Pride of America holiday review

[123CruisyMum]

Here is my recent POA review, if anyone is interested & would like to ask me questions. Sail date 2nd Feb. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.

 

Our youngest daughter had wanted to go to Hawaii for years, and when an irresistible package deal came up on my Facebook wall I booked for my husband, myself, my 18yo daughter & her 2 best friends. We flew to Honolulu from Australia and spent 3 nights at Waikiki before the cruise.

The first day we walked along Waikiki beach, went shopping, watched a beautiful sunset & dined outdoors at the pink resort. Second day was cold & wet so we bused to Pearl Harbor. Next day did Diamond Head walk which I really enjoyed, and watched the Friday night fireworks on the beach.

Embarkation on 2nd of Feb went smoothly.

My husband and I had the unlimited beverage package included in our deal, which was a treat this cruise.

We had balcony cabins 9646 and 8544. Cabins were clean, but tiny, especially the bathrooms. Our steward, Marta was polite & friendly.

We've only sailed RCCL before, on 5 two week long cruises. This ship was smaller & less grand than others we've been on, less onboard activities, small pool. But I did like the outdoor area behind the Aloha buffet where we often sat for a pre-dinner drink and watched the sunset and sail away.

It was a FAR older group of passengers than our previous cruises. Almost no one around the age of our 18 year olds. A lot of people in gophers. Made my husband & I, in our early 50s, feel young.

It was a bit hard to figure out how the freestyle dining worked. All of the included restaurants were booked out for the evenings for the whole cruise, until about 9pm. The reservations lady explained that people could book tables up to 3 months before they cruised. But a lot of people don't turn up to their booking, so you could get straight in, or if no tables available, they give you a beeper that works anywhere on the ship to let you know when a table is available.

We ate at the Skyline restaurant the first couple of nights, then thought we'd try the Liberty, which has a dress code. I waited and was given a table there, and called my husband and girls to come. BUT when the girls turned up, looking gorgeous, we were quite rudely advised that their skirts & dresses were too short to be allowed into Liberty, so we had to go back downstairs to Skyline, and wait again for a table. Our 3 girls were insulted & upset. When we were finally able to enter Skyline, staff asked us how we were & I let them know we weren't happy. People apologised, which was appreciated, and a restaurant manager, Felix, offered us a sushi meal as compensation.

It turned out that the only evening we didn't dine in Skyline was the night we ate at East Meets West. We didn't enjoy the food on the regular (included in fare) menu very much, finding it bland. There was no vegetarian sushi on the menu, but the chef made us some absolutely delicious vegetarian sushi. Staff Taylor & James were lovely.

There have been quite a few complaints on cruise critic about the food on POA, but we found the Skyline to be great. Enough vegetarian options. The mushroom ravioli on the last night in Skyline was divine. The service was hit and miss in Skyline. Some staff were really friendly, like Gino. A few a little rude. I prefer the regular seating on other cruises where you have the same staff each night & get to know them, and don't have to wait for a table, but the advantage here is there is no one trying to hurry you up to leave before the next lot of customers arrive.

We had an afternoon snack and a late breakfast in the Cadillac diner too which we enjoyed.

The Sunday in Maui we had booked the ship's Molokini snorkel and turtle tour with Pacific Whale Foundation. The sea conditions were too rough to snorkel at Molokini so they took us to a more sheltered area. Snorkeling was quite good, didn't see turtles, BUT we were there in humpback whale breeding & mating season, and saw an amazing number of whales & calves. A magical experience.

We got back just before the superbowl half time performance, so my husband & I went to the "party" in the Hollywood theatre where they had a buffet of junk food, and the game on the big screen. Couldn't really understand what was happening, but was fun to have experienced.

We went to the Aloha Polynesia show. The dancers were great but the presentation was really cheesy & I thought disrespectful towards Polynesian cultures.

Monday we walked to a beach that we could see from our balcony and sunbaked, swam & read , and watched the colourful parasurfers. Afterwards the girls went to find free wifi in a little shopping centre near the pier.

That night was 70s FABBA night in Mardi Gras. Dancing was fun, especially while the entertainment staff were there.

Tuesday in Hilo we had booked a tour with Mauka Makai tours, to see the black sand beach (no turtles that day), volcano national park, orchid farm, the Rainbow falls, and a chocolate factory. A good day out.

That night my husband & I went to Lights Camera Music in the Hollywood theatre. It was OK. Then we headed to the Mardi Gras for 80s night & were surprised to find that our daughter had been a team leader in Battle of the Sexes, & she & one of her friends had somehow signed up for a dance off competition!

