budgetfairytale

Hi there thank you for sharing your review, would you recommend Waimee Canyon if we have young children. Including toddlers in our group. We are skipping the RH in Maui for this reason, but I have seen mixed reviews about the Canyon..would it be worth it to drive there have a quick look around and continue perhaps to Poipu beach.. I'm trying to plan something doable we have 7 kids with us between 2 families...pls let know your recommendations for Kauai..thank u in advance

 

 

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I don't think we had any kids on our tour. To be honest, as much as I enjoyed our tour with Roberts, I think kids would get bored easily. You do spend a lot of time on the bus between stops. I think for kids, renting a car and getting to the canyon quickly for a quick look, then continuing on to Poipu Beach (which we really enjoyed) would be the best route.

 

 

At the Na Pali sail-by (approx 5:15 - 6:00 pm), we, too, had a great view from our balcony and would have been able to hear the narration (supposedly on decks 6, 11, & 13) it the narrator would have just spoken louder!

 

Too late for this trip, but for future travelers, the narration also comes through the TV. For this it was on the Bridge channel. We had to turn the volume all the way up, and also pull the TV out and angle the speaker towards the balcony, but we could hear and understand it fine. (Just make sure you remember to turn the volume back down before you change the channel :eek: WRITE A REMINDER NOTE. SERIOUSLY.)

oh, i loved my deck 10 balcony with those "obstructions". the solid sides made it feel very private and kept the sun from scorching me while i laid out on it in various states of undress.

:cool: To each their own, hehehe :D I expect a 180 degree view from my cruise ship balconies but if you're looking for privacy, you'll certainly get it with some of those Deck 10 rooms. :p

Thank you for your great review. We will be in Cabin 9600 on our cruise next March. We have also purchased the specialty dining plan for all seven days, so it was great hearing about your reviews for the different specialty restaurants.

 

1) Did you notice if the Pride of America offered bottles of Sake on their wine list? We really enjoy cold sake (especially when we eat at the Teppanyaki restaurant) and am hoping the ship carries at least one bottle on their list.

 

2) For Kona, since it was your "easy" day, were you later in leaving the ship and if so did you still need a tender ticket or were you able to walk right onto a tender boat? I have heard if you disembark after 9am you do not require a tender ticket.

 

3) The itinerary indicates we dock in Kauai at 10am on Thursday. Is that accurate or do we dock 9 (and can disembark) earlier?

 

Thanks.

Did you notice if the Pride of America offered bottles of Sake on their wine list? I didn't notice, I'm sorry. I don't drink it. I believe Sake is offered at Teppanyaki but I didn't look into it much further than seeing it offered on a list. I'm not 100% certain on that, though.

For Kona, since it was your "easy" day, were you later in leaving the ship and if so did you still need a tender ticket or were you able to walk right onto a tender boat? At around 11am there was a ship announcement that tender tickets were no longer needed and you can proceed right to deck 3. We were actually on our way out of our cabin when the announcement was made.

The itinerary indicates we dock in Kauai at 10am on Thursday. Is that accurate or do we dock 9 (and can disembark) earlier? That is accurate. We were eating breakfast at 9 and still moving into place. However, we went down around 9:50 to see if the doors were open since we had a 10am meeting time with Wings Over Kauai and they were letting people off the ship already.

Thank you for taking the time for your mini review. Many of the activities you did I am thinking of doing my self. When you flew on Wings over Kauai did they fly over the ship? For Valley Isle Excursions did you go swimming? I know in HI you are not to leave anything in the car but when you went swimming what did you do with your things? Are Crocs flip flops OK for this trip?

When you flew on Wings over Kauai did they fly over the ship? Not directly but we saw the ship twice, when we took off and when we were coming back to land. The airport is right next to the port.

For Valley Isle Excursions did you go swimming? We stopped at the Ohe'o Gultch for about an hour and the black sand beach for 20 minutes or so. At both you can go into the water if you choose. My husband and I were the only ones from our bus that went into the water at Ohe'o Gultch. It was a quick "get in and get out" but I wanted to swim with a waterfall so I was determined.

I know in HI you are not to leave anything in the car but when you went swimming what did you do with your things? Whenever we did swimming or snorkeling Hawaii we left our things on a towel on the beach and they were fine. There's so many people around (and doing the same exact thing) so I felt like they were safe.

Are Crocs flip flops OK for this trip? I'm not sure what Crocs flip flops are. For this trip I brought - regular flip flops for the pool and beach, more sturdy sandals like Birkenstocks for walking around towns, and hiking shoes for excursions. I used all three many times.

