12/24-12/31 POAM trip report

[penorment]

I am going to do this day by day trying to remember as much as I can but I am jet lagged so brain fog may cause me to lose some details.

 

Dec 21. Spent day trying to cram 2 weeks worth of clothes, Christmas presents and snorkel gear for 4 people into the smallest amount of suitcases. Traveling at this time of year is always tough because there is so much else to do. Ended up with backpack for each, small carryon with pjs adn bathing suit for each and 5 other suitcases. Congratulate myself but guess what; I still packed too much. Didn't need as many shorts and shirts since we lived in bathing suits. Packed up dog and family and left for friend's house who was watching dog. Had a drink with friend. Went to dinner at Jasper White's summer shack in Boston--really good-- and went to airport Hilton where we spent night since had 7 AM flight. Thought that the airport would be really busy so we got there at 5. We just breezed through. Flight was long but uneventful. Grabbed taxi at airport and checked into Moana Surfrider. beautiful hotel and because my husband is a platinum member we were upgraded to a penthouse suite. Just gorgeous. We had a beautiful view over Waikiki beach. Went down to Banyon Tree veranda for our first Mai Tai and some pupus. Ran into my sister and her family and joined them. The night was beautiful but we were tired and crashed early. Tomorrow Pearl Harbor.

[lhall85917]

hanging on and waiting for more...:D

[penorment]

DEc 23 Thurs. We woke up early because we were still on East Coast time. As a matter of fact I woke up early the whole vacation but the rest of my family was able to adjust to sleep in. We grabbed a breakfast in the Seattle's best coffee stand in the Outrigger next door. Met my sister and her family in the lobby. They live in Vegas so the time change was not a great for them. We met up with my brother and his family and my parents too(they both got upgraded to ocean front rooms which they were thrilled with).

We had rented a minivan so anyone who wanted too could go to Pearl Harbor with us but just my sister and my family went. We left the hotel by 7 since I had warned everyone the Memorial would be busy but even I was surprised by the line as we got there. It went all around the grass park in front. I was dismayed but it actually moved quickly and we got 9:20(I think) passes. We spent the time touring the exhibit and sitting out in the sunshine. My two boys and my two nephews were really interested in the history here. I think they read every plaque. Once we finished with the tour I lobbied to go the North Shore but was outvoted. The teenagers wanted to go back to Waikiki to take surfing lessons. I had to stop at Walmart(found it no problem) to get diapers for my youngest niece and a swimshirt for my 10 yr old. They were such a good price I bought one for my 16 yr old but he informed me he would never wear it. Hah they made him wear one for the surf lesson!! i picked up some soda and water bottles for the cruise too and they did come in handy...I am unfortunately addicted to Diet Coke! We all met back at the Moana(the others did a short tour of the East but the traffic was horrendous and they lost interest) We had lunch on the veranda near the Banyon tree with 15 of us and it was great. Then the boys did their surf lesson and all managed to get up and look professional..perhaps I exaggerate. We may have had another Mai Tai or two and then got ready for early reservations at Dukes. They took such good care of us there, We had 15 and our waiter was superb. My brother and sister have 3 young ones and they just couldn't make it through the whole dinner. When my sister in law left with the 2 and 4 year old our server boxed up her dinner, handed it to my brother and told him to bring it to his wife. He took my brother's dinner and brought out a whole new one nice and warm when he returned. He was well compensated for his attentiveness. Duke's is just a fun restaurant and we were there for sunset and we just had a great time. We thought the food was good too with a great salad bar. Some of us may have gone back the the Banyon for just one more. I did retire fairly early because we had an early pickup for our dolphin excursion the next morning. We were on the 7:30 tour with a 6 AM pickup. But that is tomorrow's adventure.

[flyingpirate]

More, more!

 

But with paragraph breaks......;)

[beechparty]

I am loving your review. We are going on the Pride the end of this month with our ds 16 yr. old so I am really loving your review. Keep it coming!!!!

