Aloha~! A Photo Trip Report of the POA - 10/11/14

[Miicah]

As I believed I may have mentioned before, my mom was with Mary Lou again today for a tour of Kona. Funnily enough she was also with the same two ladies that we were with the day before (and she told me they also wanted to head back early to attend some workshop or other). I can’t really explain any of her pictures since I wasn’t there, so I’ll just spam them, haha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

My mom was really fascinated by this tree as she told me it was really upright and standing with its trunk all twisted like that.

 

 

I’m not sure what this church is but I have seen a lot of pictures of it when I was looking into Hawaii.

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

 

 

That is an awesome treehouse!

 

 

My mom caught a bit of a water volleyball match going on in the pool when she returned.

 

[Miicah]

 

I had a snorkelling excursion booked through NCL, so I didn’t really get to make use of the priority tendering (though we did leave pretty early anyway, so). I believe the company contracted for the excursion was Body Glove, and they take your excursion ticket as the pier as your board. We did have other passengers on board that weren’t from the ship—there was one couple that told me they were in Kona for the week.

 

Breakfast and lunch is given on the boat (was that why I didn’t eat breakfast? Haha). This was the orange juice I got from the bartender (who seriously looks a lot like James Franco).

 

 

They do serve alcohol, and you generate a tab that you pay at the end of the trip. They do take credit cards, which I wish I known as I would’ve loved to upgrade and try the SNUBA package (I wish I knew they even offered that, haha). There was also a Canadian crew member on board (the captain made a joke that it’s like mandatory to have at least one Canadian in your crew, haha), who was a huge help to me later on the trip.

 

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

I thought the clouds were clustered together so beautifully!

 

 

 

On our way to snorkeling spot, we passed by some Spinner dolphins! I was super excited—first giant turtles, now dolphins? The only one I missed was the whales, though it wasn’t whale season, haha. The crew was saying how the dolphins were really ‘sleep-swimming’ or something because they eat at night. Guess they’re nocturnal haha

 

 

 

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[Miicah]

Here is the spot where we stopped. Have no idea where it was, haha, but compared to snorkeling in the ocean at Waikiki Beach it’s much clearer. They do have life vests or noodles to use if you’d like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chasinraynbowz]

I started to read your review and your pictures are gone :confused:

[Miicah]

I started to read your review and your pictures are gone :confused:

 

Yeah, I exceeded the bandwidth for my Photobucket and the cycle doesn't restart again until Friday. And since I can't go back and edit the posts, they're kinda stuck like that until then :(

Edited February 1, 2015 by Miicah

[Miicah]

 

 

 

 

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[YOUTUBE]yTla-fh9Yw4[/YOUTUBE]

 

About halfway through I started to feel a little thirsty (made it was all the saltwater), so I headed back in for lunch. And boy, did seasickness hit me like a freight train. I couldn’t eat that much because I was trying not to puke—and I did pretty well until this other lady at the table beside me just lost it. It kinda triggered me, haha.

 

But the people who sat at my table were super nice and the James Franco lookalike gave me ginger to drink, though it didn’t help me at that point. I wish I was able to go back snorkeling on the other side of the boat. When I lost it again on the way back to the pier the Canadian crew member kept me company as the cleaned ground zero, haha. Needless to say they all got a nice tip.

 

Before I went back to the ship to clean up I stayed on land for a bit and waded in one of the small beaches nearby. (don’t think it’d be smart to get back on a boat after just leaving one, haha). I also wish I had had come to port after freshening up but I didn’t want to get seasick again. Now that I know small boats make me sick (and ferries and cruise ships don’t, haha), I’ll take some medicine before getting on one again.

 

This was the pretty art I saw on the concrete slabs while in line for the tender back to the ship.

 

[Miicah]

Today’s towel animal and daily treat.

 

 

 

While waiting for my mom to return I believe I either watched a movie (Maleficent was on a lot, as was), or the taping of the Not So Newlywed/Dancing with the American Stars shows. They were funny as hell, definitely go to one or watch it on TV later in the week.

 

Once my mom came back we hung out for a bit before heading out for the sail away.

 

Here’s a picture of the Conservatory taken from inside the midship elevator that was a glass wall.

 

 

My mom told me that Mary Lou said that this was a man-made island. From the looks of it you could do some water activities from here.

 

 

 

[Miicah]

 

 

I was always afraid I’d drop something in the gap between the tender boat and the platform. There are people there to hold onto you so that you yourself don’t fall down, haha.

 

 

 

 

The time the tender boat began to be pulled back up onto the ship. They had left for one last trip to land but didn’t come back with anyone, so not sure if we left anyone there or not, as they were calling a few names before.

 

[Miicah]

That night we ate at Skyline again. I think it was my favourite place we ate at.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards we went to Showtime: Oh What A Night! They were excellent singers, I’m sure the ladies loved how they looked, haha, and it was just overall a nice show. Not entirely familiar with Jersey but I enjoyed myself (my mom had a huge blast!).

 

Kauai is coming up next!

[pizzalady1]

Glad you are back. The cute church your mom was in is called the Painted Church (St. Benedict Roman Catholic Church) and is very near the Place of Refuge (Pu`uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park).

Edited February 1, 2015 by pizzalady1

[kezza]

Glad you're back Miicah, photos are great (I have the same camera and love it too :) )...do you remember what the snorkelling tour was in Kona.

[sns101098]

So happy to see that you've continued with your trip report!:)

[EasyPeasy]

I know I am late to the party, and I am enjoying the review, but for some reason I can't see any of the pics. Really bummed! :confused:

[baseballsandbows]

Thank you so much for this review! I booked on Saturday for Jan. 2, 2016, so I am now in the fun research phase! I can't wait for all your pics to reload!

 

 

Lauren

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[sassyredhat]

Thanks for everything Micah.

You are quite a celebrity now. :D

 

Patti

[CoolChange37]

I'm so glad you are back. I can't wait til Friday to go back to the beginning of your voyage on board POA! :)

[EasyPeasy]

Yeah, I exceeded the bandwidth for my Photobucket and the cycle doesn't restart again until Friday. And since I can't go back and edit the posts, they're kinda stuck like that until then :(

 

Oh, that explains it! I will have to go back and check out the pics tomorrow.

 

Thanks again!

[jaybee1965]

I only found this review recently too and wondered why I couldn't see the photos. So glad you explained and continued on. I'm hoping to do this cruise on 8 August 2015 if the price drops a bit more. Best I've seen is $899 for an inside cabin up to 6 weeks before departure and its currently around $1499 for the date I want. Not sure if I can hold out that much longer after reading all your wonderful experiences. Thanks for all the helpful details and great pics. (I can see them now)