Pride of America review 6/2/07-6/9/07

[Rita1234]

We just returned from our cruise on Pride of America 6/2-6/9. I was very apprehensive about this cruise, as it was my first cruise on Norwegian, and because of all the negative reviews. I was truly surprised by one of the best vacations I have ever had. I absolutely loved the Pride of America, and we had a wonderful time.

 

 

On Saturday morning, we drove to the Aloha Bowl parking lot, paid $1 per person, and went to shopping heaven. There were hundreds of vendors at the Aloha Bowl swap meet, and the prices were cheap. The shell jewelery were 10 for $10, and up. The lava lava's (authentic sarongs without the fringe, made of poly/cotton) were $10, instead of $22 other places. The regular sarongs were 2 for $7, or 1 for $5. Mumu's $15, children's outfits, one place I got 3 outfits for $20. T-shirts 4 for $10 etc. They had everything Hawaiian, the selection was incredible. They have the swap meet every Saturday from 6am-3pm. I saw some advertisements for them having it on Wednesday's and Sunday's too, but I cannot account for the accuracy of that. The swap meet was so much fun, and we bought most of our souverniers there. When we got off the ship on 6/9 we headed straight back for a 2nd round at the swap meet. I just love a good bargain.

 

 

After the swap meet we boarded the Pride of America. Boarding was fast and easy, we were on the ship within 30 minutes. I am currently taking a political science class called the American Founding, so imagine my delight when I walked into the atrium and found a great white marble staircase, and the Seal of the United States on the beautiful floor. I thought the ship was very beautiful. Much nicer than Celebrity's Mercury that we traveled to Alaska on summer 2006.

 

 

The only negative on this cruise was the size of the cabin and uncomfortable beds. We had a balcony cabin on deck 9, and it was small. It is the smallest cabin I have had, comparing to Voyager of the Seas, Mercury, Disney Wonder and Disney Magic. There was a lack of storage space as we were 2 adults, one 15 year old, and one 9 year old in the same cabin. On the other ships you would find all sorts of clever compartments to put stuff away, but not on this ship. But, since that is the only negative element I could find on this cruise, you can imagine what a fantastic trip we had.

This is the ONLY cruise where I regret not bringing a over the door shoe holder to put all our little knick knacks in. This is the only cruise I felt where we could have really used one because of the lack of storage space.

 

 

Some highlights:

*The best stateroom fridge we have ever had. This one worked great, and my Diet Pepsi was always very cold.

*I loved the Liberty dining room. We were always seated quickly, the service was fantastic, and I did not eat anything that was not good. I loved the presidential theme with Dark blue curtains with silver stars, portraits and statues of the founding fathers. It was super. I also liked that most of the tables were 4 person tables, and that we did not have to sit with strangers. Our meals usually took about an hour, never longer, but that may be due to us eating at 6pm right after they opened.

*I really liked the little wheel outside the cabin, which allowed us to let our stateroom attendant know when to make up, or turn down our cabin. Our cabin was clean, and we had a wonderful attendant.

*I liked the Aloha Cafe. The food was always plentiful and good. My 9 year old loved the kids section where they had small tables, and a buffet that was kids size and with kids favorite foods. They even had the hand sanitizer at a low height for the kids. The food was much better on POA than on Mercury. My daughter refused to eat at the buffet on the Mercury after she got slimy sausages and a milk carton with sour milk, despite the expiration date not being reached yet. In the Aloha cafe we never had any issues like that, and the food was fresh and very good.

*Kids clubs were great, and even our shy teenager enjoyed the teen club. The teen club had scavenger hunts and games every night, where the teams were competing against each other. They kept everybody so busy that I never saw teenagers or kids wandering the hallways being bored like I saw on the Mercury. One fun game they did, there is a picture of a US landmark in the staircase on every deck, and they would have the kids find which deck the Hollywood sign was on, then take the number of that deck and detract 3 from it, and the number they came up with would correspond to a letter in the alphabet, and they needed to crack the code. That game kept them busy for hours. I would see them walk around the ship looking for landmarks, laughing and having a great time.

*My 9 year old hasn't met a kids club she didn't like, and she loved the one on POA. She is a very social girl, so she met a lot of friends and had a great time. She loved the activities. The only drawback was the limited free hours. Free hours were 9am-noon, usually we were exploring the island then, 7pm-10pm which is when she would attend. There were some days we were back on the ship for lunch, and she would have like an activity after lunch, but none was available. So instead we went to the pool. She had a great time in the pool.

