Just got off Pride of America fabulous Hawaii cruise!!!

[Ellis1138]

Yeah that wasn't wood fired, just regular pizza oven.

[NikiPinkston]

15 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

I just got off the same sailing.

 

Yes, there was a white night glow party, but I don't recall which night, since we didn't do anything on the ship. 

You can bring small bags to Pearl Harbor, they just have to be entirely clear and see-through with the ability to see everything you have inside them.

Captain was Jozo Zglav

Staff Captain Slade Matthews

Chief Engineer Lindsay Smith

General Manager Dustin Brown

Chief Officer Benjamin Ross

Randi Radja restaurant manager

and that's what I recall

 

I agree that the ship is old, but not in terrible condition. The food quality was acceptable, although they didn't do as well with food allergy as other NCL ships I've been on. 

Captain Jozo was the one who took our picture on our sailing in November, 2022! He not only rocks at sailing a ship, he was a pretty good photographer, too. All of the staff were amazing .

[TeresaJ]

On 3/3/2024 at 12:48 PM, KatieMcGee said:

We are leaving Thursday, 3/7, to join the cruise on 3/9.  Wondering if there was a 'white night' where everyone wears white.  I thought I saw that somewhere in the posts.  We're so looking forward to this cruise.

I checked the Freestyle Dailies.  Wednesday - Day 5 was Glow night which was wear neon or all white.  Have a great time!!

Edited March 6 by TeresaJ

[TeresaJ]

A few other final thoughts...

 

We did not rent any cars.  We took Uber/taxi or walked in Honolulu; Uber to the beach in Maui and the rest were NCL excursions.  I know a lot of people rent cars and I do think it gives you much more freedom to spend more time at different places versus the time constraint of an NCL excursion. We were happy with our decision as this was our first time to Hawaii and we didn't want the stress of renting a car, finding parking...etc. If we ever do this cruise again, we would consider renting a car in a couple of the ports now that we are familiar with the area.

 

Most of the ports are very industrial looking except for Kona.

 

The main pool was closed for about a day and a half due to an accident. I heard a child threw up but I don't know if that's true.

 

Sailaway on deck 11 aft Aloha Lanai is the best.  The Hawaiian duo played music, there is a nice bar, and a lot of seating.  We saw whales a few times.  It's just so beautiful and peaceful in that area.

 

Cabin steward - never saw him/her and I would say they weren't the greatest.  We had to call down for towels a few times because they never replaced them.  Also, on the first night as we were getting ready for bed there was a stain on our sheet.  I called guest services and they came right up and took care of it and were very apologetic.  

 

The ship never felt crowded to me.  We have sailed larger ships lately so the low passenger count was awesome. The ship is clean and most of the staff were amazing!

 

 

[NikiPinkston]

Sorry to hear about your subpar steward. On our first POA sailing in 2016, our steward was less than stellar, too, so I wasn't expecting much the next time. However, in 2022, he was one of the best we've ever had. You sometimes hear about problems with the all-American crew, but I guess it's just the luck of the draw.

[Ellis1138]

I'm sorry about your steward, Teresa. I met mine on the first day and Jeffrey was very good. He even went and found our luggage for us, because I was anxious. They had so little time to turn the cabins around, so sometimes it tends to be the cleanliness that suffers.

 

Since I'd been to Hawaii twice before, we pretty much rented a car on each island and I knew to rent compact size ones and where to go to find parking and how early to get there.

[duggage]

On 3/3/2024 at 2:13 AM, TeresaJ said:

Our first time to Hawaii and it was fabulous! It was me and my husband. We are in our early 50s. 

 

Ship is in really good condition and even though it's a smaller ship, we didn't really notice because we were so busy at the ports. We did feel a lot of motion but it does not bother us.

 

We flew in 2 days prior and stayed near Waikiki beach. Went to Pearl Harbor and also hiked Diamond Head and spent some time at the beach watching all of the surfers!

 

 

We plan on cruising PoA this fall. Did you use NCL for flights or book separate? We were looking to fly in 3 days early and both Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head (sunrise) were in our plans (plus a luau at the hotel). I'm worried that if we did two days and took advantage of the NCL "2nd flies free" option that they only allow 2 days max and might not fly us in the first day until 7pm. (basically leaving us with only one day for everything)

 

What time did you touchdown in Oahu? Did you feel 2 days was comfortable enough to manage both excursions and the beach?

 

Our ship itinerary is also very close to yours. We will probably snorkle Molokini on Maui instead of Kona and maybe look for a coffee tour there. By the time I get to Kauai I'm a little burned out on planning. Canal tubing the first day and then I'm just not sure.

