Review of our September 10, 2011 cruise on the POA

[brunolvr]

Time to board the tender back to the ship

 

Cute towel animals to greet us!

 

The Key West Grill was just a few steps away from our suite, so we decided to grab some lunch there and bring it back to eat in our cool, air-conditioned suite since it was so hot out. Hot dogs, hamburgers, turkey burgers, potato salad, French fries, chips, etc., were available almost every day at the Key West Grill from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM, and it was pretty good.

The grill area is over to the right

 

 

[brunolvr]

Then after eating and cooling down a little, we enjoyed the views of Kona from our balcony and hot tub.

View of Kailua-Kona from our balcony

 

Another view of Kailua-Kona from our balcony

 

Captain Zodiac boat speeding by

 

Tender bringing passengers back to ship

[brunolvr]

Then we decided to do some more exploring around the ship. We went down to Deck 6 and found Club Mardi Gras.

 

 

Very colorful!

 

Then we went out on the Promenade Deck for a walk around the deck.

 

The promenade Deck was both the walking and running deck.

 

By 6:00 PM, all the lifeboats were back secured to the ship and we were on our way to the Island of Kauai.

Most of the day it wasn’t real clear out. Our tour guide said they don’t call it “smog”, they call it “vog” because it’s caused by all the volcanic action.

 

Sunset at 6:10 PM as we set sail for the Island of Kauai.

 

We headed down to dinner at the Liberty Restaurant. We both had Caesar Salads and my husband had a Spring Roll. For our entrees I had the Teriyaki Sesame Chicken Kabobs (very good) and my husband had the Grilled Mahi-Mahi (which he enjoyed) and then we both had Strawberry Cheesecake for dessert. It was a great dinner.

 

The show tonight was “The Comedy of the Second City” but we decided to skip it. Also tonight was the “White Hot Dance Party”, which we also weren’t interested in so we just spent some time on our balcony and in our suite relaxing.

[cccole]

So...you have set sail for Kauai...can't wait for the rest of your review. Cherie

[albertamom]

I love the views from your balcony! I especially appreciated the pictures of the Captain Zodiac boat (which we'll be taking), and the lifeboats/tenders (which, since we are cruise newbies, we are not familiar with).

 

Your review continues to be my favorite thread! I eagerly look forward to every update!:)

[brunolvr]

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

No beautiful sunrise for me this morning as I didn’t get up early enough. But I still got to enjoy some fantastic views from the ship.

 

 

Kauai and Nawiliwili Harbor in the distance about 7:00 AM

 

 

The Captain had mentioned to us in one of the talks we had with him that Nawiliwili Harbor was tricky and took a fair amount of maneuvering to dock the ship. We were scheduled to dock at 8:00 AM and wouldn’t be leaving the Island of Kauai until 2:00 PM on Friday.

 

 

Entering Nawiliwili Harbor

 

 

Looking back at the lighthouse

 

 

“Tiger 7” tugboat coming to assist us

[brunolvr]

More maneuvering

 

Turning on the azipods & bow thrusters to move over to our docking space

 

7:45 AM, finally in our docking space. We were on the Port Side, but in this port, Starboard Side was the “port side”.

 

After spending an hour watching our huge ship work its way through the harbor and dock, we got ready for a relaxing (and delicious) breakfast at Lazy J Steakhouse. Our excursion for today didn’t leave until 2:30 in the afternoon, so we had the morning to ourselves. We had booked a tour through Roberts Hawaii Shore Excursions, “Wailua River, Fern Grotto & Smith Family Luau”.

 

About 10:15 AM, we decided to get off the ship and go see the Kauai Marriott Resort on Kalapaki Beach. I had read reviews about the koi pond and gardens around the Marriott, so we took the free shuttle to the Anchor Cove Shopping Center which is very near the Marriott.

The Marriott is a beautiful resort and is an excursion in itself.

 

On our way to the Kauai Marriott Resort

 

Kauai Marriott Resort on Kalapaki Beach

 

The beach

[brunolvr]

More of Kalapaki Beach

 

Weather Station

 

Swimming pool

 

Another view of the swimming pool

 

Koi Pond

 

Koi Pond area

[brunolvr]

Here are some pictures of the beautiful gardens and flowers at the Marriott

 

 

 

 

 

 

[brunolvr]

Lots of bananas!

 

This was a beautiful open-air courtyard area.

