baseballsandbows

After leaving the Jaggar Museum (visitor's center at Kilauea), we drove to the steam vents. There were two that were accessible to tourists, and they have railings around them. Mary Lou warned us to approach slowly--the steam is hot (yes, I know it's steam, but it still surprises you a bit when it hits you in the face)! One of the vents is prettier and more lush, but the steam hits you better when standing by the other one.

The more lush steam vent...

IMG_9292 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

This vent is less photogenic as it just looks like a hole cut into concrete, but it's the better choice if you are looking for a facial...

IMG_0521 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

Here you can see the back of Mary Lou. The couple on the left wasn't with us, but Mary Lou gave such great information at all the stops that people would often come over to hear what she was saying.

IMG_0520 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

Next, we headed to the Thurston Lava Tube. On the way, we stopped at another overlook, giving us a different view of Kilauea.

IMG_0529 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

IMG_0532 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

We also booked with Mary Lou in Hilo, can't wait!

Her husband Ken also takes a group, and he seemed great as well. You will have a fun day!

After leaving Rainbow Falls, we headed to Volcanoes National Park. It was probably about 45 min to a hour to the Visitor's Center at the Kilauea Crater, but Mary Lou kept us entertained with information about the island and by personal stories. Mary Lou is originally from Washington State, but has lived on the Big Island for years. She was so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about all of the locations we visited, and her attitude was infectious. Also, because we left the port so quickly and there were fewer of us, we were able to stay a step ahead of all the large tour groups.

At the Visitor's Center, we stopped for photos with the smoking crater in the background.

IMG_0511 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

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Then, we went inside to look at the exhibits. Mary Lou pointed out several of the more interesting areas and shared information that kept even my 14 year old's interest. :rolleyes:

Tuesday morning started with the breakfast buffet again, and then we disembarked in Hilo. Mary Lou, from Mary Lou's tours, was waiting for us in the port, and we started our day quickly. I knew from the beginning that this was going to be a good day. Mary Lou was very welcoming and upbeat, and she felt like a friend immediately.

There were six of us with Mary Lou: the four of us and a couple from Brazil. The couple was probably in their 50s, and we enjoyed spending the day with them. We got a good laugh out of the fact that she was VERY displeased that NCL served Pepsi instead of Coke. We felt the same way, so we quickly bonded over our mutual dissatisfaction. My DS is in his first year of Spanish. Although their native language was Portuguese, the couple also spoke Spanish, and they tried to converse with DS. With only one semester under his belt, that was an entertaining endeavor!

It was a beautiful day. At the time we left the port, which was about 8:30, it was 68 degrees. Not long after we pulled out of the parking lot, we saw some locals working outside in heavy coats, hats, and gloves. I live in the southeastern US, and we are often the brunt of jokes when it comes to dealing with winter weather, but these guys looked like they had just stepped out of a winter catalog for Land's End, and it was 68 degrees. It was very funny to all of us!

As we started our journey, Mary Lou drove us through the historic banyan trees in downtown Hilo. Most of them were planted by famous people. Mary Lou is a baseball fan, and we are as well, so when she stopped at this tree, we were delighted to see that it was planted by Babe Ruth.

IMG_0479 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

Next, we drove by the statue of King Kamehameha.

IMG_0481 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

We got out of the van for the first time at Rainbow Falls. Mary Lou gave us time to look around, and she also explained some of the plants and trees in the area. She showed us a kukui tree. Kukui nut shells are used to make necklaces, and the oil is sold as well. She showed us a few other interesting plants, but I can't remember them now. I should have taken notes!

The hike to the top of the falls was very short and there was also a nice overlook where you could get a view of the front of the falls.

IMG_0483 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

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Thanks all for the explanation, now it makes sense! I was also wondering why all the lines from the west coast only left from Vancouver and not LA or SF.. I had been looking at options and thought I had to be missing something- I never gave a thought to the registry!

 

Looking at pricing, the 10 day Celebrity was just a few hundred more than the NCL 7 day, and they always have the 1-2-3 perks.. If they still don't want to do a 10 day.. I think we might give it a try in the future.. I love sea days! .. but one more question.. we have never done that many in mid ocean.. how are the seas? I know it can vary.. but generally.

