Hawaii on the POA: May 11-18

This is really LONG and I apoligize in advance.

Let me start by giving my stats: DH and I are in our mid 50s and have been married for over 30 years. We are Platinum with NCL so you know we love the line and freestyle cruising. We are active, and DH is in good shape. I am active but with some minor health issues that unfortunately cropped up on this cruise.

Upgrade Fairies: A few days before leaving for Hawaii our TA called and said we had been upgraded from an inside to a balcony at no charge. Our rental cars were also upgraded for several days - along with our hotel room in Waikiki. Too bad the airlines did not follow suit. But it still felt like we hit the lotteryJ

We got up at 4 am EST to make a 7:30 flight from Atlanta to Phoenix, then after a quick lunch sitting at the gate, we flew from Phoenix to Honolulu arriving in Honolulu at 2:30 pm the same day – yikes! And to add insult to injury I was so excited the night before we left that I did not sleep at all – so I arrived basically on fumes and telling myself over and over “you will be fine, you will be fine…. Just walk it off.” Here is where my “minor” health issues became an irritation: I had forgotten that long flights can make my ankles swell, so I did not wear any support socks. First medical check: even if you don’t have problems normally with swelling ankles when you fly, you may have them on this flight. Flying from Atlanta to Europe many times I always remember to wear support hose. But the planes are larger and give you some room to stretch and walk around. Not on our flights to Hawaii. After a good night sleep, my ankles returned to normal, but on the flight home I took more care and no swelling. Wear good hose or sock support if you are flying more than 5 or 6 hours and try to walk around as much as possible.

We got a taxi at the airport to take us to our hotel, the Outrigger Reef on the Beach. The fare was around $25-$30 so unless you have a group, or plan to rent a car, a taxi is just fine to get you to Waikiki. Our thinking on staying in Waikiki was the convenience – we only had around 2 days (an afternoon, one full day, and morning of the cruise) so staying at one of the resorts on the North Shore was not practical.

The Outrigger Reef on the Beach was a great find – Tripadviser does not lie, it really is a comfortable, friendly and beautifully appointed beach hotel right in the heart of the Waikiki shopping and sites. Tip: I was able to book using a 50+ “senior” rate. Finally, some of the goodies for us younger seniorsJ Check in was a breeze and our room was ready. For that rate we were supposed to have a city view, but we actually got a pool view. The benefits of a pool view? The band plays near the pool and if you open your balcony door in the evening you can hear them playing wonderful island music and feel the tropical breeze on your balcony– this hotel really was great.

After confirming at check in that our Hertz rental car for the next day was right on property, we showered, changed and went to find Dukes for dinner. Eating out in Waikiki is expensive and Dukes seemed reasonable by comparison. The Mai Tai was delicious, the food was good, the service excellent and the view of the ocean very pleasing from our patio table. Tip: We found we greatly under estimated the cost of meals on shore so you may want to double your food budget.

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Pre-cruise – Oahu: For our full day in Oahu we picked up our rental right onsite at our hotel. Tip: If you stay at the Outrigger Reef and return the car after 3pm, you can leave it at the Outrigger Waikiki location just a few blocks away – they are open till 9pm. With printed directions to Diamond Head and Hanauma Bay provided by the hotel we set off first for Diamond Head – you go past Diamond Head to get to Hanauma Bay.

Diamond Head: I was a little hesitant about climbing Diamond Head due to a really bad muscle spasm in my glute radiating down into my quad (I know, too much info, but another one of those minor health issues). I really, really wanted to climb Diamond Head, but I was afraid it would be too much. So I left it to fate: if there were no spaces for parking up top at the start then I would see that as a sign not to climb it. Sure enough there were several spots available. Grabbing hats, water, and sun screen we began the climb. Not too bad at first, and it was stretching out those tight muscles. This is not a really strenuous climb, but it will get your heart racing and you will sweat. And there are some steep stairs near the end, but without my muscle spasm it would have been a fairly easy climb.

