My Review and Excursion Report -- POH 7/9/07 (multi part)

[swifs]

I just got back from POH on 6/25 and a week after on Kauai and I thought the sun was very hot. Most snorkelers and local surfers wore the protective surf shirts- I brought mine from Caribbean trips. Gear was provided on both cataraman snorkeling trips that we took although we brought our own masks and snorkels (we used their fins).

[Crusinman29]

MichelP, crazy question here but how what the airline food on Delta? I am nervous about that as I have to eat many times over a 10 hour period. Wanting to bring food but afraid security will prevent that.

[alikim]

Hi,

I really enjoyed reading all your experience and I hope when I come back in September, I can give good review too.

 

Just found out our flight back home is 10:15 pm. I'm trying to decide what we should do all day.

 

I think Pearl Harbor might be boring for my 2 teenager sons and any long bus tour might be little boring for them too.

 

With your Little Circle Oahu tour, were there lot of stops? Other than just sightseeing, were you able to do anything else while on this tour?

 

Any suggestions is much appreciated.

 

Oh, I notice you mentioned you bought drinks at the restaurant. Did you buy any alcohols in the bar? I'm getting different answers on tips so I was wondering if tips were included with your bar bill?

 

Thank you.

 

We debarked about 9 AM for our gorabbitgo.com “Little Circle” Oahu tour. At $19 per person this was a deal and a half. We saw Diamondhead Beach, Diamondhead, the Halona blowhole (which wasn’t blowing), Sandy Beach, Hanauma Bay (spectacular – next time we spend a day there), and Pali lookout, before the bus dropped us right at the Delta lobby at the airport. The driver, Kyle, was very knowledgeable and had a lot of good historical information about Oahu. We enjoyed this tour a lot – it was much better than staring at our luggage at the airport for six hours.

[RachieLnnn]

MichelP, crazy question here but how what the airline food on Delta? I am nervous about that as I have to eat many times over a 10 hour period. Wanting to bring food but afraid security will prevent that.

 

You shouldn't have a problem bringing on snacks, as long as they aren't liquids (such as yogurt). I would think if you brought something liquid it would have to be in your ziplock bag. I always bring granola bars, gum, other types of snacks (even a sandwich!).

 

You should also be able to pick something up in the airport if you don't want the hassle of bringing it from home. Airports almost always have a variety of restaurants/fast food to choose from (not sure which airport you are flying out of). You can also almost always pick up bottled water after the security checkpoints.

 

Good luck!

[KKCruisers]

Sounds like a toss up then for the NCL tour to the canyon. . .Hmmm. I'll give it a bit more thought, but will most likely keep the excursions they way they are. I would not like to shake things up too much this close to our departure date.

 

I'm glad that Kat asked you about the sun exposure. I have a sensitivity to the sun and am very prone to sunburn. I don't want it to ruin our vacation, so I bought a rashguard shirt and a pair of capri length water tights to protect me from the sun. I remember reading on another thread how someone got a bad sunburn on the back of their legs snorkeling and was miserable for days afterwards. My DH and I will be white knuckling it with Captain Zodiac in Kona for our snorkel trip. I hope I survive. :)

 

Thanks again, Michelle!

 

~Lilli

 

Desert Tink,

 

Neutrogena has a new sunblock you should get, I did. It has helioplex and is spf 70. I asked my doctor about it and he said it was the best you could get right now. I like it because when you put it on it feels like a moistureizer.

Where did you get the capri water tights?

 

MichellP,

Where did you buy the spf hat you wore when snorkeling. That is something I hadn't planned for. I did buy a big brimmed hat for the beach, but I would probably loose it in the water. A spf hat for the water would be great.

 

Thanks for all the info about the ship and ports, I'm adding it to my portfolio for our trip.

mahalo,

Kat

[Desert Tink]

Desert Tink,

 

Neutrogena has a new sunblock you should get, I did. It has helioplex and is spf 70. I asked my doctor about it and he said it was the best you could get right now. I like it because when you put it on it feels like a moistureizer.

Where did you get the capri water tights?

