Pride of America - "The Suite Life" - 7/16/11 - a cruise review

Really excellent review. Looking forwrd to the rest. We are doing this cruise next January in an SB suite with 6 days at the new Disney Aulani resort first. Simply can't wait!

My Hawaii cruise is not until April 2012, but I have been researching and planning just like you did. All my excursions except for one are planned and I am anxiously waiting. I do have a cruise on the Freedom of the Seas is October to help tide me over.

Thanks so much for your wonderful review.

Pat

Day 1 – Maui – The Road to Hana 7/17/11

Long before I informed the family of our destination for the family cruise in Hawaii I had begun scouring the Cruise Critic boards for information to help plan for the tours and excursions that we would take.

My hobby for years, OK some would say my obsession, has been gathering information from the CC boards that might be relevant and useful to our family cruises.

I learned how important planning was years ago and it paid huge dividends for us when we sailed the Jade to the Med from Southampton in July 2009. We had a private tour company waiting at every port for us to debark the ship and take us on a full day of sightseeing. 7 person minivans and flexibility you cannot match with any offering that the cruise line may offer. Oh yeah, and a lot cheaper.

Tip # 18 – Cheap guys like me get to cruise more often. Doing your homework pays dividends

Fast forward to 2011 and our cruise on the POA. I knew that we had 2 days in Maui so I went looking for a tour company to take us on the Road to Hana on Sunday, the first day in port. I knew that I did not want to rent a van and then be the driver for the day. Especially when I knew that I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going. After reading many reviews I selected Valley Isle Excursions for our Road to Hana tour.

http://www.tourmaui.com

One of the other things I learned from my studies was that if you were on a tour bus for the Road to Hana, sit on the left side behind the driver. This seemed to be common advice, in fact one of the terrific hosts in Lazy Js made the same recommendation.

Before we went to bed on Saturday night I tried to impress upon my family that we had to get up and get moving immediately upon the wakeup call in the am as we were to meet our tour bus at 8:05am. I am sure you can see where this is going….

6:30 am – Wake up call. Mom and I spring into action, fast showers fast dress, pack the backpack and cameras and towels and suits and all the other crap we thought we would need. Then there were the 3 kids in a comatose stupor reacting to our yells and demands that they get moving as though they had been deaf since birth.

Tip # 19 – Remember to pack for the next day’s excursion BEFORE you go to bed.

7:15 am we staggered in to Lazy J’s for our first suite perk breakfast. They were of course ready for us. Bright, cheerful, organized, eager to please. Normally I hate people like that at 7:15 am. I resisted the urge to smack someone.

Lazy J’s had a buffet table laid out every am with numerous juices, breads, rolls, croissants, fruits, cereals, breakfast meats, etc. The staff was always quick to take your order as they knew that you were probably already late for whatever you were planning to do. Orders were always served hot and correct. After ordering you would go to the buffet to grab your pre entre items. I cannot impress upon you how wonderful this benefit was. For anyone that has cruised before and witnessed the chaos and carnage that can occur at the buffet, especially on the first port morning, the calm and peaceful elegance of Lazy Js is priceless.

Tip #20 - If you are in a suite or a VIP, do not pass up this benefit.

At 8 am we wandered out of Lazy Js and instead of going directly to the stairwell to head to the debark deck, suddenly we were heading back to our suite for last minute items that Mom and I had thoughtlessly forgotten to pack. Grrrrrrrrrrr

Tip #21- See tip 19

At 8:10 my cell rang as the driver of our tour bus was wondering where we were. We met him and the rest of our fellow Road to Hana bus mates at 8:20 after a hasty and spirited trot from the ship.

Guess where the last 5 seats available on the tour bus were. As it turned out, it really did not matter.

Tip # 22 - Sit back and enjoy the ride when you can.

The Valley Isle tour buses hold 12 people in relative comfort. The driver brought a cooler stocked with water and pop and ice. I later learned from a conversation that I had with another of our shipmates at the Waikiki bar later that day that the NCL arranged excursions took place in the same sized vans as ours, but they had 20 people!!

I am not sure how that was possible, but can only imagine the lap dances that ensued on the bumpy road to Hana………

I am glad that I made the decision not to drive the Road to Hana on my own. I know I could have done it, but it allowed me the chance to sit back and enjoy the ride. The driver provided an entertaining and informative narrative along the route and took us to sure fire sights that were well worth the stop.