Because the Pride of America is a US flagged ship, it costs more than other NCL cruises because it has to follow US labor laws and is under the US tax system.

We did the PoA in January, and we really enjoyed it. It is great to have so much time in port. I will say, however, that about halfway through the cruise, we were wishing for a sea day. It's nice to have those relaxing days mixed in with the port days.

We were on an excursion in Hilo with a couple from Brazil. They normally sail Celebrity, and they didn't like NCL as much. She said they would go back to Celebrity in the future. However, she liked the NCL itinerary best for Hawaii and was not sorry they had chosen it. We have only sailed Disney, and I do like their ships better than the PoA, but again, we chose this cruise for the itinerary and were happy that we did.

I honestly don't remember what we did until dinner, but I think DD went to the kids' club, and I know we all got cleaned up. Our dinner came early as we had a 5:45 seating at Teppanyaki. We really enjoyed having the Unlimited Dining Package, and this meal was one of the reasons. This was such a fun experience, but we wouldn't have paid to eat here because the kids ate almost nothing. In fact, they went to the buffet after the meal! But, they loved the show, and we had a great time with our tablemates.

IMG_9269 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

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As far as the food goes, it wasn't my favorite either. I didn't eat much of the miso/seaweed soup (I'm not really a soup fan). DH LOVED the rice, and I will agree that it had a great flavor. I'm also not a hue rice fan. :rolleyes: The meat was good, and the fruit sashimi for dessert was yummy. There was a green tea ice cream for dessert as well, but our tablemate didn't love it. Honestly, it looked kind of gross.

I don't think I have mentioned the ship motion yet, but the seas were much rougher on this cruise than I expected. During our dinner at Teppanyaki, one of our tablemates had to leave because she was getting sick. I get motion sickness VERY easily, but we are always proactive when we cruise. We start taking non-drowsy Dramamine 24 hours before we sail and take it throughout the cruise. I never got sick, but there were times when it was difficult to walk straight, and this was one of those nights. I think the seas are rougher in the winter (that is why all the surfing contests are in winter), so those of you going in other seasons may not have the same experience.

After dinner, DD and I went to our one and only show of the week. It was a magician, and we were hoping it would be entertaining. It was ok, but it was strange. The magician was also a dancer, so he would dance dramatically during most of his magic acts. Perhaps some people loved it, but when it was over, DD and I looked at each other and said, "What was that?" It was just a weird combination. Disney's Broadway-style shows (and even their magicians and physical comedy acts) are much more to our liking. I will also say, for those of you going with kids, that the shows are not as family friendly as Disney (no surprise there). The clothing for the ladies is much more revealing, and we heard jokes about people getting "lei'd" and such multiple times during the show or other activities on board. I expected this, and it wasn't over the top or anything, but I just wanted to mention it for those taking kids. Some of it will go over their heads, but my 11yo DD did understand enough to ask me a few questions about some of the jokes. I'm sure my 14yo son would have understood even more, but he won't go to any of the shows anyway! :)

After the show, DD went to the kids' club for a while, and then we all turned in. Next up...Hilo!

I forgot to mention one aspect of the whale watching. We were able to listen to the sounds of the whales using a hydrophone. They are very loud! It was surprising to hear how much noise there is under the surface. We did not do this on our whale watching excursion in Alaska, but most of the Hawaii excursions mentioned this as a feature.

We got back to our car about 12:15, and since our three hours of free parking were up, we headed out of Lahaina. We had considered going to Ka'anapali Beach, which was nearby, but we decided to return the car and head back to the ship instead. Part of the allure of this cruise is having so much time in port, but that also leads to tired tourists! Lunch on the ship and a little break sounded just right. I always have a difficult time with this because I want to see EVERYTHING and pack in as much as we possibly can, but DH is an introvert who needs some quiet time, and my kids definitely need breaks from each other every now and then!

We drove back to Kahului, returned the car, and caught a shuttle back to the pier. We had a little bit of trouble getting back to the rental agency. The GPS actually leads you into the parking lot at the airport, so be sure to follow the signs instead. The agent let us out of the parking lot without charging us...she said GPS messes people up all the time.