"Mahalo nui loa, Hawaii!" = "Thank you very much, Hawaii!"

My husband and I just returned yesterday from the NCL POA Hawaii inter-island sailing on 6/4/2016. I'll be doing a day-by-day review on my personal website which I'll also share here as I write it. But I thought I'd do a quick review for everyone who is sailing soon. I always find the reviews so helpful and there doesn't seem to be much out there for recent POA sailings. If anyone has any specific questions, please leave a comment and I'll try to help.

Who are we? Mindy and Tim, married thirty-somethings from Los Angeles. This is our fourth cruise, third on NCL. We love NCL!

Ship - We sailed on the POA in cabin 9612, balcony midship port side. We originally were in cabin 10636. When we got to our room we noticed the balcony had what I consider to be an obstructed view. On deck 10, most of the balconies are right below Deck 11 (obviously) which is the pool deck. There is an overhang that blocks the view when looking up, and there are support structures that block the view on the sides. When I selected this room there was no indication it was an obstructed view. I would not have booked that room if I had known. Having just met the officers at our roll call meet and greet, my husband decided to call and just let them know we weren't happy about the obstructed view. We didn't think anything would come of it. Maybe we would get some OBC, as we complained we wouldn't have paid as much as we did for a balcony room if we had known about the obstructed view. We were told it was a full ship and they would see what they could do for us, perhaps the next day. About 45 minutes later we got a call from guest services that we can take a look at a different cabin. We were brought to cabin 9612 which had the balcony view we were expecting, and we switched rooms. INCREDIBLE customer service from NCL! So be aware, deck 10 has some (what I consider to be) obstructed views but they aren't categorized as such!

The cabin itself was fine. On par with other balcony cabins on NCL. I did notice our bathroom on Deck 10 looked newly renovated with lovely blue tiles and I think a larger shower entry, while our bathroom on Deck 9 seemed outdated with off-white everything. I will say this is the first time in three NCL cruises that we never had a single issue with our toilet not flushing or getting the occasional whif of sewer smell towards the end of the sailing.

With this itinerary being so port intensive, we didn't get to enjoy the ship too much, which is a shame because it is a lovely ship. I certainly noticed all the recent cosmetic upgrades to the ship, such as new carpet and furniture, especially in the atrium. This felt like a new ship, even though I know it's not!

Food - We had the UDP and did not eat in the main dining rooms. My favorite meal was Jefferson's Bistro, by far. The Teppenyaki was delightful and the food was delicious. We also ate at Cagney's and La Cucina and they were fine. Not bad but not exceptionally good either. We skipped Moderno as we ate there on the Sun and we were never hungry for THAT much food. We also ate at Cadillac Diner once for lunch and were surprised but grateful for the small portions. I do not eat sushi but my husband tried it for dinner one night and really enjoyed it. For breakfast we did the Aloha Cafe (Moderno) buffet every morning. We love to grab a simple breakfast then take it back to our balcony to eat.

Activities - We are not huge cruise ship activity people. We never really go to the shows or do the trivia, etc. The only thing we usually do is karaoke. But for this trip we never really adjusted to the time change and we found ourselves falling asleep by 8 or 9pm! So we never even made it to karaoke this time around. We never even made it to the bars or lounges. We were exhausted after every port and just hung out on our balcony before and after dinner.

Employees - I had read all the concerns about "rude" or "lazy" employees on the POA. We did not encounter this at all. Everyone we interacted with was happy, professional, and friendly. Service was exceptional. On par with the other NCL sailings we've done.

Ports:

Honolulu - We spent a week at Aulani prior to the sailing. On one day we rented a car and did Diamondhead, Pearl Harbor, and drove towards the North Shore. On disembark day we went straight from the ship to the airport. So, we never actually saw the city of Honolulu or Waikiki.

Maui day 1 - We did a tour with Valley Isle Excursions for the Road to Hana and it was incredible. We loved our tour guide Uncle Joe. Long day but highly recommended. We were happy to not have to drive it ourselves but now that we've done it, if we ever go back we would be comfortable renting a car and going at least part of the way.

Maui day 2 - We rented a car and drove the west side of the island up to the blowhole. We then drove back and had lunch in Lahaina.

Hilo - Volcanoes National Park tour with Marylou's. Another highly recommended tour. VNP is incredible and I wish we had more time to drive around. If we had planned our trip more in advance, I would have loved to do a private tour with Marylou's and spent more time hiking in the VNP area.