 

12 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

I'm sorry about your steward, Teresa. I met mine on the first day and Jeffrey was very good. He even went and found our luggage for us, because I was anxious. They had so little time to turn the cabins around, so sometimes it tends to be the cleanliness that suffers.

 

Since I'd been to Hawaii twice before, we pretty much rented a car on each island and I knew to rent compact size ones and where to go to find parking and how early to get there.

 

We were planning to rent a convertible on Maui and drive up to Haleakala (we plan on staying past sunset for some stars). I mentioned that to a friend of mine and he was critical of rental cars on Maui (particularly convertibles). I haven't been to HA before but I've used google maps/etc to scope out what I think are good parking spots. Have you rented the first day and then overnighted the car at the Kahului mall village? Can you weigh in on the quality of car rental or make any recommendations?

[Ellis1138]

1 minute ago, duggage said:

 

We were planning to rent a convertible on Maui and drive up to Haleakala (we plan on staying past sunset for some stars). I mentioned that to a friend of mine and he was critical of rental cars on Maui (particularly convertibles). I haven't been to HA before but I've used google maps/etc to scope out what I think are good parking spots. Have you rented the first day and then overnighted the car at the Kahului mall village? Can you weigh in on the quality of car rental or make any recommendations?

 

I hate convertibles, so I never purposely rent one. I will always try to get compact cars on Hawaii. (The Kona office had a You Click, We Pick special that wound up being a Mustang convertible. We kept the top up.)

 

Parking overnight at the Kahului port is risky because if you do it at that Whole Foods mall, you chance getting your rental car ticketed or towed. The nearby Maui Seaside Hotel offers overnight parking for $25. If you have a handicapped tag, you might be allowed to park at the actual ship's area, but don't quote me on that.

 

I wound up spending a bit extra to rent a Prius from Bio-Beetle rental cars, which is about a 20 minute walk (it would be shorter if we could cut through the port, but you have to walk a really long fenced in path through the Kahului pier terminal) and they let us park overnight in their gated lot, which worked out well for us. They also gave us free use of beach chairs, boogie boards, coolers and pool noodles. When we returned the car, the owner drove us back to the ship. Their location and lot looks sketchy, but it really was a very good rental experience for us.

 

A rental car company called White Glove Car Rental also includes overnight parking and has similar perks as Bio-Beetle, but without the long walk, I think. I never priced them or used them, so not sure what they cost.

 

One thing about parking on most of the islands is: the spots can be very small and having a smaller car helps fit into those. Gas is expensive, so bring a Costco card, which has the cheapest gas on the islands.

 

For Hilo and Kona, we never parked overnight (I used Enterprise for all car rentals except Maui and they were great). On Kauai, we were allowed to park along Nawiliwili Road, on the shoulder, in front of Aspire Furniture and Nawiliwili Park. But we got back to the ship the first day around 4pm, so were able to get a spot. The Enterprise on Aukele Road (the non-airport) did a pickup and drop off at the ABC Store #59, which was in walking distance of the ship and that shopping village ran a free shuttle to the ship during the day/

 

For the other questions, I can't comment on NCL's cheap flights because we saved up United Miles to be able to fly first class both ways on a nonstop flight. We lucked out and both flights flew on schedule with no delays or diversions. I had also saved up Marriott points for 3 free nights in Waikiki. So there was no need to consider NCL's stuff. I also like having total control of the vacation.

 

We flew in on Wednesday, my husband did a self tour of Pearl Harbor all day Thursday with an 8 am Arizona reservation, we did sunrise at Sandy Beach and then did Living Oceans Turtle Canyon Snorkel on Friday and then boarded the ship on Saturday. Cabins were ready around 3 pm.

 

On Maui, rather than be on a boat for 30 minutes each way, we went early to Makena Beach and snorkeled among the black rocks there. Gorgeous beach.

 

[TeresaJ]

50 minutes ago, duggage said:

 

We plan on cruising PoA this fall. Did you use NCL for flights or book separate? We were looking to fly in 3 days early and both Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head (sunrise) were in our plans (plus a luau at the hotel). I'm worried that if we did two days and took advantage of the NCL "2nd flies free" option that they only allow 2 days max and might not fly us in the first day until 7pm. (basically leaving us with only one day for everything)

 

What time did you touchdown in Oahu? Did you feel 2 days was comfortable enough to manage both excursions and the beach?