 

 

Kat,

 

I saw that sunblock at the store and was wondering how effective it would be. Thanks for recommending it and I will pick some up today. I am being super careful for this trip as far as sun exposure goes. No sunburn for me! :D

I bought my water tights here: http://www.junonia.com (Junonia starts at size 14). If you do a search for "water tights", they will pop right up.

 

Best wishes for a wonderful vacation!

~Lilli :)

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

Without direct quoting many of your questions, I thought I would write of my experience on POH. My review can also be found at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=568053

 

First, thanks to Michelle for a great review. I kept a journal to keep track of everything cuz there was so much happening all the time. My DH was laughing at me cuz every night there I was writing in my journal.

 

Snorkeling/Sunburn: I rented one of their wetsuit tops from the catamaran for $10 each. Even though the water wasn't cold, it kept the sun off me so I didn't really burn.

 

Dinner Reservations: I had trouble booking my reservations including my Bistro night that came with my romance package. I ended up doing the buffet most of the time. Times available were way too late for me.

 

Food on planes: You can bring packaged products like chips, cookies etc and I believe you can bring sandwiches too. You cannot bring anything liquid so you will have to buy bottled water/soda from one of the shops at the airport or on the airplane. Water/soda is free on the airplane & stewardess' are good about tending to people on such a long flight.

 

Tipping for drinks: Bars on the ship do not automatically charge a tip. Each time you place an order at the bar and give them your card, they provide you with a receipt just like a restaurant that includes a tip line. It is recommended to tip 15% of the bill for all bar services.

 

Tipping Room Stewards: stewards are supposed to be covered under the $10/pp-per day fee but they don't see much of it if anything. I tipped my steward 2 times during the cruise. First time I saw her I gave $10 with a candy bar. Then a few days later I left a candy bar with $5 with a note thanking her for her service and requested towel animals which I got. Not much but enough to let her know we appreciated her service. Also, we had the same room steward each day..never switched for us on POH. Diane was great.

 

Tipping on excursions? I didn't realize this is customary. I tip for exceptional service or for free services such as shuttles to Hilo Hatties. You pay for an excursion - big bucks I might add - why do you need to pay extra? I guess I would be one of the people that get looked down on for leaving a small tip. Just didn't know.

[CC Help Michell]

MichelP, crazy question here but how what the airline food on Delta? I am nervous about that as I have to eat many times over a 10 hour period. Wanting to bring food but afraid security will prevent that.

 

I was pretty surprised that the food on Delta both ways was actually decent (not great, but okay -- my low expectations are not a knock on Delta by any means -- airline food in general has been notoriously bad for decades). On the way to Hawaii we were served a lunch that had salad, a roll, some chicken thingie, some orzo pasta, and a brownie. We also were served a snack which for the life of me I can't remember but I know I ate most of it. They also served some snacks with pretzels, Milano cookies (Pepperidge Farm), etc. They did 3-4 runs with drinks as well. On the way back, we had another chicken meal with salad, a roll, a brownie -- and some sweet potatoes with a very unfortunate appearance but SO really liked the flavor -- he ate both our servings of those. There was also a breakfast type snack with yogurt, some peaches, and a mini-bagel. Again, drinks were readily available; they offered them frequently, and when I got thirsty during a down time I just went to the galley and they gave me a bottle of water, no problem.

 

If you are worried, though, as others have posted, you can bring on board most snack type foods, and even meals from the airport concessions -- and also water or soft drinks purchased after the security checkpoint. On the way home we also finished our Mauna Loa chocolate covered macadamia nuts -- I still have half a bag of the wasabi/teriyaki ones though! :)

 

Have a wonderful trip!

[CC Help Michell]

Hi,

I really enjoyed reading all your experience and I hope when I come back in September, I can give good review too.

 

Just found out our flight back home is 10:15 pm. I'm trying to decide what we should do all day.

 

I think Pearl Harbor might be boring for my 2 teenager sons and any long bus tour might be little boring for them too.

 

With your Little Circle Oahu tour, were there lot of stops? Other than just sightseeing, were you able to do anything else while on this tour?

 

Any suggestions is much appreciated.