One tidbit he shared with us that a break down on the road to Hana was a very expensive proposition. $650 fixed fee tow truck charge. Yikes! No idea how truthful that was, but I was relieved I was in no position to find out.

We made numerous stops at breathtakingly beautiful sights. Scenic shorelines and surf, waterfalls etc. I wonder how the uninformed driver making the trip for the first time would know where to go? I surely would not. One of our stops was at the church and graveyard where Charles Lindberg was buried. A very interesting story was related to us by the driver that made it so interesting. It was special to see this and the gravesites of his 6 pets as well.

Tip #23 – Sometimes you will be surprised by things you had no idea you wanted to see

A few members of my family struggled with motion sickness on this tour. I had planned ahead for this as reviews I read indicated that this could be an issue. I brought Dramamine and after an hour or so the drug worked well to prevent any volcanic breakfast eruptions.

Tip# 24 – If someone in your group is prone to motion sickness, take Dramamine or bonine in advance. Remember to look out the windows straight ahead vs out the side.

It is impossible to relate via words the beauty and experience that is the Road to Hana. I highly recommend that you try this tour.

Another tidbit that the driver shared had to do with an area that was more than ½ way through the 142 mile Road to Hana tour.

There is an area that is hard to keep paved because it is a natural volcanic route for water deposited in the mountains and hills in the form of rain to exit to the sea. He said that there have been tours he conducted where he made it through and the tours behind him did not. Think rushing water. As a result, those tours got back to the ship between 7-8 PM vs 5 PM because they had to turn around and go back the way they came.

Tip #25 Do the Road to Hana Tour on day1 in Maui. Who cares when you get back!

Probably the best memory of the tour for me was our stop at the Pools of Oheo.

http://www.gohawaii.com/maui/regions-neighborhoods/east-maui/pools-of-oheo

It was a terrific day weather wise and the pools were open for visitors. The family was glad they brought their towels and suits as it provided a unique and delightful swimming experience in a gorgeous setting. I was able to take a lot of pics.

We returned to the POA from our tour almost exactly at 5pm and we wandered back to the port where we encountered one of the strangest security experiences we have ever been confronted with at any port.

The family wandered through security and I put the beach bag and backpack through the scanner.

Then I watched a security person go through every nook and cranny of everything in the bags on a puritanical search for god knows what. She took every stone and even the snack ziplock bag of black sand out of the bags and kept them like they were some kind of natural treasure. She took every bathing suit and checked its pockets, every pair of shorts etc.

My son was particularly sad at this event as he has a passion for collecting unique stones and sand developed from our many prior cruise excursions to other lands.

Please note: If these items had been in my pockets, they never would have known as my son had a few other rocks in his possession when he went through security.

We did not encounter this bizarre behavior again in any other port. (If anyone goes to a Maui black sand beach on a future cruise and they have any extra sand left over to share, drop me an email)

The family retired to our suite and everyone took some time to relax. I showered and headed to the Waikiki Bar for a Martini or three and a couple cigars before dinner at Jefferson’s Bistro. This was only the second day of the cruise but I was quickly in a position to relate our day’s experiences with my new found bar mates from Saturday in a matter of minutes. After a few days, I felt like I was Norm at Cheers.

We arrived promptly at Jefferson’s Bistro at 7pm. It was NOT busy and we had amazing service and attention.

I could not make my mind up on the main course so our server brought me both! ( Heh heh, I has NO idea this would happen) We all enjoyed our dinner as Jefferson’s ( Le Bistro on other NCL ships) is our favorite.

We knew we were coming back Friday night ( the last night of the cruise) so we did not exercise the platinum benefits that my wife and I have. (ie 2 free dinners each and a complimentary bottle of wine each at Le Bistro)

One of my families favorite desserts is the Chocolate Fondue at Le Bistro…err Jeffersons Bistro. Me, I like the crème brulee. But it is fun to watch the rest of the family fighting over 2 Chocolate Fondues for 2 .

The wife ignored my suggestion that we get a fondue to go and send the kids to the show. I guess the honeymoon is over. (Note- Our first cruise was our honeymoon on the NCCL Southward in May 1984…they did NOT have a chocolate fondue)

After dinner the kids wanted to see a show, Mom wanted to crash and I wanted to go back to the Waikiki bar for some more relaxation.

