Party of 8 – Our Hawaiian Adventure on the POA (with pics)

[MLK152]

Thank you for this great review. We will be making the trip later in the month with my parents and my sister's and brother's families with 4 children under age 6. I don't think we'll be doing as much because the children are so young, but it was helpful to know that there is "town life" in Kona and Nawiliwili. I know we will definitely want to get off of the ship then.

 

I also loved all the pictures you shared. I'm looking forward to seeing it in person. :)

 

I appreciated that you had positive things to say about the ship and staff. It's our first cruise, so I'm sure they will exceed our expectations.

[greatlakesgirl]

I'm so glad you enjoyed the review and found it helpful! If you haven't already, do look into renting a car at least one of your days on Maui, preferably the first. There is nothing near the ship, but the Iao Valley only takes about 20 minutes to get to, if that, and it is so amazing. Barring that, I think there is a ship excursion that goes there, too.

 

Anyway, whatever you end up doing, have fun! Hawaii is simply wonderful!

[dani negreanu]

Thank you for a very enjoyable and thorough review.

I know it takes a lot of time to do this -- very much appreciated.

I took plenty of notes.

You got me thinking ("recalculating") the plan to rent a car in Kona :D and to take into account the time table of rentals in general.

[greatlakesgirl]

Thank you for a very enjoyable and thorough review.

I know it takes a lot of time to do this -- very much appreciated.

I took plenty of notes.

You got me thinking ("recalculating") the plan to rent a car in Kona :D and to take into account the time table of rentals in general.

You are so welcome! I'm glad that even two years on, my review is still helpful.

 

*sigh* Two years ago today we were getting ready to head to the pier to board.

[Chelleum]

Great review and pictures. Thanks for all the helpful tips. I booked the POA for Nov 2017. I been looking for as much reviews as I can find to help with the planning.

 

Thanks for the photo of your BIL room. I had a midship room but once I saw a photo of the room. I knew my BF would have a problem with the room. I switched to a Obstructed view room for the couch and big window, but I realized after I switched that your rooms were by the small life boat. I did not want to take an adjoining room and I was hoping that between the life boat would be a little view. Its ok, I will scarified not having a view just so my BF can be comfortable.

Edited March 2, 2016 by Chelleum

[greatlakesgirl]

Thanks for compliment! So glad you found the review helpful. :) i hooe you have a fantastic trip and the view isn't too obstructed. Don't worry, though, you'll spend so little time in your cabin. Also, the promenade deck is just one flight of stairs down and it's always practically empty.

[petunia670]

Thanks greatlakesgirl for such an informative, well written and photo-laden review of POA and your excursions. We're headed to Hawaii on POA in October 2016 to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary. There will be 6 of us, all adults.

 

I loved your comments on the ship and the crew. Sometimes I find myself possibly expecting too much out of the crew when I need to remember exactly what you say - they're regular people working hard that are away from their families from months on end and they really are trying their best. I should be enjoying "island time" and the fact that I'm not at work, right!? Great message to us all to simply enjoy the ride!

 

I'm taking a lot of notes from your excursions and suggestions. Thanks for putting the time into such a fun read.

 

Oh, BTW - we moved to Texas 2 years ago from Chicago area. We had a lake house in Harbor Country area of Michigan and we miss it so much. Nothing like swimming in Lake Michigan. There's virtually no water here in TX. Awwww sweet summertime in Michigan. Nothing better! :)

[olemissreb]

Thank you for you review. It was a great help to me in my early planning stages for our May 2018 trip! It will be me (55 at time of cruise), my 2 DS's (ages 18 & 22 at cruise time) and my mom (age 81 at cruise time). I know my mom won't want to be as active as my boys, so I'll have to figure out a mix of things for us to do or at least a way for Mom to watch as we risk our necks doing something :D. Thinking that day 2 in Kauai might just be a "rest" day for all of us. LOVED the pics of Waimea Canyon and think that has to be on the to do list.

 

We have an aft corner cabin (family suite) - so I can't wait to see the Na'apoli Coast from there! Do you know if we'll be able to hear the narration from out on our balcony? Or maybe we can hear it through our TV and with the door open?