 

Oh, I notice you mentioned you bought drinks at the restaurant. Did you buy any alcohols in the bar? I'm getting different answers on tips so I was wondering if tips were included with your bar bill?

 

Thank you.

 

The stops on the gorabbitgo Little Circle tour were at Diamondhead Beach, Hanauma Bay, a shopping stop, and the Pali lookout -- so there were chances to get out and walk around. It's mostly sightseeing, though.

 

The answer on the bar tipping question is that tips are NOT included when they give you the ticket for your bar bill -- we added 15% or more every time.

 

On your teens, and Pearl Harbor, obviously I don't know your kids -- but in terms of American history, I consider Pearl Harbor a not-to-be-missed stop when in Hawaii. There aren't so many left who were adults and can remember Pearl Harbor when it happened, but pretty much anyone above the age of 12 remembers 9/11/01 -- where they were, how it felt, etc. I know in the background of my reaction to that Day of Disbelief was one constant thought -- "This is our generation's Pearl Harbor." If I had teens I was taking to Hawaii I would discuss Pearl Harbor with them in advance, so they had the background, and take them. The American men and women who participated in the war effort in World War II are often spoken of as our "greatest generation." In a world of "Generation Me," video games, X Boxes, ITunes, etc -- it can't hurt to expose your teens to the very real, very ugly, and ultimately very inspiring story of Pearl Harbor.

 

<steps off the soapbox> On a practical note, if we'd had a late flight as you do, I'd have done a big tour of Oahu, to include Pearl Harbor, the Polynesian Cultural Center, etc. I'd compare NCL and gorabbitgo for that, as well -- the latter has much better prices.

 

Hope that helps, mahalo for your kind remarks, and I wish you lots of aloha on your trip! :)

[RangerMom]

We fly out of the place that my mother lives, so she always takes our car to park at her house. Every trip we go on she packs a huge lunch for us that ususally lasts beyond the initial airplane segment. (Ham sandwiches made with butter, brownies, etc.) Stuff that doesn't have to be refrigerated right away. Then at our destination we put them in the fridge. We've never had any problems bringing food with us, but we haven't left the country.

[CC Help Michell]

Desert Tink,

 

Neutrogena has a new sunblock you should get, I did. It has helioplex and is spf 70. I asked my doctor about it and he said it was the best you could get right now. I like it because when you put it on it feels like a moistureizer.

Where did you get the capri water tights?

 

MichellP,

Where did you buy the spf hat you wore when snorkeling. That is something I hadn't planned for. I did buy a big brimmed hat for the beach, but I would probably loose it in the water. A spf hat for the water would be great.

 

Thanks for all the info about the ship and ports, I'm adding it to my portfolio for our trip.

mahalo,

Kat

 

Oh oops, I guess what I posted about sun management was misleading! I didn't wear a hat while snorkeling -- but I wore my Solarveil hat (ordered from Magellan online) a LOT out of the water (thanks Beachchick for that tip). I've spent the day working to whittle down our photos (between us we took more than 1500!!!!) to something manageable I can post online. You'll see me wearing my hat in nearly all of the ones of me! :)

 

I like the idea of the Neutrogena sunblock -- I'll check that out, because this trip I used SPF 50 Coppertone and Panama Jack spray on, no rub, sunblock and it worked GREAT nearly all the time.. the only burn/peel I got was a bit on my face and I suspect that was my fault for not applying the block correctly. But I found those blocks felt greasy, and they dried shiny -- I always looked slightly "slick" which was kind of weird!

[CC Help Michell]

 

Tipping on excursions? I didn't realize this is customary. I tip for exceptional service or for free services such as shuttles to Hilo Hatties. You pay for an excursion - big bucks I might add - why do you need to pay extra? I guess I would be one of the people that get looked down on for leaving a small tip. Just didn't know.