[bankofdad]

The teenagers wanted to go back to Waikiki to take surfing lessons.

 

Can you tell me who the kids used for surf lessons? Was it UV Ray's by the Outrigger Waikiki Beach? I'm also curious to know if they made an advance reservation or not.

[penorment]

Well first of all as I reread my report I realize that Dec 23 was Friday not Thursday. Days run together on vacation.

 

Bank of Dad, we did use UV Rays by the OUtrigger. No reservation necessary and this had to be one of the busiest weeks in Waikiki. They did a nice job.

 

Now on to Sat. Christmas Eve. We will board the POAM today.

 

But first, our dolphin excursion as recommended by BankofDad. As an aside my son found a tshirt in Crazy Shirts that he gave to my husband on Christmas--it is a bank of dad tshirt that has little sayings on it like your kids spend like crazy and never see a bill. He found it on his own, he is 16, so at least he recognizes the truth. BankofDad will have to find it when he is in Hawaii.

 

We got picked up at 6:00 for the dolphin excursion. We went to the pier in Waianae about 40 minutes from Honolulu. We were the only party in the van. (My sister's family of 4 and my family of 4). The driver had her parents visiting from CA and they accompanied us so we had a nice conversation. The included breadfast pastries were a donut so I am glad I don't get hungry in the morning. We had already visited Seattle's Best so at least we were caffeinated. We had a 40 minute wait before we left which made it seem as though we had been picked up way too early but eventually the whole group was there. I think we took 22 passengers. The crew were helpful and amusing. We all loved the zodiac boat. The ride and views were awesome and it was just another beautiful day in paradise. We first came upon some bottlenose dolphins which really bummed out the captain. He called them bullies of the sea who beat up the spinners, have their way with their women and eat the children. I hope he was jesting in part. He said we would have to look elsewhere for spinners and turned the boat and right in front of us was

a pod of spinners. He spent a lot of time trying to figure that one out because he said the spinners will never usually hang around with the bottlenose as they are bigger and bullies.

 

Anyway there were a few babies who did their spinning for us and then we slipped in the water and the spinners vanished. Perhaps the proximity of the bottlenose spooked them. We then found some whales who showed off a little. We raced around the coast some more(my kid's favorite part as they sat in the front where it was bumpiest). We found a new pod of spinners and once more slipped into the water. The dolphins swam right under me and my kids but did not linger. We found another whale but he dove right away and then we raced around some more, watched some surfers and some sea turtles and returned to the pier. It was a wonderful morning.

 

Went back to hotel to shower and check out and on to POAM.

We grabbed a cab--strangely enough none of our 4 parties paid the same cab fare--it went from $22 to $30. Porter met our cab and directed us to the long security line. I though it moved quickly but my sister arrived after and thought it was very long. They did graciously take my elderly parents to the front of the line. Once inside we had to go to the booze patrol and pay $15 for our celebratory bottles of champagne(it was my parent's 50th). They were Crystal and worth it. They did actually confiscate a fair amount of liquor and the woman in front of me complained bitterly to no avail. Check in was painless with no lines anywhere. We had a suite but anyone could have checked in quickly.

[bankofdad]

But first, our dolphin excursion as recommended by BankofDad. As an aside my son found a tshirt in Crazy Shirts that he gave to my husband on Christmas--it is a bank of dad tshirt that has little sayings on it like your kids spend like crazy and never see a bill. He found it on his own, he is 16, so at least he recognizes the truth. BankofDad will have to find it when he is in Hawaii.

 

LOL!!! My kids found this one when we were there, too! Of course, I was handed the bill:eek: !