 

Our ship itinerary is also very close to yours. We will probably snorkle Molokini on Maui instead of Kona and maybe look for a coffee tour there. By the time I get to Kauai I'm a little burned out on planning. Canal tubing the first day and then I'm just not sure.

 

 

We were planning to rent a convertible on Maui and drive up to Haleakala (we plan on staying past sunset for some stars). I mentioned that to a friend of mine and he was critical of rental cars on Maui (particularly convertibles). I haven't been to HA before but I've used google maps/etc to scope out what I think are good parking spots. Have you rented the first day and then overnighted the car at the Kahului mall village? Can you weigh in on the quality of car rental or make any recommendations?

We booked our own flights on Delta because we wanted control of when we would be flying.  I know you can save some money booking with NCL, but I have not heard great things about their air program and you have no control of flight times.  We flew from Minneapolis to LA Wednesday evening and stayed over in LA right near the airport and then got up Thursday morning for an early morning flight to Honolulu.  We landed in Honolulu at 11:15am.  For whatever reason it was a lot cheaper to split up the flights this way then fly it all in one day Thursday and it was great getting there before noon.  I felt it was enough time for the things we wanted to do.  I would suggest reading some other comments about the NCL air program on CC because there's more negative than positive.  The savings might not be worth it if you are not able to do all the things you want to do in Honolulu.

 

Kauai is beautiful and so lush!  I was feeling the same thing before our cruise because you don't want to miss anything! Hopefully you find something to do the last day.  Our excursion was in the morning so we had the afternoon to ourselves and just went back on the ship and relaxed in the pools and hot tubs.

 

We did not rent any cars this trip so I can't speak to that but it looks like someone else commented about that.

 

Have a great time!

[TeresaJ]

14 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

I'm sorry about your steward, Teresa. I met mine on the first day and Jeffrey was very good. He even went and found our luggage for us, because I was anxious. They had so little time to turn the cabins around, so sometimes it tends to be the cleanliness that suffers.

 

Since I'd been to Hawaii twice before, we pretty much rented a car on each island and I knew to rent compact size ones and where to go to find parking and how early to get there.

I think we just had bad luck. We never met our steward so I'm not even sure who it was!  Very odd experience because all of our past cruises we know who they are and have interacted with them.  We will probably rent cars in some of the ports next time so we have more control of what we want to do and when.  

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, duggage said:

We were planning to rent a convertible on Maui and drive up to Haleakala (we plan on staying past sunset for some stars). I mentioned that to a friend of mine and he was critical of rental cars on Maui (particularly convertibles). I haven't been to HA before but I've used google maps/etc to scope out what I think are good parking spots. Have you rented the first day and then overnighted the car at the Kahului mall village? Can you weigh in on the quality of car rental or make any recommendations?

When we traveled to Hawai'i, we rented a vehicle on the islands we went to. This wasn't a cruise. We island hopped by plane. On Maui, we had no issue with the rental vehicle we had. We did rent a Jeep Wrangler as we felt having the extra clearance would be helpful as we planned to do a full transit of the Road to Hana. Turns out you don't really need extra clearance. Our sedan at home could have done it fine. But anyway...

 

We found the quality of the Jeep was fine. We were able to take the soft top off (I know, not exactly a push button convertible top), stow it, and put it back on fairly easily. The Jeep itself was fine. No nicks or dings. It drove fine, mostly about 35 to 40 MPH as traffic is cray cray anywhere in Hawai'i. 

 

I hope that's somewhat helpful, even if it's not exactly answering the question you asked. 

[duggage]

1 hour ago, Ellis1138 said:

 

I hate convertibles, so I never purposely rent one. I will always try to get compact cars on Hawaii. (The Kona office had a You Click, We Pick special that wound up being a Mustang convertible. We kept the top up.)

 

Parking overnight at the Kahului port is risky because if you do it at that Whole Foods mall, you chance getting your rental car ticketed or towed. The nearby Maui Seaside Hotel offers overnight parking for $25. If you have a handicapped tag, you might be allowed to park at the actual ship's area, but don't quote me on that.

 

I wound up spending a bit extra to rent a Prius from Bio-Beetle rental cars, which is about a 20 minute walk (it would be shorter if we could cut through the port, but you have to walk a really long fenced in path through the Kahului pier terminal) and they let us park overnight in their gated lot, which worked out well for us. They also gave us free use of beach chairs, boogie boards, coolers and pool noodles. When we returned the car, the owner drove us back to the ship. Their location and lot looks sketchy, but it really was a very good rental experience for us.

 

A rental car company called White Glove Car Rental also includes overnight parking and has similar perks as Bio-Beetle, but without the long walk, I think. I never priced them or used them, so not sure what they cost.

