POA/Hawaii Vac review

[out2pla]

I'm sure I'm leaving things out here, but I'm trying to get this posted quick for you guys...since you all helped me sooo much in my pre-vac planning. So here you go...

Our pre-cruise stay was at the Aqua Palms. Loved it. It was a simple and clean room, and I booked the promotional rate that included a free IHOP breakfast which was very convenient. The location of the aqua is good, just across the street from the Hilton Hawaiian village (Where my boys enjoyed kayaing and swimming in their lagoon), and it’s next door to the IHOP, and the café that everyone raves about (I can’t think of the name at the moment). There is an ABC store nearby and other restaurants too, including the Todai seafood buffet which we enjoyed for dinner on our first night. The pool is small but adequate, and the elevators aren’t too slow (as others have complained).

As for the POA, we loved the ship. We were very pleased with the food and service. I definitely think the food was better than our last couple of carnival cruises! J The only thing that I noticed that they were lacking is that there are no toilet seat covers in the bathrooms. I thought that was weird.

On “dress up or not” night (i love dressing up) I think i only saw less than a dozen other women in formal dresses. everyone else was very very casual and ignored the dress up night all together! SO unless you love dressing up, leave the formal stuff at home.

Oh, and YES there are brownie sundaes at the cadillac diner. I remember that being a previous topic.

The souvenier drink special glasses are different every day. The first day we got some small glass ones, shaped like a fish bowl. The next day they were tall colored plastic ones. After that, we didn’t buy them. Drinks were mostly from $4.95 to 8.95. On the last day there was a whole pineapple carved out to use as a cup, and a fruity pineapple/banana drink inside, for $12 dollars. That was the highest price. Wine bottles varied from $29 and up. There was also wine by the glass. Those are regular prices, but every day there were drink specials and happy hour specials. Add $2-3 dollars if you want a souvenier glass. Sometimes they would automatically make ur drink in a souvenier glass, so make sure to tell them you dont want one if you dont. We enjoyed the free juice, and iced tea in the restaurants with most meals.

The white hot party was lots of fun. My husband didnt have white on, so they made him wear a (sheet) toga. HAAAHAHAH. It was hilarious.

We must really be boring because every day my kids would BEG to be taken to the kids club. they were really really enjoying it. It's free from 6-10:30 and then after 10:30, it's $6 per hour, or $4 for a second sibling per hour. On the last day it opened at 2. Every day they have had really fun itineraries and activities. One night was pirate night, they also had a survivor night, a sports night, a family pizza making party, and a pajama party....fun fun fun.

I never saw any laundry offers or photo offers besides the first night you got a free frame with your purchase, and also a 10% coupon toward a future purchase. On the last day, if you bought 4 you got one free, or buy 5 get one free. I can’t remember.

We never tried any specialty restaurants. We intended to, but ended up perfectly happy with the buffet, skyline, liberty, and cadillac. We also never tried the key west bar and grill (burgers, hot dogs, and salads).... figured I can get that stuff anytime at home...

we never had a long wait in any of the restaurants.

Dessert was YUMMY every night in the seated restaurants, and there is soft serve at the aloha café til 10am also the cadillac is open til 2am with milkshakes, cheesecake, and brownie sundaes. YUMMMMM.

Overall, we thought it was a great ship. not as fancy as other ships we have been on, but it satisfied us just fine. my boys missed having a water slide, but were happy with the gyrosphere and basketball court, ping pong, game room, arcade, kids club, etc.

On a couple of days it was hard to find lounge chairs together at the pool deck. but we managed.

the entertainment is so-so. but you will be so busy doing other things, that you wont care.

We didnt try the spa, but it looked lovely. they just didnt have availability on the days and times that i wanted and i wasnt willing to give up my port time for it. The “specials” were also very pricey.

I dont know what else to say. the cabin was small, but all cruise cabins are small unless you get a suite. it was manageable, and clean. We had an unobstructed view cabin on deck 7. Even with the boat in front of our window, we were able to see out just fine. Not much was actually obstructed! Yay.