Cute story: At our first break I took a few photos and we sat next to a lovely young couple from Colorado. Recent college grads, they were thrilled to be in Hawaii. Our young friends took off and we slowly followed. The young man we had met was very relieved to see us – he was proposing to his young lady at the top of Diamond Head and wanted us to snap the whole thing on his iPhone. A place was chosen, I got ready with the camera, and as soon as she rejoined him, he went down on one knee with the ring and the proposal was accepted. I thought she seemed very calm, but DH who was standing closer said that she was shaking like a leaf. It was very sweet and I am misty again just thinking about it. I was so glad that I climbed Diamond Head – I would have missed one of the sweetest moments ever. Returning to the parking lot we purchased celebratory smoothies and after telling the cashier about the romantic proposal, he gave DH and I wet, cold wipes to go with our smoothies – he is also a romanticJ

We headed next to Hanauma Bay. Our luck ran out here - there were signs posted that all spots were taken. Drat! Tip: You really do have to get here early or as we found out, later, in the day to get a parking spot. This truly is a beautiful place to swim and snorkel. The waters are much calmer than some of the regular beaches you pass and they have wonderful facilities to rent snorkel equipment, etc. There is even a tram to take you up and down from the parking lot. Unfortunately for us, the traffic getting across the island and an afternoon rain shower made this a very short stop – less than an hour. But I am glad we saw it. Oh, and there was a beautiful rainbow right over the bay – if you get rain in Hawaii you are rewarded with rainbows, we saw several during our stay. And really strange, we saw what we thought were ferrets (but turned out to be mongoose) foraging in the trash cans. They were kind of cute, but we stayed our distance since I think they can be fierce fighters.

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The Beaches: Caution signs were posted almost everywhere on the beaches traveling to the North Shore. Stopping at one posted site I did not plan to go too far out from shore. I got a huge surprise when the first wave came in and took me down – and the water was only up to my knees! Before I could rise, I was slammed down again. Do not be fooled, even in May the water around the islands is powerful. My bathing suit full of sand, we left to continue our site seeing. After that I was leery of most of the beaches. DH did some snorkeling and saw some fish. He never did see any turtles.

The North Shore: Reaching the North shore and Haleiwa, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch and a shaved ice from Matsumoto’s. It was the best shaved ice we had the whole trip, and I sampled many other places. We saw many lovely little towns along our drive and did make a stop at the Dole Plantation. As expected, this was mostly a tourist trap with lovely wrapped and overly priced pineapple delights. I decided to buy somewhere else. We also stopped at Wahiawa Botanical Gardens, and this would normally have been something I would have loved to do, but with my spasm was now in the red zone, so we decided to return to Hanauma Bay.

Exhausted we got a pizza to go, ate in our room, and turned in early.

Embarkation Day: We had a nice breakfast buffet in the hotel (using a 2 for 1 coupon) and got to the cruise port at around 11am. I have to say this was a really weird boarding for us: instead of coming out to the cab to take our luggage when we arrived, we had to take our luggage inside the terminal and drop it off inside to be scanned. Then they had us stand in line waiting for them to open up check-in. We always do carry-on so we each had one carry-on size bag and a backpack. But many others had the obligatory huge suitcases and they had to drag their luggage from curbside inside to the security check-in. It was just ridiculous to me. You should know that NCL is not in charge of how things are done at the individual ports, check-in, etc. is conducted by each port authority, so I do not fault NCL. But I can confirm that check-in at other ports is better IMO. Once allowed inside for check-in the process went very quickly. But one weird thing did happen: The lady checking us in went in the back and returned saying that we were listed as VIPs and would need to step in another room. Well we got excited knowing that VIP status has a lot of perks given. You never know when you might be chosen – it is sort of like winning the lottery. Just as we got our hopes up another registrar said that we were not VIP – she tried to tell him that we were listed as VIP on the computer, but he was adamant that we were not, so no VIP this cruise. I think what she really saw was our Platinum status and thought that meant VIP. So the elusive VIP status passed us by… yeh, I know, I had already gotten some nice goodies with more to comeJ

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After checking in and receiving our “key cards” the women were given real flower leis (the men got beads) and a flower for our hair – a very nice touch. And to entertain us while we waited to board ship, NCL provided a wonderful couple singing and playing Hawaiian and other tunes. We also had a lovely young woman and handsome young man dancing the hula – if you have to wait that was the best wait I have ever experienced. Finally a Hawaiian blessing was given and we were ready to board the ship.

