POH's Wonderful Inaugural Voyage

My wife and two pre-teen kids had a mini-suite (class AF) amidships on Deck 11. It was a lovely room, not spacious, but adequate for a family of 4. The balcony has an overhanging porch roof and large opaque walls that gave adequate privacy and blocked the wind. There are two comfortable chairs and a small table. The front of the balcony is glass, so you have an unobstructed view of the ocean from inside the cabin.

The large bed was very comfortable. There are good black out curtains and a curtain that separates the main bed from the pull out sofa. Sound proofing is good. Plugs are minimal, so remember to bring a socket strip.

The bathroom is adequate. There is a bathtup with a sensational shower. You preset the temperature with one control and the water volume with the other, so you never have to re-adjust water temperature. The water was consistently and immediately available at the desired temp. The shower head is a large removable hand unit. Great for washing children. The room has lovely cherry veneer walls, mirrors, lots of storage, a safe--really well done. Outside the cabin door is a dial that you can select "do not disturb", "make up room", etc.

Our cabin steward, Aimee, was charming and responsive. The room was always cleaned up nicely.

I recommend being amidships on decks 9, 10 or 11. The entrance to the Aloha Nui Café, a cafeteria style restaurant, is steps away on Deck 12. There are three banks of elevators, fore, aft and amidships. They will be crowded during peak dinner and shore excursion hours.

The food (with a minor exception) was at least good, usually very good and occasionally excellent. We ate at all of the specialty restaurants, except Jasmine. Cagney’s was superb. All the others were good or very good, except for our second trip to Papa’s. The Aloha Nui Café, Deck 12, offers casual dinning during extended breakfast, lunch and dinner hours. There is direct access from the Café to an outdoor eating area at the stern, a great spot to eat and enjoy the sunsets. The food is always good and plentiful. The Café offers self serve espresso/latte machines, which offers a decent, if not barista level, espresso drinks. Being a Seattleite, I am fussy about my coffee.

Please remember to make all of your restaurant reservations as soon as you embark. The ship only had 1,200 passengers aboard for the inaugural voyage. When the POH travels with a full load of 2,300 passengers on a seven night tour, passengers will risk being shut out of some of the choice specialty restaurants, if they delay.

The ship is an engineering marvel. There is a terrific bridge viewing room with radar, navigation and engineering screens in the bow section, port side, Deck 11. The officers are planning to add a documentary video in the bridge viewing room to show off areas of the ship that are off limits because of security restrictions.

The voyage was generally smooth. The ship deploys 23’ long stabilizer wings while it is underway. We boarded at San Francisco. Our heading to Kawaii was to the SW (242 degrees on the compass). The first two days, we sailed upwind into regular 12 foot swells out of the NW. The ship rolled slowly and everyone zigzagged their way across the decks. From the stairs leading down to the Grand Pacific Restaurant, one could watch the back of the seating area, near the stern, rise and fall 10 plus feet into and out of the ocean, like a well furnished sea saw. However, once we gained a following wind out of the SE on the third day, the ship became so stable that the crew could have hosted a diamond cutters convention. I have a long history of violent motion sickness. I was not sick once. I took no medication.

The 9,000 horse power bow thrusters and the Azipod engines, which spin 360 degrees, allowed the ship to move in any direction--including rotating like a train on a turntable--at ultra low speeds. Tug boats were nearby, but were there only if the ship lost power.

The best part of the ship was the crew, friendly, helpful and sociable to a fault. Yes, minor mistakes occurred, but the crew's ebullience more than compensated. One night, I could not sleep so I wandered the decks at 3:00AM. I wound up talking with Chuck, the pool and Jacuzzi maintenance supervisor, about the ship’s engineering and Patrick O’Brien novels. Like I said, every crew member is ready to schmooze, the essential hallmark of Americans.

