Cruise review POA April 6

[jdvmd]

Great photos! Thanks for posting!

[mellowrose]

Our next port was Hilo, and we had booked "Marylou's Excursions". to the hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Marylou drove us right down there because she said the visibility was best inthe morning and it looked like a good day. It was, the view was incredible of Kilauea Caldera and Mauna Loa. The massive amount of steam rising from the caldera is impressive.

 

This is the Caldera looking at the steam vent from the opposite side.

The Jaggard Museum is worth a look.

 

After that we had a walk thru the Thurston Lava Tubes.

This is a photo of Rainbow Falls.

[mellowrose]

Maylou's Tour also included a visit to Macademian Nut Farm and the Orchid Farm.

This orchid is insured for $10,000.

 

A stop at the park in Hilo where you can watch the Green Sea Turtles eating the algea off the rocks. Such beautiful creatures! I have some video but never could snap them at the right moment!

This tour was great, Marylou is someone you really want to spend time with in Hilo!

[mellowrose]

We spent the day with an Australian couple who were a joy to share with. He could not get enough of the turtle viewing. If there had been more time and maybe less surge, we would have gone snorkelling here.

[mellowrose]

Dinner tonight was in the Skyline Dining Room . The Tai Chicken and Salmon were very good.

Tonight was the much anticipated sail by the lava flow.

It did not disappoint.

Bring binoculars! I have no photos of the flow as it was a distance but I'll never forget my first sighting of lava flowing into the sea.

There are 4 different fingers or flows and you can see lots of "skylights" above the flow...hard to explain, you just need to see it!

[elhenry]

Maylou's Tour also included a visit to Macademian Nut Farm and the Orchid Farm.

This orchid is insured for $10,000.

 

A stop at the park in Hilo where you can watch the Green Sea Turtles eating the algea off the rocks. Such beautiful creatures! I have some video but never could snap them at the right moment!

This tour was great, Marylou is someone you really want to spend time with in Hilo!

 

I am loving this review, and we have booked Marylou and Ken for the Big Island in July. Can't wait!

[irishone127]

Next day is pearl Harbour. You have to buy your tickets ahead of time because the let the travel companies buy huge numbers so there is very few left for the individual tourists to buy. Plus we were told that they have actually closed off 2 of the times for the shuttle to the Missouri Monument to save money. We were able to get 2 tickets from one of the tour companies that were hogging the tickets. It was actually good because it included a tour of Honolulu which we were going to do on our own and this way we had the running commentary from the driver. It was called Hawaiian Tours.

The visit to Pearl Harbour is something everyone should do once in their life no matter what your nationality.

 

I googled Hawaiian Tours and could not find one with that exact name. I love your itenary. We are going in Sept and I have also selected Mary Lou and Valley Isle Excursions. I can't wait to read more!

[Aussiegirl58]

Love reading your review. We will be sailing on 11th May. Have also booked Valley Isle for the Road to Hana. Glad to see you enjoyed the tour. Your pictures are great. Can't wait to read some more.

[aussiemandy]

Also loving your review. Sailing September and so looking forward to it.

[js4rq]

Lovely POA review and photos, mahalo for sharing!!

[canehdn]

Thanks for sharing your review and beautiful pictures of your POA cruise around the Hawaiian islands. Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. Been to Maui on vacation twice and absolutely loved it. I always thought a cruise around the islands would be a good way to get a taste for the other islands. Great job .... thanks again for sharing.

 

Cdn in KS

[mellowrose]

Oh so sorry Irishone! I gave the wrong name for our Oahu Tour company. It was "Polynesian Adventure Tours" run by Gray Line. WE did the Pearl Harbour and Honolulu City Highlights Tour.

 

 

This is a sculpture just beside the Missouri Battleship.

 

 

 

The Toyr also took you through the Punchbowl where the National Cemetery of the Pacific.

[mellowrose]

Marylou was a lot of fun. We also went to the HIlo Coffee Farm and this is where we bought our beans to take home. The manager of the farm gave us a thorough lesson in bean roasting in the roasting house. It is a small operation but their coffee is superb. The Hilo side of the Island is wetter they say but the coffee growing their is expanding to replace the old pineapple plantations. They try to be ecologically sensitive and the coffee plants have sure a nice appearance to the eye.

(It sure beats planting GMO cornseads by the thousand acres by Monsanto like on Maui.) Although on Maui, Ophra W. has large acreage for organic beef farming that is on old plantation land. You really get a lot of info on these tours.

