Here are my notes from my recent Hawaii Cruise on NCL’s Pride of America (POA) ship. Before I begin, I was traveling with 3 other adults and three children ages 4, 8, & 10, so our cruise was really for the kids and we decided to forgo the entertainment and excursion activities.
Day 1, Honolulu, Oahu: Our documents said to meet at “cruise dock”. Should have more accurately said Pier 2 Cruise Terminal. We arrived at 2:30pm and in-processing was organized and quick. Step 1: drop baggage off with room tag to scanners on the right side of the building, next to the restrooms. Step 2: Complete health questionnaire. Step 3: Show picture ID at security gate. Step 4: Have carry-on bags scanned and go through body scanner. Step 5: Line up in the many queues to submit health questionnaire, take photo, give credit card information, and receive room key (you can opt not to give a credit card but if the room is under your name, you will be reminded to provide one to pay the daily $15.12 service fee). Step 6: Optional picture with hula dancers. Step 7: Take escalators to the gang plank to enter ship’s Deck 5. Step 8: Insert room key to board ship. Step 9: Listen to hear if the rooms are ready on your deck, Deck 7 was the last to be ready at about 4:00pm. So, we waited on Deck 11, Aloha Café, to munch on the buffet, pot roast short ribs were fork tender, Yum!
Entering our room, TV was turned on to Channel 24 explaining the upcoming drill at 4:45pm. If you want to listen to announcements broadcast in the hallway, tune to Channel 23. This drill was different from previous cruises I’ve been on, in that, you didn’t have to bring your life jacket with you, you’ll instead get a demo. My only minor complaint was that our toilet would not flush on command. If it hadn’t been used in a while, it could take up several minutes for it to it flush. But after that first flush, it worked fine. We were told if we had further problems to call “00”.
Day 2 & 3, Kahului, Maui: Breakfast was a zoo, but the kids love that they could choose whatever they wanted to eat. I liked the buffet format where there are many stations, some duplicated, so there isn’t a line like most cruises. As you disembark, you’ll see taxis and shuttles to excursions or rent-a-cars. (I didn’t pay attention to see if there were any free shuttles to any of the local malls.) There is the Maui Mall that is 7 minutes from the ship. The path winds it’s way through the harbor and exits between two intersections with stop lights. Do not jaywalk, there are at least 5 signs on the path that say “$130 fine for jaywalking”. I rented a car for the two days in Maui. So, the next question is what to do with the car over night? Option one was to leave it at the Maui Mall and walk back to the ship or leave the car in the airport parking lot for $15 after 6 hours and catch the shuttle to the ship. We chose option two for safety reasons. Have your ship ID and picture ID ready to show harbor security. I think Maui had the strictest security, felt like they were on high alert, better safe than sorry. Points of interest: Halaeakala, Costco, Krispy Kreme, Sam Sato (though their noodles are on the thicker side and could have use more bean sprouts), and Kaa Point. Kaa Point is less than 10 minutes drive from ship. We stopped just before the park and were mesmerized by the kiteboarders who lifted into the air 40 feet and glided 50 yards or so before touching down in the surf. Forgot about going swimming what looked like a protected cove with sandy beach nearby.
Day 4, Hilo, Big Island: At the dock, there were free shuttles to the Hilo Farmer’s Market and K-Mart. If you wanted to stay in Hilo, the Farmer’s Market shuttle was all you needed. Bought lychee at the Market $4/lb. Two Ladies Kitchen was closed for their grandfather’s passing and Low International was out of rainbow bread in the late afternoon. KTA grocery store has some local favorites. We rented a car to see Akaka Falls, be warned there are only 10 regular and 2 handicap parking spaces. Most cars park outside either because the parking lot was full or to avoid the $5 parking fee; for kamaainas, it’s free. Take the suggested longer way to see all 3 waterfalls. We also visited Big Island Candies, lots of samples, my favorite ika with milk chocolate. Leaving Hilo harbor, the ship headed south to view the lava flow. This was the highlight of the cruise, a once in a life time event, why NCL decided to temporarily discontinue sailing to Hilo and Kailua-Kona is beyond me. The sight was incredible, magnificent, and spectacular. My heart goes out to the residents who lost their homes and livelihood. About 7:00 pm you could see the fountaining fissure, up to 300 feet. We were probably 10 miles from shore, couldn’t really tell in the night darkness. You then see the flow heading to sea and then then the orange/red glow of the lava falling into the sea with the glow reflecting off the clouds above. What was amazing is the lava flow fanned out and I could see the little fires about a mile on either side of the main flow dropping into the ocean. We were told the lava at Kapoho Beach is now one and half acres further out to sea than the original shoreline! Then the ship reversed course and headed back towards Hilo, then rounded the northern tip of the Big Island and then south to Kailua-Kona.
