Hawaii by Land & Sea – POA Cruise 5-14-2011

[FloatYourBoatSince2003]

Your review is bringing back great memories Ginny. Can't wait to read more, and see more pictures!

 

Cheers,

Margaret

[CruisingGoddess]

Ginny - So excited about your report!! Your photos are amazing!! Looks like you had a wonderful time!!

 

I'm interested in swimming in the waterfall at Waimea Valley during our return trip there in Sept. Did the water look really murky to you? Thanks!!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Mahalo to you all for your kind replies. I am glad you are enjoying the review.

 

Amazing pictures Ginny. I would not have been disappointed with that last shot of the sunset. Stunning is all that comes to mind. You could very easily sell that photo.

Thank you, Lisa. Mother Nature is the real artist at work here!

 

Ginny - So excited about your report!! Your photos are amazing!! Looks like you had a wonderful time!!

 

I'm interested in swimming in the waterfall at Waimea Valley during our return trip there in Sept. Did the water look really murky to you? Thanks!!

Mahalo, Rebecca. I was so inspired by you. Your review gave me so much information that I used.:)

 

I asked Steve if he felt the water was murky since he was in it and I was not. From my perspective it did not look as clear as the ocean water, but not dirty at all. He said the water was not a bit murky. His added advice is to be sure to wear water shoes or sandals as the entry was rocky.

 

My doctor told me I could go in the water if I felt that the water was very clean and there were no large waves that could cause me to hit my incision against the rocks. Also, I would need to wear a waterproof bandage. As I stated before, my incision was left open to granulate from the inside out. It was mostly healed but I decide not to swim in fresh water at all and only twice did I venture into salt water on the entire trip. This was hard for me as we are snorkelers, but it was for the best.

[Arizona Laura]

Wonderful job Ginny!! Really enjoying your review!!!:)

So glad you got to go on this trip..was so worried you would not make it but you had more faith than me!

Laura

[TSUmom]

Your pictures are wonderful....I can't wait to go!!! I am enjoying your detailed review and look forward to the rest of it. Thank your again for taking the time to do this.

[CruisingGoddess]

Mahalo, Rebecca. I was so inspired by you. Your review gave me so much information that I used.:)

 

I asked Steve if he felt the water was murky since he was in it and I was not. From my perspective it did not look as clear as the ocean water, but not dirty at all. He said the water was not a bit murky. His added advice is to be sure to wear water shoes or sandals as the entry was rocky.

 

My doctor told me I could go in the water if I felt that the water was very clean and there were no large waves that could cause me to hit my incision against the rocks. Also, I would need to wear a waterproof bandage. As I stated before, my incision was left open to granulate from the inside out. It was mostly healed but I decide not to swim in fresh water at all and only twice did I venture into salt water on the entire trip. This was hard for me as we are snorkelers, but it was for the best.

 

Thanks for the info about the waterfall! I definitely think I want to check it out when we go back. I'm glad you were able to enjoy so much of your trip, despite your incision.

 

Your review has successfully plundged me into planning our Sept trip, even though I told myself I'd wait until after my sister's ceremony this weekend!! LOL!! Now I've been reminded of all these places in Oahu I want to go to swirling in my head. :D

 

One other question, when you went to Pearl Harbor, did you visit the smaller museums at the Pearl Harbor Visitors Center that just opened in Dec? DH wants to go back to see those museums since we went 2 days before they opened but not sure how much time they will take since we've done everything else at Pearl Harbor. Let me know if you visited them and how long you think it took. Thanks!!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thanks for the info about the waterfall! I definitely think I want to check it out when we go back. I'm glad you were able to enjoy so much of your trip, despite your incision.

 

Your review has successfully plundged me into planning our Sept trip, even though I told myself I'd wait until after my sister's ceremony this weekend!! LOL!! Now I've been reminded of all these places in Oahu I want to go to swirling in my head. :D

 

One other question, when you went to Pearl Harbor, did you visit the smaller museums at the Pearl Harbor Visitors Center that just opened in Dec? DH wants to go back to see those museums since we went 2 days before they opened but not sure how much time they will take since we've done everything else at Pearl Harbor. Let me know if you visited them and how long you think it took. Thanks!!

