Just back from Pride of Hawaii Xmas/New Years

[gprentice]

We are a family of 5 that has cruised on many other lines (Princess, Celebrity, Royal Carib, and others). The itinerary was great - the ship was beautiful - had a good time.

Did lots of reading on CC before going so we had an idea of what to expect.

Our ship experience was positive overall but we did see some negative items that didn't affect our enjoyment.

Here's the worst: Some luggage didn't show up to our cabin untill 10:00pm. Had some 2hr meals. Only received half of our Bon Voyage gifts. Lined up to make initial meal reservations while first on the ship only to be told to go away and come back at 5:30pm. We decided to eat at 6pm then make reservations after dinner - at about 9pm we tried several specialty restaurants only to be told that there was nothing at all available. We then made reservations at the main dining room for most dinners.

The rest of the trip was all positive. The food turned out to be fine in the main dining room and we really enjoyed most of the meals - they weren't as bad as some people said.

We rented cars in many ports.

Hilo - drove to volcanoe NP -enjoyed that very much.

Maui - drove to the beach at Lahaina, went to Royal Lahaina Luau - a lot of fun - bought discounted tickets online from hawaiidiscountactivities.com.

Parked overnight at the ship - up early for a tour of Haleakala Sunrise by ekahi.com (fantastic - Denny - our tour guide was the best) then drove to a beach for some sun and surf.

Kona - ship's tour 'Eruption of Flavour' - chocolate, coffee and vanilla - very nice day with a great lunch.

Kauai - rented a Thrifty car from discounthawaiicarrental.com - be sure to get free Blue Chip membership. Drove to Waimea Canyon - awesome sites - went to a beach for the rest of the day -enjoyed the sun.

Kauai day 2 - walked to the beach at the Marriott and body surfed in the waves with our kids - had a great time!

Honolulu - flight was at 5pm so we took a ship's tour Best of Oahu - nice way to kill a few hours before flying home.

Pride of Hawaii was good value for us - we were called by our TA near departure time and were offered a cheap upgrade to two mini-suites which turned out to be a good cruise with lots of fond memories.

[hazeleyez3]

Thank you for the review. I've been on NCL a few times, and I was thinking that it might be similar "bad" experiences you mentioned... but nothing that would make me avoid it.

 

Seems the best deal for us to enjoy... especially since my fiance has never been to Hawaii and isn't sure which island he'd prefer.

[DebWentworth]

Yes, thanks for the review. I will be on POA in April, and have just signed up for the Eruption of Flavor excursion. Sounds like that was a thumb's up from you!

[gprentice]

I was told the owner of the vanilla business suggested the Eruption of Flavour tour to NCL. He received the credit for a good tour when we talked to the tour bus driver. We were with my wife's mother and see didn't want a tour with too much walking. It worked out great and the lunch was excellent.

I thought the whole NCL package was very good value when compared to other cruises we've done. It was about the same price as our Caribbean cruise last xmas - it certainly was a nice way to see the best glimpse of Hawaii.

[Browezilla]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the nice write-up. Last night I booked a trip for Feb and now need to do some quick research :-) Please forgive some of the naive questions, but since you are just back it looked like a good opportunity to ask questions.

 

I appreciate the URLs you put in your append. If you have others, I'd appreciate a copy of them. You could send them to aos09172006@yahoo.com

 

I noticed you found a few discount ticket sites. The last time I was there, I used the Entertainment coupon book and found several buy 1 get 1 free offers. This was especially good for helicopter tours. Did you see anything like that? (by the way, when I travel with my family/kids, I normally buy one of those books for the destination we're going to. Saves a lot on meals, tours, etc).

 

Here are some things I'm really interested in that you may be able to help me out with.

 

Kauai

Na Pali Coast line: Tops on my list. I want to see this and was thinking of several options (helicoptor, boat, car), but I'm wondering how close does the PoH come the cliffs? Do you think that is a good enough view?

Waimea Canyon: I'd really like to see this as well, so I'm hopeful that the ship gives good views of Na Pali. The last time I was there it was a complete white out. The clouds/fog was so thick you couldn't even see the valley.

