PoH 5/28 Review - Absolutely Spectacular (LONG)

[puablo]

This is a review of my 5/28 – 6/4 NCL Pride Of Hawaii cruise, or as I like to call it – the best vacation of my entire life. It’s killing me not to give a complete play by play of this stunning trip, so I will try to keep it as abridged as I possibly can. I’ll separate it out by different aspects of the cruise, but I’ll warn you now the sections on the stellar excursions and shockingly good food will be long! Also stay tuned at the end for notes on Oahu.

The short short version: ship was the best I’d ever seen, service was great, food was light years better than any ship prior to it, and the islands and the excursions – mind blowing. Seriously, this cruise ship is one for the ages, and I’m saddened that anyone ever had a bad experience on it.

SHIP: Huge, amenity-filled, and beautiful. The Hawaiian designs are awesome, and it’s a travesty that they will be ripped out next year. Truly this fits the Hawaiian Islands better than the Americana-themed alternative. Going on anything other than the biggest Caribbean cruise ships after this will certainly be a disappointment. I loved this ship!

SERVICE: Everyone gives PoH a bad rap for service, and I can happily say I had no problems remotely close to what others say they experienced. You HAVE to use the dial by your door to get service. The first night I forgot about it and didn’t switch to “Turn Down Room”, and we needed new towels for the morning. A phone call later, we had towels in minutes. Room was made with new towels every day, turned down with new towels every night. On three occasions we were back from dinner early, just before the steward would have turned us down, each time we just got towels from her and she also handed us armloads of Andes mints. Fine by me, I just needed towels, not to be tucked in! Our steward was way cool for always making sure we had those towels when we went to bed. As for restaurants, this is certainly not the “as-you-wish-sir” formality of any other cruise line – and I found myself preferring it. I’ll take the surfer-dude from Santa Monica any day. The only time where the service was remotely awry was our first night, at Shabu Shabu, the waiter had only just that day been reassigned to the Shabu tables and he forgot how to do it, but he quickly remembered, chatted for a while about restaurants, gave us a heads up on lobster night later on in the week, and became our favorite waiter of the trip. It’s just like going to a local restaurant, and there’s nothing remotely wrong with that!

EMBARKATION: Begins at 1pm, we showed up at 2pm, had approximately a 0 second wait for everything. Handed in our bags, walked up to a desk, walked on the ship. Easy! A flustered worker was happy to see there was no line, apparently the place was jammed at 1pm and cleared out just before we came in. Lucky us! Room was ready at 2:30, before we finished eating lunch, and our bags were already there!

DISEMBARKATION: Also wonderful. We did the express disembarkation carrying our own bags off at 7:30am, and it was a pleasant experience. I cannot say the same thing for the last cruise we tried this on (Princess), where people clogged the elevators because they were kicked out of their rooms, and we had to drag our luggage down stairs and shove through people just waiting in the public rooms blocking our way. At NCL, you can do whatever you want – stay in your room, go eat, whatever. This made disembarking much more pleasurable, and for us we got an elevator to ourselves for the luggage, and the public rooms were so open that we initially walked right past the exit, not even realizing it was the way out! Such a relaxing experience compared to my last cruise.

DINING RESERVATIONS: Again I’m defying expectations here – I had 0 problems. Got every restaurant I wanted, every time I wanted, not the slightest hint of an issue. I think it helps that we were a party of two. Upon initial embarking, the Blue Lagoon is filled with dining hosts that will sit you down, explain all the restaurants to you, and take your reservations for that night and the next night. After that, you can make reservations in person at 7am each morning for that night and the following night, or at 7:30 by phone. There is no reason not to be up at 7 each day since you really can’t miss out of any time on the islands, so we made a reservation each day for the following night with no issues. And this is from someone who sleeps until noon on weekends. A few notes: the host told us that Papa’s, the Italian place, is their problem child in that it is the smallest restaurant and has the highest demand. They get people screaming at them by the end of the week because they can’t get in. So he said that if we were interested, to make a reservation right away. We made one for the second night, no problem. Hey, at least the guy was honest! Also I should note that if the video boards around the ship are remotely accurate, every specialty restaurant was booked up all night long until 9pm except for the French place, which seemingly nobody went to. I can confirm this to be a mostly accurate assessment because every single time we showed up for a reservation, we were behind a walk in being told they couldn’t be seated until 8:45 at the earliest. DO NOT PLAN TO WALK IN. Make reservations at 7am every day!!! You do not want to miss this food! The only time I saw a line at 7am was the last day (well, day before that to be precise) when upset people made the difficult decision to go there at 7 to try to get into restaurants they’d been wanting all week. To keep up with demand, they answered phones early, I just called from across the hall as did many other people, got right into my choice time and place.

And here come the best parts:

FOOD: I can’t believe I’m saying this, but all the food, even the buffet if not especially the buffet, was spectacular! Yes, really! We noticed this on Day 1 at lunch, that the buffet was shockingly tasty. Well, for a buffet, of course.

Aloha Nui Buffet: Better than any non-upscale-Vegas-buffet, that’s for sure. Breakfast was great, with the eggs and bacon being bland, but everything else being surprisingly good. Made to order omelets, fresh pancakes, and fresh Belgian waffles are the major highlights here. For lunch, grab a burger, hot dog, pizza, all sorts of simple food, but don’t miss the desserts! Macadamia nut cookies, banana cake, blueberry tortes, all very good. We only had dinner here one time (intentionally, because we did not want to make a reservation for a fixed time on Kauai Day 1), but were stunned to find pretty good sushi, a made-to-order pasta bar, lots of meats that were actually edible, and more great desserts including bananas foster. I believe there is a specialty dessert like that which changes nightly. The Aloha Nui Lanai is always open to eat on the deck, and there is a separate buffet there that has limited hours but when it is open I believe it is the same food selection.

