my (really long) review of PoA, 12/13-12/20

[plumie]

I’m going to preface this by saying this will be the length of a novel, but I hope this helps out someone who (like me), stresses out when planning trips. I’m going to go into a lot of detail, and while not everything was wonderful and awesome, I have to say that I still had a really good time. Keep in mind that this isn’t going to be like Lawry’s or the Four Seasons, but more like Friday’s and the Holiday Inn and you’ll have a great time. This was my fifth cruise – the others were to Mexico (3) and Alaska, and it’s true, this is not a typical cruise experience. This is just a great way to see the islands, and should be treated as a floating hotel. Most of the staff was friendly, and while not as attentive as what you’d find on the usual NCL ships, that didn’t bother us at all as we’re more DIY people anyway. The butler, concierge and room steward were noticeably more absent, but all of our needs were met (creamer in the fridge, super important for us!) so once again, didn’t bother us at all.

 

Saturday, December 13

LAX to Honolulu via American. The plane ride was roughly 6 hours, and we had to leave our house by 5:30am to drop off the car at a pay lot, then take a shuttle over to the terminal to check in. We had booked our flight and 3 days post-cruise stay in Waikiki through Pleasant Holidays, and since they book plane tickets through code share, all our documentation read Alaska Air, except the flights were actually operated by American. I also didn’t realize until I got to the airport that American charges $15(!) for each piece of checked luggage if you booked your flight after June 2008. Fortunately, we had booked our package in April, so we didn’t have to pay to check our suitcases. No food on the flight, but you could pay $10 for a sandwich and chips. Beverage service was decent, they wheeled the cart around a good 3-4 times throughout the flight so everyone could stay hydrated. Headsets to watch the movie (Wall-E) cost $5, and they threw in a couple of episodes of various CBS shows.

 

We arrived on time in Honolulu (around 1:30pm), met up with our party and caught a taxi to the pier. I had worried about transportation because there were 5 of us – I thought about getting a limo, but procrastinated and didn’t get it done. Fortunately, it’s really easy to arrange for a taxi at the airport – you just walk to the center island and there’s a person who (I think wears a green vest) hails a taxi for you. You just tell him/her how many people are in your party and they call for a sedan/van/limo for you. Super easy. I think the ride to the pier was about 20 minutes or so and cost about $30, but I can’t be sure.

 

Once we arrived at the pier, the taxi had to drop us off in front of a gated area. You had to drag your luggage from your taxi/shuttle through the gated area (but before you can do that, you have to present your cruise ticket and ID while trying to keep track of all your luggage) for a 5 minute walk into the building. There weren’t any porters on the way, you had to actually enter the building and drag it to the luggage area yourself before you hand them off to the porters. You then enter the ticketing area where there’s a little area for you to have your photo taken before you line up. There’s a little roped off ticketing area with seating for penthouse/latitudes guests, but that line seemed to move slower than the general line. We arrived by 3pm, and embarkation was pretty breezy – once we dropped off our luggage, we were on the ship within 25 minutes.

 

Because we didn’t get on the ship until about 3:30pm, our cabin was already ready. We dropped off our carry ons and then hit the buffet for a quick lunch. Our butler Sean didn’t arrive until Sunday, so Tom filled in for him on Saturday. I actually never met Sean, but Tom was super cool – he showed us how to use the very fancy coffee machine we had in our cabin, brought us teas that we liked, and answered our questions. Our last piece of luggage arrived at around 7pm, and we had dinner in Skyline. I do have to say that the service seemed pretty slow – dinner does take about a good 2 hours from beginning to end. However, your experience depends on your waitstaff. The first night seemed really disorganized, but the food was fine – meals were served hot and while not gourmet, the steak was prepared as ordered and I found it perfectly fine. Like I said, Friday’s, not Lawry’s. But keep in mind that I’m not a picky eater – I’m just as happy in an IHOP as I am at Morton’s, so YMMV.

