POA 9/12/04 Summary

My wife and I were on the 9/12 sailing of the POA. Here is a summary of what we found.

We arrived at the pier at about 11:30. The line was already starting to form so we dropped off our luggage and got in line. About 12:30 or so they opened the doors and started funneling people through the metal detectors. At about 1:00 they opened up the lines and people started getting on the ship. We were on by about 1:30 and happy to find our stateroom 0026 clean and our baggage waiting for us.

Our cabin steward Paul was great. We asked for a foam matteress pad and it was on our bed the nexy day. We also asked for a blanket and it came promtly. Our cabin was always clean and beds turned down in a timely manner.

The shows on board the ship were great. The theater got crowded fast so it was best to arrive early.

The food and service in the Royal Palm Bistro was excellent. We also ate one night in Kahili. The service was also good but the food was good not great.

The service in the main dining rooms was not as good nor was the food. The first night we ate in one we found out our waiter only had three tables and we still had to ask for water refills repeatedly. I think the wait staff in the main dining rooms was very inexperienced. The were generally slow. The food was also just OK. We had the buffet a few nights. The staff in the buffet areas was generally good about cleaining off tables, though a little slow about doing it. The food in the buffet was also just acceptable.

They announced the first night of the cruise at the show that they would not be charging the resort fee. This was both good and bad. The big problem is they never made a general annoucement so many people did not know about it and did not tip even for good service. I am sure that this does not help in motivating the employees at all.

I will give a more detailed review later but feel free to ask questions.

Thanks HaroldA. Looks like things are slowly improving. By January 2005, all should be OK ;). I am not worried so much about the food on the ship. My biggest concern is the cleanliness in general and our room specifically. None of us is in danger of starving, so the food quality and speed of service are minor points on the scale of expectation for me.

Did you find it difficult to make specialty restaurant reservations? Did you go down to the reservations desk the day prior?

Do you recall which nights you ate in the buffet (mexican night, Hawaiian night?)? Can you tell us a little more about the type/quality of food you experienced?

Did you try room service for food and/or drinks? If so, how did that work out for you?

Did you try any shore excursions (either through the ship or on your own)?

Any particular bar/lounge that gave you consistently good service?

Thanks again!

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Did you find it difficult to make specialty restaurant reservations? Did you go down to the reservations desk the day prior?

 

Both reservations were made on the same day we went. However, the Royal Palm was on the night of the Luau, the first day in Maui. I think there were only about 850 people on the ship. We ate at Kahili the last night and made the reservations that day. We are only 2 people so it was probably easier.

 

Do you recall which nights you ate in the buffet (mexican night, Hawaiian night?)? Can you tell us a little more about the type/quality of food you experienced?

 

We ate at the buffet the first 3 nights of the cruise. I do not recall which days they were. The buffet food was really just OK. It was not horrible but it was nothing to write home about. The desserts were all great though.

 

Did you try room service for food and/or drinks? If so, how did that work out for you?

 

Never did room service.

 

Did you try any shore excursions (either through the ship or on your own)?

 

We rented a car the first day on Kuai and the first day on Maui. I would give this piece of advice. We took the first day in Maui to drive the road to Hana. While it was nice it was not worth the 7 hourse doing it. There is only limited time on each island and we wished we had done something else.

 

We did the following tours through NCL. We did the zipline the second day on Kuai. It was a blast. On the second day in Maui we did a snorkeling trip in the afternoon. It was to the Molokini crater.

 

A little side note or rant on that trip and the excursions in general. I don't see how people blame NCL when weather or conditions do not cooperate with the excursions. NCL does not control these things. One big case, we went snokeling at the crater on maui. The conditions after a short time snorkeling became bad. The waves were probably 4-5 ft and it was becoming dangerous so they called it early. There was an NCL rep on the excursion and he called back to the ship and everybody got a 30% discount on the excursion. I still heard people complaining about NCL. Also, when you leave Hilo on the way to Kona there is supposed to be lava viewing. The lava was not flowing when we went but. I again heard people complaining to NCL about it. People have to realize that somethings are out of NCLs control. They can not be blamed for everything.

 

Any particular bar/lounge that gave you consistently good service?

 

We experienced good service at all the bars. If we didn't how could NCL make money off of drinks.

 

Thanks again!

For anyone who dined in the specialty restaurants - what is the dress code. Are khaki pants and a nice shirt oK or is a suit necessary. I understand the POA has an optional formal night, so my husband was considering leaving the suit at home and opting for dress slacks and shirts. Any info appreciated. Thanks, EECO500

For anyone who dined in the specialty restaurants - what is the dress code. Are khaki pants and a nice shirt oK or is a suit necessary. I understand the POA has an optional formal night, so my husband was considering leaving the suit at home and opting for dress slacks and shirts. Any info appreciated. Thanks, EECO500

Dress slacks and a shirt are appropriate for the specialty restaurants. A suit is definitely not necessary and on formal night my husband wore dress slacks and a dress shirt. Otherwise it was khakis and a golf shirt.

Did you find it difficult to make specialty restaurant reservations? Did you go down to the reservations desk the day prior?

 

Do you recall which nights you ate in the buffet (mexican night, Hawaiian night?)? Can you tell us a little more about the type/quality of food you experienced?

 

Did you try room service for food and/or drinks? If so, how did that work out for you?

 

Did you try any shore excursions (either through the ship or on your own)?

 

Any particular bar/lounge that gave you consistently good service?

 

Thanks again!

Hope you dont mind me answering your questions. I was on the 9/5 sailing. I never ate the buffet, like I said in my review It was not fit for my dog. The food in the dining room was good, just good. The turkey parm, believe it or not was really good. The coconut and macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi was excellent. The only change three of the entrees nightly. The appetizers never change. We made specialty restaurant reservations on the phone the day before or at the reservation desk. We ate at alm Bistro twice and Kahili once, both were excellent. We had our best drink at the Plantation Club. Great cosmos and martinis. The outrigger drinks were not that good. Eat at Crossings and request TJ, he is wonderful. We did all our shore excursions thru the boat and they were very good. Waimea Canyon (excellent) - Molikini Crater Snorkel - had to go elsewhere it was too windy, no fish. Best of West MAui - incredible - dolphin excursion - no dolphins - Rainbow Falls and Volcano National Park- very nice. We did room service for breakfast when we had an early excursion and it arrived every time. I ordered lunch once for my husband and it never showed. If you are looking for a gourmet experience, I suggest you look elsewhere. If you are satisfied with good food and are looking for the experience of a lifetime go ahead. The crew is wonderful and the boat is ver nice.

Thanks so much for the info on the suit question. He will be thrilled to leave it at home! Getting so excited for our Nov. cruise, but seems like we have had it planned forever! EECO500

We will be sailing on the POA on November 14th. Is there a formal night? Do they take photos? If there is a formal night, do you remember what night it was. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

On our 8/15 sailing, formal night was Tuesday and the photographers were set up for photos. Not sure of all the locations but one photographer was set up right outside The Crossings.