Pride of America / Tricks & Tips 1/21-28

[tootall]

Just got off the POAm cruise & learned a lot I'd like to share with you folks. I am a four time cruiser & since I had never been to Hawaii, I enjoyed the aspect of going to several ports, but if you've been to Hawaii before, you want to skip this cruise. So, here's a couple tips for you if you are going on this cruise,,,,,,

 

#1 If you plan on eating in the main dining halls, make reservations! Each night there were more than twenty people (around the 7 PM time) waiting complaining they've been there over a half hour. Even if you don't eat there that night, make the reservations. They do not have a penalty if you don't show in the main dining. Only penalty comes from not showing to the specialty restaurants.

 

#2 If you are bringing your own booze on board, here's how to get it on. If it is a bourbon, buy a large Arizona iced tea & put it inside this. PUt it in your carry on. They will ask if this is booze, you say no. If they ask if they can smell it, say yes. They will pass you over. If you want to get tricky, take a large pepsi container (carry on) & put your liquor inside of it with some black/blue dye. If it's vodka, simple. Put it in a water bottle as carry on. To make yourself look a little less suspect, make sure the bottle if about 3/4 full. They will pass you over, no problems. People might think this is cheap, but the drinks on the boat start at $4.50 & go up from there.

 

#3 Don't make the same mistake I did - Do your excursions on your own!!! My wife and I rented a car in each port except one, Kona. We chose to go on the Capt Zodiac snorkel/raft excursion. I paid $90 a piece and we were in the water for 30 minutes. When I was told it was time to go, I questioned why, they said our time was up. Now, we did go and "try" and see some whales and dolphins but the trip was supposed to be 4 hours. I saw several good reviews on this excursion so I booked it, don't do it. The same place we snorkeled was off the road about 100' where people were just walking up to and snorkeling. Anyone in town knows the location if you rent a car, just ask them where the Capt Zodiac boats go. A bartender at the Hard Rock in Kona told me this, after our excursion was done.

 

If you are going to the Volacano, they charge you $60 a piece to go on a tour bus. Rent a car for $40 and do it on your own. You cannot get lost on any of the islands. I rented cars at Thrifty, the shuttle bus was always there or we waited about ten minutes at each port. Make sure you have a reservation, just do it on the net w/no money down. Same in Maui and Kauaii.

 

If you are buying stuff to take home, please take this advice. DON'T GO TO HILO HATTIES!!!! Go to the boardwalk in Lahaina (Maui) (easy to get to) and do all your purchasing at the shops downtown. We bought some shirts and macadamia nuts at Hilo's & ended up finding the same here for more than half the price. DO NOT BUY THEIR COFFEE. You can find 100% Kona coffee downtown, again for more than half off.

 

Well, that's all for now but post your questions if you have any and I'll try my best to answer. I wish someone put stuff like this on before I left

[irishtwins]

Thanks for the info. Husband and I, sister and brother-in-law board POAm on 2/11. We are going with an open attitude and plan to have a great time no matter what! Have cars rented on Maui and Kauai, wasn't sure about the others. Sounds like you're recommendation would be get one every day? Can't wait to see the whales and have a 'Shrimpwreck Mary' at The Rusty Harpoon!

[GoHuskies!]

#2 If you are bringing your own booze on board, here's how to get it on. If it is a bourbon, buy a large Arizona iced tea & put it inside this. PUt it in your carry on. They will ask if this is booze, you say no. If they ask if they can smell it, say yes. They will pass you over. If you want to get tricky, take a large pepsi container (carry on) & put your liquor inside of it with some black/blue dye. If it's vodka, simple. Put it in a water bottle as carry on. To make yourself look a little less suspect, make sure the bottle if about 3/4 full. They will pass you over, no problems. People might think this is cheap, but the drinks on the boat start at $4.50 & go up from there.

Sounds like you're pretty experienced. Got any tips on how to smuggle drugs too? Maybe steal some ship's silverware?

[Volleyball]

My wife and I were on the Pride of America cruise from 1/14 - 1/21/06. This was our third cruise and our second Hawaiian Cruise. It was the best one of the three and we'll go again soon. The ship was excellent in all respects. We had a state room on the tenth deck, with a gorgeous, private balcony. I never saw a speck of dirt anywhere on the ship. We both really enjoyed every night of the provided entertainment in the Hollywood Theater. I don't think that NCL spent a lot of money hiring expensive professionals. But, the singers and dancers that performed, plus the crew shows, were very entertaining. The only downside was that the sound engineer believed that extremely high volume equals quality. For two of the shows, I held my ears. My wife (and those around us) agreed that the extreme volume subtracted from the quality of the show - what a shame. Other than the sound problem, the shows were well worth it and lots of fun.

