POA question

[20165]

I have read some of the reviews on POA and it looks like it has gotten better over the months, but we are considering booking and I wanted to ask a question of people that have been on it recently. Would you do it again or go with a land based resort in Hawaii? That is the question we keep asking ourselves and come up with pros and cons to both.

 

Comments??

 

thanks

[Michael Ho Ho]

Its very difficult to justify laying out big bucks for a substandard - at best - cruise. Why not set up hotels or condos on a couple of different islands and do your own Hawaiian tour? That way you at least are assured of a decent place to stay, good service, and decent food.

 

With POA it is just too big a gamble.

[virgenia]

We were on the 9/19 sailing and it sounds like things have improved even over that time. I would do the cruise again in a heartbeat. We were able to see four islands and do something cool on each island. We rented cars on Maui and Kauai and were able to see the the perimeter of each of the islands. Not that we could see every site and participate in numerous activities on the islands, but we can now make an informed decision on what island we would go back to if we want to do so--and also what part of that island.

 

Food is not of paramount importance to us. The food was just okay--not awful, but that really was not a huge issue for us. We were in a suite. I might feel differently if we were in a much smaller room than we had.

[jkrislc]

While I wont be onboard the POA for another seven weeks or so, I pondered the same question as you are when the initial reviews (first three months in fact) were bad. However, I knew that I wouldn't be able to cruise Hawaii for the price I paid--I booked over a year ago--and every book I read said to dedicate at least a week per island as you'll spend check-in and check-out days going to the airport, waiting, boarding, flying, waiting for luggage, checking-in, getting situated, etc. Most of the books I read recommended a cruise for quick island hopping out of convenience. I also see this cruise as a way of reconning the other islands. I've been to Oahu (I was born there) but haven't been to the other islands, so I see this as my opportunity to figure out which islands I want to go back to in the following years.

[TylerG]

We were on the 10/17 POA cruise. If you compare it to other cruises you will be very dissapointed as we were. However, if you treat it as a floating hotel then you will be fine. Good luck...

[buchie614]

We were on the poa in Aug. very bad cruise, will not sail with ncl again.

[willysgrandma]

I was on the 10/24 cruise and except for lousy food, we liked the food. Many of the problems on the earlier sailings have been corrected.

 

To me, this was a cost effective way of seeing 4 islands and unpacking once. To do a land based stay on 4 islands, waste a day at the airport traveling to each, paying for restaurants and packing and unpacking on every island is not a relaxing vacation for me.

[BobbyBear68]

We were on the Oct 17th sailing of the POA. We would definitely sail with her again. It was a great way to see more than one island. The ship sails mostly at night and is in port during the days. I had no problem with the food and the entertainment and ship were great. If we had a problem, it was the 12 to 13 hours of airplanes and airports to get there and another 12 to 13 hours to get back that might hold us up from going to Hawaii again.

[alexmay]

We were on the 10/31 cruise. This is my 3rd trip to Hawaii, the other 2 were land based. The first time, we went to 3 islands, and to two islands the second time. Both previous trips were 14 days. The thing I remember most of the first two trips is the packing and unpacking, and the time waiting on planes. This time we saw 4 islands in 10 days. We are already talking about doing this again next year.

 

The food on the POA was fine for us, but we are not used to, nor do we care for, fancy, long meals. We are all content with hot dogs and salads. There are defininitely advantages to land based, but this is an excellent way to see the islands.

[arlenefrances]

We were on POA the week of September 26. This was our 6th cruise,three of which were NCL. I agree with Tyler that if you look at it as a floating hotel and a wonderful way to see all the islands you will be happy. As far as a good cruise experience it was way down on our list of good cruises.

[RUSH-MAN]

The POA is not bad. The food is avarage, but not bad at all ( I loved the duck ). Picture the wait staff as a REALLY good waiter at an Outback instead of at a Formal Dinner country club.

 

The entertainment we thought was EXCEPTIONAL. Far above the Princess cruise we took.

 

It was great having the same room, on 3 islands. The POA is not cheap, but neither was the $330/night Hilton in Waikiki we stayed at. A great way to see numerous islands economically.

 

Only horrible POA service... photos. Don't waste your time even posing.....

We bought one photo which was "ok" and got one free. My top of my head was cut off on one photo !!!!!

[willysgrandma]

" Only horrible POA service... photos. Don't waste your time even posing.....

We bought one photo which was "ok" and got one free. My top of my head was cut off on one photo !!!!!"

 

I thought it was just me! The pics were very blurry on many of the shots and if you have a formal pic done, do NOT use any of the backgrounds, have them take your pics on the staircase. Almost all of the formal portrait backgrounds have HUGE scrapes in them that are very visible in the pictures.

[Catmomma]

I would choose the cruise over a land based vacation if you have not been to the islands before. This way you get a sample of a lot of different places. The cruise was a lot of fun and waking up somewhere different was awesome. Next tiem I plan on going direct to Maui but this is after I have cruised the islands 4 times! Took me that many cruises to decide what I need to go back for :)

[Host CMLA]

I agree with Tyler that if you look at it as a floating hotel and a wonderful way to see all the islands you will be happy. As far as a good cruise experience it was way down on our list of good cruises.