No, we just went to the areas I described. We had to make priorities as we had a lot to do that day. The only smaller museum I really saw was an indoor exhibit at the Bowfin. Not sure what other exhibits we may have missed, other than the Pacific Aviation Museum.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Leaving Turtle Bay Resort

 

We awoke this morning sorry to be leaving this beautiful resort, but excited because we would be embarking on the Pride of America and beginning our seven night cruise throughout the Hawaiian Islands. We were anxious to see if we would find a place we liked as much as this. I must say that Turtle Bay rates high among our favorite places that we have visited in our travels. We loved the quiet North Shore, the understated elegance of Turtle Bay Resort and the ability to experience the culture and excitement of Honolulu only an hour away. It is close enough to enjoy on a whim but far enough away to be insulated from hectic city life. My regret is that we did not book at least another two nights. We would have enjoyed a day to simply sit on the beach, under an umbrella at water’s edge and snorkel the reef. A chance to try out that massage hut would have been nice, too. If we had a fifth night we would have gone to the Polynesian Culture Center, only 15 minutes away. Oh well, it gives us a reason to return some day. So we bid adieu to our new friends and left the resort.

 

Not quite done with the North Shore we made a planned stop at Ted’s Bakery. When I was researching North Shore eateries this place stood out as a local favorite. It is best know for its pastries and breakfast offerings, but offers hot meals all day long. Ted’s Bakery is located along the 83 only a few minutes from the resort. We entered the rustic storefront with outdoor tables and umbrellas and ordered omelets – one order apiece. I wish I had had the presence of mind to take a picture of the meals that came to our table. We could have easily split one breakfast and had enough left to make the local pigeons very happy. It is a very affordable breakfast option. I cannot remember exactly how much each of our omelets cost, but it was around $8.99. We chuckled when the family of five at the table next to us got their order. They had three small children who could have split one meal. I could tell they were a bit overwhelmed by it all.

 

Soon we turned the car toward Haleiwa, then drove south down the center of the island through the pineapple fields and on to the next chapter of our journey.

 

We had previously arranged to meet Bob & Cindy at the ship prior to returning our rental cars. Our original plan was to drop off our luggage at the ship at 10:30 or 11:00, return the cars, come back to the ship and take a cab to Chinatown for lunch & shopping. As it turned out I was pretty tired out from our last few busy days. Therefore we decide to skip Chinatown and return to board the ship and relax. When we arrived at the ship around 11:00 AM Bob & Cindy were already there, had dropped off their bags and checked in. The porter directed us to an adjacent lot where we could park while we checked in. The check in process was fast and efficient. This was to be our first NCL cruise so we did not have a priority check in.

 

I was impressed with the Hawaiian themed activities already going on in the terminal. There was someone demonstrating how to make ribbon leis and Hawaiian music. We stopped at a table where a lady was making leis and bought some for photos later in the day. Cindy and I got fresh flower leis and our men got nut leis. As the cruise wore on I began to prefer the nut leis. Many were brightly decorated and they would last indefinitely. I had read that you could extend the life of your fresh flower leis by putting them in a plastic bag and putting them in a refrigerator. My body chemistry must have lei killing hormones since any lei I wore was thoroughly wilted within a couple of hours, so I gave up after my second lei killing incident.

 

After going through the embarkment photo line we got in our cars and went to Thrifty to return the cars. Our GPS took us directly to the Thrifty office. It can be a bit tricky to get there, but we had no problems. The complimentary shuttle returned us to the ship after a short wait. When we arrived at the pier the line was out the door. We had to stand in line again to go through security again, but that did not take long. We were then able to board the ship directly since we already had our ship cards.

 

Upon entering the ship we saw the lovely lobby with the USA Capital theme. All areas of the ship are decorated in a theme from a different area of America and the patriotic lobby set the stage for the theme of the ship.

 

 

We ended up at the Aloha Café, along with most of the other early arriving passengers. We are familiar with the massive amounts of people at the embarkment buffet from past cruises, but this did not seem to be as crowded as we had anticipated. We headed to the back of the buffet and found a place to sit outside. So far our fellow passengers had not found this part of the ship, choosing instead to plant themselves as close as possible to the large selection of tasty food selections and the well placed buffet islands. I must say that this is the best designed buffet I have experienced. The crowd moved calmly and efficiently around each island that each featured a different theme. Steve was happy to find the soft-serve machine quickly. He and Cindy announced that the bread pudding located in the covered steam table right next to the soft serve machine was best with ice cream on top and should be dished up in a large soup bowl and not in the small dishes located closest to the hot and cold confections.

