Review of POA 7/25 sailing, long

[Palmist]

INTRODUCTION: We had a fantastic Hawaiian vacation. We did not have a fantastic cruise. This itinerary allowed us to visit four islands in one week without having to pack and unpack at each island. The excursions and our drives on the islands were outstanding. Hawaii is awesome!

This cruise has two opposing elements, the paradise of Hawaii vs. the type of product NCLA is offering on Pride of Aloha. If you are already booked to sail on this ship I hope you find experiencing the beauty of Hawaii makes up for the problems on this cruise, we did.

 

EMBARCATION: Booked our flight through NCL. Upon arrival in Honolulu an NCLA rep met us. We claimed our luggage and took it to a room across the terminal where we gathered until everyone was present. NCL had a truck outside that took the luggage to the ship. The bus to the pier took about 20 minutes and it took 15 minutes to check in. Our luggage arrived in front of our room between 8:00 & 10:00 PM.

 

STATEROOM: We were in #7008, an outside cabin with a picture window. It hadn’t been cleaned upon our arrival at 4:30 PM. We went to muster and then had barbeque on deck 11. When we got back our room was clean. We met our Steward and introduced ourselves. He was friendly and did the best he could but it was obvious he was overworked. The bathroom door got stuck and the Steward said he spent two hours trying to get in. He showed us what not to do with the lock. The stateroom was small but adequate. We brought an over the door shoe holder and it held all our bathroom needs. Suitcases fit under the bed. The mattress was firm; we requested a pillow top. There was only one twin bed size left so I used it and my DH used the firm side.

[Palmist]

SAIL AWAY PARTY: There was none as this was a subdued crowd, all ages, very quiet. There were only one or two waiters serving drinks by the pool. If you aren’t much of a drinker can be a good thing. If you want a drink in the pool area you will be in line for some time as the bars were busy. This is the first cruise I have ever been on when no one pestered me about a souvenir glass for the going away night.

 

DÉCOR OF SHIP: Very interesting to walk around and see everything. Carpets were vivid colors; chairs in every lounge and restaurant were pretty too. The cosmetic changes from the Sky to POA are numerous. If you didn’t know anything, you would think this is a brand new ship in the public areas. The cabins weren’t refurbished except for new bedspreads and carpeting.

[Palmist]

KAUAI DAY 1: Inadvertently my carry-on luggage was left behind so rode the Wal-Mart shuttle from the dock first thing. Had to buy everything we left behind. That afternoon we had an excursion to the Na Pali coast for a 6 hour sunset dinner cruise and snorkel. We saw fabulous scenery, waterfalls, caves, spinner dolphins, five rainbows, a double rainbow, seals and sea turtles from the boat. I got a little seasick and couldn’t partake of the dinner they served. I was hungry when we returned to the ship around 9:00 PM. There was nothing to be had in the way of food. They stop seating in the dining rooms at 8:30 PM, the buffet was all locked up, and Room Service was over a 2 hour wait. Lucky for us we purchased a box of candied macadamia nuts before we got on board because that was my dinner.

 

KAUAI DAY 2: In the early morning we took a shuttle to Anchor Cove Shopping Center and walked a path behind it to the beach behind the Sheraton Hotel. It’s a pretty, nice white sand beach 5 minutes away from the ship so you can spend a few hours there on the half day with no problem. DH looked at the lunch buffet and refused to eat anything offered so we went back out to the pool area and ate at the barbeque again.

The ship cruised around the island of Kauai for a few hours including the NaPoli coast. This was my pool day. We ate dinner at Pacific Heights Restaurant. Food was good; waiters were inexperienced but tried hard to please. We were in and out in just over an hour. Reservations are taken after 8:00 AM. You can make a reservation for that day and or the next day if you wish to eat the cover charge restaurants. This was formal night for those who chose to dress up. Portraits were being taken in three locations in the atrium. It was 50-50 for men wearing jackets, but ties with dress shirts were seen on many. Some of the women dressed in beautiful cocktail clothes.

