Pride of America Review

I read many reviews while preparing for our cruise to Hawaii, so I am writing to maybe help someone else with their preparation. I will tell you upfront that my review will probably not be as in-depth as others I have read. I have written individual reviews on TripAdvisor.com for all our tours and hotels/restaurants. My husband and I are both 58. My husband has back problems and walks with a cane. He drives daily for his job, so we did not rent any cars. We had taken 8 cruises before this one. This was our first NCL cruise.

Wednesday April 2 – United non-stop from Houston (recommend paying extra for Economy Comfort seats) –arrived 1:30 pm – Picked up by Johnny Cab, private car with driver, on time, nice car, good driver, friendly - $25 . Dropped at Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber. Nice hotel, centrally located, Jimmy Buffets on site. Nice rooms and staff.

Thursday April 3 - We were picked up at our hotel, on time by ENOA Tours, in a small bus. We took a Circle Island Tour that lasted all day. It took about 30 minutes going around all the Waikiki hotels to pick up people, but we were finally on the road. We had a very good guide and stopped at many places along the way. We stopped at a shrimp farm for lunch that was very good. We returned to Waikiki around 6 pm.

Friday April 4 – ENOA Tours picked us up, on time again for a trip to the Arizona Memorial, in another small bus. We arrived there early and our driver took us into the park and got our movie/tour tickets. We had time to walk around the park before our movie and boat ride to the Memorial. A very humbling experience. We were picked up by our driver and returned to Waikiki by 10:30 am. We walked around Waikiki until 3:30 pm when we had to walk two or three blocks to the Hyatt Regency. We were picked up in a large bus to be taken to Sea Life Park for the Chief’s Luau. We booked through Discover Hawaii Tours. Nice luau, beautiful setting.

Saturday April 5 – Picked up around 10:30 am by Johnny Cab for transport ($20) to the cruise terminal. Waited about 10 minutes for the security luggage conveyor belt to open. Dropped our luggage and then thru security. Got our lei’s, photos, medical forms and then to the check in desk. No long lines that early. We were seated in section A by 11:30 am. Entertained by Hawaiian ambassadors and musicians. At 12 noon Section A was allowed to board, up two escalators and on to the Pride of America. (Easiest embarkation we have ever experienced!!) The ship was beautiful, American themed and clean. Everyone we encountered was very friendly (throughout the entire cruise). Everyone you passed anywhere on the ship always said aloha or hello or good morning. We ate at the Aloha buffet while waiting for rooms to be ready. Rooms were ready around 1:30 pm. Our luggage was in the hallway when we arrived at our room. Sunday April 6 – Maui –We took the Road to Hana with Valley Isle Excursions. They were on time picking us up in small busses. We had an excellent driver/guide, Charlie. He was very informative and made lots of stops for photos etc. The drive was beautiful. Lunch was included and was pretty good. He also had water and drinks in a cooler on the bus. It was beautiful there and an enjoyable drive. I would highly recommend this tour.

Monday April 7 – Ate breakfast at Skyline. It was very good. We took the NCL Whale Watch and Lahaina On Your Own. Busses were late arriving, large tour busses (like a Greyhound). We left the port area about 20 minutes late and arrived Lahaina about 10:45 am. Raining at the cruise port, but sunny in Lahaina. Our driver told us to pick up our tickets at the Pacific Whale Foundation booth on the waterfront. It was about 11:00 am by then. We were told to be back in line at 11:15 am. So we had 15 minutes to find a restroom and look around Lahaina. At 11:15 am were given boarding instructions and then boarded. Find a place at the front of the boat as soon as you board. We saw few whales. So I would recommend that if you want to go whale watching, go earlier in the year, because whale season is winding down by April. The spinner dolphins were cute though. We stayed out until 1:30 pm and was told our bus would pick us up at 3 pm. By the time we ate lunch, there was only about 30 minutes to walk around Lahaina. We were at the pickup location at 3, but there were no busses to be found! The first bus arrived about 3:30 pm and it filled up fast. The second bus was at least 15 or 20 minutes later arriving. If this is a sample of NCL’s excursions, then it really needs some work. So things I could recommend: Don’t pay the $10 extra to add Lahaina on you own to whale watching, or rent a car and drive there and book your own whale watching. We chose this one because it included transportation. Next time we’ll know!