The ship: As many of you know, NCL has poured quite a bit of money into a recent upgrade of the POA. Since this was our first cruise on the POA, we have no reference as to how the ship looked before. But I can tell you that although the carpets looked new, the elevators were worn out (missing buttons on the panels, etc.) Since several elevators where shut down I assume that they are working on getting things repaired. However, I have never been on any NCL ship that looked so worn out – and that includes the older Sky out of Miami. Our rooms were ready so we got our next nice surprise of the day – a huge balcony! It was almost as large as the room (cabin # 11524). It is a family balcony, so there was a connecting door to another room, but it was locked and we never heard anything from our neighbors next door. And for those worried about the construction: except for the occasional drill we did not hear any construction from above us. And another Platinum perk: a complementary bottle of sparkling wine, Godiva chocolates and all of our certificates for free laundry, priority tenders, free meals and wine at Le Bistro, cocktail parties, discounts in the shops and spa, and a tour of the ship – NCL does a good job in rewarding loyalty. We did not get to use some of these due to shore time, but it was a very nice welcome back.

I am paranoid about hotel rooms and cabins – I have to re-clean all surfaces that I may touch including remotes, door handles, etc. Going through the cabin with my surface wipes I found dust everywhere including the new flat screen TV and remote, the desk, table surfaces and even the chair seat in the room. In the bathroom the toilet paper was under the sink and the roller was missing (bizarre) – even the glasses with the paper tops looked dirty and there was dust on top of the paper protectors (double bizarre). Opening the drawers to put in our clothes the insides were stained and dirty – I cleaned the drawers the best I could and put a hand towel in the bottom, then my clothes. I mostly used the wire baskets in the closet. Having had enough, I called downstairs to have new glasses sent up. Someone arrived soon after and I could tell they thought I was a nut until I took one of the glasses out of the bathroom and ran my finger over the top. You can’t argue with what you see with your own eyes. All I kept thinking was: for those who are only now cruising with NCL because of the itinerary, what does this say about NCL? This was not my past experience on any of their ships. The next day our room steward checked in with us and I asked her if our cabin had not been occupied for a while or was this construction dust from all the renovation? She did not know, but she admitted she had lost the toilet roll holder (triple bizarre). When we returned in the afternoon from our first day in Maui it was like a different room – clean, orderly, and on a high note she found the plastic toilet paper holder and the paper was in place – LOL. Was it the renovations, lack of occupancy, or poor cleaning? I never found out and the room was properly monitored the rest of the week – she was a very nice lady.

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The Spa: Because of my now very painful spasm, the seaweed massage I was saving for myself later in the week became a necessity on embarkation day. I got in at 6pm and had a very good, deep tissue sports massage (no tranquil soothing time for me, mostly a lot of gritting and grimacing). But it was excellent and did ease the pain enough that I could sit down again. Because it was after 8 when I finished and I didn’t feel like cleaning up for dinner we grabbed something in the 24 hour Cadillac Diner. Food was OK, but slow – dessert never came and so we left and headed to bed. We did not go back there the rest of the week.

Daily Notes: Based on these boards I put together a list of things to do, places to eat and stores to shop for each Island we visited. We did not get to everything, but the list never did us wrong – all recommendations were as promised. I made my “cheat sheet” for each day and at the end tossed it. DH would ask me “what are we doing?” for the next day and I would look at my one sheet list for that island. We also have our own GPS so we could put in an attraction, restaurant, even beach and it would take us right to it. Also we used the general map provided with the rental car to see the “big picture.” You are seeing so much it is good to have it all written down somewhere. These aids helped a lot.