NCL may be on the verge of an understaffing crisis on POH. The crew had to put in very, very long hours because many departments were chronically shorthanded. The root of the problem is that all POH crew must hold U.S. merchant marine papers. Presently, over 200 full trained crew members are sitting at NCL's training facility in Maryland awaiting the issuance of their papers—which have been delayed by Homeland Security checks. I fear that this terrific crew will burn out from exhaustion.

The entertainment was good. The stage entertainment was varied and professional, from a authentically funny comedian/ventriloquist (whose female dummy tried to pick me up), to a sensational juggler, to dancing and singing routines. It was all great fun. The ship offered a fascinating five part lecture series by Wayne Chang, a scholar of Polynesian religion, history, culture and current events. One of the other crew members offered lectures on the history of cruising, also very informative. My wife wished that they had better arts and crafts programs. She really wanted to make an entire basket, rather than have a simple demonstration of basket making technique.

The public areas and lounges are vibrantly colored and spacious.

I was especially impressed with Ray Carr, the cruise director. I asked him to consider a navigation and star gazing tour. He set on up right away with Patrick Arnold, the capable third officer. Patrick took us into the dark bow section and showed us the constellations, including the Southern Cross, which I had never seen. Really a treat.

My only grip is that NCL does not offer a regular stargazing venue. The ship is lit up like Las Vegas. The lights were so bright that they obliterated all but the moon and brightest stars. Festival lighting is just right for most public areas, but why not a reduced light space to allow passengers to enjoy the heavens?

All and all a wonderful voyage, a voyage that exceeded my expectations for a shakedown cruise. Thanks NCL!

You sound like you had a wonderful time. I will be sailing in less then three weeks aboard the POH so I am anxious to read everything I can about her! Thanks for the the little review.

We, too, were in an AF on Deck 11, Cabin 11058 on the starboard side. Having picked that cabin without a lot of research, we were quite happy with the location. It couldn't have been much handier to get to the buffet--a short walk to the landing and one flight up the stairs! I often ran up there to get some iced tea or coffee. And one of the doors to the pool deck was right there by the buffet. Sitting in Maui, we had a nice view of the island from our balcony, and it was a great view of Waikiki as we arrived in Honolulu early on the last morning.

We did go up on deck to watch the Napali Coast, but then the ship ended up turning around to go back to Nawiliwili for the medical evacuation, so we got to see it again from our room anyway.

It was a bit of a hike to get up to the bow or to the Stardust Theater, but a little exercise can be a good thing!

And thanks for remembering to mention the great shower controls--they really were nice!

Janice

Boy, that's good to hear because we'll be in 2 adjoining mini-suites (1 for us; 1 for our 2 sons) right next to where yours was!! I was hoping that location would be a good one. Thanks for the input on cabin location!

Great info on the review too! So glad to hear a fair report!

Lady Jag, my parents had the mini-suite next to ours and we had our steward open the divider between the balconies. It was wonderful to be able to talk to each other without having to lean around the divider, and it's much easier to go between cabins. You will love the mini-suites on this ship since they are beautifully decorated and extremely comfortable. I'm sure that you will enjoy being on the wonderful Pride of Hawaii as much as we did.

Lady Jag, my parents had the mini-suite next to ours and we had our steward open the divider between the balconies. It was wonderful to be able to talk to each other without having to lean around the divider, and it's much easier to go between cabins. You will love the mini-suites on this ship since they are beautifully decorated and extremely comfortable. I'm sure that you will enjoy being on the wonderful Pride of Hawaii as much as we did!

Lady Jag, my parents had the mini-suite next to ours and we had our steward open the divider between the balconies. It was wonderful to be able to talk to each other without having to lean around the divider, and it's much easier to go between cabins. You will love the mini-suites on this ship since they are beautifully decorated and extremely comfortable. I'm sure that you will enjoy being on the wonderful Pride of Hawaii as much as we did!

I'm looking forward to it! Glad to hear the balcony divider opens up as well as the door between the two cabins. It'll make it more convenient going between the 2 cabins.

Can I ask you if there was enough closet & drawer space?