 

The cabin: we were booked in 9500, an AC category deluxe family penthouse. The room was fabulous - it was perfect for a family of five. A master bedroom with a king sized bed and a separate bedroom with 3 twin size beds – one of which was pulled down from the wall. Two tv’s, one a large LCD in the master bedroom/sitting room area and the other a 20 inch (?) in the smaller bedroom. A large walk-in closet in the master with a vanity area with plenty of storage for toiletries and the smaller bedroom had a wall of closets, as well as a desk/vanity area with two drawers for storing little things (paper work, makeup, cameras). The master bath had a shower/tub combo, one sink and a toilet partly partitioned off by a glass wall. The second bathroom was the basic cruise ship bath – a toilet, sink and shower in a small space. The room had a grind and brew a cup at a time coffee maker that we fell in love with – we wanted to buy one until we realized it was about a grand. I guess we’re sticking with our good old Mr. Coffee. Our butler would come by each day to fill it with water, beans and more creamer in the fridge. We also got snacks every day – we got cheeses, brownies, big soft pretzels, cookies…mmm. We also got chocolate mints upon turndown every evening.

 

The balcony, while not nearly as spacious as that of AD’s and AE’s, was fine for the five of us when we all wanted to stand out there for sail bys. It fit two loungers and a little side table – and its location at the front of the ship was perfect because we could view both the lava and the Napali sail bys.

Sunday, December 14

One of the best perks of staying in a penthouse was having access to Lazy J’s for breakfast and lunch. The breakfast menu never changed, and if I recall correctly, there was French toast, pancakes, 3 egg omelets, salmon frittata, crab cakes benedicts, eggs benedicts, and probably something else on the menu. They also had a little buffet area with yogurt, cereal, danishes and various pastries, cheese, breads, meats and smoked salmon. The first two days we were served at the buffet, and this included the Aloha Café – on the 3rd day, you could serve yourself at the various buffets.

 

We rented a car from Thrifty (kind of a painful experience – the shuttle also took forever to get to the pier) and drove to Lahaina in the afternoon after spending the morning at Costco and Kmart stocking up on bottled water and other necessities. The drive took about 40 minutes – we didn’t have any traffic on the way there and the scenery was beautiful. We found free parking for strolling around for an hour or so before the luau in a one way alley behind the main drag, Front St. I think it was in the vicinity behind the Master’s Reading Room. We strolled around, saw the whaling equipment inside the old courthouse (there’s a clean bathroom in there for public use on the second floor), saw the old wall, and was awed by the ginormous banyan tree that literally dominated the whole block.

At around 5pm, we went and parked in the garage beneath 505 Front Street, the location of the Feast at Lele. I think the cost might have been around $10, but I really don’t remember. To get to the luau, you wan through what looked like a small shopping center with restaurants and some local shops. You head towards the beach and there’ll be hostesses by a podium greeting guests and giving you your ticket with seat assignments. Seating actually began at 5:30, but there are a few lounge chairs (not sure if they belonged to one of the restaurants, but saw many luau guests sitting on them while waiting for seating to begin) and it’s RIGHT on the beach. Thrilled as this was the first Hawaiian beach we saw, we walked into the water and waded around – it was incredibly beautiful- it’s a small beach, but very clean. It’s called Kamehameha Iki Park.

 

We had made luau reservations a good six months ahead of time and we were seated in the first row, but off to the side. You’re pretty much on the beach – what I didn’t like about the first row was that there was sand beneath our feet – those seated in the second row and back had concrete (I think) floors – we were all in (nice) flip flops, so the sand kind of got on our feet.

 

The food was pretty good – but this was the first luau I’d ever been to so I wasn’t sure what to really expect. I think though, if I were to do it again, I’d do Old Lahaina Luau for the typical luau experience then try Feast at Lele later on for comparison. But the performers and the waitstaff were great. The drinks were tasty and plentiful – as was the food. We ate too much to start with and had to try really hard to stuff down the later courses. There are 3 plates to each course – usually a protein and a salad - and sometimes some kind of vegetable. Each person get a dessert plate with some mini desserts on it and coffee – we had a really good time. The drive back wasn’t bad at all – we didn’t hit any traffic and returned to the Thrifty lot in 40 minutes.