 

We relaxed and had a nice conversation with the bar staff and one of the bar tenders offered to take a group picture of us, that turned out as well as any of the expensive professional photographers.

 

We were pleasantly surprised when the cabins on all decks were declared open around 1:00 PM. Feeling no pressure to be anywhere we sat for a few more minutes, chatting with the crew. Finally we decided to find our cabin. We also wanted to check out the ship before our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet with the Pride of America officers.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

The Pride of America

 

As I mentioned earlier in this narrative, our expectations were lower for this cruise than for any of our previous cruises. Perhaps that is why I was so impressed with everything from the start. The crew was friendly and chatty. Yes, it was different to have an American crew who were a bit more relaxed than the international crew on other ships. However, we felt at home immediately. We asked many crew members where they were from and it was fun to find ones that were from close to home. We are originally from Illinois and Steve enjoyed teasing one crew member from close to where we used to live about her choice in sports teams. Several of the crew became familiar faces and they also began to recognize us and greeted us warmly every time we saw them. We felt at home, not as temporary guests right away. In the entire week we only had one unpleasant encounter with a crew member. He was a surly waiter at the Skyline Restaurant who never even told us his name. He was slow and did not seem to be at all happy in his position. We ran into him in the Aloha Café on another day and saw that nothing had changed. Fortunately he was the exception to the rule on this ship.

 

We quickly found our cabin, 8706. It is an aft cabin, looking over the wake. Bob and Cindy were two doors down in 8208. We were prepared for the smaller cabin, but it was not the smallest cabin we have ever been in. The outside cabin on the Monarch of the Seas still holds that honor. Our balcony was extended and wonderful. It was furnished with two regular chairs, two loungers and two small side tables. We would use that balcony extensively throughout the cruise.

 

 

 

When we arrived 4 of the 6 bags we had checked were waiting at the door already. Our cabin steward, Ma’de was there to greet us. He is one of the few international crew members & is from the Philippines. He did an exceptional job throughout the cruise and rates as one of our better cabin stewards ever. No complaints from us. Our cabin was clean, ice already waiting for us and a friendly smile to greet us. I always carry post-it notes and often use them to convey messages & requests to our cabin steward on a cruise, leaving them on the mirror before leaving the cabin. I never had to use them on this cruise as Ma’de seemed to always be around. In addition he gave us a card with his phone number and an after hours number. I have never had one of those before. So far I was impressed with NCL. We unpacked the bags which had arrived, storing the empty bags under the bed, and took a nap before we headed out to explore the ship.

 

The short rest proved to be exactly what I needed at this point. I had hoped our two missing bags would surface by now, but they had not. We were waiting for the 4:30 Muster Drill and then our Cruise Critic Meet & Greet at 5:00 PM and the name tags I had brought for the Meet & Greet were in one of them. I don’t know why I checked that bag, other than I did not want to haul it around on the rental car shuttle and on the ship until our cabin was ready. It is a carry on bag normally. I did carry it on the plane, after all.

After a while we decided to go out and explore the ship a bit more. We met up with Bob & Cindy and headed out. The ship is well maintained and beautifully decorated. It does not have the soaring atrium or large open shopping areas of some of the newer ships we have sailed, but it is tasteful and pleasant. People were already using the pool area.

 

I liked the shopping area. The stores were well stocked and nicely laid out. However, I did notice they were not as busy as on previous cruises. That is probably due to the port intensive nature of this cruise and the fact that they are not duty free shops. I was disappointed in the lack of ship specific souvenirs. I always buy a Christmas ornament from each ship I am on. When I could not find one on Princess I purchased a keyring and adapted that to be an ornament. Alas, the POA has neither, so my tree will go unadorned with a ship ornament this year.

 

We checked out the theater. It is not large, but is also an attractive area with roomy and comfortable seating.

 

Our Muster Drill station was in the Liberty Dining Room on Deck 5. We did not have to take our life preservers with us and we were able to relax comfortably instead of standing on the deck, crammed like sardines and baking in the sun. After a short safety message and instructions in case of a real emergency we were dismissed.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Our Meet & Greet

 

Our Roll Call had previously arranged to meet at the Waikiki Bar on Deck 13 Aft. After reading about the nice job NCL does with hosting the Cruise Critic parties I made a last minute decision to contact NCL with our party information. This was done just two weeks prior to sailing. To set it up I used the information provided by Cruise Critic at the top of the NCL forum. I did not contact NCL previously as our Roll Call had been on the quiet side and I did not want to be embarrassed by having a low turn out at a hosted event. But things had picked up on the Roll Call near the end and so I figured I would go for it. I am so glad I did!

