JUST BACK POA Nov 13-20th FANTASTIC!

[Maureen4]

Well I just came home last night and wanted to enter a little something while everything is still fresh in my memory. First I'l want to start off by saying I really don't have a negative thing to say about this cruise on or off the ship. I have been on 13 other cruises and have plenty to compare to. The crew was fantastic! I don't understand how so many people complain about them. They all were working their butts off and they were always friendly. More so then other ships that I have been on. The food was good too. OK not great but definately good. Never had to wait for a table and service was great. We ate at the Skyline a few times and never had a bad meal. The Aloha Cafe had a lot to choose from and always fresh. The Cadillac Grill was also pretty good. The first night we ate ate Lazy J Steak house and it was delicious. The shrimp were the size of lobsters! And the last night we ate at East meets WEst Asian Fusion and it really was a great meal. So once again no complaints. Our steward was fantastic. Rupert was the man! Saw him all the time and he tended to whatever we needed. Sorry, no complaints. If you have any questions about the ship please ask away.

 

Here are some of the things we did off the ship.

 

Maui- Rented car first day went to Iao Valley and beach. Nice first day.

Maui- Trilogy Excursion. Very fun. Swam at Molikini Crater, saw whales great crew and food. A+

Kona- Sunlight on water excursion- Swam in the ocean with the dolphins! What an experience! The BEST A+

Hilo- Rickys Excursion Volcano Natl Park is awesome. The rest was kinda boring. B

Kaui- Capt. Andys Sunset dinner cruise Napali Coast. The crew was fantastic. The food was fantastic. Napali coast was breathtaking. The weather well to put it bluntly sucked. It was our only day of rain and coming back from the coast was quite an adventure. A+

 

Any catamaran excursion TAKE DRAMAMINE BEFORE!!!!!!!

Renting Car? Thrifty Blue chip member is great. No lines!

 

We stayed in waikiki for 2 days after and loved it. We stayed at the Marriot Beach and Spa and loved it. Great location and great rates on Priceline bidding!

 

That's it for now any questions ask away!

[saffy22]

Thanks for the review, so pleased you had a great time. We are on board soon, I was just wondering how rough you found the sailing to be at night?

Cheers

Saffy

[Maureen4]

Thanks for the review, so pleased you had a great time. We are on board soon, I was just wondering how rough you found the sailing to be at night?

Cheers

Saffy

 

It actually was pretty rough a few nights. For some reason Hawaii is usually a rougher ride. We put on the patch behind the ear and had no problems at all.

[Raison]

Thanks for the review, so pleased you had a great time!

[Morgan811]

I took a dramamine each night before bed the nights we were sailing while sleeping and never felt ill at all the entire trip

 

the only time I felt sick was riding the back of a bus up the road to Waimea Canyon....twisty ride!!!

 

We were on POA the week before you and had a fabulous time too!!!!

check out my photo blog (still in progress) if you are interested!

http://www.hawaii-40.blogspot.com

[GCHAN]

Well I just came home last night and wanted to enter a little something while everything is still fresh in my memory. First I'l want to start off by saying I really don't have a negative thing to say about this cruise on or off the ship. I have been on 13 other cruises and have plenty to compare to. The crew was fantastic! I don't understand how so many people complain about them. They all were working their butts off and they were always friendly. More so then other ships that I have been on. The food was good too. OK not great but definately good. Never had to wait for a table and service was great. We ate at the Skyline a few times and never had a bad meal. The Aloha Cafe had a lot to choose from and always fresh. The Cadillac Grill was also pretty good. The first night we ate ate Lazy J Steak house and it was delicious. The shrimp were the size of lobsters! And the last night we ate at East meets WEst Asian Fusion and it really was a great meal. So once again no complaints. Our steward was fantastic. Rupert was the man! Saw him all the time and he tended to whatever we needed. Sorry, no complaints. If you have any questions about the ship please ask away.

 

Here are some of the things we did off the ship.

 

Maui- Rented car first day went to Iao Valley and beach. Nice first day.

Maui- Trilogy Excursion. Very fun. Swam at Molikini Crater, saw whales great crew and food. A+

Kona- Sunlight on water excursion- Swam in the ocean with the dolphins! What an experience! The BEST A+

Hilo- Rickys Excursion Volcano Natl Park is awesome. The rest was kinda boring. B

Kaui- Capt. Andys Sunset dinner cruise Napali Coast. The crew was fantastic. The food was fantastic. Napali coast was breathtaking. The weather well to put it bluntly sucked. It was our only day of rain and coming back from the coast was quite an adventure. A+

 

Any catamaran excursion TAKE DRAMAMINE BEFORE!!!!!!!