Shabu Shabu ($10 cover): Ate here the first night – the dining host blew it on the description though. He said it was a Mongolian Barbecue-style of stir fry. Not remotely accurate. It was, to our pleasant surprise, pretty much Asian fondue. Shabu Shabu supposedly means “swish swish” in Japanese, and that’s what you do. You stab a thin slice of beef, swish it in your pot of garlic ginger broth, and it’s cooked in 2 seconds. Literally. Dip it in some sauce, and you’ve got yourself a meal. (And yeah, there’s vegetables too.) At the time this was fun, different, and tasty, but after eating elsewhere we determined it to be relatively forgettable compared to some of the other meals. I recommend this and every other restaurant, but if you do choose to pass on it, you’re not missing something too extraordinary, so it’s ok.

Teppanyaki ($20 cover): Supposedly this was hard to get into – I had no problem. I’m spoiled by a nearby Benihana and their heavenly shrimp sauce, so teppanyaki clones usually disappoint me. This one is no Benihana, but it didn’t stop me from loving it! First of all, if you’ve never had teppanyaki before, just go. Enjoy it! For those who have been before, there are two big draws here: 1.You can get filet mignon and lobster, or various other combinations, which would otherwise go for $40 and up at a Benihana. The food quality was wonderful, again defying cruise-ship expectations. 2. The show is out of this world. We learned that they hired multiple guys from multiple teppanyaki restaurants, all with different tricks, which they then taught each other. So you’re in for a constant barrage of tricks and entertainment, and it’s likely going to include stuff you’ve never seen before. At least I sure haven’t!

Papa’s (no cover): As I mentioned earlier, I was told this is hard to get into. It’s worth it if you like Italian, that’s for sure. Food quality was about on par with Olive Garden, and I say that from the perspective of loving Olive Garden. We had lasagna and chicken parmesan, both huge portions and extremely tasty. The appetizers were wonderful, we had the antipasto trolley and the Caesar salad. A note: I read about people mad they didn’t get the trolley – you HAVE to order it as an appetizer. I specifically asked about this first. The contents of the trolley are delicious, my favorite was the mushrooms. And yet, when we ate at the buffet for dinner one night the contents of the trolley, counting my mushrooms, were all there at the buffet. Only downside to Papa’s, the desserts aren’t that great. We had the old standbys of tiramisu and cannoli, tiramisu was good but nothing outstanding, cannoli was forgettable. But I have world class cannoli available in my city’s Little Italy, so I am spoiled in that regard. In the end, my wife declared that Papa’s was her second favorite restaurant on the ship, and it just so happens to be free – if you can get in.

Paniolo’s (no cover): This is the Mexican restaurant, and we both agreed hands down, no contest, it was the best food on the ship. Now if you read anything bad about this from before from several months ago, disregard it. The embarkation dining host told us that they hired a new Latina chef who has really improved this place. No kidding, it was amazing. And I’ll tell you, Mexican food usually underwhelms me. My idea of top notch Mexican food is Chipotle, distantly followed by Taco Bell, distantly followed by Don Pablo’s. Anything that tries to be “real” Mexican food, I actually find to be bland. So call me twisted if you will, but that’s where I’m coming from here. The appetizers were phenomenal, chips and salsa fantastic, desserts were tasty (churros great, flan just ok). But the big draw here is the Churrasco Fire Star Steak for two, which is an absolute MUST ORDER on this ship. It’s hard to describe, just imagine hot iron spiked “bell” with two steaks on it and half of a grilled pineapple, all suspended (yes! In air!) above your selection of salsas and toppings, much like a fajita presentation. A shout of OLE! and you’re ready to eat. The cacophony of OLE! yells tells you the popularity of this dish. Two bites into it, and my wife and I both agreed we would come back here on our last day. Not only did we do that, but so did everyone else. They had so many fire star steaks out that last night, they were out of the bell contraption for some people (but not us). Also, the Hawaiian Margaritas here are to die for. Strawberries, raspberries, and pineapple – delicious.

Grand Pacific (no cover): GP is the throwback to a classic cruise dinner. The room, the food, the daily menu – it’s all an exact clone of the fixed seating dining on (insert cruise line here). We only went here because on Thursday, Maui Day 2, it was lobster night. Also it was 2-for-1 night at all specialties but Cagney’s, and everybody had lobster. However, we just wanted “free” all you can eat lobster, and we got it! However, GP was the lamest food on the ship. It is not by any means bad, it’s just exactly like any other cruise dining experience. Good, but forgettable. I weep for those who chose to eat here every day in lieu of paying covers for specialties or making reservations. GP does not take reservations, only walk-ins, but on lobster night they give out pagers. We came upon opening and were seated immediately, but when we left there were tons of people waiting.

We also ate at Blue Lagoon, the casual eatery, which we only ate at once, at 2am before the Maui sunrise bike ride, because it was only open then. We scarfed down a really good club sandwich and I wanted to go back for lunch on the last day, but with everybody on the ship by 1:30pm on that Kauai day, there was a 15 minute wait and I was hungry so I just had lunch at the buffet and didn’t look back! But really, 15 minutes is short, I was just carefree.