 

It would have been great if NCL would have allowed us to watch local TV while in port on our in room TV's...no luck. They did provide some movies but none that we were interested in.

 

We never ate in any of the resturants, except for the Aloha Cafe which was absolutely excellent. The choice of food and taste was amazing. And, because they use food stations (rather than a traditional buffet) we never stood in a line. Those that we talked to told us that they were somewhat disappointed by the fancy restaurants - I guess the food quality wasn't that great and getting a reservation was a problem...I wouldn't know for sure.

 

We did not make use of any of the shore excursions. The cost was simply too much and we have been to Hawaii 3 times before and know our way around - one can't get lost on these tiny islands. So, we rented a car from Alamo on each Island ($21 - $41). Gas was the same price as here on the mainland. The shuttles were right outside the terminal and came every few minutes. The rental cars were new and we had absolutely no problems. We drove everywhere and probably saw ten times more than the folks on the expensive bus/van tours. Nearly all tourist places are free so I think we saved a fortune going on our own. And, we always went at our own pace. The rental car shuttle drivers give you great tips on travel and what to see so take advantage of speaking with them for the short trip to the lots. We did have confirmation numbers for each island that we obtained weeks before we left home...that seemed to speed things along. I would never rent a car from the ship as NCL tacked on a service charge. There were several folks on the shuttles with us who did not have reservations and they all got cars just fine. When we were in Hilo, Alamo had run out of economy cars (Grand Ams) so they simply told us to take whatever car in the lot that we wanted at no extra charge. Of course, we took luxury car for the day for just $21.

 

The view of the lava flow from the ship was excellent. But, the best views of Hawaii came on the last day when we left Kuaii at 2pm, then sailed for a couple of hours just off the Napali coast. The scenery was magnificant and the whales/dolphins were jumping everywhere, some right next to the ship. That was memorable and I've got great video to last a lifetime.

 

One downside which is no fault of NCL is the security process in the terminal, which everyone must pass through before re-boarding the ship. My sense is that a lot of poorly educated locals suddenly found jobs after 9/11, but did not receive proper training, weren't supervised, or just didn't care about their jobs. On some islands, they just waved us through without checking our bags, etc. On other islands, they went way over board, looking inside our tiny digital cameras without being too careful of the electronics. I guess it's a price we all have to pay nowadays but I think that some standardization of these TSA employees is in order.

 

On the final day, we arrived in Honolulu at 7am. After a great breakfast, we took the provided bus to the airport and rented a car at Alamo. We spent the day touring Ohau which was excellent, except for the awful traffic in Waikiki. Pearl Harbor and Punchbowl are not to be missed.

 

Staff aboard the ship were all so competent and very friendly. Our final bill on the last day was $1.04 - the cost of a USA Today newspaper that I had purchased on one of the days. And, we spent a total of under $200 for all rental car fees and sightseeing costs - that's not a lot to pay considering we did just about everything, including visiting the Oceanarium on the island of Mauii. During our sail, we signed a form at the front desk to remove the automatic tip charge - we chose to tip only the staff that we had direct contact with, not everyone on the ship.

 

We will definitely take this cruise again...there is nothing about this ship nor cruise company that would turn us away.

[Onessa]

If you are buying stuff to take home, please take this advice. DON'T GO TO HILO HATTIES!!!! . . . You can find 100% Kona coffee downtown, again for more than half off.

 

 

Take the Hilo Hatties shuttle in Kona - get off (get the beads if you want) and then go across the Burger King parking lot, cross at the lights just up from there and you are in the parking lot of a local grocery chain - buy coffee, nuts, unbleached sugar, and other local products at local prices.

 

You can walk back to the ship pretty easily (all downhill) - or take the Hilo Hatties shuttle back!

[Onessa]

. . .We never ate in any of the resturants, except for the Aloha Cafe which was absolutely excellent. The choice of food and taste was amazing. And, because they use food stations (rather than a traditional buffet) we never stood in a line. Those that we talked to told us that they were somewhat disappointed by the fancy restaurants - I guess the food quality wasn't that great and getting a reservation was a problem...I wouldn't know for sure.

 

We were on POAm in November - we booked reservations at most of the speciality resturants when we boarded. Reserving early seems to be the key.

• We went to Jeffersons Bistro for the first night (the 1/2 price night). It was very good and service was excellent.
  
• DH and I went to East meets West twice (once the general asian part, once to the tempura section) - great food, great service.
  
• The whole family did Little Italy twice - fabulous!