[Palmist]

HILO: We had breakfast in the Crossings at 7:00 AM and were done by 8:00 AM. As we left the dining room we noticed a long line waiting to get in. We left by shuttle to rent a car and spent the day sight-seeing at Volcanoes National Park. We drove 18 miles on Crater Rim Road to Chain of the Craters Road. You feel like you are on the moon all alone in the world when you first see the lava flows for miles and miles. We parked and walked to the end of the road and then across 3 ½ miles of uneven, chunky hunks of lava. It got windy and rained on us 6 times in the 2 hours it took us to get to the ocean where the lava steamed into the ocean. We took water, raincoats, hats, sunglasses and sun block. This is a rough, strenuous hike. We saw a woman who fell and broke her nose, two kids who got hurt too. Lava is like glass, if you slip and grab for it to steady yourself you will get cut. Wear good walking shoes, not flip flops. You actually feel heat rising from the ground. The Ranger said tennis shoes with tread on them will be flat when you get off the lava. When we got back to the road I said, “Kiss the ground, we made it.”

Returned the rental car and shuttled back to the ship. Pax lined up through the entire pier. They had barricades set up like you would find at Walt Disney World to pass through. It took over an hour standing in line to get to security, be prepared. Ate at the Royal Palm Bistro and enjoyed the dinner by a window at a table for two. The food was not fantastic, but good. This was the evening of the Latitudes party. We noticed NCLA was very free with the drinks at this event and we saw some people had 5 or 6 drinks. When we walked down the receiving line to shake hands with all the department heads DH asked the Housekeeping Manager why our room hadn’t been cleaned yet that day and it was after 6:00 PM. The Housekeeping Manager asked “Just today or since the cruise started?” We told him our cabin number and it was cleaned when we checked after dinner and the show.

 

KONA: This is the only tender port and it went very smoothly. We were in no hurry to get off and by 9:00AM when we left, tender tickets were no longer necessary. Kona is good for sea side shopping and restaurants. The beaches are all lava rock, not the white sand I hoped to find. The day was spent at Turtle Beach. We took a shuttle for $20 each that included snorkel gear. If you just wanted to go there and not use their equipment it is $5.00 each for transportation. I just put my flippers on when a huge turtle feeding off the moss on the lava rocks stuck its huge head up and opened his mouth. I wasn’t prepared for that and screamed. People came running to where I was standing on a rock and everyone was excited to see the turtle. Had I known an over 100 pound turtle would be within 2 inches of me I doubt I would have gotten into the water there. It was a short snorkel tour for me that day. Be aware you have to be in line with several hundred people to wait to get to the security tent on the dock before anyone can get back onto a tender and go back to the ship. They don’t have enough shade for that many so you will be standing in line in the hot sun for awhile. We ate dinner at Kahili Restaurant on the fifth floor. To enter you have to be on 6 and go down the flight of stairs or enter through the Palace Restaurant. It looks like a long train, very narrow, but tastefully decorated. Tables for two run along all the windows and there are booths on the opposite side of the restaurant on pedestals so they are sitting higher than the window tables. The food was good and the service was great. We were in and out in just over an hour.

[Palmist]

MAUI DAY 1:

Again rented a car and took the shuttle from the pier. We had to be in Lahaina by 9:45 AM for a snorkel and sunset dinner cruise to Lanai. We parked and met the group who were on our catamaran. Hulopo’e Beach is white sand (feels like velvet on your feet) paradise. There are lots of beautiful fish there. The reef is 75 yards out; someone saw an eel. The coral is alive and colorful and the waves are gentle because the bay is protected.

 

A pod of pilot whales surrounded the catamaran on the way back and everyone was taking pictures. The captain said it was unusual and only happens once a year. The golden Hawaiian sunset was reflecting off the mountains in Maui and perfect for picture taking. We shopped for awhile in Lahaina before returning to the ship. If you return from Lahaina after 9:00 PM it would be a good idea to eat something there before returning to the ship. It will be impossible to find anything to eat since there is no food available except room service which is backed up over two hours.

