Pride of America Recap - Sail Date 7/9/2016

[moethecat]

Thanks for taking the time to provide us with a detailed review and great pics.

We will be on the POA next Feb and were thinking of using Roberts for the Pearl Harbour and city tour of Honolulu and maybe at other ports.

Do they use the big highway coaches or smaller vans for their tours ?

We are used to the personal touch provided with smaller groups and not to fond of the larger buses for tours.

 

Per "If this was your first NCL cruise, how did you get into the Latitudes cocktail party"

We were able to get into the Latitude party because my fiancee is a Silver member. (This was her fourth cruise on NCL)

 

For the Pearl Harbor tour we used NCL. (Only excursion that we used them for). With Robert's smaller vans for the Road to Hana (Had to be small for that road!) and small van for Waimea Canyon. Everything else was a big highway coach. I agree. The smaller vans are alot better. But with the coaches we tried to arrive early and sit close to the driver. Make things a bit more personal and getting on and off at stops was easier.

[moethecat]

Interesting tip:

When retrieving our luggage at the Honolulu airport I found out one of my bags had been severely damaged. Instead of leaving the airport and filing a claim later on I went to the Alaska Air/American Air baggage desk. The lady at the desk saw how damaged the bag was and swapped the damaged one out for a new bag. Helped get the trip off to a good start.

 

 

Cruise Day 6 - Thursday:

On Thursday we cruised over and arrived in Kauai. I was excited to see Kauai as it was the least populated of the main islands and had the most wild chickens. 2000 of them. Breakfast at the Aloha café and then we headed to our excursion with Roberts. Today was Wailulu River and the Fern Garden. Most people on this day seemed to be doing the Waimea Canyon tour. Our bus driver was nice however the trip was rather short to the river. The Kauai port seemed a bit hectic compared to the other ports and it took us a bit of time to board the bus.

 

 

The excursion was by the Smith family of the Smith family’s Tropical Paradise. We toured down the river in a boat with maybe 60 other people for 2-3 miles. The driver of the boat narrated as we went down the river and there were paddle boarders and kayakers alongside of us in the river. The ride down the river was pleasant and relaxing. Eventually we arrived at a State Park area where the fern garden is located. A short walk and we were there. Due to a recent rock slide (maybe a year ago) visitors to the garden are no longer allowed up close to the garden. A bit of a disappointment. So we stood on a very large deck somewhat close to the garden as members of the Smith family sang the Hawaiian wedding song to us. It was nice but hot out and not a lot of shade on the deck. After the song we traveled back to the boat to travel back to the start of the boat ride. During the trip back the members of the Smith family did a great job singing songs and telling stories. Once we arrived back at the dock we boarded the bus and headed back to the ship. Overall it was a worthy excursion although this day might have been a good day to do a beach day.

 

 

Thursday evening, we had the Smith Family Luau scheduled. We booked directly through the Smith website because it was a bit cheaper then Roberts. Around 4:30 we boarded a Robert’s bus along with the people who had booked through Robert’s and traveled back to the Smith Family Tropical Paradise. The NCL Luau excursion did not use the Smith family Luau. Once we arrived and entered the “family paradise” we boarded a tram that took us around the paradise. The paradise was beautiful! Birds, and chickens and plants. Peacocks showing off their feathers! After the 20 or so minute tram ride we walked around the paradise exploring. Around 600ish the Smith’s held a pig blessing ceremony where they dug up the pig that was cooking underground. Neat ceremony and the kids in attendance really liked the ceremony. At 630 the food for the luau was ready. Rather slowly each table was allowed to go up and pick the food they wanted from the buffet. This was a rather slow process and I was hungry. Finally, our table was called. The food… well the food was mediocre at best. They say you don’t go to a Luau for the food but for the show and the show was next! We hustled down to the outside theater and obtained second row seats. The show was… well fantastic!!! Really amazing show. The entertainers were clearly enjoying putting on the show and the crowd loved it! Certainly a highlight of the trip. The show ended around 900 and we boarded a Robert’s bus to head back to the ship. Upon returning to the ship we went straight to the cabin and turned in for the night.

 

 

A day that did not look that promising certainly ended on a high note! More to come soon…

[moethecat]

 

 

 

 

 

[moethecat]

 

 

 

 

 

[Cruiseoholic000]

Thank you for the great review. Does anyone know if the "Roberts Haleakala sunrise tour" goes to the summit or are their vans to big to go to the summit? Any reviews on this would be appreciated.