 

How are the roads on Maui, Kauai, & the Big Island? Are they very twisty, turny? I'll be doing the driving (although I may have my 22yo as an alternate driver), but Mom sometimes gets a little car sick. Might have to ply her with Bonine at night so it's not a problem. :D:eek:

 

When you go to Alaska, if I can be any help, let me know. We did that 3 years ago and it was the most phenomenal vacation I've ever done. 2 weeks in Alaska is no where near enough. I tried to get my youngest to go back for his graduation trip, but he didn't want to do the same thing as his older brother. Oh well - Hawaii doesn't suck either! :D

Edited April 24, 2016 by olemissreb

[Silver Sweethearts]

 

How are the roads on Maui, Kauai, & the Big Island? Are they very twisty, turny? I'll be doing the driving (although I may have my 22yo as an alternate driver), but Mom sometimes gets a little car sick. Might have to ply her with Bonine at night so it's not a problem. :D:eek:

 

Most of the roads on Maui are easy to drive. A few possible exceptions (in considering your mother) might be the road to Hana and beyond; the road up by the crater and trying to get to Nakalele blowhole on Highway 340. There is a potential for car sickness on the first two, and also possible altitude sickness at the crater. This is not meant to be negative - it's just to give you a heads up when deciding what to do.

 

In case you hadn't already thought of this, do know many rental car companies have a surcharge for drivers under 25 years of age. You might want to check and see is this applies to alternate drivers (such as your son) too.

Edited April 25, 2016 by Silver Sweethearts

[olemissreb]

Most of the roads on Maui are easy to drive. A few possible exceptions (in considering your mother) might be the road to Hana and beyond; the road up by the crater and trying to get to Nakalele blowhole on Highway 340. There is a potential for car sickness on the first two, and also possible altitude sickness at the crater. This is not meant to be negative - it's just to give you a heads up when deciding what to do.

 

In case you hadn't already thought of this, do know many rental car companies have a surcharge for drivers under 25 years of age. You might want to check and see is this applies to alternate drivers (such as your son) too.

 

Thank you for this. I knew about the surcharge for drivers under 25, but hadn't thought about it for him as an alternate driver. I'll definitely look into that.

 

I had read about the road to Hana, so I think we might skip that. I was thinking of doing a luau on Maui (Old Lahaina or Feast at Lele) and was wondering about those roads.

 

I had read about the road leading to Haleakala and altitude sickness. I think we may actually do an independent excursion for that depending on what time we get back from the Luau. If that runs too late, we might have to skip the luau so we can see the sunrise. Still in the early planning stages, so haven't truly set what are "must do's".

 

Thanks again for all the very helpful information! I love CC for this.

[dani negreanu]

How are the roads on Maui, Kauai, & the Big Island? Are they very twisty, turny?

 

We rented a car in all ports. DH was the designated driver, since he is very well drive-traveled.

He was quite surprised to find ALL the roads he's driven (Oahu, Maui, BI and Kauai) in excellent condition. In comparison with notorious Israeli drivers, he found all of them Hawaiian drivers law abiding and very "understanding" when he drove slowly, trying to decide where to exit... In his words: "take into account that while the roads are in excellent condition, a lot of time they were one line roads, he had no problems with the one line/twisty Road to Hana [but, then, we went only until mile #6.5], the only road I think was dangerous and unpleasant to drive was in Kona, #270 North, hugging the coast - windy, one lane, lots of heavy vehicles driving at high speed, almost had the car floating". [We wanted to reach Polulu lookout, but, due to the road conditions, decided to head back early and "call it a day".]

We also drove to Haleakala until the park's entrance, it was misty, like driving in a soup, so we also decided that, since we couldn't see anything, we'll cut the day short and do other things.

[olemissreb]

We rented a car in all ports. DH was the designated driver, since he is very well drive-traveled.

He was quite surprised to find ALL the roads he's driven (Oahu, Maui, BI and Kauai) in excellent condition. In comparison with notorious Israeli drivers, he found all of them Hawaiian drivers law abiding and very "understanding" when he drove slowly, trying to decide where to exit... In his words: "take into account that while the roads are in excellent condition, a lot of time they were one line roads, he had no problems with the one line/twisty Road to Hana [but, then, we went only until mile #6.5], the only road I think was dangerous and unpleasant to drive was in Kona, #270 North, hugging the coast - windy, one lane, lots of heavy vehicles driving at high speed, almost had the car floating". [We wanted to reach Polulu lookout, but, due to the road conditions, decided to head back early and "call it a day".]

