Home from 9/04 POA

[veilofparadise]

Trying to stay awake long enough to post a quick review. I really appreciated reading all the reviews prior to our cruise, so I'd like to return the favor.

We had a great time. I was told there were only 1500 people on this voyage. There was no service charge and no Bishop museum charge.The ship was clean. Our room, 9062, was always clean and our room steward (the lovely Rowena) was fantastic. The crew was friendly and cheerful, one and all. I was aware that people were complaining from time to time around me, but since I knew that the staff was short handed, it was easy for me to cut them some slack. They worked really, really hard, and some of the passengers seemed unspeakably rude. In general, there seemed to be many older cruisers, and they seemed the least satisfied and most vocal.
The production numbers were very good, even though the Stardust Lounge is poorly designed and Ice-box cold!
The food and service issues in the restaurants are still problematic. When we ate in the Crossings, we were sure to get there as close to 5:30 as possible and only waited 45 min on formal night. Other nights we were seated immediately. The big disappointment to me was that the menu items stay the same, with only 1-2 entrees changing nightly, and only some slight changes in the desserts. The appetizers,salad and soups were not that good... a little bland... but some of the entrees were really good. It seemed to me that the "special of the day" regional entree was often the best. The souffles are not to be missed!
The buffets were generally quite good. Rarely, there were watery eggs. The waffles are fantastic! If one drink station happened to be out of something, it was easily found at another.
I'll write more later, as it comes to me, but let me say that I think NCL is really working hard to turn this thing around. One of the employees told us horror stories about the charter cruises, and if even half of what he said was true, I'm not surprised that crew morale was horrible at that point. The crew that are left are to be commended...our party of four thought they did a great job.
More later....must sleep......

[mikefast]

Thank you too for the review. It is good to hear that the cruise has improved. Can't wait till we go on it. Thanks again

[veilofparadise]

I wanted to comment on car rentals in this thread, and I hope it stays here (not moved to port of call) because it is specific to the POA. We rented at every port except Kona. I used Alamo, based on some things I had read here, but I have to say that I'm not sure this is the way to go.

Budget is the rental car agency affiliated with the ship, so I stayed away from them, thinking they would be too crowded. In reality, they ran the most shuttles from each port. Three Budget shuttles would come for every Alamo. In Hilo, we lost almost 2 hours out of a 7 hour day just waiting for shuttles. Not good.

Back in Honolulu, I used Thrifty, after reading that they were one of the few that ran shuttles to the pier. When we got off the ship, a man at the guest services booth called them, gave them our name and asked when they would be coming by. They said 15 minutes. In reality, it was 1 1/2 hours later, and a couple more phone calls before we finally gave up and took the Thrifty shuttle to Waikiki (we had booked with the airport location). Not good, again. For future reference, Hertz and Dollar had shuttles at the pier.

Also, for those of you renting cars in Kauai, good luck! :) Even though it is a small island, the roads are poorly marked. They often use local names (all of which look the same initially, at least to this non-Hawaiian) instead of highway numbers, and it can be a little frustrating finding your way around. We finally discovered that, on all the islands except Oahu, it's easier just to aim for a general direction, rather than sticking strictly to certain routes. :)

[Traveler39]

Thanks for the review and information on the car rentals... Glad you had a good time and enjoyed the ship experience...

Are you saying that we whould rent cars on all islands from Budget?

Thanks...

[veilofparadise]

[quote name='Traveler39']Are you saying that we whould rent cars on all islands from Budget?

Thanks...[/QUOTE]
Honestly, I'm not sure. I didn't talk to anyone who used Budget. It could be that they had longer waits at the airports because there were more people there, but I'm guessing that as a general rule they got to the airports much quicker than we did. In Hilo, I met another CCer at the airport who chose Alamo because it was the cheapest, and she thought that might be why it was so crowded. They were running only one shuttle in Hilo though, and that was not a good thing.

And there is pretty much a "luck of the draw" factor too. It's possible that the Alamo shuttle had just left right before we walked off in some ports, I guess. We never were the first people off the boat....generally left around 8-8:30 on most days.

[travellovervic]

Thank you, veilofparardise, for your review. Glad that you have a pleasant trip overall. Thanks especially for the tip about the Stardust lounge being really cold, my wife would really appreciate this knowledge so that she would be prepared with appropriate clothing for the show.

Was there any announcements regarding that there was no service charge? Do you think NCLA would waive that for other sailings, too?