 

Now, here’s the part I was the most nervous about and stressed about for MONTHS before the trip and was stressing about the entire day of the trip – how are we going to return our car because the Thrifty office has NO drop off box and we weren’t going to make it back before the office closed if we stayed for the whole luau??? (horrors – the guy who helped me when I picked up the car was kind of rude and condescending – when I asked how I was going to drop off the car after 9 or 10pm - whenever the office closed - he said too bad, I’ll just have to wait for the next day). But even though we got there after the office was closed (I’m pretty sure before 10:30pm), there was still someone in the lot who we could return the keys to and we managed to catch a Thrifty shuttle to the pier! We were SOOOO excited that we wouldn’t have to worry about finding parking at the pier and then have to worry about returning the rental car the next day after we had gone up to Halealaka.

 

Monday, December 15

Our day started at 1am. It was supposed to start at 3am, but I stupidly assumed my super smart blackberry would automatically adjust to our new time zone. It didn’t. So I set the alarm for 3am, blissfully unaware that it was still on LA time, not Hawaii time. When the alarm blared, my whole family jumped out of bed, pulling on layers and layers of clothing and fighting over the bathrooms. We ran from the 9th floor to the 3rd floor where the gangway was, all bundled up and up to the security gate…to be told by the security guard that it was 1:30am and we were two hours early. There was nothing we could do but laugh at this point. So we trudged back to our cabin, ordered room service for 3am and fell into bed for an extra hour of sleep.

 

We booked with Ekahi tours through adventure maui dot com, and were perfectly happy with the tour. Our guide was knowledgeable and friendly, keeping a running commentary all the way up Haleakala (even though over half the bus was asleep). We rode in a small shuttle sized bus that probably fit around 25 people. We were the only ones at the pier booked with them and the last to be picked up. Before ascending Haleakala we stopped at a gas station with a minimart (coffee) and a restroom. We were told to load up on water because it helps with altitude sickness, so we bought bottles of water for about a buck each. Coffee was also about $1 a cup, regardless of size.

 

The drive up probably took an hour or so, I’m not sure because I was dozing on and off throughout the drive up…but it was in total darkness. We were actually the first tour to reach the location where we watched the sunrise. We watched nearby the visitor’s center. We couldn’t go to the summit because of the size of the bus (was only allowed to go to the summit after sunrise) and because the visitor’s center had restrooms. Our guide also showed us the 3 places he felt the view was most advantageous and ranked them in preference for us. Because we were the first (tour) to arrive, we had our pick of where we wanted to stand. Once you pick a spot, you have to stay there the whole time because someone will try to butt in behind you. The restrooms there had numerous stalls and were surprisingly clean. Not Nordstrom clean, but much better than I expected – it was cleaner than most fast food restaurant restrooms are.

 

And it’s COLD. I worried about this because I’ve read about how cold it is up there in all the guide books. They are right…it’s freezing up there! But you also have to understand that I live in Los Angeles, so 60 degrees is really cold for me. I had on just about everything I packed for the trip: tank, t-shirt, fleece turtleneck, tissue weight long sleeve tee, sweatshirt, and a fleece lined windbreaker from Land’s End that I had purchased for my Alaska trip. I wore jeans (with leggings on underneath) with wool socks, had a wool beanie and scarf and fleece gloves on. With all that on, I could still feel the cold. I didn’t really feel cold, but I could feel it biting through my layers of clothing. There were a couple people up there wearing flip flops, tank and shorts. They ran back to their car and huddled in there. Some brought their hotel comforters with them too.

 

You wait in the dark for about an hour before the sky begins to lighten. Our sunrise was spectacular – not so much because of the colors, but the way it unfolded. Once the sky lightened and you could see soft pink, violet and some orange, a blanket of clouds blew in and covered the sun so you could kind of see the orange ball, but not clearly. All of a sudden the sun burst through the clouds and you could see the beams of the sun bursting through the clouds. Our tour guide said that in the 900 times or so he’s seen this sunrise, he’s never seen anything like this. We were really fortunate since he told us the day before there was a storm and the people on the tour saw literally nothing. In his words, it was “one of those days you don’t want to talk about.”