Tuesday April 8 – Hilo – Robert’s Volcano and Rainbow Falls – they were on time in a nice new large bus. Derek was our driver/guide. He was very funny and knowledgeable. It was rainy and cool at the ship maybe 62, but very windy. It was even cooler and windier at the volcano. I wore capri pants, but needed my jacket. Derek said the bus indicated it was 60 there. Looking at the volcano was very interesting. We stopped at the Lava Tube. It is a very steep path down to and back up from the tube. There is a path, but it was wet. Even though my husband uses a cane, he did go to the lava tube. We were slower than most, but we made it. It would not be for someone with walking difficulties, walkers or wheelchairs. Rainbow Falls was actually in the town of Hilo. It’s very pretty. Our driver took us to the Macadamia Nut Farm before the volcano. He told us that since lunch was not included on the tour, the nut farm sold sandwich boxes. We each got one that included fresh sandwiches, chips and a drink for $12. After the volcano we stopped at an orchid nursery and a chocolate factory/store. They were good for bathroom stops, unless you are a shopper. I would however, highly recommend this tour with this company.

Wednesday April 9 – Kona – Tender Port – Having been on a cruise that had a tender port, I was extremely surprised at how organized the process was on this ship. Essentially you take a number and board! We took the Historic Kona with Robert’s . This was also a big bus tour and they were on time, however, that’s about all the good I can say about it. Our driver/guide was Lincoln, who never even introduced himself. I had to ask his name. He talked with such a mumbled monotone that we could not understand him. I asked others and they said the same. Our first stop was at Kona Coffee store (not sure if there was a farm there or not). We drove for about 45 minutes to get there. Restroom stop and sell product? From there we drove about 30 minutes to a National Park, can’t remember the name, but it was former Hawaiian village grounds and was set up like an old Hawaiian village. Interesting Hawaiian history. From there another 30 minute drive to the Old Painted Church. Small church with painted walls and ceilings. Not very impressive. This would be my least favorite tour and I would not recommend to anyone. Free shuttles to various stores in Kona and beautiful little town to walk around in.

Thursday April 10 – Kauai – We booked with Safari Helicopters on our own. They arrived on time at the port to pick us up. We received a safety briefing at their office about a mile from the airport. We were then shuttled from the office to their landing pad at the airport. Oh my gosh! This was undoubtly the best tour of our trip. Brian was our pilot. He gave us a great 50-55 minute tour around Kauai with great narration. It is beautiful, especially from the air. Safari is a smaller outfit than Blue Hawaiian, 2 helicopters vs. Blue’s 8 helicopters. But they have an excellent safety record and are a small family owned business. Owned by a Navy pilot veteran. They were excellent. Very enjoyable. Regardless of who you book with, this a definitely a recommended tour. I did buy the DVD of our flight, but they did not pressure you to buy. In fact I had to ask them about it. They offered lockers at their office to store purses, backpacks etc. We were returned to the office to pick up our stuff and back to the cruise dock. Plenty of shuttles for the shopping areas. Marriott’s, Duke’s near the shopping areas. Try the Hula Pie at Duke’s.

Friday April 11 – Kauai – Hanalei Tour with Robert’s was a big bus tour, but arrived on time. Michelle was our driver/guide. She was very informative and interesting. It was a beautiful drive to the other side of the island and back. Lots of stops for photos. I would recommend this tour. Our Na Pali coast sail by was a little delayed because shortly after leaving Kauai the captain announced there was an overturned boat in the water and we needed to go back and investigate. They did and he announced they could find no one around and they had notified the Coast Guard. We did do the Na Pali a little later than normal. It was beautiful. We had a starboard cabin, so we went to deck six for the viewing. I don’t know if the narration doesn’t come thru on that deck or they didn’t do it because of the delay, but we didn’t hear it.

