A Photo Trip Report of POA 3/25-4/8/15

[BnAv10]

Freestyle Daily Day 1 - Saturday, March 28

 

 

 

[BnAv10]

Saturday, March 28 continued

 

At 4:45 p.m. there was the mandatory lifeboat drill. You have an assigned muster station based on your room #. Ours was the theater. You don't have to wear your lifejacket, which was a change from our last cruise. It was a bit more pleasant that way, and it all was over in about 15 minutes. One of the assistant cruise directors was on stage and tried to keep us entertained during the waiting time.

 

We had made a dinner reservation for 6 p.m. at La Cucina, the italian restaurant ($15 pp upcharge.) We got there a few minutes before 6 and they seated us right away at a window booth.

 

La Cucina Menu:

 

 

 

 

 

[BnAv10]

Saturday, March 28 continued

 

Dinner was really yummy. We ordered a bottle of Gabbiano Chianti, and we thought it was good.

 

 

They bring you a small loaf of fresh hot bread and ask you which flavors of oil you want for it. There's garlic, rosemary, and i don't remember the others, i think there are 4 different ones to choose from. Or you can get all 4.

 

We ordered the bruschetta to start (without the anchovies) and it was yummy, albeit tiny. If you both want bruschetta, be sure to get two orders.

 

 

I then had the vegetarian minnestrone soup.

 

 

For the main course, Brad ordered the penne with marinara.

 

 

I ordered the linguini with pesto sauce.

 

 

We were too stuffed for dessert. :)

[BnAv10]

Saturday, March 28 continued

 

Next we headed to the main show for the night in the Hollywood Theater. On this first night, they did sort of a variety show, showcasing several acts you would see more of throughout the week, including the singers and dancers and comedian. I didn't get to take many pics except for before they opened the curtain and right when the show kicked off.

 

 

Malu, the cruise director:

 

 

We were then told that photography and video were not allowed. The show was kicked off by the Cruise Director, Malu. She is Hawaiian and did a beautiful hula presentation for us.

 

Malu was always around throughout the cruise and really added a lot to it. I think NCL is really lucky to have such a wonderful Hawaiian person working for them. It really adds to the Hawaiian cruise experience. I wish they had more Hawaiians working for them on this cruise.

 

After the show we headed back to the room and went to bed.

 

Some notes and tips regarding the room:

 

We both packed power strips and extension cords. This helped because the outlets in the stateroom were on the opposite wall from the bed. So at night, we were able to charge our phones, tablets and kindle and have them beside us on either side of the bed. There are little tables on either side of the bed to place small items on.

 

There were (i think) two outlets in the shelf unit next to the closet (to the left of the bed but opposite wall) and two outlets above the table to the right of the bed (but opposite wall from the bed.) There was also a coffee table and small couch. Tv, small minifridge, safe.

 

We took out all the beverages that were in the fridge and just put them on the table so we could put our own stuff in the fridge. Yes, you can fit a couple bottles of white wine in the fridge once you remove those other items. Funny thing, Made (ma-de) our room steward, never removed those items even though we took them out of the fridge. You most likely will have to specifically ask your room steward to remove them if you want him to. He would probably get in trouble if he did so without our specific permission.

 

There was one universal plug in the bathroom, inside the cabinet. Btw, i thought there was no cabinet after tugging on the two mirrors and having no luck. Brad pulled a little harder and discovered the cabinet on the right side of the sink. That's also where the plug is, inside there.

 

There is no bar soap, and there's no conditioner. I thankfully found this out from reading other helpful reviews before the trip, so i picked those things up in Waikiki before boarding the ship. We are not fans of shower gel, which is what is available from a dispenser in the shower, along with shampoo.

 

The shower is very small as you would expect, typical cruise ship shower. But we did really like the shower head, which was so pleasant after the bad shower head at the Marriott! This shower head was also the kind you can remove and use as a hand held, which is helpful since it's such a small shower so it's hard to get all the bits rinsed without using it that way! I also liked using the handheld shower head when shaving my legs. Very handy!

 

There were reading lights on either side of the bed.

