Ellis1138

During the overnights, you can get on and off when you want. Just be back in time for departing.

There are 2 other ships in port on the same day we're supposed to go to Isafjordur, so my idea was to do either no excursion or an NCL one, because I am willing to bet our giant wonking ship won't be able to get in there. I chose Prima because my husband has shown no interest in any cruise ship until this one. He wants go karts and Indulge Food Hall. So, here we go.

I'm interested in the tour operators who keep tabs on the ship and will refund in the case of not being able to make port. We're going on the Prima's June 23rd Southampton/Iceland cruise and I know from reading these forums that the ports, especially Isafjordur, get skipped a lot. My initial thought was just to overpay for NCL's excursions so that we'd definitely be refunded, but if there are independent ones who will do that, I would book with them instead.

When I called in for my FCC for our Hawaii cruise, the NCL customer rep said it was good I hadn't booked the flights or hotel with them because then I could get the FCC a couple weeks prior to going.

I've never seen the Studios even have a GTY category. Usually they are just T1 and when they're gone, they're sold out. I doubt it's bait and switch. The NCL webpage and system sometimes gets glitchy.

I'm willing to accept other peoples' obsessions over cookies and hash browns on NCL ships, because of my own need for real dairy cream in my coffee (NOT CoffeeMate). I was very shocked that the Pride of America had real half and half for coffee, after the Escape did not,

I was pleased that the Escape's buffet had a hard ice cream station, with some different flavors on each side. (Back in Sept 2023). The warm bread pudding with caramel was amazing. The chocolate tres leches at Moderno was splendid and the tiramisu was wonderful. I have severe food allergies and other restrictions and the food on the Escape was really good, IMO.

I stopped putting my address on the luggage tag, but do have the phone and email. Another thing I do is use my travel insurance's tags that they give me so that if the luggage is found, they can call AIG with the tag ID number and it would get back to me. I also use a specific Duck brand sprakly craft tape on my luggage, so that I can tell it's ours, as well as the neon handle wraps.

Sorry to bother, but does the buffet have the station where someone makes an omelet with what you want in it? (So far, none of the Youtube videos have shown this.) Edited to add: Oh and do they have real dairy half and half? (Like Cloud House or something). When I go, I need to know if I have to drag boxes of Land O Lakes Mini Moos aboard.

It should be all right, depending on what you look like you're doing. I had mine in a waterproof Ziploc bag and used it as a timer for how long I should be in the hot tub or sauna and then scrolled through email and Facebook while laying on a lounger.

I made the mistake of ordering the NY Strip on the Pride of America in February. It was seriously inedible. I made a joke about how if it was a NY Strip, it must have been 10th Ave and 39th Street. The Cagney upcharge steak was far better. And the Moderno's had beef, although they did struggle to cook it medium rare.

I just sailed on the PoA February 24 through March 2nd, 2024. Take the negative reviews with a grain of salt and the idea that each person's expectations are subjective. It was kind of funny, but halfway through the cruise, I noted with amusement that this was, indeed, the worst cruise I've been on. Mainly because the other 4 cruises were amazing. This one was just "good". The Pride of America is okay. It's acceptable. Most of the food was fine (but I advise against ordering the NY Strip off the classics). The rooms were small and the ship was old and some fixtures need replacing but on the whole, it did what it was supposed to. Ferry us around the islands. The staff did their best and when something was wrong, they worked to rectify it. Just about all the staff I encountered were pleasant. It was a good way to see 3 islands in 6 days without needing to pack, unpack, check in, check out and TSA.