 

Aieee, I don't look down on you, Yukon! You were the one who referred us to the romance package we enjoyed so much! :) As I said in a reply in here someplace, I can understand those people don't tip at all because they don't realize it is expected (many tourism employees in Hawaii make minimum wage as their base pay -- it's the owners who get those big bucks). I mentioned the tipping thing precisely because a lot of people don't realize that it's appropriate -- I never saw a tour guide give any different treatment to those who didn't tip versus those who did -- it's all part of a day's work to them, I'm sure. I just try hard wherever I go to reward those whose hard work has made my experience more enjoyable -- hotel maids, bartenders, wait staff, etc. as well as tour guides. Even the NCL tour guide from our Waimea Canyon trip was tipped -- but not as much as we did Leimomi, Pops and Andres. :) I hope that clarifies.

 

I had to laugh at you talking about your DH commenting on your journal -- every night, no matter how tired I was, I did my journal entry so I would be able to remember stuff. Not all of it made it into the review -- but I will always treasure my journal -- like the entry at Hilo when I was packing the cooler and asked SO "where's the water?" and he said "under the ship!" I meant the bottled water, but wound up laughing so hard I had to sit down until I got my control back. :)

[CC Help Michell]

Great review....Wow! You provided a very-detailed, well-written review. My husband and I are on the 9/3 sailing of POH and can't wait. My only concern from your review was the Waimea Canyon Tour through NCL. I'm re-thinking it--but I know the scenery will probably outweigh any negatives we might encounter. We, too, are not hard to please, and we won't let the little things get to us--this is Hawaii afterall? Life is too short for anyone to get picky and complain all the time. Life is not perfect, afterall? We are flying from Detroit to Atlanta to Honolulu. It will make for a long day, however, we are flying first class so that should be a big-plus right off the bat! Like yourself, I, too, will provide a thorough detailed review upon my return from this wonderful trip. I can't wait to share all we encountered and will have learned from this trip. Have a great day! :)

 

Mahalo for the kind remarks -- I think we share a common attitude, and I'm sure you will have a marvelous vacation. :) I'm jealous of your first class trip -- I already told SO that next time (and there will be one, probably sooner than he is thinking <evil grin>) we WILL figure out how to make this trip first class, too! :)

[alikim]

Are foods offered only on long rides? Do you know if food is offered if we are flying from LAX to Hawaii which I'm told is over 5 hours?

 

And also you mentioned wasai/teriyaki macadamia nuts. Are they available everywhere or did you buy them at the Mauna Loa Macadamia nuts factory?

 

We have almost everything in Los Angeles but this is first time I heard of teriyaki macadamia nuts. These will be good gifts to my friends at work. :)

 

Thank you

 

I was pretty surprised that the food on Delta both ways was actually decent ...

 

If you are worried, though, as others have posted, you can bring on board most snack type foods, and even meals from the airport concessions -- and also water or soft drinks purchased after the security checkpoint. On the way home we also finished our Mauna Loa chocolate covered macadamia nuts -- I still have half a bag of the wasabi/teriyaki ones though! :)

 

Have a wonderful trip!

[alikim]

Unfortunately PCC is not opened on Sunday so we cannot do the Grand Finale tour. I would of love to do this tour since I always wanted to go to PCC and since our cruise is from Sunday to Sunday, and we are not doing any extra days, we have to miss PCC this time around. I wish I would have known ahead of time then I would have booked Saturday to Saturday cruise. :confused:

 

I don't remembering seeing any excursion that had Pearl Harbor and tour of Oahu other than Grand Finale so I guess we have to choose either Pearl Harbor or Island tour.

 

 

<steps off the soapbox> On a practical note, if we'd had a late flight as you do, I'd have done a big tour of Oahu, to include Pearl Harbor, the Polynesian Cultural Center, etc. I'd compare NCL and gorabbitgo for that, as well -- the latter has much better prices.

 

Hope that helps, mahalo for your kind remarks, and I wish you lots of aloha on your trip! :)

[CC Help Michell]

Are foods offered only on long rides? Do you know if food is offered if we are flying from LAX to Hawaii which I'm told is over 5 hours?

 

And also you mentioned wasai/teriyaki macadamia nuts. Are they available everywhere or did you buy them at the Mauna Loa Macadamia nuts factory?

