POH Review 12/15-12/24

[tofuyan]

Hi All!

 

Just got back from my cruise on the POH last night. I am still feeling the rocking motion as if I was still on the boat. So here is a short review on my time on the POH.

 

Day 1- Honolulu

 

We have arrived at HOnolulu airport at about 12:30pm. We got picked up by a shuttle provided by NCL to the Marriott Waikiki Beach Hotel. We were starving so we were looking for somewhere to eat. We wanted to go to the Hula Grill (since I have read good reviews for it), but by the time we walked all the way there, it wasn't opened yet. It only opens for breakfast and dinner. So, we end up going to Duke's (which was good too). We then head back over to the hotel to drop off my parents and my 9-month old. We took the Bus over to the Ward Warehouse to buy a specific piece of jewelry from the same artist I have bought 5 years ago. It was sprinkling on and off that day. We then took the bus back and rest from an exhausting day.

 

Day 2- Honolulu

 

We had rented a car from Hertz at the Marriott. We figured that it was more convenient since it was just there. We headed off for a quick breakfast to go at Zippy's (where all the locals hang out). We then drove to the Arizona Memorial and the battleship. I have been to the memorial before so my parents and I went to the Aloha swap meet while my husband took his time at the battleship. I have never been to a swap meet this big. There are like 700 vendors there. Most of them pretty much sell the same stuff. Prices are definitely cheaper here than elsewhere. After the swap meet, we drop up to the Dole plantation and got a pineapple whip (yummy!) and did a quick walk around the demo plantation. We then continued to drive up towards North shore and stopped at Matsumoto's for shave ice. There was surely a long line for the shaved ice. Our last food stop was the Giovanni's shrimp truck. There were lots of other shrimp trucks there, but I wanted to try Giovanni's since that was what everybody was talking about. They only had the shrimp scampi left. It was very delicious. It came out to be $1 a shrimp. We head back to Waikiki to get ready for our next day. We refueled our gas at the Costco nearby the hotel.

 

----to be continued.

[tofuyan]

Day 3- Embarkation day

 

Before they came to pick us up to the cruise ship, we went to Lulu's for breakfast. They had delicious banana macadamia nut pancakes. We then took a walk to the Kuhio beach across the hotel and then came back to get ready for the pick-up. Once we got there, we went onto the special line for Marriott (We had booked the Marriott pre-cruise package knowing that it will be an advantage on embarkation day. We had registered and taken our pictures at the hotel a few days before). Thus we only had to pick up our cruise cards and didn't have to wait in the long line with the other people. Other people were wondering how we got to go onto the "special" line. :D Thanks to this forum!! Once we got onto the boat, I quickly went to the 8th floor to do the restaurant reservations. There was already a line there. We had made reservations for Papa's that night and Tapa's for the next night.

 

After making reservations, we went to eat at the Aloha Nui buffet. By that time, we were starving. After eating, we roamed around the ship until our rooms were ready. (about 3 pm). We were on level 6. Our rooms were right below the medusa lounge. Therefore, we were able to hear music above us during the night. But it didn't bother us, since we were usually exhausted by the end of the day. Our luggage didn't come till about 7pm. I had also needed a crib for my 9-month old. I had to call 3 times before it finally came. But I don't blame them since they were busy bringing up luggages. My room stewardess finally brought up the crib to us. She was really nice and helped me set it up and made the playpak very comfortable. The room originally had 2 separate beds but we reconfigure it and put it together. She said that she was gonna help us change the sheets to one large sheet/blanket. I see the room stewardess every day in the morning and afternoon. She would always ask what we need (Do you need change in towels? toilet paper enough? tissue?):)

 

That night we had reservations for Papa's. The food was so-so. The soup was very salty. Most of the soups were very salty in this cruise. I think I liked the dessert the best. Tiramisu and some strawberry shortcake. Service was somewhat slow. The ambience was nice.

 

We then retired for the night.

[tofuyan]

Day 4: Hilo (Tuesday)

We woke up early for breakfast at Aloha Nui. Then we headed off to our Rainbow Falls and VNP tour with Roberts at 9:30. They first took us to Rainbow Falls. The next stop was the Mauna Loa Factory. The macadamia nut ice cream here was delicious. We bought some chocolate macadamias and assorted macadamias here. It is cheaper here than elsewhere except Costco. Afterwards, we went to VNP. It had started to rain then. WE went through the Thurston Lava Tube. It was really wet and muddy inside the tube. Bring a flashlight if you can and roll up your jeans if you decide to walk through the tube. We then made a quick stop at the visitor center and back. There was not much time in each stop; at most 20 minutes. So if you want to spend more time at the stops, I suggest you rent a car. That night we had made reservations for Tapas. Food was alright. The dessert was delicious though. (Caramel Flan).