Rental Cars: I can tell you that we rented cars every day in Hawaii except in Kono using the website http://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com/cruiseshipreservation.htm – prices were very reasonable. All the rental car companies have vans that pick up passengers at the cruise ports – signs lead you right where you need to go to catch the shuttles. We made sure that we were on the first shuttle each day to maximize our time. We had booked a Mustang convertible for Maui, Hilo and Kauai. In Maui and Hilo they upgraded us to a Camaro convertible – DH was in big boy heavenJ I was happy because the seat was very comfortable and easily adjustable. We did get the Mustang convertible in Kauai – not as comfortable a seat for me and not, of course, as nice as the Camaro. Tip: if you do pre-lease the less expensive Mustang, when you show up at the counter ask if the Camaro is available for free upgrade – you may luck up and get one. We didn’t even have to ask.

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Day 1 and 2: Maui:

Our plan was to take the road to Hana and possibly eat at Mama’s Fish House. It rained all day, but we still did the drive to Hana. The views were non-existent, but the waterfalls were spectacular. There were rocks and other debris in the road, but we went around it. I would jump out, take a quick pix in the pouring rain and we would be off again dodging debris, cars on one lane bridges, and even cows. Everyone that did the road that day had bragging rights for being totally dedicated, or totally crazyJ Having had enough excitement for one day and not wanting to eat at Mama’s in the rain, we turned around just outside of Hana and headed back into Pa’ia where we found Flatbread Pizza (a recommendation from my list). It was really good, a nice, laid back atmosphere with pizzas cooked in a pizza oven right in the middle of everything – we sat and watched them make the pizza, take it over on long paddleboards to the brick oven, and bake. It really was a wonderful place. The weather was improving so we decided to head over to Lahaina for some site-seeing and shopping. Then came the rain again and we headed back to the ship. We were able to find a place to park in the small parking lot at the port, but we did see that parking was limited as others have mentioned. We had thought about going to a Luau while in Maui, but are glad we decided not to – rain would have washed it out. Dinner in the main dining room was fine – we saw the show, it was fine, but unmemorable. Entertainment on each ship can be hit or miss – corp. sends them performers and so you may get some great entertainment or only so-so.

Day 2 we decided to try Hana again (for the views), but it was raining again. So we decided to drive up through Makawao and Pukalani – nice drive and no rain here. We had a late lunch at Mama’s Fish House. With no rain in site it has wonderful views right on the water, food was fine, but pricey. Having seen most of what we wanted, we returned the rental car and returned to the POA. Dinner tonight was in the main dining room. Service was fine, food was good, etc. Tip: Every night on the ship I went up to the buffet and got a wonderful Crepe instead of ordering dessert in the dining room. The Crepes are made to order and are really good. Too tired for the show that night, we headed for bed.

con't: Day 3: The Big Island - Hilo: We again caught the shuttle to the rental company. Same good luck – upgraded from the Mustang to the Camaro free of charge. Following excellent directions and our GPS we headed for Volcano National Park. Here is where it got confusing: many of the roads were shut down with closed gates so we did not get to go all the way to the end. I could not figure out why unless it had to do with the “dangerous levels of sulfur” signs everywhere. We did see some interesting steam vents, old lava flows, etc. and again, some spectacular views to the ocean. Having never eaten at a “Jack in the Box” DH decided this would be a fine lunch. A chain is a chain – stick with localJ after lunch, we took a scenic road and just drove – we stopped on some pretty beaches, just a very nice day. We returned the car and returned to the POA. Dinner was East Meets West - a specialty restaurant. Since we had the extra free dinner for two and a bottle of wine we substituted this restaurant. Normally I enjoy the food here on the other ships, and the appetizers and desert were fine. But my dinner – the sweet and sour pork – had too much sauce and looked like a red hot mess. I am not really sure what happened, but I ate some of it anyway. DH loved his entrée, and the appetizer and dessert were fine, so I can only assume it was this dish. First time I was ever disappointed with an upcharge restaurant. Too tired again for entertainment, we headed for bed.

Day 4: Big Island – Kona (Tender):

DH had signed up for a dive excursion for this day so I took the tender into town and shopped. By the time I headed down, tendering was no problem and no wait. I did most of my gift shopping on this stop, called home, got some shaved ice. I thought about taking the shuttle to Hillo Hattie’s, but really just enjoyed wandering around the shops near the port. A very relaxing day after the go-go-go of the previous days. DH enjoyed the diving, but he said that they only went down 30' and saw some fish, eels, etc. Still no turtles. But he did think that the ship did a nice job on this excursion. That night we had our other specialty free meal in Le Bistro along with another free bottle of wine – no surprises here, excellent as always. So far we have really enjoyed our Platinum perks with NCL.

