Pride of Hawaii, Pride of America, or Pride of Aloha?

[niki1785]

My fiance and I will be getting married in September of 2007. We both want to go to Hawaii on a honeymoon and I would love to cruise. Can anyone recommend a specific ship... either Pride of Hawaii, Pride of America, or Pride of Aloha? Which one is the newest? Prettiest? Etc... I could use all the info. I can get, as I don't know much about any of them!

 

Thanks in advance for all of your help!:)

[zimmerjulie]

Pride of Hawai'i is the newest. She just had her inaugural sailing this month. I think she is beautiful. Here is a link to my pictures

Pride of Hawai'i Photos

Pride of America is a new ship, too, and very unique, having no sister ships, etc. She had her inaugural last July. She has an American theme throughout much of the ship. I think it is very well done. The Napa Wine bar is one of my favorite rooms on any cruise ship. I'll put up my pictures of that ship, also, and link later in this thread. There are some wonderful photos out there!

 

I really enjoyed the American crews, also. It was neat to have friendly people all around, some from my own home-town.

 

I haven't been on the Pride of Aloha. She is an older ship, formerly the "Norwegian Sky" that has been refurbished and re-crewed for the all-Hawai'i sailings.

 

The itineraries that these ships have are so port-intensive that it will be a bit different than the usual cruise. No "at sea" days to relax on the ship, enjoy the activities and fellow passengers. But in exchange, there's HAWAI'I and a chance to spend 7 days exploring there!

[CruisinMK]

I also did both pride of America and Pride of Hawaii, think both ships are beautiful. I don't know one way or the other about Pride of Aloha, but they did just fix it up last month. I liked the pool setup on POH, but you're in port every day so it might not matter to you much.

[Don Haynes]

They are all wonderful ships. Pride of Hawaii and Pride of Aloha have wonderful Hawaiian decor, the Pride of America has an American decor.

[bonvoyagie]

Been on the Sky now PoA - it is a nice ship, the smallest of the three and the oldest. It has had its problems recently with both mechanical and illness issues. Both should be well behind them by Sept. The floor to ceiling atrium is a sight to see. Nice forward facing lounge.

 

Sailed on the PoAM 5/20/06 - nice ship, still new, nice decor. Yes it is an american theme - the colors are red white and blue in the public areas and orange and blue in the rooms. There are huge mural photos in the stairwells that cover several landmarks in the USA. This ship is bigger than the PoA but having three stairwells/elevators makes getting from deck to deck easier. There are more open deck areas on this ship compared to the PoA. It also lacks a forward facing lounge that the PoA has. PoAM also has more mini suites that are between the standard stateroom and full penthouse or owners suites. The perks of a suite are well worth the extra cost.

 

The PoH is the largest and newest ship, it is Hawaian Themed like the PoA. I have no experience with it.

 

Service on all three ships seems to be the biggest complaint on these boards. I understand that NCLA is haveing lots of problems with getting, training, and keeping enough crew to staff all three ships. During my PoAM cruise the PoA was in drydock and several of the crew that I talked with were from the PoA and were going back to her when she returned - or not renew thier contracts and go back home. The crew was always friendly and were doing their best to make us happy. Now that all three ship are running, I suspect that the crews are split between the three ships and all are suffering.

 

We also ran into several honeymooners on our cruise. Most had bought the honeymoon package or romance package and were living it up.

 

My pick would be the PoAM - not to old, not to new, but just right.

[MizzouMary]

Pride of Hawai'i is the newest. She just had her inaugural sailing this month. I think she is beautiful. Here is a link to my pictures

Pride of Hawai'i Photos

Pride of America is a new ship, too, and very unique, having no sister ships, etc. She had her inaugural last July. She has an American theme throughout much of the ship. I think it is very well done. The Napa Wine bar is one of my favorite rooms on any cruise ship. I'll put up my pictures of that ship, also, and link later in this thread. There are some wonderful photos out there!

 

I really enjoyed the American crews, also. It was neat to have friendly people all around, some from my own home-town.

 

I haven't been on the Pride of Aloha. She is an older ship, formerly the "Norwegian Sky" that has been refurbished and re-crewed for the all-Hawai'i sailings.

 

The itineraries that these ships have are so port-intensive that it will be a bit different than the usual cruise. No "at sea" days to relax on the ship, enjoy the activities and fellow passengers. But in exchange, there's HAWAI'I and a chance to spend 7 days exploring there!

 

Great pictures! Thanks for posting the menus. They are very helpful in determining ahead of time where we would like to dine.

 

Thanks again!

[Shippy]

My husband and I have never been to to Hawaii but have cruised many, many times.

We started out with a room with a port hole, then larger window. After awhile we went for a balcony. There is no turning back !

OK>>>I am now spoiled>>>

The problem with the newer ships that advertise they have a lot of balcony rooms, is that the rooms are miniture ! There are many sites where you can actually look at the room. I never book now without doing that.

It appeared to me that on the other Hawaii ships, the rooms were all tiny or were the big suites which I could not afford. There did not seem to be anything in the middle. The Pride of Hawaii has a very affordable mini-suite catagory. That is what we booked for our 7/31/06 cruise.

I don't care what other people say about the fact that you are not in your room very much.....I want some space. I want to be able to have room for 2 people to comfortably be able to sit either in the room or out on the balcony and enjoy breakfast, cocktail or whatever.

[dawndelion]

I'm also trying to decide which ship to take for our Oct 07 honeymoon. They all are around the same price and have the same port stops. Can someone tell me which ship would offer more dining choices without having to pay the specialty fee? I'd like a good variety without breaking the bank. TIA