I think the freestyle thing might be great for some people and not for others. it depends what you like. we had a hard time at first remembering when certain restaurants open, when certain ones close, etc. we literally had to carry our freestyle daily around with us, and we had to look at it when we got hungry, to see what would be open.

little tip- i like having the same waiter every night, so they learn your name and you build a relationship with them. if you go to the same restaurant every night and sit in the same section, the same waiter is assigned to that section every day. it could work the other way around too...if a waiter sucks, make sure not to sit in that section the next night, so you can try someone new. ;0)

I took my own laptop with me and my sprint broadband card, which only got service while in port. I had little to no service in my cabin, but great signal strength on the upper open decks while in port. They also have a computer lounge on the ship, with computers you can use, or you can purchase their internet package if you have ur own computer. It was pretty pricey, but one day they had a special on it. I can't remember the price right now, I just remember thinking it sounded expensive. If I notice a price in my freestyle daily, I'll post it.

As far as the ports…

In Maui we ended up renting a convertible mustang (absolutely no rear leg room so i dont recommend it if you have more than two people) from budget and it was $55 which included a gps. We drove to a beach recommended by locals, kalepolepo park, which had restrooms and showers on site. It was a protected cove which was good for my little guys to swim in because it broke the big waves and it was mostly shallow. We saw one turtle there, about 3 feet long, with barnicles all over it. It swam with us for about 10 minutes and then took off. Those things are fast when they want to be!!! Next we went to the sea life aquarium. It was really nice and my boys enjoyed their time there. After the aquarium, we drove to Lahaina just to sight-see, then we considered doing the road to Hana, but changed our minds. I think the kids would have just been bored. We stopped at baskin robbins and got buy one get one free banana splits instead, and then checked out a sugar cane museum. We did more of kid-oriented stuff. i'm sure there are more entertaining things for adults. by listening to other passengers at dinner, i heard rave reviews about warren and annabelles, about the old lahaina luau, and i have heard more than one person say that they weren't that impressed with snorkeling at molokini, which made me glad i didnt go, because that was on my top 10 list originally.

we wanted to parasail on the 2nd day, but all of the parasail places are on the opposite side of the island from the ship, and we didn't want to rent a car again or pay a taxi for a 20 mile trip. oh well. we ended up staying on board and doing the basketball tournament, the lei making class (free and nice shell leis if you go!), the gyrosphere, and we enjoyed the live band and cocktails by the pool.

In Hilo I rented a jeep wrangler from Alamo. With insurance it was only $88. We pre-reserved it through hawaiidiscountcarrental.com. One tip- Alamo was the busiest stand, so you may want to choose one of the other companies. Alamo was the only stand with a long line. Every other company had only 1-2 people waiting when we arrived. We spent a lot of precious time in line.

We drove to Akaka falls, and Big Kahuna falls first. We didn't think Big Kahuna falls was worth all of the hiking and stair steps. We were pooped afterward and the view wasn't that great because of all of the vegetation overgrowth. Don’t waste your time. Akaka falls were beautiful though. Definately take the 4-mile scenic drive on your way there. It's beautiful and there are some botanical gardens you can stop to see along the way. Also, when you cross the white wooden bridge, look to your left, there is a small waterfall and cave. We almost missed it. Good thing my son spotted it, and we were able to pull over and get a good look. Then a little further down the road, we stopped at the little market and got some authentic shaved ice and some salt and pepper pistachios. Yummm.

Then off to VNP which of course was magnificant. The thurston lava tube was the highlight of our day. Definately remember your flashlights for the second (dark) cave. (The first cave is lit with lights but the second is not) I don’t think many people knew this, because not many had flashlights.

On the way back top the ship, we stopped at the rainforest zoo. very cute and FREE admission! We couldnt believe it. They could have easily charged $20pp. They do have a donation box though, which we gladly donated to.

