Ready to Sail the POA

[foxyh]

A group of us are ready to set sail on the POA on Aug. 22. From all we have read things are being worked out. The old saying, is GO WITH THE FLOW.....
I think it is so important to keep in mind that any trip is whatever you want it to be......if you are looking for perfection, it doesn't exist; however, by being open minded and working with the system it goes more smoothly. For those of you who have already cruised the POA is it worth it to wait in line for the main restaurant or worth it to book in a speciality restuarant......Anyone go with a teenager and is the teen club worth it..??? We all just want to have fun.!!

Mahalo

[segerd]

I didn't travel with children so I can't comment on that. We never expected anything more than a hotel on the water so it was ok. We also like "roughing" it so we were able to roll with whatever happened. Just go and have a great time! As bad as some of the problems were, nothing takes away from the beauty of Hawaii and you're off of the ship most of the time. ENJOY, you'll be on a vacation in a beautiful place.

[Jeconk]

Foxy: I was on the June 20 repo cruise and we never waited in line for more than 5 minutes after the restaurant opened at the two main restaurants. I absolutely refuse to go to the specialty restaurants...I consider it an insult to have to pay more than what you pay upfront. (I also laugh at those who throw money away eating there because they don't like to wait.)

Here is the secret to not waiting in line: Be at the Main Restaurants WHEN THEY OPEN AT 5:30 or within 15-30 minutes after they open. We were and we never waited for a table. If you like to eat late then plan on waiting for a table. My father asked for a Filet Mignon one night because he didn't like anything on the menu in the Main dining room and they told him he could get one. (I then ordered one two.) It was basically the same meat that they were charging $15 in one of the specialty restaurants and we got it for free simply by asking.

[dalwhitt]

Jeconk, I will give that a shot. I love filet mignon.

[mbisson]

foxyh

As for the teen club, my boys (both 16) love them. I would recommend at least a visit on the first night. This way even if your teen isn't impressed and doesn't want to go back they might at least find someone their age to pal around with on the cruise.

-Monte

[cnmiranda]

Have a great time! Looking forward to your review also.

Happy sailing

[margu1241]

I asked for fillet mignon one night in the main dining room and they would not give it to me. Maybe it depends on who you ask, so if you don't like the answer you get, ask again. I believe Jeconk sailed earlier than I did (I sailed 7/18), so maybe they have changed the policy and don't allow it anymore. I did have Fillet twice in Le bisto and Pacific Heights and it was excellent both times.

I second being there when it opens if you don't want to wait. We ended up going down about 15 minutes early and waiting in line. The fee restaurants were great, and if you don't mind, paying worth every cent.

My 15 year old liked the teen activities, and either did them or just hung out with other teens that she met in the Zone (near Pacific Heights, a small room with tables and chairs). They definitely want to go the first night, as that is the time when they will have a chance to meet the most kids at one time.

You sound like you have the right attitude to have a good time.

Patty

[foxyh]

Thanks very much to all of you who responded to my questions. It gives us some good insight before we board the ship. We will be staying in Honolulu for 3 days before boarding and plan on doing lots of sightseeing there. I will definitely post my review when we return.
Thanks again.

[Jeconk]

Foxyh: Probably the most important advice for Honolulu: If you go to Pearl Harbor, take a tour group and GO ON AN EARLY TOUR! (like 6:45 a.m.) Most hotels have a travel desk in their lobby or atrium where you can select from many companies offering tours. We have used Discover Hawaii twice for Honolulu and they are great. But again, due to the long waits at Pearl Harbor, the earlier you can get there, the better it is! If you rent a car and do it on your own: get there early. The National Park Service begins distributing tickets around 7:30 and the line at that point is usually already long enough to use up the first hour of tours. If you are much past 8:00 a.m. arrival at Pearl, plan on waiting 2-3 hours to go out to the Memorial. After 11 and you may not get out there at all!

[dalwhitt]

People keep saying that if you don't want to wait in a long line for dinner then just get there early, like 5:30 p.m. Wouldn't that cut into you time off the ship? Knowing how long it takes my wife to get ready, we would have to be back on board at least a hour before that at 4:30 p.m.

[Palmist]

Originally Posted by dalwhitt

People keep saying that if you don't want to wait in a long line for dinner then just get there early, like 5:30 p.m. Wouldn't that cut into you time off the ship? Knowing how long it takes my wife to get ready, we would have to be back on board at least a hour before that at 4:30 p.m.