[penorment]

So we went up escalator to the beautiful POAM. I think the ship is very pretty. It was nicely decorated for Christmas. Not too much but pretty trees and lights around the ship. We got into the lobby and saw a long line. I asked what it was for and it was for restaurant reservations. I sent my husband and kids to suite and got in line. There were about 12 in front of me. After an hour, my sister boarded the ship and saw me still in line. She joined me knowing we had to make reservations for 16 people. We had to make reservations for all the restaurants with such a large crowd. I had hoped my husband would come back to find me and at last I did. I asked if our suite had anything about resaurant reservations in it and it did. I said go find concierge and find out if I have to stay in this line any longer. By now there were 3 in front of me and at least 20 behind. The system is totally broken. When people would get to reservations, they would discuss resaurants, look at menus and for each type of restaurant they would have to talk to a different person. This person would get on the phone and call down to get reservation in. I watched one woman change her mind 3 times while the line got longer and longer behind her. This is an exercise in frustration..I don't know the solution but Iknow there has to be a better way. For one thing the early boarders and suite guests get to book up all the best times and places...this is just not fair and I was one of the lucky ones. The people who don't get reservations end up being really upset when they see people going in ahead of them at restaurants. I saw many examples of reservations being lost and people having meltdowns. We had no problems at all but many did and I think this is Freestyle cruising's biggest problem.

 

My husband tracked down asst concierge. Apparently we should have been met while we checked in but we were not and neither was my sister and we both had penthouse suites. We went to office(getting out of line with only 2 in front of us(crazy mind changing lady was still there). We went to concierge office and gave our reservation preferences and later received a list of our reservations. We made a couple of changes and all our requests were met. That is the best suite perk there is.

 

Our suite was really nice. Very well laid out with enough storage for 4 people. Balcony was fabulous. 2 chaises and table with 4 chairs.

 

Went to Aloha Grill for lunch where we met up with rest of party. I would say the food here was consistently okay..not great but always good enough to eat. Some things were better than others. They had at least 3 lines for made to order omelettes. I liked the fruit though selection was limited. For lunch I preferred the Key West Grill upstairs overlooking the pool deck.

 

I went back to suite and started unpacking as luggage was already arriving.

We had early reservations at Lazy J..I think it wa 6:00. I thought the food here was really inconsistent. People would order the same thing and some would get a thick tender cut and the other would get a dried up end cut. My son and I both got lamb chops and his were excellent and mine were overdone and the tiniest imaginable. I wold have sent them back but I was just not hungry. We had 16 so we noticed this difference on the filets and rib eyes too. Some were great and some should not have been served. We were pretty tired with the early wakeup for the dolphin excursion and the wine with dinner helped me decide to retire early for the next day at VNP.

I went back and settled my 10 yr old. Once he was asleep I filled stockings for the next day, Christmas. My husband went out with my brothers to investigate the late night possibilities. Teenager of course stayed out to hang with other teenagers. Really mad about 12 curfew but I knew we had a full day each and every day and figured anything after 12 was just trouble anyway.

[penorment]

Christmas morning. Not like any other Christmas morning. For one thing it was warm with no snow. I have lived in New England my whole life and I think this is the first warm Christmas I have had. The kids woke up an tore into their stockings. I had warned them that this year the main present was Hawaii but I still think they were a little disappointed. They are used to mounds under the tree but honestly I think this is a better present than yet another video game.

 

Phil went to get the car with BIL at Hertz. We both chose them because of company affiliations. My brother chose a less expensive company but I can't remember which but they gave him an upgrade to a minivan which is great with 3 little kids. We had rented a minivan so my parents and other brother could come with us to VNP but they all opted for sleeping in. The ship had a Santa Claus in the Hollywood Theater this morning at 9:30. They gave presents for all the kids. My SIL wanted to do this with her young kids but also go with us. I told her to go ahead and meet up with us later but my kids and my sister's kids were past the SC phase and this was their chance to see VNP. I guess SC gave out presents and I wish the little kids had gone to see SC since the volcano held little interest for them. It is hard to tell other people what to do.