*I loved the ships library. So I have a paper due on Tuesday, and I choose to do it on the annexation of Hawaii, and there were several books in the library. The librarian was friendly and helpful, and yes I did some research while on vacation. It was interesting though, so I didn't consider it work. The selection of books, new best sellers, and others was great.

*Kukui nut lei making was fun. You get a free set of kukui nuts and they show you how to make a lei. Then you can buy other kits for $10 each if you want different colors. I just make the one lei, and then I went on the Internet and searched for kukui nut strings and found some web sites that sell them cheaper if you want some. It was great fun.

*The on board shops were overpriced, but it was fun browsing in them knowing I was headed back for the swap meet in Honolulu. I did have a on board credit that could not be used towards the tips, so I bought some outfits for that money.

*We did not eat in any of the surcharge restaurants. We always found food on the menu that was good and preferred to eat in the Liberty restaurant. One evening we ate in Little Italy, and it was good. Just make sure to make a reservation. We never made reservations for Liberty.

 

 

I am not going to into the wonderful sights we saw when we got off the ship and went touring. Everything was beautiful, and we just have so many places that were great. My 9 year old loved it when we got off the ship and just went to the beach. The water was crystal clear, and the beaches we went to were clean. We usually found places to rinse off the sand when we were done. In Kauai we took the free shop and beach shuttle to Anchor Cove and just played on the beach for hours.

 

 

It was great to have free shuttles to Wall-Mart, and the other stores. This is the first cruise where I did not stress about forgetting something at home, because I knew we could run up to Wall-Mart and get it.

 

 

In Honolulu, if you have time, I would recommend the Arizona Memorial and the Aquarium. And of course the Aloha bowl Swap meet.

 

 

When in port, if you are hungry, look for a plate lunch place where you can get Teriyaki beef/chicken, potato salad, and rice for between $6-$7. This is where you see a lot of the locals eat.

 

 

I will travel with Norwegian again in a heart beat. If I want something a little more formal I would recommend Royal Caribbean. My kids kind of got lost in the kids club on Disney, so I am not sold on Disney because of that. The only cruise I would not recommend is the Celebrity's Mercury.

 

 

Seeing the Lava flow and the Napali coast from our ship was incredible. We were on the port (left) side of the ship, and had the most time at the Napali coast. When we had the view the ship's speed was at a crawl, later when we turned and the starboard (right) side got the view, it was dinner time, and the ship was going faster. So try for a port side cabin.

[PDAZ]

Glad to hear you had a great time! Also glad that you posted some info on the kids clubs -- there's often questions about the programs on this and the Hawaii forums, and most of us can't answer them.

[Zeno]

nice to hear that you had a good time! I think that parents will find some of the kid's club info you posted to be especially useful.

[Rita1234]

The first night the kids played the Cold Wind Blows, name game and got to know each other.

 

My 9-year old's favorite activities were the following:

 

Pirate night - They dressed up as pirates, painted their faces and they went around the ship singing songs, taking their picture on a surf board, other fun activities.

 

Sports night - They met up on the sports deck and had activities there.

 

Survivor night - Where they played the game survivor and had to walk the plank and try not to get eaten by the alligators.

 

Pajama night - Last night when they came in their pajamas, brought pillows and had pillow fights.

 

Meet the Captain night - They met several of the officers onboard and had their pictures taken with them. They learned about keeping the oceans and the environment clean, and had lots of fun.

 

On the last night the kids club offered pictures that they had taken during the activities, and they were 1/2 price of the other pictures onboard. My favorite is of my daughter dressed like a pirate, with painted face, standing on a surfboard making a scary face, and they have photoshopped a wave behind her. It is soo cute, and she loved it.

-----

One night the 15 year old and some of the other people on her team came into our cabin looking for items. They were on a scavenger hunt, and would win prizes. They had so much fun. I liked how they got divided into teams, and everybody seemed to participate in the games. This is probably the most fun I have seen for teenagers. On Royal, Disney, and Celebrity I did not see the teens participate as much as I did on Norwegian. The teen we had is a very shy, and the teen club managed to pull her out of her shell. Not that that will happen with everyone that participates, but I really think the staff on Norwegian did a great job with the teens and the kids.

