POA review 8/8

[emste]

OK, here it goes.

Our group: 7 of us, myself, husband, mother and father in law, kids ages 7, 5 & 16.

We flew in Friday and stayed at Hilton Hawaiian Village. Loved it. Since we were on eastern time we were up early Saturday and hiked Diamond Head. In laws didn't go but the kids did. I think it was worth the hike. But I would not want to go later in the day. Too hot.

Embarkation day: We got the the boat about noon. We are lattitudes memebers so no line for us. Even the regular line was not bad. Took about 20-30 minutes and we were boarding. We could not get to our room so went to the buffet. You can check your carry on bags at the theater so you don't have to lug them around. Our room was ready about 3 pm.

Our room: We had an aft balcony on deck 8. The rooms are small but you don't spend much time in them. The balcony was great. We had a corner and the one next to it. We have decided that the aft is not for us. The balcony was great as was the view, but there was alot of vibration and movement. This, of course, is just our opinion. Our room steward was fine. Our room was cleaned daily and towards the end of the week he just started giving us handfuls of mints (which my children appreciated greatly).

Food: It was ok. Not good, not bad. We ate the the Skyline the first night. Great, quick service. We went for breakfast one morning and back for dinner one night, and were there for close to 2 hours. We ate once at Lazy J's. Good food. Mostly the buffet. Selection was ok. Taste was ok. Seating was hard if you went during busy time. They were pretty good at cleaning off the tables.

Activities: The younger kids went to kids club a few nights. They enjoyed it. I think their favorite was cookies with the captain. After that everytime they saw someone dressed in a white uniform they argured if it was the captain, and why he was working in the buffet. We saw the magic show which was pretty good. That was about it for our onboard activities.

Maui Day 1: We rented a car and drove around the first morning. We went back to the boat and had lunch and a swim before we headed out to Haleakala. We headed up the mountain about 4 pm. We were a little nervous since the top of the mountain was covered in clouds. What a great place. The valley is quite a sight. I just wish the visitor center had stayed open. My kids like to do the junior ranger programs at the national parks but could not since it was closed. The sky partially cleared for the sunset. It was nice to have some clouds too because they looked like snow. It was not crowded at all and the drive down was not bad. The buffet was closed when we returned so we ate at the cadillac diner. They seemed a bit overwhelmed by the crowds of people. The buffet should stay open later.

 

To be continued...

[Nelie]

Cant wait to read more.

 

Im travelling with a 9 yr old boy(friends son) so am intersted on how they went with activities and things like that

 

Was it cool/cold when u hiked Haleakala ie did you wear shorts and t shirt or pants

[emste]

I will write more today. We did an ATV ride in Kauai that they loved. We did Dolphin Quest in Kona, Shark Diver on Oahu. They loved the quad tour. We did that through Kipu Ranch Adventures. We were supposed to snorkel in Maui but was cancelled due to Hurricane Felicia. And, yes it was COLD at Haleakala. My MIL wore pants and a tank top thinking she would be fine and was freezing by the time we left. It was nice when we first got up there, but about an hour before the sun went down the temp dropped. I owre shorts and a t shirt there then put on pants, a sweatshirt and socks. My son and husband had shorts and sweatshirt and were fine.

[emste]

Continued...

Maui Day 2: We were supposed to go snorkeling at Lanai with Pacific Whale but was cancelled due to Hurricane Felicia. Big dissappointment. We instead went to the Maui Ocean Center. Kids loved it. They have a diver go into the shark tank and answer questions from in there. It was good. We had a rough night sailing due to the hurricane.

Hilo: We rented a car again and drove to the black sand beach. We walked over to the restroom area and there was a tide pool behind it which had 3 sea turtles. Neat to see. I thought it was worth the extra drive. We then made our way back to VNP. We spent the rest of the day driving around here. We also did the lava tube. The lava sail by that night was awesome. We sat out on our balcony just looking at it even as we were sailing away. We could see it for a while after. We also were lucky enought to see a shooting star while out there!