This photo is Marylou's idea!

Bring a light sweatshirt or jacket as it is cooler up on the Volcano.

[mellowrose]

Kona is a tendering dock. WE actually made a mistake, we just walked down to the 3rd deck and joined a lineup there and went through to the tender quickly in the morning. As it turned out, the lineup was for booked excursions and we were on our own today but we didn't clue in till on the tender that we skipped the process of getting tickets etc. Our Bad. Don't do this. LIne cutters!

 

Kona's shoreline is lava rocks near the pier. If I go there again I want to see the north or southern beaches.

Kona is a great town to shop, walk along the shore and watch the Green Sea Turtles, and for me...The Quilt Shop! Bruce and I pack light so that means our carryon and 1 bag that already weighted the limit because of snorkelling stuff etc. But fabric is the exception to my quilter brain. Beautiful fabric here and the unique Hawaiian colors!

Bruce gettin' silly at the Bubba Gump Restaurant. Those shoes and box of chocolates are scuptures.

[mellowrose]

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An eg. of the quilting in Kona.

 

The ship!

[greatlakesgirl]

Loving your review and all the pictures! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this.

 

I can't wait 'til next February!:)

[Fioredicampo]

Thanks !!! Fine photo:)

[mellowrose]

When we got off in Kona, we were approached by "Alex's Tours" for the next day in Kauai to go on a tour to the Canyon. At a fraction of the price...$45. each we thot well why not so in the morning we met the Tour bus where they said to meet them.

 

Ben was our guide and he was great, talked all along the way about the culture, flora and fauna, history etc. A really fun time.We went to the Fantasy Island Waterfall.

 

[mellowrose]

Stopped at the Kauai Coffee Company, which is the biggest coffee farm in the U.S.A. Through the town of Hanapepe and along to the Waimea River and Bay where Captain Cook landed. Up, up to the Waimea Canyon on this beautiful day. It is so beautiful!

[mellowrose]

From here, Ben took us to see the "Sprouting Horn" and continued to talk about the sites where all the Hollywood movies were done so really I felt like we had a well spent 4 hours for $45. each plus a good tip!

That evening I would say I had the best crab cake I have ever had for an appetizer in the Liberty. Didn't care for the Korean Shortribs though.

 

Our last day I was feeling bad as I had a nasty cold so we took it easy and as it was sailing day past the Napali Coast, it was perfect to just hang out on the deck. Saw so many Humpback Whales, even a mother with her new baby, bringing it up to the surface.

Getting ready to say BYE!

We left the ship early as we could on Saturday and the disembarkation was effortless and quick as we were able to manage our baggage.

Our daughter and her fiance, Erika and Ivan met us at the Pier to pick us up for another adventure in paradise, a week at a Timeshare in Princeville, Kauai.

[kslmp]

Glad to see you made it to Bubba Gumps. We were too pooped to even go down there and once I had found the Lava Light Gallery that I was looking for, we were like OK time for a ride. So we just jumped on the trolley and rode it around. :)

[punkincc]

Thank you for the great review! Am taking notes for our August 2014 POA cruise.

 

I hope you will share a little about your Princeville experience as well. We were there several years ago, also in a timeshare. We intend to spend perhaps an extra week somewhere in Hawaii after the cruise as well.

[mellowrose]

Punkincc, we were at the Makia Cottages. Its RCI. The 2 bedroom units are huge and perfect for us. Lovely grounds but you need a car rental to go anywhere. There is a good grocery store closeby as well as local markets that pop up if you find out when and where as the produce sells out fast.

We like to snorkel and Tunnels was our favorite, just past Hanalai. It is so perfect. There are shark, Green Turtles, Hawaiian Munk Seals as well as tropical fish. The tunnels are lava field formations that the creatures like to live in that are close to shore. We have been all over the Caribbean and I tell you, the water here was so clear and the snorkelling effortless. We loved it. Never too hot, never too touristy because the little bridges to the end of this highway will not accomodate tour buses! Just go early to get parking.

[mellowrose]

Another great spot is the end of the road to Kee Beach and the hike up to see the Napali Coast' It is incredible!

 

This is the crazy windy walk up to see the coastline.

 

Kee Beach

 

The View! Does not do it justice!

[san&zsm]

Thank you so much for the pictures and information! DH and I will be sailing on Sept. 14 for our 30th anniversary. We can't wait!