We got back to the ship about 2:00 and headed to the Cadillac Diner for a late lunch. The kids were really looking forward to eating here. We all started off with some fried mozzarella sticks and spinach artichoke dip with chips, which everyone enjoyed. Then, I think we all had burgers, which were better than I expected. I didn't love the brownie sundae that we ordered for dessert, but DH and DS ate one later in the week that was warm, soft, and much better. It may be a hit or miss kind of thing.

IMG_9260 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

Thanks so much for the review and all the details. My children are similar in age to yours. We have also cruised Disney (and RC) and have been to AK. We are on POA in June. I have been worrying about NCL, but you are giving me hope that we will have a great time. The stateroom size is an issue, but it's bigger than the room we had on Radiance of the Seas in AK. In that one, the bed from the ceiling was completely over my & my DH's head and the pullout was between our beds and the bathroom. You could only get to the bathroom by crawling over the pullout. But we made it work & had the best time ever!

:D

You are going to have a great time! I do think there is a true "Disney Difference." As a whole, I would have to say that we like the DCL product better. But, in the case of Hawaii, NCL has the best itinerary, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this cruise. The Pride of America doesn't have all the bells and whistles that newer ships have, but you are in port so much that you don't have time for all the bells and whistles anyway! While I would rate our DCL on-board experiences higher, I wouldn't hesitate to sail NCL again if the itinerary and price are right. We had a wonderful trip, and I know you will as well!

And wow, your Radiance of the Seas room sounds TINY! But like you said, you can still have an amazing time! :)

I never got good pictures of any whales breaching, although we did see some breaching in the distance, but the highlight of the day was finding a mom and a calf. Because of some markings on the calf, our guide estimated that it was less than two days old. It still looked huge, but if you look carefully at the photo, you can see that its hump looked tiny compared to its mom's! The baby is behind the mom.

IMG_0439 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

The baby had to surface more frequently, so we saw its sweet little hump several times...

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We ended the excursion by seeing a few more lone whales on the way back to Lahaina.

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Whale watching is only an option in the winter, but I highly recommend it. If you can't do whale watching, there are quite a few other options for water activites at the harbor in Lahaina. It was a beautiful area, and we had a great morning.

We headed out to find some whales, and it didn't take long to spot a group. There were three males "courting" a female. Our guide was very excited because the male who was winning had a white underbelly. That meant nothing to the rest of us, but she said it was rare, and she was hoping for some more white-bellied babies. We watched as the males showed off to impress the female. Eventually, some of them gave up and left.

The first sign of the group was the spray from their blowholes...

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After watching this group for a little while, we spotted some dolphins and went over to watch them for a bit...

IMG_0348 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

IMG_0349 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

enjoying your review in anticipation of my hawaii cruise in april!

 

i was wondering if you visited/saw many waterfalls? i've heard and read that rainfall has been minimal this year and that may affect or even stop the amount of water.

 

thanks!

We saw many waterfalls! There was a server at dinner on the last night of the cruise that said there weren't as many waterfalls in Kauai that day because it hadn't rained a lot that week, but we saw so many that I couldn't imagine there being more. Perhaps it will be less, but I don't think you will have trouble finding waterfalls!

We had a whale watching excursion with Maui Adventure Cruises booked at 10AM. There were about 25 of us on a zodiac type boat. You could sit under the covered seating area in the middle or on the inflated sides of the boat. Of course, the kids wanted to sit on the edge!

IMG_9254 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

We were in Alaska in the summer of 2013, and we did a whale watching excursion then. We were so fortunate to have a whale breach right next to our boat multiple times during that excursion, and I knew that a repeat of that experience wasn't likely. However, it was so nice being out on the water in the warm sunshine, that I would have enjoyed the 2 hours in the boat even if we hadn't seen any whales!

I loved the view of the sun shining on the island.

IMG_0474 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

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I'm off to a middle school basketball game, so I will post actual photos of marine animals as soon as I can! :)

We woke up on Monday morning about 7:30 and hit the buffet for breakfast. After eating, we disembarked and walked to the car. On the agenda today was whale watching in Lahaina!

Lahaina is on the northwestern coast of Maui, which is a very popular resort area. It is popular for good reason as the rugged mountains in the background and the beautiful blue waters were simply gorgeous! We drove across the valley before the road turned to hug the coastline for a little while. I loved this drive. It only took about 40 minutes to get from Kahului to Lahaina. With our GyPSy Guide giving information and the beautiful scenery, the drive passed quickly.