 

We all head to the Visitor Center. We read all the info, talk to a range and start with Crater Rim Drive. We stop at theeam Vents; very cool, having missed the sulphur banks somehow. No problem I have smelled them before.

We make a few more stops including the southwest rift. The interesting thing is that the 3 teenagers are actually really into the scenery and much more willing to hike out to views than we are!!! Who would have thought it. The 6, 4, and 2 year old however are bored to tears and my brother says goodbye here. The 10 year old is content to hang with the old fogies.

 

We loved the Halemaumau Overlook; not so much for the view but for all the offerings to Pele. My 10 yr old was fascinated with them and wanted to drive to a store to get some of our own. I thought the Ritz Cracker offering the most unusual. i told him when we come back he can pick something to offer Pele. Chris loved the stories; we bought 3 books on the stories of Hawaii and he loved all the history. It was getting close to lunchtime but we opted to do the Lava Tube first.

 

Now we drove to the Volcano House for lunch, took one look at the line well out the door and turned around. Remember it is Christmas Day. We drive into Volcano Village hoping to find something open and spot an OPEN sign. WooHOO it looks like a restaurant. BOOHOO the restaurant is closed, litle side market is open. we ask women inside if any restaurants are open. She says only chance is Country Club. We look at attire, think Christmas Day, probably not good idea. Number 1 son has microwave burritos from convenience store...says really good and will be eating them all thru college. No 2 son has microwave cheeseburger which he also enjoys!!! Phil and I have egg salad and chicken salad from prepared sandwich rack. We also have Maui Onion potato chips, my new addiction...thank the Lord they do not sell them in MA. My sister's crew have a similiar fancy Christmas lunch in the car. Hey we are in Hawaii and it is beautiful who cares!!!!

 

We then go down Chain of Craters Road with beautiful views and giant plumes of smoke where the lava meets the sea. We can't wait to see it at night. Now we head back to the ship after a full day of sightseeing. We made a couple of stops on the way back at Devastation Trail and all but we are tired and a mai tai awaits.

[beechparty]

Great reviews. Please keep them coming. It is making the anticipation so much greater.

Thanks

[penorment]

Tonight we have reservations for 16 at 7:00 in the Liberty restaurant. This is a large group and we are not expecting the best service but we will roll with it. WE are seated right away trying to avoid the mean looks from the people without reservations who have been waiting a while. The drink waiter comes by and though she is friendly she informs us there are only 2 to cover the dining room when there is usually 3 so she will do her best but we don't see a lot of her. We learn to order quickly and in bulk.!!! Our waited comes and he is fine, he takes orders and gets us started but forgets a few things and seems a little overwhelmed. Then somehow Luis materializes to help our waiter. Well he takes over and we had the most marvelous service. This is a guy who knows what he is doing. He even got a bunch of waiters to come with a cake and sing Let Me Call You Sweetheart to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary as they held hands. I was truly touched. My cynical brother says they just do that to cover up the sketchy service but I think it was wonderful and we had the best service. I would have liked to have him follow us around to the dining rooms. We were sure to tell his supervisor how good he was. I am trying to remember what was on the menu but I can't. I know my son had turkey. I thought there might be prime rib for Christmas but there wasn't . I know I enjoyed whatever I ate.

 

Before dinner we gathered in my suite for Champagne. i had the butler John bring champagne glasses and he seemed so nice I was surprised I had to call twice for the glasses. Now I felt terrible because the next day I found out his dad had passed away Christmas Eve and he left the ship in Maui to fly home. We got a new butler Jeff who was wonderful and very attentive, always asking what he could bring us. We really never asked for anything. We only had breakfast in twice and a couple of DVDs. I still think how awful it must have been to John to deliver champagne glasses to a big family celebration knowing he had just lost his dad.

 

After dinner we gathered on my parent's balcony to watch the lava show. It was spectacular. something I will never forget. We had seen the big plumes of steam when we drove down Chain of Craters Rd but now we saw the cause. I brought 10yr old back to cabin now and bed for me too. I usually stay out late and go to the shows on cruises but the activity filled days were doing me in.