DD (10YO) loved the diner and we popped in there for lunch/dinner/snacks several times. Never had a problem getting seated.

 

Lunch in the formal dining rooms was nice, dinner was passable. Dinner food was nothing special and service was a bit more spotty.

[tootall]

Drugs are illegal, theft is illegal. Drinking on board is not, bringing it on is a rules violation. Don't compare those with this. Again, the booze is expensive. Don't worry, they still got their money out of me for the beer.

[Molokai-Chuck]

Volleyball stated as follows: One downside which is no fault of NCL is the security process in the terminal, which everyone must pass through before re-boarding the ship. My sense is that a lot of poorly educated locals suddenly found jobs after 9/11, but did not receive proper training, weren't supervised, or just didn't care about their jobs. On some islands, they just waved us through without checking our bags, etc. On other islands, they went way over board, looking inside our tiny digital cameras without being too careful of the electronics. I guess it's a price we all have to pay nowadays but I think that some standardization of these TSA employees is in order.)

 

 

 

 

I would like to pass on to you Volleyball that the folks doing the security at the terminals and pier areas are not TSA employees.... they are contract employees...hired and paid for by the cruise line, not the taxpayer. And yes I agree....they are something to be desired for sure!

 

Chuck

[margaretmerrill]

I sure agree with you about doing your own private trips, and not the ship`s excursions. We walked past the ship`s tours, and there were people holding up signs for less than half the price of the same tour. We went in minivans and had 2 other couples with us. We went places a big tour bus couldn`t go, and if we wanted to stop somewhere, our driver/guide would stop. A much more personal way to see the islands. We didn`t have to worry about getting back in time for sailing, since we stayed so long in each port. Kona didn`t have tours at the dock, but the ocean side street had plenty of places to book. We took wine wrapped in a towel, and got through security just fine.

[tootall]

Oh YEAH -- Those who want to take a helicopter trip in Maui DONT BOOK THROUGH THE CRUISE!!! Go into downtown Lahaina and you can book one for $100. They will pick you up and drop you off. Some will advertise for $49 & such, but we found one that charged us $100/$125 for me since I'm 250 lbs.

[bobnsandi]

 

If you are buying stuff to take home, please take this advice. DON'T GO TO HILO HATTIES!!!! Go to the boardwalk in Lahaina (Maui) (easy to get to) and do all your purchasing at the shops downtown. We bought some shirts and macadamia nuts at Hilo's & ended up finding the same here for more than half the price. DO NOT BUY THEIR COFFEE. You can find 100% Kona coffee downtown, again for more than half off.

 

If you are at Kahului on Maui, just walk from the pier towards the main street

and cross over to Longs. They have all the usual souvenirs, food, etc, at

very good prices. If out in your rental car, look for Bad Ass Coffee. Their 100%

Kona is very good and locally roasted.

[GoHuskies!]

Drugs are illegal, theft is illegal. Drinking on board is not, bringing it on is a rules violation. Don't compare those with this. Again, the booze is expensive. Don't worry, they still got their money out of me for the beer.

Yeah, I know and you are right. I guess what crossed the line for me was not the trying to bring booze onboard--it was the well-planned deviousness. It's what the word "premeditated" describes in a court trial. But we all do as we think is best. I certainly would bring some wine and take my chances on it being confiscated, except that I'm too cheap to lose it! LOL :D

[GoHuskies!]

Take Bobnsandi's advice about shopping. They live on Maui and confirm what we know too about Maui. We've been there more than 20 times--have a condo in Kihei. Hilo Hattie's gives great van and greeting, but the prices are way too high. And on a hot day it's a great place to visit, with ice-cold self-serve beverages just inside the door, and nicely cooled A/C. THEN walk across the street to shop.

 

Bobnsandi also posted some pix of the Pride Of America arriving in Kahului on its very first visit there; they can see the harbor entrance from Waiehu.

 

The Maui Mall is close to the ship, with a number of interesting shops. You really should try the Guri-Guri (which I think must come from "goody-goody") at the very west end of the mall's center walkway. It's a very small shop whose main offering is a paper cup with scoops of an ice cream/sherbet mix which is a family recipe, unlike anything else you've tried. Maybe Italian gelatos come close. But this one will leave you wishing you could bring a gallon home. Sold by the scoop, ask for the 5-scoop. That's as much as the cup will hold, and you can mix the two available flavors. Guri-Guri is our very first stop after renting the car each time we go to Maui. It's as much a reminder of Maui as are the soft, warm, moist breezes and the scents of plumeria.

 

Darn it, I've gone and made myself homesick for Maui! I'll be there in two months, though.;)