11 Pride of Aloha cruise, and the half price meals in the specialty restaurants were for seatings prior to 6:30.

[cruiselove-7]

thank you for answering all my questions, that really will help me out alot!:) i cant wait to go! 3 weeks away!

[jerseyjk]

A recent change? We were on the 3/11 Pride of Aloha cruise, and the half price meals in the specialty restaurants were for seatings prior to 6:30.

 

Not sure. Prior to going I had heard that it was half price prior to 6:30 but I didn't really take that much note of it. When I got on board the FSD most definitely said half price for reservations after 9:00pm. We always eat early so it didn't fit our schedule.

[aldewitt]

Thanks for your thoughts. I am always worried by bad reviews, but you make a good point; the more recent reviews have been very favorable.

 

Where is the new pier? How do you get there? We've been on the Pride of America (and the old Star when it did the Fanning Island run), but we've not left from the new terminal. Would love to hear more about that.

 

We're on the POA on June 3, and we're really looking forward to it.

[aldewitt]

Thank you so much enjoyed your review and the photo's

 

Got about 5 weeks til May 2oth cruise on the Pride of Aloha.

 

...

 

 

Marcy

 

 

Marcy,

 

I am two weeks behind you on June 3. I would love to hear what your experience is like on the POA.

[jerseyjk]

Where is the new pier? How do you get there? We've been on the Pride of America (and the old Star when it did the Fanning Island run), but we've not left from the new terminal. Would love to hear more about that.

 

The new terminal at Pier 2 is nothing to see really. It's a short (10 minute) walk from the old Pier at the Aloha Tower. Big wide open building with a check-in desk near escalators up to the ship.

[RSWBADGER]

A recent change? We were on the 3/11 Pride of Aloha cruise, and the half price meals in the specialty restaurants were for seatings prior to 6:30.

 

We were on the Pride of Aloha 3/18/2007 Cruise, 50% off 9:00 PM and later.

 

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[cruiselove-7]

in kona is that where the black beach is?and from the cruise ship how far is it?i am booked on the history of kona tour ,then i wanted to go to the beach after this tour. i heard it is a great beach:) thanks

[RSWBADGER]

in kona is that where the black beach is?and from the cruise ship how far is it?i am booked on the history of kona tour ,then i wanted to go to the beach after this tour. i heard it is a great beach:) thanks

 

Punalu'u Black Sand Beach, about 60 Miles South, towards Volcanos National Park.