Pride of America 4/7 Review Part 2 - The Ship

[BeachLuvrBC]

Aloha! Here is Part 2 of my review, which focuses on the Pride of America 4/7/07 sailing. This was our first cruise and first trip to Hawaii (husband, daughter (15), sons (11 & 6), my mom, and myself).

Last fall, we were pressured to use our mileage so we decided the 6 free tix to Hawaii was the way to go. We also earned one free night at Marriott so that worked out well for us too. We decided to do a cruise as a floating hotel to avoid additional air travel, airports, and luggage. The Pride of America fit our itinerary and I booked immediately without further consideration. After I booked, I found CC accidentally when looking for more info on POAm. I read some not so great reviews and was nervous. So I warned my family that this cruise would have bad food, bad service and dirty cabins, but it will be the easiest way to get around the islands. These are our experiences and opinions.

Embarkation – No problems here. We dropped off the rental at Ala Moana Hertz, showed our IDs, got our cards and got on the ship. We had some lunch the Aloha Café and hung out at the pool and broke in our cards for some drinks. Cabins were ready and luggage delivered with plenty of time to shower and change before a 6pm dinner reservation (which, was made the previous day at the NCL office at the Marriott.) We were not able to pre-register at the NCL office because we did not book the Marriott through NCL.

Cabins – We booked two connecting balcony cabins (7670,7672), with 3 people in each cabin. We were glad we booked the balcony cabins, because even though we only sailed at night, that added space and comfy chairs really made the cabin more comfortable for us. The connecting cabins were also more convenient for the 6 of us. The doorway between the two rooms also gave the illusion of more space and saved us from walking in and out of the hallway. We now know that an interior cabin would be impossible for us and a balcony is necessary. FYI- it is not possible to pass to the balcony when the sofa bed is open, but it does push in easily like a trundle.

The cabin was clean and neat. We always had fresh towels and plenty of pillows. None of thee towel animals I’ve read about, but we didn’t expect or need that. When we passed the ladies (stewards?) in the hallways, they were all very nice and always asked if we needed anything.

These cabins were very efficient. There were little storage areas everywhere, including a medicine cabinet in bathroom that I didn’t notice until Day 3. The luggage, and there was lots of it, all fit under the beds. I didn’t unpack everything all at once. I’ve learned when traveling with more than just my husband and myself to pack by day. For example: suitcase 1 had clothes for all of us for first 3 days in Honolulu; suitcase 2 had for next 3-4 days; etc. So I immediately put the dirty clothes from pre-cruise in a suitcase under the bed, and still kept a suitcase with clean clothes for last few days under a bed and rotated in the drawers and closets as needed. It’s really easier and much more efficient than it sounds. Anyway, there was plenty of storage by doing it this way.

The shower was pretty tight for my large husband. He couldn’t move at all when in there. My kids thought that it was convenient that you could sit on the toilet and brush your teeth at the same time (lol).

We did have a problem when the toilets did not work. They wouldn’t flush overnight and the next morning. We had called, and apparently someone flushed something they shouldn’t have because our whole section of the ship was not flushing. Everyone had to use a public toilet during night and morning. It was fixed when we were in port the next day. I would have thought they could have fixed it overnight, but they didn’t or couldn’t. This was the biggest complaint/problem we found on the ship. I guess they can’t help it if someone decides to flush a shoe!

Food – Okay, here’s the deal. We are Italians from New Jersey….WE LOVE FOOD! We live less than 15 miles from Manhattan and if a restaurant does not serve good food, it will not stay in business. We are spoiled and we know it. We read the reviews for the POA, we prepared ourselves for the worst. We will say that overall the food was okay, we adapted, but needed a pasta fix as soon as we landed in Newark. lol

We ate at the Aloha Café for breakfasts and a few lunches which were good. It could be quite hectic to go from station to station, but it is a buffet. There was always something we liked (omelets, banana bread, fruit, salad) it’s hard to mess up breakfast. We were always able to find a table, usually outside on deck which was our preference. They were out of coffee mugs for a while one morning which was not good. I also would have liked to have more fresh and exotic fruits beyond the melons and pineapple. Oh, and our coffee drinkers didn’t like the coffee on the ship. Overall it was okay.

We ate at Teppanyaki the first night. Everything was delicious, and everyone enjoyed their meal. The kids were amazed to be at a hibatchi table on a boat and it was newer and cleaner than the one we go to at home. They even gave my younger son a 2nd filet mignon, because he loved it and didn’t eat anything else. The food and service was excellent, worth the cover charge. This was our favorite dinner on the ship.

