Seas2mountains

We have been sitting by the pool for the last few hours. Here is our view on the last day of the cruise. 
 

The frozen margaritas are perfect. Next cruise we will be in the Vibe so we won’t have to work as hard to obtain them. 

We walked around the local area again this morning including the Sonesta resort. 
 

Some man getting off the ship decided we would all enjoy this music selection so he carried a portable speaker blasted at the highest levels possible. Ugh. 
 

If you get off at the Kaua’i cruise port, be warned about the man selling fruit from his truck next to the bridge to the Sonesta resort. He yelled at two women who were talking about their planned next location. He interrupted them and yelled, “White woman, listen to me, turn at the light like I said!”  He yelled at us when we walked back across the bridge but I don’t know what he said. 

This morning, we had a leisurely breakfast at Skyline and once again requested a table within Lou’s section which means no window table. 
 

He and his assistant provided excellent service as usual. My husband ordered a loaded potato dish with eggs  that he said was delicious and he would order again. I got fruit (not pictured) and an omelet with sausage. We forget to say we don’t need the potatoes. 

As warned by other POA past guests, the entertainment areas do get crowded. We hung out in Pink’s Champagne lounge which also makes martinis. 
 

It took a few minutes for us to find a vacant table and chairs. We enjoyed piano music by Michael and even danced. 

Once we were ready to find drinks and entertainment on the ship, we realized it was about 8pm and we had been sober for a record breaking 21 hours or so which is longest we have gone on an NCL ship without a drink. 🤣

I have been on Holland America with kids with a longer record. 🤣

We arrived back to the dock and tried to speed walk ahead of the rest of the passengers to get to the Captain Andy restrooms. The woman who was sick near us decided to take over the restroom for the remaining 1.5 hours of the boat tour but there was another restroom with a constant line. The significant movement of the boat made us unwilling to attempt the walk and stairs to get to the other restroom. 
 

We were fully coated with salt on our face, arms and shorts from the ocean as waves made their way over the boat. We drove to the airport to drop off the rental car and were surprised to find out that National was willing to give us a complimentary ride back to the port. 
 

A shower was mandatory to feel human again to wash away the salt. Despite the motion and inconvenience, it was worth it to see Na Pali coast. 
 

Again, the crew on Captain Andy tours were wonderful. They constantly asked to refresh our water drinks or get us alcoholic drinks. As we were still concerned about avoiding getting sick and one of us had to drive back, we didn’t try any of their tasty looking cocktails or wine. 

One final Na Pali photo. 

Sunset photos 

Then as we were heading back to the dock, we watched this rainbow change over Waimea Canyon area. 

More photos and a video attempt. 

As dinner was being served, a woman who became sea sick was getting sick over the side of the boat near us as we were trying to eat. We shared our table with another couple. That made the woman sitting with us decide that she had no appetite and did not care to eat so they packed her food to go. Her husband ate everything in about 5 minutes or less. 
 

We grazed on our food for about 30 minutes or more and admit we were impacted by that event as we had a lot of food waste and were doing our best to eat but the idea of getting sick was so impactful on our appetite. 

They slowed down and served dinner as we coasted along to observe the beautiful scenery. 
 

Salad. 

Filet mignon with grilled shrimp, roasted potatoes, asparagus and carrots 

Key lime cheesecake. 

The photos do not capture the true beauty. 

Na Pali coast 

It took 2 hours to get to the Na Pali coast. During those two hours, we quickly learned who was sea sick. We thought the crew members did an excellent job of checking in with those who were sea sick and offered different suggestions to help them which they ignored. 

We have been on several boat tours and this was probably an 8 or 9 out of 10 for motion. For us, the swells were more intense than we expected and the speed of the boat was at top speeds. We are fortunate that we both don’t seem to get sea sick but we also watch the horizon as we were taught. 
 

It was a bit tricky taking some of the photos as we were trying to keep one hand on a railing with the motion. My husband took some of these photos as he was much braver than I was. 

Seating areas for those who wanted to sit on the sides or back of the boat.   Some people went to the front of the boat and stayed there the entire 4 1/2 hours.  

We got a tasty lunch at the buffet before driving to Captain Andy’s in ‘Ele’ele or Port Allen. 
 

The check-in time was at 1:45pm. At 2pm, we received a text with a link that assigned us to one of three boats by color. I believe each boat held 49 passengers, a captain, chef and two crew  members. 
 

Here is our boat. 

Yesterday morning, we got off the ship to walk around as our boat tour started in the afternoon.  As we were leaving the port, we saw a car rental shuttle van for National. We asked the driver how frequently he picked up guests and he said he would do his last run at 11am. 
 

We walked around the Sonesta resort area along the beach and took the car rental shuttle to the airport to pick up the car. We were able to park the car on the street near the cruise ship port. 

4 hours ago, CruisnHallelujahs said:

Absolutely stunning!  Enjoying following your trip.  Thanks for doing the live. 😊 

Thank you for your kind words. 😃

We had a wonderful boat ride up the Na Pali coast. Wow!  I’ll update with more photos tomorrow. 
 

Here are a few from this evening. 

Barbara said some big changes will be announced soon but she could not say what they were or when they will be announced. 
 

She and one of the officers did mention the dry dock in May will be three weeks long in Portland, Oregon plus the time to get to and from the dry dock. 
 

The Pride of America has been sailing completely full for the past few months. They are at or nearly fully staffed which was a challenge after the cruise restarts. 
 

We are having a great time and strongly recommend considering sailing on POA. It is an older, smaller ship but you will find that 99% of the crew are working hard to give you a great experience. New crew joins the ship on Sundays in Maui and may have their first day on the job on a Monday. 

Galley for Liberty and Skyline dining rooms. 

Escalator to take food and items up and down to Liberty which is on floor 6 while the galley is on floor 5. 

Other galley photos while breakfast was being served in Skyline. 

Crew Bar. 

Environmental area where all trash is sorted by type. Some guests don’t ask for a Sharps container for used neddles which is so risky for the crew members to handle when mixed with general trash. 

We had the Behind the Scenes tour at 8:10am. 
 

Barbara, the Cruise Next Manager, did a wonderful job with the tour. On POA, the main crew hallway is called Route 66 instead of I95 like other NCL ships. 
 

Laundry area - separated by clean and dirty areas. 

Room full of baggage carts.