About the cruise – I have to say it was enjoyable, but quite different than any other cruise we have taken. We went to all the shows except the “Oh what a night” Frankie Valli & the 4 Seasons Tribute. However, we did see them in the final show and I really wasn’t impressed. Most shows were good. The illusionist/comedian was pretty good. Toby Beau was good, especially the Eagles Tribute. We ate in the Skyline most, but did eat in the Liberty once. Food was not impressive on this cruise with one exception, breakfast in the Skyline was always good. We did eat in two of the specialty dining venues. The Moderno was the Brazillian steakhouse and having never been to one, we were not aware that you could get a piece of every meat offered. Of the meats we tried, most were pretty good, but I was not impressed with the sides that were served family style. Don’t try this unless you are a big meat eater and are really hungry. The Teppanyaki was interesting. I had never been to that style of restaurant before and found the chef to be quite entertaining. The food was very good. The staterooms are small, but plenty of room for two. I wouldn’t want to try to put 4 in a room that size. We stayed in 8054 balcony right around the corner from the forward elevators. Nice quiet area, although there was a door right across the hall that had a hallway with a service elevator. The only time we noticed anything happening there was when they were bringing up the luggage. After that it was nice and quiet. The one thing I will tell you is that the dining rooms, buffet and several other eating places are aft and it seemed to be a long walk. So if you have mobility problems, I suggest you get a mid or aft room. Only two real issues with this room. One was the hot water. On Sunday morning I was up early. Water never got hot and shower was stopped up. When I called Guest Services, they said they would try to get someone, but didn’t know if anyone would be there that early. This bothered me, so I told them for the money we paid, they should have someone on call. About 10 minutes later I heard the plumber snaking the drain from a closet in the hallway. When I asked, he said he worked nights. Shouldn’t Guest Services know that! He managed to fix the hot water as well, but I have to say that if you are an early riser, you will still have to let the water run for 15 to 20 minutes before it warms up enough to shower (I discovered his the next morning and every morning after that). The second issue we had was the air conditioning. We would leave and the thermostat would have 2 or 3 green bars and the ac was running. We would come back, sometimes after only an hour or so and it would have 4 or 5 red bars and heat was blowing. We requested service on Tuesday afternoon, then went to dinner. When we returned after dinner, it was off and wouldn’t come on and there was a card indicating that service had been there. It was about 7 pm, so I called Guest Services and got the same response from then that I did for the water problem. They would try! That made me really mad and I gave them a piece of my mind. About 10 minutes later a repairman knocked on the door. He said it was running fine when he left, but said that it was going to have to be replaced. He gave us the option of doing it then or the next day while we were out. We said we wanted it done then. The ac unit is directly above the bed. He moved the mattresses and put his ladder on the metal bed platform. He replaced it and the thermostat and was done by 9 pm. He immediately called housekeeping to fix our bed and they arrived within about 10 minutes. The ac worked properly after that. I asked the repairman if he was on call. He said he was on call until 10 pm every night, stating they don’t like to pay overtime and don’t call out after 10 unless it is a major public area. Again shouldn’t Guest Services know that! We actually spoke to guest services several times over the week to get a printout of our account and they were extremely nice. I guess when you are on the phone, it’s different!

Saturday April 12 – Honolulu – NCL Famous North Shore Tour – Our flight was not until 7:15 pm, so we chose this tour to help occupy the time. We met in the Hollywood Theater with our carry on luggage at a designated time and all debarked together. However, if you are not doing a tour, I will say that debarkation on this ship (from what I could tell) seems to be very organized. I have never been on a ship that gives luggage tags according to the time you request to debark. We passed the exit several time while waiting for our tour time and it was never crowded and disorganized. (Carnival should take a lesson from this!) After we all debarked, we went to a luggage area for people with ship tours and retrieved our luggage. We immediately found a porter who put our luggage on a cart and found a bench for my husband while we waited for the bus. Evidently they board different tours at different times and by the time we went down there was a backup from the tours before us. That part was extremely disorganized. We probably waited 30 minutes after we retrieved our luggage. Once they started to board, we took our luggage to the bus where it was stowed, and we boarded the bus. The tour was good and the guide was knowledgeable and funny. It was a nice tour, but it was partially the same stuff we saw on the Circle Tour we took the week before. However, it was better than sitting in the airport all day. We were dropped off at each airline terminal by 2 pm with our luggage. Luggage has to go thru an agricultural inspection, so you put it on a conveyor belt to run thru an xray machine. You then retrieve your luggage and take it to check it at your airline counter. Then like any other airport, you go thru security. We ate at the Kona Brewery restaurant in our terminal. It was pretty good, but service was slow. There was a nice garden below. Worst part of this entire trip was waiting 8 hours for our connection at the Houston airport.

We had a great trip and I would definitely recommend this cruise for the ports of call.

If anyone has any questions, please ask and I will try to answer, if I can.

Great review! Sounds like you had a wonderful time in Hawaii and really enjoyed the Pride of America. We did, too. Weird that you couldn't hear the narrative out on Deck 6. That's where we watched the Na Pali Coast sail-by and the narrative was playing fine out there for us.

Thanks so much for coming back and sharing your trip with us! :)

Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to post a review!

I noticed that you took a lot of tours on buses. We didn't see 1 show while on the cruise as we always got back to the ship late at night. I will agree that the Hawaii cruise is great.

Thanks for your great review. I'm in the process of planning our cruise for May 2015. I'm looking at quite a few excursions via Roberts, so I'm glad to hear that for the most part, things went well with them.

If anyone has any questions, please ask and I will try to answer, if I can.

Thanks for sharing your review! I too have gotten so much great advice from this board! We are cruising on POA in October! Can't wait!

I do have a question...how far in advance did you make your reservations with Johnny Cab?

Thanks~! :)

We had a great time in Hawaii.