Day 5, Kailua Kona, Big Island: Needed to disembark using tenders (life boats). What a zoo! Passengers requested times to disembark and were given numbered tags. Unfortunately, they got behind, and passengers began waiting on the stairs up to the Deck 5 to exit the ship on the Deck 3. This caused passengers whose number had been called to force their way to the Deck 3. Anyway, plan for delays. There was a free shuttle to Target, no rent-a-car shuttles, but many tours available, e.g., glass bottom boat, submarine ride, etc. We arrived at the dock and there is a small sandy beach on the right and a larger sandy beach on the left in front of the King Kam hotel. At the larger beach you can rent an umbrella, kayak, paddle board, etc. Kids had a great time playing in the water and building sand castles. There is a good Ululani shave ice place at the hotel, they also serve macadamia nut ice cream. Up the road, less than 10-minute walk is the Big Island Grill, order their Teriyaki Beef plate, medium rare, very yummy. But the deal of the day was at ABC Store, near the shave ice place, 32 oz fountain drink for $1.19 (smaller 22 oz for $1.09). I asked the clerk if ABC Store was always this busy? She unenthusiastically replied, "Only on Wednesdays!". Headed back to ship at 2:30, the line was almost as long as the dock. Tenders came rushing from the ship to transfer guests. But when we get to the ship and dock, another tender is off loading, but we must wait in our tender that was becoming an “oven”. There are two stairways to enter the ship, one for each tender. The last passenger from the other tender is wheelchair bound and amazingly she climbs up the stairs backwards with her arms. We begin to leave the tender and we can hear the following, rather humorous but short, conversation between the Command Center (CC) and the tender captains: CC says, “You can unload both tenders at the same time.” Captain replies, “Had passenger needing special attention.” CC states, “Yes, we can see that!” Note: On the Deck 3 there are only two elevators, so passengers who could, walked to the Deck 4 where there are 4 elevators.
Day 6, Lihue, Kauai: Free shuttle to K-Mart in the Kauai Kukui Grove Center mall, including Costco. Rented car from a rent-a-car agency in the Kauai Marriott Hotel, less than 10-minute walk from ship, up the street. Do not cross the narrow bridge like I did, cut through the garment factory/store, and Marriott is about 30 yards across the beach volleyball courts. If you have a chance, talk to “Sam”. She went out of her way to make sure we were happy with our rental car. Took the kids on a Kilohana Plantation Railway train ride. Highlight was feeding the boars, goats, and donkey. Speaking of kids, NCL has a great program called Splash Academy for entertaining kids. They have so many things for the kids to do, our kids literally begged to go back every day.
Day 7, Kauai Na Pali Coast: In the afternoon, the ship sailed pass the gorgeous Na Pali coast. Wonderful and informative narration was broadcast as we sailed past. We then turned around and headed towards Oahu.
Day 8, Honolulu, Oahu: No problems. We disembarked early at 8:00am. We were requested to be out of our rooms by 9:00 am and I believe this is also the time Aloha Café buffet closes. One last thing, for the most part, we were able to text on board using the free NCL wi-fi. However, there were times when it didn’t work. Suggest using the ship’s black phones located throughout the ship to call your friend’s stateroom. When near land or in port, our cell phone did pick up 4G and we used it as a hotspot for iPad or computers. What was interesting for me is I created a hotspot that was connected from the time we left Kauai till about 8:45 pm, before the connection became spotty. But this was enough time for me to contact my ride in Honolulu.
Overall, the highlights were: The Big Island’s lava flow at night, Kauai’s Na Pali coast, NCL’s Splash Academy, seeing the neighbor islands without unpacking, buffet stations our kids loved, the friendly NCL staff, people at Honolulu directing us lost passengers to the right exit, etc.