Unfortunately, your choices for dinner are:
1. Go to a cover charge restaurant (good food – not great, good service)
2. Get to the main dining room before 5:45
3. Eat on shore when in port
4. Expect a wait of 1 to 2 hours for a table and 1 1/2 to 2+ hours for your meal in the main dinning rooms

[margu1241]

Dalwhitt,
I ate with a party of 4-6 depending on day, and the two times that we wanted to eat when the dining room opened, one or two of us would go down and wait in line, with the rest joining us at 5:30. You don't all have to be standing in line for 20 minutes.
If you are going to be with a group of 8+ you can make a standing reservation in the dining room and I would think that would make things easier.
Patty

[dzubke23]

Unfortunately, getting to the main dining room before 5:45 is not a guarantee that you won't have to wait. We got there before 5:45 a couple nights and still had to wait in line for a half hour to an hour before being seated.

[cnmiranda]

Dzubke23, would you mind sharing which cruise you were on? Hubby and I are early eaters, it would be quite discouraging to hear there were still lines even for the first seating. Also if you have the time, your thoughts on the ship would be greatly appreciated. It is very helpful to those sailing in the future Thanks.

[dzubke23]

I was on the July 4th sailing. I have not posted a review partly because this was my first cruise so I have nothing to compare it to and partly because almost everything I went through has been mentioned in other reviews. Except for one horrible experience but not sure if I want to go into detail on it as I'm sure it was something that rarely happens. We were lucky enough to have our room cleaned when we got on the ship though -- I was grateful for this after I got back and started reading the other reviews.

As for the long lines at 5:45, one night was formal night so that might have had something to do with it and one night was the last night of the cruise so maybe others had caught on by then. I haven't heard any others complain about lines for first seating so maybe we were the only lucky ones out there that had to wait

[Jeconk]

Miranda: I think the wait they are refering to is the wait until the dining room opens. We usually got to the main restaurant at about 5:20 p.m. and they don't open until 5:30 p.m.. So you have to wait the 10 minutes for them to open and even then we were probably 15-20 back in line, so that usually took another 5-10 minutes to seat those in front of us. Many nights, it probably was 5:45 before we got seated.

Dalwhitt: Not trying to be short, but you have two choices: 1.) do whatever it takes to get there early (how about if you go ahead of you wife and get in line?) or 2.) Be prepared to wait. Actually, when you think about it you don't cut into your shore time that much. On the first night, you don't sail until 8 so eating at 5:30, will put you out just in time to see the ship leave. In Hilo, you have to be back on board by 5:00 (and most tours get back earlier than that...and there is nothing to do or see at that port) In Kona, the last tender leaves the shore at 4:30 p.m., so you don't lose much time there. The second day in Kauai, you are back on board by 1:00 p.m. for the Na'pali coast sail by and the second day on Maui, I think all aboard is also at 5:00 p.m. That just leaves the first day on both Maui and Kauai and those are ports where many people choose to eat off the ship. (I think the Aloha even closes one of the main dining rooms on one of those nights).

[gangplank]

Here's what you can expect on your POA cruise:
1. Filthy toilets, sinks, showers. Bring your Lysol. No joke. Especially if it's more than two in a room. The staff shortage really shows in the cleanliness department.
2. Unchanged beds from the previous cruise. Bedspreads pulled over an unchanged bed. Appalling.
3. Paper plates and cups at the buffet table (Not enough staff to wash real ones)
4. Downright awful filthy buffet table with spills from previous items still caked on.
5. 3 in a room? Better be agile and flexible if you want to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The sofabed is arranged so that it completely impedes your access. I wonder what genius thought that one up?
6. Lines forever to get into the main restaurants. Mostly because THERE IS NOT ENOUGH STAFF to serve at an appropriate pace.
7. Demoralized overworked stewards, chefs, engineers.....you name it they're overworked. And it shows BIG time. If you get friendly enough you'll hear what the real stories are with NCLA. That would be hearsay, so we won't go there right now.
8. Higher ups who don't really care anymore because there is nothing they can do to change anything until they get a full staff onboard. You know, the unmade bed from the previous occupant is still giving me the willies.
9. A complete atmosphere of unhappy patrons onboard. When you get off the ship, have some fun and enjoy Hawaii, you still have to come back and become demoralized all over again.
10. One good thing. If you usually add a few pounds on your cruise, you won't have to worry about that this time. You might just lose a few. It's hard to get excited over the slop they put out at the buffet, and you will get really tired spending 2-3 hours in the dining room to finish a meal.

It is shameful what NCL is putting out. Shameful. To run a cruise with only 75% staff may also be illegal. At best it is deceitful.

So if anyone thinks my list is petty, then you are out of touch with cruising. If this was a hotel, it would be in the Motel 6 class. The embarassing part is we paid Hyatt Regency money.

Yes it is so bad you just might contemplate walking the....

Gangplank

[Zeno]

Gangplank: Which POA cruise were you on ?

[gardencat]

gangplank

Thanks for your review. It sounds like for you it was a truly horrible trip (except for Hawaii of course)
Are you an experienced cruiser or was this your first cruise experience?

[shoreguy]

Another one post wonder. I am not saying things are perfect but the number of single posts with less then complete reviews is unusual.