Pride of Aloha December 3 Review

[Jolie]

:) :o First, let me thank everyone on this site who gave us such great advice and suggestions to make our Hawaiian Cruise such a success!

 

We set sail on the Pride of Aloha on December 3rd, out of Honolulu. We arrived to the port about 1.5 hours before the ship was to leave, secondary to Continental Airlines having engine trouble with our plane in Houston and delaying our flight by five hours (yikes!). Due to us being so late, this meant that we sailed through embarkation without having to stand in line. When we boarded the ship, our concierge was there to meet us and take us directly to our penthouse suite. We stayed in Penthouse Room #8202. It was beautiful and very large for accommodations aboard a ship. We had a separate shower and separate tub with Le’ Occitane toiletries, flat screen / low profile TV, DVD Player and stereo, bathrobes, a small eating table, sofa, plenty of storage, and a huge deck / balcony! Our concierge showed us all of the amenities of the room and told us to call him morning or night with anything that could make our trip better. He introduced us to our butler and he was there to help us with stocking our fridge with our favorite drinks, and providing us with anything we needed as far as food, towels, etc. We took the suggestions from fellow members of this web site and went ahead and tipped the concierge $100 and the butler $75 on the first night (we tipped them a little more on the last day too). This was an excellent suggestion and provided us with many amenities that our friends did not receive that were staying in the penthouse above us with the same concierge and butler! We received special desserts each night from our concierge and butler including such items as chocolate dipped strawberries, chocolate macadamia nut clusters, fresh fruit, wine, etc.

 

Two of our friends stayed in the penthouse #9202 directly above us. Their room was a little smaller than our, but had a tiny side room that was only big enough for 1 bunk bed. They used this for luggage storage and as an extra closet. The big difference between the rooms were the size of the deck / balcony. Ours was huge and their was about ½ the size of ours. Therefore, we used our balcony for evening get-togethers and private sunbathing. Both balconies had a large teak table with four teak chairs and then two teak lounge chairs. The only difference was that on our balcony, everything was spread out and roomy, while #9202 was cramped together.

 

Before we left for this trip, I had read a lot of negative reviews about this ship and the American Crew. However, we were quite pleased with the American staff and never had any problems. The opposite was true, the crew seemed to go of their way to make sure we were happy, had everything we needed, said Hi while passing in the hall, waiting on us very courteously in the dining rooms, etc. We had absolutely no complaints with the crew.

 

Yes, the ship is a little bit older, but it is kept very clean and in immaculate shape. The decor is completely Hawaiian so it really makes you feel in the spirit of the islands. One thing we did notice, and we are frequent cruisers, is although the crew states that there are stabilizers on this ship...it rocked way more than any other we have been on. So, if you are prone to motion sickness, bring along your Dramamine and let the ship rock you to sleep each night! The crew said it was rough because of the strength of the Pacific Ocean, but we were not sailing the open waters of the Pacific Ocean, we were only sailing around the inter islands. No big deal though!

 

FYI: There is a hot-tub located on the top deck at the very front of the ship that barely any body knows about or uses. So, if you are wanting to have a little less crowd, but still get cocktail waiters and waitresses to serve you, try this hang out. Behind the hot tub, there is also a pretty waterfall feature that is a cooling pool (but it is very cold!).

 

For touring the islands, we rented all of our cars from Thrifty. With the advice from this site, we rented through "discountcarrentals.com" as they had the best prices. We also signed up for the "Blue Chip" program which was one of the best recommendations ever! Instead of having to stand in a line of 20-30 people for 30 minutes to an hour, we just walked right up tho the Blue Chip line and literally got our car in 5 minutes! This is a must to do before you get to Hawaii!

 

Nawiliwili~Monday

Rented car with Thrifty.

 

Ate Breakfast at a local eatery on the way to Poipu.

Drove around island and explored beaches.

