Review Part 1- Pride of Hawaii - Aug 27-Sept 3

[lvcruises]

Aloha Everyone!

 

Just got back to NC today after flying all night. This was probably the best cruise we have ever taken. Hawaii is absolutely beautiful, Kauai was our favorite island. The ship is wonderful and so is the staff, it really made us question the reviews we have read over the last 9 months.

 

The first thing I should say is we were offered an upsell to an AA owners suite 10504. IF you ever get this call and can afford it take it!

 

DELTA

I booked our flights on Delta. We flew from Charlotte to Atlanta and Atlanta to Honolulu, 9 hour flight. They were on time going and coming back. We had lunch going and a sandwich snack about 2 hours before we landed. Going home we had dinner and they served a small yogurt and fruit for breakfast. No they did not charge extra like some lines for their meals.

 

GOING OVER EARLY

We flew to O'ahu 2 days early, we were meet at the plane by a NCLA employee, once we got everyone together we went to get our luggage. There was an elderly couple in our group so it took a little longer as they needed help. Getting on the vans to the Marriott was a little hectic since there were people for the POAl that came in a day early and we were all being combined on the vans. The Marriott Waikki Beach is a beautiful hotel, worth every penny. We were on the 27th floor partial ocean view room, check out their website, the pictures of the rooms are current. We had a great view of the beach and Diamond Head. It took us a couple of days to get used to the time difference, can't imagine just going straight to the ship. You get to do your Pre Cruise Check-in at the Marriott. Give them your credit card information and get you picuture take. You also need to have your a copy of the registration forms you filled out on line. Luckly we had these, not sure how we would have gotten them otherwise. We did the Duck Tour Sunday morning to see Pearl Harbor and the sites of HNL. We ate at LuLu's for dinner once and breakfast the morning we went to the ship. It is a couple of blocks to the left of the hotel if you walk out the back side facing the beach. Food is great, no A/C however.

 

EMBARKATION

Marriott people that booked thru NCLA were taken to the ship on buses. They come to your room that morning around 8 am to get you luggage. There were many buses and everyone was given a pass with a time, watch the time as they board by that. Only people from the hotel, the suites\villas and I think certain level of Latitude customers were allowed to board this early. Everyone else had to wait. You then had to go to the sign in lines, since you have done everything, you give them the documents from the Pre checkin and they get you your card keys, you will still need to sign something else. Get into the main line and depending on the time, you may need to wait before they let you up to the ship. We waited about 15 mins. Because we were in a suite someone was supoose to advise us were to get but we didn't get any assistance with this. We asked one of the staff - "Red" and she took us to the Star Bar and got us situated. Here we were able to book our restaurants for the whole week, one of many perks for suites\villas\penthouses. We got a couple glasses of wine. After we were done, we could leave our carry on luggage here and go have lunch at Aloha Nui Cafe. The food was great, the staff was cleaning tables so quickly, there was no wait. They were very friendly and on top of things. Our floor was ready around 2ish. We went to our room unpacked our carry on's and went exploring our ship. Our luggage showed up before Boat drill time so we unpacked. We went to go meet with the CC Roll Call people. Everyone was very nice. We stayed for a bit but had early dinner reservations at Cagneys.

 

OWNERS SUITE 10504

Its hard to know where to start, the room is very large. Living room with couch, chair w/ottoman, chaise lounge and flat screen tv. 4 large floor to celling glass doors that go to the side balcony. A dining area sits behind the living area. There is an expresso machine and mini fridge all part of a corner cabinet with cups and glasses. Stock with water, sparkling water and soda. There was a bottle of Champ. The bedroom is separated by a large heavy purple/gold curtain. There is a king size bed, desk with pc, another chair w/ottoman, flat screen tv. Door leading out to the front balcony. The bathroom....very nice.... double sinks with cabinets under them on right Toliet and shower on the left with separate doors. Full size tub straight ahead. There is a window looking out on your side balcony and a round window looking out to the ocean. There is a dressing area right off the bathroom. Nice table to do your make up and dry your hair. Plenty of space for hanging clothes, lots of draw space. It is bigger than the closet in our bedroom at home. Hum...something wrong with this! I'll talk about perks later.

 

HONA, Hawai

This was our least favorite port. The 7:15 tour of historic Hona is no longer offered, we didn't know this until we got our tickets for the excursions. So we had the morning to kill. This is the only tender port, so we went a head and got off the ship around 9ish. Priority Tendering is included so we were able to pass everyone that was waiting and get on the tender first,. That was kinda weird. There really isn't anything to do in Hona. We took the shuttle to Walmart and the shuttle to Hilo Hattie. Hilo Hattie is such a waste! It is so expensive. Our excursion was at 12:15, we did the Dolphin Snorkel catamaran sail. We were not totally impressed with this excursion, most of it wasn't their fault. The ocean was really rough. We saw no dolphins, not very many fish. Everyone got out early. So to fill the time obligations they side some coasting around, not really sailing. We had lunch, choice of sandwich and it included soda, beer and wine. Finally after about 1 1/2 hours they started sailing the catamaran back to the port. It would have been better if they would have done more talking about the coast of Hana and what were seeing. Like I said most of this wasn't their fault. They were a nice crew. Took us back to the port, had to tender back to the ship.

[lvcruises]

MAUI - 2 Days

Day 1 was beautiful, we did the Rainforest & waterfall Hike. Maui Hike is who runs it. They were wonderful, pick you up at the dock and take you in a van to their location. Only 12 people per tour guide so it is a nice group size. They have water shoes that you can use either for the hike or to take with you and put on when needed. Most people just wore them, had to cross a couple streams and takes time at each waterfall to keep changing from shoes to the watershoes. They supply a turkey sandwich for lunch, some fruit at one of the falls and they give you water to take with you. They also have backpacks for you to use so there isn't a need to bring one.