Tip # 26 - Everyone needs to be free to do what they want. Don’t over plan, especially after a busy day.

Tomorrow is a sea day. Confused by that statement? I will explain tomorrow.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/580568101SpJwFr Pics from the Road to Hana

My understanding is that the treatment of the category SH cabins on the POA as a suite is an experiment. When I booked this cruise, this cabin was nothing more than a large mini suite, or in other words, a deluxe balcony cabin. The amount I paid for the 5 of us for the cruise was almost half of what the other SH cabins were selling for weeks before our cruise. I got a ridiculously good deal. And then they added full suite perks.

 

If NCL makes the suite status permanent, I would hope they would revisit the cabin and make some upgrades to insure that the quality of the furnishings is equivalent to those that are in other suites.

 

We are not coffee drinkers so the first thing we had the cabin attendant do was remove the coffee maker and supplies to free up more space for us to distribute our clutter to....

 

The only issue we had with our cabin the entire cruise was a lack of beach towels. We would leave the wet ones on the cabin floor but they were never replaced. No big deal as the supply closet was across the hall from our cabin and it was always unlocked.

I hope that this is a permanent change. We are looking at the PoA for Summer 2013 and would like to be in a suite. This category looks like it would work well for our family of 4. We would like the 2 bedrooms like the SC's ideally.

This is great. I am enjoying all the details. I am the planner and researcher in the family. I appreciate your perspective of traveling with family since I too cruise with my two teenagers. I have been charged by the Boss (DW) to get as much info as possible for this cruise. The summer of 2013 cruise will be my son's send off before he starts college. You are making my job a lot easier, thank you!

Pride of America – Port of Honolulu – 7/16/2011

"They were just finishing setting up a big table loaded with Leis just before the embarkation picture station. I asked if I could get some for my family so they wandered over to the VIP lounge with Leis and bestowed them upon all of us Leiless passengers."

 

Is this only for VIP passengers? What is the cost of the leis to purchase?

Thanks!

Pride of America – Port of Honolulu – 7/16/2011

"They were just finishing setting up a big table loaded with Leis just before the embarkation picture station. I asked if I could get some for my family so they wandered over to the VIP lounge with Leis and bestowed them upon all of us Leiless passengers."

 

Is this only for VIP passengers? What is the cost of the leis to purchase?

Thanks!

 

This was not just for suite passengers and there was no cost.

 

Apparently everyone received a Lei before the embarkation photo.

 

When we got our embarkation photo the Leis were not yet set up. That is why they walked around and found those passengfers that had arrived early to give them a Lei.

 

Funny story - We found our picture from embarkation later in the week in the photo gallery. Our son had worn a green T shirt at boarding. The photo was taken against a green screen witha superimposed background.

 

When we got the picture, my sons shirt was gone, all we saw were his exposed arms and head and lower torso. Very memorable picture. They offered to fix it but we said no way.

Excellent detailed review with lots of good advice!!! Just what I needed - since it looks like we may be going on POA in 2012.

 

Funny story - We found our picture from embarkation later in the week in the photo gallery. Our son had worn a green T shirt at boarding. The photo was taken against a green screen witha superimposed background.

 

When we got the picture, my sons shirt was gone, all we saw were his exposed arms and head and lower torso. Very memorable picture. They offered to fix it but we said no way.

That's hilarious! I will definitely make a mental note of that. (Although, my 13-year-old son will probably want to wear a green shirt on purpose!):D

I'm eagerly awaiting more of your review!:)

Maui Day 2 - A day at sea 7/18/11

Long before I finished our plans for our Hawaiian land vacation and cruise I made the decision to build down time into our vacation schedule. We learned the hard way over the years that port intensive cruises and taking on Walt Disney World like it was a D Day landing for 8 days and nights left us tired and irritable. Sometimes sick.

Our family has grown to love sea days on our cruises. Why? They mean you get to sleep in, do as little as possible, find time for you and to just get away from it all. We got spoiled on The Norway with her 2.5 days at sea to start her cruises to the Eastern Caribbean. By the first port we had energy and were ready for anything.

Fast forward to Hawaii.

The day after we flew in was a sea day on land. We hung at the hotel and beach all day and sunned and baked.

Now it was day 2 in Maui and it was “a day at sea” for our family. Some of us took sleeping in to a new level. (Think teenage kids that could sleep till 1pm on any summer vacation day and any Saturday and Sunday.)

