Pride of America review 5/24-5/31

[tropicsgirl]

I am in the midst of my post-Hawaii depression and decided that writing my trip report might help me feel a little better. My husband and I went on this cruise with my dad, my brother and my brother's wife. DH and I had cruised Pride of Am last year and Pride of Aloha the year before. The rest of my family had never cruised before.

 

We arrived in Oahu at about 3:00pm and were taken directly to the ship by ABC Limo. The flower leis us girls received smelled heavenly! We had a balcony cabin (9050) and the others had inside cabins. Our room was clean and our room steward was great all week. Try to remember that one of the mirrors in the bathroom opens up to extra storage. We ate at the buffet, which was ok, but not great, and ended up being the only time we ate there for dinner. We then went to the pier to get liquor to smuggle onboard- the Rum Runners worked perfectly for this. We also bought drinks onboard, usually at the Napa with Jordan who was adorable.

 

Maui- The next day we were all awake at about 4:00am, so it was not hard to get off the boat at 8:00am. Ate breakfast at the Aloha Cafe every day out on the deck. The views are always beautiful there. We got our rental car and drove up to see Haleakala Crater. Hard to describe how beautiful it is. We then drove to Kaanapali where we had lunch at the Hyatt. Not a great lunch and in fact my DB got very ill later in the afternoon and attributed it to his burger. I had a veggie sandwich and there was mold on my bread. I ate most of the sandwich before I saw it. Yuck....and yet, the part that I ate was good. After lunch we walked on the beach for a minute as it was the first time my DB had ever done so. We then drove up the road to see Dragon's Teeth which is a beautiful sight to see. Our last stop of the day was at the Nakalele Blowhole. DH and DB started down the hill to get near the blowhole while DD, DS and I wavered as we were tired. We started going down the trail after a dad with a four year old girl came up and the kid said it wasn't a bad hike. Thanks to that shaming experience we saw a sight that was awesome close up. We went back to the ship and had dinner at the Skyline (except for my DB who looked rather green at that point). This was a great day, although very busy, and was hard to top.

 

Maui- The next day we took the NCL Molokini Snorkeling excursion through Pacific Whale Foundation. This is the third time we have done this excursion and have always loved it. Those guys do a great job. We saw a lot of turtles and one swam right next to me! We ate dinner at the Skyline or Liberty each night the rest of the week. The meals were usually good, sometimes excellent, sometimes not good. The main restaurants serve food at a pace that is a bit too leisurely for some people.

 

Hilo- Rented a car and drove to see Rainbow Falls and Boiling Pots. We then took a helicopter tour with Safari over the volcano. We did not see much lava, but it was still cool. We then drove down to see Punaluu black sand beach. The beach is gorgeous! There was a turtle sunning herself on the beach and there were a few others in tide pools. I fell in love with this beach.

 

Kona- Took the NCL Body Glove snorkel and it was good. We did some shopping afterwards on the pier.

 

Kauai- Rented a car and drove to Waimea Canyon which is impressive. We then drove up to Hanalei beach and walked in the surf. We did not have time to play because we had to be back to the ship by 4:30 for the NCL luau. The luau includes open bar, delicious food and a theatrical show. We all had a lot of fun at the luau.

 

Kauai- Slow start to the day. Did I mention the open bar from last night? We ate breakfast and then did some shopping on the pier. DB, DS and DD never made it off the ship. Watched the sail by Napali later that day. Beautiful.

 

Oahu- We all chose the walk-off debarkation which went smoothly. We then drove to Pearl Harbor which was very intense. We checked into our hotels- DB and DS stayed at the Hyatt, while DH, DD and myself stayed at the Moana Surfrider. The Moana is beautiful and they treat you like royalty. The next day DS, DD and myself went to Sea Life Park and swam with a dolphin. I have wanted to do this for years and it was really neat. DH and DB went parasailing, which they liked. They then rented surf boards and attempted to surf for an hour. Sad that I missed this as I am sure it was hilarious to watch. I guess I haven't mentioned that we are from Nebraska. On our last day we hung out on the beach. Our flight did not leave until 10:30 so we were glad to be able to use the hospitality room at the Moana to shower up.

 

DH and I took this very cruise in Sept., so I was anxious to see the 2.0 changes. Sadly, there isn't much of a difference from what we could tell. We both thought the food was worse. No bathrobes. No mimosas (I heard that people got them earlier in the day, so maybe it depends on the time you arrive). Bedding seemed the same to me. We did get the fruit card, but didn't use it as the only fruit I want to eat in Hawaii is pineapple (it just doesn't taste like that in Ne.). We did get cookies on the last night.