Other restaurants that we did not eat at are Jasmine ($10), a Japenese/Chinese/Thai fusion place that Shabu Shabu, Teppanyaki, and the Sushi Bar are all a part of. Cagney’s ($20) is a steakhouse that was going to go to, but the Grand Pacific lobster night stole my attention. Le Bistro ($15? I forget) is the French place that nobody goes to at all. And Alizar is a way cool looking casual alternative to Grand Pacific. Same menu, different ambience. The only dining option I really wish I did was the Sushi Bar - $15 for all you can eat high-end sushi that sounded really tasty and elaborate. However it is first come, first serve, with about 12 chairs. I did not try to eat there - we decided it may be unwise to have a whole meal of nothing but sushi – but the concept sounded fantastic. All the food we had was amazing, but honestly we decided that the non-cover specialty places – Papa’s and Paniolo’s – were the biggest hits on the ship. Obviously, since we had the exact same entrée at Paniolo’s twice!

EXCURSIONS / ISLANDS: I better just break this down by each island.

Hilo: We rented a car from Thrifty to do Volcanoes National Park. We were the first people off the ship at 8am, were in the first Thrifty van, first people to the Blue Chip desk. They simply had us sign a paper, and handed us the keys, no processing time. We were in our car driving to VNP at 8:20am. When entering the park we went left instead of right, and stopped at the Kilauea Iki Overlook and Thurston Lava Tube, being the only people at both. Then we drove down Chain Of Craters Rd., which is an amazing drive, and were the 4th car at the end of the road. We had the lava hike all to ourselves. We probably stayed there for 45 minutes, then came back up the road, hiked to the petroglyphs (not that exciting), then resumed stopping at all the overlooks on Crater Rim Dr. Only by the Caldera overlook did we finally intersect with the tour groups and other cars that had gone the other direction upon entering the park. We stopped at every overlook, then went back to Kilauea Iki to hike down into the crater – which felt like hiking into Mordor. Truly for me the highlights of VNP were Chain Of Craters Rd., Kilauea Iki, and the Steaming Bluffs. To be honest, Chain Of Craters and the Crater Rim overlooks are the highlights of VNP, it would be a huge mistake to miss Chain Of Craters Rd. We did all this, counting all our hikes, and were done by 3:15, which gave us more than enough time to go back to Hilo, stop at the black sand beach at Richardson’s Ocean Park, and return our car and be on the ship by 5pm, even though all aboard was 5:30. Total costs: $35 for the car, $10 for park entrance, $20 in gas, and lunch was food lifted from the breakfast buffet. I refuse to believe that the $155 per person + tax Volcanoes Nature Deluxe package could have possibly outdone, if even matched, the on-our-own experience of that wonderful day. Moral of the story: rent a car, and drive down Chain of Craters Rd.

Maui: On day 1 we did the Catch A Wave surfing excursion, which uses the Lahaina On Your Own buses. We met the surfing instructors at the Lahaina banyan tree, and surfed right next to the Lahaina marina behind the tree. Surfing was great! It was much easier than I would have expected, and I would have done it again post-cruise on Oahu but we got board burn pretty bad and I would have needed a full body wetsuit to be comfortable. Still, I highly recommend that if you are interested in trying surfing, definitely go for it at some point during your Hawaii trip. The Lahaina On Your Own buses return at 2pm, 5:30pm, and 7:30pm, but we had dinner reservations at 5 because we had to get up early the next day, so we had no choice but to return at 2pm. Surfing ended at 1pm, we only had one hour to see Lahaina, which I loved. The port at Kahului is a commercial port, there is absolutely nothing to do there. I wish we would have tendered at Lahaina!

For day 2 we had to get up at 2am for the 2:45 meeting time for the Sunrise Bicycle Ride At Haleakala Crater. It is completely worth it! This was a stunning day – going up to the 10,000 foot summit, way above the clouds, to see the sunrise. Then after that, biking down the mountain was exhilarating. Kinda creepy at first, being above the clouds with steep cliffs on either side and no guardrails, but it felt like skydiving for a while. Just incredible. I will definitely do it again whenever I return to Maui. We were back on the ship by 11am, and wanted to do something on shore, but we couldn’t because there was nothing around. Hilo Hattie shuttles only ran in the morning, so we took a shuttle to a worthless mall and came right back and took a nap instead.

Kona: Finally a port with something in it! Kona’s a tender port, so you tender right up to the main strip of stores, and they aren’t half bad as far as cruise ports are considered. Hilo Hattie’s is a quick walk, though a shuttle is still available, and all the coffee you can dream of is available on the main street. I hate coffee, but I tried some of the Surfin’ Ass mauka medium roast, loved it, and bought a pound of it. We now drink it every day, but had to buy a grinder and coffeemaker because we’ve never made coffee at home before! Tendering was easy, we didn’t try to get out until 9am and had no wait, plus we came back to drop off purchases and have lunch, and tendering back and forth mid-day also had no wait.

We took the Captain Zodiac excursion here, in the afternoon, and it was amazing. It absolutely lives up to the hype, and even exceeds all expectations. Snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay was the best I’ve ever seen, there’s a reason why they claim it’s the best snorkeling in Hawaii. On top of that, the boat was a high-speed thrill ride, and the way back included a fun and educational tour of sea caves and lava tubes. This is an absolute must do for adventure-lovers, thrill-seekers, and most of all snorkel enthusiasts.