 

The tour included breakfast at a restaurant inside a country club that had lovely grounds. They set up two long tables for our tour outside on the lanai and we had a couple choices to choose from. There was French toast with some kind of jam on it, pancakes, fruit plate, and a plate with bacon, eggs and hash browns. Coffee, juice, and toast were provided to the tables. The tour cost about $100/pp and we tipped $30 for the five of us. I don’t know if anyone else tipped because we were the first to be dropped off, so I have no idea if what we tipped was appropriate or not.

Monday might have been the optional formal night – I honestly can’t remember which night it was. But this cruise was much more casual than any of the prior ones I’d been on. It seemed like only 25% or so of the passengers dressed up, and that varied from nicer sundresses to cocktail dresses. Dinner was at the Liberty, which had better ambiance and service than Skyline did.

 

Tuesday, December 16

Hilo – the only thing we had planned for the day was VNP. Because we were still tired from the day before, we didn’t roll out of bed until around 10am and were too late for breakfast, so we took the Thrifty shuttle to pick up our rental. Service was much better and more convenient at Hilo than at Kahului. The shuttle driver was actually standing with a Thrifty sign and a list of those with reservations right where you disembark. He took us over to the airport where Thrifty had a little stand with the other rental agencies and we were off!

 

The drive took about 40 minutes, super easy to navigate! We actually stopped at a mall to have breakfast at the IHOP off the main road (in the Hilo Hatties shopping center – you can’t miss it)…way more expensive than it is at home! [we woke up too late for breakfast on the ship]

Anyway, we arrived at the park around 11:30 and went to the visitor’s center for a bathroom break and to get the lowdown and which areas were closed for the day due to vog. I then took my family over to Volcano House and out the back (a little harder to find than I anticipated) to get our first view of the crater. Incredible…when do you get to walk on and view a live volcano? We took the Crater Rim Drive counter clockwise: we hit the sulfur banks, steam vents, steaming bluff, and hit the Jagger Museum. The road was closed past the Jagger museum, so we doubled back and hit the Lava Tube which was just awesome! It was in the midst of this gorgeous rainforest with the chirping of the birds – it was just incredible. We then hit Devastation Trail (so sad), and Kilauea Iki crater before going down the Chain of Craters Road. We didn’t go all the way to the end because of time issues, but we went far enough where we could see the sea. This is worth spending a few days on, and when 4pm rolled around, we were all sad to leave.

 

We hit the buffet for dinner that night, and this was the first night where we could actually serve ourselves, which made the whole experience more pleasant and a whole lot faster.

 

I know tipping has been talked about to death in the forum, but I was still unsure exactly how to proceed on PoA because of the American crew. I finally pulled aside one of our waiters at Lazy J’s one morning and asked: he said that our $10/pp per day charge covered tips, but if we had good service, they also appreciate extra tip. So we made it a habit of tipping $10 for the 5 of us for breakfast and lunch in Lazy J’s or dinner in the dining rooms. We tipped $20 one breakfast when our waiter rushed out our order within 15 minutes so we could make an excursion (we had originally just intended on eating from the breakfast bar in Lazy J’s to save time, but our waiter insisted he could take care of it and did). At the buffet, we typically tipped $1/pp for clearing our table.

 

Wednesday, December 17

Kona – we booked the Body Glove snorkel through PoA because it was the same price as booking it yourself. I really wanted to do Fair Wind which went to Capt. Cook’s, but after reading about last year’s missed ports and storms, I was freaked out and decided that I didn’t want to stress out about it during vacation, so I settled for Body Glove. Now, I’ve never snorkeled before, and I’m not a strong swimmer, but I had a lot of fun. I had nothing to compare it to, but the reviews for Body Glove were all pretty decent, and the best part is we saw a whale while sailing back to port!