Kona was the easiest port to "wing it." There are a ton of shuttles and tour companies and shopping places right in front of where the tenders let you off, including a wal mart and kmart shuttle. Hilo hatties shuttles are at every port. All the cool tours were sold out by 9am, but we walked across the street and bought round trip beach shuttle passes for $20 per person to "turtle beach" (kahaluu beach park) ($10 for kids I think) and did some of the best snorkeling we have done in a long time...in 2-7 ft water...PERFECT for kiddos. And it's a protected area with a rock wall to break the big waves. We saw so many tropical fish, sea anenomes, coral, and TURTLES! Definately recommend it. There's a snack shack, showers, and bathrooms on site. You can rent noodles, life jackets, snorkel gear, etc for a small fee as well, if you dont have your own. It may be cheaper for kids, I cant remember. We spent about $70 and that included the 4 shuttle round trip passes, a life jacket, snorkel gear for one, and extra fins.

After the snorkeling we did some sight seeing and shopping near the ship. The water was so clear and the day was beautiful.


I was surprised to hear a negative review about Captain Zodiak this night, since it was also one of my top 10 things to do after following this board, but when I went to book it, it was already sold out. One guy we shared an elevator with said that it wasn’t worth it. He said that the boat wasn’t as fast as they talked it up to be, and that the snorkeling wasn’t that great either. Bummer. I can’t say first hand if this is true, but it kinda made me glad we didn’t do it.

On our first day in Kauai, we did the Jungle Trek tour from Outfitters Kauai. I DEFINATELY RECOMMEND IT. It's walking distance from the ship if you do the tour that includes kayaking. Its very family oriented/family friendly, and takes an entire day. We checked in at 9:30 and didn't get back to the ship til 5pm. (That was another thing I liked....that we got to sleep in a little! Other tours left at 8am. Yikes. This was perfect after a night of drunkenness at the white hot party! And we didnt have to rent a car or hire a taxi to get us there!) On the website it said kids had to be at least 7, but we had a 5 and 6 year old on our tour...both of which did every activity with us The jungle trek included kayaking down the river, hiking thru the forest, two or three rope swing stops (optional), a zip line (also optional), lunch, a tractor ride through a farm which had wild boars, peacocks, cows, tropical birds, etc., snacks, beverages, and a swim stop at a waterfall lagoon, then more light hiking, and a motorized boat ride back. Love love LOVED it. It was a bit on the pricey side...I think $600-$650 for the 4 of us, but we still think it was worth it. There are cheaper options. There's also an ATV tour you can add in if you like.

That night was lobster night. Yummmmm. It was also my husband’s birthday. The waiter gave us 4 extra lobster tails on our plates. Score!

On our last day in Kauai, we did some sight seeing and took the free shopping bus to the beach near the Mariott (kalapaki beach). There is a shaved ice place there, lots of shops, local vendor booths, a pub with great happy hour specials, and a nice beach with a shallow run-off area for kids. There are showers on site as well as bathrooms. I definitely recommend it.

On ship, my boys did the dodgeball tournament, pizza making (with the kids club), and more gyrosphere.

The napali sail by was fabulous. I got some good photos.

On the last last day, we opted for the last debarkation time, so we could sleep in and relax and take our time getting ready. (I think the last time was 9:30 or 9:45). We loved having that option. Although, I think a lot of people were thinking the same thing because the lines to debark were horrendous when our time came! Oh well. Good thing we weren’t in a hurry.

We took Roberts to the airport ($6 pp) where we rented a car from budget. (Don’t use budget. They are one of the only companies that don’t have a free shuttle to and from the cruise port). Then we enjoyed 3 days and 2 nights on Oahu. We stayed at Turtle Bay Resort on the North shore. On the way there, we stopped at the Dole plantation, which my kids enjoyed. We did the maze and had some pineapple ice cream.