[electricron]

All crew members, from the lowest room steward to the Captain, are humans too.

 

The difference between a gentleman or lady and a spoiled brat born with silver spoon in their mouths, is how they treat their servants.

 

I'm glad to read that you're a lady.

[penorment]

Thank you for your kind words

 

And now Dec 26. We wake up in Maui. It is true the ports in Hawaii are pretty industrial but if you look beyond the chaos the views are beautiful.

The dads go to get rental cars. We will keep them 2 days here. My younger brother has opted out of the Road to Hana and for the Aquarium near Lahaina. With 3 kids ages 6, 4 and 2, I think he has made the wise choice.

We rent a mustang convertible and my sister's family rents a jeep. As we came around the backside of the island and the sun sets and the temp drops the top needs to come up. Mustang convertible--30 seconds. Jeep--15 minutes of all hands on deck and much swearing. They actually charge extra if you bring it back without top and now I know why.

 

We navigate our way out of Kahului around 9 AM. First we drive through Pa'ia. I would have loved to stop and walk around this town but with 2 boys and 2 teenage nephews I knew my chances were nil. We headed to Ho'okipa Lookout where the surf was pounding. There was one lone surfer getting slammed. I asked our new surfing experts if they wanted to try their new skills here. They laughed at me.

 

We stopped at many of the spots highlighted in the Revealed Guide but generally there would be cars in the few spots available to park or someone standing there to tell you the land was private. We still saw plenty of falls.

We had the thrill of watching 2 locals dive into Chings Pond. I gave them a 10. There is no amount of money that would convince me to try this dive. Off by a foot either way, you are toast.

 

We also took the road into the Ke'anae penninsula where the views of the sea were mesmerizing. We stopped to take advantage of the restrooms and to have the banana bread at the stand there. No kidding, best I ever had. Wish I had bought one for myself and eaten the whole thing instead of sharing. We realized now that we perhaps had tarried too long at a few places so we had to make some choices. We stopped at Pua'a Ka'a where I had a vicious argument with my 16 yr old about why he couldn't jump from the top of the falls into the pool like some other fools. From here, we could only make one more stop on the way to Hana and we chose the Blue Pool. Very prettty with a not too difficult hike over the boulders. The surf crashing right next to me as I walked on wet rocks did make me a little nervous.

 

We stopped in Hana and ate at Tutus on the concrete picnic tables. We were starving and the okay food disappeared in seconds. Really it would be better to take a quality picnic but that would have required planning. We drove on to the Pools of Ohe'o where all the boys got to jump from the cliffs into the pool. My heart stopped for each one but they emerged victorious and smug. By now I am thinking sun sets in 1 hour...let's go. I wanted to stop at Lingbergh's resting place but the thought of that 1 lane rd in the dark changed my mind. We made it all the way around with no problems except for the jeep roof part. The views were spectacular and i think it has to be faster than going back. there was so little traffic this way and on the way there was lots. We watched a whale as we drove along the coast and he was good enough to put on a show for us. We saw the sea arch and black sand beaches. I am truly glad we did this but it was a long day (without a mai tai!!) and i'll think twice about doing it again.

[penorment]

We get back to the POAM and look for parking. End up going down the street past the ship. Get ready for our reservations at Jefferson's Bistro. This is probably the easiest night to get reservations as many people go the the luau sponsered by NCL. I think they were for 8:30 which worked out well after our long day. The food here was the best on the ship I thought. I started with foie gras, followed by delicous onion soup, great salad, sea bass and stuffed something in for dessert. The meal was great as was the service but the dining room was only half full. Went to the wine bar after this. I really thought Pink's champagne bar would be my hangout on the ship since I love champagne but I thought it was too brightly lit. Napa Wine Bar ended up being our spot. They had a nice cheese tray at night so you could get a little something before dinner!!! Collected my 10 yr old and went to bed.