 

We left the door to the lanai open just ever so slightly on nights when we were cruising in between islands. We loved hearing the sound of the waves at night while going to sleep.

 

Here's the "large balcony" which was larger than your typical balcony room, although certainly not as big as a suite balcony. "Made", our room steward, came through and got us the lounge chairs after we asked for them. We gave him a little cash tip as a thank you for hooking us up. There were also regular chairs out there but you can't seem them in this pic. They are hiding to the left and right of the door.

 

 

I think that was it for embarkation day. I hope you are enjoying following along. Stay tuned for tomorrow's trip report, day 1 in Maui where we drive the road to Hana and do a really fun hike!

 

Please let me know if you have any questions that i can help answer. I am happy to help if i can!

 

Aloha and mahalo for following along!

[computerworks]

Cabin number?

 

Thanks for posting these... hoping for more cabin interior pics. ;)

[Wildcatllamas]

I will be on the POA in December. A friend, whose husband hates to cruise, asked me along and I said heck yes. So we will be in a regular balcony. I have absolutely loved reading your review so far.

Since my late husband was retired military I booked our hotel room at the Hale Koa, which is a military hotel. It is near the Outrigger. It has great reviews.

As each day goes by I am getting more excited. Of course my friend keeps calling me about going on other cruises with her and I have to remind her that I still work but couldn't pass up Hawaii.

[Mom2B&Z]

Following...we were on this sailing too :)

 

 

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[AF-1]

BnAv10, la Cucina looks great. So you had two power strips with you?

[ransrider]

Just noticed that your cabin is located directly across from what we have booked for our January 2016 trip. We are cabin 9528.

[BnAv10]

Cabin number?

 

Thanks for posting these... hoping for more cabin interior pics. ;)

 

Hi there, thank you for following along! My cabin # was 9028. Unfortunately i did not take any interior cabin photos. I am so bummed that i forgot to do that! I'm sorry. :(

 

I will be on the POA in December. A friend, whose husband hates to cruise, asked me along and I said heck yes. So we will be in a regular balcony. I have absolutely loved reading your review so far.

Since my late husband was retired military I booked our hotel room at the Hale Koa, which is a military hotel. It is near the Outrigger. It has great reviews.

As each day goes by I am getting more excited. Of course my friend keeps calling me about going on other cruises with her and I have to remind her that I still work but couldn't pass up Hawaii.

 

I am so sorry for your loss. I stayed at the Hale Koa a lifetime ago. It is a wonderful benefit for military families. I hope you have a wonderful time. Yes, it is too bad we have to work and not just cruise full time.... if only!

 

Following...we were on this sailing too

 

Very cool! I hope you had a wonderful time! :)

 

BnAv10' date=' la Cucina looks great. So you had two power strips with you?[/quote']

 

Yes, La Cucina was a great dining option. And yes, we had 2 power strips.

 

Just noticed that your cabin is located directly across from what we have booked for our January 2016 trip. We are cabin 9528.

 

Awesome! I thought it was a great location. It was very quiet, and remote. Not for everyone since it was a trek to get anywhere. We were forward, and most of the venues were aft. This made it quiet, remote, and a trek. We loved it though! :)

 

Coming up next, cruise day 2 - Maui and the Road to Hana!

[BnAv10]

Sunday, March 29

 

 

[BnAv10]

Sunday, March 29 continued

 

Today we sailed into the port of Kahului, Maui.

 

We got up early and went to the Aloha Cafe (buffet) for breakfast.

 

Almost every day, we got our breakfast from the buffet, then went outside onto the aft patio on the back of the ship and ate breakfast al fresco. I highly recommend it. It was always so beautiful out there with the scenery of the port, and it seemed like each day we saw something magical.

 

The only downside is that your breakfast will be at best luke-warm. But it's a small price to pay for what we got to experience.

 

On day one, while pulling into the port of Maui, that magical something was a beautiful rainbow! A very special welcome to Maui!

 

 

I did not take pics of our breakfast most of the time when we ate in the buffet. The presentation just wasn't pretty when you have a little bit of this and that all on the same plate, i.e. my plate had pancakes, breakfast potatoes, pineapple, and a small chocolate croissant. And of course some coffee.