Turtle bay was a great resort, but the room was very simple. Comparable to a nice best western. We had a small lanai with a view of the pool. We also had some creepy crawly visitors on our room… some large biting ants. Yuck. Besides the room issues, we loved the pool, waterslide, the beaches, and restaurants. And just the location in general. It was fabulous. We saw many turtles, went crabbing one night (just for fun and then released them), walked along the beautiful beaches, and we considered doing the horseback riding tour but then realized they were riding along the path we had already walked, so it would be the same scenery again.

We drove to a grocery store about 5 minutes away and stocked up on drinks and snacks. (Fridge in room). We also visited Giovanni’s shrimp truck..YUM! Lei lei’s on site (at the golf course shop) has excellent service, food, and drinks as well. We did oyster shots and had calamari, coconut shrimp, and some cocktails.

We drove to Kailua bay on our last day and really enjoyed the beach park there. It is beautiful and also has a kid friendly shallow side. You can rent kayaks and beach toys there as well. There is adequate parking, showers, and restrooms on site too. The water is so clear and the beach is very white. We didn’t want to leave.

Then off to Duke’s for dinner, hula pie, and lava flows. YUMMM. Parking is a bit nuts in Waikiki/Honolulu. We ended up parking at the Royal Hawaiian non-guest garage ($2 per 20 minutes for a max of $50….we paid $12 for 2 hours) and we walked along the beach side to Duke’s on the way there, and on the street (shopping) side on the way back….right past the international marketplace.

Overall our vacation was fabulous. 12 days was not enough. I can’t wait to plan our next!

[JGaleCPA]

I so enjoyed your on board reviews.

I am leaving two weeks from today for our 08/08 cruise and can't wait.

I am printing this out and taking it with me!

Thanks so much.

Jim

[flashdog_1]

Especially appreciated the tips about the waterfall and cave at the white bridge on the 4 mile scenic drive in Hilo, and the free zoo. That was in town, wasn't it? Seems like I saw it on a map. Thanks

[SUEMARKOHOH]

Great review! I am also printing it out--leaving in 2 weeks--can't wait! Do you recommend a jeep or 4 wheel drive for Hilo and VNP? We just have a regular compact car reserved for the 2 of us.

[emste]

Originally Posted by JGaleCPA

I so enjoyed your on board reviews.

I am leaving two weeks from today for our 08/08 cruise and can't wait.

I am printing this out and taking it with me!

Thanks so much.

Jim

Visit the roll call. NOt too many of us! 2 weeks to go!

[emste]

Out2pla,
Is the Maui Ocean center worth it? I see you had 5 &6 yr olds. We have a 5 & 7 yr old. I have heard good things about it but still am not sure.

[Heads&Tails]

Out2pla thanks for your review.

emste the Maui center is definitely worth it we were there in Jan 2008 and was far more than we had expected. It als has some open areas where you can touch turtles and star fish.

[Heads&Tails]

Out2pla question, we haven't done the Akaka Falsl or the Rainforest zoo but looking at a map it looks like the drive would be quite nice going to the Falls first and then heading back to the zoo along the coast, am I correct and its looks like an hours drive or so?

[out2pla]

Glad I could help you!

We did the falls first (scenic drive on the way there) and then headed to VNP. You will pass the rain forest zoo on your way to VNP so you can either go on your way there or on your way back. We rented a jeep for VNP but honestly you can use any kind of car and be fine. They are all paved roads.

We thought the rain forest zoo was worth it. I have a 6 and 11 year old. It's a small zoo, but a good stop to break up your drive and not too far off the main road. (free admission was an added perk!) We also thought the aquarium was worth it. I guess it depends what your definition of "worth it" is. I mean, we visit the San Francisco and Monterey aquariums often, so a lot of it was stuff we had seen before a hundred times, but we still managed to have fun. Make sure you see the diver show...they do an amazing display of sting rays, sharks, and other large fish...as the divers feed them. It is a MUST SEE. Find out what time they will be doing it the day you are there, and put it on your to-do list for the day. That was our favorite part.