 

We decided to take our time tomorrow. My sister and her family were doing the zip line. They took my teenager with them. I had booked the excursion online for him before cruise but though they had my Captain Zodiac tickets, there was not a ticket for his zipline. Somehow Al the Amazing concierge got him on with my sister. Just as a caution I met quite a few people who had prebooked excursions for which there was no record. We were doing Kanapali with my mom and younger brother and his family so though I had to get up to get teenager out door at 8:00 at least I didn't have to rush around.

[tak2]

I will be on Jan 28 cruise. Your review is particluarly interesting as my friends , who's on same cruise with you, just shared their experience with me tonight. I have a convertible reserved but don't know if it's a mustang.

 

What rental agency did you patronize, and was it easy to find their shuttle as you came off the ship? Where did you park overnight, and was it safe to walk from there back to the ship?

 

Thanks for sharing your memories with us.

[penorment]

We used Hertz, the rental shuttles were very easy to find. When we got back to the ship on Monday night the main parking lot was full so we had to park about 75 yards down the street but it was fine.

 

On Tuesday we decided on a late start and my husband and I both worked out at he gym. They have nery nice facilities. I never saw the spa however. This cruise is so port intensive and with family I really feel I did not take full advantage of what the ship has to offer. We left about 10 to go to Kanapali. My brother and family followed. We parked at Whaler's village. We found a spot right away and as we walked out someone pulled out in front of us. I tried to get my brother's attention and save the spot but he did not look my way. It took him about 10 min to find a spot. We settled on the beach adn I went off to find my mom a chair but no one had them at Whaler's village. I should have stopped on the way. She found a tree limb to rest on.

 

We stayed at the beach a little over 2 hours. My 10 yr old and my 6 yr old nephew had rings that they used to ride the waves forever. They loved getting knocked around and I loved watching them. We had brought our snorkel stuff to snorkel black rock but they were having so much fun I just enjoyed their glee. They both had sand in every place imaginable. We left there for Lahaina but time was running out so we didn't get to walk around as I would have liked to. We had lunch at Bubba Gumps and it was ymummy but very filling. Most unfortunately my son did not feel well in the middle of lunch so we left. We got back to the lunch and had just got to the pier when he had to feed the fish. We went back to cabin while my husband returned rental.

 

I elected to skip dinner and hang in cabin with son. Everyone else went to Little Italy. They thought the food was very good but the service not so great. It took a long time to eat. They did bring me back a good ceasar salad and some cold pasta. My son tried to eat again, got a plate from Aloha Cafe for him but he couldn't keep it down. Perhaps he swallowd too much sea water and sand. He was fine the next day. I really didn't mind staying in. I sat on the balcony feeling that delightful island air and watched us sailaway as I sipped a glass of champagne. Tomorrow; Kona.

[p11djmau]

Thanks so much for the great info...I'm really enjoying YOUR vacation!!! What suite were you in?

[penorment]

We had a penthouse suite on port side; 10516.

 

We had our only excursions booked through the ship in Kona. My 2 sons, my sister, her 2 sons and my brother's 6 yr old nephew were doing the Zodiac excursion. (My 16 yr old did the zipline in Maui through the ship and thought it was awesome). We met in the auditorium at 8:30. My husband, Brother and BIL were golfing which they arranged on their own. SIL, mother, and 2 nieces did the glass bottom boat which they were not impressed with. After we tendered we found our excursion through the mass confusion on the dock. Captaion Zodiac alone had 8 boats going out and we were given a color to let us know when to approach the boat we were assigned to. We got the brand new zodiac with the captain. We had a great crew, saw dolphins, whales, tons of fish, turtle and heard lots of info about Hawaii. I thought the excursion was a lot of fun and worth the price. The snorkeling spot got very busy after we were there about 20 minutes. This is one of the busiest weeks of the year and the high surf made some other spots inaccesible so the cove was packed. i love to snorkel so of course I was the last to get back in. My son met me with a hose in the face as I climbed the ladder(supposed to be rinsing me off)