 

Big Island, Hilo:

Volcanoes National Park at night: From a few reviews I read last night it sounds like the PoH goes close enough to afford good views.

Wai'po Valley: Is this possible by renting a 4x4? Did you hear of anyone else doing it? I've been to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park before, but if Waipo is too far, that's where I'll go again :-)

 

Big Island, Kona:

Haven't thought much about this, but was thinking that maybe Wai'po is as accessible from here as Hilo, so maybe from Hilo go to HVNP, then Kona try Wai'po. Alternately it may be a good snorkel/dive day.

 

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

 

Maui:

Molokini: any opinions on this?

With little research, I'm pretty open on this one but was thinking of doing some of these: Molokini, Haleakala, Io, Lahaini

[gprentice]

The views of the Napali coast from the ship were great - but you have to be on the port side. We originally had a balcony cabin on the starboard side but purchased a last minute upgrade offer from NCL to a pair of mini-suites on the port side. The views from our cabin balcony were great.

 

I read on CC that for better views, get a helicopter ride (interislandhelicopters.com) or a cheaper alternative is a plane (about $100 each wingsoverkauai.com) upclose in a small boat (zodiac) you get to see all the coves, beaches and grottos. We had a party of 5 so a helicopter would be about $1000 for us - so we opted out. If your cabin is on the starboard side, just find a spot on port side deck that overlooks the coast.

 

I think is was about and hour or so of viewing time. It started at 5:30pm and went to about 6:15pm - we had dinner reservations at 6 and I showed up late so I could catch the spectacular sunset.

 

I have pics of Waimea canyon, Napali coast from the POH on flickr.com - search word napali for many great pics.

One word of advise for the night time volcanoe viewing - don't bother taking any pictures - none of them came out properly (unless you have a very special camera) It was awesome seeing the volcanoe flowing down the mountain and into the water with bellowing smoke and steam. NCL spins the ship around so both sides can view the volcanoe.

 

We drove to Waimea Canyon and it was a clear day - the views were great. This would also be much better by helicopter or plane - but was virtually free with the car rental for us. We got our maps from the car rental agencys and it was easy navigation around the islands. They did have jeeps available.

 

I heard Kona is a great place to snorkel.

 

Enjoy your trip - we'd all love to go back again.

 

Interesting links:

http://www.hawaii.gov/dot/harbors/oahu/2006cruise.htm

http://www.konabrewingco.com/

http://www.letsgo-hawaii.com/

http://www.snorkelbob.com/

http://www.kauaibackcountry.com/

http://www.oldlahainaluau.com/factsheet/index.html

http://www.mauihawaiiluau.com/kaanapalibeachluau.html

http://www.hawaii-forest.com/

http://www.konaweb.com/

http://www.captainzodiac.com/

http://www.airventureshawaii.com/

[bankofdad]

Hi,

 

Kauai

Na Pali Coast line: Tops on my list. I want to see this and was thinking of several options (helicoptor, boat, car), but I'm wondering how close does the PoH come the cliffs? Do you think that is a good enough view?

Waimea Canyon: I'd really like to see this as well, so I'm hopeful that the ship gives good views of Na Pali. The last time I was there it was a complete white out. The clouds/fog was so thick you couldn't even see the valley.

 

 

Big Island, Kona:

Haven't thought much about this, but was thinking that maybe Wai'po is as accessible from here as Hilo, so maybe from Hilo go to HVNP, then Kona try Wai'po. Alternately it may be a good snorkel/dive day.

 

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

 

Maui:

Molokini: any opinions on this?

With little research, I'm pretty open on this one but was thinking of doing some of these: Molokini, Haleakala, Io, Lahaini

 

We've seen the NaPali up close via catamaran, from the air on a helicopter and twice from the cruise ship perspective. All very very impressive, but at the same time VERY different.