Kauai: Having been told countless times how beautiful Kauai is, and having our imaginations on fire from the Kauai Revealed book, we chose to rent a car for both days here. In part because we wanted to see all the beaches, and in part because every trip of interest to us on the excursion list was more or less a bus tour we can do by ourselves (Waimea Canyon, anybody?). Here the rental process from Thrifty was slower, but we were again first in line so the fact that they took 10 minutes to process my rental wasn’t so bad since I didn’t have to wait in line to do it. Got the overnight parking from the Aloha Marketplace right by the boat, $10, no problem there. This was about 8:45am at that point and we were the 4th people to reserve a spot, they probably have about 50 spots or more.

Day 1 we drove up to the north shore, stopping at Ke’e Beach, Haena, Tunnels, Hanalei, Queen’s Bath, the Kilauea Lighthouse, then coming down to Poipu and Spouting Horn for sunset. A summary:

Ke’e Beach: Pure sand, no rocks, and bathtub clear water near an unimpressive reef but full of fish who have no qualms about swarming around you. No fins needed, just walk out with a mask and stick your face in for a ton of fun! Also a good view of the beginning of the Na Pali coast.

Haena: Huge waves here and a steep dropoff, but one of the most fun beaches I’ve ever been to. Just hop in, get past the shorebreak, and enjoy watching the whitecaps from behind!

Tunnels: Adjacent to Haena, Tunnels makes for some excellent snorkeling. The “Tunnels” name I presume must refer to the pathways through the coral that you can walk or swim through. Only problem is you end up really close to the coral which is not safe for you or it, so we did not stay long.

u: Great beach for strolling or surfing. Long, low waves, sandy bottom, not many rocks or shells on the beach. It just screams “walk down my shoreline!”

QUEEN’S BATH: BEST SPOT IN HAWAII. Seriously, it’s the best natural formation I’ve ever been to. If you read Kauai Revealed, you know what I’m talking about. If not, check out the book, you’ll find a picture and be intrigued. It’s not just the bath itself that is amazing, but also the surrounding area. Watching the ocean surge crash up on the lava rocks is beautiful. We also saw a sea turtle up close, surfing in the waves. All I can say is places like Queen’s Bath is why any beach or ocean lover really needs to rent a car on Kauai, no tour is going to bring you here.

Kilauea Lighthouse: Honestly I have no idea what the fascination with this place is. The picture that you see everywhere is taken from an overlook right before the parking lot entrance. Of course, upon seeing that peninsula, you’ll want to pay the $3 admission to walk out there. Sure the view is nice, but you can say that island-wide. There’s nothing wrong with going out to it, it’s just that some people rave about it and I can’t see why.

Poipu: Here’s another spot that confused me. Yeah, the beach is nice, but it’s really small, the rest of the coastline is rocky. Spouting Horn is pretty cool, but on the Captain Zodiac tour we saw a blowhole on the Kona coast that put it to shame. Our big disappointment was that you apparently can’t see the sunset over water during the summer, instead it’s behind the resorts and mountains. We just drove back to the ship but on the way stopped at the side of the road for an unobstructed view of the sun setting into the mountains, and it was beautiful. Also, the tree tunnel road on the way to Poipu is really cool, so going there was not a wasted trip.

On Day 2 we wanted to hit Waimea Canyon properly before getting on the ship, so we got up at 5am to leave at 6am. We had all the overlooks to ourselves! We went to each one all the way to the end of the road, then came back and did the 4 mile roundtrip Canyon Trail. The hike is amazing, the views are stellar, it was totally worth the 2 hour effort to complete that trail. We stopped at the overlooks one more time to check out where we hiked to, then made it back with an hour to spare so we shopped in town a little, then returned the car and were back on the boat by 1pm.

EXTRA PERKS (Lava Viewing and Na Pali Cruise-by)

Lava Viewing: The lava viewing officially started at 9:45pm on Hilo day, first on the starboard (right) side, then on the port side. However, we went up at 9:15 to try and get a good spot, and you could already see the lava. 9:45 was when we would be at the closest point. The view was great, and while binoculars are nice you’re better served just getting your night vision and focusing on it with your bare (or lens-corrected!) eyes. It was pretty amazing. I would say that the starboard and port sides get equal time seeing the lava up close, with the starboard getting extra time on the approach and port getting extra time upon departure. And for pictures, my recommendation is a tripod, action settings if your camera supports it, and videos. But be sure to watch it more with your eyes and not fiddle with the camera too much!

Na Pali Coast: This was to officially start at 5pm on Kauai Day 2 but we left port late while awaiting stragglers, so they announced it would be 5:20. Again, it pays to get there early, at least it did for use because we got to watch our beloved north shore sail by, from the lighthouse out to Ke’e Beach. Sure enough, right at 5:20 was when Na Pali came into view. It was hazy, but that made it all the more beautiful, though my pictures seem less impressive. Everyone says Kauai is Jurassic Park (seeing as it was filmed here) and they weren’t kidding. I also felt, much like in VNP, that the Na Pali coast belongs somewhere in Middle-Earth. After the Na Pali viewing, you can watch the sunset into Ni’ihau, which was an extra special treat.

WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS TO OTHERS: Already have! It’s a shame that PoH is going out of service, but assuming PoA is identical, I am going to push everyone I know to take this trip!

WOULD I TAKE THIS TRIP AGAIN: Absolutely! But much like others before me, I now want to spend more time on Kauai and Maui. If Hawaii was more easily accessible to me, with cheaper airfare and less than 11 hours of flying, I would definitely take this cruise again sometime while also taking a Kauai/Maui trip. But as it stands, I’ll probably just do those islands next time but will never, ever wish I had done differently on this trip!

