Pride of America Review (6/3/17-6/10/17)

Thank you. Do I google his name or does he have a business name?

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Just Google "Jack Harter Helicopters." Great reviews on trip advisor. We did the "doors off" ride, and it was beyond fantastic. Pricey, but fantastic!

We will be having aft balconies this March (3 cabins) ... did you have the balcony divider opened between the cabins? Thanks, Jan

We did not have the balcony divider opened. We could still see each other & talk around the divider. The divider gave us privacy from the in-laws when we wanted it [emoji4]

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We did not have the balcony divider opened. We could still see each other & talk around the divider. The divider gave us privacy from the in-laws when we wanted it [emoji4]

 

 

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Thanks for replying!!!! Privacy is good! :) Jan

We are leaving in a few days for the POA cruise. We are booked on Na'pali Experience but are up in the air about it. By reading your review you had time to squeeze in Waimea Canyon in the same day? Can you share what time you got your car and how long it took to tour the canyon and then get to the boat? Honestly, I am impressed by the taco lunch before boarding this tour. I am scared to death we will get seasick (never have before but read it is common on these tours) Would you do the boat tour again? I would love to hear anyone's experience with this. I am also not so keen on their waiver which I am sure is standard. LOL

Three of us are not prone to sea sickness at all but two are. We all took Bonine as directed. Everybody at lunch and nobody was sick. My husband and I got off the ship as soon as we could to get the car and then found a bank to get cash for tips and then returned to get the rest of the family at the ship. I don't know what time we actually got on the road to the canyon. We didn't know we'd be able to do both so we hadn't planned for it but I realized that it was possible so we went for it. We weren't able to do all the hikes we would have wanted but we weren't super rushed either. I wouldn't cancel the Na'pali experience. We all loved it and we loved the canyon too. Don't get me wrong, it was a long packed day but we loved it. Don't stress about the waiver - it was a standard waiver. I can't give you exact times but I can tell you we got in line to get off the boat as soon as we could and after picking up the rest of the family from the ship we didn't stop anywhere before going to the canyon. One tip, use the restaurant bathrooms before heading to the harbor because when we were there the harbor bathrooms were unusable to change in or use the toilets. Enjoy your trip!

Three of us are not prone to sea sickness at all but two are. We all took Bonine as directed. Everybody at lunch and nobody was sick. My husband and I got off the ship as soon as we could to get the car and then found a bank to get cash for tips and then returned to get the rest of the family at the ship. I don't know what time we actually got on the road to the canyon. We didn't know we'd be able to do both so we hadn't planned for it but I realized that it was possible so we went for it. We weren't able to do all the hikes we would have wanted but we weren't super rushed either. I wouldn't cancel the Na'pali experience. We all loved it and we loved the canyon too. Don't get me wrong, it was a long packed day but we loved it. Don't stress about the waiver - it was a standard waiver. I can't give you exact times but I can tell you we got in line to get off the boat as soon as we could and after picking up the rest of the family from the ship we didn't stop anywhere before going to the canyon. One tip, use the restaurant bathrooms before heading to the harbor because when we were there the harbor bathrooms were unusable to change in or use the toilets. Enjoy your trip!

Thanks so much for your honest and speedy response! It sounds like you had a wonderful trip!!

Hilo: all 5 of us booked a bike tour through bikevolcano.com. The tour guides Pretty & Mike picked us at the port along with another couple of groups. We picked up a couple more groups that were staying elsewhere on the island and drive to the national park. They fitted us with bikes & helmets and off we went. 15 miles total. Some decent hills. MIL made it 6 miles and then hopped a ride with Pretty in the van that followed behind us. Hills got the best of MIL because she couldn't master the gears. A fellow rider clocked us at 37 mph on the downhill. I was concerned about my 11 yr old but she was first, right behind the guide. We all had a great time (even MIL) because the guides were friendly, knowledgeable, lunch was good (included) and the park was neat.

Hi Sara. Thanks for your review. It looks like you and your family had a great time. We are taking our 2nd cruise on the POA in March 2018 (will be our first time in an aft balcony) and I am looking for different activities than we did the first time. I am interested in this bike tour and was wondering if you could give me a few more details. Did it include any hiking? Did you get to see any lava (kind of up close?) Did it make any stops at any of the key points of interest in the park? If so, where?

Hi Sara. Thanks for your review. It looks like you and your family had a great time. We are taking our 2nd cruise on the POA in March 2018 (will be our first time in an aft balcony) and I am looking for different activities than we did the first time. I am interested in this bike tour and was wondering if you could give me a few more details. Did it include any hiking? Did you get to see any lava (kind of up close?) Did it make any stops at any of the key points of interest in the park? If so, where?

Have a great time & I bet you'll love the aft balcony! No hiking with the bike ride. No actual lava flowing seen on the bike ride but it does stop at points of interest like the lava tubes. You park the bikes at the lava tube and walk through them (like 10 minute walk).

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Have a great time & I bet you'll love the aft balcony! No hiking with the bike ride. No actual lava flowing seen on the bike ride but it does stop at points of interest like the lava tubes. You park the bikes at the lava tube and walk through them (like 10 minute walk).

 

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Thanks Sara. I just finished reading through the whole description on the Bike Volcano web site and it looks like a great day. It's now on my short list of things to do in Hilo :)

We are on the Nov. 4th cruise. Do you remember how long you allowed to return rental cars and return to the ship? I know that most posters have said to not leave car overnight in parking lot on Maui, but can be safely done in Kauai by paying the $20. We have cars rented in each port except Kona where we are taking snorkel trip through ship excursion. A little nervous about returning cars and having sufficient time to get back to ship. Sounds like you had a great trip...we are doing 3 day pre-cruise in Honolulu and 3 days post cruise on Maui....

Thanks for the review. We sail March of 2018 and having so much fun planning! We are also thinking of doing Diamond Head before we sail. Did you rent a car? Take a cab? Also, how late did you go back to the ship in Maui and Kaui on the first days there?

Thanks for the review.

We are on the Nov. 4th cruise. Do you remember how long you allowed to return rental cars and return to the ship? I know that most posters have said to not leave car overnight in parking lot on Maui, but can be safely done in Kauai by paying the $20. We have cars rented in each port except Kona where we are taking snorkel trip through ship excursion. A little nervous about returning cars and having sufficient time to get back to ship. Sounds like you had a great trip...we are doing 3 day pre-cruise in Honolulu and 3 days post cruise on Maui....

We left about an hour. The only place we cut it close was Kauai. We got caught in traffic heading back to the rental car place so we didn't have time to fill with gas (paid for that!!). Enjoy!

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Thanks for the review. We sail March of 2018 and having so much fun planning! We are also thinking of doing Diamond Head before we sail. Did you rent a car? Take a cab? Also, how late did you go back to the ship in Maui and Kaui on the first days there?

We took a taxi there & then there were lots of taxis lined up to take people back when we were finished. We got back to the ship the first day in Maui about 6 pm (we think) and Kauai about 9:30 pm. We had very full days and were exhausted! Have fun planning!

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Thanks for the review. We Cruise Hawaii next December. Can't wait!

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Thanks for the great review. We sail next April. What is a good time to get to the port to board the ship?

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Thanks for the review. We'll be on the POA next year.

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