Kona: We rented a car from King Kam hotel and drove up to Dolphin Quest. We have swam with the dolphins twice before elsewhere and this was the best by far. Very educational. Kids enjoyed this also. Waited in an extremely long line to tender back to the boat.

Kauai Day 1: We went on a ATV tour with Kipu Ranch Adventures. We rented a Rhino for my husband and two young kids. THe older one drove his own quad. It had rained that morning so it was like mudbugs since there were alot of mud puddles. They took us up to the top of the ranch. Another A+ with the kids. They loved getting dirty. We also got to swing on the rope swing from Indiana Jones. They also filmed several other movies at the ranch (Jurassic Park, 6 Days 7 Nights and a few more I can't remember).

Kauai Day 2: We went deep sea fishing. My poor husband was seasick the entire 4 hours of the trip. There were 6 of us on the boat and we caught 4 tuna. We were given some to take with us. (We kept it in the fridge on the boat until the next day when we cooked it at our house rental.) This was ok. I would probably not do this again.

Disembarkation: We chose 9:15 tags. We decided that this was the easiest we have gotten off any ship (this was our 4th cruise). We rented a car from Alamo. (Dollar on all other islands). We would not rent from them again. Car was small (even for a caravan) and after driving if for 2 days it was out of washer fluid and said the oil needed to be checked. You would think they would do those little things before renting it out. But not the end of the world. We drove to our house in Hau'ula. It was a great house. We found it on VRBO. It was perfect, right on the beach. We were about 30 minutes from Haleiwa. We 5 minutes to the PCC. Close also to the shrimp trucks, Sunset Beach, Waimea Bay, Shark's Cove and turtle beach. We snorkeled at Sharks Cove, crowded but good for the kids. We did the shark dive through Hawaii Shark Encounters. Awesome. My daugher would not come but my 5 yr old son did. He didn't enjoy too much since he was seasick (first time ever). I think a little nervous too.:rolleyes: Worth every penny. We also explored PCC and went to the luau there and the show after. We also enjoyed this. I would have liked to spend more time there as we did not see everything. The show was very good. Our last two days we could not swim at our beach as there was a high surf advisory. There were also alot of Man O War, which my 5 yr old got stung by. This was due to Hurrican Gillermo. (Yes, 2 hurricanes went by the 2 weeks we were there). We spent our last night at Aston Waikiki Circle hotel. A very simple but nice hotel. Right in the middle of everything. Only complaint was that we had to park our rental car about 4 blocks away because they did not have enough parking.

All in all, it was a great trip. I definetly want to go back as there were many things that we wanted to see but just did not have enough time. I hope my review has info that can be used as I find other CC posts to be helpful in planning my vacations. Let me know if anyone has any specific questions and I will be happy to answer them.

[DoMoreCruisin]

Thanks for the tip about checking your carry-on bags at the theatre while waiting for the cabin to be ready. I was wondering what everyone did with their carry-ons while enjoying the lunch buffet. Did you have to retrieve your carry-ons or does NCL deliver them to the room along with the other luggage? Were you comfortable leaving your carry-on bags & valuables (i.e. - jewelry, cameras, etc)?

[emste]

Well we lugged ours to lunch THEN found out we could drop them. I think I took my camera with me but left what was in my backpack. I was ok with leaving it there. There really weren't any valuables in our packs!:D You may want to take your wallet or anything else with you that you don't want to leave behind. We had to go back and pick them up, they did not deliver them to our room.

[mianmike]

Kauai Day 2: We went deep sea fishing. My poor husband was seasick the entire 4 hours of the trip. There were 6 of us on the boat and we caught 4 tuna. We were given some to take with us. (We kept it in the fridge on the boat until the next day when we cooked it at our house rental.) This was ok. I would probably not do this again.

 

We (Myself, wife and two boys 16 and 12) are thinking of deep sea fishing next summer . . . although we are leaning to going in Kona. But just in case we choose Kauai, would you mind sharing which fishing tour you took? I'm also curious why you wouldn't want to go again. Was it the company or was the fishing experience itself the issue? Thanks!