There's plenty of storage space. We brought enough clothes for 12 days plus my husband's tuxedo and dresses for me, and we still had room for more. We had an almost identical cabin on the Star to Alaska and we had our grown daughter with us on that trip, and even then there was enough storage space. The bathroom, though, merely has a couple of shelves under the sink and some small shelves on the wall next to the sink. It was enough, but just barely. Do bring a power strip! It's the first time I didn't bring one, and it was the first time I really needed it. There are only two plugs by the desk, not nearly enough for cell phones, laptops, camera batteries, hair straighteners, etc.

Great review. Thank you very much!:D

My only grip is that NCL does not offer a regular stargazing venue. The ship is lit up like Las Vegas. The lights were so bright that they obliterated all but the moon and brightest stars. Festival lighting is just right for most public areas, but why not a reduced light space to allow passengers to enjoy the heavens?

Excellent suggestion. I always look for a place like this when I cruise. It is a joy to find a spot where you can look at the stars and the sea at night. It seems like these spots are getting harder to find.

I've never brought a power strip on the 13 cruises I've been on so far, but now I'm thinking maybe I should. We're going to have both of our cell phones with us, plus if it's humid, I'm going to need the hair straightener and of course our high powered blow dryer.

Our sons' plugs in their cabins will be used up with their cell phones, iPod chargers, and Nintendo DS chargers. YIKES! :eek: I think I'll definitely be needing that power strip!

Thanks for the advice and the info. on the closet space too! I appreciate it! :)

Our sons' plugs in their cabins will be used up with their cell phones, iPod chargers, and Nintendo DS chargers. YIKES! :eek: I think I'll definitely be needing that power strip!

Having two teen sons with electronic umbilical cords to all sorts of hand-held items, I am BANNING them from our trip - this vacation is a time for all of us to de-stress and let our minds wander.

Of course DS & DS don't know this is coming - so wish me luck!

The mini-suites had quite a bit of drawer space. I'm remembering three big deep ones and one REALLY deep one at the bottom big enough for tote bags and lots of laundry bags. There were also three nice small drawers in the desk that were good for paperwork and little stuff. And don't forget that luggage can be stored under the bed. Maybe everyone knows that, but I'm not sure it would have occurred to me if I hadn't read it here earlier!

Be sure to notice that there is a light in the closet; the lighted toggle switch is up high behind the hangers. We didn't see it till almost the last day...

Our 99-cent pack of 10 or 12 colored wire hangers came in so handy and took up very little room. Two packs would not have been too many. The hangers on the ship are designed not to be stolen, and while they are very nice, they're kind of a pain to deal with.

We were so glad to have brought a power strip as a result of reading suggestions on this forum. Another thing that came in really handy was little velcro strips (about 8" long) that you can get at places like Home Depot. I peeled off about ten of them from a roll of fifty and brought them with us. DH immediately used several to neatly tie up all the cords that were plugged into the power strip--I was quite impressed with the nice job he did! (The advantage over wire ties is that these unpeel easily and can be reused.)

What I did NOT use was the over-the-door shoe bag because mine had metal hooks and the bathroom door was a tight fit and wouldn't close over those hooks. If anyone had one and made it work, how'd you do it? It would have been really handy to use, but I wasn't about to force anything and scratch up a brand new door!

One more odd thing I took that actually came in handy--a few of those big super suction hooks "as seen on TV." They worked great on the wall and were terrific for hanging lanyards, hats, leis, etc.

Janice

I agree on the over-the-door shoe hanger. After all these cruises, I have yet to find one ship that has a door narrow enough to work with my metal hooks or a place to put one that doesn't get in the way.

Good to hear about the storage space, but bad to hear about those terrible security hangers!! I hate those! :mad: They had them on the Carnival Spirit and I'm wasn't used to having those, so it took a long time to get used to them and they were curved, so they took up a ton of closet space. Thank God I had brought metal dry cleaning hangers so we could use those.

I didn't expect to have to bring them on this crusie, but I guess I will. Thanks for the info. on that because it takes me awhile to save them up.