Did you try any of the specialty restaurants? Or, if not, have you talked with anyone who has tried during your week? Is it satisfactory or worth the money?

Well, I hope you catch up on your sleep alright (whichever time zone you are in). Thanks.

[veilofparadise]

I did not try the specialty restaurants, and didn't talk to anyone who did. We did peep through the window the first day :D and they did look lovely! Even if I was rolling in cash (which I'm not) I probably wouldn't have tried them. I feel all cruisers should be entitled to first class food, without paying more for it! On the comment card I recommended that they close them till the main restaurants can operate well at full capacity. That seems to make sense to me.

I also wanted to comment on port vs starboard rooms. This was a big issue to me, initially. When we first booked, our TA booked starboard rooms on the Pof America, since that is the side with the best view of the lava on the big island. With the change to Pof Aloha, we ended up on the port side. I was disappointed at first, but felt better because I read here that the ship flips around to give both sides a view of the lava. In reality, on our cruise, our port side turned out to be the better side. From the port side on our voyage, we sat on the balcony and viewed the NaPali coast as we cruised around Kauai. Breathtakingly beautiful!!! Those with starboard rooms had to go above to see this lovely coastline. Kiluea on Hilo is nearly silent right now. There is no lava flow at all. As my husband put it, "It looks like the tail lights on two Chevys, parked side by side, way up on the hill." So, on this voyage, port side was best.
Our port side, aft room was very convienient to both the elevators, Crossings restaurant, all the buffets, and a very nice sports bar (can't remember the name...11th floor aft...very nice music).

[veilofparadise]

Oh, I forgot to answer your question about the service charge. Although we missed the show on the first night, (too tired!) our traveling companions said there was an announcement after that show that the service charge was being waived. That was also where they heard there were only 1500 cruisers aboard. I didn't hear how many crew members were still aboard, but they were bringing in additional crew in port to clean tables and such. These people didn't have the same uniform a POA employees, but were pleasant and worked hard. We recieved a letter in our cabin later in the week offering 20% of the value of our POA cruise off the price of an NCL cruise in the next year.

[veilofparadise]

Next comment:

We flew in a day early using the NCL pre-cruise package. Our flights were reasonable...no weird times and only one stop each way. We stayed Saturday night at the Waikiki Marriott. This was a beautiful room and a very, very nice hotel. A short walk to a gorgeous beach. The concierge recommended a wonderful, casual restaurant next to the beach and arranged our transportation to Pearl Harbor for Sunday morning before boarding the POA.

It was a wonderful start to our vacation!

[veilofparadise]

I wish I could think of this all at once! :rolleyes:

Our phone stopped working two days into the trip. Reported it around 9AM, phone was fixed by 8PM that evening. That was pretty darn quick, as far as I was concerned.

[CRZGRL]

Did you stay in the back tower at the Marriott? I heard it was completely refurbished. We are also staying there. Was there an NCL desk set up at the hotel?

What night was formal night? Were there any theme nights?
Thanks,
Carole

[veilofparadise]

[quote name='CRZGRL']Did you stay in the back tower at the Marriott? I heard it was completely refurbished. We are also staying there. Was there an NCL desk set up at the hotel?

What night was formal night? Were there any theme nights?
Thanks,
Carole[/QUOTE]
Yes, we were in the back tower at the Marriott. It did look brand-new. Wonderful down pillow tops on the mattresses, bright comforters, great city view. The only downside was a moderate amount of street noise, even on the ninth floor. Could have been because we were on the back corner and had two windows rather than just one. There is an NCL office in the back tower, directly below our rooms. We did the initial check in there, and were able to go to express check in during boarding. This was a good thing, as it seemed the lines were pretty long for the regular check-in at the pier.
There is a "formal" night on Tuesday, but it's fairly optional. You will see anything from tuxes and sequins to khakis and capris on that night. Free-style, dyk? ;) As far as theme nights, there are mexican buffets, oriental buffets, seafood buffets, etc, but I'm not sure that's what you mean.
I hope you have a wonderful trip!

[Traveler39]

[quote name='veilofparadise']I did not try the specialty restaurants, and didn't talk to anyone who did. We did peep through the window the first day :D and they did look lovely! Even if I was rolling in cash (which I'm not) I probably wouldn't have tried them. I feel all cruisers should be entitled to first class food, without paying more for it! On the comment card I recommended that they close them till the main restaurants can operate well at full capacity.