 

After receiving the information about our Roll Call, NCL kept our time but changed the meeting place to a private area where other guests would not be intruding, the Lanai Bar on Deck 13 forward. They had a sign stating that this was a private event. When we arrived on Deck 13 the Captain “Buzz” was standing in the lobby area. Steve is never shy and he introduced himself. I thought it was a happy coincidence that we ran into him.

 

I introduced myself and he asked if I were the one to arrange the event. You could have knocked me over with a feather. Not only was he there for our little party, but he knew who I was. When we walked into the room all of the higher ranking officers on the ship were there in a reception line ready to greet us. I have never been so impressed. These people really appreciate Cruise Critic and our reviews.

 

In addition, I had nothing to fear with our Roll Call. We had a wonderful turn out. What a great group of people we had. I felt very blessed. We made some nice new friends on this cruise. I only wish we had more time to spend with some of them.

 

 

 

The Captain talked to us about the ship and the week ahead. He acknowledged the problems of the past and how it has impacted the ship’s reputation. He also gave credit to Cruise Critic for helping turn around the ratings and asked us to help them out once again. He invited us all to an “end of the cruise review” on Friday after sailaway from Kauai, but before the Napali Coast Sailby. Indeed, we all received invitations in our cabins for this event.

 

 

NCL provided cookies and non-alcoholic beverages for refreshments. While some of the officers had to leave others stayed for quite a while and chatted with various members of our group. Many of the Cruise Critic members also stayed for a long time. We had a lot of good fellowship. It was a great start to a fantastic week.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Our First Evening Onboard the Pride of America

 

 

We returned to our cabin to find the two missing bags had arrived. We unpacked the remainder of our things with no problem. There was plenty of storage for the two of us and even discovered we had a couple of empty drawers after everything was put away. At 7 PM the ship pulled away from the dock, right on schedule. The Captain had told us that we would be sailing along the coast of Waikiki and be sure to watch the city lights. I was finally able to get a nice sunset picture from our balcony as we got ready to pull away, a fitting beginning for this long awaited cruise.

 

 

 

After sailaway we headed to the Skyline Restaurant for dinner. This was our first experience with Freestyle Dining and we were not sure what to expect. After being greeted warmly by the hostess we were led to a table for four at the back of the dining room. Through the windows we were still able to see the lights of Waikiki fading in the distance. Our wait team that evening was Angela & Chelsea. They stood out as our favorite servers all week. We enjoyed our dinner. The food was very good and service was prompt but never hurried. I had the Tilapia. It was tasty but a bit overcooked. Bob was very pleased with the steak off of the everyday menu. He is an amateur chef and pickier than I about his food. We all loved the Crème Brule. That was sooo good. Steve had at least 3 desserts. The consensus of our group was that the desserts in the dining room were excellent, but not so much in the buffet. The exception in the buffet was the steam table dessert as mentioned before with the soft serve on top!

 

Since we chose to eat a bit later tonight we missed the Welcome Aboard Show. Steve & I usually like to go to the shows, so we were a bit disappointed, but it was our own fault. However, we did go to Pink’s Champagne Bar and we enjoyed the piano playing & singing as we relaxed and engaged in conversation with our fellow passengers.

 

Heading back to our cabin we strolled along the Promenade on Deck 6. This would become our favorite “expressway” from the forward part of the ship to our cabin in the aft. It was a pleasant walk, with the warm sea breeze at our back and never too cold or too warm. It is a much underused walkway and we often had it to ourselves.

 

We climbed into the comfortable bed and fell asleep dreaming of our next day filled with tropical breezes and new found adventures in Maui.

 

See the rest of my pictures of Embarkment Day here.

 

Next: Maui Day 1 on Friday. Mahalo.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

I must admit that I sneeked a peek at your webshots albums and found Maui Day 2 album of your snorkeling. OMG. I never saw coral that pretty when I snorkeled at Molokini and the photo's of the turtle is A-MA-ZING!!!!!!:)

[Quilting Queen]

Ginny you are such a good writer. I wish I could write reviews of our travels.

