Pride of America to Hawaii or RCCL MED ?

[PCDIVA]

Need some advise need to decide on a Cruise. Hawaii on Pride of America or a Med cruise with RCCL.:confused:

[puddles99]

How can we help? Do you have specific questions or specific experiences that you're looking for information on? I've never sailed RCCL, but do have (very positive) experience on POA and would be happy to help, if I knew how!

[Kylie]

If you want to see Hawaii the PoA is the way to do it.......that's probably what you'll hear from NCL cruisers here and it's the truth!

[PCDIVA]

Thank You, puddles99 & Kylie i've never gone to Hawaii I have done many cruises but this will be my first for Hawaii so i'm a newbie on what i'm asking for or looking for . I would be flying from FLORIDA, I don't know much about this ship POA or the quality of POA or NCL as I have only sailed on RCCL and Carnival so this will be a new ship for me. What do you recommend we do as far as shore excursions? i see post where people rent cars? is the POA freestyle sitting for breakfast , lunch and dinner? any advise for a newbie going on a new ship to an island is greatly appreciated..i just want to be 100% that Hawaii is a cruise trip for us. :)

[LittleMissMagic]

Both Hawaii and the Mediterranean are both destinations that you can reach via cruise ship, but are better "explored" by land.

 

I've done the Med cruise, and I did it because I had been living in Italy for four months, so I had already had a great bit of time to get to know Europe, and I wanted to take a cruise and enjoy some American soft drinks (really, though...Coca Light is not remotely close to Diet Coke... or Diet Pepsi). If you want to really see Europe, I wouldn't recommend doing it by cruise ship. The ports in the Med are really industrial. It takes about 45 minutes to get from Civitavecchia to Rome... an hour or more to get from Livorno to Pisa or Florence... and are you really choosing the Med cruise so you can visit Marseille or Malta? The only must-see city that is truly a port city is Barcelona.

[KeithJenner]

The ports in the Med are really industrial. It takes about 45 minutes to get from Civitavecchia to Rome... an hour or more to get from Livorno to Pisa or Florence... and are you really choosing the Med cruise so you can visit Marseille or Malta? The only must-see city that is truly a port city is Barcelona.

 

 

Whilst you have a point about the ports mentioned, they are all in the Western Med. There are plenty of ports which are very much easier to explore from a ship, especially in the Eastern Med.

[mugtech]

Hawaii should be on everyone's bucket list, and the cruise is the best way to go. The islands are friendly enough that rental cars are not required. I would also suggest spending a few days on Oahu, checking out Pearl harbor, BB Big MO and the north shore, especially this time of year with huge waves. As for NCL, the freestyle cruising will allow you more eat time flexibility plus the entertainment is slightly better. The only thing I liked better on RCCI was the soups, they are fantastic!! Kept looking around for the Soup Guy from Seinfeld. (Not allowed to use that 4 letter word on here, but you all know who I mean).

Edited January 27, 2014 by mugtech
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[Bocadude85]

We have been to both Hawaii and the Mediterranean. We opted for a land vacation in Hawaii so I can not comment on the NCL POA, but I will say I think a cruise through the hawaiian islands would be wonderful. The reason I like cruising in the med is because it is much more cost effective then trying to do a land vacation. Some ports like Rome and Florence are a bit of a drive from the port area but others are only a few minutes away from the port( Athens, Venice, Istanbul to name a few).

[Seanote]

Need some advise need to decide on a Cruise. Hawaii on Pride of America or a Med cruise with RCCL.:confused:

 

I would not disagree with the posters that say Hawaii and/or the Med are best explored by a land-based vacation, but only if you have the time to do it right. There is no possible way you could explore the stops of the Hawaii or Med cruises in seven days on a land trip. You would have to fly in, check into a hotel, rent a car, explore the area the next day, go back and pack, take a night train (or plane for Hawaii), get a rental car, check into a new hotel, unpack, etc., etc.

 

But for seven days, a cruise is perfect for either the Med or Hawaii—I have done both. You unpack once and each day you get to explore a new place. At night, you get to relax, have your meals and sleep while the transportation and the logistics are taken care of.

 

Would I have liked to have more than one day in Rome? Sure, but I would not have been able to see all the other wonderful places I saw, in seven days.

 

Which cruise is better? They were both excellent and I would/will do both again. Only you know where you would rather go first.

Edited January 27, 2014 by Seanote

[maja651]

We went on the POA back in 2007. It was my first time to Hawaii. We had an absolute fabulous time! LOVED IT! The islands are the star of that trip, not the ship. In fact, I barely remember the ship, but I do remember all of the things we did in Hawaii! If you choose this trip, DEFINITELY take an extra week and spend it in Hawaii. My recommendation would be to stay an extra week on Maui (our absolute favorite island). You can do a lot on the islands on that cruise, but you will be tired when you are done. A nice relaxing week on Maui after would be perfect!

 

Oh - we rented a car at every port. Saved TONS of money doing that, and saw SOOOOO much. There are rental car agencies or pickups, at every port, making it easy. We bought the Maui Revealed books for every port (there is a phone app too) and that helped us decide before the cruise what we wanted to see, so we could plan out our days.

[LittleMissMagic]

Whilst you have a point about the ports mentioned, they are all in the Western Med. There are plenty of ports which are very much easier to explore from a ship, especially in the Eastern Med.

 

True, true. I guess I was just assuming that the OP was referring to a Western Med cruise on the Independence of the Seas or something of the like. The large bells and whistles ships tend to do the Western Med.