That seems to make sense to me.
QUOTE]

That does make sense and I hope ncl does close the specialty restaurants until all food service and buffets are up to the normal standards of ncl cruise ships.... I have written ncl and called ncl to discuss these issues....

[elephant98]

Thanks for posting a review. While I'm certainly glad to see that NCL is taking important steps to correct service issues, I can't help but wonder if some of the improvements you witnessed had anything to do with the fact that the ship was only 75% full. (I've read that the PoA holds roughly 2000 passengers, while your voyage had 1500).

Don't get me wrong. I'm not criticizing NCL or being a worry wart. On the contary, I believe that NCL recently did the prudent thing and offered refunds to those passengers travelling within a certain time period - which I believe would have included your cruise. Considering that the PoA has had staffing issues which have made it difficult to accomodate a full ship of cruisers, their refund decision was an excellent short term solution. I will be travelling on the POA several months from now, presumably on a full ship. Hopefully by then NCL will have developed a long term solution to its staffing issues.

I'm glad to see that the quality of the buffet and breakfast food is improving. On that note, did you ask or receive any explanation for the limited selection on the dinner menu in the main restaurant? A standard menu with only one or two new selections nightly is not what I have experienced on other cruises.

Thanks again for posting.

[bankofdad]

We're also staying pre-cruise at the Marriott. Can you tell me a little bit more about the NCL check-in and transfer service?

At the hotel check-in, did they take your photo and issue your "sign-and-sial" card (or whatever NCL calls it) so that you could go directly on the ship?

If you used their transfer, did they check-in your baggage for you right at the hotel, or did you have to take them off of the bus and into a check-in line at the peir yourself? Also, what time did the bus leave the hotel to go to the pier?

Regarding the Pearl Harbor excursion that the conceirge set up for you, what time were you picked up, and what time did you return to the hotel?

And lastly, my favorite question that I can't seem to get an answer for, "which bars serve the beer helments", and which bars seemed to provide the best service (I know you mentioned the sports bar..I believe its called Longboard Lounge)? Very vital, extremely important information!:D

Thanks again for all of the great information!

[veilofparadise]

[quote name='elephant98']I can't help but wonder if some of the improvements you witnessed had anything to do with the fact that the ship was only 75% full. (I've read that the PoA holds roughly 2000 passengers, while your voyage had 1500).[/QUOTE]
Yes, I think the smaller number of cruisers may have affected some of the improvements we saw in wait times, but since I never heard exactly how many crew were aboard, I can't say for sure.

I never questioned the menu because somehow I thought that was just how things were done on freestyle dining cruises. IOW, I thought it was an NCL thing. Is that not how they normally operate?

[veilofparadise]

[quote name='bankofdad']We're also staying pre-cruise at the Marriott. Can you tell me a little bit more about the NCL check-in and transfer service?

At the hotel check-in, did they take your photo and issue your "sign-and-sial" card (or whatever NCL calls it) so that you could go directly on the ship?

If you used their transfer, did they check-in your baggage for you right at the hotel, or did you have to take them off of the bus and into a check-in line at the peir yourself? Also, what time did the bus leave the hotel to go to the pier?

Regarding the Pearl Harbor excursion that the conceirge set up for you, what time were you picked up, and what time did you return to the hotel?

And lastly, my favorite question that I can't seem to get an answer for, "which bars serve the beer helments", and which bars seemed to provide the best service (I know you mentioned the sports bar..I believe its called Longboard Lounge)? Very vital, extremely important information!:D

Thanks again for all of the great information![/QUOTE]
At the airport, we were met by a guy holding an NCL sign. We followed him to the baggage area, where we had to get and carry our own luggage to the bus, where it was loaded by the driver. At the hotel (a bit of a grueling ride, as Honolulu/Waikiki traffic is heavy and he had three other stops to make for people staying at other hotels) the driver unloaded our bags (on the curb) and porters delivered them to our rooms. We were taken inside to the NCL office where our pictures were taken and we were pre registered for the cruise and given our room keys to the hotel. They tell you to leave the luggage you want transported to the ship in your room the next morning, near the door, with the boat assigned luggage tags on them. Not your carry on stuff, just the big stuff. They were delivered to our rooms on the ship before 5-6 PM.
Regarding Pearl Harbor: she called Reliable Shuttle ($10 per person, roundtrip) and scheduled them for 6:45AM. They said this was as early as they started, but when we came downstairs at 6:35, there was already one leaving...may have been something private, though. Despite a small fiasco when the driver lost his keys (it can only happen to us!) we were there by 7:20 or so. Seemed like a long line but we were on the second seating for the boat over. Walked in, waited maybe 15-20 minutes, saw the movie and were on our way to the Arizona Memorial. Afterwards we did the outdoor points of interest, museum, gift shop, and our friends did the Bowfin. We skipped the Missouri, because we've been on battleships before. I don't think you could do the Missouri in this time frame. We made it back to the hotel by 11:30 easily, and made the 12:00PM checkout time. The bus that transfers you to the ship starts loading between 12:30 and 12:45. At the pier, we got to get in the express line where they gave us our sign and sail cards. Free leis upstairs.
Oh, and this will be disappointing to you, but I don't really know much about the bars, and never saw a beer helmet at all! :) We walked through them all, but only spent time in the sports bar trying to get Cardinal scores. Sorry! :)