 

Norine

[albertamom]

Thank you so much for your fabulous review! We are excitedly looking forward to our very first cruise, on the POA this December. I am eagerly anticipating every little detail!:D

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I must admit that I sneeked a peek at your webshots albums and found Maui Day 2 album of your snorkeling. OMG. I never saw coral that pretty when I snorkeled at Molokini and the photo's of the turtle is A-MA-ZING!!!!!!:)

Now don't get too far ahead of me, Lisa and tell all my secrets!;)

 

Ginny you are such a good writer. I wish I could write reviews of our travels.

 

Norine

Thank you, Norine. I will write the review of our PNW cruise next year for both of us.:)

 

Thank you so much for your fabulous review! We are excitedly looking forward to our very first cruise, on the POA this December. I am eagerly anticipating every little detail!:D

Mahalo. I know you will enjoy your cruise. I am sure it will be the first of many for you.

[lv2bgoofy]

I as well sneaked a peek at the Maui pictures and was completely blown away with the coral, fish and the turtle....and Lisa is correct AMAZING....

 

The sunset picture for the first night was beautiful and I'm so happy to hear about how you liked the food....

 

We also have an aft cabin....right above you on deck 9 so I was glad to hear that you thought it was quite sufficient for 2.....

 

I have read in other posts concerning the Captain and the crew there at the Meet and Greet....I am hoping that our Roll Call picks up near the end as well so we can haave one.

 

Thanks so much for making me feel like I am sitting there with you on your vacation.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

First Day in Maui

 

The day looked promising as we pulled into Maui. I had been tracking the weather forecasts since before we left home and was a bit anxious as every day basically said “60% chance of rain”. I soon learned that was the norm for this part of the world. As desert rats we are more accustomed to “100% chance of sunshine” and celebrate the few days a year we are blessed with stormy weather. However, this place did not look a bit like the desert and the green mountains which greeted us were a testimony to the regular rain showers that keep the landscape so lush and beautiful. For the remainder of our trip we would have blue skies for most of our day with the occasional rain showers rolling in from the mountains by mid afternoon. However, that never spoiled our day and the rain parkas we had carefully packed never made it out of the backpack.

 

Today Bob & Cindy had planned to rent a Harley from a local dealer & Steve and I had planned one of those more relaxing days, just exploring the local culture. I had plugged into my Google map and our GPS a variety of local attractions we may want to visit, but our priorities for the day were the Iao Valley State Park and the village of Lahaina. In researching this area it was apparent that the Road to Hana is a favorite among the cruising community. However, that just did not appeal to us. We have plenty of twisty mountain roads here at home and it was a full day commitment we did not want to make at this point. Should we return and stay on the island for any length of time I would like to spend one day this way, but we would do a tour rather than drive it ourselves.

 

We left the ship at a leisurely pace after a room service breakfast on our balcony. The POA does not have hot breakfast options available to regular (non-suite) cabins, but this was enough for us today. We once again had rented a car from Thrifty using our Blue Chip number and so we proceeded outside to the shuttle area. I had rented the car for 8 AM, but called and changed our pick up to 9 AM as we were not in a hurry. The shuttle took longer than expected to arrive and we had about a 20 minute wait. However, upon arrival at the Thrifty office our Blue Chip membership worked well. We bypassed the regular rental line and went straight to the Blue Chip counter. Within minutes we were in our Ford Focus and on our way down the road. Our only time constraint was to be back to the ship around 4:30 PM as my cousin & his wife who live on the island were going to pick us up at 5:30 and take us out to dinner.

 

Once in the car we headed to the Iao Valley State Park. Upon arriving we paid a $5 parking fee with one of those funky little parking machines we had seen earlier in Oahu. There was an attendant at the lot but she was mainly watching over things. I studied the map and saw that the main trail was paved and wheelchair accessible, so I figured I could handle it with my cane. We were treated to wonderful scenery. This is certainly worth a short stop. The highlight of the park is the Iao Needle, which is a weather-worn spiral reaching 2,250 feet into the sky. There are several paths leading off the main trail which have many stairs, so I decided to skip those. Steve took the camera and headed up to the top of the uppermost trail while I waited for him below.

 

 

From the Valley we headed toward Lahaina. I had a nice place for lunch plotted on my Google map. But on the way we stopped at a scenic viewpoint. Stopping there we discovered that this spot was a lookout for Humpback Whales in the winter months. There was a young man at the lookout point who explained that the whales had gone back to Alaska for the summer, but during the winter months they could be seen with their babies in the wildlife refuge below. The bay is a natural habitat for the whales.