Lahaina was such a cute town. As we came into the historic downtown area, we were fortunate to find a public parking lot that was free for 3 hours. I'm sure it filled later in the day, but there were spots available at 9:15.

There are shops, historic government buildings (Lahaina was the capital of Hawaii at one time, I think), and the beautiful banyan tree. The banyan tree is huge! It looks like several trees near each other, but it is actually one large tree.

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The center portion...

IMG_9251 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

I loved the feel of Lahaina. You can see some of the buildings in these pics I took as we were leaving the harbor.

IMG_0261 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

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I wish I had better pictures of the downtown area and the coast. If I were to come back to Maui, I would want to stay in the Lahaina/Ka'anapali area and explore the island from there.

Coming next...our whale watching adventure!

We returned to the port area about 2:45. There is free parking near the port. It looked like a small parking area to me, but we got there early enough that we didn't have to worry about a parking space. (The next morning, I did notice that there were cars parked in grassy areas, so I think they just cram as many cars in there as they can.)

You show your ID and ship card to a guard at the edge of the parking lot, and then you take a gated sidewalk to the ship. I have to say that most of the ports in Hawaii are very industrial areas, and they are not attractive AT ALL. I don't know what I was expecting, but these were definitely the most unattractive port areas I have seen in my five cruising experiences (Alaska ports were the prettiest).

We had taken snacks with us in the car, so we didn't stop for lunch. By 3:00, we were pretty hungry. Lunch in the buffet is 11:00-3:00, but they have heavy snacks from 3:00-5:00. The kids wanted to go to Cadillac Diner, but we didn't want to overeat because we had dinner reservations at 6:00, so we promised a future trip to Cadillac Diner and settled on the buffet. After eating, we returned to the room to clean up.

DD LOVES entering the room and finding towel animals, so she squealed with delight when we walked in to find that her Lamby and Pinky had made a new friend...

IMG_9232 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

Our stateroom host was Jinesh. He was great all week, and we appreciated how well he took care of us!

DD decided to go to the kids' club for a little while. There weren't many kids in there, but it was a fine diversion for her while the rest of us fought over the shower and bathroom (not really, of course, but it did help to have someone out of the room when the rest of us were getting ready). We picked her up at 5:00--I'm pretty sure the club was closed from 5-7 every day.

Our dinner on Sunday evening was in Cagneys, and it was delicious! The kids both had burgers, and DH and I had steaks. The kids' truffle fries and mac-n-cheese were so good that I ended up stealing food off their plates (later in the week, I just ordered fries and mac-n-cheese of my own). I can't remember what I had as an appetizer--it might have been a Mexican salad. DH and DS had shrimp cocktail. Hands down, my favorite part of the meal was dessert. DH had crème brulee, and enjoyed it, but the kids and I had Oreo cheesecake. It had a strawberry garnish, and it was delicious. It was definitely one of my favorite desserts of the week.

IMG_9233 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

IMG_9235 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

After dinner, DD went back to the kids' club. She had much more fun in the evening because there were more kids in there. Every night had a theme, and although the appearance of the club was not equal to Disney's club, she had just as much fun (or more so) with the games and activities in the NCL club. DH, DS and I went out to play shuffleboard for a bit and then went to the room to relax. We went to bed excited for a second day in Maui!

This is wonderful to read! Thank you so much for the time and effort you're putting into this! We sail October 29, 2016 and this is just adding to the excitement!

Thank you for reading! It does take time to write, but I enjoy it, and I get to relive the vacation!

Thanks a bunch for posting your wonderful review. We will be boarding the POA in San Francisco (following the dry dock) six weeks from today and I am still wavering about what to do at each port. Reading about your trip up Haleakala is swaying me to think that might be a good choice for us. I was also considering purchasing the Gypsy Guide app and your report makes that sound like a good choice as well.

 

Our cruise will only be spending ONE day in Maui from 8 am to 6 pm. Do you think the trip to Haleakala would fit well within those time constraints? We were considering doing at least part of the Road to Hana, but it sounds like too much driving and not enough time to stop and look around.

