Pride of Aloha 4-15 (Maui)
We booked our air through NCL; we could not touch the deal they were
offering for air. However, they booked us on that Bankrupt airline,
United, which has not been very successful is getting planes on time and
without problems. NCL booked us on a short flight SFO at 6am, then a
noon flight to Maui. As a United standard the Maui flight was 2.5 hours
late. The plus side of all this? Since we booked with NCL, the POA sat
in Maui waiting for us.
Once we got to the ship, they rushed us through security and to the
ship, where they checked us in at reception, so embarkation was a
breeze. We decided to have a quick bite in the longboard bar, but the
slow service (which got somewhat better over the coarse of the cruise)
made it a longer dinner than we wanted, but the beer was cold, which helped.
Once we left Maui the ocean was rough, and the ride to Oahu was bumpy.
Sunday we docked in Oahu. We got their early, so they did donuts off of
Waikiki until the coast guard escort arrived. It was strange when
everyone else is in the “getting off” mood, and we are just starting.
Phoned in our dining reservations for the next few days (no competition
for times) then walked off the ship and goofed off in the Waikiki area.
The pools on the ship and most of the recreation activities were
closed until 1pm. They did do a full breakfast until 10am and started a
lunch at 1pm. Got back to the ship and ate dinner at the Pacific
Heights restaurant, which was not crowded (6:30pm). The food was
excellent, though the service dragged a bit (1.5 hours for dinner). The
$10/pp charge was $5/pp for the first 2 nights. We missed the pool BBQ,
since we opted for the restaurant.
Monday was Lihue day; we rented a car, and then headed to a
Tubbing-the-irrigation-canel excursion (booked directly with Kauai
backcountry). The tubing ride was excellent, loads of fun, and even
learned something about the Kauai agriculture industry. Note to future
riders: Watch for tubing burns, I rowed too much with my arms scrapping
the tube, got nice rashes to show for it for the rest of the week. We
goofed around the island then headed back for dinner at Le Bistro.
Though the tag line was Mediterranean, it seemed like the same Frenchy
fair of other Le Bistros. Service was again slow (the Caesar station
was in hot demand) and dinner took almost 2 hours. The food was good,
but strange in that the main courses did not have any veggies or
potatoes with them. To end the night, the waitress dumped a glass of
milk on my lap (it was pretty funny!). Dinner and dry cleaning were
comped that night. We walked over to Dukes at the Marriott for drinks,
easy walk and lots of crew/passengers doing the same thing.
Tuesday, still in Lihue. Due to security, cannot park your rental car
at the port, it is a block up the street and $10. Did I mention
security was much more intense than I had seen it in the past? Security
was very intense (and slow). So we took the car back the night before,
and decided to hike the Marriott golf course, which has a nice trail
around it (used to be a village and zoo around the course before
hurricane Iniki, many of the features are still in semi-destroyed mode
today). Ship pulled out at 1pm, we were too busy munching BBQ to
notice. We made a left turn out of port and headed to view the NaPoli
coast (whether was iffy, but the ship was close enough to see most
everything). For those slow readers, the left side of the ship is the
viewing side. Still reeling from the BBQ we ate at the Huki-Buffet.
Food, was, buffet food. Not the greatest but not bad either.
Entertainment was JAR Company, doing the same shtick we saw on the Dream
(a montage of musical numbers). I think JAR was much better when they
actually did plays and musicals.
Wednesday. Docked in Hilo, about 40 minutes late and it was raining,
ship was jammed with people trying to get off since we were late. Got a
car (budget again) and headed to Volcano NP. Oh, the Hilo port was
chaotic, lots of freight traffic, tour traffic, and who knows what else.
There was a good ½ mile backup to get to the port, which caused delays
for companies like budget. VNP was awesome, the ranger convinced us
that with the time we had, we should spend it on top and not try to see
lava flows as all we would see is steam and the ship would have a better
view. Good choice, we should listen to rangers more often. Very windy
around VNP, but we still walked everywhere (about 5 miles). Kept
pushing on, then took a late lunch in volcano village at the Volcano
grill. Got back to ship, tired, and needed a beer, so we did dinner in
the longboard again. Service was better and they now knew us. That
night was the volcano sail by, we did this a few years ago on the Wind
and we were a couple of miles off the coast. On the POA, you are very
close (Captain said ¾ of a mile, felt like less). The show by mother
nature was great, lots of activity.
Thursday was Kona day. Dreaded the tender lines, but walked down to the
gang way at 7:45am and walked right on a tender. NCL has outsourced the
captaining of their tenders, so they had 4 running in the morning. We
went bike riding with Kona bike tours and took their coffee country
tour. Great ride, some uphills, and lots of downhills. We ended up at
a National park for a nice lunch and tour. Back at the ship we decided
to try the main dining rooms, we ate around 8pm, no wait for 2, and the
service was good. Food was fine and staff friendly. Entertainment was
a rehash of the Sea-legs, which is also getting old. Then the staff
sang the feel good song, that was ripped off the dream (anyone wonder
why “pride of aloha” doesn’t really fit? Just substitute “Dream” and
the song works).
Friday docked in Maui, got a car and toured around. Got back to ship
around 8pm and felt like we had our own private ship. Luaus had taken
over 900 people, so we had our pick of Jacuzzi’s, then went to the
longboard for beer and apps, and we alone with 3 waiters. One of the
managers’s told us that the only restaurant with business was Bistro,
which was booked all night. He also told us that they get slammed when
the busses get back as the Luau people all eat again!
Saturday, took our time getting off the ship, took the last bus to the
airport (they stop running at 10am) and had the bus to ourselves. United
managed to put a plane in the air only 30 minutes late.
Bottom line: The crew is fine, friendly, and most do care. Food is not
5 star, but not 2 star either. The ship could use more cleaning outside
(our window was never cleaned and had lots of salt buildup) and more
painting (lots of rust exposed). We figured it may be due to the fact
that they are heading to drydock, or that OSHA forbids this kind of work.
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