 

Went "Snuba" diving on Lawai Beach in Poipu, which we booked on our own directly with Snuba of Kauai (808-823-8912) for $60 per person. This was fabulous and we will definitely do this again some time. It is great for beginners as well as experienced snorkelers / divers. What a beautiful area to see such beautiful fish and reefs. We even got a DVD sent to our house, which was waiting for us when we got home, that showed us Snuba Diving (the guide takes along an under water video camera).

 

We drove around the island some more and explored certain areas the Revealed books recommended.

 

Went to Smiths tropical Luau in the evening, which we booked on our own directly with Smiths (808-821-6895) for $62.40 per person. The grounds were beautiful, but there was not a beach for the luau. Instead, the buffet was served in a pavilion and the luau was held in a separate pavilion with water features. It was nice and fun, but nothing spectacular. You must do a luau at least once in your life, but it might of been more fun actually on a beach. This is a good option though and very well run and organized.

 

Nawilili~Tuesday

Returned car in morning.

 

Had massages on the ship. Very nice although the spa accommodations aren’t as nice as on other ships.

 

Ate dinner at Pacific Heights Specialty Restaurant. This was not one of our favorites and we did not return to this restaurant later in the week. This is one that we felt we could have passed on.

 

Hilo~Wednesday

Rented car with Thrifty.

 

Drove to Volcano National Park in the morning. Drove around the park , then had lunch at their snack bar that overlooked the huge crater. You could eat at the same location at their buffet, but we just wanted hot dogs, sandwiches, etc.

 

Then we drove through the park and went to Punala’s Black Sand Turtle Beach. This was beautiful. We walked around the black sand beach and took pictures of the enormous sea turtles that had come ashore to warm up on the black sand.

 

Returned our car at around 5:00 PM.

 

Ate at Kahili Italian Specialty Restaurant. This was delicious. Must try the 40 cloves of Garlic Shrimp Scampi and the "Prepared at your Table" Caesars salad. Yummy! And worth the extra surcharge!

 

Kaiua-Kona~Thursday

Took the morning ship excursion "Captain Zodiac’s Snorkel Tour". This was a blast! I am 35 years old and loved every minute of this excursion. Our guide was born and raised in Kona, so he was very thorough with his knowledge of the island, which was a great way to learn some of the history of Kona. Yes, the ride is on a Navy Seals type raft which makes is very bumpy, but that is part of the fun of this excursion. The snorkeling was magnificent and probably the best out of all the places we tried. The fish and the reefs were gorgeous and it felt like you were swimming in an aquarium! FYI: There are absolutely no restrooms while on this excursion. I would highly recommend this excursion, unless you have back problems or pregnant. On our way back to the ship, we even ran into dolphins which our guide would turn around and let them play in the wake from our raft! Beautiful!

 

When we got back to the port, we spent the afternoon eating and shopping at the local town. You don’t really need to rent a car here, unless you want to. The shops and restaurants are all right there when you get off of the ship.

 

Ate at Royal Palm Bistro Specialty Restaurant. This was worth the extra surcharge and we would have eaten here again if we would have had the time. Must try the chocolate fondue! Yummy!

 

Kahului~Friday

Rented a car with Thrifty.

 

Explore beaches and island on our own and at our own pace! Drove to Lahaina which is a great shopping town with great restaurants! Nice beaches too! We went snorkeling at black rock at the Sheraton. There is a very small free parking garage that only has about 30 tiny parking spaces. We were very lucky and had some people leaving as we were pulling in. But there was a line of people waiting on these free spaces as we were leaving. The snorkeling was okay here, but we would not return to snorkel here as there are many other locations that the visibility is much clearer than this one.

 

Although I was a little against going to this show, my husband convinced me to go see Warren and Annabelle’s Magic Show in Lahaina as the Maui Revealed books highly recommended it. We booked this excursion on our own directly with Warren and Annabelle’s (808-667-6244) at $89.28 per person. This rate included two cocktails per person, heavy, heavy appetizers and a dessert. The show was absolutely incredible and Warren was hilarious. They do a lot of audience participation which makes the night even more memorable. I would recommend this to anyone over the age of 21.

 

Kahului~Saturday

Explored more of the island and beaches.