Renting Car? Thrifty Blue chip member is great. No lines!

 

We stayed in waikiki for 2 days after and loved it. We stayed at the Marriot Beach and Spa and loved it. Great location and great rates on Priceline bidding!

 

That's it for now any questions ask away!

 

Maureen

We were the aussies on the Ricky's tour and we did have a good time.

 

I have to agree with what you were saying. The cruise was fantastic.

The itinerary is excellent and the food,service and ship were all really good.

 

We are thinking of going again in a couple of years.

 

The highlights from our trip were:

the tour with Richard from Hawaiian Eyes around the top of Maui

The helicopter ride with Island Helicopters on the last day in Kauai(it was awesome as the whole island was clear of clouds when we went)

Ricky's tour in Hilo looking at all the volcanic stuff.

We also did 4 Roberts tours and they were very good value with happy informative drivers.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you for the review. We are going to do Ricky's Tours in Hilo and 3 Robert's tours in Kauai, including the Smith Family Luau, the Waimea Canyon on day 1 on the Hanalei Tour on day 2. I am interested to hear details about any of them.

[sue402001]

Thanks for the mini review Maureen4. I have to ask, what part didn't you like about "the rest" of Ricky's tour? I'm curious as we'll be taking his tour next April. Thanks!

[Maureen4]

Thanks for the mini review Maureen4. I have to ask, what part didn't you like about "the rest" of Ricky's tour? I'm curious as we'll be taking his tour next April. Thanks!

It's not that I didn't like the tour, the Volcano Park was great and Ricky was really nice. He only charges $60 and you get a lot for that. We stopped at the macadamia nut place which is just a tourist trap and drove around Hilo to look at some sights. I would have liked it if we got to stop at a small non touristy restaurant for some authentic Hawaiian food but that wasn't part of it. Actually we did go to a black sand beach and saw an awesome sea turtle. That was pretty cool. It was a good day. Maybe I am more of a water person, but I do recommend the tour it just wasn't my fav.

[shazz43]

Gachan- We are from Perth WA as well, i would be interested to hear more about the tours you did, and how and when you booked them :)

Thanks

[shazz43]

gachan- would like to hear more about the tours you did with Roberts and how and when you booked :confused:, we are from WA as well :)

[GCHAN]

gachan- would like to hear more about the tours you did with Roberts and how and when you booked :confused:, we are from WA as well :)

 

I might start up a new thread so i don't clog Maureen's review.

[GCHAN]

gachan- would like to hear more about the tours you did with Roberts and how and when you booked :confused:, we are from WA as well :)

 

Shazz

I wrote a big post on a new thread but it didn't go through so here it goes.

 

I booked the Roberts tours when I arrived in Maui prior to the cruise. I had done a fair bit of research prior to arriving and we knew what we wanted. The information is on www.gorabbitgo.com and in the end we just called them on a freecall number & it was a breeze.

 

With Roberts we did the Haleakala crater tour in Maui and this was excellent. In Kona we did Historic Kona and it was ok but my view is that Kona would be the best place for snorkling as the water is so clear. In Kauai we did the Waimea Canyon tour and this was fogged out as it was very rainy day. This tour would have been fantastic but no luck on this day. Also in Kauai we did the Wailua River & Fern Grotto cruise & it was quite relaxing. The tour also went to a waterfall which was good to see.

 

Non Roberts tours were as follows:

In Maui prior to the cruise we did a Road to Hana tour with Valley isle Excursions. This was a long but very good day. The scenery is excellent.

 

In Maui on the first port day we did a West Maui tour with Hawaiian Eyes tours and this was excellent.

 

In Hilo we did Rickys tour and the volcano National park was fantastic on this tour.

 

In Kauai on the last cruise day we went on a circle island helicopter cruise with Island Helicopters and this day had fantastic clear weather which made our flight the highlight of our trip. The scenery was breathtaking.

[shazz43]

Thanks gachan for the info, we have a while to go, but also doing a lot of research :rolleyes:. With the helicopter tour, how far in advance did you book with them :confused:, and do they pick you up from the pier where POA docks :confused:

Thanks again

[GCHAN]

Thanks gachan for the info, we have a while to go, but also doing a lot of research :rolleyes:. With the helicopter tour, how far in advance did you book with them :confused:, and do they pick you up from the pier where POA docks :confused:

Thanks again

 

I think it was about 6 weeks or so and they did pick up from the pier.

