Aloha! Pride of America with Pictures July 25

[mianmike]

Great review . . . appreciate the pictures too! Look forward to the next installment.

[Jeanny]

wicked cool review... thanks for the pictures too. :D

[downsized]

First two pictures are from our hotel, the entertainment for breakfast and our hotel from the beach. Next, is Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. Then, the lines to the Check in Desk, and finally, the Pride of America!:D

 

Thank you!

We too booked the Aston...having never been to HNL before, we were (frankly) overwhelmed with the Hotel posibilities, and just picked one.

In watching, we've not seen many posts either pro or con about the Aston, so your post made my day!

Actually, I was beginning to have a bit of concern. It looks great, though.

 

2 more weeks!

[smduja]

Are the cooler breakfasts only available at the hotel you were at?

[I.M.swimming]

From what I could tell, yes. If you ask me, it is a great idea to pick up your food, and then eat it out on the beach. I know a lot of hotels have "beach front buffets", which we did at the Hilton Hawaiian Village later in the trip, but you really cannot beat the flexibility of the cooler. BTW I would re-book in a heartbeat the Aston Waikiki Beach and liked the location and amenities it offered. Glad that made your day!

[downsized]

From what I could tell, yes. If you ask me, it is a great idea to pick up your food, and then eat it out on the beach. I know a lot of hotels have "beach front buffets", which we did at the Hilton Hawaiian Village later in the trip, but you really cannot beat the flexibility of the cooler. BTW I would re-book in a heartbeat the Aston Waikiki Beach and liked the location and amenities it offered. Glad that made your day!

 

After 40 years together, (and having more than our share of "balogna sandwiches" on picnics,) my bride and decided that the "Breakfast on the Beach" (BOB) sounded grand!

 

We're looking forward to it!

[I.M.swimming]

After 40 years together, (and having more than our share of "balogna sandwiches" on picnics,) my bride and decided that the "Breakfast on the Beach" (BOB) sounded grand!

 

We're looking forward to it!

 

Congrats on 40! We celebrated or 20th on this trip. Maui day one almost done.

[downsized]

I'm listening to "Island 98.5" right now on IheartRadio!

After 10 years without a vacation, I am most certainly ready for this one!

[I.M.swimming]

We docked at around 8:00 in Maui. We decided to try the Cadillac Diner this morning. Everything was very good, especially the egg, bacon, and cheese croissants as well as the blue lagoon or blue plate special. Our only complaint here was that the service was slow, it was good service, just slow. This seems to be the recurring theme at every restaurant, but don’t let it bother you since most everything else was incredible.

Next we headed off to pick up our Jeep rental. Now a little background before we discuss the Jeep. We rented all of our rental cars from Thrifty, as posted earlier, except in Maui. There we decided to go local and rent from an island Jeep rental. Let me describe what happened. First the driver that was going to transport us to the lot was 15 minutes late, but we were okay with that. He picked us up in an old Jeep Cherokee, which was fine too, thinking that it was just his car. Then we got to the “property” or should I say… junk yard; there were parts and bodies of broken down Jeeps in piles all over waiting to be rebuilt. We asked playfully if these were all the jeeps that didn’t make it to Hana?!? He replied that they purchase these scraps to rebuild and repair there jeep fleet! Our jeep was obviously one of the rebuilds and is described as follows…The seat belts would buckle, just not un-buckle. The radio worked, but wouldn’t turn off unless you took off the whole radio panel on the dashboard. The door opened, but had no safety strap on the hinge so it would swing 180 degrees to hit the front of the jeep. There was a trunk, but it didn’t lock. The seat belts left black stripes on your clothing. The price was no different from our Hilo jeep rental so “rent a heep,” as we affectionately dubbed, wasn’t cheap either…we now have more hilarious stories to tell! Now we know of something other than leis made in Hawaii!