SUMMARY: Obviously if you made it this far you know I loved this trip, loved my excursions, and had none of the complaints about PoH that others sometimes have. What can I say, I just don’t follow the beat of the same drum. I would say that if you’re going on an NCL Hawaii trip, and you’re concerned about what you’ve read on these boards, don’t be. It’s spectacular, and I’m jealous of you. J

***EXTRA SPECIAL OAHU BONUS SECTION***

I spent 5 days in Oahu (3 pre-cruise, 2 post-cruise), so I’ll give a heads up on what I did since most people want do the same things when they stay on the island.

HOTEL: ResortQuest Waikiki Circle. Simple, affordable, right on the beach, by the Duke’s statue. I’d stay there again in a heartbeat. Rooms are too small for more than two people though, so if you are a family, look elsewhere. Couples, enjoy!

CAR: Rented Alamo at the airport, dropped off in Waikiki, shuttle to cruise port hourly starting at 1pm. Upon disembarkation, shuttles run continuously, picked up in Waikiki, dropped off at airport. No problems.

FOOD: Highlights included Duke’s, Cheeseburger In Paradise, and Ono’s Hawaiian Foods. Also ate at the Little Village Noodle House which was very good, but nothing incredibly memorable. Ono’s is a little shack known to have the best Hawaiian food on Oahu, luau food really. It’s right next to Snorkel Bob’s. It was excellent, and in turn proved that the PCC luau food is also excellent, because it’s almost identical. If I was in Oahu longer, I would have eaten at Duke’s and Cheeseburger repeatedly, both were great!

ACTIVITIES: We hit all the big ones. Here you go!

Dole Plantation: I loved it. First of all, you have to get the pineapple ice cream. If you've ever had it in Adventureland at DisneyWorld, it's the same stuff. Dole is on the way from Honolulu to the North Shore so even if you don't stop to visit the plantation, stop and get the ice cream! Meanwhile, the store is awesome, and the plantation itself is a lot of fun. The pineapple variety garden is very cool, with red pineapples! The maze, train, and garden tour are all nice, but may not appeal to everybody. And yes, the music on the train will make you want to shoot yourself. Still, the free stuff to see is certainly worth a stop.

Hanauma Bay: We went to Hanauma Bay the morning after we arrived (a Saturday) and showed up at 6:15am. We were the 4th car there, there was no parking fee, no admission fee, no movie to watch, just walk on down and enjoy! The coral is all dead, just gray rock, but there are a lot of fish and the swimming is great. By "a lot of fish" I mean you'll see a lot of different kinds of fish, but not really swarms of fish. It ended up being the weakest snorkeling of the trip, but it is a better snorkeling spot than most people let on.

Polynesian Cultural Center: The PCC was a lot better than anticipated. We just wanted the luau but of course we went for the whole day. (Do not bother with any package above the basic luau package.) The best "island" is Samoa, their show is quite educational and entertaining. Pretty much every other island's show is dancing, which is cool for a while but gets old. The PCC is probably not for everyone, but there’s no easy way to know ahead of time if you’re going to like it. The Luau, however, is excellent. We had Ono's Hawaiian Foods the night before, and everyone says to skip mediocre luau food and just get Ono's. Well, PCC's food was identical in quality to Ono's, with the only difference being that the PCC pig, while great, wasn't as incredible as the Ono's pig. Plus, PCC has poke, which I enjoyed immensely, and for $10 you can get a giant smoothie in a real pineapple. ($10 is steep, but the drink is 1. good, 2. huge, and 3. IN A PINEAPPLE.) Desserts were just ok. The Horizons show was better than expected, more dancing, etc. If I did it again I'd see the Samoa show, the Marquesas show, and then spend more time seeing the island's activities instead of their shows.

Pearl Harbor: I expected Pearl Harbor to be really boring and almost didn't go. But we felt like we should go, so we did right after disembarking the cruise. Guess what? It was boring. This is just another one where your mileage may vary. A military or history buff will love it. I had hoped it would blow my mind to be there, but it didn't. The upside is it was totally free to park, enter the center, and see the Arizona. Only the Missouri, Bowfin, and Aviation Museum cost money. I think my real problem with PH is that when you are in Hawaii for two weeks and you see all that beauty, PH is a big downer. Oh, we arrived at 9:00am, ticket was for 10:30am. Done at 11:30.

 

We also hiked Diamond Head, explored Waikiki, checked out the entire North Shore, etc. We concluded the best beach for swimming is Kailua Beach, it's pure sand and no waves. The best sunset was on, appropriately, sunset beach. And the best beach to watch surfers is, big shock, the Banzai Pipeline, even if it was the summer.

 

Hope this answers some PoH and Hawaii questions!

[Steve&Karen]

Wow Thanks for the Really Great and fun to read review. We will be on a different cruise line but I loved reading all your tips. Welcome Home and many thanks Karen~

[joyce155]

Thanks for the great review I am really late in completing my plans we are leaving in less than 3 weeks. This really helped. I wanted to do waimea canyon on day #2 but was afraid I wouldnt have enough time but you confirmed I probably will (if I can get the crew up! to leave)

 

Good reviews on restaurants can you book all the restaurants for the whole week the first day on the ship?