 

Around the ponds and gardens

 

Hawaii’s State Bird, Nene (Hawaiian Goose)

 

View of the Pride of America from Kalapaki Beach

 

Wild chicken looking for handouts at Duke’s Restaurant

[brunolvr]

About 11:30 AM, we headed back to the Anchor Cove Shopping Center. We were going to do some shopping there, but since the shuttle to the ship had just arrived and was loading up passengers, we changed our minds and decided to go back and have lunch on the ship.

Pride of America docked in Nawiliwili Harbor which is near the city of Lihue.

 

Interesting information we found out – there are no natural deepwater harbors along Kauai’s entire coastline. To remedy this situation, a portion of Nawiliwili Bay, near Lihue, was dredged and protected by a breakwater to form Nawiliwili Harbor.

 

A cute turtle towel animal was on our bed when we got back to our suite.

 

Since it wasn’t quite time for lunch we did some walking around the ship.

 

Outdoor dining at the Aloha Café

 

Aloha Café buffet

 

Ice Cream machine in Aloha Café

 

We decided to stop for a bowl of the delicious chilled soup. Today it was a chilled apple cinnamon that was so good! The place for chilled soups is located in the “Fruit Stand” area on the right side of the picture. And since we were in the buffet, we decided to make some sandwiches and take them back to our suite to eat.

[brunolvr]

About 2:00 PM we started getting ready to go down to the pier to meet for our tour. Promptly at 2:30 PM they loaded the bus and we were off. Our first stop was Opaekaa Falls lookout.

 

Wild chickens were everywhere!

 

Opaekaa Falls

 

We spent about 20 minutes at the overlook (complete with bathroom) then loaded the bus to head to the Wailua River for our boat cruise and the Fern Grotto.

 

 

Waiting for our boat to come in.

 

Inside the boat with great views and plenty of entertainment.

 

Crossing paths with another boat

 

Nice leisurely cruise down the Wailua River headed to the Fern Grotto.

[brunolvr]

It took about ½ hour to get to the Fern Grotto, then we spent about ½ hour there before heading back.

 

Fern Grotto

 

Lots of ferns hanging down

 

And unique and beautiful flowers

 

Back on the boat and back down the Wailua River

 

We passed quite a few kayakers along the way

 

Lots of music, singing and dancing!

They even taught everyone the hula!

 

Next stop, just a few minutes away, was the Smith’s Family Tropical Paradise.

[ohsoblessed]

Did you book your Wailua River and Fern Grotto tour through NCL or Roberts Tours? We wanted to do this with the Smith Family Luau added with Roberts but Smith Family doesn't offer their Luau on Thursdays in December. We do have Wailua River and Fern Grotto booked through Roberts for the afternoon at 2:30. Your pictures look wonderful, just hoping you booked this through Roberts.

 

 

Thanks,

Sheila

[brunolvr]

Did you book your Wailua River and Fern Grotto tour through NCL or Roberts Tours? We wanted to do this with the Smith Family Luau added with Roberts but Smith Family doesn't offer their Luau on Thursdays in December. We do have Wailua River and Fern Grotto booked through Roberts for the afternoon at 2:30. Your pictures look wonderful, just hoping you booked this through Roberts.

 

 

Thanks,

Sheila

 

Yes, we booked our tour, "Wailua River, Fern Grotto & Smith Family Luau" through Roberts Hawaii Shore Excursions.:)

[brunolvr]

Entrance to Smith’s. Everyone is given a shell lei as they enter, then has their picture taken with a couple of lovely Hawaiian young ladies. You have an opportunity to purchase the picture later in the evening if you want.

 

Beautiful gardens

 

First is the 15-minute tram ride around the gardens

 

Peacock looking for a handout along with a bunch of little doves

 

Beautiful ponds and gardens

 

At 6:00 PM, it’s time for the Imu Ceremony – the unearthing of the traditional pig, cooked in an underground oven. After that we worked our way over to the dining area for the Luau. As soon as everyone finds a place to sit, they start letting people come up to the buffet, table by table, so the lines aren’t so long. There were at least 6 (maybe even 8) lines for the food (and each line had the same selections of food). There were about 420 people at the luau.

[brunolvr]

While you’re waiting for your table to go up, you can go over to the drinks area and get whatever you want to drink—soft drinks, Mai Tais, beer, wine. Apparently there is no limit, but we just had water and got some of their delicious (non-alcoholic) punch. They bring coffee and hot tea around to the tables.

 

The food was delicious and you could go back and get more as soon as everyone had their first trip through the buffet. Some of the foods included at the buffet were kalua pig, teriyaki beef, adobo chicken, some type of fish, green salad, bean salad, jello, fried rice, potatoes, hot vegetable, assorted breads and, of course, poi. For dessert there was coconut cake, rice pudding and haupia (coconut pudding).