We also drove to Haleakala until the park's entrance, it was misty, like driving in a soup, so we also decided that, since we couldn't see anything, we'll cut the day short and do other things.

 

Thank you! I think we are going to skip the Road to Hana- my mother would be hanging out the window! Instead, I think we'll head over to Lahaina and spend the day - zipline in the morning, lunch, shopping, luau that night, and then back to the ship. I'll have to figure out when to turn in the rental car - surely they have something for late turn ins and then we can take a cab back to the ship? We'll do a morning (going to pass on the sunrise) excursion to Haleakala and then bike ride down to Paia (? - I know that's not the right name, but it escapes me right now). If we do that after sunrise, my mother can ride in the van for cheaper than if we do sunrise (plus with the later time, the savings over the sunrise trip means mom basically rides for free. :))

[dani negreanu]

I think we'll head over to Lahaina and spend the day - zipline in the morning, lunch, shopping, luau that night, and then back to the ship.

 

First day in Maui, we've done part of RTH, then went back to ship thinking we'll find the designated parking for POA, wasted a lot of precious time trying to figure out where to park, ended up parking at the Mall, rested a bit before heading out to Lahaina for the very recommended OLL, and after the luau it took us only half an hour to drive back to ship.

We kept the car overnight -- no sunrise trips for us :)

 

BTW, I think that the part of RTH until the painted rainbow trees (eucalyptus) is well worth the drive, only 2-3 twisty turns.

[greatlakesgirl]

Thanks greatlakesgirl for such an informative, well written and photo-laden review of POA and your excursions. We're headed to Hawaii on POA in October 2016 to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary. There will be 6 of us, all adults.

 

I loved your comments on the ship and the crew. Sometimes I find myself possibly expecting too much out of the crew when I need to remember exactly what you say - they're regular people working hard that are away from their families from months on end and they really are trying their best. I should be enjoying "island time" and the fact that I'm not at work, right!? Great message to us all to simply enjoy the ride!

 

I'm taking a lot of notes from your excursions and suggestions. Thanks for putting the time into such a fun read.

 

Oh, BTW - we moved to Texas 2 years ago from Chicago area. We had a lake house in Harbor Country area of Michigan and we miss it so much. Nothing like swimming in Lake Michigan. There's virtually no water here in TX. Awwww sweet summertime in Michigan. Nothing better! :)

I'm so glad my review is helping people more than two years later!

 

We love living in Michigan and spend a lot of time on Lake Michigan. The only place I love as much is Hawaii! :D

Thank you for you review. It was a great help to me in my early planning stages for our May 2018 trip! It will be me (55 at time of cruise), my 2 DS's (ages 18 & 22 at cruise time) and my mom (age 81 at cruise time). I know my mom won't want to be as active as my boys, so I'll have to figure out a mix of things for us to do or at least a way for Mom to watch as we risk our necks doing something :D. Thinking that day 2 in Kauai might just be a "rest" day for all of us. LOVED the pics of Waimea Canyon and think that has to be on the to do list.

 

We have an aft corner cabin (family suite) - so I can't wait to see the Na'apoli Coast from there! Do you know if we'll be able to hear the narration from out on our balcony? Or maybe we can hear it through our TV and with the door open?

 

How are the roads on Maui, Kauai, & the Big Island? Are they very twisty, turny? I'll be doing the driving (although I may have my 22yo as an alternate driver), but Mom sometimes gets a little car sick. Might have to ply her with Bonine at night so it's not a problem. :D:eek:

 

When you go to Alaska, if I can be any help, let me know. We did that 3 years ago and it was the most phenomenal vacation I've ever done. 2 weeks in Alaska is no where near enough. I tried to get my youngest to go back for his graduation trip, but he didn't want to do the same thing as his older brother. Oh well - Hawaii doesn't suck either! :D

I don't think you'll be able to hear the narration on your balcony, but I think it plays on the tv. We went out on deck six port side for the sail by and it was wonderful.