 

You'll be limited on the catamaran front because your arrival time in port won't give you time to get up to Port Allen in time for a morning tour departure. The ship does offer the NaPali Explorer rigid hull inflateable tour, which could be a lot of fun, but could be a pretty bumpy ride (particularly in the front). We're going to do a sunset catamaran tour with Kauai Sea Tours, weather permitting up the NaPali, but there's no snorkeling on this one.

 

We did the 90-minute Jack Harter Helicopter tour, which was spectacular.

 

From the cruise ship perspective, stake a claim on deck port side EARLY if you don't have a port side balcony.

 

My favoite of the three? The catamaran. Why? Because you feel the see and sail right up to the massive cliffs. Certainly a way to realize how majestic and rugged this coastline is. You get the sights, sounds and smells this way, and up close looks at the marine life (dolphins, turtles etc).

 

For Kona, Wai'po would be a haul. It would be easier accessed from Hilo, but it looks like you've already nailed down plans for Hilo. Snorkeling is spectacular in Kona. We love Kealakekua Bay, and there are several other spots in that area that are fantastic as well. Best snorkeling we've ever done.

 

Molokini, well I didn't really enjoy it but others have. There's another thread going on right now about it. Do a thread search and decide from there.

 

Have a great cruise!

[bankofdad]

Kauai

Na Pali Coast line: Tops on my list. I want to see this and was thinking of several options (helicoptor, boat, car), but I'm wondering how close does the PoH come the cliffs? Do you think that is a good enough view?

Waimea Canyon: I'd really like to see this as well, so I'm hopeful that the ship gives good views of Na Pali. The last time I was there it was a complete white out. The clouds/fog was so thick you couldn't even see the valley.

 

Big Island, Hilo:

Volcanoes National Park at night: From a few reviews I read last night it sounds like the PoH goes close enough to afford good views.

Wai'po Valley: Is this possible by renting a 4x4? Did you hear of anyone else doing it? I've been to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park before, but if Waipo is too far, that's where I'll go again :-)

 

Big Island, Kona:

Haven't thought much about this, but was thinking that maybe Wai'po is as accessible from here as Hilo, so maybe from Hilo go to HVNP, then Kona try Wai'po. Alternately it may be a good snorkel/dive day.

 

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

 

Maui:

Molokini: any opinions on this?

With little research, I'm pretty open on this one but was thinking of doing some of these: Molokini, Haleakala, Io, Lahaini

 

We've seen the NaPali up close via catamaran, from the air on a helicopter and twice from the cruise ship perspective. All very very impressive, but at the same time VERY different.

 

You'll be limited on the catamaran front because your arrival time in port won't give you time to get up to Port Allen in time for a morning tour departure. The ship does offer the NaPali Explorer rigid hull inflateable tour, which could be a lot of fun, but could be a pretty bumpy ride (particularly in the front). We're going to do a sunset catamaran tour with Kauai Sea Tours, weather permitting up the NaPali, but there's no snorkeling on this one.

 

We did the 90-minute Jack Harter Helicopter tour, which was spectacular.

 

From the cruise ship perspective, stake a claim on deck port side EARLY if you don't have a port side balcony.

 

My favoite of the three? The catamaran. Why? Because you feel the see and sail right up to the massive cliffs. Certainly a way to realize how majestic and rugged this coastline is. You get the sights, sounds and smells this way, and up close looks at the marine life (dolphins, turtles etc).

 

For Kona, Wai'po would be a haul. It would be easier accessed from Hilo, but it looks like you've already nailed down plans for Hilo. Snorkeling is spectacular in Kona. We love Kealakekua Bay, and there are several other spots in that area that are fantastic as well. Best snorkeling we've ever done.

 

Molokini, well I didn't really enjoy it but others have. There's another thread going on right now about it. Do a thread search and decide from there.

 

Have a great cruise!

[CruisinMK]

Hey BankofDad I see your POH cruise is coming up soon, hoping to see a post in here saying how it went.

 

You have some creative ideas for things to do on your cruise, hoping I can learn something to apply on my next one. :)

Wonder if you'll try the overnight in Hana you were thinking of doing before.

 

I might try one of the 10 or 11 day PoA cruises