Our first Hawaiian vacation was to be on the Norwegian Star. As many know, this ship was built exclusively to sail in Hawaiian waters and has eleven different restaurants in which to dine and no casino. The itinerary is a good one in our opinion and includes in order Hilo (Hawaii), sea day, Fanning Island (Republic of Kiribati), another day at sea, Lahaina (Maui), Nahwiliwili (Kauai) and back to Honolulu (Oahu).
We of course knew this was not the best way to see Hawaii in its full grandeur, nevertheless we decided to give it a try and see what this ship had to offer. It is no secret this itinerary has had mixed reviews in the past. The ship began sailing in the winter of 2001, which is the most turbulent time for wind and waves in Hawaii. Winter is when the best waves for surfing hit Hawaii and that can spell rocky weather for a cruise ship. It just so happens we could not go until the summer and this was probably the best time to go if one does not like uncertainty in the weather.
We arrived two days earlier on the 12th to rest from the flight and enjoy as much of Honolulu as possible. We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in the Alii towers (booked a very reasonable Expedia rate), we ended up enjoying the property so much and still on Arkansas time and exhausted, we never left the property. Had we not had the children we would have forced ourselves out but the amenities are quite extensive and we enjoyed every minute of our stay.
For those not familiar with the Hilton Hawaiian Village, it is the largest resort in Waikiki and has numerous buildings for accommodations and multiple swimming pools, loads of shopping and plenty of restaurants. Some of the restaurants allowed children to dine free with an adult fare and that alone saved us quite a bit of money so one might take that into consideration when booking your hotel.
We traveled with our two children and many friends and family on this trip. Barry's sister and her travel companion, as well as her companion's daughter and friend. This fact made us consider looking at possibly booking one of the Garden Villas instead of multiple cabins. In the end, it was a no-brainer for a once in a lifetime trip for our friends and family. We had to try the Garden Villas!
One of only two aboard, as NCL puts it: Up on the rooftop sits our luxuriously exclusive Garden Villas. These are the largest, most elegant suites afloat. Each villa offers a living room, three penthouse bedrooms, outdoor private garden with hot tub and private rooftop terrace to create 5,350 sq. ft. of secluded spaciousness. NCL's appointments include rich cherry-wood detailing, panoramic views of the ocean, three elegant bathrooms, and discreet butler and concierge service.
Each Villa sits on the highest level of the ship, the fourteenth floor (nothing else is there but the suites), complete with keyed-access elevator entrance, and staff that serves only the two suites. In addition, there exists a 15th floor accessible from the Garden area that overlooks all of the ship and which is your own private sun deck (complete with 30 or 40 lounge chairs)! This area is approximately 100 feet by 60 large enough to have a huge gathering.
There are three bedroom suites with a fold out couch in the living room. To get an idea of how large and spacious these villas are try to imagine the living room of both villas being Royal Caribbean's entire Viking Crown Lounge overlooking the pool. We occupied the port side Thai designed villa as opposed to the starboard Japanese villa. Very little difference except for the pagoda designs out in the garden and the fact that ours had a large built-in wet bar with stools and the other villa does not. Both have player grand pianos, dining tables for eight, laptop computer with Internet access and printer.
One main entrance leads into a hallway that continues to three bedroom suites each with its own doorbell. Oddly enough, the main entrance does not have a doorbell and the staff would come in and out (announcing themselves) freely. All rooms have Bang & Olufsen 27-inch televisions with built in DVD players and act as your personal stereo. Two of the rooms have incredible bathrooms complete with digital showers (yes digital thermostat, water controls, etc.). In addition, they incorporate beautiful dual glass-bowl sinks and Jacuzzi bathtubs that have a 10-inch LCD television to watch while you bathe. Marble floors and walls complete the bath that overlooks the slide and pool area with huge slanted windows. You literally look out over the pool as you brush your teeth in the morning!
The garden itself is an incredible space to say the least. Each morning breakfast was served outside on the large teak table that seats eight overlooking the ocean. Additional teak seating and tables make this area capable of catering to a very large party, and the sunning loungers are massive teakwood with thick cushions.