I set an 845 am alarm for Mom and I because we wanted to take full advantage of our Lazy Js breakfast privilege before they closed at 10 am.

We arrived to a fairly quiet Lazy Js as most of the early risers had come and gone. We were warmly greeted by name by the restaurant host who always took time to chat with us whenever we dined. I wish I could remember his name. We ordered and then sauntered to the buffet tables to pick out some goodies to keep us occupied until the main course arrived. I got hooked on fresh Maui gold pineapple freshly sliced and waiting for us every morning, as well as some chocolate drizzled flaky rolls. Fresh juice galore was a nice touch as well. I know the wife enjoyed taking a couple boxes of breakfast cereal back for snacks as well.

We left to go kick our kids out of bed, but not before we gathered up some breakfast rolls, croissants, and fruit and to go glasses of milk and juice. Sometimes hunger works better than threats of violence.

The staff was more than happy to accommodate our carry out requests, especially since were informed that everything that remained on the buffet was to be thrown out at that time. They brought plates with those covers that you see in the main dining room when the waiters bring out a dozen dinners at a time and paper cups with lids for the drinks.

Back at the room I took time out to do a few chores. Every day I took a few minutes to download our photos from the digital camera cards. I brought my air card and computer with me and since we had Verizon and a great signal in most ports, I was able upload our pics daily as well. This was a nice feeling of security for someone who has lost memories to glitches and lost cards before.

After a few minutes it was obvious that our kids were still too sacked out to eat or rise.

Mom and I put on bathing suits, grabbed towels and went up to deck 13 to the pool area by the Waikiki bar to hog some chairs for the day.

I sent Mom ahead saying I forgot something and then I went back to find the room steward who I highly encouraged to go bang on our door numerous times until he roused our angelic urchins. Heh heh.

The deck chairs aft on deck 12 are arranged in a semi- circle around the small but well used pool aft. From my perch on deck 13 in the shade by the bar I was able to keep watch over my spouse, kids and their needs all day.

OK, I pretty much paid no attention to them as I sipped beer and smoked cigars all day until someone yelled or waved me down to get them a drink, but hey I was there for them.

About a half hour after we got comfortable our kids started magically appearing. They complained that someone from housekeeping kept banging on the door to clean the room. Heh heh.

At some point before lunch I decided I needed some exercise and wandered down to the promenade deck which I circled several times for an hour. It is a treasure to find a ship these days with a promenade that goes all the way around. The one on the POA is especially wide and well cared for.

Somewhere in the early afternoon before Lazy Js closed for lunch service, I wandered in by myself and ordered my favorite lunch menu item, the Sesame encrusted Ahi tuna sandwich, rare. These are very good and of course I had to have a piece of carrot cake to balance out the meal, especially since I had actually exercised! Again the restaurant was quiet and not very busy. After having spent the majority of our lunches onboard ships in the chaos and bustle of the buffet finding the items our picky eaters wanted, the peaceful quiet of a lunch in Lazy Js was a luxury.

The balance of the afternoon was spent engaged in conversations with shipmates by the bar, delivering drinks and snacks to the pool area and just general laziness.

Eventually we headed in and showered for dinner at 7. But not before we enjoyed the sail away at 6pm from Maui on our balcony. It has become a tradition that we all gather and enjoy the sail-away from our aft balcony while taking numerous pics and saying goodbye to a new favorite place.

Tonight was dinner at Little Italy. The food and service were terrific and although I do not remember what we all had, I know we all walked away satisfied. The kids wandered off to see a show, Mom and I decided to crash early and pack our to-go bags for tomorrow’s tour of Hilo.

Task complete, I used my new found energy to wander up to deck 13 and the Waikiki bar where I swapped stories and shared drinks and a cigar or 3 with my new shipmates. I crashed at a relatively early 11 pm since that 630am wakeup call and breakfast at Lazy Js was waiting.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/580696135pNjITR Maui Day 2 pics and videos

Fantastic review! Love your style of writing and extra comments. Just wondering...what is your profession?

DH and I will be on the POA in September 2012. We have a balcony B6cabin. I am enjoying your comments on how you are spending your days pre cruise and cruise. I might have my days filled a little too much. I need to revisit my plans. I do plan to do Road to Hana with Valley Isle the first day and then the Best of Maui the second day.

We will be in Honolulu two days pre cruise. The only plan there is World War 1 from the beginning to the end.