[Rita1234]

One thing I forgot to mention, that I loved. At the sailaway they had crew walking around giving real flower lei's to the women. When all the women had their lei's they gave the rest to the men. Later in the week when I ate at the buffet, staff members walked around and said Thank you for eating at the Aloha Cafe, and they gave us flower lei's again. I really enjoyed the scent of the lei's, and it added to the festive athmosphere.

[jd10367]

We are thinking of taking a 7 night cruise next year. I would love to see the lava flow. Is that something that comes with all itinaries? Or is it something specific to look for ?

[Navy Sub Vet]

Thanks for the great review. I had a request for some information early but this was really informative. We will be cruising on 6/23/07 on the Pride of America with a 16 years old. We will be arriving on Honolulu the day before and will visit the swap meet on Saturday morning like you did. Only 4 more days. Thanks again. Navy Sub Vet.

[rebeljohn]

Enjoyed reading your review.............thanks for posting it..........

[MommyJamiex4]

Thanks for the review!!! ALthough we are not taking the kids along this time, it's great to know that they will all have a great time on the next one. What ages do the clubs start at? Our youngest two will be 4 for the next cruise.

 

Thanks!

 

PS- I am so excited about getting a lei at sailaway!!

[mafran]

I wan t to thank you for your review. I have been lurking here for a while now getting all the information I can regarding the Pride of America. I am soooooooo looking forward to cruising this Nov. My husband And I will be on our second cruise. :cool:

[AZcruisegirl]

Thank you so much for your review. It was great! I am sailing on POA on 8/4/07 with my DH and 2 DD's, ages 8 and 13. Do glad to hear about the kids programs. It sounds like a lot of fun! This will be our third NCL cruise and my kids have ALWAYS enjoyed the kids program.

 

Where is the swap meet/Aloha Bowl you are talking about and is it right near the pier? Would love to go...

 

Also, how was the food in Little Italy?

 

Thanks again and hope you completed your paper successfully:)

[Don Haynes]

It appears the service in the dining rooms wasn't too slow for your family, and the lines weren't too long either. It also appears the cleaniness and upkeep of your cabins was satisfactory. Thanks for your wonderful review.

 

A more interesting story you might check into for your next report would be how the United States of America ended up with American Samoa....

[Rita1234]

To get to the Aloha Bowl, follow the signs to the Arizona Memorial, then continue straight instead of going into the memorial, and you will see a sign for the Aloha Bowl. From the highway we also saw signs for the Aloha Bowl. I think the Aloha Bowl is the biggest football stadium on the the island, but I am not sure. It is not near the pier, took us probably 20 minutes to drive there from the pier area.

 

Don! I did get an A in my American Foundation class, and it tied in perfectly with being on the Pride of America. I will check out how America ended up with America Samoa. History is so interesting.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful cruise like we did. This is the only cruise I have considered repeating instead of just picking a new destination, because I enjoyed it so much.

 

The food in Little Italy was ok. I love Tiramisu, and found theirs dry. On other cruises I have had better. But overall their food was good.

 

Rita

[cal101]

Rita1234

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to post your review of the Pride of America, I really enjoyed reading it and found it very helpful. We will be on the 8/4/07 cruise and are really looking forward to it.

 

AZcruisegirl - looks like we will be onboard with you. There are a few of us over on the roll call board, please come and join us. Have you decided on your shore excursions yet?

[judyf]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review.

[Coolmama_1]

I enjoyed your review. We have never cruised NCL but would consider it. Thanks for sharing.

[joy1rn]

Hi Rita,

You mentioned diet pepsi in your frig. How did you bring that on board? My husband and I drink a lot of diet coke and don't want to buy a soda card. We had hoped to bring on diet coke. We are sailing on the Pride of America Sept.1 for our 25th anniversary and can't wait!!!

[ohioNCLcruiser]

Glad you enjoyed the cruise!

[wmbjr]

Hi Rita,

You mentioned diet pepsi in your frig. How did you bring that on board? My husband and I drink a lot of diet coke and don't want to buy a soda card. We had hoped to bring on diet coke. We are sailing on the Pride of America Sept.1 for our 25th anniversary and can't wait!!!