The garden has a private elevated hot tub covered by a pagoda that could hold four (or more) and was the hit of the garden for us. Evenings were often spent basking in the hot water watching the ocean roll by. Next to the tub is a steam room and shower stocked with towels and robes and acts as a changing area.
From there, you may take the stairs up to the private sunning area. Unbelievable is the only word to describe the size of this area! We had been on the inaugural of the ship and we entirely missed this wonderful spacious private area. This was the supreme vantage point for coming into or leaving ports or for simply watching the world go by.
Overall, our concierge Claudio was stupendous in his duties. For instance, we had a scuba trip cancelled and he handled squeezing one more into a sold out tour at the last minute (on the morning of cancellation)! Although we didn't personally phone him too often he made his presence felt daily with invitations for the VIP seating at shows, letters concerning VIP tender tickets, information and suggestions about the ports of call, etc.
We then met Arnie our butler, who proceeded to explain his role and the amenities he was to provide. Arnie explained guests receive personal mobile telephones to carry with you at all times onboard with direct extensions to your concierge who arranges dining, shore excursions, or any special needs and his number for in-suite requests.
It is a good idea to plan all your possible restaurants on the day of embarkation and make the reservations early. Most complaints we heard about reservations involved people who wanted to dine at peak hours and waited to ask for reservations until that afternoon. However, we did not have any problem at all on the last night booking last minute reservations for six at one of the most popular restaurants.
The restaurants we favored most were the Soho Pacific Rim Cuisine for their Rice Wine marinated sea scallops, Sautéed Jumbo Tiger shrimp and Szechwan encrusted beef tenderloin. Service was exemplary and the food is simply outstanding in our opinion.
Also, the Le Bistro French cuisine restaurant had very nice escargot, cream of forest mushroom soup and a wonderful Mille-Feuille of Seabass and mushroom duxcelles. The Filet Mignon was excellent served with a very fresh béarnaise sauce. The best afloat? No, but wonderful and definitely worth the price of admission.
We enjoy sea days and the trip to Fanning Island let us enjoy real tropical cruising. We had heard the comments about this fly ridden, middle of nowhere waste of my-good-Hawaii-time island and we were anxious to see for ourselves what it was truly like.
Fighting the urge, we instead wandered behind the craft selling area on a dirt path (about a three-minute walk) and what did we find? One of the most pristine, beautiful beaches we have ever seen. A total of five or six people were swimming or enjoying the sun here, and we could not believe our eyes! It was total nirvana for hours. We drifted in perfect water temperatures, comparing the feel of the sand to that of Bermuda. Smooth, soft, wonderful one-degree-off-the-equator island paradise sand. Just like in the brochure.
Tip: Simply go through the craft area down the dirt path and look left for pristine beaches without crowds!
As for the ports of call, we offer these comments as constructive criticism short and sweet. First, we might like it better if they reversed the trip entirely. Meaning, give us Kauai first and work it backwards because if you are active, there is so much to see and do, you wear yourself out the day before you disembark.
Hilo was the first port of call and we opted to take the Blue Hawaiian Circle of Fire helicopter tour. Norwegian Cruise Line uses Blue Hawaiian Helicopter tours for their bookings, however we booked direct on the Internet and saved a substantial amount of money due to their online discounts. The flight is unbelievable and well worth every penny!
Maui - After a sea day and Fanning Island we had a fabulous day on Maui. One can truly begin to appreciate the Hawaiian Islands and all they have to offer. This is the longest day you have on any of the islands and the only evening stay until 9:00 p.m. We rented a car to take us along remote beaches and to see the various sites.
Kauai - Our last stop was Kauai, the most exotic of the larger islands. We decided to take the Napali Coast tour booked through Norwegian. The 3 to 4 thousand foot high cliffs of the world famous Napali Coast are truly one of nature's most brilliant masterpieces.
In the end, it seemed that this cruise experience was one of the most fleeting weeks for a vacation. Although we had two days prior and a full seven days onboard, we left wanting more.
Hawaii is truly the jewel of America and enjoying it from NCL's Garden Villa was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Next time the ole' family reunion is coming up for discussion, whether its small or large if at all possible, drag your friends and family into the Garden Villa for a week of total spacious pampering that cannot be beat!