I check for your review before I go to bed or when I get up each day as I am sooooo excited to read your review and enjoy your wonderful pictures. I will probably write a "mini" review next year, however, it will not have near the flavor of your"series". Nor do I know how to download pictures...actually I am technically challenged. Continue the outstanding job.

I like your sea day idea. We will be doing the Haleakala Sunrise our 2nd day in Maui but will be back on ship early enough to have a relaxing rest of the day. I believe we found our resting place - deck 13 thanks to you. DH can smoke his cigars, have a beer and we can get some sun. I am betting their won't be many chair hogs (except us) since many will be in port. Sounds like you had a perfect and relaxing day!!! I look forward to reading your stories every morning - thank you for an awesome job with this writing - it is very enjoyable!!!:D

Keep it coming. I am taking notes!

This review is awesome. :)

Cruising on POA in November...can't wait..thanks for your enjoyable review...laughing all the way here in Massachusetts. We are staying at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach for 2 nights before the cruise. Great suggestion for Maui...thanks. Looking forward to reading more.

Great Great Review !

And thanks for emailing me the FreeStyle Dailies!

Hello Hilo - 7/19/11

You will notice that in my review of our sea day yesterday I failed to give any tips as had been my custom in my earlier review segments.

As I typed and reminisced about that day, I drifted into a lazy hazy state that left me incapable of giving advice. I also started drinking beer and smoking cigars too which may have contributed to my failure. Sorry…….

Earlier in my review, I indicated that there were some arguments about who slept where in our cabin.

The category SH aft family suites are made up of 4 compartments. One is the bathroom; the other three are as follows:

1) Master bedroom, queen bed and TV (basically an inside cabin inside the suite..ie no window)

2) Single bedroom, single bed, sliding door and TV complete privacy and big window to the balcony wrap around)

3) Pull out double located in front of the sliding door to the balcony, TV across the way

My son and I took the master bedroom as it was rejected by my wife because it lacked a window.

We promptly glued the separate a/c control in that room to the bottom of the scale and dubbed the room “the meat locker” for the rest of the cruise. (Oh yeah and we got all the towel animals, pretty much a new one every day. We got in trouble with Mom later when she discovered the unusual things we had our towel animals doing)

Tip #27 – Inside cabins are great. You turn out the light and they are pitch black. Great for sleeping

My 20 yr old daughter played the “I am the oldest” trump card and took the single.

Mom and the youngest daughter took the pullout by the sliding door. The curtains were never closed on this cruise.

These arrangements for the most part kept us out of each other’s way, prevented Armageddon from breaking out over the temperature controls, and of course prevented Mom and I from bringing home any new cruise souvenir/children.

Tip # 28 - Bring your kids along for the cruise. They make you practice the safest sex, abstinence.

As promised the wake- up call arrived promptly at 630 am. Today we all got up and went to Lazy js for breakfast. Granted it took a long time to finally get everyone upright and properly motivated.

We had a tour guide to meet at 8:30 and today we were not going to be late. We had packed our bags the night before so we were more prepared today.

After a calm and tasty breakfast at a busier than yesterday Lazy Js we grabbed our bags and headed off the ship in search of our tour guide who was waiting as promised for us just outside the terminal.

As a result of my advance planning I made arrangements to take a private guided tour for the day from “Big Island Aina Tours”

http://www.ainatours.com/index.htm Gil and Tina Nelson

Tina was our guide for the day and she did a great job tailoring the tour to the items I had mentioned in advance when I contacted them.

Tip #29 – Private tours can be easily tailored to what you want to see.

My youngest daughter is a turtle lover and we made several stops at beaches and parks where they would typically be found, but alas, we did not find many.

The most memorable part of the tour was Volcano National Park. It is hard to describe the size and beauty so I won’t. Look at the pictures at the end. We walked through the Thurston lava tube. Our guide brought flashlights and umbrellas so we were well prepared. There is a section of the lava tube that we visited that is very dark, wet and unimproved. The kids had a blast wandering through this and its pitch darkness. I highly recommend a trip to VNP.

We drove all over the island taking in scenic beauty overlooking the ocean and water falls. We stopped for lunch at the Mauna Loa plantation. The visitor center is in the middle of a veritable sea of mac trees and has a snack center that served decent lunch fare.