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Day 5 and 6: Kauai:

Kauai was our favorite island – it is definitely the garden island and lives up to its name. We again rented a Mustang convertible and unfortunately this time we got what we ordered. I say unfortunately because the seats were not very comfortable after the Camaro (yes, I got spoilt!) But it was a beautiful day and we drove up to Waimea Canyon Park – just breathtaking! Although not as large as the Grand Canyon it is just as compelling – really the highlight of all the sites – the colors of the different layers with the beautiful sky, it is hard to describe. We drove all the way up to Kalalau Lookout. Strange thing: Kauai is lousy with free chickens everywhere. They are very pretty and colorful, and it reminded me of Key West where the chickens also run free. After leaving the Park we took a drive all the way to the North Shore. Roads are very limited in Kauai so a map was not that important on this day. We did manage to eat at Duane’s Ono Burger (another board recommendation) and the burgers, fries and shakes were very good. I also got some shaved ice at a stand on the North Shore, but it was not as good as Matsamoto’s. Unfortunately while returning from the North Shore I got a migraine – I think we did way too much driving this tripL We returned the car and got back to the ship just as everyone else was on their way to the ship’s luau excursion. I slept through dinner. DH and I were glad that we decided again a Luau this trip – Maui was rained out and Kauai I had a migraine – so glad we saved the money for the airplane tour the next day.

Day 2: I felt much better and was looking forward to our airplane ride over Kauai. The day was beautiful – perfect flying weather. We decided to fly with Air Ventures which we booked and paid for before leaving for Hawaii – but from what we could see any of the company’s would have been fine. We got a complimentary DVD and they even made a group picture and emailed the photos to our email account. There were 2 other couples flying with us – an older couple like us who were vacationing on Kauai and some newlyweds – and as promised we each had a good seat for viewing. The views were spectacular, and we got to see a lot of the island that you would miss if you didn’t fly over it. They returned us to the ship and our driver, a native of Kauai, said she had no idea the island was as beautiful as it was until she went to work for Air Ventures. She had never really seen the island – what a shame that there may be others living in this paradise, but not seeing all of its beauty. I also wondered why there was no ferry between the islands. She said that one time they did try to start up a ferry service, but Kauai refused to join in. The day the ferry was to arrive people went out into the harbor on their surfboards and blocked it from entering. After that it just went out of business. Kauai is very protective of its ecosystem and was afraid some of the predators such as the mongoose that are all over Oahu would get on the island and decimate the bird and chicken population – they really love those wild chickensJ

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The Na’pali Sail by: because we had that wonderful balcony on the port side we had an outstanding view of the Na’pali coast. Having seen it from the air, it was even more beautiful by sea. I thought that an inside cabin would be fine this cruise, but I think now that the Na’pali sailby made the balcony worth the whole trip.

Return to Oahu: Because our plane did not leave until 9pm, we again rented a car for the day and visited Pearl Harbor. We prebooked the pass to get into all the exhibits and to reserve our viewing of the Arizona. Not knowing how quickly we could get the car and over to Pearl Harbor I made our Arizona ticket for 12pm. We caught a cab to the rental company and arrived at Pearl Harbor around 10am. The ticket seller found our booking and because we were so early he gave us 11am Arizona tickets so that we could make better use of our time. Seeing Pearl Harbor was a highlight of the trip for us. It is very moving to stand over the Arizona and realize the enormity of the attack. We also enjoyed the exhibits and tours of the sub, destroyer, etc. It was a great experience. Having a few more free hours we headed downtown to see the statue of King Kamehameha and the palace. I wish that we had taken time to tour the palace, but maybe another time. Returning the car, we headed for the airport and home. FYI: I slept through the whole trip:p

Pride of America: We have sailed on many NCL ships and they all have their own “personalities.” The POA was an exceptional "vehicle" to move us from one island to another. It was not my favorite NCL ship, but it was a great way to see all the islands. We tried to explore most of the ship, but time did not permit a lot of exploring – I really missed having at least one sea day. We spent so much time seeing the islands that we did not get to enjoy the ship as much as we would have liked. We even missed the free ships tour because of the plane ride. The crew was very nice and helpful and did a good job seeing to all our needs. Being mostly American they were more informal than other crews and I will admit it took a while to get used to themJ They still did a great job and I enjoyed their enthusiasm.