The mall there in Kahului has allegedly been enforcing things stricter, but I don't have direct experience. The longest part of the walk is from the ship to the main road. If we hadn't been able to get a parking spot on Nawilwili Road on Kauai, the Aukele Enterprise said we could call them and park our car in their lot, but that we wouldn't have access to the car from 5pm to 7 am. So, I decided to chance it and if we couldn't find a spot, we'd pay to park at Lihue airport and Uber back and forth. Marriott Waikiki was in the running, although I don't like the area and location as much. I knew from two previous stays that being near the beach and center meant lots of noise. I also dislike luaus and it was awful to try to sleep at 9 or 10pm when there was music and entertainment outside keeping me up. One of the biggest issues was trying to figure out how my husband could have breakfast the first morning before Pearl Harbor. I knew that with jet lag, we'd be up at 4am and I had gotten him an 8 am Arizona reservation and he'd have to drive there around 6:15 am. Nothing opens until 7 am, really, except Denny's (bleh). We had enough points for 3 nights at the Ritz Carlton Residences Waikiki. Each unit had a soaking tub, bidet toilet, kitchenette and in-room washer and dryer. After we got the rental car at HNL, we made a quick stop at Foodland Farms Ala Moana Center and got eggs, milk, bacon and other breakfast items, plus the best pipikaula we ever had. The Ritz was far enough away from the beach to be quiet-ish, not caught up in Kalakaua Avenue traffic or festivals but close enough to be walkable. It was a really luxurious, high service place and definitely worth the points expenditure.

I hate convertibles, so I never purposely rent one. I will always try to get compact cars on Hawaii. (The Kona office had a You Click, We Pick special that wound up being a Mustang convertible. We kept the top up.) Parking overnight at the Kahului port is risky because if you do it at that Whole Foods mall, you chance getting your rental car ticketed or towed. The nearby Maui Seaside Hotel offers overnight parking for $25. If you have a handicapped tag, you might be allowed to park at the actual ship's area, but don't quote me on that. I wound up spending a bit extra to rent a Prius from Bio-Beetle rental cars, which is about a 20 minute walk (it would be shorter if we could cut through the port, but you have to walk a really long fenced in path through the Kahului pier terminal) and they let us park overnight in their gated lot, which worked out well for us. They also gave us free use of beach chairs, boogie boards, coolers and pool noodles. When we returned the car, the owner drove us back to the ship. Their location and lot looks sketchy, but it really was a very good rental experience for us. A rental car company called White Glove Car Rental also includes overnight parking and has similar perks as Bio-Beetle, but without the long walk, I think. I never priced them or used them, so not sure what they cost. One thing about parking on most of the islands is: the spots can be very small and having a smaller car helps fit into those. Gas is expensive, so bring a Costco card, which has the cheapest gas on the islands. For Hilo and Kona, we never parked overnight (I used Enterprise for all car rentals except Maui and they were great). On Kauai, we were allowed to park along Nawiliwili Road, on the shoulder, in front of Aspire Furniture and Nawiliwili Park. But we got back to the ship the first day around 4pm, so were able to get a spot. The Enterprise on Aukele Road (the non-airport) did a pickup and drop off at the ABC Store #59, which was in walking distance of the ship and that shopping village ran a free shuttle to the ship during the day/ For the other questions, I can't comment on NCL's cheap flights because we saved up United Miles to be able to fly first class both ways on a nonstop flight. We lucked out and both flights flew on schedule with no delays or diversions. I had also saved up Marriott points for 3 free nights in Waikiki. So there was no need to consider NCL's stuff. I also like having total control of the vacation. We flew in on Wednesday, my husband did a self tour of Pearl Harbor all day Thursday with an 8 am Arizona reservation, we did sunrise at Sandy Beach and then did Living Oceans Turtle Canyon Snorkel on Friday and then boarded the ship on Saturday. Cabins were ready around 3 pm. On Maui, rather than be on a boat for 30 minutes each way, we went early to Makena Beach and snorkeled among the black rocks there. Gorgeous beach.

I'm sorry about your steward, Teresa. I met mine on the first day and Jeffrey was very good. He even went and found our luggage for us, because I was anxious. They had so little time to turn the cabins around, so sometimes it tends to be the cleanliness that suffers. Since I'd been to Hawaii twice before, we pretty much rented a car on each island and I knew to rent compact size ones and where to go to find parking and how early to get there.

Yeah that wasn't wood fired, just regular pizza oven.

NCL made this change quite a while ago, so it's nice to see the news sites catch up. But yeah, no more worrying about whether to get a port side balcony on the Pride of America or not. We just did the PoA sailing on Feb 24th to March 2nd and because it didn't sail the coast, we booked a helicopter tour.