 

 

Cruise Day 3 – Monday

 

Monday’s excursion was through Roberts to the Haleakala crater. Overall the excursion was good but not great. The driver just seemed depressed, kept talking about sugar cane leaving Maui (last harvest this year) and seemed angry at other drivers. The crater was interesting. We were not able to go to the summit because we were in a large bus. (only smaller buses and vans allowed to the summit) We did stop at the main crater viewing point and visitor station. This was around 10,000 feet above sea level. The excursion had only two stops, halfway up the mountain and the crater viewing point. It was interesting to be above the clouds and the excursion was a chance to get some great panoramic pictures.

Edited July 23, 2016 by Cruiseoholic000

[moethecat]

Cruise Day 7 - Friday:

Friday was our last full day of the cruise. Ever though it was the last full day we never felt rushed by NCL about preparing to depart the ship. Breakfast on Friday was… the Aloha café. It was a beautiful morning. My daughter decided to skip the excursion today and sleep in. Today’s excursion was Waimea Canyon.

 

 

The excursion was early and we boarded a small shuttle around 700. Only eight of us on the excursion and the driver took each of our names as we boarded. She was probably one of my favorite drivers of the week. Our first stop was a visit to a lava tube that was submerged in the ocean. It was called “spouting horn” as every few minutes it would spew water into the air like a geyser. While the stop was rather short it was an interesting stop. Next we made an unscheduled stop in a small town called Hannapepe where they filmed parts of the mini-series Thornbirds. At this stop we also walked out on the “swinging bridge” which was a wooden bridge that crossed a river. After the bridge stop we traveled a few miles and made a quick stop to view the memorial to Captain Cook. Cook was a British ship Captain who “found” Hawaii. All the bus drivers seemed to talk about him quite a bit. Next was yet another unscheduled stop at a valley where they filmed the opening scene of Jurassic Park. It was rather amazing and as a fan of the movie was really neat to see.

 

 

Onward we traveled on the bus up to the Waimea canyon viewing point. Once at the viewing point we purchased some very tasty mango juice from the food vendor and watched the wild chickens run around. We walked a bit up a path to the viewing point and the view there was incredible! The canyon was huge, lush and very beautiful. We spent about forty minutes’ total at this stop before boarding the bus and heading back to the ship. On the way back to the ship we made one last unscheduled stop at a coffee farm/museum. Decent stop with coffee tasting and a place to buy sandwiches and drinks. After arriving back at the ship I ran over to the nearby ABC store to grab a few things.

 

 

 

No nap upon arriving back on the ship as we headed to the Latitude members “set sail” party at the bow of the ship. Various crew members spoke and there were plenty of free drinks. Also had the chance to talk to a bunch of crew members about where they were from and such. We left the gathering a bit early as the Na Pali coast viewing was coming up soon. We tuned the tv in our cabin to channel 23 and angled the TV towards the balcony. The narration of the coast was not that interesting but the coast was very beautiful. A rainbow had formed and the ship traveled rather close to the coast which was nice. After we had traveled the coast, the ship turned and headed out to sea a bit. We sat on the balcony listening to music, watching sailboats sail by and the sun starting to set. Great way to start the last night of the cruise.

 

 

We had reservations at Cagney’s for dinner. For dinner we had filet mignon, lobster, ribeye, shrimp cocktail, oysters Rockefeller, salad, desert and more! Very good meal and probably the best of the three specialty restaurants that we dined at. After dinner my fiancée headed over to Pinks Champagne bar to listen to some music. My daughter and myself headed back to the cabin to pack as our bags needed to be outside the cabin by midnight. We took down the Hawaiian decorations we had in our cabin and on our cabin door and packed them away. Bags were outside of the cabin by 1100 and it was off to sleep.

 

 

 

More to come…

[moethecat]

 

 

 

 

 

[moethecat]

 

 

 

[moethecat]

Cruise Day 8 - Saturday:

Saturday our departure time from the ship was 745 for our early bird Pearl Harbor and airport drop off excursion through NCL. My fiancée surprised us by purchasing the ten picture package the night before and the pictures and USB with the digitals were waiting for us when we departed the cabin. One last picture of the cabin and we headed to the Hollywood theater for our departure. Departing the ship was very smooth with literally no wait.

 

 

 

A couple of other notes about the cruise. We never received our tickets for the NCL excursion but luckily we realized it and obtained them from the shore excursion desk before Saturday. Also the former American Idol that I mentioned earlier, that performed at Pink’s, was Ejay Day.