[cruisingisgreat]

veilofparadise,

I purchased the 2nite Pre package at the Marriott through NCL.
The info I have says the Package includes 1 transfer between Hotel and Peir.
Did NCL pick you up at the airport and take you to the peir or did you pay extra for the second transfer?

[cruisingisgreat]

veilofparadise,

I forgot to ask, While at the Marriott did you pre-reserve any shore excursions at the NCL desk?
If so how did they turn out?
Did you get the ones you wanted?
Thanks,

[COASTERBOB]

[quote name='bankofdad']We're also staying pre-cruise at the Marriott. Can you tell me a little bit more about the NCL check-in and transfer service?

At the hotel check-in, did they take your photo and issue your "sign-and-sial" card (or whatever NCL calls it) so that you could go directly on the ship?

If you used their transfer, did they check-in your baggage for you right at the hotel, or did you have to take them off of the bus and into a check-in line at the peir yourself? Also, what time did the bus leave the hotel to go to the pier?

Regarding the Pearl Harbor excursion that the conceirge set up for you, what time were you picked up, and what time did you return to the hotel?

And lastly, my favorite question that I can't seem to get an answer for, "which bars serve the beer helments", and which bars seemed to provide the best service (I know you mentioned the sports bar..I believe its called Longboard Lounge)? Very vital, extremely important information!:D

Thanks again for all of the great information![/QUOTE]

unfortunatley, they do NOT offer beer helments on this cruise. I was on the 9/5 POA, and DO drink beer! They do offer draft beer in the Longboard Lounge (sports bar), and the Pool bar. The Outrigger (deck 11 foward was very nice, as was the Plantation Club (deck 12, aft.....good before dinner cocktail spot if you eat at the Crossings Deck 5, aft) with a very nice server (Brookes was her name). WARNING: check your bar charges, as they sometimes vary, even with the same drinks from bar to bar, and from drink to drink!
Also, if you like beer, vist the Kona Brewing Company, a short walk up the hill in Kona.........very cool place with incredible Macadamia Nut Pesto Bread and great shirts and hats! Any other questions let me know. Aloha Bob

[bankofdad]

Thanks for the information on the beer! Kona Brewing Company is definitely planned as a priority shore excursion:D .

Onboard, did they serve the draft beer by the pitcher, or just the cup at the Sports and Pool Bars? Also, did they serve any of the Kona brews on board?

Also, earlier sailings mentioned that the bars seemed to close early (around 9PM). Did you notice any of that?

Thanks again!

[COASTERBOB]

[quote name='bankofdad']Thanks for the information on the beer! Kona Brewing Company is definitely planned as a priority shore excursion:D .

Onboard, did they serve the draft beer by the pitcher, or just the cup at the Sports and Pool Bars? Also, did they serve any of the Kona brews on board?

Also, earlier sailings mentioned that the bars seemed to close early (around 9PM). Did you notice any of that?

Thanks again![/QUOTE]

Draft beer only by the mug (frosted)! Don't think any Kona onboard. The bar closings were random it seemed. I think the drafts were Bud, Bud Light and Heinekin.

[veilofparadise]

[quote name='cruisingisgreat']veilofparadise,

I purchased the 2nite Pre package at the Marriott through NCL.
The info I have says the Package includes 1 transfer between Hotel and Peir.
Did NCL pick you up at the airport and take you to the peir or did you pay extra for the second transfer?[/QUOTE]
My package had vouchers for a transfer from airport to city, city to pier, and pier to airport. Maybe you should talk to your TA or NCL?

I didn't book any excursions through NCL, so I'm sorry but I can't help you there. I have the feeling they might be able to do that, but I'm not sure.