I just got off the same sailing. Yes, there was a white night glow party, but I don't recall which night, since we didn't do anything on the ship. You can bring small bags to Pearl Harbor, they just have to be entirely clear and see-through with the ability to see everything you have inside them. Captain was Jozo Zglav Staff Captain Slade Matthews Chief Engineer Lindsay Smith General Manager Dustin Brown Chief Officer Benjamin Ross Randi Radja restaurant manager and that's what I recall I agree that the ship is old, but not in terrible condition. The food quality was acceptable, although they didn't do as well with food allergy as other NCL ships I've been on.

Ship - Pride of America Deck - 9 Stateroom # - 9622 Stateroom Category – BB Starboard or Port Side - Port Aft Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – The walls are thin and we often heard people as they walked down the corridor. We also had noisy neighbors, so it was noisy for us. Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No. Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – Full view balcony. 2 chairs, 2 ottomans, a little table. Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal Was wind a problem? - There was a slight whistling sound but nothing that disturbed us. If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A Any specific problems with this cabin? - I have fragrance sensitivities and the bathroom had an odd, artificial odor to it, like an air freshener. Any other comments? - All the fixtures and outlets worked while we were there. A majority of the walls were magnetic and we used hooks for “quick drop/grab” items. I found the most efficient way to power the two CPAP machines was to run a 10 foot extension with a 3-outlet splitter at the end from the corner cubby and along the bed by the bathroom wall, then to run one of the CPAP power cords along the “headboard” of the beds.

We ordered the specialty 20 foot power cables from SF Cable. I don't have the link. Not just for cruising, but for at home too. I'm glad the PoA is a good ship. We'll be on it in 5 days.

I was in Escape 11519. All the Studio cabins have just about the same orientation and space. I did enjoy the "space pod", but yes, no real place to sit. I would suggest doing yoga in the Fitness Center during non-class times if you do decide on a Studio.

I usually ask for a foam topper, and I didn't have trouble on the Sun or Jade. But even with 4 foam toppers in the Studio cabin on the Escape, that bed was very hard. Not hot, just hard. It wasn't so bad that I couldn't sleep, though. Just woke up stiff.

I don't know how far away your cruise is, but prior to 45 days before sailing, fill out the form at https://nclh.my.salesforce-sites.com/AccessDeskForm/ and do the Other Medical Special Needs in the pulldown. NCL does very well when they have advanced notice. As for booking, yeah, do it with one adult as a solo in the one cabin and one with the kid in the other. Do not book a Guarantee cabin, pay the extra to be able to pick your cabins, so you can pick the adjoining ones. There are also some suites on some ships that have 2 separate bedrooms and common living area, but I don't know your finances. I'm the one with autism, so I'm just giving you advice from my own perspective, not as a parent. I also bring special ear plugs for the cruise, called HearOs (nine bucks on Amazon). They cut down the auditory sensory issues for me, but still let me hear the music and what people are saying. Any food preferences/sensitivites/allergies can be stated in the Access Form and then when you get on board, you meet with someone from the restaurant staff. I choose to pre-order the night before, so the food is exact for my needs.

There will not be people waiting at the port to give tours. You should research each island for what you want to do and then check NCL's excursions, Viator, tours by locals or Tripadvisor. Ironically, people with independent excursions have been able to somewhat reschedule to the sudden new itinerary, while NCL has not been able to reschedule some of their excursions, accoring to some folks on the ship this week. I don't feel comfy recommended excusrions to someone whose level of fitness or finances I don't know, but here are what I consider the big highlights of each island: Oahu: Waikiki beach, North Shore, Haleiwa Maui: Upcountry, Haleakala, Kihei, snorkeling in Molokini. (Lahaina used to be one, but it's gone and going to the West just to see a blowhole is not my thing.) Road to Hana is something some people do, but if I wanted to sit in traffic for hours by the ocean, I can do that in NJ. Big Island: Volcanoes National Park, Punaluu Black Sand Beach, Pu'uhonua O Honaunau (Kona side), Mauna Kea summit Kauai: NaPali coast by helicopter, plane or catamaran. Poipu Beach. Waimea Canyon. Biking the Kapaa bike path. Some folks like the Kauai Backcountry tubing. Kauai is my favorite of the islands. Since you only have a week, I don't know how many of these things will be available.

I did the thermal suite on the Jade in 2018 and really liked it. I also prefer to segregated steam/sauna, but I was okay on the Escape where everything was co-ed except showers/toilets/lockers. The Jade's thermal suite is a really nice one.