Once the main show was over the DJ started up and he was dreadful. The floor cleared quickly and people soon left the lounge. I wonder whether he was trying to get us all to leave so that staff could close up & go to bed. And that's really the only option of where to go to party at night. There are so many fabulous 80s dance tracks to chose from, its hard to understand how bad his playlist was.

Wednesday was Kona. We were tired so slept in and waited for the open tenders, that you didn't need to get up early & book, which started around midday. I had done some research, so we took an Uber and our sets of cheap goggles & snorkels to Kahaluu beach. Its about a 10 minute drive. I tipped the driver & asked him to collect us in a couple of hours to take us back & he came right on time for the return trip. It is a shallow, safe, black sand beach, with life guards. The snorkeling, on the left hand side by the lava rocks, was fantastic! A lot of the coral was dead & damaged by people having trodden on it, but there were soooo many tame, colourful tropical fish, sea urchins & anemones. And just as I was thinking it was time to get out, I realised a giant turtle was swimming along beside me! At last I saw an Hawaiian turtle! I swam behind and watched it for a while, feeling really happy.

Back in Kona we ate delicious shaved ice at a place by the pier that our Uber driver had recommended. Found some free wifi. The girls stayed back for a while to swim in the beach beside the pier. Didn't have to wait long for a tender back to the ship.

That night was the White Night dance party which was fun until again the DJ took over and most people left.

On Thursday, in Nawiliwili, I had booked us on an adventure tour with Outfitters Kauai. We had to walk about 2km to the small boat harbour, and met up with our guides and group (about 15 of us, only 2 others from POA, the rest were people staying on the island). We Kayaked a couple of kms up a beautiful tree lined waterway. Next we hiked a couple of kms through jungle, with the guide teaching us about some of the flora and history. We could swim in a waterfall. Then we got onto a seated trailer behind a tractor, which drove us through beautiful country side to a hill with amazing views, where we had lunch. After lunch was zip-lining over breathtaking views. Then we had to hike a few more kms along a very muddy path (wear old shoes that you can throw away later if you book this) through beautiful jungle. Most people swam in a waterhole that you could take a flying fox into. Another hike followed, until we were taken back in a boat to the start. You need to be agile & fit if you want to do this tour. We loved it, despite feeling exhausted and muddy by the time we'd walked back to the ship.

We went to bed straight after dinner that night.

Friday I was still tired and only managed to drag myself out of bed by midday, and sat in a hot tub for a while. Later we sailed past the spectacular Na Pali coast line. Was lovely to be able to enjoy it from our balcony.

We ate our last meal in the Skyline & my husband & I competed in the Majority Rules game show. Hardly anyone was in the Mardi Gras that night.

Our bills were sent to the cabins overnight & luckily my husband checked them because we had been accidentally overcharged $400. But he managed to sort it out fairly easily after lining up at guest services.

Disembarkation went smoothly. We chose to carry our own luggage, & left the ship at about 9.30.

We were really lucky with the weather conditions during our holiday. Most days were lovely and sunny. The following day, Sunday, when we were due to fly home, the weather was cold, wet & windy, making it easier for us to say goodbye to Hawaii.

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[snow1]

Thanks 123CruisyMum for the great review.

We are taking this cruise in November.  Do you remember the name of the beach that you walked to in Maui?  Did it have chairs and umbrellas to rent?

Thanks

[Lorey2007]

What are gophers?

[123CruisyMum]

Gophers are electric wheel chairs.

 

I don't know the name of the beach. We could see a white sand beach from the port side of the ship, and walked towards it, about 10min walk.  It wasn't the best beach you'd find on Maui, but we didn't hire a car, so wanted somewhere close, and it was all we needed for the afternoon.

[paul18222]

123CruisyMum,

With the, unlimited beverage package, were alcoholic beverage included and was there a Hawaiian port , sales tax added/per drink? Not the gratuity charge.

[123CruisyMum]

Hi Paul,

 

yes, alcoholic drinks were included, up to $15 a drink, & you could order 2 at a time maximum each. So there were some premium spirits not included, but as we drink mixes, like gin & tonic, that really didn't affect us. There was a sales tax added per drink that we paid at the end, but that only came to about $30 each for the week, & we drank plenty for us. Our gratuity charge was included in our package. We've never had a drinks package before and really enjoyed it. Could be dangerous for our livers on a longer cruise!

[123CruisyMum]

🙂

Edited February 27, 2019 by 123CruisyMum

[paul18222]

Thanks Mum. You are the first one since," NCL started the Hawaiian UBP", to verify that alcoholic drinks were actually included. And  like you, we enjoy our drinks, so this puts our minds to ease. Thanks again!