[tofuyan]

Day 5-Maui

We had landed on Maui. We had breakfast this morning again at Aloha Nui. Then went to get in line to pick up our car at Thrifty. We had also rented the GPS system from Thrifty and it was very helpful. They gave us a map with all the major sites (with a one-step code alongside of it). We just had to type in that one-step code on the GPS and it will direct us to the site. It was very user-friendly. The only thing that I didn't like was that I couldn't operate it while the car was moving even though my husband was driving the car. So our 1st stop was the Iao State Park. Then we drove up west maui. WE went up to the Scenic lookout where they said is a well-known whale spotting place but didn't see any whales. There was a lady there that had binoculars there for you to borrow. Next stop was Lahaina. We found a free parking spot on Front St. for 3 hours. We saw the big banyan tree. Afterwards, we went up to Kaanapali and Kapalua then headed back to return the car. We ate at Alizar that evening and it was delicious.

[tofuyan]

Day 6: Maui- Day 2

We woke up early this morning to go see the sunrise at Haleakala. We booked the Haleakala Sunrise tour through Roberts, and we met up with the group at 3:30 am. That was quite early considering the sunrise doesn't come up till almost 6 am. The guy had served us coffee and pastries. We drove all the way up to the top and waited in the shuttle till almost sunrise since it was freezing outside. It was quite slippery up there since there was some black ice on the floor. When the sun came up, it was beautiful. It is not something that you see everyday.

 

We then came back to the boat to have breakfast and relax. We wanted to take the Maui bus to the south beach but by the time we had got to the center to transfer bus, the guy said that we may not make it back on time. So we took the shuttle back to the boat and just roamed around.

 

Day 7: Kona

We had booked a trip through Roberts for the Sea Hawaii Zodiac Raft and Snorkel. We left the boat at 8:15 am to catch the tender to port. We got there right on time and found the lady in the yellow shirt that said Sea Hawaii There was another couple that we were waiting for but they never showed up. The lady called Roberts to try to get in contact with the couple, but they couldn't reach them. So we went on without them. We just walked over a couple of yards to the Zodiac boat. There were 2 tour-guides there. We had 9 other people on the boat, and it was a small intimate group. The zodiacs went fast and was pretty bumpy, but it was fun. We saw 2 pods of spinner dolphins. The dolphins even spinned for us too. They took us to a bay to snorkel. I did not know how to swim, so they gave me a snorkeling vest. We got geared up and jumped into the water. It was amazing. It was like a big aquarium. I saw parrot fish and many others. They then took us to see sea caves formed by the lava tubes. As we were coming towards the end, they let a little boy in the group steer the zodiac boat. It was fun! They took us near the cruise ship so that we were able to take pictures with the boat. They also fed us pineapples/chips/cookies/soda/water. It was great experience!

 

We then got back to the port and then went back to the boat to clean up and have lunch. We came back out because I wanted to try the coffee ice cream milk shake that everybody on this forum was talking about at the Island lava Java. It was quite a walk to get there. On the way back, I stopped by a small farmer's market. Then we head back to the ship and had dinner at the Grand Pacific.

 

Day 8- Kauai

 

We had breakfast and then went to pick up our rental car at Thrifty. They took a while to process our rental. Don't know why. We first went to visit Wailua Falls and the Opaekaa Falls. We then drove up to Kailauea Lighthouse and then to Hanalei Bay and back. As we went back to return the car, we dropped by Costco and bought 2 pairs of Crocs. We headed back on time for the Luau Kalamaku. It started to rain. We walked around the plantation. There wasn't much to see. People were there selling handmade items. They then had the Roasting pig festival and the food was served after that. I have to say that the food was just alright. The performance was pretty good. Make sure you put some bug-repellant on you because the mosquitoes made a luau out of me.

 

Day 9- Kauai (day 2)

We head off to the NCL tour "Journey to Waimea Canyon". On the way there, they took us to an orchid nursery which had beautiful orchids. Then they took us to this souvenir shop to use restrooms before we head off to the canyon. We got to the canyon and spent about 25 minutes there before we head back. That afternoon we sailed by the Napali Coast. I just looked out my oceanview window to see the coast. I was too exhausted to go up to the deck.

 

Day 10- Disembarkation day

We got out of the boat at about 8:30am and head off to the airport for our flight at 1pm. Our flight got delayed due to malfunction in the a/c. We finally got back home at 10pm. I was so sleepy and tired for 3 days after the cruise due to the scopolamine patch withdrawal. That ends my trip!:)

[fryml]

Thanks for the great review. I'm wondering about the NCL tour to Waimea Canyon. Do you think it was worth the trip? Would this be something we could do on our own with a rent car or is it best to take a tour?

[tofuyan]

Thanks for the great review. I'm wondering about the NCL tour to Waimea Canyon. Do you think it was worth the trip? Would this be something we could do on our own with a rent car or is it best to take a tour?

 

I personally did not think the tour was worth the price with the little amount of time spent at the canyon. I would do this on our own with a rental car.

[CC Help Michell]

Thanks for taking the time to do such a detailed review! Glad you had a good time. I did note, you are yet another person reporting an unexplained delay at Thrifty's rental office at Lihue -- seems like it's about 50-50 at that particular office between "no problem at all" and "unexplained long delay" reports! Thanks again for giving us your advice and sharing your experiences.