Closing thoughts (I bet you though this would never end - if you got this far:o: We really enjoyed our holiday in Hawaii, but living on the East coast the travel was brutal. Having said that, everyone we met on the islands was very friendly, kind, and seemed happy that we were there – you don’t always get that warm a welcome as tourists. A cruise was the perfect way to see some of all the islands. If we go back we will definitely stay on Kauai – it was our favorite of all of the islands. Don't cram your day too full, don't think that renting a car will necessarily help you - a 3 hour excursion may do the trick. And leave your A personality at home and get on "island time." Enjoy the ship. I have lots of photos and I will try to get them up (if I can figure out how to do that:p). Mahalo.

Thank you so much for your review! I can't wait for our POA cruise in February.

I hope you can figure out how to upload some photos.:)

Thank you for taking the time to write such an extensive review.

Keith

Nice review. Lots of details. Do you have any photos of the inside of POA?

Thanks everyone - I was worried that I had too many details and not enough real substance.

All my photos inside I think was of the balcony - but I will look through them again and will try to get some photos up on the site.

love your review. I'm going on the July cruise also from the East Coast, how bad is the flight? We're having a layover in San Francisco. I'm a bit worried about the long length of the flight, but hoping that by having the layover, it'll split up the time :)

The flight for me did not seem that bad while it was happening. But too much excitement kept we awake all night and I didn't really nap on the first flight to Phoenix. We had a short layover (1 1/2 hours) but that was taken up with getting from one side of the airport to the other, grabbing "lunch" - Phoenix was still on breakfast time - and then flying to Honolulu. We flew US Air - my first time trying them - and they gave us nothing but a beverage service for each leg of the flight. Even their in flight meals that you could buy were limited. And on overseas flights not only do you get at least one meal, but you have some room near the bathrooms to walk around a little, stretch, I even will job in place to get my circulation going. Not so on the flights we had. I found it easier to fly from Atlanta to Barcelona. But Barcelona is closer:)

Thanks, DalGirl - this was a really helpful overview of what we can expect in about 20 weeks from now... :-) Sounds like you didn't really have a lot of "ship time" because of the daily port calls, and that's good to know.

I forgot about the time change on the west coast lol. We have a 6am flight from NJ to San Fran and then San Fran to Ohau. I guess the lunch I was hoping to get in San Fran won't happen because it'll be around 9am when we land.

Musicman - there will be someone selling sandwiches, etc. - they know people are on all kinds of time zones in the airport. McDonalds will only be doing breakfast, but thank heavens other vendors are doing sandwiches and even take out salads - just remember your choices will be limited and if you are crossing through the airport for a tight connection, you may not get a meal at all. We always take snacks such as granola bars, crackers, chips, even candy bars to make sure we have something with that free beverage service. And always extra water to keep hydrated.

Thanks so much for sharing. I really like your parting remarks about relaxing and enjoying the trip. I have too much planned I know. We go in three months and I can hardly wait!!

Aloha!

Forgot- Probably everyone know this but cell phones on ship: We have Verizon and every call we made and every email we sent, or website we browsed worked as if we were at home. This included on board the ship in port. We never bought any computer time package from NCL. It was a great convenience.

Dalgirl, I would love to see photos of your cabin, if possible, because my parents will be in the same one in July!

Forgot- Probably everyone know this but cell phones on ship: We have Verizon and every call we made and every email we sent, or website we browsed worked as if we were at home. This included on board the ship in port. We never bought any computer time package from NCL. It was a great convenience.

Did you use your phone while at sea and didn't get big charges automatically going thru 'mobile at sea' or whatever it is called? Is HI different in that you can use your phone and not rack up huge charges?