 

Overall the cruise was great and I would definitely recommend it. However, the next time we go to Hawaii we plan to stay on an island or two. I hope this review gives some ideas. I got a lot of mine from this board.

[sau]

Topicsgirl:

 

Which parasailing company did you choose? Is it good? Thanks.

[tropicsgirl]

My husband booked the parasailing and he thinks the company was Xtreme Parasailing. They were at a booth along Waikiki near the International Marketplace. They provided transportation from Waikiki beach.

[tropicsgirl]

Sorry, I didn't answer your second question. Yes, they thought the company was good and had a great time doing it.

[JaniceW]

Thanks for the great review. Since I will be sailing on Pride of America at the end of the month, I am also curious about the restaurants - which did you like?

Thanks

[Molokai-Chuck]

Mahalo for your posting....and the update of the progress of 2.0 on the ship.

 

Chuck

[okccruiser]

Hi Tropicsgirl and thanks for the review. I'm starting to plan my cruise for next year and had a question for you. We are wanting to do the Molokini Snorkel, but on the first day we are in Maui. You said you took the ship's excursion on the second day, do they offer it on the first day? What times do they offer the excursion? Also, how was the excursion? How long were you out at Molokini? Did you have breakfast and/or lunch and how was it? Thanks for the help!

[Lou_70]

Kauai- Rented a car and drove to Waimea Canyon which is impressive. We then drove up to Hanalei beach and walked in the surf. We did not have time to play because we had to be back to the ship by 4:30 for the NCL luau. The luau includes open bar, delicious food and a theatrical show. We all had a lot of fun at the luau.

 

 

 

Was this the Shore excursion Luau or one on the ship? I booked the Luau Kalamaku and just don't want to pay for a luau if the ship offers one the same day for free.

 

 

Thanks!

 

Lou

[mattmommy]

I'm all about the Diet Coke (with Splenda preferably), but I'm asking for DH and my father. What are rum runners and how did you get the alcohol on board?

[Lou_70]

http://www.rumrunnerflasks.com.

 

Great company I ordered mine and got it 3 days later. They work GREAT!

 

Lou

[tropicsgirl]

Hi Tropicsgirl and thanks for the review. I'm starting to plan my cruise for next year and had a question for you. We are wanting to do the Molokini Snorkel, but on the first day we are in Maui. You said you took the ship's excursion on the second day, do they offer it on the first day? What times do they offer the excursion? Also, how was the excursion? How long were you out at Molokini? Did you have breakfast and/or lunch and how was it? Thanks for the help!

 

They do offer the Molokini snorkel on the first day also. Our excursion was at 8:00am. I am not sure of the times the first day other than that they offer it in the morning, but they might offer an afternoon one. The excursion was great. There are a lot of fish there and they swim so close to you that you think you can touch them. I tried, but couldn't. The visibility is great. The Pacific Whale Foundation people who run the excursion are very friendly and knowledgeable about the Hawaiian islands and the sea creatures you will see. It is about a half hour boat ride to the crater, you have about an hour in the water there. Then they take you about 15 minutes away to Turtle Town where we did see a few turtles. You are in the water there for another hour or so. They serve fruit and muffins for breakfast and deli sandwiches with pasta salad for lunch along with an open bar! The food was good. The water is cold so one nice thing they do is rent the top of wet suits for $10.00. It is a good investment. This was the third time my husband and I took this excursion and I highly recommend it.

[tropicsgirl]

Was this the Shore excursion Luau or one on the ship? I booked the Luau Kalamaku and just don't want to pay for a luau if the ship offers one the same day for free.

 

 

Thanks!

 

Lou

 

This was the Luau Kalamaku on the shore. It is expensive, but we thought it was worth it in the end. The show was really good.

[tropicsgirl]

I'm all about the Diet Coke (with Splenda preferably), but I'm asking for DH and my father. What are rum runners and how did you get the alcohol on board?

 

I see that someone gave you a link to the Rum Runners page so you can see what they look like, which is good because I don't know how to do that. We got the stadium size and the guys brought them concealed in their pants. They do have Splenda on the ship for tea, just in case you need it.

[Bidbit]

To JaniceW: I was on the same cruise along with my wife and 4 teenage grandkids. We had a ball. As for restaurants, we did the Aloha buffet for breakfast. Food was B+, entertainment was keeping from getting run over but then watching after you get food and reach the safety of a table. It was a chinese firedrill. We had dinner at Liberty and Skyline restaurants. Did not do the specialty restaurants. Liberty and Skyline were A- for food and service, but are beautiful and not hard at all to get seated.

[BDL]

We were on the May 24th sailing too. We did some of the specialty restaurants.