Kona - Kona was our "take it easy" day. We got off the ship and just walked around the town. It's a bit touristy, but we found some gems, like San Francisco Bay coffee shop and Kona Brewing Company.

Kauai day 1 - Morning flight with Wings over Kauai. We had a private Cessna. Our pilot was Bruce, who is also the owner of the company. He was awesome! After that we rented a car and drove around the south side of the island. Our goal was to snorkle but when we arrived there was some kind of surge and the waves were INSANE. We tried to snorkle and did see a few fish, but the waves were making me too nervous and it didn't seem worth it. We ended up sitting on the beach for a while and stopping at an outdoor bar at one of the nearby hotels. We also saw a sea turtle sleeping on the sand at Poipu Beach.

Kauai day 2 - Journey to Waimea Canyon with Roberts Hawaii. Great tour; the canyon is beautiful. Our tour guide Kats was fantastic, sharing Hawaiian lore and personal stories of growing up in Hawaii. We then watched the Napali coast from our balcony and it was just breathtaking. We saw two rainbows on this day - one on the tour and another as we approached the Napali coast. A lovely way to say Aloha and Mahalo to Hawaii!

This was our first time in Hawaii and we will defintely be back! I think our favorite spots were Kauai and the North Shore of Oahu.

Mahalo for reading this brief recap. I will add more detailed daily reports as I write them.

Thanks! It was a drive I didn't want to do myself - I made my husband drive both up and down :D The road is paved and there are always two lanes. There are a few twists and the elevation is what makes me nervous. Overall though it wasn't bad and if I had to I could have driven it myself. Definitely worth the views.

Thanks for the response!

We had played around with the idea of getting to Haleakala in the dark to see the sun rise. Sleep eventually made the decision and I am glad we waited as we really enjoyed the view on the way up.

We were above the clouds and it was an exhilarating feeling. At one point we were next to the clouds and drove through one.

 

Is this a fairly easy drive? We are doing a R2H tour on our first Maui day and we were talking about renting a car on day 2 but I'm nervous about the roads. Your pictures are really beautiful!

The ship looks really nice! Thanks for sharing your photos!

Thank you for your wonderful trip report! Doing this sailing in June and got some great ideas from your report. :)

I'm so happy I found your report! We are sailing POA in early June. Mahalo!

Hi,

 

I'm booked next year on the Pride of America B6/cabin 12504 and I'm concern about the cabin size. The NCL travel agent wasn't helpful at all when I asked questions about the cabin; I felt like he was a used car salesmen:), so now I'm thinking about canceling and starting over.

 

My main question to him was how large are the cabins not including the balcony, and are all the outside cabins with balconies the same size minus the balcony. Cabin 12504 does have a large balcony but I could never get a straight answer from him, he kept selling me on NCL by bad mouthing Carnival. I can't believe I even booked with him, I should have hung-up the phone.

 

Does anyone know about the cabin size on the POA or this cabin in particular?

 

I've sailed on NCL before alone with Carnival, RCCL, and Holland America so I'm not new to cruising.

 

Thanks

Sheila

 

We have booked 12504 for a 2015 cruise, so I hope you will post a review when you get back. :)

Did either of you end up staying in this cabin? I'm considering booking it but have some questions about it. Thanks in advance!

Bumping this up because I'm curious about cabin 12504 as well. How was the noise? Is the balcony enclosed or does it get some sun? What is the movement like (sea sickness is a concern for me).

Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer :)

Now that I'm back from vacation I wanted to update that our Bennett Lake trip went smoothly and was wonderful! We did indeed join the Chilkoot bus for the first leg of the tour and took the train back (in the same train cars as the rest of the Chilkoot folks). No issues what-so-ever and it was an amazing tour! So I highly recommend Skagway Shore Tours. :D

Yep, Listel is a block from BH. On foot to the Fairmont Vancouver is about 800 yards. Don't forget to peruse the historic prints & photos in the ground-floor corridor between the main lobby and the Hornby Street entrance, you can see the previous hotels bearing the same name.

 

Your hotel has one of the more interesting restos still on my to-do list, Forage. I've enjoyed Chef W's food at some events, and they do have some intriguing sounding cocktails too - I didn't recommend it before as I try to avoid suggesting anywhere I haven't patronized at least a couple of times.

 

If you do try Forage please let me know how it was!