We ate at East Meets West one night. Everything was very good and we enjoyed good service. We loved the banana wonton, but only one per person allowed!

Also enjoyed Lazy J, the food and service were good, loved the banana flambé!

Cadillac Diner – We ate here for lunch once and the soup and burgers were good. There is a very limited menu, which kind of stinks because this is the only place you can get food after 9:30pm. The brownie sundae makes a nice snack if you are hungry at 10pm. (I see a pattern with dessert)

Skyline and Liberty – Basically the same restaurant with different décor. Once seated the service was okay, not outstanding. They gave us our drinks and our food, no mistakes with our orders. Even if they did, it’s not like that doesn’t happen elsewhere. The portions are small, but designed so that if you have an appetizer, soup, salad, entrée, and dessert it is enough food. We were satisfied, but not stuffed and rolling off our chair (I said we are Italians from NJ and like to eat, lol).

We found the menu choices to be a little odd. For example Easter night in Skyline one choice was filet mignon and lamb in the same entrée, yuck, why mix? On our last night of the cruise, we ate in Skyline and apparently had a new waiter. We sat for almost ½ hour before we got our sodas. My husband mentioned to Maitre D’ and he personally ensured we received the rest of our meal in a timely manner. Of course that same night, another waitress spilled coffee ice cream on me, but I guess that happens.

The whole Freestyle concept is great, in concept only. We didn’t think it worked well. My husband becomes very impatient when we have to wait to be seated at any restaurant, so he was very irritated by this. We saw that most people found it frustrating to have to wait to be seated (up to 1 hour on lobster night). The reservations are accepted up to 1 day in advance, but were booked quickly. Our East Meets West reservation was for 9pm, I ate with my sleeping son in my arms. Yes, there’s always the buffet, but after eating there for breakfast and lunch, we wanted a nice sit-down meal.

So overall in terms of meals, the food is good. We thought specialty restaurants were worth the surcharge, if you can get reservations to get in. Be prepared to wait for the main dining rooms. The service once seated is good. Emphasis, GOOD NOT EXCEPTIONAL. Oh yeah, we didn’t get into Little Italy, and I can tell you, my family was dying for some pasta/Italian food towards the middle of this trip. We were experiencing pasta withdrawal! lol

Kids/Teen Clubs – My daughter (15) hates to fly and hates boats (fear). So we took an 11 hour non-stop flight to a cruise ship and she was not happy! We talked her into checking out the teen club on the first night and we are all glad she did. She met lots of other teens onboard and spent most of her time with them. By the end of the cruise she actually admitted that it “wasn’t that bad”, which of course means she enjoyed it. She even said that the other kids said some other cruise lines are better, and maybe, she would be willing to do one of them. This was a major success!

My sons (11 & 6) loved the Kids Club. They had a ton of fun and even wanted to grab a quick dinner at the buffet instead of dinner with us, so they could spend the nights at the club. That was fine with us! My older son enjoyed playing Survivor with face paints and everything. Another success!

Shore Excursions – We did 3 NCL excursions. All 6 of us did the Body Glove in Kona. It was fabulous. Mom and I did 2 alone - The Waimea Canyon on Kauai and Haleakala Crater on Maui. The excursions themselves were very well run and organized. The tour guides were knowledgeable. My only complaint here is with the accessibility of the Shore Excursion Staff. They have very limited hours at the excursion desk and that makes it very difficult to make or change plans. I used the drop-in box, but they were only able to accommodate ½ of my party. I think they need to have someone at that desk from 7:30am to 10pm daily, it had inconsistent hours all week. In the end, I didn’t get exactly what I wanted, but I’m happy with what I did. I wasn’t charged for any double bookings on their part either.

Ship’s Medical Center – My son has asthma and has had no symptoms for a year. Three weeks before our trip, he had pneumonia and it cleared up quickly. Of course shortly after landing in Honolulu, he started with the cough. When we were in Hilo, he was getting worse even with respiratory meds I took with me. I took him to the ship’s doc, Dr. Hershfield. At this point, he had a low grade fever and the doctor actually believed me when I said it wasn’t a virus, and thought the pneumonia was back. I appreciated Dr. Hershfield for listening to his past medical history and not brushing it off as a virus, as doctors have done in the past. He prescribed some antibiotics and said if he didn’t improve he had the facilities to do a chest x-ray. Well, my little guy was perfectly fine by later that night we were all able to enjoy the rest of the trip. Kudos to Dr. Hershfield. Of course there’s the $135 bill for visit and meds that my insurance isn’t going to pay, but that’s a small cost for my son’s health.