 

MAUI DAY 2:

We ate breakfast in the Hukilau Lanai on deck 11. You need to be there early or it may be hard to find a table. The scrambled eggs looked ugly and bacon was almost raw. We left before 8:00 AM to get an early start for the road to Hana. This is a winding road that takes forever to go 50 miles. 18 one-lane bridges too. Waterfalls are all over the place, if you can tear your eyes off the road for a quick look. Turn outs and picture opportunities are everywhere. The foliage is so dense sometimes you think you are in a tunnel. We drove an additional 9 miles to the Seven Sacred Pools, a very impressive looking chain of pools and waterfalls. We didn’t swim because it was so crowded with kids jumping off the rock walls. Water runs from one pool to the next, each cut out by nature. It ends by dumping into the ocean. Sharks have been known to frequent the beach area. On the way back from Hana we passed many craft and food stands along the road. No one was manning any of them. They go on siesta daily from 12 to 3. One stand advertised “Best Smoothies in Hawaii” with a sign that stated choose your fruit, use our juicer and deposit money in basket. We turned the car in and went through security one last time (much faster than Hilo). We decided to try the Crossings for dinner since the cruise was almost over. We arrived at the dining room at 5:45 and were seated within five minutes. Our waiter, John Brown was smiling and happy, friendly and experienced. He told us he had had only 1 day off since March when he started on the Sky. The next day he was off on a 5 week vacation. Too bad they can use more like him. Our food was OK and it would have been nicer if it came out hot. Dinner took one and half hours.

[Palmist]

ENTERTAINMENT:

We missed the first two night’s shows because of jet lag and wearing ourselves out on the 6 hour Na Pali cruise. The Mr. Producer show was very well done and entertaining. We enjoyed it. The next show was cirque show, singing, dancing, and acrobatics and ultra modern costumes with lighting and a smoke machine. The final night the show was also terrific. The Jean Ryan Company has some very talented performers. We enjoyed all three production shows. Stardust Lounge is not terraced and there are poles that obstruct the view. Patty, the Cruise Director came on stage and made a speech about “We are all family and NCLA will make it.” She had emotion in her voice and tears in her eyes. It seemed like it was a pep rally and a commercial for NCLA. During her talk we noticed some people walked out.

 

DEBARCATION:

We opted for Express Check Out and carried our own bags off the ship. It worked well and we were thankful NCLA has implemented it. We were out of our cabin and off the ship in 10 minutes. We took a cab to the airport to rent a car for the day in Oahu. Our flight was at 10:30 PM.

 

GOING AWAY GIFT FROM NCLA:

At our last breakfast in Crossings an incident occurred that could have ruined our entire vacation. DH ordered scrambled eggs and when they arrived his first forkful was heavy with a metal lock washer covered in egg. He called the waiter over who called the Assistant Matre’d. She was apologetic and offered to get him another order ASAP. She said she would bring it to the attention of the kitchen staff. When we went to the cabin to get our luggage we said goodbye to our cabin steward and told him what had just happened in the dinning room. He told us about the week before when a woman bit into a piece of bread that broke her tooth. Be careful of what you bite into on this ship.

[ptngr]

Palmist, we were on the same cruise. Sorry about your cruise experience. I guess we had it relatively easy. (At least our cabin was clean when we arrived and cleaned every day when we get back from port.) I'd like to piggyback some comments for future cruisers since you reminded me of some stuff I forgot:

SAIL AWAY PARTY: There was none as this was a subdued crowd, all ages, very quiet.

Well, they had the band and Sonny Rose singing! (My parents kinda liked him but my husband thinks he's terrible. I'm somewhere in the middle.) We spent a lot of our time at the stern watching the hula performance on the dock. (It wasn't announced or anything, but they had a couple of hula dancers with live singer right at the dock next to the ship. At first I thought it was something the Aloha Tower does for its shopping customer but then realized the performers were facing the ship. It was for us!) We were on Deck 11 which was too high for good viewing. Would've been much better on 6, I think.