My only complaint of the tour was with the Mauna Loa visitor center store. I LOVE macadamias. But I really only like the dry roasted and salted version. Guess which kind they did not have. You could have bought them dipped in just about everything else though.

The waterfalls that you see in my pictures and videos at the end of this section of the review were amazing. Very memorable and I recommend that you find a way to see the big ones. Wish I remembered the name but I suspect that any tour guide worth their salt will take you there. Yeah, there was an admission fee, but well worth it.

On the way to VNP we stopped at a big barn full of Orchids and flowers on display and that were for sale. I am not one for taking flower pics, but damn these were amazing.

We ended our touring by stopping for some shave ice and shopping before returning to the ship. This was a nice treat and carried us over until dinner. We ended our tour about 5 and said good bye to Tina. I would recommend this tour service to others.

Back on board we all gathered on the balcony to watch the sail away from Hilo, wondering if we would ever return.

Eventually there comes a time that everyone in the family decides they want something different to eat. Ever have those nights at home? No one wants to cook and no one wants what anyone else wants to eat and all everyone knows is that they are hungry? Welcome to 7 pm on the seas sailing away from Hilo.

Tonight we made no firm dinner plans in advance. This was a tradition I started on our last cruise on the Epic. (Yeah I know, how can doing it once be a tradition? It’s my review, I make up this stuff as I go) I wanted sushi and no one else in my family will eat it.

The twins went to the Cadillac diner which was their hangout for the cruise when they wanted to get away and nibble on something or have lunch independently. Mom and my oldest daughter decided to hit the buffet, leaving me free to attempt to set a new record for the number of sushi rolls and sashimi consumed at a sitting on a cruise ship.

I wandered down to East meets West where the sushi bar and Teppenyaki were also located. Bad timing on my part as all the second seating diners for Teppenyaki had arrived and were being sorted out and seated, I decided to come back.

I wandered up 1 deck to a large bar overlooking a grand piano with a pianist performing. Very relaxing and actually entertaining.

After a few dirty martinis I went back to East meets West and was greeted by the host all dressed up in a tux.

I told him I was there to eat some sushi.

He asked if I had a reservation.

I said no.

He said sorry, I cannot seat you.

I leaned to the right staring at the sushi bar WITH ABSOLUTELY NO ONE SITTING AT IT, and then I looked back at him and he said “Those seats will all be full soon”

Note: East meets West was not at all busy either. Teppenyaki was packed, but empty tables galore abounded in East meets West.

I left and as I rounded the corner I ran into our concierge who I was just about to go call. Thomas saw me, engaged me in conversation immediately and I told him I was just going to call you.

Two minutes later I was seated at the best seat at the sushi bar being apologized to by the same restaurant host who just a few minutes before had dismissed me. Ahh the suite life.

Tip #30 – You paid for the concierge, do not be afraid to use him.

By the way, the sushi bar never was totally full over the next two hours while I was there making rice and fish vanish.

The rest of the evening was a blur as the result of my sushi coma but I am pretty sure that I once again visited with the family, took in a comedy show and then staggered to the Waikiki Bar for an evening night cap and a cigar.

Tomorrow was going to be something completely different for our family. We all crashed early as we had to be up extra early.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/580704861hENMkA?start=0 Hilo tour and sail away pics

Completely enjoying your review and your humor.....

With the tour company that you used - I was thinking of driving to VNP - did you feel that you had enough time? Did you do Crater Drive?

Love your flower shots and the waterfalls...my goodness gorgeous - were they Akaka Falls and Rainbow Falls that you saw?

thanks so much for doing such a great review.

I look forward to reading this every morning while enjoying a cup of coffee...can't wait for tomorrow morning!!!!:D

Fantastic review! Love your style of writing and extra comments. Just wondering...what is your profession?

DH and I will be on the POA in September 2012. We have a balcony B6cabin. I am enjoying your comments on how you are spending your days pre cruise and cruise. I might have my days filled a little too much. I need to revisit my plans. I do plan to do Road to Hana with Valley Isle the first day and then the Best of Maui the second day.

We will be in Honolulu two days pre cruise. The only plan there is World War 1 from the beginning to the end.

I check for your review before I go to bed or when I get up each day as I am sooooo excited to read your review and enjoy your wonderful pictures. I will probably write a "mini" review next year, however, it will not have near the flavor of your"series". Nor do I know how to download pictures...actually I am technically challenged. Continue the outstanding job.

Thanks for the comments.