 

Brad had the French toast (warning, it had raisins in it! I hate it when they put raisins in baked goods! I always wish they were chocolate chips!)

 

After breakfast and the magical rainbow, we walked through the buffet one more time and loaded up a plate with some portable items for later. (I.e. Free lunch for the road!) croissants, bananas, muffins. Back at our room, we placed these items in a ziplock and packed it in our backpack for the day to have for lunch.

 

We headed down to the gangway just about 8 a.m. even though there had not yet been an announcement that we were docked. We were able to walk right off, no line at all.

 

Once off the ship, we had a bit of confusion. We had called Avis the day before to confirm our rental car reservation and they said there would be a courtesy phone at the port terminal to call them from for our pick up. This was not true. There were all these big cordoned off areas for different excursions and we weren't sure what exactly to do. We called Avis from our cell phone and they told us the shuttle doesn't start till 9 a.m. (This turned out to not be true either.) We wound up jumping on the shuttle for budget. We lucked out because it was right next door to Avis. As we were exiting the port, we saw the shuttle for Avis. So we don't know why the guy we spoke to on the phone said the shuttle didn't start till 9 since it was only maybe 8:15.

 

There was a nice couple that let us take a pic of a helpful slip of paper they got from the front desk on the ship:

 

 

Once we got to the Avis rental facility there was a line. However, we were able to get on the road before 9 a.m. and headed toward to Road To Hana. A bucket list item for me!

 

We did get a Jeep for this day. And we are glad we did.

 

A few guides we had for the day: Maui Revealed (the kindle edition), R2H (CD), and google maps app. I believe each was essential in making our day awesome!

 

So here's something to know about the Road to Hana. The entire journey is a beautiful adventure. A lot of the beautiful things you will see along the way you won't be able to actually stop for because there's no where to stop. But you can drive really really slowly and take it all in. And you probably won't get awesome pictures of a lot of it. Because of not being able to stop.

 

And it doesn't matter if you pull over at every single pull over or every other one or whatever. The idea is to soak it all in and enjoy the ride and enjoy the view.

 

You do need to have priorities, especially if you are doing this in one day. I've read that you don't want to be driving this road back in the dark. And I believe it! Sheer drop offs on the side of the road in many sections, and absolutely no street lighting make it extremely dangerous in the dark.

 

That being said, our first actual stop along the R2H was at Ke'anae Peninsula. It was breathtaking! Also there are public bathrooms here. The R2H is long and there aren't a lot of public bathrooms along the way, so it's good to know where these are!

 

I took a lot of pictures here!

 

 

 

 

[BnAv10]

Sunday, March 29 continued

 

 

 

After Ke'anae Peninsula, our next stop was at Upper Waikani Falls, aka 3 Bears Falls. It is tricky, but there is a way to take a little trail next to and under the bridge to get up close to the falls. I was surprised at how challenging it was to do this short trail. More difficult than I think the guidebooks prepared us for. I wouldn't have done this without hiking boots, just my opinion. It is a slippery trail, so you need to be very careful not to slip and fall. There is climbing and scrambling over wet rocks involved. It was a beautiful falls. There were actually 4 falls in all. One close by the bridge, then the three in a row further back. It was a nice little adventure that also got us to stretch our legs.

 

 

 

 

[BnAv10]

Sunday, March 29 continued

 

Side note: I'm so glad we drove ourselves (Brad drove). That way we could stop where we wanted to stop and skip other stops that weren't important to us. In other words, we got to plan our own day and got to do a longer hike as well as the R2H and fit it all in. I was so happy with the day! Brad also gets car sick when he's not driving on windy roads so there is no way we could have done this road trip in a bus. Props to my husband because this is not an easy road to drive. He was awesome! I have a new respect for his driving skills now. If you are not an excellent driver, do not attempt! I have to admit, I consider myself a good and careful driver, but I could not have handled driving this road. It is literally all twists and turns, the whole long way. Sharp, tight twists and turns with sheer drop offs if you screw up!