There were only one or two waiters serving drinks by the pool. If you aren’t much of a drinker can be a good thing. If you want a drink in the pool area you will be in line for some time as the bars were busy. This is the first cruise I have ever been on when no one pestered me about a souvenir glass for the going away night.

I did notice and appreciated not being pestered for drinks, ever. Not at the pool area, not at Stardust, not when there is something going on at Blue Hawaii and we go and sit there.

KAUAI DAY 1: Inadvertently my carry-on luggage was left behind so rode the Wal-Mart shuttle from the dock first thing. Had to buy everything we left behind.

You didn't happen to have bought a red carry-on luggage by any chance, did you? If you did, we were behind you in line when you reboarded! No, I think that red carry-on had a Sears tag on it, not Walmart. Actually, I noticed more and more new luggages coming on the ship as the cruise go by and figured those people did a little bit too much shopping!

I was hungry when we returned to the ship around 9:00 PM. There was nothing to be had in the way of food. They stop seating in the dining rooms at 8:30 PM, the buffet was all locked up, and Room Service was over a 2 hour wait. Lucky for us we purchased a box of candied macadamia nuts before we got on board because that was my dinner.

How terrible for you! Several times when we weren't hungry, we toyed with the idea of eating after the first show. (Except for monday night (7pm), they all start at 8pm and last about 50 min.) The dailies from the 7/11 cruise say that the dining rooms close at 10pm with last seating at 9:30pm. For ours, they just said 10pm with no reference to last seating so I had assumed it would be the same. I guess we're really lucky we didn't try that! Note, on monday night, my parents watched the first show and ate afterwards. They were told the wait would be 45 minutes so they ate at the buffet instead and found it horrible. (Remember that was early in the cruise, when a 45 min wait seemed long!)

Kona is good for sea side shopping and restaurants. The beaches are all lava rock, not the white sand I hoped to find.

Except for the tiny King Kam beach right off the Kailua Pier. That was white sand. But it's really, really tiny, the one labeled "entry" on this picture. The tender docks at the pier in the middle of the picture so you can't beat it for convenience.

I just put my flippers on when a huge turtle feeding off the moss on the lava rocks stuck its huge head up and opened his mouth. I wasn’t prepared for that and screamed. People came running to where I was standing on a rock and everyone was excited to see the turtle. Had I known an over 100 pound turtle would be within 2 inches of me I doubt I would have gotten into the water there.

How exciting! We never got to see the turtle closely. We did see a couple swimming in front of our boat when we came back from the Molokini snorkeling trip. (And a couple of rays swimming around our boat on our way out!)

We ate breakfast in the Hukilau Lanai on deck 11. You need to be there early or it may be hard to find a table. The scrambled eggs looked ugly and bacon was almost raw.

We ate breakfast there most days. The eggs were always so wet and uncocked looking. The bacon were always on the "chewy" side instead of crispy. The exception was the last day when both were pretty decent.

[bankofdad]

Thanks for the helpful review!

 

Regarding the show times (7PM for Monday's, 8PM the rest of the cruise), do you recall if the schedule included the same show later in the eveneing? If so, do you know what time those started (9:30 or 10PM)?

 

Also, did you have any difficulty getting your desired reservation times in the specialty restaurants?

 

Thanks again!

[gardencat]

Thanks for your review.

The impression I am beginning to form from reading a lot of reviews is that while only a few cruisers have anything all that terrible happen (in your case the metal washer was pretty terrible I admit) day after day of long waits, short hours for restaurants and having to ask for everything you would expect to have without asking (eg. getting your room cleaned) just wear them down and remove the relaxing feeling most of us hope for on our vacation.

 

I think you have given some good info that will help future cruisers avoid or minimize some of the problems you encountered.

[segerd]

We found it difficult to make those dinner reservations because most of our shore excursions were earlier in the day, before they opened to start taking them. When we returned, all reservations were gone.