 

We did Jefferson's Bistro for our anniversary package dinner and it was pretty good. There was a spinach cheese appetizer that was wonderful. And if you go there, do not miss the chocolate fondue for desert! it is a hollowed out half pineapple filled with pineapple chunks, strawberries and grapes for dipping with heavenly warm chocolate in a small fondue pot. Yummy!

 

We were very disappointed in Teppanyaki - food was just average, not enough to fill up the average adult and our chef had no flair or personality at all. My husband had ordered scallops and lobster combo and they mistankenly gave his lobster to another diner.

 

Lazy J's steakhouse was wonderful as well - probably my favorite of the ones we tried.

 

We had lunch a few times at the buffet and it was OK. Embarkation lunch in the Skyline was very good.

[JaniceW]

Thanks for the info. I am thinking of eating at only two specialty restaurants - Jefferson's Bistro and the Italian.

[mattmommy]

Thanks for the tip about rumrunner. We ordered the cruise kit.

[dougweaver]

Thanks BDL for the info. We are planning to do Skyline for our embarkation lunch also. Specialty restaurants .. Lazy J's the first night (hopefully they take reservations for 5:30 because I would hate to miss sailaway at 8) .. Little Italy mid cruise .. and then LeBistro on Fri nite (romance package). Questions .. Lobster night .. did you go to Liberty or Skyline? If so how was the wait? And is it true they don't take reservations unless you have 5 or more in the dining rooms? Thanks dpw

[BDL]

Sorry - we didn't have dinner in either dining room during the cruise. I don't know what night was lobster. The nights we didn't go to a specialty, we either ate ashore or grabbed snacks from the buffet for our balcony. A couple of those days we'd had a big lunch late in the afternoon and weren't very hungry in the evening.

 

If no one answers your question by next weekend, I'll be home to see if its in the daily schedules and will post the information. Right now I'm still out of town on a business trip.

[tropicsgirl]

Thanks BDL for the info. We are planning to do Skyline for our embarkation lunch also. Specialty restaurants .. Lazy J's the first night (hopefully they take reservations for 5:30 because I would hate to miss sailaway at 8) .. Little Italy mid cruise .. and then LeBistro on Fri nite (romance package). Questions .. Lobster night .. did you go to Liberty or Skyline? If so how was the wait? And is it true they don't take reservations unless you have 5 or more in the dining rooms? Thanks dpw

 

It is true about the reservations for Liberty and Skyline. I can't remember which night was lobster, but we did not make reservations that night and the wait was over an hour. Everybody on the ship wanted lobster! You shouldn't have a problem getting the J at 5:30 on embarkation night as most people don't start eating that early or just hit the buffet.

[tropicsgirl]

Thanks for the great review. Since I will be sailing on Pride of America at the end of the month, I am also curious about the restaurants - which did you like?

Thanks

 

We ate mostly at the Skyline and one night at the Liberty. The food is the same in those restaurants, but we all thought the Liberty was prettier. We did eat in the Cadillac Diner and it was ok. We did not eat in any of the specialty restaurants. Last year we ate at Little Italy and it was good.

[Bidbit]

As I recall it was Tuesday for lobster. Actually it was called surf and more surf or something like that. The lobster was good but not great. About like Red Lobster quality maybe.

[TNtravelers]

There was some dish with lobster on Friday night too. We had booked our anniversary dinner for Friday night, so had to miss it. We ate the lobster tail at dinner on Tuesday night and I thought it was good. Thursday night the Liberty dining room is closed. Probably because 1/2 the ship is at the Luau.

[dougweaver]

It is true about the reservations for Liberty and Skyline. I can't remember which night was lobster, but we did not make reservations that night and the wait was over an hour. Everybody on the ship wanted lobster! You shouldn't have a problem getting the J at 5:30 on embarkation night as most people don't start eating that early or just hit the buffet.

Since there was a long wait on Lobster night did they give you a pager or do you have to wait in line? We would like to go to the Liberty that night if possible .. but I don't really want to stand in line for over a hour. :( :( :( :( :mad: And do you think it gets better around 8 pm on that night? dpw

[tropicsgirl]

Since there was a long wait on Lobster night did they give you a pager or do you have to wait in line? We would like to go to the Liberty that night if possible .. but I don't really want to stand in line for over a hour. :( :( :( :( :mad: And do you think it gets better around 8 pm on that night? dpw

 

I am sorry, but I don't know if they give you a pager or not because we did not want to wait and went elsewhere. I think they write your name down on a waiting list. I can tell you that there were people standing around everywhere and sitting in the window seats in the hallway outside the Skyline. We were walking down the hall to the Skyline and I said "What is with all of these people hanging around?" and a lady sitting in a window seat said "We're waiting for our table." She did not look happy. I am not sure if it would be better at 8:00.