[Carey and Kerry]

Great review - thanks so much! I do have a couple questions about the cabin as we will be in that same category next April. How big is the bathroom? Does the shower have a door or is it a curtain? There will be 3 in the cabin, will that be crowded for storage space? Do you have any pictures of it?

 

I think that's all I can think of right now!

[smrtypnts]

Great review! Thanks for taking the time. i too have the corner aft cabin. I would appreciate any pics of both the cabin and the balcony, as well as any info you may want to share. I like to hear about the cabin set up. I've heard it's a bedroom with a door and another bedroom with a pull out single bed couch with pocket doors and in the "living room" another pull out double or queen bed couch. Is this accurate?

[emste]

We (Myself, wife and two boys 16 and 12) are thinking of deep sea fishing next summer . . . although we are leaning to going in Kona. But just in case we choose Kauai, would you mind sharing which fishing tour you took? I'm also curious why you wouldn't want to go again. Was it the company or was the fishing experience itself the issue? Thanks!

 

We went with NaPali Explorer. I heard Kona is much better for fishing. The water is ROUGH. And they day we were out they said that was clam compared what they are used to. The guys running the boat were great. We caught 4 small tuna. There was nothing wrong with the company, I went because my husband wanted to go. Just be sure of you go to take medication. My husband has been out fishing quite a bit and was sick almost the whole fishing trip.

[emste]

Great review - thanks so much! I do have a couple questions about the cabin as we will be in that same category next April. How big is the bathroom? Does the shower have a door or is it a curtain? There will be 3 in the cabin, will that be crowded for storage space? Do you have any pictures of it?

 

I think that's all I can think of right now!

 

Believe it or not, I don't think I took pictures of the room. It never really crossed my mind. I will look through them again to be sure. The bathroom is small. The shower is a stall and it has a curtain. 3 adults? It will be a bit crowded but you spend so little time in the room it is not really an issue.

[emste]

Great review! Thanks for taking the time. i too have the corner aft cabin. I would appreciate any pics of both the cabin and the balcony, as well as any info you may want to share. I like to hear about the cabin set up. I've heard it's a bedroom with a door and another bedroom with a pull out single bed couch with pocket doors and in the "living room" another pull out double or queen bed couch. Is this accurate?

 

The corner aft was very nice. There were 5 of us in that room. YOu walk in the door and the batroom is on the right and a bedroom with queen (?) bed across from the bathroom. The bedroom has a closet, some drawers, a desk and tv. Then there is a pullout couch in the "living room" area (queen bed, I think) where there is another tv, the fridge, some shelves and the sliding door to the deck. Then to the left is another room with a tv, closet, full bed (9) and a night stand with a "sliding" door. It also has a window looking out to the deck. The first bedroom has no window, we propped the door open with our shoes. The balcony is the best part. It had two lounge chairs and 3 regular chairs and a table. It wraps around the side of the boat. Very spacious. Hope this helps.

[smrtypnts]

The corner aft was very nice. There were 5 of us in that room. YOu walk in the door and the batroom is on the right and a bedroom with queen (?) bed across from the bathroom. The bedroom has a closet, some drawers, a desk and tv. Then there is a pullout couch in the "living room" area (queen bed, I think) where there is another tv, the fridge, some shelves and the sliding door to the deck. Then to the left is another room with a tv, closet, full bed (9) and a night stand with a "sliding" door. It also has a window looking out to the deck. The first bedroom has no window, we propped the door open with our shoes. The balcony is the best part. It had two lounge chairs and 3 regular chairs and a table. It wraps around the side of the boat. Very spacious. Hope this helps.

I highlighted one item in red. What does that mean? I'm sorry if I'm being dense. And ....it did help. Thank you!

[emste]

oops, that was supposed to be a question mark. What I was saying was this I think it is a full bed.:)

[Louise45]

Thanks for the tip about checking your carry-on bags at the theatre while waiting for the cabin to be ready. I was wondering what everyone did with their carry-ons while enjoying the lunch buffet. Did you have to retrieve your carry-ons or does NCL deliver them to the room along with the other luggage? Were you comfortable leaving your carry-on bags & valuables (i.e. - jewelry, cameras, etc)?