 

You have to tender to port in Kona, and our excursion met in the Hollywood Theatre at 7:30am. Once you arrive in port, you walk oh…10 steps? You’ve arrived at the Body Glove boat! The crew checks you in and lets you board. It has two levels, and we opted for one of the booths (has a table) downstairs instead of the benches upstairs. The crew set out a continental breakfast (purchased from Costco: bagels, fruit, danishes, donut holes, coffee and juices) and we were conveniently next to it. There were 3 restrooms on the ship, all very clean. The crew was very pleasant and patient with beginners. It took almost an hour to get to Pawaii Bay, and it was close enough you could still see the PoA anchored in the bay. On the way there we saw a lot of dolphins – we were told that they were still sleeping, so they didn’t spin yet, but you could see them kind of bobbing in the water. There was a scuba instructor on the ship and an optional upgrade to scuba diving was available.

 

Once you arrive at Pawaii Bay, one of the guys has everyone go down to the bottom floor where he lectures you on procedure, safety, and protecting the reef and ourselves. After they show you a video you’re free to dive into the water. If you’re never snorkeled before, one of the staff members gives a 10 minute beginner’s instruction upstairs and shows you how to use the snorkel equipment. They have a bunch of noodles on the boat, just about everyone used one to help them float around while looking at the fish. I personally didn’t like the flippers, I felt like it hindered me since I kick my legs weird when swimming. I was fine with just the noodle floating around. The boat also had a slide and an open space on the 2nd deck you could jump into the water from. Lunch was deli style sandwiches you built yourself and some fruit and chips. I saw a lot of little fish, and some bigger ones, but I was too timid to get far from the ship or really dive down to look deeper. There was a shelf that was about 15 ft deep, and then a sudden drop where the ocean floor was 65ft below. I was kind of freaked out, so I stayed close to the boat (as did the rest of my family).

 

You get about 2 hours in the water. I probably spent a little more than an hour and then went upstairs to (attempt to) tan. On the way back to Kona someone screamed “whale!” and the captain stopped the boat. We just floated there for about 10 minutes when the whale came UP to our boat. It was about 10 -15 feet away from out boat – we saw his (her?) entire body right under the water, and then it came up for air and splashed its tail. It was so awesome – the total highlight of the trip. Especially since it was so early in the season and it wasn’t a whale watching trip.

 

The town of Kona is adorable! The piers around Hilo and Kahului weren’t anything to write home about, but being anchored off Kona bay – beautiful scenery. The pier for Body Glove is right in the town – and you can walk around to find cute little shops. We went to a tiny (and I mean tiny) café in the Kona Square Marketplace (just across the pier) to check email and got 2 shaved ices with vanilla ice cream – SOOOO good. We also went to Country Samurai Coffee Company in the same shopping center to buy coffee – one of the guys who worked on the Body Glove boat recommended them.

 

Because we were too cheap to pay for the specialty restaurants on board we went to Hayashi’s Sushi Takeout that was recommended in Big Island Revealed. The food was fabulous, cheap and fresh – except it was so hard to find. There are a couple of plastic tables outside, and the food took about 20-30 minutes to make. The building itself is really tiny, it can only fit 3-4 people (cramped) inside at a time but you can actually watch them make your food. There weren’t any hot dishes (like noodles), but plenty of rolls and sashimi. We bought a bunch of food and took it back onto the ship to eat.

 

Thursday, December 18

Ziplining! We signed up with Kauai Backcountry Adventures - but we had breakfast at Lazy J’s first before we got a ride from a taxi. There’s a gated area once you exit the ship where tour groups are rounded up, tourists picked up by tour companies, and taxis waiting for customers. The ride to Kauai Backcountry was about 15 minutes – once you’re there, you have to fill out release of liability forms and are then weighed. Once you’re weighed you are fitted with your gear. Our tour group had about 11 people, the five in our group and 3 other couples. The course has 7 lines – the first line is really short, you can walk back to where you started from – this is the test to see if you’re able to make it. In our tour, the driver of the bus stayed around long enough to take anyone who chickened out back – apparently if a person chickens out, there usually isn’t anyone to take you down. You have to stay by the first line for about 1.5 hours until the next tour comes along and that bus takes you down.