 

 

In Lahaina we found the restaurant we were seeking, the Aloha Mixed Plate. Here we were seated outside looking over the beach. I had a Mixed BBQ Plate while Steve had a Tilapia Plate. They were both delicious and the atmosphere delightful.

 

 

Looking at our options we decided to head to Whaler’s Village and check out Kaanapali Beach.

[vbmom87]

Ginny,

 

We loved our stop at Iao Valley and my 22 year old daughter said she would love to spend the day there. Just thought I would mention that since you thought it made a nice short stop. Depending on one's interests you could roam around there and just relax for several hours easy. Or you could stop, look and move on.

 

Your review continues to be outstanding. I agree you are a great writer.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Whaler’s Village, Lahaina & Dinner in Paia

 

Once inside Whaler’s Village Steve’s eyes lit up as he saw Aloha Shirts everywhere. I knew we would not leave there without another purchase. However, I first wanted to find our way to see the famous Kaanapli Beach. Before my surgery I had hoped to spend some time here and snorkel at Black Rock, but being cautious with my incision and also finding I was tiring easily we opted to keep dry today. But I did want to see the beach. We discovered the way to the ocean front and walked toward the beach on the paved path. It really is a lovely area. You can see Black Rock in the distance with the hotels lining the path as you approached Black Rock.

 

I was a bit disappointed in the hotel area as it appeared to me to be just a line up of big hotels like in Waikiki or Miami. Perhaps that is an unfair assessment as we never entered any of them, but after the seclusion of Turtle Bay our standards had been lifted a bit.

 

After walking along the beach for a ways we returned to the shopping area and we both found what we were looking for. I came away with a wonderful handmade Hawaiian Christmas Angel and Steve had another shirt. We then decided to visit the Whaler’s Museum. This was very interesting. Free headphone speakers explained the exhibits and took about 45 minutes to view completely. It was on the second floor, but elevator access was available. I do not think there is a lot to interest children for very long, but admission is free so you can leave whenever you would like.

 

From Whaler’s Village we continued into Lahaina. We saw the large Banyan Tree that covered an entire city block. Up until this time we had not had a single Hawaiian shaved ice, so I was on the lookout. We spotted a little store front called “Annie’s Shaved Ice” on a side street and decided it was time for a snack. Oh my! This was a little bit of heaven. We each got one small shaved ice with ice cream and three flavors of syrup. We were hooked on shaved ice after that. It really does need the ice cream to make it perfect. We spent the rest of the cruise searching for a better shaved ice, but none ever came close to the confection we experienced at Annie’s.

 

Heading back to the ship we spotted surfers all along the way riding the late afternoon waves. We pulled off at a wayside park so we could watch for a little while.

 

 

We arrived back to the ship a little after 4:30 PM. We were lucky to get one of the last parking places in the lot closest to the ship. Bob & Cindy had already returned and were getting ready for our evening out. They had a wonderful day on the rented bike. In addition to making a stop at our cousin’s house on the mountain slopes leading to Haleakala, they met up with a biker club which took them on an island tour, through areas they would have never found on their own. They were happy and satisfied with their day.

Our cousin Phil met us at the ship along with his wife Peggy. He is a physician on the island and is from Montana originally. Peggy comes from Australia and Maui has worked perfectly for them as a half way point for their families.

After short tour of the area and some time to watch more surfers they took us to a Pizza Restaurant called Flat Bread Pizza in Paia, not too far from the ship. This was a wonderful island style place with a casual atmosphere. The pizzas are organic and baked in an open pizza oven. We had a lovely meal with good conversation and family times. As they returned us to the ship we all promised to come back to Maui some day and enjoy their hospitality.

 

We did not stay out late as the next day we had an early morning snorkel excursion to the Molokini Crater.

 

This review is posted earlier than I expected, so Day 2 in Maui will be posted on Friday. You can see the rest of my Day 1 pictures here.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

You day 1 in Maui sounds very similar to our plans for our Maui 1st day too. I wasn't expecting any more review until Friday so sorry if I encouraged you to write more before you were ready just cuz I posted about your Maui pictures.:D They were just so awesome I had to comment on them.

 

All this talk about Turtle Bay resort in Oahu makes me wish I hadn't prepaid my hotel in Waikiki. I for sure would cancel and change my resi. if I wouldn't lose my $300.:)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I as well sneaked a peek at the Maui pictures and was completely blown away with the coral, fish and the turtle....and Lisa is correct AMAZING....