 

 

I am obviously not Rita, but I will relay our experience. We brought several kinds of soda on board (I am a huge Diet Mountain Dew fan) without incident. In Honolulu, we put them in our carry-on bags and had no problem. They searched the bags, but did not even mention the drinks. Several people in our group had put them in the checked luggage. One bag made it through fine. The other ended up in the naughty room, but when they opened it and it was just Pepsi, they were allowed to leave and take their drinks with them.

 

We brought them on at several of the ports. In Kona, I literally walked on holding the six pack in my hand. No problems whatsoever and one person told us to enjoy our Dew.

 

William

[Rita1234]

We picked up some Diet Pepsi and other soft drinks at Kmart in Honolulu, then I put them in my suitcase in a plastic bag, and the suitcase and my Diet Pepsi was delivered to my cabin later on that night.

 

I know some people on this board thinks it is tacky, but I brought a can of Diet Pepsi to the dining room every night, and the waiter usually asked me if I wanted a glass of ice, or I just asked them to bring me a glass of ice and poured my Diet Pepsi in it. It was never an issue. When I ran out of Diet Pepsi later on in the cruise, I picked up some more at WalMart in Maui, and carried it onboard in a shopping bag. No problem at all.

 

I also bought beach toys at WalMart, and when we went to the beach my daughter had something to play with. The last day we went to the beach, when we were done playing with them I asked another family there with kids if they wanted the toys since I was going to throw them away, and their little girl wanted the bucket and shovel, so I got to pass them on. I bought some beach mats for $1.25 each, and I liked them so much I brought them back to Utah as I haven't seen them here. I loved sitting on the mats at the beach, and not getting my towels or other stuff full of sand. They were easy to roll up and stick in the overhead compartment on the flight home.

 

One of the things I started doing a few years ago was to collect coffee mugs from every place we went. I prefer souverniers that I can use. At WalMart again they had lots of inexpensive souverniers including the mug I got. It has a all the islands and their names on it, plus some other decorations. As I am sipping my tea from it right now I enjoy looking at it and remember what we did on each island. I think I paid $4 for it, and it is something I touch every day, which brings my thoughts back to the wonderful experience we had.

 

The only thing we missed out on was the tubing experience on Kauai. If you are thinking about that excursion, book it BEFORE you leave for your trip. We were put on the wait list, and unfortunately did not get to go on it. I guess we will have to go back to Kauai soon so we can do the tubing.

 

JoyRN! I assume you are a RN. I am in nursing school right now, and will soon have my RN as well. I enjoyed Kauai so much I am planning to looking into becoming a travel nurse and contracting in Hawaii, preferably Kauai when I have some years of experience under my belt. That is how much I enjoyed it there.

[VegasK]

My party is on PoAm 8/4 with 2 girls, both 9, a boy age 7, a boy age 3 and a girl age 2. Loved the info. I know the three older children will love it, and i'm sure the babies will have a great time as well.

 

I, too, am a bit disappointed they don't have an afternoon program as we will sight see in the AM, and let my little son nap in the afternoon. My daughter and I can enjoy the pool, while DH and son sleep. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to quiet dinners with my husband in the evening while the children have fun. I plan to take them to dinner at Aloha before their evening fun begins.

[2Scots]

hi, Rita1234-

 

Thanks for the great review, we just booked PoAM for 1/26/08 and appreciate you confirming that NCL is running a 'tight ship' in Hawai'i .

 

We were on NCL 'Sun' last summer in Alaska and enjoyed every minute of it..

 

We are on the Mercury coming up in 3 weeks to Alaska, so I'm curious what trip you took and what turned you off on Mercury?

 

 

Anyway, thanks again!

 

2Scots

[Rita1234]

Vegask! They do have a program every afternoon, but there is an extra charge. But if you are willing to pay for it, they have you sign up the evening before and then you can drop the kids off and take off.

 

Scot! Here are some of the things I did not like on the Mercury. On the buffet we got slimy sausages, and 3hen I poured the milk out of our milk carton it was so sour'd it was clumpy. On POAm I did not have a bad meal, on Mercury I had 2 bad meals in the dining room. We had to tender one day, and it took 3 hrs to get off the ship. They only had 1 tender going. Decor on the ship was not impressive. At 11pm they were supposed to have snacks in the public lounges, and they only came by with one tray, and the food on it was not very good. The ONLY day we had good weather they did not open the pool, the other days when it was cold outside the pool was open. That did not make much sense to me. I would travel on Pride of America again in a heart beat, but I would not travel on Mercury again.