I am a CPA by profession and I specialize in tax work.

By the way, I think that you will find very little about WW 1 in Honolulu, WW II on the other hand........

I am a CPA by profession and I specialize in tax work.

How is this vacation written off? Medical expenses or education:D

Just like a CPA (got that eye open for errors...LOL). Yeah, I meant World War 11. Thanks so much for the dailies. I have briefly looked over a couple and will print them off to read while savoring my morning cup of coffee.

Can't wait to check CC before bed tonight or upon rising tomorrow morning to read your new addition. You truly do have many readers looking for your updates on a daily basis. Your review is truly enjoyable. I will have to say again that your style of writing and humor makes for fantastic reading.

Kona 7/20/11

I mentioned in yesterdays review that Kona would be a different experience for our family, so let me explain.

On almost all our excursions ashore on previous cruises our family moved in a pack. We did everything together. When we went to a beach, we were all present but did as little as possible together. When we took a tour, we were all on the same vehicle.

I had been looking forward to Kona ever since I booked the cruise on the last day of March in 2010. Why? Because one of my best friends in the world (Joe) lives on Kona and we have talked about our family coming to visit for years.

He is a bachelor attorney with a fantastic place in the hills overlooking the port of Kona. For the last few months he has sent me pictures of the POA sitting in the harbor on Wednesdays conducting tender operations.

My only fear was that the weather could turn bad enough to prevent tender operations in Kona.

My plan all along was to spend the morning with Joe while the rest of the family went off on some tour together. It took me a long time to narrow down the choices for the family but I eventually floated the idea of the Captain Zodiac snorkel tour by the family. (This is a tour that NCL offers on their shore excursions list. It has some of the highest ratings and very consistent favorable feedback and comments in reviews.) The family liked the sound of it so I booked it for them.

I conveniently forgot to tell them that I was NOT going on the tour with them.

Tip # 31 From the male handbook, chapter 1, paragraph 2, “It is always better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.”

Tuesday night during my sushi incident and intervention, I mentioned to the concierge that I had not received any priority tender tickets for Kona. He mentioned that he had personally delivered them to our mail slot on our door earlier in the evening but they have been having issues with people stealing mail. No big deal for shore excursion tickets as the people that never received them usually complain and they cancel the old ones and issue new ones. I told him I only needed one as the family was taking the Captain Zodiac tour.

At some point after I returned to the cabin in my boozy, sushi, cigar coma state later that evening I think I finally mustered up the courage to tell the wife that I was not going on the tour with them in the AM and in fact was going to go spend the day elsewhere with Joe and that we were going to pick them up and go to lunch after their excursion.

Tip # 31 worked well as after the initial objections (and a right cross and punch to the gut), all seemed workable once the timing and details were confirmed. Especially since the tour was long since sold out. I know damn well if I had this conversation when I booked the tour I would have been going on it as well.

We arose at 6 am and made a visit to breakfast heaven at Lazy Js around 7 ish because their tour required the family to meet on board at 730am for a group tender ashore. We had packed our bags the night before so the only impediment in the am was the rolling out of the ass-jack to get the kids out of bed.

Tip # 32 It really is important to get a good breakfast on port days because hunger and taking time out for lunch ashore can eat up a big part of your precious shore time

I bid the family goodbye and returned to the cabin to grab my going ashore goodies (cigars) and then I headed down to the tender boarding station.

It was surprisingly not busy and I did not need my priority tender ticket as I almost walked right on the tender following the one my family boarded.

After a quick tender to port, I was ashore, said goodbye to the family one more time as they gathered for their tour and then met my friend for breakfast at a local diner overlooking the port area.

Most of the damage from the Tsunami had been repaired but there were still obvious signs of damage that had not yet been dealt with.

Tip # 33 Two breakfasts never hurt anyone.

The remaining details of my morning are boring and mainly involved sitting around after breakfast on my friend’s lanai overlooking his pool and the Port catching up while we smoked cigars and told lies. As I sat there I could not help but wonder if the family was having fun. If not, I was gonna pay for it big time later.

Eventually we went to the Thrifty car rental at the airport to get a minivan for the remainder of the day for touring around the island. We met the family at the Port and then went to a favorite burger joint restaurant of Joe’s before we went off touring.

Kona is lovely and I would like to come back and spend more time there someday as there is lots to do and I was told many stories about the great snorkeling by my family as well as fellow cruisers at the Waikiki Bar that evening.