 

We have almost everything in Los Angeles but this is first time I heard of teriyaki macadamia nuts. These will be good gifts to my friends at work. :)

 

Thank you

 

I think it depends on the airline what food they offer. You might try calling the airline directly, or checking your reservation online -- that's where we saw the notation that we had lunch and snacks on our flights.

 

We bought our macadamia nuts at WalMart in Waikiki -- the prices were much better than at the factory! There are also WalMarts at most of the ports of call -- we just used the factory to check out the chocolate dipping assembly line and enjoy the ice cream (which truly was just outrageously delicious-- if I could have their coconut/macadamia nut ice cream every day I'd be in serious trouble!).

[alikim]

I was laughing when I read you kept a journal to keep track of everything. I wasn't laughing at you but laughing because this is something I'll be doing. In fact I already prepared little sprial notebook with questions so that I can write everything.

 

I'm a scrapbooker so I have to remember everything so when I put my scrapbook together, I'll have all the details I need.

 

When I went with my son to Philadelphia (Valley Forge trip - school trip), I even took pictures of every meals my son brought to table. Of course my son thought I was crazy but after I put the scrapbook together even 2 years later he still looks at it once in a while.

 

I'm really looking forward to scrapbooking our Hawaii trip.

 

First, thanks to Michelle for a great review. I kept a journal to keep track of everything cuz there was so much happening all the time. My DH was laughing at me cuz every night there I was writing in my journal.

[alikim]

Thank you. I'll check on it.

 

As for macadamia nuts, I have to rememberto shop at Wal-Mart.

 

I think I read here that there's free shuttles in some of the ports? Do you by chance know which port stop has this?

 

Thank you again for all your advice.

 

I think it depends on the airline what food they offer. You might try calling the airline directly, or checking your reservation online -- that's where we saw the notation that we had lunch and snacks on our flights.

 

We bought our macadamia nuts at WalMart in Waikiki -- the prices were much better than at the factory! There are also WalMarts at most of the ports of call -- we just used the factory to check out the chocolate dipping assembly line and enjoy the ice cream (which truly was just outrageously delicious-- if I could have their coconut/macadamia nut ice cream every day I'd be in serious trouble!).

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

I'm a scrapbooker so I have to remember everything so when I put my scrapbook together, I'll have all the details I need.

I put my picture album together that way. I started with a postcard of each island before all my pictures of that day in the order we arrived. So my first picture was the NCL postcard of our embarkation day that we got from the portrait stand on the ship. It had our itinerary, the ship on the background and our picture of us when we arrived. I had a postcard of Maui which had my luau pictures, snorkeling pictures and parasailing pictures. My Kauai postcard followed by all my pics from the beaches we visited. Really cool. Kind of like a scrapbook.

 

No food on 5 hr flights usually - maybe light snack for the person that asked.

 

My mac nuts were devoured by my son when I got home. I should have bought more:p

 

We had so much going on that I would not have remembered everything when I got home so the journal was very important. My DH laughed at me but I'm so glad I did it. After he read my review, he was like "wow, thats pretty good" lol

 

I had an accordian file that had all paperwork, maps, excursion reservations, car rental resvs, must see activities etc. That was really handy. It was kept in my purse (which was a big beach bag) that I carried everywhere I went.

[RachieLnnn]

I was laughing when I read you kept a journal to keep track of everything. I wasn't laughing at you but laughing because this is something I'll be doing. In fact I already prepared little sprial notebook with questions so that I can write everything.

 

I'm a scrapbooker so I have to remember everything so when I put my scrapbook together, I'll have all the details I need.

 

When I went with my son to Philadelphia (Valley Forge trip - school trip), I even took pictures of every meals my son brought to table. Of course my son thought I was crazy but after I put the scrapbook together even 2 years later he still looks at it once in a while.

 

I'm really looking forward to scrapbooking our Hawaii trip.