 

I don't know whether you have heard of Tripadvisor but they have a good site for researching hotels ,places and all sorts. We use them for checking out hotels , tour guides ,restaurants etc. The success rate has been very good with the information from this site and Tripadvisor.

 

Good luck with your planning

[tone1]

Maui- Rented car first day went to Iao Valley and beach. Nice first day.

 

Any catamaran excursion TAKE DRAMAMINE BEFORE!!!!!!!

 

Which beach did you go to and how were the facilities? Re: catamarans, how do you get on the catamarans? Do you have to step into water before getting on them? Would it be suitable for mobility-challenged people? What about wheelchair accessibility? I'm thinking of booking just whalewatching and am trying to figure out the best option other than Pacific Whale. Is it that rough on the catamaran? Some of my family have physical limitations and I don't know if I should pre-book or just wait till i get there so I can actually get a good look at the vessels. I know I would like something smaller and not too rough, so I think that rules out the rafts for us, but I'm not sure if a catamaran would be suitable.

 

What kind of cabin and location of the ship did you book? Really enjoy reading these current and positive reviews of POA since we'll be there in February. Thanks for sharing.:)

 

In Kauai on the last cruise day we went on a circle island helicopter cruise with Island Helicopters and this day had fantastic clear weather which made our flight the highlight of our trip. The scenery was breathtaking.

 

What time did you take the helicopter tour and how long before the tour did you have to check in? Did they pick you up from the ship? Did you have time to do anything else on this short day after the helicopter tour? Sorry, don't mean to hijack :o, but would love some more details before I book. Thanks.

[shazz43]

Thanks gachan and Maureen for the answers and positive reviews its good to read :)

[Maureen4]

The water in Hawaii is choppy. The catamaran excursions were Sunlight on Water my favorite. We swam with the dolphins. We also did Captain Andys which was also fun to see the Napali Coast. The weather was not good that day. And the last Catamaran was Trilogy. We had a great day. On all the excursions the crews couldn't be better. Just look these names up on google and you can can get all the info you need. I booked way in advance because I am anal.You do have to pay in advance but they have a cancellation policy if needed. As far as physical limitations the only catamaran that didn't have snorkeling was the Capt Andys Sunset Sail. It is a rough ride on all of them and I took dramamine. If you need special help I would contact them to get the answers you need.The beach we went to after Iao Valley was Black Rock Beach behind the Sheraton. There is a long stretch of really nice beaches behind all the big hotels. Lots of restaurants and facilities too. Our room on the ship was on the 4th level. Mid ship. Just a reg room nothing special. I actually did like the location though.

[tone1]

The water in Hawaii is choppy. The catamaran excursions were Sunlight on Water my favorite. We swam with the dolphins. We also did Captain Andys which was also fun to see the Napali Coast. The weather was not good that day. And the last Catamaran was Trilogy. We had a great day. On all the excursions the crews couldn't be better. Just look these names up on google and you can can get all the info you need. I booked way in advance because I am anal.You do have to pay in advance but they have a cancellation policy if needed. As far as physical limitations the only catamaran that didn't have snorkeling was the Capt Andys Sunset Sail. It is a rough ride on all of them and I took dramamine. If you need special help I would contact them to get the answers you need.The beach we went to after Iao Valley was Black Rock Beach behind the Sheraton. There is a long stretch of really nice beaches behind all the big hotels. Lots of restaurants and facilities too. Our room on the ship was on the 4th level. Mid ship. Just a reg room nothing special. I actually did like the location though.

 

Okay, I think I will be checking out Trilogy and some of the others. Black Rock is in Kaanapali, right? Did facilities include showers? Any rentals of beach chairs, umbrellas, etc. closeby? Glad to know that even the regular rooms were well looked after. Thanks for answering my questions so far!:)

[Maureen4]

Okay, I think I will be checking out Trilogy and some of the others. Black Rock is in Kaanapali, right? Did facilities include showers? Any rentals of beach chairs, umbrellas, etc. closeby? Glad to know that even the regular rooms were well looked after. Thanks for answering my questions so far!:)

 

Yes there were chair and umbrella rentals. Yeah Kaanapali. Long stretch of beach and an outside mall. Our housekeeper was great. No complaints. First day back at work and all I can think about is Hawaii. Not good! :)