Easy Fly – If you are eligible for the Easy Fly program and plan to do something on Oahu before your flight, I highly recommend Easy Fly. At first we thought $20 p/p was a bit too much for the 6 of us, but it was worth it. Our boarding passes were printed and delivered the day before our flight. We left our bags outside our cabin like everyone else and didn’t see them again until we landed in Newark. A few of my bags were overweight, if I checked them at the airport I would have been charged $25 per bag by the airline. Easy Fly had no excess weight fees and we didn’t have to drag them around all day until our 9:30pm flight.

Just a note, I felt the public rooms were pretty chilly. They had the air conditioner pumping high. My husband loved it, but I couldn’t wear any of my cute skirts or light tops. I was always looking for the warmest things I had. I heard many other people comment on how cold it was inside. With the wind and no sun, the decks were pretty chilly at night too.

Also, we felt that we had very good service overall. We took the time to talk with different crew members and they were all very pleasant and eager to please. Our biggest complaint was trying to get in to dinner somewhere. Once inside, service was fine.

Overall, the best thing about this trip was the beauty of Hawaii. That was really the whole point here. The cruise was good, not horrible, not spectacular, just good. I would go to Hawaii again, as a land trip and stay in Kauai and Maui. I would cruise again, with a ship that has better reviews and maybe a suite for more room. I hope this helps others as previous postings have helped me. I will try to answer any questions as well. Mahalo to CC and Aloha!

[DebraDot]

Thank you for the thorough review. I made notes, especially about easy fly - I didn't know about avoiding the weight restriction fees.

 

Also, I appreciate the info about the teen program. I am on a different NCLA ship, but it is nice to know they have a good teen program. I haven't been able to gather very much information about it.

 

Thanks!

[Bettyboop66]

Thanks for the rest of the review. I am looking forward to my cruise. I've noticed that several people have mentioned having trouble with commodes flushing. I hope that this isn't something that I have to look forward to.

[wmbjr]

BeachluvrBC

 

Mahalo for the GREAT review. We will be on the PofAm in June and are sooo looking forward to it. We will be traveling with a very similar demographic to your group. We will have my son (16), daughter (6), Wife, and her two parents. I do have a couple of questions for when you have some time.

 

You mentioned dropping the rental off at the Ala Moana Hertz location. Is it close enough to drop people off at the pier, then drop off the car and walk back to the pier location without being totally exhausted? Also, I know the Mariott has a Hertz location, did you rent at the hotel and drop off at the Ala Moana or not?

 

Did the Teen club have planned activities for the kids or was it mostly just a place for them to meet up/hang out when they were not exploring the remainder of the ship?

 

You mentioned late night snack at the Cadillac diner. Is it open 24hrs or is it just opened later than the other restaurants?

 

Finally, I would love some information about the waimea canyon excursion. We are considering it for the second day in Kauai. Is it on a large bus and do you feel like you are being herded like cattle? Do they take time to stop at the overlooks and let you off the bus for pictures etc? We will probably just rent a car for a second day, but was curious about how the excursion was.

 

MAHALO in advance!

 

WB

[BeachLuvrBC]

BeachluvrBC

 

Mahalo for the GREAT review. We will be on the PofAm in June and are sooo looking forward to it. We will be traveling with a very similar demographic to your group. We will have my son (16), daughter (6), Wife, and her two parents. I do have a couple of questions for when you have some time.

 

You mentioned dropping the rental off at the Ala Moana Hertz location. Is it close enough to drop people off at the pier, then drop off the car and walk back to the pier location without being totally exhausted? Also, I know the Mariott has a Hertz location, did you rent at the hotel and drop off at the Ala Moana or not?

 

Did the Teen club have planned activities for the kids or was it mostly just a place for them to meet up/hang out when they were not exploring the remainder of the ship?

 

You mentioned late night snack at the Cadillac diner. Is it open 24hrs or is it just opened later than the other restaurants?

 

Finally, I would love some information about the waimea canyon excursion. We are considering it for the second day in Kauai. Is it on a large bus and do you feel like you are being herded like cattle? Do they take time to stop at the overlooks and let you off the bus for pictures etc? We will probably just rent a car for a second day, but was curious about how the excursion was.

 

MAHALO in advance!