One story related over lunch about a very fun, fast paced and enjoyable tour. Apparently Mom was the last one off the Zodiac (inflatable tour boat with fast boat motor) into the water for snorkeling at the first stop on their tour route. I can just see her slowly inching her way into the water….much too cold for her liking….. Apparently the captain got fed up with her and pulled out a hose and encouraged her into the water at a much faster pace spraying her with water much to the delight of her kids.

Tip # 34 Sometimes you get a special memory for free. No tip required.

After lunch Joe took us to the City of refuge. This is a park on the island. Interesting story, historical significance and re-creations of how it used to be. Very entertaining to walk around for an hour. Daughter 2 was delighted as there were some green sea turtles frolicking a few feet from shore for her to watch. You can read about it here. I am tired of typing.

http://www.aloha-hawaii.com/big-island/city-of-refuge/

After traveling around and seeing the wonders that are in the Kona area we headed back to the farmers market in downtown Kona to do some shopping. It was there that I finally was able to purchase the elusive macadamia nut snacks that I had come looking for. I got 6 lbs of the dry roasted and salted nuts in sealed 1 lb bags. (As of this writing 3 still exist)

After saying a fond farewell to Joe, we spent our remaining time ashore doing some light shopping in port before grabbing a tender (aka lifeboat) back to the ship.

If you have never tendered ashore and then back to your ship, you have missed one of the truly special and memorable events of a cruise. It is remarkable to see something that appears relatively small in the distance turn into a mammoth ship as you approach.

Depending on weather conditions, your tender trip can be calm or an exciting adventure. On this day the seas were calm, but I know my family remembers a choppy and exciting tender ashore in Jamaica from the mighty Norway aboard her landing craft/tenders with waves crashing over the bow drenching those of us brave enough to sit forward on top. Not everyone had our glee and enthusiasm on that day.

Tip 35 Don’t let the tender operations prevent you from going ashore. They are well run.

Back on board everyone found a quiet spot in the cabin to veg. I took a quick shower and headed to the Waikiki bar to savor the remaining sun with a drink or 3 and a cigar while watching the tenders speed back and forth gathering up our remaining shipmates.

Dinner tonight was at Teppenyaki.

We have dined in the NCL Teppenyakis on the Jewel, Jade and Epic so we had a pretty good idea of what to expect. We were not disappointed. This is a fun dining experience with a lot of food for a family.

The entertainment of the cook and prep of the food makes the time fly by. Most people do not realize that you can request a sushi menu in Teppenyaki to order some appetizers. They are an added charge, but very inexpensive. I added a rainbow roll to my order. As I mentioned before, getting reservations for Teppenyaki can be difficult, unless of course you are living the suite life~!

By now, you probably can predict our after dinner routines. Mom would wander back to the room with one of us and spend the evening relaxing and reading, the kids would go find a show to be entertained by and I would go to home base, the Waikiki bar. This was the first cruise that I had been on where there was no casino to keep me occupied into the wee hours.

I missed the casino. But the lack of BINGO was a godsend. My yougest daughter loves to play bingo and every friggin cruise I dutifully spent hours with her doing so. NCL has taken a fun game and remade it into a money making ordeal. Way too slow and the prices are ridiculous with NCL holding onto between 69 and 72% of the take. (How do I know that? I saw one of their accounting reconciliations on a table once on the Epic. I was shocked)

Tomorrow is day one in Kauai. My research had indicated that weather frequently plays havoc with helicopters and tours so I went to bed a little nervous.

I quickly forgot about that as I had to fight my way through towel animals, pillows and a passed out 18 year old bed hog to find a space to recover from the days wear and tear.

Tip # 36 Well placed ice cubes at midnight are great motivators get people to move. Heh heh.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/580707410umAjiY Kona photos

The pleasure of reading the review continues to get better and better.

Bedtime here on the East Coast, however, still a few hours earlier for you. You might decide to add another segment tonight. Will have to check early tomorrow morning.

Kinda sad, in that you will only have two more cruise days, then debarkation...and maybe some post- cruise time.

Glad to hear your family enjoyed the Zodiac Tour - we have booked it too, thru NCL.

Once again your review is great - I look forward to it daily and will be sorry when it ends. I guess I will have to book my next cruise depending on where your next one is - that way I can enjoy your review and plan my trip!!!