 

I am anxiously awaiting the rest of your review from Maui...and also the remainder of your trip! :)

 

Wow. Choosing what to do in one day on Maui is tough! I really loved the beauty of Haleakala, and it was very different from our other experiences in Hawaii. It did take about 4 to 4 1/2 hours round trip, however, so I'm not sure how much time you want to devote. It would be nice if everything was a quick 30 minutes from the ship so you could fit it all into one visit, but I guess it doesn't work that way. I really wanted to see some of the Road to Hana as well, but we didn't think that spending all day in the car would be a good idea with the kids. Also, we are prone to motion sickness, and I know the RTH would have been a tough one with all the curves. I will write about this soon, but we also visited the Lahaina area on the northwest side of the island, and I loved that area as well. What a tough choice!

I'm usually a planner and have things set in stone, but your day might be a good one for a flexible itinerary, perhaps having a plan and a backup plan. Our day at Haleakala was great, but you might be there on a day when it is very cloudy, and that might affect your enjoyment of the crater. It wouldn't be good to spend a large chunk of your day driving up and back down if you couldn't have good views. Of course, if you leave the ship right at 8 and have 9 hours or so, you could potentially go to Haleakala and still have time to drive some of the RTH--I'm just not sure how far you have to go on the road to get bang for your buck.

Sorry I'm not much help, but no matter what you decide, I think the GyPSy Guide would be enjoyable. It isn't pricey, and we enjoyed the commentary during our drive. Even the kids liked it. If I had been sharing the information, the kids would have tuned me out, but if sound is coming from a device, they are all ears! :rolleyes:

I hope you have a wonderful trip! I think you will enjoy having at-sea days and port days! We loved visiting all the ports, but did miss having a few do-nothing days!

IMG_0252 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

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Our ship was way down there...

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Standing on top of the world...

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There are observatories at the summit.

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According to the GyPSy Guide, it wouldn't take much of a rise in sea level for Maui to be two islands. You could see from the top of Haleakala how the valley could be covered with water and the two craters would be separated.

IMG_0223 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

From the lush valleys to the amazing craters, Maui wowed us with its diversity and beauty!

We left the green Iao Valley around 10:15 and headed for Haleakala. It was about 1 1/2 hour drive to the Visitor Center from the valley. Because of many hairpin turns, you have to take the drive slowly. As we climbed the crater, we enjoyed listening to the information on the GyPSy Guide, and we also enjoyed watching the changing landscape and the views of the island as we gained elevation.

At 7,000 feet, you reach the entrance to the National Park. The cost is $15 per vehicle. Then, you climb 3,000 more feet to the Visitor Center at the summit. Prepare to be amazed by the cyclists who are climbing the 10,000 feet up to top. That takes serious muscle and grit!

The crater is truly amazing. It is "otherworldly," almost moon-like. I loved the contrast of the colors of the crater against the blue sky. Speaking of the sky, we were very fortunate in that there were very few clouds. This is rare. We could see where the ship was anchored in Kahului and had a beautiful view of the island as a whole from the summit.

I don't remember if I have been to 10,000 feet before, but I started feeling dizzy and nauseous at the top. Even though the hike from the parking lot to the overlook is short, I had to take it very slowly to avoid becoming sicker. I am in decent shape, so I was surprised by this, and it make me appreciate the efforts of the cyclists even more!

There are hikes you can take into the crater, but most take several hours. We chose the short walk from the parking lot to the summit, and then we also stopped on the way down and hiked a short path to another overlook that was recommended by the ranger at the Visitor Center. I think the name of the overlook was the Leleiwi, but there are several, and we went with the one the ranger recommended. Of course, you could stop at all of them!

I will have to use more than one post for the pics, but here are a few...

IMG_0219 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

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If you look carefully, you can see the trail that goes from the summit into the crater...

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Was there a fee to enter the Iao Valley State Park and if so how much please?

It was $5.00 per vehicle.

How busy was the buffet in the mornings?

It was busy, but I didn't think it was that bad. The day that was the worst was Thursday. Because of the late port arrival time (10:00), it seemed that more people were wanting to eat at the same time. We went to Skyline that morning. At the buffet, we usually sat on the port side, which had a smaller seating section so it seemed less hectic.