 

Once your equipment is one and you’re at the first line, there’s about 10 minutes of instruction – then you’re off! It was SOO much fun – but it did take awhile because of the number of people. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be – even my 60 year old dad (who does NOT do roller coasters) had a lot of fun. I felt completely safe the whole time, and the tour guides were a lot of fun. This is definitely something I’d do again.

The lunch provided were big thick sandwiches, chips, and macadamia shortbread cookies – iced bottled water was provided to everyone. The “swimming hole” appeared to be a part of the tubing tour – but it was lightly sprinkling when we were there (and the water was brown), so no one got in.

 

Friday, December 19

After a breakfast at the buffet (we were short on time because we slept in and wanted something fast) we went to the gated area of the pier to wait for the Air Ventures shuttle. The owner, Donna, came to pick up us. She’s super bubbly and friendly, full of information about the islands and recommendations. They took us to the airport where we could use the restrooms before takeoff. Our pilot (I can’t remember his name) was fabulous too – super friendly and gave great narration throughout the flight. The flight was incredible – the views were really awesome and we took sooo any photos. I had a hard timing deciding between a helicopter ride and a plane ride – part of the consideration was money – we had five people in our party and the difference in price was nothing to sneeze at. Also, my mom was afraid of helicopters, she feels safer in planes, and after ready good reviews for AirVentures, we went with them and have no regrets. The service was great, the people were great, and the views were incredible. But you DO have to wear dark colored clothing so your photos won’t show reflections. We went through Waimea Canyon (incredible), saw Hanalei, Poipu, waterfalls, and best of all, Napali. We weren’t drooling after the ride was done, but we did have a good time and were super excited. After the ride, Billy (owner, Donna’s husband) gave us a ride back to Lihue, where he actually dropped us off at Kauai Marriott (less than 10 minute walk to the ship) so we could stroll the grounds and hang out at Kalapaki Beach – we really liked the grounds and the fact that it was ON the beach, so we’re thinking about staying there on vacation next time.

 

The Napali sail by was incredible – and the ship is turned around so the starboard side can view it as well – we’re fortunate that we faced the front, so we could see it going both ways, though it’s true that the starboard side gets a much shorter show.

 

The rest of the day was spent packing up – we went to dinner at the buffet for flexibility and went to bed early because we were just tired!

 

Saturday to Tuesday, December 20 to December 23

Time to get off the ship (sob!) – we had a fabulous breakfast one last time in Lazy J’s before we got off the ship – we probably got off around 10:30am. The waiting area when we embarked was now piled with luggage. Because we stayed in a penthouse, our luggage was in the VIP section, which was the first pile of luggage you see when you get off the ship. We had to drag all our stuff out past the security gates where a whole slew of taxis were waiting. We took one to Hyatt Regency in Waikiki where we booked a room in the Regency club level through Pleasant Holidays. The extra money for a club room is worth it: there are beverages (juice, water, and an incredible machine that dispenses coffee, cappuccino, espresso, and hot chocolate) and treats throughout the day. Their continental breakfast was really good too: smoked salmon, cheeses and meats, bagels, croissants, various pastries, and lots of fruit. They also had yogurt. There are various treats in the evening: one evening we had gyozas and then there was cubed steak the next night.

 

Our room there was REALLY big (by Hawaiian standards, not that I would know, but everything I’ve read indicates that the rooms are usually miniscule). Two full sized beds, a bathroom with tub/shower combo and toilet, and a single sink/vanity outside the bathroom with a closet by it. Hairdryer included. The room had upgraded toiletries from the spa that smelled nice – and the towels were nice, big and thick. We even had two kimono robes in the closet, and an iron and ironing board in our room, which came in handy when the dryers in the laundry room couldn’t completely dry our jeans. We booked a deluxe oceanfront room, which really meant you could see the ocean, but you may not be facing it. We were in the Diamondhead tower, and we directly faced the Ewa tower across the way, so we could see those people sitting on their balcony just like us. But to our right we could see the city, and to our left we had a great view of the ocean – we looked down on the Moana Surfrider and had a clear view of the Pink Palace. We paid $75/night for an extra twin bed to be brought into the room – we still had enough room to walk around – didn’t hinder the space at all.