 

Took Road To Hana. Stopped to look at waterfalls. What a fun road trip. Very, very winding roads. Make sure you like to drive winding roads before this trip. We had a blast. Less crowded early in the mornings than after lunch time.

 

Returned our car and went back to the ship.

 

Spent the afternoon at the hot tub and pool and enjoyed cocktails!

 

Ate in the main dining room for dinner. The food was good tonight and the service was fabulous.

 

Honolulu~Sunday

Booked the Pearl Harbor Excursion through the ship which meant we met at a certain time, and took a very nice tour bus to Pearl Harbor, USS Arizona and USS Missouri. Since we booked this 6+ hour excursion through the ship, our luggage was put on the same bus as us and stayed with our group the entire time. Pearl Harbor is a must for everyone to do once in their lifetime. What a great history lesson for people of all ages. After our tour of Pearl Harbor and the city of Honolulu, the tour bus dropped us of at the airport around 4:00PM. Since our luggage was on our bus, we just picked it up and went directly into the airport. It couldn’t have been any easier and convenient!

 

As with most of the cruise lines, the food has been slowly declining in quality over the past few years. This was the same here. It was decent, but nothing to brag about. The buffets in the mornings and at lunch were good, but typical of other ships. The specialty restaurants do allow you to get more of a gourmet meal, which is a nice option.

 

Lots of people said to shop at Hilo Hatties. To us, this was just like any other tourist shop, but the prices were a little high. Instead, we took the advice from this website and went to Wal-mart and K-mart for souvenirs of Macadamia Nuts, Monkey Wood platters and bowls, t-shirts, etc. Even though we dreaded the thought of going to these huge retail chains while in Hawaii, we saved a tremendous amount of money for souvenirs so we made ourselves go there. Most of the ports have free shuttles to Wal-Mart and K-mart that run back and forth throughout the day.

 

Be sure to buy the Hawaii "Revealed" books as they really do a great job of getting you around the islands!

 

Please feel free to email us with any questions you may have! Our email is AQUILINEEYE@aol.com. I know there are lots of things we are missing, but our minds are going blank right now!

 

Thanks,

Anne and Bill:)

[Retired not Expired]

Thanks for the review. Four weeks from today we will be getting on-board this cruise for the second time. We enjoyed it the first time and sure we will again. So happy you did too.

[CruisinMK]

thanks for writing about that.

I'd like to try this ship someday.

[yancycruiser]

Thanks Anne and Bill for taking time to post. We leave on the Pride of Aloha in four days out of Mau. We plan to eat in both the main dining rooms and have several nights in the speciality restaurants. Can you recall which nights are the best for eating in the main dining rooms? January 11 is our anniversary and I plan to reserve the speciality restaurant for that night. From your review it appears that the Royal Palm Bistro was your favorite.

 

Also, can you look at one of your Freestyle daily and tell me the phone numbers to call to reserve the speciality restaurants as well as the Palace and Crossings Restaurantss? I plan to make all dinner reservations as soon as I board the ship.

 

Again, thanks for posting an excellent review.

[Jolie]

Don,

 

The only night we ate in the main dining room was on Saturday. The dinner was just fine that night.

 

I don't have the Freestyle Papers because we were fortunate to get a Penthouse Room for the price of a balcony and our concierge made all of our reservations for us. But, most other people we talked to said that when they got on the ship, they made their reservations right then for the specialty restaurants and didn't have a problem getting them booked for the week. Remember that this is a down time for tourism in Hawaii and the ship probably won't be at full capacity, which is nice too!

 

Thanks,

Anne and Bill

[yancycruiser]

Thanks Anne and Bill for your quick response and additional information. If you can think of anything else that will be helpful, please let me know. We are in the process of packing now. What better way to start off a new year.

We will be staying on Maui for an additional six days after returning from the cruise. A great way to celebrate our 43rd anniversary.

 

Best to you both,

[yancycruiser]

Double Post

[Jolie]

Sorry, I didn't take any pictures of the cabin! WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!

 

Sorry again!