Just reread my post and saw that I misused the word it's/its. My OCD nature can't let it go, but CC won't let me edit. Ahhhhhh![emoji23]

We loved the UDP. Le Bistro is the only specialty restaurant with dress code, and even that is not very dressy. You will be fine. You can even wear shorts in the others. I hope you keep the UDP--the specialty restaurants are better than the main dining rooms, and some of them are fun experiences as well!

We sailed on 1/2. While this can't be guaranteed, they allowed people off the ship starting about 9:40. Perhaps you will get a little extra time as well.

If I remember correctly, we woke up on Sunday at about 7. It was a beautiful day in Maui. Truly, all our days were absolutely gorgeous, with brilliant sunshine and a high of 80 degrees. Because it was the rainy season, we were very fortunate with our weather.

We headed to the buffet for breakfast and disembarked the ship a little after 8. My kids and I had brought refillable water bottles on the trip, but DH hadn't. As we walked through the port area, he was glad to see a vendor selling bottles of water for a $1. Most port areas had vendors selling trinkets, but we didn't look carefully at the choices.

As we exited the port, we walked to a corral for passengers needing shuttles to the rental car agencies, and waited for our bus. It didn't take to long for our shuttle to arrive. Picking up the car, however, took a little longer because one of the agents was quite the talker. We had to wait in line while he repeated the same cheesy conversation with several families in line before us. Finally, we got our car and hit the road.

Our plan was to visit Iao Valley State Park and Haleakala Crater. We used an app called the GyPSy Guide, which was fantastic. As you pass points along your route, the guide gives information and stories related to what you are seeing around you. My DD and I especially enjoyed the historical information. The only problem we had was getting started on the right route from the rental car location. If you use GyPSy Guide, I suggest using your regular map app to get started toward your destination, and then switch over to the GyPSy Guide once you are on the right route. We used my phone for the GyPSy Guide (which does not use data as long as it is already downloaded onto your phone), and used my DH's phone for the regular map. Once we got started, however, we were able to turn DH's phone off as both were giving the same instructions.

The Iao Valley State Park was only 10-15 minutes away from the port. It is a historically significant location as it is the site of a bloody battle during Kamehameha's efforts to control the island of Maui. Iao Valley is a rainforest, and it's most prominent feature is the Iao Needle. There is a short hike to a lookout and some pretty gardens. We weren't there longer than 30 minutes, but it was pretty and a fun diversion.

IMG_0193 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

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At about 3:15, we heard the announcement that rooms on deck 9 were ready. Hooray! We went to our stateroom, which was 9654 if I am remembering correctly. This was a family balcony room on the port side. I chose this room because it had a murphy bed that dropped down from the ceiling over the fold-out couch, giving the kids separate sleeping areas (some rooms have the drop down bed, and some don't).

My initial reaction to the room was that it was TINY! Ok, I know that most staterooms are tiny, but there was one aspect that made it seem even smaller than I expected. On Disney ships, which are the only other ships I've sailed, the main bed comes first, then the couch with the drop down bed above it. The POA layout was the same, except for one thing. In the Disney rooms, there is a curtain you can pull to separate the main bed from the couch and murphy bed. I knew there wouldn't be a curtain in the POA room, but even if there had been, we wouldn't have been able to use it because when the murphy bed was down, it extended over the main bed. So...when my DS was sleeping, the end of his bed was hanging over my head. I'm guessing the room was a good 2-3 feet shorter than Disney rooms, as this is how much further his bed was extending into the master bed area. In all honesty, it worked out fine, but when we walked into the room for the first time, my claustrophobic nature kicked in for sure! (Sorry I don't have a pic to show this!) Another note: when the couch is extended, there is NO room to walk. There is a section on the end that you can push under the rest of the bed to allow movement.

Another key difference in the Disney rooms and the POA rooms is the bathroom. Disney ships have split bathrooms. There are two smaller bathrooms: one with a sink/shower and another with a sink/toilet. This allows two sink areas and allows someone to get ready while leaving the toilet area available. The shower in the POA bathroom was super tiny, but there was ample storage in the bathroom, even for a family of 4. Just a tip: one of the side mirrors opens for more storage. We didn't notice this at first, but our stateroom host left it open on the first night when he noticed that we hadn't used the space.