 

The Hyatt is located across the street from the Waikiki Beach Center, literally across from the Duke statue (you’re looking at the statue while standing at the exit in the corner of Uliniu and Kalakaua). There were 2 ABC stores (maybe three actually), lots of expensive restaurants, some retail stores (I remember a Coach store), a coffee shop selling overpriced coffee, and some parakeets that liked to screech as you walked by. There was a (very small) pool on the 3rd floor (that was always full) with lots of beach chairs (always full) and a bar. There was also a little stand dispensing yellow beach towels guests can grab as long as you provide your room number, it’s right next to a shortcut to the beach. It was convenient being so close to the beach, every time you had to use the restroom, you run across the street to the hotel, which had plenty of large, clean public restrooms on the mall floor.

 

Getting back to the hotel itself, we got there pretty early, definitely before noon. Because check in was at 3pm and our room wasn’t ready yet, we checked our bags with the valets outside the main entrance (we tipped $1-2 per bag), got a little slip with our room number on it and took off exploring. The hotel itself was really big – the first three floors included the lobby (2nd floor), mall (1st floor) and the pool, restaurants, and work out room (3rd floor). After the third floor it’s split up into two towers. We stumbled into an ABC store (away from the hotel, by the International Marketplace entrance from Kuhio) and bought 3 bamboo beach mats for around $2 each (we left those on the hotel balcony for the use of the subsequent guests), bought some drinks for our hotel room, and had lunch in the Japanese restaurant behind the Hyatt on Koa Ave (Odoriko) by the King’s Village. King’s Village is a cute but kitschy tourist shopping center that resembles narrow British streets with a Burger king and little shops, many of which were Japanese or Korean. Odoriko was really good – with good service and great food – but it was SOOOO expensive! We spent about $150 for lunch! No alcohol, with only one sushi roll. They do have lunch specials, but it’s still really expensive. But the windows were left wide open and birds were flying in and out – it didn’t bother us at all, we still had a good meal.

 

On a Japanese kick, we had dinner in Ezogiku Noodle Café just down the street – such a steal! Tasty slurpy ramen with rich tasty broths, gyoza, and fried rice – all menu items under $10! We had dinner for five for under $70 – we were full to bursting, but still trying to slurp up the last of the broth. Mmmm…I’m hungry just thinking about it.

 

The next day (Sunday) we got up at 6:30am (!) because we wanted to go to Pearl Harbor. We caught a taxi (around $60) and arrived around 7:30 – the line wasn’t too bad, once it opened up we got a ticket on the 2nd boat out. I highly recommend paying the $5 for the self-guided tour – very informative and done well. However, I have to say that the museum for the Arizona is pretty bad – the Bowfin museum is SO much better. Considering the history and tragedy of the Arizona, she deserved better. There’s a little food kiosk that sold drinks, sandwiches, pastries and cookies – and they only take cash. The Arizona itself didn’t take very long – we were there about 20 minutes – everyone was reverent.

While the Arizona is probably the most emotional of the three attractions at PH, to me the highlight was the Missouri. We paid an extra $30/pp for the explorers’ tour – and it was worth every penny and then some. The Oahu Revealed book said that you could only see the good stuff on this tour – they’re right. Our tour guide Myrtle was full of information: we got to go INTO the big gun with the big bullets loaded into the chamber, the archaic computers and radars. We got to tour “broadway”, the longest stretch of the ship where Cuba Gooding Jr. ran through carrying coffee in Pearl Harbor. They also took us into the galleys, we saw the U.S Post Office, and into the engine room. It was one of my favorite activities in the entire trip. Hungry, we had burgers from the grill located by the Missouri on Ford Island. The island itself was really pretty – lots of pretty little track homes with small lawns and parks for the military families. Security was strict, but understandable. Right outside the gated area for the Missouri was a memorial for USS Oklahoma, also on Ford Island. Lots of people (including us), while waiting for the bus to bring us back to PH walked over (really close) to take a look and pay our respects. After the Missouri, we went and toured the Bowfin. I’m not really a military buff, but this really was one of my favorite days.