[margu1241]

If you want to make reservations in the alternative restaurants, best to be there at 8am when they open the table on deck 5 in the atrium. I would usually wait there while everyone else was getting ready to get off the ship for whatever we were doing that day, and was typically the first in line. They usually opened it a few minutes early. We didn't book any excursions through the ship, but I could see how that could be a problem as they do tend to leave earlier. You can make them for the same day or the next. Talked to people who tried to do it over the phone and had no luck.

Patty

[ptngr]

Bank of Dad, the second show time are either 10pm or 9:45pm or 9:30, depending on the show. Note that these schedules change. The earliest cruises have showtimes that are always at 7:30 and 9:30. The 7/11 cruise had showtimes similar to us, but not exactly the same. You really only find out when you get your Dailies the night before.

 

The 7/11 cruise also had 50% specialty restaurant cover charge for 5:30 or 6pm reservations every day or almost every day. We never had that.

[cnmiranda]

Thanks for another great post Palmist. :) The reports of strange objects in passengers food is quite alarming. :eek:

 

So far we've had:

Dirty excrement toilets, bloody sheets, nose picking then placing hands on food, and metal objects in scrambled eggs. What's next? It is actually quite humorous to read but not searly so funny for those traveling, I'm sure. :) It's like watching a bad soap opera, you just can't keep away!:D

 

So these are our own plans:

1. Bring our own bedding

2. Eat on land or go to pay restaurants

[gardencat]

Originally posted by cnmiranda

So these are our own plans:

1. Bring our own bedding

2. Eat on land or go to pay restaurants

Sorry to ask, but does this kind of make you wonder why you are paying for a cruise?

[cnmiranda]

I agree. Hubby wants to cancel but we will lose $218 in cancellation insurance if we do (I guess it's already lost anyways when we purchased it, but it's kinda like admitting defeat). I'm still hoping things will get better in the coming months:) I really don't know. I can't think of anything better to do during that week that involves warm weather, not too much flying, and we want to cruise. Already doing Hawaii by land again in 2 weeks, which we have previuosly done more than a dozen times over the years:) And I am really looking forward to the volcanoes at night, something new and different:)

[Palmist]

Thanks for the helpful review!

 

Regarding the show times (7PM for Monday's, 8PM the rest of the cruise), do you recall if the schedule included the same show later in the eveneing? If so, do you know what time those started (9:30 or 10PM)?

 

Also, did you have any difficulty getting your desired reservation times in the specialty restaurants?

 

Thanks again!

 

We never had a problem making reservations but we made them at 8:00 AM in the atrium on 5. We didn't sleep in one day on this trip so we were up and about at that time anyway. We got the times we wanted and the restaurants we wanted on the day we chose them.

[LouChamp]

Miranda...I would never cancel a cruise based on info I read on these boards. I use them as I do restaurant/movie and political views. Intake the info and learn from it and this way you will find that your experience is on par with what you have learned. Sometimes, like the Zuiderdam, you wonder if you were on the same ship as all the others. On the Queen Mary 2, what a motley group! By that I mean all the buffet concerns, etc you mentioned above were on full display! Also, on another board, the Celebrity, RCCL reviews are also quite dismaying. The POA does have its issues but if you go prepared you will be ok. By the way, I will be aboard in a week and will also provide a report for you to read.

All the best!

Palmist...thank you for this informative info.

[bankofdad]

Thanks Palmist & Ptnger,

 

Thank you so much for the useful information! The experiences you're sharing are very helpful for those of us yet to travel, and we really appreciate it.:)

[raider23]

Thanks for all the helpful info.

I have one question about your trip to Hana. We are still trying to decide whether to do this on day one or two. After you visited the sacred pools did you return the same way or make the loop? what time did you start your return trip?OK thats two questions, sorry.

Thanks Gary

[bankofdad]

Hi LouChamp,

 

I hope you have a great trip, and we all look forward to your review when you return.

 

From your last post, it looks like we use these posts for the same reason - to share and gather information so that we know what to expect, and have for-planned enough so that we can adjust in order to get the maximum enjoyment from our vacations.