 

No, they don't deliver your carry-ons to your room. When they call your floor, that's it's ready you go back to the theatre to retrieve your carry-ons. We found it very conveinent.

[smrtypnts]

oops, that was supposed to be a question mark. What I was saying was this I think it is a full bed.:)

I'm sorry! Thank you for clarifying that. I didn't mean to be dense or anything. :)

[flashdog_1]

Thanks for the review. It is always interesting to hear about the choices a family makes.

[JGaleCPA]

Definitely would do Kona for fishing.

 

I was behind family getting back on ship (On same 8/8 trip) and they had done deep sea fishing and caught two 150 lb marlin.

 

Definitely would start there.

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for the review.

[minimom5]

Hi!

Just a quick ? about your corner AFT room. We just got back from the 8/08 sailing of POA and would love to go back and take our kids next time.

Can you tell me which deck your room was on and also if you were satisfied with the housekeeping service? ( sounds like a silly question but we had some minor "issues"). Is this a room that you would have to book well in advance to be able to reserve it? It sounds like it would work for us so that we would not have to get multiple rooms to fit everyone! Thanks!!

[smrtypnts]

Hi!

Just a quick ? about your corner AFT room. We just got back from the 8/08 sailing of POA and would love to go back and take our kids next time.

Can you tell me which deck your room was on and also if you were satisfied with the housekeeping service? ( sounds like a silly question but we had some minor "issues"). Is this a room that you would have to book well in advance to be able to reserve it? It sounds like it would work for us so that we would not have to get multiple rooms to fit everyone! Thanks!!

I can't answer most of your questions because I haven't gone yet, however I can tell you that we booked this past February for a cruise in July 2011 and (I suspect) because there are so few of this cabin, the prices never go down. The price for this cabin in February is $1500 more now than it was when I booked it. I know one reason is because children/extra passengers are $349 each now, whereas I got a $99 each extra person sale. So that accounts for $500. We are going with extended family and while I've gotten price reductions for the other balcony cabins, I have not gotten any reductions since booking on the corner aft cabin. I have cabin 9698.

[emste]

Hi!

Just a quick ? about your corner AFT room. We just got back from the 8/08 sailing of POA and would love to go back and take our kids next time.

Can you tell me which deck your room was on and also if you were satisfied with the housekeeping service? ( sounds like a silly question but we had some minor "issues"). Is this a room that you would have to book well in advance to be able to reserve it? It sounds like it would work for us so that we would not have to get multiple rooms to fit everyone! Thanks!!

 

We were on deck 8. Our housekeeping was fine. Beds were made everyday. We book everything early. I think we booked in Dec or Jan. There were 5 of us in the room with my in laws in the room next door. Worked out good for us. So you were on the same sailing as we were? Not sure the age of your kids but ours are 7, 5 & 16 and they really enjoyed it.

[minimom5]

HI!

Thanks for the info! We were also on deck 8, probably passed you in the hallway or at the elevator at some point! Actually we were one of the couples that were picked to be on the newlywed game ( which was later broadcast non-stop throughout the remainder of the cruise on tv, much to our embarrasment). Glad our kids weren't there for that but we know they would LOVE the cruise and Hawaii! We have a wide range of ages, age 24(married), 22,19,7 & 5. The thought with the cabin would be to put everyone in the corner aft room and the oldest/married one in another room. I'm not sure how only one bathroom would work for 6 people though.

[emste]

Funny you were also on deck 8. We did not watch much tv so we didn't catch it! Like I said, we were 5 to our room and my in laws had the room connected to ours. It was nice because we could share our larger balcony with them. It is small, but since you have been on the ship you know what to expect. But for the amount of time you spend on the boat it really isn't too bad. We were lucky to have my in laws connected so if there was a holdup in the bathroom there was one right next door!:)

[minimom5]

Thanks so much for the info! I'm feeling pretty hopeful that this will be do-able for us! One more question; was your in-laws room actually connected inside the cabin or was it just next door? Did the balconies connect? I looked on the deck plan and couldn't figure out where your room would have been. Can you tell me what your room number was? I'd like to file away the info for when we actually book. Hoping for next year !