 

What the guide books say is true: you do NOT want to bring ANY bags – my mom wouldn’t listen to me and had to check her bag for $3, which was by the Bowfin. The Bowfin museum is worth a visit (a part of your ticket anyway) – we spent about 45 minutes there looking at the really well preserved and presented exhibits.

We took the bus back because we didn’t want to spend $60 on the cab ride back. $2 each, and dropped us off near the International Marketplace, under a 10 minute walk. Just walk out into the main street outside the memorial (Kamehameha hwy – do NOT cross the street) and hop on the bus that says Waikiki Beach (I can’t remember the exact number, but all the bus drivers are really friendly and helpful). We spent the remainder of the day on the beach trying to go home looking like we actually went to Hawaii for vacation.

 

Originally I had planned for us to do a circle island tour of Oahu on Monday, but we decided against it because we were so tired from all the activities we’d already done. So instead, we caught a bus to Chinatown to explore (and eat) and had dim sum at Legend Seafood (recommended in the Revealed book) next to the Sun Yat Sen statue. We got back to Waikiki around 1pm and then lay around on the beach for the next few hours. After dinner, we wandered through International Marketplace again for last minute souvenirs, and walked through the fancy hotels such as the Westin and the Sheraton that were really beach side (lots of football players from Notre Dame at the Sheraton as they were there for Hawaiian Bowl or something).

 

The next morning, we checked out around 11am for our flights back to LA at 2pm. The valet guys called for a van taxi for the five of us and we were off. We flew on AA, and once we got there, realized that they don’t use people to check in anymore, they used machines. Befuddled, there was one woman going around helping all the confused people. Once we figured out what to do, it was really easy. We grabbed lunch in the airport (overpriced nasty food), bought more mac nuts for our flight, and boarded. Arrived in LAX around 10pm, got our luggage, took a shuttle to long term parking (The Parking Spot – great location and great service) and went home.

 

This was the trip of a lifetime, there were some disappointments (like our steward), but we tried not to nitpick on the little things and to just enjoy where we were, so we had a really good time. Overall, the service was good, if sometimes slow, but since we were on vacation, we didn’t let that get to us. Chris Alpine, the comedian, was entertaining and a husband/wife team who did tributes (we saw the Beatles one) were good as well. Sorry this took so long, I’ve been writing bits and pieces since I got back (helps with the withdrawal – sob!) I’ll be lurking around the boards for a week or two to answer any questions. I have photos (that I don’t know how to post) that I’ll be happy to send anyone who’s curious.

[smrtypnts]

I printed your report and then read it while waiting in the doctor's office. I loved it. Every bit of it. I've wanted to go to Hawaii for a looong time and hopefully I'm starting to plan for summer 2011. I know that sounds patently rediculous, but if I want to do all that you did, it will take some funding, which means a period of saving time. :)

[vickntone]

Thanks Plumie for your report of your trip. We are leaving in April on the PoA. I am trying to research as many postings regarding past cruisers experiences. I sincerely appreciate all the details!

[ohioNCLcruiser]

At the buffet, we typically tipped $1/pp for clearing our table.

 

Great review. I just wanted to make a quick comment about this...

 

I spent 1.5 years working in the Aloha Cafe and we almost never saw a tip lefted on the buffet tables but when we did it MADE OUR DAY! I'm sure the crew was really glad to see that.

 

The crew that works in the buffet for dinner..the Aloha Cafe is their restaurant. The people working in breakfast and lunch work in their main dining rooms at night. The dinner crew is a great little team and really care for the restaurant so I'm sure they were really happy to get the tip.

 

James

[cjnky]

Thanks for that thought James!! We'll definitely remember that! ;)

[tenn]

When you took the cab to the zip line tour how much did it cost? Is it in the same place as the tubing tour?