Live from the Pride of America - 09/21-09/28/2024 - Hawai'i (Oahu to Maui to Hawai'i to Kaua'i)

[mking8288]

3 hours ago, Seas2mountains said:

We purchased the Starlink basic WiFi package for the remainder of the cruise as we had remaining on board credit to use. 
It is a huge mystery as to why Starlink works so well on other cruise lines but has such slow speeds on NCL. 🤷‍♀️ 

IMHO, of course - no mystery at all.  NCL plainly restrict, throttle and severely limit the allocated bandwidth for use by ship passengers onboard ... and/or, they are subscribed to a lower speed tier available from Starlink-X and therefore, with dynamic caching and shared overall bandwidth - it's barely working ... all other "things" being equal, like hardware & equipment, servers deployed and configured settings tweaked by their I.T.  

[Seas2mountains]

We tried breakfast at Cadillac Diner which is like the Local or O’Sheehans except the breakfast menu doesn’t have fruit. 
 

We had a spectacular visit to beautiful Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Garden. We took an Uber to the airport to get a rental car. 
 

I have photos to share for days. It costs $30/person plus we paid $15 for non-toxic mosquito repellent that they make or just sell. 
 

Before going to the botanical gardens, we saw the Banyon tree loop with banyon trees dedicated to different people. 
 

 

[Seas2mountains]

Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Garden. 
 

It starts and ends with a very steep walkway. We wore athletic shoes and were careful as it was wet in some spots. 

[Seas2mountains]

[Seas2mountains]

[Seas2mountains]

[Seas2mountains]

[Seas2mountains]

[Seas2mountains]

It was super peaceful and not “ Peopley” at all at the botanical garden. We got there at about 9:30am which worked out great as it was getting hotter as we were leaving and as more people were arriving. The steep walkway and stairs would make this difficult for anyone with mobility challenges. 
 

The last few miles to and from the botanical garden are on a one lane road at several bridges and there is one spot that is on the edge of the cliff hanging over the ocean. Yes, a little scary. 
 

Next, we went to Richardson’s Ocean park hoping to see more green sea turtles and maybe some seals but we didn’t see any. It was still neat to see the black sand beaches and watch the fish and crabs in the ponds. 
 

 

[Seas2mountains]

We got back on the ship and had a wonderful lunch in Cadillac Diner. The servers worked well together as a team resulting in great service.  Our food and my husband’s milkshake were really tasty. 
 

Caesar salad not pictured. 

[Seas2mountains]

We appreciate that NCL honors U.S. active duty military and veterans with a reception that is unique on each ship as the cruise director seems to decide how to conduct each reception. We look forward to attending these with military friends from Canada since I understand this benefit has been extended to them. Hopefully, it will soon include our allies from other nations as was promised. 
 

The officers and staff members greeted us. Military people are on time and it’s rare for some to arrive late like happens with the Latitudes party. 

 

We kept getting offered drinks and appetizers. We heard touching stories from current NCL employees on POA who served in the military.  
 

Then it was time to stand  for the National Anthem. While the singer had an amazing voice, she didn’t know the words so she made up words.  It wasn’t just a few words but many throughout the song. Ugh. That song can make me cry and it was so disappointing and disrespectful.  

 

I thought it was just me but my husband was so frustrated that he wanted to speak to someone to ask for this singer to never be asked to sing it again. I agree. We will put this in our comments. 
 

We got together for a grouo photo.  Then all veterans were invited to speak. A few did and we had to leave for dinner reservations at La Cucina. 

Spoon appetizer of mozzarella and tomato with balsamic vinegar and a salmon appetizer. The tray has shredded red cabbage as a garnish that stuck to the spoon  

[Seas2mountains]

Dinner at La Cucina. 
 

Pretend you see a  Caprese salad  and a Mixed Green salad with Gorgonzola cheese and pears.  Forgot to take photo until after a few bites. 
 

Main course. 
 

Pizza for my husband and Osso Bucco for me. 

The staff was constantly in motion getting orders and delivering food and drinks. Everything was delicious. 
 

Dessert. Gelato for me and Tiramisu for my husband. 

No complaints. Service and food were excellent. 

[Seas2mountains]

Some sail away photos from Hilo. 
 

 

[YVRteacher]

I need a bigger heart emoji to like all your posts and gorgeous photos. Thank you so much for sharing. You are making another cruise on the PoA look tempting!

 

Does the Cadillac diner still have the brownie ice cream dessert?