 

Have a great time! I love Hawaii in August - the North Shore is more gentle for body surfing novices like me, and the days are longer....

[Palmist]

ptngr: When Sonny sang on deck at the sail away party and we thought he was doing a satire of a lounge singer from Vegas. He wasn't very good so we walked to the rear of the ship and we watched the hula dancers on the pier.

 

The red bag wasn't ours. Mine was put on the wrong shuttle in Denver and got seperated from the rest of our luggage, we got it back upon our return.

 

We saw the little beach next to the dock in Kona but decided to explore a little further down the coast.

 

I guess it depends on which station you go to at breakfast as to whether you got your bacon undercooked or chewy.

 

On the plane coming home we met a couple who were also on our cruise. They said they were on deck 8 and had to beg for a wash cloth until Wednesday. The woman said she was going to cut a hand towel in half with her scissors.

My DH said something about our TV remote and her husband turned to us and said in awe, "You had a remote?"

[Palmist]

Thanks for all the helpful info.

I have one question about your trip to Hana. We are still trying to decide whether to do this on day one or two. After you visited the sacred pools did you return the same way or make the loop? what time did you start your return trip?OK thats two questions, sorry.

Thanks Gary

We went to Hana on Day 2. We already had a rental car so we got an early start. We returned the same way we went. It is a long 50 miles because it is narrow and winding. We heard if you wanted to drive the loop the road gets even worse if you can believe it. It is a nail biter in places. Going the extra 12 miles to the Seven Sacred Pools took another 30 minutes each way. Then you have to allow time to park and walk into the area which is another 20 minutes or so.

[ptngr]

When Sonny sang on deck at the sail away party and we thought he was doing a satire of a lounge singer from Vegas. He wasn't very good so we walked to the rear of the ship and we watched the hula dancers on the pier.

Ha ha! That's exactly what we did, too! Well, they proudly proclaimed that he is "Direct from Las Vegas" in the Dailies! When we walked back on the deck later on (maybe around 9pm) we were surprised how empty it was (with him still singing.) We sat on one of the lounge chairs watching the nighttime scenery outside for a little while until my husband decided he could stand Sonny no longer.

I guess it depends on which station you go to at breakfast as to whether you got your bacon undercooked or chewy.

Maybe you can order them crispy if you go to the dining room. Did you try? We never got around to having breakfast in the dining room. Figured what's the point if the food is the same anyway.

 

BTW, some people have mentioned in a previous review that you can get real eggs only in the dining room. This is true except for the omlett station. The regular eggs used for omletts are not real (They use one of those cholesterol free, 99% egg product egg-beater type thing.) but he has some real eggs there too. Presumably you could ask for sunny side up and such there. I never did since I like omletts better and don't mind the fake eggs in them.

On the plane coming home we met a couple who were also on our cruise. They said they were on deck 8 and had to beg for a wash cloth until Wednesday. The woman said she was going to cut a hand towel in half with her scissors.

I'm getting a better understanding of why our cabin steward kept knocking on our door the last morning (waking us up) and that she's a fantastic housekeeper compared to many others. I'm so bummed I didn't tip her.

My DH said something about our TV remote and her husband turned to us and said in awe, "You had a remote?"

Ya know? The cabin is so tiny, so we have things spread out everywhere. I didn't realized we had a remote for a few days either! It was partially buried under a pile of stuff!! Did you get a coffee maker in your room? I'm trying to figure out whether only the suites and balconies got it or whether ours was just missing.

[lis17]

Glad to hear you made the best of your cruise. My husband and I will be on the Sept 12 POA cruise. We wanted to rent a car on Kauai, Hilo and Maui. Could you please tell me what rental car company you used and how do you pickup and return the car. Also, on the days you spent overnight at ports was there anywhere to park the car near the ship or did you have to return it to the rental company. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you.

[cnmiranda]

Thank You for the comments, LouChamp:) I am especially looking forward to your review, since the travel industry is your profession;)