 

One thing about parking on most of the islands is: the spots can be very small and having a smaller car helps fit into those. Gas is expensive, so bring a Costco card, which has the cheapest gas on the islands.

 

For Hilo and Kona, we never parked overnight (I used Enterprise for all car rentals except Maui and they were great). On Kauai, we were allowed to park along Nawiliwili Road, on the shoulder, in front of Aspire Furniture and Nawiliwili Park. But we got back to the ship the first day around 4pm, so were able to get a spot. The Enterprise on Aukele Road (the non-airport) did a pickup and drop off at the ABC Store #59, which was in walking distance of the ship and that shopping village ran a free shuttle to the ship during the day/

 

For the other questions, I can't comment on NCL's cheap flights because we saved up United Miles to be able to fly first class both ways on a nonstop flight. We lucked out and both flights flew on schedule with no delays or diversions. I had also saved up Marriott points for 3 free nights in Waikiki. So there was no need to consider NCL's stuff. I also like having total control of the vacation.

 

We flew in on Wednesday, my husband did a self tour of Pearl Harbor all day Thursday with an 8 am Arizona reservation, we did sunrise at Sandy Beach and then did Living Oceans Turtle Canyon Snorkel on Friday and then boarded the ship on Saturday. Cabins were ready around 3 pm.

 

On Maui, rather than be on a boat for 30 minutes each way, we went early to Makena Beach and snorkeled among the black rocks there. Gorgeous beach.

 

 

Thanks so much for all the parking details! Someone else had posted (in an overnight parking thread) a couple years back of being one of 25 or so rental cars parking at the mall without issue. Maybe they changed the rules. I was looking at Enterprise (next to the mall) and intending to ask about overnight parking there. Probably a similar walk to Bio-Beetle. I'll check them out as well.

 

We also like having total control, so that's why I'm leary. I know people have had great NCL flight experiences, but this has more moving parts than our usual vacations. For pre-cruise, we were thinking about staying at the Marriot Waikiki beach spa. Mainly because it is right across from the beach, has a luau on property, and is close(ish) to diamond head. Did you stay there or decide on another property?

 

I'm so glad everyone had a great time. I'm really dragging on the booking process (analysis paralysis) but excited about all the things to do/see!

[Ellis1138]

3 hours ago, duggage said:

 

Thanks so much for all the parking details! Someone else had posted (in an overnight parking thread) a couple years back of being one of 25 or so rental cars parking at the mall without issue. Maybe they changed the rules.

I was looking at Enterprise (next to the mall) and intending to ask about overnight parking there. Probably a similar walk to Bio-Beetle. I'll check them out as well.

 

We also like having total control, so that's why I'm leary. I know people have had great NCL flight experiences, but this has more moving parts than our usual vacations. For pre-cruise, we were thinking about staying at the Marriot Waikiki beach spa. Mainly because it is right across from the beach, has a luau on property, and is close(ish) to diamond head. Did you stay there or decide on another property?

The mall there in Kahului has allegedly been enforcing things stricter, but I don't have direct experience. The longest part of the walk is from the ship to the main road.

 

If we hadn't been able to get a parking spot on Nawilwili Road on Kauai, the Aukele Enterprise said we could call them and park our car in their lot, but that we wouldn't have access to the car from 5pm to 7 am. So, I decided to chance it and if we couldn't find a spot, we'd pay to park at Lihue airport and Uber back and forth.

 

Marriott Waikiki was in the running, although I don't like the area and location as much. I knew from two previous stays that being near the beach and center meant lots of noise. I also dislike luaus and it was awful to try to sleep at 9 or 10pm when there was music and entertainment outside keeping me up. 

 

One of the biggest issues was trying to figure out how my husband could have breakfast the first morning before Pearl Harbor. I knew that with jet lag, we'd be up at 4am and I had gotten him an 8 am Arizona reservation and he'd have to drive there around 6:15 am. Nothing opens until 7 am, really, except Denny's (bleh). 

 

We had enough points for 3 nights at the Ritz Carlton Residences Waikiki. Each unit had a soaking tub, bidet toilet, kitchenette and in-room washer and dryer. After we got the rental car at HNL, we made a quick stop at Foodland Farms Ala Moana Center and got eggs, milk, bacon and other breakfast items, plus the best pipikaula we ever had. The Ritz was far enough away from the beach to be quiet-ish, not caught up in Kalakaua Avenue traffic or festivals but close enough to be walkable. It was a really luxurious, high service place and definitely worth the points expenditure.