 

WB

 

Hi WB,

 

We rented the van from the airport location when we landed. There is a Hertz office in the Marriott, but I don't think they had mini-vans available when I tried to book. We returned the van to the Ala Moana Hertz. This the equivalent of about 3 blocks from the pier where POA docks. There is a shuttle that runs between the pier and that office. We dropped off 1/2 the group and the bags at the pier, returned the car, then hopped on the shuttle back to the pier. You could definately walk it with no problem.

 

The teen club had scavenger hunts, dance parties, a movie. It was a place to hang out. If they went off, it was to the diner for a snack. During the day, she would hang out with the kids she met in the Conservatory or at the pool. She's pretty sociable and enjoyed meeting others and having some freedom from us.

 

I think the Cadillac Diner was open from 7am to 3am or something like that. Do you remember the movie with Rodney Dangerfield where the diner was open 23 1/2 hours? Similar.

 

I wanted to book a ship excursion for the second day in Kauai because I didn't want the added hassle of returning the rental car on a short day. I did the Waimea Canyon and it served its purpose. It got us to the canyon and back in time for the ship, stress free. It was a large bus, but wasn't full. We stopped at the Spouting Horn first. Then we only stopped at the one lookout, which is spectacular. We stayed there about 45 minutes. Then, of course, on the way back we stropped at a souvenir store for about 30 minutes. I could have done without this stop.

 

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

[wmbjr]

BeachLuvrBC,

 

Thanks for the wonderful information. I am thrilled to learn the Ala Moana location for Hertz is that close to the pier and that they will let you rent from one and return to the other (I will have to check to see if it costs extra, but probably still worth it). As for the teen club, it sounds perfect for my son. He is also very sociable and will make friends very easily. I have a feeling he will enjoy the cruise. Finally, thanks for the info on the excursion. I was hoping for more stops along the way. I think we will just have to keep teh rental car and do it on our own. Thanks again for the wonderful information.

 

WB

[retired1998]

BeachLuvrBC

 

My DH and I are your neighbors (Staten Island, NY and he is Italian too). Thanks for your review. We are going in August but we took this same cruise 10/05. Your reviews were "right on". We had a suite and our butler was very good. I also do not like the freestyle dining. We took NCL because we just wanted to be in Hawaii instead of going from mainland to Hawaii and being at sea for so many days. This time we will take different excursions. Anyhow, I am still very much looking forward to the cruise. Thanks again for your report.

 

8/99 Alaska Celebrity

8/01 Scandinavia/Russia Princess

1/05 Carribean Celebrity

10/05 Hawaii Norwegian Pride of America

1/07 Panama Canal Celebrity

8/07 Hawaii Norwegian Pride of America

[whale-watcher]

BeachLuvrBC,

 

Thanks for the wonderful information. I am thrilled to learn the Ala Moana location for Hertz is that close to the pier and that they will let you rent from one and return to the other (I will have to check to see if it costs extra, but probably still worth it). ...

BeachLuvrBC...did you use Hertz in the other ports as well?

Thanks!

[TakeMeAway!]

BeachLuvrBC,

I have booked the NCL Waimea Canyon excursion for our May trip....

was the 45 mins. enough time to spend at the canyon? Like you, we also wanted to do a short trip and not worry about making it back to the ship in time.

 

Would you recommend this excursion? or should I look into doing something else? Thanks!

[BeachLuvrBC]

BeachLuvrBC...did you use Hertz in the other ports as well?

Thanks!

 

We used Hertz on Oahu, Hilo, Maui and Kauai b/c they had the best deal through AAA for minivans. The only port where there was a wait was in Hilo. The shuttles in Hilo were full so just my husband went on the shuttle, waited about 15 minutes at the desk, then came back to the port for the rest of us. The other ports we all jumped on the shuttle no problem. All the locations were within 3 miles of the port.

 

 

BeachLuvrBC,

I have booked the NCL Waimea Canyon excursion for our May trip....

was the 45 mins. enough time to spend at the canyon? Like you, we also wanted to do a short trip and not worry about making it back to the ship in time.

 

Would you recommend this excursion? or should I look into doing something else? Thanks!Yesterday 11:31 AM

 

 

Like I said the NCL excursion served its purpose for us. It was a little pricey considering it was purely for transportation. 45 minutes at the lookout was enough time to take plenty of pix, p/u some drinks and dried fruits from a local vendor there and take a bathroom break. We would have been stressed worrying about getting to the ship in time.

 

Hope you enjoy your upcoming trips.

[whale-watcher]

Thanks for the info!