Moving on, we headed to Hana. WARNING: Going to Hana is not about the destination. It is about the ride getting there. This we knew, but I was stubborn enough to ignore my wife and drove basically most of the way without making too many stops. Were we did stop, it was great. Another warning: Bring A LOT of food and water because there is nothing once you hit the Hana Highway except smoothie stands and banana bread. Speaking of Smoothies, we had the best smoothies of our life at this little shack a few minutes past the Halfway to Hana sign. I cannot remember the name, but when you are driving, you’ll see a sign saying Big Grilled Sandwich. Their fruit smoothies are made from fresh fruit picked locally, and then frozen the night before. Awesome. Also, make sure you check out Waianapanapa state park. They have a black sand beach, which to me was a black pebble beach, sea caves, blowhole, and a lava tube. Cool. At this point we were starving so we went to find a restaurant in Hana. We found this restaurant which was part of the Hana ranch and advertise that it was the best stop in Hana. Well, it is really the only stop in Hana, so I guess they can have that big claim to fame. There food was good, but I wouldn’t put this place on your bucket list. Before we departed from the road to Hana, we checked out Hamoa Bay. Very pretty, but time to head back to the ship. My tip for the road to Hana, either start incredibly early and make every stop along the way, or if you start a little later, drive all the way to the Seven Sacred Pools, and then head back and make all the stops. (Parking was more readily available on the return trip). We did not make it to the Sacred Pools, but it is definitely a stop for the next time on the Road to Hana.

Next, we headed back to the ship and dined in the Liberty Dining room, which was very good, but to me, felt basically the same as the Skyline, and we liked the décor of the Skyline better. Tonight was the Polynesian show, but we were too tired to do much so we just headed off to bed. Anyway we had to get up early the next morning for our snorkeling excursion at Molokini crater!

[I.M.swimming]

First is the Pride of America docked in Maui. Next is our rental car location and office. The last three are of the road to Hana and of my son being Tarzan

[I.M.swimming]

Our favorite smoothie place, the black sand beach at Waianapanapa State Park, the other side of Waianapanapa State Park, and on of the 52 narrow bridges.

[maroons]

I gotta agree that whoever writes the negative reviews of POA are just too picky. We sailed the 25th, also, and it was an absolutely fabulous vacation. No complaints. Anything that we weren't crazy about on the ship - like the evening entertainment - we just laughed off and found our own fun. There is always something else to do. The good was great. Aloha was wonderful for breakfast and lunch, and we did Skyline every night. Every night they had a different menu We ate what would easily cost $40/person every night at a restaurant back home. Appetizer, main course, dessert. You could order more than one of anything - so sometimes we orders two appetizers (soup and salad, for example) - and my son occassionally ordered two entrees. They encouraged this - waiter would say, "he's a growing boy, would you like to order another entree?" Room was more than adequate and cleaned well every day.

[mianmike]

Thanks for the Road to Hana tip. It makes sense to bypass the stops while in route to Hana and catch them on the return . . . zig when everyone else zags. Your "Rent a Heep" Jeep sounds like an adventure in of itself,:eek: but at least it made the trip in one piece :).

 

Question, do you think a Jeep enhanced the trip or was needed? Would a convertible do just as well?

[I.M.swimming]

Thanks for the Road to Hana tip. It makes sense to bypass the stops while in route to Hana and catch them on the return . . . zig when everyone else zags. Your "Rent a Heep" Jeep sounds like an adventure in of itself,:eek: but at least it made the trip in one piece :).

 

Question, do you think a Jeep enhanced the trip or was needed? Would a convertible do just as well?

 

You know, we had a 2 door jeep, and with four people, I wouldn't do it again. Now if I had a four door jeep, it would be a different story. I think a convertible would do just fine, just make sure you know how to work the top, since it rains off and on quite a few times a day. But an open air car is def. very fun in itself, and adding Hana makes it even better

[Nelie]

looking forward to hearing more. How did the snorkelling go, were there any children doing it. I am going with 9 yr old and we wanna try snorkelling but not su7re how he will go

[nickypuppy]

First is the Pride of America docked in Maui. Next is our rental car location and office. The last three are of the road to Hana and of my son being Tarzan

hello,

we are going next year with a 11yr old so reading all your reviews with interest. Keep all the tips coming as well, much appreciated.

[Londen'sMiMi]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review...we're going June 2010. Loved the heep, I mean Jeep story! Looking forward to your next installment. Would you know why I can't see your pics? I can view pics on another forum, so I don't think it has anything to do with my settings...

[I.M.swimming]

looking forward to hearing more. How did the snorkelling go, were there any children doing it. I am going with 9 yr old and we wanna try snorkelling but not su7re how he will go

 

She should do fine. If you could, try to first start at Hanauma Bay. The reason for this is that it is very shallow here and there is great viewing of fish here. My youngest snorkled at St. John and St. Marteen when she was 8 and she did fine. It is first a little intimitating I think for the little ones to swim so close with the fish, but if they will just get in, you should do fine. And there were plenty of children doing it, plus there are lifeguards on duty at most of the beaches.