[Heytoots]

Wow!! That uplifted my spirits!!! We are booked for the Sept 3rd POH cruise, and after reading all the negative reviews...I was getting a little nervous. But now I am so excited to be going!!!!

 

Thanks for the great review!!!:)

[hazeleyez3]

Wonderful review.

 

Questions for you... did you see any falls that overwhelmed you? Due to limitiation, hiking is difficult (especially long distances). Was hiking always needed, or just a desire on your part?

[PDAZ]

Wow. Your review is so positive that I suspect people are going to accuse you of working for the cruise line.;) We too had a fabulous time (albeit it on the Pride of Aloha), but we noticed some of the service issues that have been mentioned about all of the Hawaii ships. Could it be that NCLA has finally got things under control or is it just that your attitude is so upbeat that the minor issues didn't faze you?

 

We are among those who raved about the lighthouse. It may be a seasonal thing. We were there in March, and you could watch the whales from the grounds. The cliffs were covered with all sorts of seabirds and there were nene wandering about. It really is a nature-lovers spot, so maybe that's the appeal...

 

Glad to hear you had a fabulous time!

[jburger]

Pueblo

On The Beaches Aside From The Surfig Lessons Did They Have Surf Boards Or "boogie Boards" That You Could Buy Or Rent??

[slightlysilly]

What a fantastic review! So detailed and it sounds so great! But I do think you might be a nut! 2am for an excursion??? :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

 

Cheers!

[puablo]

Okay time to answer some of the questions:

 

- Yes, 2am is absolutely nuts for an excursion but it's the only way to do the Haleakala sunrise, and I'm so glad I did it.

 

- Yes, I am pretty upbeat and not much fazes me, but even from a critical eye I still didn't have a single service issue on PoH except for one time where they billed me for an excursion I had cancelled 4 months earlier, but they quickly and painlessly resolved it so easily that I ceased to care. From what I can tell, towels/room servicing is extremely dependent on the dial outside your room which they never tell you about. It's behind the room number bracket. If you don't know to use it, your service probably is nonexistent, and will change your experience considerably. Also on the most crowded pool day of the ship, the Na Pali Coast sail-by, the Bali Hai bar had one bartender who was way overworked and it took a while to get a drink. It's not his/her fault, it's NCL for not acknowledging they need to increase bar staff up there on that day. That was the only time I ever encountered slow service, but it wasn't *that* bad enough to complain about. Dining room turnaround was as fast as possible, just the way I like it.

 

- I never once saw a waterfall that impressed me. Waimea Falls on the North Shore of Oahu is a pleasant .8 mile paved walk (each way) to some nice falls into a pond you can safely swim in. We did not stop at any falls in Hilo. Now for Waimea Canyon on Kauai, there are the Waipo'o Falls you can see from an overlook, and the excellent Canyon Trail we hiked ends at the top of those falls. It was not impressive, nor can you swim in the pond up there due to warnings about bacteria. It's the canyon views that validate that hike. When we returned to the trailhead, a family asked us how the falls were, and were disappointed when we told them that they were a non-event. They apparently didn't care to hike out to see another canyon overlook, which is a shame but it was after all 4 miles roundtrip.

 

- As for the Kilauea Lighthouse, it could very well be that I just went in an off season that didn't capture its magic. Seeing whales from there would certainly change my tune! It's not that it's a bad stop, it's just that I didn't see any reason why I would want to stay for more than 15 minutes.

 

- And for the one comment on Waimea Canyon Day 2, I think I didn't actually get into my car until 6:20am, got to the first canyon overlook at exactly 7:20, saw the remaining overlooks through the end of the road and started the Canyon Trail hike at 8:30, returned at 10:30, a few more visits to overlooks again, back in town by 11:30 and returned my rental car just after 12, though I didn't have to be on the ship until 1:30. So basically yes, you can thoroughly enjoy all of the views and that 4 mile hike on Day 2 without feeling rushed, with the caveat that you have to get up early to do so.

 

- For restaurants, NCL's policy now only lets you book one day in advance. So if you book at 7am Tuesday for Wednesday night, etc., you should get everything you want. But again, we were only two people, so I can't vouch for how easy it is for larger parties.

 

- For beach rentals, the only beach I went to that had rentals right on the beach was Waikiki - and I went to a LOT of beaches. In areas like Lahaina in Maui, or Hanalei in Kauai, I'd be shocked if you couldn't rent something in town, but I wasn't looking so I can't say for sure. If you would like a boogie board, my advice would actually be to just buy one from an ABC store, and use it on multiple beaches. Also I feel compelled to note that my Oahu hotel, the simple-yet-sufficient ResortQuest Waikiki Circle, had a "toy box" of floats and boogie boards to use for free on Waikiki beach, which we made good use of. Of course that doesn't really help someone on a PoH cruise, but it's just something I thought I'd mention.

 

- And no I don't work for the cruise line. :) I just had such a wonderful time I really wanted to share it with others. Seriously, nothing would have made me happier than to stay on the ship for another week!

[junebug8]

Great review! We leave Thursday for precruise and Sunday board Pride of Aloha...

 

One question...on the afternoon Zodiac, how was the water? Choppy and unable to see that much? Thanks!

[puablo]

The Zodiac trip was fantastic but I have to admit it may have been better in the morning. Reason why I say this is that Kona was VERY foggy. They told me it was because of the lava steam on the other side of the island, it picks up moisture across the center and fogs up Kona. I hadn't heard of that before so I have no idea how common that is, but the Zodiac crew acted like it was normal. Anyways, in the morning it was only foggy in the distance (inland) and sunny in the port. But by afternoon the fog was thicker and looked like a thunderstorm, though it never rained. The sky was blue off in the distance towards the sea.