 

I love scrapbooking too, and I've heard there's a scrapbooking store in Kona. Not sure of the details though! :D

[beachchick]

alikim: I have to agree that going to Pearl Harbor is an important part of US history. IMO, it would be good for your sons to see it and to visit the memorial. It's true that 9/11 has given the youngest generation something they can relate to events such as Pearl Harbor. It's such a huge part of the WWII experience that I don't think they should miss it. (Obviously, I don't know your teens, but I remember when our DD started whining when we planned a trip to Washington DC when she was 15: "We're going to too many museums and memorials. I'll be so bored. I won't have any fun" and so forth. Thing is, that when we actually got there, we were hard pressed to drag her out of the museums and memorials that she thought would be so dull. Just something to consider that I learned then not to under-estimate how much teens do appreciate things once we drag them somewhere "boring.")

 

Also, for everyone bringing food on the plane to Hawaii. No problem, but make sure you give every scrap of leftover fresh food, including wrappers, to the flight attendents. You are not allowed to bring fresh food of any kind into Hawaii. The laws are very strict and in place for very good reasons. I should mention that DH and I always bring a fresh made lunch with us on the plane, including fruit salad. I pack the salad in one of those cheapie containers and then hand the flight attendent the empty container when they come around to collect the garbage.

 

beachchick

[Cruisegal1]

We are only flying first-class to Hawaii because we traded in some reward miles--(a lot of them!) otherwise we wouldn't be able to do it. :) We thought this was the perfect trip to use my hubby's miles due to the long journey to/fro. He's never flown first-class so he should enjoy it--and the fact that he's 6'5" tall. I've flown business class a few times and can appreciate it very much. For anyone heading to Hawaii soon--have a great trip. After I get back in mid-Sept--I will post an informative review for all...

[slightlysilly]

I was laughing when I read you kept a journal to keep track of everything. I wasn't laughing at you but laughing because this is something I'll be doing. In fact I already prepared little sprial notebook with questions so that I can write everything.

 

I'm a scrapbooker so I have to remember everything so when I put my scrapbook together, I'll have all the details I need.

 

When I went with my son to Philadelphia (Valley Forge trip - school trip), I even took pictures of every meals my son brought to table. Of course my son thought I was crazy but after I put the scrapbook together even 2 years later he still looks at it once in a while.

 

I'm really looking forward to scrapbooking our Hawaii trip.

 

Alikim - As we are on the same cruise at the same time, I should be looking for the person taking pictures of her food? :D LOL!

[alikim]

Actually my oldest son wants to go see Pearl Harbor because he said it's his favorite part in history. It's my younger son that I'm worried about because he'll be bored. And also, since my M-I-L is into scenery, I'm thinking she might enjoy Grand Circle tour better. And also, I don't think she can walk too much and bus tour might be easier for her. With 5 people, it's so hard to please them all.

 

And of course the big factor is since our flight is 10:15 pm, I don't want to spend too much time at the airport waiting.

 

Questions.

 

1. In excursion, if they said for 8 pm and after flight, by what time do they take you to airport? Grand Circle said 8 pm and after flight and Pearl Harbor said after 4 pm.

 

2. I was also looking into Pearl Harbor and USS Missouri tour because it said for 6 pm and after flight. I've read about Pearl harbor but didn't hear anything about USS Missouri tour. Anyone has info on it? Is it walking tour or bus tour?

 

Again, thank you so much.

 

alikim: I have to agree that going to Pearl Harbor is an important part of US history. IMO, it would be good for your sons to see it and to visit the memorial. It's true that 9/11 has given the youngest generation something they can relate to events such as Pearl Harbor. It's such a huge part of the WWII experience that I don't think they should miss it. (Obviously, I don't know your teens, but I remember when our DD started whining when we planned a trip to Washington DC when she was 15: "We're going to too many museums and memorials. I'll be so bored. I won't have any fun" and so forth. Thing is, that when we actually got there, we were hard pressed to drag her out of the museums and memorials that she thought would be so dull. Just something to consider that I learned then not to under-estimate how much teens do appreciate things once we drag them somewhere "boring.")beachchick

[alikim]

If you see 5 Asian famiily - mother, father, grandmother, 2 sons (13 & 1) - and sons are running away from their mother because she is always wanting them to pose for pictures, THAT will be me! LOL!

 

Alikim - As we are on the same cruise at the same time, I should be looking for the person taking pictures of her food? :D LOL!