 

I'm not as in shape as some but not as out of shape as others, I didn't think the hike was bad. We had a couple areas that were a little tougher than others but not bad at all. It is on land that is owned by 4 couples and they allow Maui Hike to park and do tours on the property. People can just drive to the property and hike for themselves if they want. The owners have a fruit stand and other stuff setup and this is partly how they make their living. The falls were really nice, 2 of them you could climb up the rocks and jump off, the other 2 were to shallow to do that. There were many other people there, the biggest area with the rope swing was really busy. Water is Cold. Mesquitos were pretty bad, bring bug spray. Our guide did have some for everyone to use. We loved this excursion.

 

Day 2 was rainy to start. I booked the Molokini Snorkel with Roberts Hawaii. It was suppose to meet at 8:05 for boarding to leave at 8:15. We couldn't find anyone to help us and there was no bus. My DH ran back to the room to get his phone so we could call them. They changed it to 8:30 and never called us, I had given them our phone number. Finally buse started to show up and port security told us were the Roberts staff person was. By this time we were a little irritated. Bus finally got there and took us to the port. The boat was really nice, held 150 there were only 70 so we had plenty of room. They had continental breakfast for everyone. Again the ocean was really rough. We had a good trip out to the Molokini crater, however the waves were rough and got rougher the longer we stayed. The crew is really nice and they have all snorkling gear plus boards with masks built in them. That was nice, I used that. My DH snorkled. Everyone got out early here too. There were many getting sick. We drank lots of ginger ale and they had ginger tablets if you needed it. The second stop was the turtle area. We saw lots of turtles here, the site was really good. It however, started getting really rough because of the north tradewinds and they got everyone out of the water. They had a really nice lunch, sandwich bar with all the fixings, chips and cookies. Soda, wine, beer and such. This ended up being a really nice day. The boat was great. Will continue later..

[lvcruises]

KONA, Hawaii

This was our least favorite port. The 7:15 tour of historic Kona is no longer offered, we didn't know this until we got our tickets for the excursions. So we had the morning to kill. This is the only tender port, so we went a head and got off the ship around 9ish. Priority Tendering is included for suites,so we were able to pass everyone that was waiting and get on the tender first,. That was kinda weird. There really isn't anything to do in Kona. We took the shuttle to Walmart and the shuttle to Hilo Hattie. Hilo Hattie is such a waste! It is so expensive. Our excursion was at 12:15, we did the Dolphin Snorkel catamaran sail. We were not totally impressed with this excursion, most of it wasn't their fault. The ocean was really rough. We saw no dolphins, not very many fish. Everyone got out of the water early. So to fill the time obligations they did some coasting around, not really sailing. We had lunch, choice of sandwich and it included soda, beer and wine. Finally after about 1 1/2 hours they started sailing the catamaran back to the port. It would have been better if they would have done more talking about the coast of Kona and what were seeing. Like I said most of this wasn't their fault. They were a nice crew. Took us back to the port, had to tender back to the ship

[jjduck]

LOL, from Hona to Hana to Kona. Cute!

 

If and when you get a chance, can you tell me about the Duck tour? I see it around town and it looks like fun. Worth the price?

 

thanks and aloha,

Noreen.

[lvcruises]

LOL, from Hona to Hana to Kona. Cute!

 

If and when you get a chance, can you tell me about the Duck tour? I see it around town and it looks like fun. Worth the price?

 

thanks and aloha,

Noreen.

 

We thought it was worth it. A different way to sight see. Plus they take yu out on the water, which was neat. Seeing peoples faces when this thing drives into the water from the boat ramps. It takes you to Pearl Harbor, downtown and a few other places around town.

[brownz]

Thanks for the great review. It's funny--we have the Marriott deal as well, and I was just wondering how the hotel checkout/ship embarkation timing works, and *poof*, you gave me the answer!

 

Karen (also in NC)

[lvcruises]

We really had a nice time in Hilo, the VNP is very nice and worth seeing. The rainbow falls were great. We did this through the ship.

 

Kauai was our favorite island. We did the discover jungle falls by kayak, which was great. The canyon the second day. So much to see and so little time. Kauai coffee is great and we stopped at their location.

 

All in all this was the best cruise ever. The staff and crew area awsome. The speciality restaurants are all we ate in and the staff we wonderful.

 

Hope you enjoy your trip.:)

[lvcruises]

I forgot to post about the Na Pali Coast, it was absolutely beautiful. The lush green mountains, the rainbows that seemed to follow the ship. At times it seemed like you could reach out and touch them. We got a great picture of the double rainbow and many pictures of the single rainbows.

 

If you get a chance to do the discover jungle falls by kayak, do it. It was the best excursion. The guys we had Ray and Jay were a blast, they do however like to have water fights on the river. My DH was all to eager to play along, so I got soaked. The hike to the water falls is a little rough, some parts are steep, they have ropes for you to hang on to and you need them. Coming back up seemed to go a little quicker. Lunch was a really good deli sandwich. The view at the picnic area was great, just like your in movie.

 

We did the Easy Fly program on the ship and it worked really well. It was nice not to have to go find our luggage and take it on the bus with us. It made check in at the airport really easy since we already had our boarding passes.

 

I posted on the Member reviews but accidently selected Sept instead of Aug, not sure how I did that.

 

We will definately look at NCL in the future when we go to book our next cruise. So far they have been the best ship and cruise line we've been on. It was nice that NCLA didn't push drinks in your face all day, and we didn't miss the Casino either.

 

Aloha and have a great trip in paradise.