 

 

 

On the bus to Pearl Harbor I sat next to a very nice fellow cruiser from Chicago. I got to hear a bit about her cruise and her life back in Chicago. It was nice. The Pearl Harbor tour was self-guided and lasted a few hours. Probably a bit more time then what was needed. The excursion was very interesting and I certainly recommend it. We viewed a few walk through areas detailing the events leading to and after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Also we took a boat out to the USS Arizona memorial. Kind of an emotional tour, standing on the Arizona and thinking 75 years ago Japanese planes were coming across the harbor where I was looking to attack the harbor. Our ride to the airport after the excursion only took a few minutes. Checking in and going through security was very easy. We grabbed a bite to eat as we waited for our flight home via LAX on Virgin America. This was my first flight on Virgin America and it certainly did not live up to expectations. I will avoid them in the future. We had a brief layover of literally minutes at Los Angeles before we boarded our flight back to Washington DC.

 

 

Day 9 - Sunday:

Arrived back at IAD airport, Washington DC, around 800. My fiancée’s dad picked us up and we headed home. At home there was two dogs and four cats happily waiting to see us! Great end to a fantastic vacation!

 

 

Later in the week I’ll try and post a few more pictures. Thanks to everyone who took time to read this recap and I hope it was beneficial. Certainly a fantastic cruise and vacation. Few more weeks and it will be time to start thinking about the next cruise. :):)

[moethecat]

 

 

[we b cruzin]

Great review...thank you

[poly3503]

Thanks for taking the time to write this review! Enjoyed it!

[carmzav]

Great review! I loved seeing the pictures- it was fun to reminisce about our POA trip last summer!

[gregnjen1]

Thank you so much for your review, I really enjoyed it. :)

[dani negreanu]

Thank you for taking the time to post such an enjoyable review :)

[moethecat]

Thanks again to everyone for the feedback and taking the time to read my post.

 

A couple of videos: Ejay Day and Carrie Stone, Sailing away from the Na Pali coast

 

rPRLXck1xb8

 

h0vyPfF2apU

[restasured]

 

Great review. Got a question for you. We will be on the POA in December and will be doing the Early Pearl Harbor Excursion via NCL. I noticed in your review that you put your luggage out on Friday night to be taken off the ship by the staff. Do they specially tag the bags so they will go on the shuttle bus or do they just take them to the airport or ???. I wasn't sure how to handle our luggage, but figured we would just lug the stuff off to the excursion bus and load it there and unload it at the airport.

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

Interesting tip:

When retrieving our luggage at the Honolulu airport I found out one of my bags had been severely damaged. Instead of leaving the airport and filing a claim later on I went to the Alaska Air/American Air baggage desk. The lady at the desk saw how damaged the bag was and swapped the damaged one out for a new bag. Helped get the trip off to a good start.

 

 

Cruise Day 6 - Thursday:

On Thursday we cruised over and arrived in Kauai. I was excited to see Kauai as it was the least populated of the main islands and had the most wild chickens. 2000 of them. Breakfast at the Aloha café and then we headed to our excursion with Roberts. Today was Wailulu River and the Fern Garden. Most people on this day seemed to be doing the Waimea Canyon tour. Our bus driver was nice however the trip was rather short to the river.

 

The Kauai port seemed a bit hectic compared to the other ports and it took us a bit of time to board the bus.

 

 

The excursion was by the Smith family of the Smith family’s Tropical Paradise. We toured down the river in a boat with maybe 60 other people for 2-3 miles. The driver of the boat narrated as we went down the river and there were paddle boarders and kayakers alongside of us in the river. The ride down the river was pleasant and relaxing. Eventually we arrived at a State Park area where the fern garden is located. A short walk and we were there. Due to a recent rock slide (maybe a year ago) visitors to the garden are no longer allowed up close to the garden. A bit of a disappointment. So we stood on a very large deck somewhat close to the garden as members of the Smith family sang the Hawaiian wedding song to us. It was nice but hot out and not a lot of shade on the deck. After the song we traveled back to the boat to travel back to the start of the boat ride. During the trip back the members of the Smith family did a great job singing songs and telling stories. Once we arrived back at the dock we boarded the bus and headed back to the ship. Overall it was a worthy excursion although this day might have been a good day to do a beach day.