 

When we got back in Kona we went for shave ice at Scandinavian Shave Ice. The small is enormous. We wanted to get back on board for lunch as it was 2 adults and 5 kids and they were starting to bounce off the walls with the sugar in the shave ice. We waited in line for tender(line not nearly as long as Summit's) and as soon as we were the next one on the tender my nephew says he has to go to the bathroom. My sister and I look at each other, look at the line behind and say; you are going to have to hold it. Here comes the tender. Well he moaned and cried the whole way back but he held it. I talked to the guys running the tender and he was first off and ran to the fifth floor bathroom. I think the people on board thought we were torturing him at first until we let them know we had a bathrooom emergency. Every parent has been there!!!

 

We hung out at pool for afternoon, got lunch at Key West Grill. They make the hamburgers to order there. They had buffalo wings and chicken nuggets there too. And great coleslaw!!!

[bankofdad]

We made it all the way around with no problems except for the jeep roof part. The views were spectacular and i think it has to be faster than going back. there was so little traffic this way and on the way there was lots.

 

We have a jeep rented for Maui, but now I'm reconsidering. We, too plan to drive the full cirle on the road to Hana (instead of coming back the same way we took to get there). Were the roads okay for the Mustang you rented going that route?

[penorment]

The road was fine for the Mustang convertible. The gravel part is very short and not very rough at all. Of course there hadn't been much rain either so that could impact your trip. As a matter of fact the waterfalls were pretty weak because of the dryness. And you may be more clever about the jeep top, once we figured out to start at the back like a boat cover it worked fine.

I would hate to do it in the dark though.

 

We had late reservations on Wed night at Lazy J for the adults only at 9PM.

We brought kids to kids club and registered them for late pickup. We met at the Napa Wine Bar. Had some nice cheese once they replenished the tray. The waitress here has to be one of the perkiest people I have ever met. She was a good cocktail waitress but she actually skipped onher way back to the bar. I have to admit I giggled at her but she certainly did her job with a smile. The Lazy J was very uneven again. Some food was excellent and some was not. A few of the orders were wrong and by the time we got the new ones, everyone else was done or even worse, they ran out of what the person ordered. We still had a nice time but it was my least favorite of the dining spots though my ribe eye was fine and I couldn't eat it all. My brother who ended up with nothing ate mine. Had a little more wine and wnet to bed.

Tomorrow Kauai.

[Cookiepharmer]

I am really enjoying your review! When you went on the Captain Zodiac tour, what was the water temperature like when you were snorkeling? My husband and I are kind of wimpy when it comes to cold water, but I really am interested in this tour! Thanks for all the good information.

[penorment]

I thought the water temp was fine and as I stated, I was the last one to quit snorkeling. But I am from New England and grew up swimming in NH waters of high 50's to low 60's in the summer. Of course i prefer water in the 80's but I got in the waterfalll water in Hawaii too...man that was cold.

 

We had our greatest adventure planned for Kauai. We rented another convertible and drove to Port Allen where we checked in at InterIsland helicopters for our doorless flight. We booked the flight that included a landing at a waterfall and lunch. We checked in at 10:20, went to get a drink and a snack at market up street, came back and waited for our 11:00 flight.

 

Now I have been on quite a few helicopter flights before, Alaska, Hawaii, Paris to name some but I was scared on this flight. I was the only one of our party to be nervous. I had the front outside seat and every time we turned and tilted down, my stomach lurched. I kept telling myself, the doors don't mattter, if we go down no door is going to save me. I did enjoy the views. It is a great way to see the island. But my hand was cramped from holding on so tight to the strap. We didn't see as many waterfalls as usual because in December they usually have around 45 inches of rain in the crater and this year they had only had a little over an inch. There were still some spectacular falls and the canyon was breathtaking as were the Na Pali cliffs from the air. It is funny they look much bigger from the ship though. They had a nice little lunch spot next to a pool with falls which we managed to get into. Of course then we had to take off again. I am proud to say even though I was scared I did not complain adn did not close my eyes; I just held on tight which my 10 yr old found hilarious.