That's great info! Maybe we will give it a try, especially if we are tired from walking around Stanley Park all day! Thanks again.

Wow, thank you martincath! Just the kind of info I was looking for. I really appreciate your time and input. We are staying at Listel so kind of central, I think? Seems like just a short walk from the Fairmont.

Drunken gangsters, oh my! :eek:

Hello! Spending one night in Vancouver before our cruise next week. My husband and I aren't party animals but we love discovering new bars and fun places to enjoy a nightcap. Where the best place in Downtown Vancouver to get a drink? We are staying on Robson and don't want to wander too far.

Also, is it generally safe to walk around Downtown Vancouver at night?

Thanks in advance.

Yea, that has been an interesting part of this thread. I guess Chilkoot "sell" space to other tour agencies for space. As I mentioned above, Chilkoot and WPYR both charge the same amount for the Bennett Scenic Journey ($229 per person). Would be interesting to hear what this other company charges.

It's the same.

That is what you buy through Chilkoot!

But Chilkoot was sold out for my port day, that's why I started this thread. :confused:

They should buy from WPYR. ..that's probably what Chilkoot does. Why would Skagway Tours buy from Chilkoot and not from WPYR directly? BTW...Our Chilkoot Bennett Scenic Adventure was the same price that WPYR charges.

The train portion is through WPYR, the bus portion is through Chilkoot. At least that's what they told me! ;)

I think I found a similar tour with Skagway Shore Tours (via the Skagway website, thank you Mapleleaves!), but I can't seem to find ANY reviews about this company here or on other travel sites, which makes me a little nervous. Has anyone used them?

 

http://skagwayshoretours.com/tour/bennett-lake-scenic-journey/

Well I got an answer by flat out asking the company! :p Here was their email response:

"We are a centralized reservation center that compiles what we deem to be the best and most credible tours in Skagway based on customer feedback and first-hand experience. We are a bit selective in this process and do not work with everyone in Skagway. We help market these tours for the tour companies and try our best to come in with prices better than the cruise lines."

As for the Bennett journey, they coordinate the train part directly with the railroad and our tour guide and the bus part is actually with Chilkoot. So it seems like we will be getting the Chilkoot tour but through a third party service verses going through Chilkoot directly.

Just wanted to share for anyone who may come across this company in the future. I'll try to remember to update this thread with a review after our trip.

Buffet is great; we liked to grab our plates and sit outside in the aft tiered decks.

Cagney's was delicious and staff was wonderful. I didn't like our table right near the entrance so they moved us right away. I gushed over the cheesecake pop (as part of a dessert trio) and they surprised me with another one!

Do the Chef's Table if you can afford it - it's amazing! Make reservations right after embarking at the reservations desk.

Loved Henry's Pub for karaoke.

Blue Lagoon was great for grabbing a quick meal if you didn't want to deal with MDR. Hopefully Ed will be the bartender there. Ed was awesome! I went out of my way to buy all my drinks from Ed.

Fitness center very busy on sea days ... try to get there early (if you go)

If you're doing Mediterranean, go up to the top deck Forward when sailing out of Istanbul. Amazing views - highlight of the trip!

We did Bennett Scenic Journey on 7/16 through Chilkoot. Less than 20 of us in our train car and the drive back down to Skagway. Wonderful day! The lunch at Bennett Station House was beef stew...delicious! I don't think anyone offers BBQ.

 

Regardless of vendor, if you can do the Bennett Scenic Journey, do so!

We would like to! Trying to find another reputable tour company who does it since Chilkoot is sold out.

The difference is not just the lunch; they are completely different tours. As BQ states, all of the Lake Bennett tours, which go by train all the way to Carcross, have lunch at the Bennett Station. The tours with the shorter train ride to Fraser and bus to the Yukon from there do lunch at Caribou Crossing, which is BBQ chicken.

Yes, we want to do the longer train ride with lunch at the Bennett Station. That's what I was trying to say. :)

Some facts that are missing. ALL Lake Bennett train trips, INCLUDE the meal. The train stops at Lake Bennett, everyone gets off the train, go eat and have some time for a walk around. You can NOT book this train trip, with the White Pass, UNLESS, you also have the road trip lined up. This train is ONE way, so you have to have another vendor for the road.

 

I used Dyea Dave for a southbound train trip a few weeks ago.

It seems like some tours have a BBQ lunch at Carcross, and others have lunch at the Bennett Station House. We are looking for a tour that has the lunch at Bennett Station House. Thanks!