 

Our next stop was actually past the town of Hana. It is a National Park called Haleakala. Here we took the Pipiwai trail that ends at the spectacular Waimoku Falls. The trail is about 2 miles each way and will take about 2-3 hours. We really enjoyed this trail. Perhaps even more than the gorgeous falls at the end, we really loved walking through the bamboo forest for over a mile. My husband took a nice video of walking through the bamboo forest that lets you hear the sound the wind made going through the bamboo. Very cool!

 

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At the end of the hike was the amazingly beautiful waterfall. Brad took a short video of that as well.

 

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I also took lots of pics here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BnAv10]

Sunday, March 29 continued

 

After that we headed back and decided to go back the way we came instead of doing the full loop. We mostly did this to save some time as we were worried about not getting back before dark, and we had been warned about that.

 

I am glad we did it that way as we got to experience that road again from a different perspective. I think I may have even enjoyed it more on the way back. I tried to snap a few pics as we were driving along to kind of give a feel for what it really looks like while driving the R2H. Some were a bit fuzzy though.

 

 

 

 

Returning the car and taking the shuttle back to the ship all went smoothly. We wound up being even a bit earlier than we thought.

 

When we were back on the ship we took showers and got ready for dinner. I noticed there was a weird looking bug inside my sports bra that freaked me out! I have no idea how that guy got in there since I wore a hiking hat and a shirt over the sports bra. Weird. I was worried it was some sort of blood sucker but Brad thinks it was just some sort of inch worm, nothing to worry about.

 

[BnAv10]

Sunday, March 29 continued

 

For dinner that night we tried the Liberty main dining room. It was ok, nothing spectacular. I felt the food and service was acceptable. Head waiter was super chatty and a bit condescending.

 

By the way, we never had to wait for a table when eating in one of the main dining rooms. We were always seated immediately, with no reservations. And unlike traditional cruising, you never have to sit with strangers. You always get a private table.

 

We did have to wait a while to be served though, at least on this first visit, because our waiter was a Chatty Cathy so he was chatting up his other tables for way too long. This slowed down service considerably. I don't think I would have minded so much but we were waiting for someone to open our bottle of wine. I said to Brad we should have just uncorked it ourselves!

 

Also of note is that you don't get the same wait staff when you go back (unlike traditional cruising.) We had different servers each time we ate in the Liberty dining room.

 

We got mixed green salads to start, and a mushroom quesadilla.

 

 

For dinner we both got the veggie burrito.

 

 

After dinner we attended the Aloha Polynesia show in the Hollywood Theater. If you are going to only see one show in the main theater while on the ship, I would recommend this one. A real Hawaiian experience, that could rival the show at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Without the cost!

 

After dinner we went back to our cabin and went to bed.

 

In hindsight i am disappointed that we didn't attend more of the entertainment options in the evenings. I do love my sleep though. And we got up very early each day to make the most of our days in port. Maybe next time I'll try to stay up later to attend more entertainment and try to take an afternoon nap to make up for the lack of sleep.

 

One thing we were disappointed about was that some of the entertainment happened in the bar that allowed smoking. If you are a nonsmoker, this really sucks.

 

I think that was it for Maui Day 1/Cruise Day 2.

 

Stay tuned for Cruise day 3!

[AF-1]

Did you upload photos and dailies to a website first or did you upload right to this site? Thanks

[Imalismom]

I will be on the POA in December. A friend, whose husband hates to cruise, asked me along and I said heck yes. So we will be in a regular balcony. I have absolutely loved reading your review so far.

Since my late husband was retired military I booked our hotel room at the Hale Koa, which is a military hotel. It is near the Outrigger. It has great reviews.

As each day goes by I am getting more excited. Of course my friend keeps calling me about going on other cruises with her and I have to remind her that I still work but couldn't pass up Hawaii.

 

Since you have privs for Hale Koa, I bet you also would be eligible for the military discount on the cruise since you are in the room, I would have your friend check that out. It can be a substantial savings at times.

[restasured]

We were on the POA in Nov 2013 and seems like it was yesterday. Those are memories that stick with you. We have 2 girls and son in laws and 4 grandkids and for our retirement gift to them we are planning a trip to Hawaii and the cruise, next year. Will be pricey but we look at it as spending their inheritance, with them. :)

[ransrider]

That's what we plan to do also. So much fun watching them enjoy vacations with us and giving them the memories. You are awesome for doing this for your family.