 

However, despite all this, the water was calm, and the snorkeling was beautifully clear. In hindsight, I would have booked the morning Zodiac because logic would suggest conditions for snorkeling are always better in mornings, but I had a wonderful time with no regrets. I had no idea what shape I would be in the morning after that early bike ride in Maui, so that's why I had intentionally booked the afternoon Zodiac.

 

I should also mention that the Zodiac is a high-speed thrill ride, and it probably doesn't matter what the condition of the water is as far as the boat ride is concerned. It's going to be crazy either way! But snorkeling was completely calm, no bobbing in the waves even.

[judyf]

Thanks for posting. I printed it out to read later.

[Crusinman29]

Puablo, thanks for your outstanding review! Each time I read a review, it feels like I am already there. But, I have a little more time to wait before my sailing. You mentioned in the review about referring back to your "Revealed" books. Were they very helpful in finding beaches, lookouts, etc.?

[puablo]

The Kauai Revealed book is incredible for its beach information, because if you just drove around Kauai you would probably only see a small handful of beaches from the road, and miss out on a great number of them. We must have wrote down directions to at least 12 great-sounding beaches, and by no means did we have enough time to see them all. Most of them, especially near Princeville, would be impossible to find without directions and maps. Even Hanalei, the biggest beach on the island, isn't visible from the road aside from an overlook a few miles beforehand, and there are no signs otherwise saying "BIG BEACH THIS WAY!"

 

Ultimately the big payoff from that Revealed book was Queen's Bath. I was chatting with a guy who I had to double-park behind to go down to it, and he asked if I had the book because he (correctly) assumed that it was the only way anyone would know that spot even existed. He said he used to live on Maui, and that the Maui Revealed book mentioned all sorts of amazing sights in Hana and on the road to it, that most tourists don't know about. So therefore I can presume that the series is equally amazing for each island.

[DALSAL]

puablo...great review! Since I just received an email from NCL saying that my second day Maui excursion was cancelled..we were thinking about doing the sunrise bike tour. The Revealed book does not give it that great a rating. I was a little surprised since I thought it was suppose to be good. I have a couple of questions for you..how cold was it? And,Im 57 and havent riden a bike in about 8-10 years,but I was always pretty good at it..did you find it difficult? Who did you book with? Thanks for any insight on this! Dot

[judyf]

puablo...great review! Since I just received an email from NCL saying that my second day Maui excursion was cancelled..we were thinking about doing the sunrise bike tour. The Revealed book does not give it that great a rating. I was a little surprised since I thought it was suppose to be good. I have a couple of questions for you..how cold was it? And,Im 57 and havent riden a bike in about 8-10 years,but I was always pretty good at it..did you find it difficult? Who did you book with? Thanks for any insight on this! Dot

 

LOL it's been about 30 years for me so we are skipping the bike tour.

[travelingfarmgirl]

Thanks for the review! How deep was the water for the Catch a Wave surf lesson and was it very big waves? I'm not the greatest swimmer, so I'm a little nervous about trying this. Also, was there any place to shower off and change afterwards? I would like to stay in Lahaina and catch a later shuttle back to the ship. Thanks!

[DALSAL]

I booked it last night,but Im kinda rethinking it. My hubby wants to do it who hasnt been on a bike longer than me. Im thinking if he really wants to do it,I might just ride along in the van. I also think I might rethink the sunrise part and just do the one that has pick up time around 7am. We are doing the WaimeaCanyon,Wailua River and Fern Grotto plus the Luau the night before.So we would barely have 2 hrs before pickup time! So,I sure dont want to be half asleep trying to stay on that bike! :) My main thing is I hate to be cold!

 

Waiting for others that have done it to jump in here! Dot

[hansolo]

Puablo,

 

Great review. We're doing what you're doing on the 1st day of Kauai. My question is how, long did you stay at Queen's Bath and do you recommend taking small kids there even if we just stay in the shallow part pool? Or should we just skip going there altogether?

[MandyGirl]

Great report!!! Although we ditched our Hawaii cruise (doing a 17-day land vacation instead) we are doing a couple of day trips. Next Wednesday, we are doing a day trip over to Hilo to see VNP. It looks like what you accomplished we can probably do as well. Our plane lands at 8:10 and departs at 5:40. You would do the same route again after picking up the rental car, right? Also, other message boards comment about eating at Volcano House but you brought food (like we usually do on cruises). Do you think that is the best plan - bring our own food? Two ships are in port the day we are in Hilo.

 

It is just me, hubby, and our 9-month old. Of course we will be limited in hiking since I carry her in a sling, but the sole purpose of our day trip over to Hilo is to get a brief overview of VNP. Couldn't beat the $9 airfare wars...

 

Thanks!