Food for thought...did NCL maybe falsely assume that people would use the POA as a floating hotel so they didn't think it had to be up to the same standards as other cruise experiences? You see many islands with many hours in port...maybe the ship, et al was meant to be secondary to the experience?

[orcatek]

We were on the 10/10 and yes we would do it again. They main thing I would do different is just get an inside room since you don't really have any sea time to enjoy the verandah.

[20165]

Thanks everyone for you feedback. I think we are going to give it a try. I didn’t mention this on my original post, but we have been on a Hawaii cruise in the past. It was called the Independence and I think the line was American Hawaii cruises. Absolutely horrible ship and terrible service, but as some of the responses said, it was the best/easiest way to see the islands, but we dreaded coming back to that ship at night. From what I am reading here, this ship isn’t as bad so I think we will give it a try.

[Catmomma]

Funny, I cruised the Indy 3 times and it was the best ship I have been on to date. I really miss it. You must have hit it on a bad week :). When I wrote my suggestions down for NCL at the end of the week, my final sentance was that they were doing a good job but that they had a long way to go to replace the Independance. I was a repeat customer with the Indy, I don't think I will be a repeat with the POA unless I find a deal someday.

[lbryant]

We were on the 10/3 cruise and had an awesome time. We're looking at going again in '06 - though possibly on POAmerica. For us, it was much more than a floating hotel and a means of getting from one place to the other. I like the American crew, I liked the freestyle - eat when you want to idea and 90% of the food we tried, I liked our balcony room and we had a pretty good experience with one of the photographers....

 

Our cruise experience was, on the whole, very comparable to our other 3 cruises (all RCCL). Certainly some things were not as good, but other things were better. There were some meals I count as the best I've ever had. Some choices were less memorable (but honestly, isn't that true of every cruise? Some things are truly wonderful and some things are far less memorable).

 

As to the photographer, we didn't buy the packages and we didn't have pics taken often. We did portraits twice. On one occasion, we were the only passengers there at that moment and when the photographer started to 'pose' us, I asked her to think of something totally different - something she's never done before. She lit up like a christmas tree and really got into the fun. It was the best portrait we ever had. And SHE thanked US for making her day.

 

All that is to say, yes, I would (and plan to )take this cruise again. Have fun.

Mahalo - Laura

[willysgrandma]

This cruise was no worse then Royal Caribbeans Soverign of the Seas for me.

 

The ship was clean, the service was good - the food was just okay. I thought it was a great way to see 4 islands in a week and is definitely cheaper than doing a land based vacation.

 

We went into this with the intention of finding one place we'd like to go back and stay on if we ever went back to Hawaii.

 

And we found that on Maui - I wouldn't bother with any other island after seeing that and there was plenty to do.

 

This cruise with airfare cost me $40 more than a cruise out of NY with no airfare to Bermuda two years ago. I thought iwas a great value!

[Happy ks]

We have been on 7 cruises, 6 different ships, I would say Indie rated right at the top. We thought she was a well preserved beauty, the staff was the very best we have ever had, the food was great. Perhaps the poster was expecting a modern cruise ship like they build today. I will be forever grateful for that Indie cruise, that I got a chance to cruise on a classic.

[jkrislc]

Food for thought...did NCL maybe falsely assume that people would use the POA as a floating hotel so they didn't think it had to be up to the same standards as other cruise experiences? You see many islands with many hours in port...maybe the ship, et al was meant to be secondary to the experience?

Cecilia,

 

I think you hit the nail right on the head. With so much time in port and two overnight stays, I don't think the POA will ever be a "total cruising experience." Further, with people coming and going so freely, I anticipate service issues will continue to be somewhat of a problem. From week to week, you're never going to know how many are going to stay off ship, eat off ship, etc. However, if the POA is going to serve as a floating hotel, I believe they need to expand dining hours, have an improved room service menu, a 24 hour buffet, and/or a 24 hour restuarant (limited menu).

 

Just my thoughts.

[bankofdad]

We sailed on 10/17, and I would take this cruise again in a heartbeat. It was a great way to see all of the islands during one trip, especially if this will be the first time you've been to Hawaii, or haven't been to all of the islands. If you're looking for the "cruise experience" and are more concerned with onboard "pampering", this cruise might not be for you, but we loved it. I would love to do it again, and have fantastic memories from our trip!

 

Another point if this will be your first time seeing all of the islands, it gives a great perspective of each for future trips. Our next Hawaiian vacation will likely be land based between two islands (which islands are yet to be determined, because we loved them all). This gave us an excellent opportunity to view them all, enjoy each one very much, and gets us excited about future possibilities. We loved our vacation on POA, and are very, very happy that we chose to tour the islands on her.

 

Have fun with whatever you choose!