 

As others have already said, the road to Hana is very twisty. I did it with my parents a long time ago when I was 18 and had no trouble, and neither did they. We all took Bonine for the cruise so I can recommend it for that, but I don't know if it would help for the roads; it seems like it would! The Big Island was fine and so was Kauai for us.

 

Thanks for the offer of help on the Alaska trip! Mom-in-law just bought a brand new car so I don't know if that trip's still on the radar or not. I know she wants to take us, so maybe!

[RenieRaider]

GREAT REVIEW! What was this excursion? Sounds wonderful! Your photos are so clear! Thanks for sharing!

[greatlakesgirl]

GREAT REVIEW! What was this excursion? Sounds wonderful! Your photos are so clear! Thanks for sharing!

Sorry, I'm not sure what you're talking about. The only ship excursion we did was Molokini snorkel and that was just for convenience sake. We rented cars otherwise.

 

Glad you enjoyed the review and the pictures! :)

[Madam Butterfly Ahoy]

Your review is so helpful [emoji106]thank u for sharing

 

 

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[holidayhelen]

Omg this is fantastic - and to be honest I have not read it all yet - I have flicked through the photos and I am now looking forward to our turn next Feb - 25 Feb 2017.

 

What was the weather like? Did you see many whales?

 

I will go back and read it properly soon

[Jewel16]

Thank you for this wonderful review, I am loving reading it. We go to Hawaii for the first time next February 20th (2017) and seeing as it's the same time of year that you were there it's even more relevant. I'm getting so excited now! ....Loving it.x

Edited July 12, 2016 by Jewel16

[greatlakesgirl]

Your review is so helpful [emoji106]thank u for sharing

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

You are welcome! Glad to be of help. :)

[greatlakesgirl]

Omg this is fantastic - and to be honest I have not read it all yet - I have flicked through the photos and I am now looking forward to our turn next Feb - 25 Feb 2017.

 

What was the weather like? Did you see many whales?

 

I will go back and read it properly soon

 

We had outstanding weather. It rained a couple times at night, and one time on Oahu on our way back to Waikiki from the north shore.

 

We saw so many whales! Literally every day. Spinner dolphines, too. February is peak time for the whales and you'll see their babies, too. We went on the ship's snorkel excursion our second day on Maui and it turned out to be as much of a whIle watching trip as it did a snorkel trip.

 

Thanks for reading!

[greatlakesgirl]

Thank you for this wonderful review, I am loving reading it. We go to Hawaii for the first time next February 20th (2017) and seeing as it's the same time of year that you were there it's even more relevant. I'm getting so excited now! ....Loving it.x

You are more than welcome. I am so happy my review is helping people even two years later.

 

I hope you love Hawaii and the cruise as much as we did!

[BinaBo]

I'm so pleased my review is still helping people over a year later! Thank you for reading. The rooms are small, to be sure, but perfectly functional. :)

 

 

 

You'll be pleased to know then, that your review is helping me tremendously... to plan our first Hawaiian cruise... nearly 3 years after your trip! We sail on the POA August 5th, 2017 on our 30th Anniversary Celebration. I'm so excited I can hardly contain it!

 

I have saved your full review into my notes and highlighted every pertinent detail that applies to us. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. And for being so incredibly uplifting as well. So refreshing to read reviews from people who are anti-curmudgeon! :halo:

[anandaindonesia]

Happy to read your reviews. Thank you.

[greatlakesgirl]

I'm so pleased my review is still helping people over a year later! Thank you for reading. The rooms are small, to be sure, but perfectly functional. :)

 

 

 

You'll be pleased to know then, that your review is helping me tremendously... to plan our first Hawaiian cruise... nearly 3 years after your trip! We sail on the POA August 5th, 2017 on our 30th Anniversary Celebration. I'm so excited I can hardly contain it!

 

I have saved your full review into my notes and highlighted every pertinent detail that applies to us. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. And for being so incredibly uplifting as well. So refreshing to read reviews from people who are anti-curmudgeon! :halo:

 

Happy to read your reviews. Thank you.

I just saw both of your responses to my review and although I'm a few months late with replying, I just wanted to say thank you. I hope you love your Hawaiian adventures as much as we did!