 

The food tasted better than the pictures look! And the salad dressing was a unique papaya-type dressing that was very good.

 

You are entertained throughout dinner by music, songs and dance. You have plenty of time to eat before you walk over to the show area.

 

 

 

Promptly at 8:00 PM the show began. The stands were full, but not real crowded. We sat off to the side, hoping there would be a little bit of a breeze to cool things down since it was still rather hot outside.

 

My pictures of the show didn’t come out very good as they asked (although many did not comply) that you not use flash photography during the show. The show is an international celebration with dances and songs from Tahiti, Hawaii, China, Japan, the Philippines, New Zealand and Samoa – all the different ethnic groups that have made Hawaii their home.

 

A few pictures from the show:

 

[brunolvr]

A few more pictures from the show:

 

 

 

The show lasted about an hour and then you could either walk back to the parking lot or wait and take the tram. We walked to our waiting mini-bus and once everyone was there we headed back to the Pride of America. It started raining a little and rained pretty good on the drive back to the ship. By the time we got back to our suite, it was almost 10:00PM. It was still raining as we took a late night walk around the upper decks.

 

We had no plans for tomorrow except to pack and maybe take the shuttle back over to the Anchor Cove Shopping Center. Also, at 3:30 PM we had a follow-up meeting with the Captain and his officers and fellow cruise critics to see how we liked the cruise and hear any suggestions we had to make the cruise better.

[brunolvr]

We've got company coming this weekend, so I may not have time to work on the review of the final 2 days of our cruise for a few more days.:o

[Nanatravel]

WOW, is all I can say! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful photos and detailed review. I've been to the Hawaiian isles 3 times including a cruise in 2010. I just booked a client on the POA and will send her this link to enjoy. Your suite was wonderful! Maybe she will upgrade.

 

Aloha,

[Sherrica]

Wow, wow, wow! What a wonderful report! Your pictures are spectacular and the suite looks fantastic! My husband and I will be on POA 's Dec. 10th sailing and I am so excited -- seeing your photos makes the anticipation even better. Thanks so much for sharing!

[brunolvr]

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

 

Another beautiful sunrise at 6:00 AM

 

By 6:30 AM, the sun was on the horizon

 

About 8:00 AM we went down to Lazy J Steakhouse for another delicious breakfast. The staff there is just great – after one or two visits, they know what you like and how you like it. I wonder if they keep a record of it so when you check in on your next visit, they can better serve you? Of course, then there are some people (like us) who like something different every day so we confuse them a little! There is so much on the menu to try and so little time to try it!

 

Lazy J Breakfast menu

 

Lazy J’s Steak and Eggs – the little breakfast steak is just the right size and is so good – so tender and very good flavor!

 

After breakfast we walked around the ship a little, then went back and started the chore of packing. Not a happy time for us --- we would have liked another day or two onboard the Pride of America. We were planning on getting off the ship and taking a shuttle to one of the shopping centers, but we changed our minds and decided to stay on the ship.

 

Photo Gallery hallway with the Skyline Restaurant at one end and Jefferson’s Bistro at the other.

[brunolvr]

Skyline Restaurant

 

Jefferson’s Bistro

 

Looking down on the South Beach Pool

 

Sports Court on Deck 14

 

Coast Guard boat cruising by us

[brunolvr]

Although there was a Sail-Away Barbecue from 12:30 PM until 2:30 PM at the Aloha Café Lanai, we decided to try the Skyline Restaurant for lunch.

 

It is open for lunch only on embarkation day (Saturday) and Friday, both days from noon until 2:00 PM. We were the first ones there and asked if we could have a table at the back of the ship by the big windows.

 

Skyline Restaurant – notice all the pillars are high-rise buildings?

 

 

The view from our table

 

They had a great looking menu and it was hard deciding what to have.

Lunch Menu at Skyline Restaurant

 

 

My husband started off with the Summer Rolls, which he enjoyed.

 

 

We love all their breads!

 

We both decided on the Cobb Salad and we weren’t disappointed. It was very good and filling, although a little more lettuce would have been nice.

[brunolvr]

WOW, is all I can say! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful photos and detailed review. I've been to the Hawaiian isles 3 times including a cruise in 2010. I just booked a client on the POA and will send her this link to enjoy. Your suite was wonderful! Maybe she will upgrade.

 

Aloha,

 

Thank you, Nanatravel! I hope your client does consider a suite! They are wonderful!:)