There was a coffee pot and supplies, but we don't drink coffee, so we put it in the closet so we could use the shelf space. The ice bucket was also stocked when we came into the room. We moved this as well.

Once our luggage was delivered, I began the unpacking process, and despite my initial reactions to the space, I was able to find storage areas for all our stuff.

I was worried about the size of the room, both before the cruise and at first glace. I had even called to see about an upgrade to a suite the week before. We could have upgraded for $1000, and we would have had a bigger room. BUT, we wouldn't have had a better bed situation. The available suites had the main bed and a fold-out (no extra murphy bed). I knew the kids would not want to sleep in the same bed, so we kept the smaller room. In hindsight, this was the best decision. With every day being a port day, we weren't in the room often. We all had our own sleeping spots, and it was fine. Yes, the room was small, but it suited our needs and worked well for us.

We went to Skyline, one of the main dining rooms, for muster at 4:45. After that, DS wanted to play basketball. Basketballs have to be checked out near the pool and carried to the basketball court. Then, they have to be turned in by 5 or 6 most nights. This was disappointing to DS. Because every day was a port day, evenings were really the only opportunity to play, but the balls had to be turned in early. He usually spends a lot of time on the sports deck on Disney ships playing soccer or basketball. POA didn't have soccer, and the basketball hours were limited. This was a downside for him, but he did enjoy working on his shuffleboard skills, which was always available.

DD and I went to the pool to see the Hawaiian blessing. There wasn't a huge crowd there, and we enjoyed it.

IMG_9197 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

IMG_9196 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

Then, we watched the sun set.

IMG_9201 by Lauren Sullivan, on Flickr

During our cruise, the sun set just before 6:00. After this, we headed to dinner. When we booked, we were able to choose the Ultimate Dining Package free. We REALLY enjoyed this. Our dinners in the specialty restaurants were very good. I don't feel like I am comparing apples to apples because we only eat in the main dining rooms on Disney ships, but the food we ate on POA was better than Disney. As far as reservations are concerned, I am the OCD planner who booked our dinner reservations well in advance. But, most restaurants did have availability at some point each evening, particularly after 7:30 or so.

Our first night was La Cucina, which turned out to be a family favorite (all kids like pasta, right?). We started with some tasty sourdough, and then shared plates of calamari and a pizza for our appetizers. For our main courses, DH and DS both ordered chicken parm, which was huge and very tasty. I got carbonara, which I really liked as well. I don't remember what DD had--she liked mine and ended up eating off my plate. :rolleyes:

DH loved the tiramisu, but the kids and I didn't enjoy our desserts as much. Even though we were quite full, we walked through the buffet on our way out for DS to get some soft serve ice cream. At this time, I noticed the crepe station. They offer crepes every night in the buffet, and they are delicious. Even though we ate at the specialty restaurants, I visited the buffet for a crepe almost every night of the cruise! YUM!

By the time we were finished with dinner, we were very tired. Back in our stateroom, we went on the balcony and looked at the lights of Honolulu in the distance. We still hadn't adjusted completely to the time change, so we turned in early, excited to see Maui the next day!

Even if you have your tickets reserved, you still have to wait in the same line with everyone else at PH to pick up your tickets. This was a surprise to me, and we had to wait in a LONG line to pick our tickets up. With that being said, here are several things to consider. 1) The line moves very quickly because the tickets are free and no money is changing hands. 2) If your reserved time is later in the day, I would guess the line is not long. The line is super long in the morning because all of the people who are hoping to get same day tickets are in line. Once those tickets are gone, no one needs to stand in line except the people picking up reserved tickets for later in the day.

We got there at 7:30 to pick up our 9:00AM tickets. I was panicking because the line was so long, and I was afraid we wouldn't make it to the counter by 8. The instructions had said to pick up your tickets an hour before or they would be given away. I approached a park ranger, who told me that they would not give my tickets away at 8--they were only trying to get people there early so the long lines would not keep them from missing their tour time. We made it to the counter right at 8, so I didn't have to test her info, but I'm assuming she knew what she was talking about.

I would get online two months in advance and get an afternoon time. Then, you'll be fine. It's a great experience that shouldn't be missed! Also, if you get there early, there are plenty of free exhibits to see before your ferry to the memorial.