[RachieLnnn]

Fabulous review! I really appreciate how thorough you were in describing everything from the restaurants to your excursions. I have no idea how I am going to wait until November to get to Hawaii!!! :D

[puablo]

puablo...great review! Since I just received an email from NCL saying that my second day Maui excursion was cancelled..we were thinking about doing the sunrise bike tour. The Revealed book does not give it that great a rating. I was a little surprised since I thought it was suppose to be good. I have a couple of questions for you..how cold was it? And,Im 57 and havent riden a bike in about 8-10 years,but I was always pretty good at it..did you find it difficult? Who did you book with? Thanks for any insight on this! Dot

 

I can't believe that Maui Revealed could have said anything bad about this! The only thing I can think of is maybe they think that it takes too much time that they feel could be spent on a beach? Hey, I like beaches, so I suppose I can understand that. But for me this is one of the best excursions I have ever done, anywhere. But beyond that:

1. It is COLD at sunrise up there. Nobody confirmed it, but being from northern Ohio I think I know when it's near 32 degrees out, and it really felt like it was near that temperature. Thankfully they offered gloves, but I was too stupid to take them until post-sunrise, pre-bike-ride. They are absolutely necessary for your poor hands! After that the ride itself was extremely comfortable, though it was not warm enough to strip off layers until after breakfast with only 4 miles to go. I wore warm-up pants over board shorts, and a sweatshirt over a t-shirt, and the entire full-body windbreaker set the tour provided. I realize I just made this trip sound unpleasant, but remember I just raved about it! :)

2. The tour operator was Maui Downhill, though we had booked it through NCL. I loved these guys, they really know what they are doing, plus we were the only tour that got to go (post-sunrise) up to the true summit of Haleakala.

3. You may need to ride a bike a bit before trying this if you haven't done so for years. It's all downhill, but you probably want to get your balance back before getting on a bike on those roads. It's safe, but it's pretty creepy that high up with no guardrails. This from a guy who routinely bikes a 17 mile route for fun and is not bothered by 420 foot tall roller coasters (hey, there I'm strapped in!)

[puablo]

Thanks for the review! How deep was the water for the Catch a Wave surf lesson and was it very big waves? I'm not the greatest swimmer, so I'm a little nervous about trying this. Also, was there any place to shower off and change afterwards? I would like to stay in Lahaina and catch a later shuttle back to the ship. Thanks!

 

The surfing was in a very shallow area, you could always stand up, and you did have the option later on to tackle waves in deeper waters but even then the max depth I think was maybe just over 5 feet. Most of the area was probably 3 feet. It was rocky though, but blessedly they provided water shoes. I am not a strong swimmer, and admit to never being comfortable underwater until the past couple years. I got over it, and surfing REALLY made me not care anymore. :) You will get dunked, and waves roll over you, repeatedly. But you get used to it really fast, and you are always able to stand up. It became a non issue immediately. I can also say that after this vacation, pretty much nothing in the water bothers me at all anymore. If only "old-me" could see the "new-me" now! Bottom line: provided you don't mind being dunked in shallow water, a lot, surfing shouldn't bother you at all.

 

There was a simple shower to rinse off, but that was all. We did that, sun-dried, put on a shirt (and shorts for my wife) then walked Lahaina soon after. Come to think of it, I have no recollection of being wet, so I must have dried -really- fast.

[puablo]

Puablo,

 

Great review. We're doing what you're doing on the 1st day of Kauai. My question is how, long did you stay at Queen's Bath and do you recommend taking small kids there even if we just stay in the shallow part pool? Or should we just skip going there altogether?

 

Queen's Bath is 10ft deep across almost all of it. There's a shallow part on the opposite end from where you would enter, which doesn't help. It is also a bit of a climb down to it. Not the hike, but scrambling down the lava rocks to actually enter the water. If you had toddlers, I would wistfully say not to bother, but if your kids are for example over 6, you're fine. There were two young kids that could not have been older than 9 constantly diving off the rocks into the bath. Even if you have no desire to swim, the hike to the bath is relatively short and it's really worth seeing. Heck, the hike itself is really nice too!

 

I lost track of time, but I think we spent an hour and a half at Queen's Bath, possibly longer, but I admit this is an inordinate amount of time to devote to one spot. The hike was maybe 5 minutes from the parking lot. Others came and went spending no more than 5 - 10 minutes admiring the view. We were just addicted. :)

[puablo]

Great report!!! Although we ditched our Hawaii cruise (doing a 17-day land vacation instead) we are doing a couple of day trips. Next Wednesday, we are doing a day trip over to Hilo to see VNP. It looks like what you accomplished we can probably do as well. Our plane lands at 8:10 and departs at 5:40. You would do the same route again after picking up the rental car, right? Also, other message boards comment about eating at Volcano House but you brought food (like we usually do on cruises). Do you think that is the best plan - bring our own food? Two ships are in port the day we are in Hilo.

 

It is just me, hubby, and our 9-month old. Of course we will be limited in hiking since I carry her in a sling, but the sole purpose of our day trip over to Hilo is to get a brief overview of VNP. Couldn't beat the $9 airfare wars...

 

Thanks!

 

If I could change anything on my route at VNP, I would change -absolutely nothing- in the driving plan, and I would only eliminate the petroglyph hike because that was pretty worthless compared to the rest. With a 9-month-old, if I were in your shoes, I would also probably not do the Kilauea Iki hike but I do have to smile because I DID see a couple with a baby about that age, in a sling, on that trail. :) Truly though, if you drive down Chain Of Craters Rd., briefly walk on the lava - a must do in my opinion - then see every overlook on Crater Rim Dr., you will have satisfyingly conquered VNP.

 

We did indeed bring cruise ship food into the park, and happily patted ourselves on the back for doing so. Had a nice free lunch of PB&J bagels and bananas, and never once even stopped at Volcano House. I should note though, that we attempted this on other days, and each remaining time ended up with a backpack full of squished, rotting bananas and a banana-coated Snorkel Bob's book that had to be thrown away. :) At least the bagels were in a ziploc bag!