 

After landing we drove along the coast and visited Poipu Beach and the tree tunnel but it was hot and we had dressed in pants over bathing suits for the flight and I didn't pack a change of clothes for us...not thinking I guess.

Of the rest of our party, one dove with a trip off Port Allen privately arranged, 3 surfed off Poipu arranged through the cruise. My brother's family walked over to the Marriott beach which wa good for the ages of his kids.

 

We had early reservatons for lobster night in the Liberty tonight; 5:30. We had a great waitress who kept everything on course and supervised her asst with aplomb. She may have had eyes in the back of her head. We had a party of 16 and that can be difficult. Of course we praised her to her supervisor and tipped her. But now I can't remember her name. The lobster was only so so but everthing else was good especially the risotto and asparagus. Brought the kids to the kids club and went out for a few after dinner drinks at the wine bar. I think we got in a rut. On our sailing the ship left at 6AM the next day to view the Na Pali cliffs and let another ship(HAL) have our dock.

[penorment]

I forgot to mention we did make the Chocolate buffet when we were in Kona. The kids loved it. The teenagers took just about everything and tried each thing but it was still wasteful I should have told them to get one of everything for the 3 of them and split the plates. My 10 yr old had a huge sweet tooth so he got lots but what he didn't eat we brought back to the cabin and he or my husband ate later(we kept it in fridge) I don't really have a sweet tooth so just ate a couple of choc covered strawberries. I thought the buffet was very pretty and impressive but there did seem to be so much wasted food as people overloaded their plates. Alos someone dropped a plate in our corridor and just left the choc desserts all over the floor. They could have at least tried to pick up some of it.

 

Oh and I loved the duck spring rolls at Liberty on lobster night.

 

Got up early to get some chairs with my sister as this was the only cruising day. We never left these chairs to go get something. Some one was always sitting in them. We used 4 chairs for my family of 16 all day. There was always a spot for someone to nap or sit while others ate or worked out or walked. I always hate to see a long string of chairs with just a towel on them so we shared chairs. I did work out again which felt good. I took my 10 yr old to the pizza making party..Not too well organized, they were trying a new system and it didn't work out too well.

 

Friday night we had reservations at East Meets West. We all loved it here. We didn't get a teppanyaki table as it was not made clear to me when we made reservations you had to reserve that or the sushi table if you wantd sushi. We were looking forward to sushi so we did miss it but the food was great anyway. I loved the chicken salad. Could have jsut ate that the whole cruise. Went for a few last sipps of wine at the Wine BAr.

 

Got up early and was off ship at 7:45. Went right to Royal Hawaiian and spent the next 3 days at the pool and beach. Very relaxing and we were upgraded to a 17th floor suite that overlooked Waikiki Beach with a beautiful view of the fireworks on New Years Eve. We had a photographer come to the hotel that day and take lots of pictures to commemerate my parent's 50th anniversary adventure. We went to Germaine's Luau that night and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had champagne at midnight and knew this would go down as one of the best family vacations ever.

 

I loved the POAM. I had a great time with my family and while there is room for improvement there is lots that is done very well. Hawaii is beautiful and I feel sorry for those that go and don't have a great time. I wish everyone enjoys their future cruises and hope my report helps. I would be happy to answer any questions.

[bankofdad]

Went right to Royal Hawaiian and spent the next 3 days at the pool and beach.

 

Did you try lunch and drinks at the Mai Tai Bar at the Royal Hawaiian? If so, what did you think of the food, drinks, view etc., and did it get very crowded?