Going On The Wind

[Terry Wheat]

Anyone out there been on the Wind in Hawaii lately? I am going next week and would like to hear some opinions on what shore excursions to take. I've heard the ATV on Kuiai is a good one but my problem is my wife does not do well if it is a mountanous ride, can anyone enlighten me? Also I've heard a lot of people complain about the Wind and other people say its great, I guess its a matter of opinion. I've only cruised on Carnival in the past and loved it every time and hear a lot of people saying Carnival is the worst, GO FIGURE! I'm sure we will have a wonderful time.;)

[cdbisme]

Just got back from the Wind on the 9/1 - 9/11 cruise. We had a great time. We did all ship shore excursions and we loved every one of them. We did not do the ATV, but did an excursion near them and saw them a few times and I wouldn't call it a mountanous area. I can't really offer opinions on the shore excursions we didn't take, but I'd be happy to answer any questions about the ones we did take - Hilo Bay Waterfall Kayak Adventure and Circle of Fire Helicopter in Hilo; Na'Pali Beach Getaway in Fanning; Jungle Mountain Trek, Wagon Trek and Zipline Adventure in Kuaui; Downhill Bicycling in Maui; and Captain Zodiac Raft & Snorkel Adventure and Kona Culture & Snorkel Adventure in Kona.

 

I highly recommend Na'Pali Beach in Fanning. Some people liked that port and some didn't and invariably when you talked to them, the ones who liked it went to the private beach and the ones who didn't like stayed at the main beach. The private beach was very much larger and had much fewer people. You really did feel like you were on your own tropical island.

 

Also, if you are an adventurous sort, the best thing we did on our entire cruise was the Downhill Bicycling. It is not physically demanding (you rarely have to peddle although your hands get tired from the brakes), but it can be mentally challenging as you are driving up the mountain and around the curves and thinking what did you get yourself into. But it was an awesome ride.

 

As far as the ship itself, it had good and bad points. I felt like there were more activities and shows that I really enjoyed than on other cruises I have been on. The shore excursion desk, our stateroom attendant and the cruise director staff were all extremely good. I thought the food was mediocre (not bad, but certainly not great) and the waitstaff was hit and miss. I missed regular cruising where you really get to know your waiter. It is an older ship and there were some physical blemishes but that kind of stuff doesn't bother me. All in all, we had an excellent time. I don't know if I will do Freestyle Cruising or not next time. That is just my personal preference.

[cdkempton]

I understood that you could reserve a particular table & waiter if you found what you liked. Of course you would have to know what time you wanted dinner each evening but then that's what you do on non-freestyle. Am I mis-understanding or did you know of this. thanx :)

[bobnsandi]

Anyone out there been on the Wind in Hawaii lately? I am going next week and would like to hear some opinions on what shore excursions to take. I've heard the ATV on Kuiai is a good one but my problem is my wife does not do well if it is a mountanous ride, can anyone enlighten me? Also I've heard a lot of people complain about the Wind and other people say its great, I guess its a matter of opinion. I've only cruised on Carnival in the past and loved it every time and hear a lot of people saying Carnival is the worst, GO FIGURE! I'm sure we will have a wonderful time.;)

You might want to check out the Hawai`i thread under Ports Of Call.

[SLMS]

My husband and I traveled on the 7/10 sailing. In Hilo we took one of the Volcano Hiking/Viewing hikes (the one that is around $95, I think the other is a bit over $100). When they say the surface is rough and uneven, they are being quite honest - but what a wonderful adventure. We didn't find any flowing lava that we could just walk up to, but we did make it to the viewing spot to see it flowing into the ocean and creating great plumes of steam. We also enjoyed the Road to Hana (Maui) and a trip to Waimea Canyon (Kauai). In Lahaina, we just picked up the Walking Tour information from one of the tourist information spots and just strolled around on our own, we did the same in Kona. As for Fanning Island, we took a walking tour with one of the locals (free - except for the tip of your choosing) and found that most interesting. People living in homes of palm frond roofs on top of four poles, cooking over open fires, living without electricity or running water (the only toilets on the island are the ones built by NCL by the main beach). The main beach was fine for us - the water was clear, blue and warm. As someone said the food was okay and some was very good (had a great chicken dish one night and a wonderful free-form apple pie type thing that I really enjoyed). I'm sure you'll have a great time.

[Harryminnella]

We were on the same sailing on 9/1. I loved the ATV excursion in Kauai. The scariest part is their training hill. Its very uneven and they purposely stand next to each person, one at a time , and tip the bike to the side to assure that you know what to do in that situation (basically, shift your weight to the other side and keep your feet on the bike where its safe between the fenders.) The scenary during that ride is unbelievable. Its truely paradise.

 

We enjoyed the cruise very much. We had a waitress in the Terraces dining room named Ketut that was excellent. Our cabin stewards were very friendly and always around.

 

I don't agree with the comment about the cruise staff. The only time we saw the cruise director was at the shows and on Television. The rest of the cruise staff was very unanimated. They seemed to go through the motions and looked bored most of the time.

 

I liked that this trip had the Hawaiian music, lei making, hula lessons, etc. The Hawaiian Ambassador Kathy, that ran these events was very good. These are things that you don't experience on the Caribbean cruises so it was a nice change of pace.

 

Can't wait to go back to Hawaii. Don't get disillussioned with Hilo. There are much prettier ports to come.

 

Enjoy.

[cdbisme]

I played Trivia almost every day and between that and bingo and other events, I got to meet the cruise director staff quite a bit. I really got the impression that they liked their jobs. Now the Cruise Director herself, I rarely saw and didn't interact with. But I thought the staff was great.

 

As far as reserving tables, the Daily said that you could reserve for 5:30 or 8:30. But I don't think you could just reserve a table for anytime that you wanted. At least that wasn't presented as an option.

[giggles217]

What were the cabins themselves like? Did they have plenty of storage space?

 

We have heard different things about the laundry service, was it available to you about mid way through the cruise? I don't want to overpack but 11 days will be the longest cruise I've ever taken.

 

Could you give more details about the ZipLine shore excursion? I'd love to try this as it is something I'll probably never have the chance to do again but I am a little afraid of heights. Was it worth it?

 

Thanks for any and all info....

[cdbisme]

Cabins were small, but no smaller than any other cruise line. We were able to fins room for our clothes and toiletries, although I wouldn't say there a lot of storage room.

 

Towards the end of the cruise (Day 7 or 8), they made an offer to launder everything that you could fit into their bag for $25. You didn't get this stuff until the evening before the last day, however. It worked well for us because we were staying in Honolulu for a few days afterwards. Otherwise they did have laundry service, but I didn't really check the per-piece prices.

 

The Zipline that we did was in Kuaui. It was a lot more than just a zipline. You hiked through the rain forest, ziplined and ended up at a waterfall pool. There was one point early one where you do a rope swing and then at the end the waterfall pool had a rope swing and places where you could jump off the waterfall into the pool from about 25 feet up. That was the most exciting part of the day. The zipline was near a waterfall and some of the scenery was nice. I wasn't as impressed with the zipline as I thought I would be. The waterfall jump really got the adrenaline juices going, though. It was a pretty long, tiring day, but it was fun.

[mfanderso]

We were on the Wind 7-21. The ATV experience was a lot of fun. I agree that the worst part was the training hill. There was nothing as bad as that on the rest of the trip. The scenery was gorgeous. My husband and I had never been on an ATV and we both did fine. You will really enjoy this cruise.