[BnAv10]

Did you upload photos and dailies to a website first or did you upload right to this site? Thanks

 

I have been uploading my pictures for this trip report to Photobucket, then linking to them when i post here. I love that cruise critic allows me to do that. They make it so easy to share photos. And i love that i can embed the youtube videos my husband and i took as well. Very cool of cruisecritic to allow that! :)

 

We were on the POA in Nov 2013 and seems like it was yesterday. Those are memories that stick with you. We have 2 girls and son in laws and 4 grandkids and for our retirement gift to them we are planning a trip to Hawaii and the cruise, next year. Will be pricey but we look at it as spending their inheritance, with them. :)

 

Wow! What wonderful parents/grandparents you are! Your children/grandchildren are very lucky to have you, and i'm sure you will have such a wonderful time together as a family on this trip. I treated my sister and her two young kids to a trip to Hawaii with me several years back (while her husband was deployed) and i do cherish those memories. I especially remember my 3 year old niece Emma getting on stage at a Luau and being taught a hula dance. Priceless memories! :)

 

That's what we plan to do also. So much fun watching them enjoy vacations with us and giving them the memories. You are awesome for doing this for your family.

 

What a wonderful idea! I totally agree. Special times with family are priceless and the memories will last forever! :)

[BnAv10]

Monday, March 30

 

 

[BnAv10]

Monday, March 30 continued Pride of America (POA)

 

Today we were still docked in Kahului, Maui. We decided to actually spend the day on the ship this day after our busy Road to Hana and hike the day before.

 

We tried out eating breakfast in the main dining room this a.m. We had cinnamon rolls, pancakes and hash browns and what was called peach compote, but really just looked and tasted like canned peach slices.

 

 

 

 

 

We weren't very pleased with the food or service. Our waitress was pretty bad with her service and kept rushing away and would not make eye contact. It was next to impossible to get some coffee. And I am not a happy camper without my coffee!

 

We just ate in the buffet for breakfast after this. Plus we got to eat al fresco each day when eating in the buffet which I loved!

 

After breakfast we stopped by the library and picked up the sudoku and trivia sheets for the day. After spending the morning doing sudoku and reading, we had lunch in the buffet and ate al fresco. I got pasta made to order with a pesto sauce. It was good but not as good as the pasta with pesto at La Cucina.

 

 

We then spent a little time poolside reading until it started to drizzle. We then retired to our cabin to read on our private lanai with a bucket of beer (buy five beers get one free, served in a bucket of ice.)

 

Edited April 17, 2015 by BnAv10

[BnAv10]

Monday, March 30 continued

 

For dinner we tried out the Skyline restaurant. We had the mushroom ravioli. It was adequate. Sauce was a little weird with kind of a skin on it, like maybe it had been sitting around too long.

 

 

We also got some pretty looking desserts. But I had a weird bent fork.

 

 

 

 

We had a window seat with a nice view of us sailing away from Maui.

 

 

After dinner we went to the show in the main theater called Lights Camera Music. It was a good show. As we were leaving the theater, some of the main performers had formed a reception line so we could meet them as we exited.

 

 

After that we went upstairs to the Mardi Gras and attended the Not So Newlywed Game Show, which was hosted by Malu, the cruise director. It was a blast to watch, but I'm glad we weren't actually in the show! Could be quite embarrassing! This is a funny entertaining show to watch.

 

That was it for Monday. It was a nice, laid back day. Next up, the Big Island of Hawaii and a very cool (or should I say steamy) hike in Volcano National Park!

[Mom2B&Z]

Loving your review, it's like I'm reliving our cruise as we did Road to Hana too :). I think you may have taken a photo of our rental vehicle, as we had a silver Ford Flex (in front of you in the photo) an followed a white suv most of the trip back with many cars behind us :). Small world!

I'm so glad you posted the photo of the rainbow, it's the first time I've ever seen both ends of a rainbow. I was stretching outside the fitness centre that morning and didn't have my phone to take a photo...so thank you for this wonderful memory!

 

 

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