Pride of America Cost - worth it?

[YankeePenny]

hideously wrong? I disagree with you. The plumbing in our cabin had to be repaired while we where on it. the ship it self had many spaces of rot and repair needed, and we saw many. several days many of our excursion food came unrefrigerated, and in cardboard containers. dirty linen and less than adequate cleaning staff. our 125.00 cake for our welcome package was delivered hours before we arrived, and was left without a cover open a bed with the room temps in the 80's. the staff tried to drop off booze as an apology, which if they had bothered to notice, was not part of nay of our charges, we don't drink. that alone is unacceptable in many cultures. third world bathrooms on excursions and ****ty conditions on that particular ship made it less than what the above poster may have found in april.

 

I stand by what I said, and the person who said it was hideously wrong can refund my 12000.00 and can then take their hideous and be nicer.

Edited October 11, 2015 by YankeePenny

[YankeePenny]

OP, just think before you do this.

Edited October 11, 2015 by YankeePenny

[cruisecritiquer]

Hi OP.

 

I must confess I did not read the entire thread and even worse, I'm posting a month late. However, I just wanted you to know if you are willing to push your cruise back to August instead of July, I saw a friends and family sail free discount on the website. Additionally, if you have not already done it, you can purchase an AARP membership (yes, even if you are under 55 - they are called associate memberships) and still obtain your AARP discount. I booked the trip August 13-20 and was able to book a suite for under 10K with four people because of the kids sail free. It was cheaper than booking 2 balconies with 2 people in each room.

 

Take care!

[cruisecritiquer]

DandDM I was trying to tell YOU about the sail free promotion for August 2016 and I just realized I directed my post ^ to OP.

[DandDM]

Bringing this thread back to life after ten months, wanted to 'wrap it up' as it were and let folks know how things turned out.

 

We watched the price for POA for a while, but because the dates we could travel were limited (July to early Aug) and because we were not willing to share a cabin (unless we got a multi-bedroom suite), the lowest price we found for the four of us was around $9500. One promotion would have provided a free night before the cruise. This is clearly a high season for the ship and I've seen much lower costs at other times. . .but that didn't work.

 

Finally decided to bag the cruise idea and to spend our time on one island (Oahu) instead. I know this is not a land vacation message board, but wanted to share our experience for the purpose of comparison.

 

We ended up in Oahu for 12 days.

 

First week we had seven folks (obviously more than we would have had on the cruise) and rented a large two bed, two bath condo on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu for $3100 (including taxes and parking). Last five days we just had the original four people and rented a smaller two bedroom on the north side of the island for $900.

 

Both places had kitchens, so we loaded up at Costco plus made some trips to smaller markets. Ate out a handful of times. Total cost for food and drinks (liquor at the little ABC Stores was actually cheaper than it is at home!) was $1500.

 

Rental car plus a couple tanks of gas a little under $1000 (we needed a large vehicle for seven).

 

Entertainment - bought multi-day passes that got us into most of the things we wanted to do (including a luau, fireshow, and catamaran tour around Honolulu, as well as admission at Pearl harbor and other places) and spent a lot of time in the shops and beaches. Had some free entertainment at some beach shows, plus Friday night fireworks. Entertainment cost was around $1200.

 

So all in was $7,700, for seven people and 12 nights. Obviously cheaper than the cruise, even before considering shore excursions and on-board cruise costs (gratuities, drinks, specialty dinners, etc, etc)

 

Was it better? For us, on this specific trip, I think it was. Downside was that we only saw the one island, and we had to prepare a bunch of our own meals, but we also got a lot of time to explore, or just relax on the beach. We are also very likely to return to Hawaii, so we will have an opportunity to see the other islands in the future. If this was our only opportunity to go there, might have put a higher priority on traveling to the other islands.

 

Toward the end of the trip, one of our boys remarked that he had wished we had gone on the cruise -- so in the opinion of a 14 year old with a 14 YO's concept of money, the cruise would have been a better option!

 

Anyway, this is just my opinion, based on our specific circumstances and timing. A cruise on the POA is still on my bucket list, but we will look for an off-peak time and it will likely just be my wife and me.

 

Cheers,

[restasured]

You really can't justify the cost. It is too easy to island hop in HI, to use a cruise ship to do it. The only advantage is not having to pack and move rooms. The disadvantage is that you don't have enough time on any island to really enjoy it. IMO you are much better off visiting a couple of islands for longer stays than doing the cruise.

 

It is easy to island hop, but it is $100 each person for each time you board the plane. Not counting the cost of the hotels, food and the inconvenience of lugging everything you own around every time you change locations. I have done the cruise, in 2012, and we just booked it again for this December. You are on 2 of the islands overnight, so you have 1 night and 2 days. I didn't find that to be too little time to see what I wanted to see. Everyone has an opinion, but I would be bored silly especially if I went to one island for 3 or 4 days and then to one other for 3 or 4 days.

[Georgebrad]

Don't pay attention to the bad reviews. I was on the POA in 2014 and the ship was excellent and the excursions were awesome booked through the ship and Roberts.