 

 

Thursday evening, we had the Smith Family Luau scheduled. We booked directly through the Smith website because it was a bit cheaper then Roberts. Around 4:30 we boarded a Robert’s bus along with the people who had booked through Robert’s and traveled back to the Smith Family Tropical Paradise. The NCL Luau excursion did not use the Smith family Luau. Once we arrived and entered the “family paradise” we boarded a tram that took us around the paradise. The paradise was beautiful! Birds, and chickens and plants. Peacocks showing off their feathers! After the 20 or so minute tram ride we walked around the paradise exploring. Around 600ish the Smith’s held a pig blessing ceremony where they dug up the pig that was cooking underground. Neat ceremony and the kids in attendance really liked the ceremony. At 630 the food for the luau was ready. Rather slowly each table was allowed to go up and pick the food they wanted from the buffet. This was a rather slow process and I was hungry. Finally, our table was called. The food… well the food was mediocre at best. They say you don’t go to a Luau for the food but for the show and the show was next! We hustled down to the outside theater and obtained second row seats. The show was… well fantastic!!! Really amazing show. The entertainers were clearly enjoying putting on the show and the crowd loved it! Certainly a highlight of the trip. The show ended around 900 and we boarded a Robert’s bus to head back to the ship. Upon returning to the ship we went straight to the cabin and turned in for the night.

 

 

A day that did not look that promising certainly ended on a high note! More to come soon…

 

For the Smith's Family Luau what was the cost per person and how far was it from the ship ? You had mentioned that Roberts Hawaii took you there and was wondering what the return transp cost was to the luau ?

[chengkp75]

OP, I know you said you slept through the lava flow, but I'm wondering, when I worked the ships back in 2008 when the lava last flowed to the sea, we would stop the ship and spin it so everyone got a view. Do you know whether this was done or not? Helpful for others choosing cabins.

[dexddd]

For the Smith's Family Luau what was the cost per person and how far was it from the ship ? You had mentioned that Roberts Hawaii took you there and was wondering what the return transp cost was to the luau ?

 

I'm not sure how they went but if you go to Smith's website you'll see prices. They also offer transportation on coach buses for an additional fee which is also listed there. They offer a discount if you buy ahead of time. They are about 15 minutes away from the ship.

[moethecat]

 

Great review. Got a question for you. We will be on the POA in December and will be doing the Early Pearl Harbor Excursion via NCL. I noticed in your review that you put your luggage out on Friday night to be taken off the ship by the staff. Do they specially tag the bags so they will go on the shuttle bus or do they just take them to the airport or ???. I wasn't sure how to handle our luggage, but figured we would just lug the stuff off to the excursion bus and load it there and unload it at the airport.

 

Hello,

We picked our luggage up after we departed the ship and loaded it on the bus going to Pearl Harbor. We had special luggage tags. After Pearl Harbor we were taken to the airport and when the bus dropped us off are luggage came with us.

[moethecat]

For the Smith's Family Luau what was the cost per person and how far was it from the ship ? You had mentioned that Roberts Hawaii took you there and was wondering what the return transp cost was to the luau ?

 

Hello,

 

The Luau was $78 and included the cost of transportation to and from. The show certainly made the luau worth it. I am unsure of the distance in miles but maybe a 15 minute bus ride?

[moethecat]

OP, I know you said you slept through the lava flow, but I'm wondering, when I worked the ships back in 2008 when the lava last flowed to the sea, we would stop the ship and spin it so everyone got a view. Do you know whether this was done or not? Helpful for others choosing cabins.

 

This was not done. We passed on the starboard side. I missed the moment we passed but it still was very rewarding to see the lava flow in the distance as we moved away.

[moethecat]

I apologize to anyone who tried to watch the videos I posted on youtube and linked to.

 

I have no idea as to why they terminated the youtube account I used for the videos.

 

Oh well... :)

[restasured]

 

Hello,

We picked our luggage up after we departed the ship and loaded it on the bus going to Pearl Harbor. We had special luggage tags. After Pearl Harbor we were taken to the airport and when the bus dropped us off are luggage came with us.

 

moethecat,

Thanks for the response. When we did this cruise in 2012 we used Roberts, but had much more time. (7:30pm flight) They picked us up and we loaded luggage on the bus, did the 6 or 7 hour tour and dropped us at the Airport about 3:30 - 4pm. Our flight, like yours, is at 2:40pm, this time. Roberts doesn't do an early Pearl Harbor (wish they did) tour that is shorter than their regular one so will have to use NCL this time. I called shore excursions yesterday and they said this tour is for flights after 2pm but told us we need to take our luggage off the ship. Not a problem though as we will all have 1 carryon and a backpack. There will be 11 of us going. It is a "retirement cruise" from us to the kids and grandkids. Like I told them, we are just spending their inheritance and will enjoy it with them. :)