 

The sunset picture for the first night was beautiful and I'm so happy to hear about how you liked the food....

 

We also have an aft cabin....right above you on deck 9 so I was glad to hear that you thought it was quite sufficient for 2.....

 

I have read in other posts concerning the Captain and the crew there at the Meet and Greet....I am hoping that our Roll Call picks up near the end as well so we can haave one.

 

Thanks so much for making me feel like I am sitting there with you on your vacation.

I would have loved to have you along! In a way I went along with many others before me, too. Hang in there with your Roll Call. Start to ask now how many would be interested in Meet & Greet and contact NCL a little earlier than I did. A couple people missed the party as they were gone by the time we had the new location posted.

 

More about the turtles on Friday!

 

Ginny,

 

We loved our stop at Iao Valley and my 22 year old daughter said she would love to spend the day there. Just thought I would mention that since you thought it made a nice short stop. Depending on one's interests you could roam around there and just relax for several hours easy. Or you could stop, look and move on.

 

Your review continues to be outstanding. I agree you are a great writer.

Mahalo. Your review was also an inspiration to me. Your compliments mean a lot.

 

We were at the Iao Valley about an hour, but if you could access more of the trails I could see how you could spend a lot more time there. Thank you for clarifying that point.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

You day 1 in Maui sounds very similar to our plans for our Maui 1st day too. I wasn't expecting any more review until Friday so sorry if I encouraged you to write more before you were ready just cuz I posted about your Maui pictures.:D They were just so awesome I had to comment on them.

 

All this talk about Turtle Bay resort in Oahu makes me wish I hadn't prepaid my hotel in Waikiki. I for sure would cancel and change my resi. if I wouldn't lose my $300.:)

Yep, it's all your fault, Lisa!:D Actually I was on a roll. However, I sacrificed some of my studying so can't let that happen again, LOL!

 

You will just have to go back to the Turtle Bay Resort another time. Maybe we'll go with you!;)

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

That would be awesome for the 4 of us to go back to Turtle Bay.:)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

That would be awesome for the 4 of us to go back to Turtle Bay.:)

Now that would be fun!:D

[doylejr]

Our Meet & Greet

 

Our Roll Call had previously arranged to meet at the Waikiki Bar on Deck 13 Aft. After reading about the nice job NCL does with hosting the Cruise Critic parties I made a last minute decision to contact NCL with our party information. This was done just two weeks prior to sailing. To set it up I used the information provided by Cruise Critic at the top of the NCL forum. I did not contact NCL previously as our Roll Call had been on the quiet side and I did not want to be embarrassed by having a low turn out at a hosted event. But things had picked up on the Roll Call near the end and so I figured I would go for it. I am so glad I did!

 

After receiving the information about our Roll Call, NCL kept our time but changed the meeting place to a private area where other guests would not be intruding, the Lanai Bar on Deck 13 forward. They had a sign stating that this was a private event. When we arrived on Deck 13 the Captain “Buzz” was standing in the lobby area. Steve is never shy and he introduced himself. I thought it was a happy coincidence that we ran into him.

 

I introduced myself and he asked if I were the one to arrange the event. You could have knocked me over with a feather. Not only was he there for our little party, but he knew who I was. When we walked into the room all of the higher ranking officers on the ship were there in a reception line ready to greet us. I have never been so impressed. These people really appreciate Cruise Critic and our reviews.

 

In addition, I had nothing to fear with our Roll Call. We had a wonderful turn out. What a great group of people we had. I felt very blessed. We made some nice new friends on this cruise. I only wish we had more time to spend with some of them.

 

 

 

The Captain talked to us about the ship and the week ahead. He acknowledged the problems of the past and how it has impacted the ship’s reputation. He also gave credit to Cruise Critic for helping turn around the ratings and asked us to help them out once again. He invited us all to an “end of the cruise review” on Friday after sailaway from Kauai, but before the Napali Coast Sailby. Indeed, we all received invitations in our cabins for this event.

 

 

NCL provided cookies and non-alcoholic beverages for refreshments. While some of the officers had to leave others stayed for quite a while and chatted with various members of our group. Many of the Cruise Critic members also stayed for a long time. We had a lot of good fellowship. It was a great start to a fantastic week.

This was so helpful, I am sending this to our group and see if it will work for us.