[shield022]

Great Review, thank you very much! Couple questions if you do not mind. We have an oceanview quad on deck 7 booked with two 9 year olds. What was the bed configuration (pulldown, sofa, etc...)? Also, I know its a REALLY small cabin but did you really spend that much time in the cabin with such a port intensive trip? Lastly, was there enough room to store luggage?

[kas37]

Out2pla, thanks for taking the time to do the review! We dont go till Feburary but I can wait!
I see you rented a car after the cruise and went to Turtle Bay, which is what my family is going to do. We WONT go budget, probably Thrifty..
do they just have shuttles at the dock? Is the rental location AT the airport or a few miles or so away from it? Didnt know if we would get caught up in the airport congestion or not....
Thanks again for all the info!!!

[beachchick]

Mahalo for the terrific review. I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise and the lovely islands. You provide some wonderful details, especially comforting for those who feared that the brownie sundae is no longer available.

I did want to mention something related to this:

Next we went to the sea life aquarium. It was really nice and my boys enjoyed their time there. After the aquarium, we drove to Lahaina just to sight-see, then we considered doing the road to Hana, but changed our minds. I think the kids would have just been bored

There is no way you could have done the RTH by the time you finished with the other activities you mentioned doing earlier in the day: The beach, the aquarium, visiting Lahaina. The RTH is 6 to 7 hours (or longer) when you start out of Kahului. Add in that you would have had to drive the 45 minutes to an hour from Lahaina just to the start of the RTH. It's very important not to drive the main part of the RTH after dark. Plus, the point of the RTH is to take your time and stop along the way. So, it's good that you didn't decide to try it, regardless of any boredom factor, because it wouldn't have been possible.

beachchick

[beachchick]

Mahalo for the terrific review. I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise and the lovely islands. You provide some wonderful details, especially comforting for those who feared that the brownie sundae is no longer available.

I did want to mention something related to this:

Next we went to the sea life aquarium. It was really nice and my boys enjoyed their time there. After the aquarium, we drove to Lahaina just to sight-see, then we considered doing the road to Hana, but changed our minds. I think the kids would have just been bored

There is no way you could have done the RTH by the time you finished with the other activities you mentioned doing earlier in the day: The beach, the aquarium, visiting Lahaina. The RTH is 6 to 7 hours (or longer) when you start out of Kahului. Add in that you would have had to drive the 45 minutes to an hour from Lahaina just to the start of the RTH. It's very important not to drive the main part of the RTH after dark. Plus, the point of the RTH is to take your time and stop along the way. So, it's good that you didn't decide to try it, regardless of any boredom factor, because it wouldn't have been possible.

beachchick

[kezza]

Thanks for a great review Out2pla. It's been great reading. I've looked forward to what you've had to say whilst cruising.

It'll be nice to get a different souvenier glass every day rather than the same plastic glass you get on P&O.

12 days to go and sooooo looking forward to it.

Kerri

[Jeanny]

I'm keeping this review handy!!

[West Maui]

Originally Posted by beachchick

Mahalo for the terrific review. I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise and the lovely islands. You provide some wonderful details, especially comforting for those who feared that the brownie sundae is no longer available.

I did want to mention something related to this:



There is no way you could have done the RTH by the time you finished with the other activities you mentioned doing earlier in the day: The beach, the aquarium, visiting Lahaina. The RTH is 6 to 7 hours (or longer) when you start out of Kahului. Add in that you would have had to drive the 45 minutes to an hour from Lahaina just to the start of the RTH. It's very important not to drive the main part of the RTH after dark. Plus, the point of the RTH is to take your time and stop along the way. So, it's good that you didn't decide to try it, regardless of any boredom factor, because it wouldn't have been possible.

beachchick

Beachchick is right! Like I said in a previous post, the Road IS the attraction--not Hana.

One other note, just so folks don't get confused about the aquarium. Our aquarium on Maui is called the Maui Ocean Center, and as noted on these Boards, gets very good reviews.

The aquarium outside Honolulu is called Sea Life Park.....and is not receiving good reviews these days. I've not been there myself in many years, but it seems they are having "challenges" from local reports.