HeyHeyJP - Roberts was good, except for the one guide. On their website they offer 4 tours for a much cheaper price than individually.

kjcombs89 - Regarding Johnny Cab, I emailed John from his website around January for our April 2 arrival. I asked him how far in advance I needed to book with him. He responded quickly, saying he would go ahead and book us for our date. I told him we needed transport from airport to hotel and then from the hotel to cruise dock a few days later. I was then able to reply to his emails and ask any other questions I had. He asked me to confirm about a week before the cruise. So I just replied to his last email with flight changes etc. His driver called my cell phone while we were waiting for our luggage and was there when we got outside.

dcikon2 - Yes, we took a lot of bus tours, but all were back by dinner time.

BOMAX2 I think we might have been on a few of your bus tours with you!!! Did Michelle ask your husband to buy his cane?

kjcombs89 - Regarding Johnny Cab, I emailed John from his website around January for our April 2 arrival. I asked him how far in advance I needed to book with him. He responded quickly, saying he would go ahead and book us for our date. I told him we needed transport from airport to hotel and then from the hotel to cruise dock a few days later. I was then able to reply to his emails and ask any other questions I had. He asked me to confirm about a week before the cruise. So I just replied to his last email with flight changes etc. His driver called my cell phone while we were waiting for our luggage and was there when we got outside.

Thank you! Very helpful!! :D

BOMAX2 I think we might have been on a few of your bus tours with you!!! Did Michelle ask your husband to buy his cane?

She probably did. He has a unique cane with quarters in the handle and shaft and several people asked to buy it. Obviously we were on some of the same tours. Did you make the informal meet & greet. We went to the designated bar after the safety briefing by didn't see anyone with Mardi Gras beads. How about you?

Thank you! Very helpful!! :D

Glad to be of help. John and his driver were both very nice. :cool:

By the way, I forgot to mention in my review that there was a laundry special on Tuesday. Fill the laundry bag $27.99.

Thanks for the review. We will be on POA Sept. 6.

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Thank you for posting your review. I really enjoyed reading your day by day activities. Just in case we have problems with hot water/ AC/ etc. I now know how to call customer service for action.!:D

HeyHeyJP, we're also planning a trip for May2015. Second week probably.

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We're leaving this Thursday for our trip. So very excited. Love to read trip reports. You learn something new in each one. We are renting cars on each island except Kona and are also taking that Roberts tour there that you didn't like but it was free to us through our travel agent. Thanks for taking the time to write. Ellie:o

You didn't mention if you were in a wheelchair accessible cabin, so I am assuming that you weren't. Was looking at Norwegian website and didn't see place to indicate that you need an accessible cabin. Are there accessible cabins on POA?

You didn't mention if you were in a wheelchair accessible cabin, so I am assuming that you weren't. Was looking at Norwegian website and didn't see place to indicate that you need an accessible cabin. Are there accessible cabins on POA?

Katrina915, yes there are accessible cabins. They are marked on the deck plans. I believe with a square, but I could be wrong. Look at the key to the plans. Our TA found one for us. You can always call and tell them you need one. We have one for our June sailing! Can't wait!:D

Thanks for the review! :D We'll be sailing this November! I did sail the POA way back in April '07 though, and I will say that we could hear nothing from the narration of the Na Pali coastline sailby either. We watched from our balcony on deck 8 though.

You didn't mention if you were in a wheelchair accessible cabin, so I am assuming that you weren't. Was looking at Norwegian website and didn't see place to indicate that you need an accessible cabin. Are there accessible cabins on POA?

We sailed the POA in July 2013, and my brother had a handicapped accessible cabin on deck 9. Like all cruises, they go fast, so book early. It was huge, with enough space to maneuver a chair and a completely accessible bathroom. The deck was tiny, tiny, tiny, however, and I don't think you could get a chair out there.

happy cruising,

el henry

We're leaving this Thursday for our trip. So very excited. Love to read trip reports. You learn something new in each one. We are renting cars on each island except Kona and are also taking that Roberts tour there that you didn't like but it was free to us through our travel agent. Thanks for taking the time to write. Ellie:o

Glad you enjoyed my report. I feel like if I can say something someone else hasn't mentioned, then maybe it will help someone on their cruise.

Hey, it that tour in Kona with Roberts is free :), then I hope you don't get Lincoln for driver/guide. Let me know if you do, I'm curious to hear someone else's opinion of him and the tour. Since it didn't start until 10, we got off the ship early and had time to walk around the shore front area, where there are stores, restaurants, an old church and a historic old residence. Then I think we returned around 2, so there was plenty of time to take a free shuttle to other areas before the last tender. Hope you have a fantastic vacation!

You didn't mention if you were in a wheelchair accessible cabin, so I am assuming that you weren't. Was looking at Norwegian website and didn't see place to indicate that you need an accessible cabin. Are there accessible cabins on POA?

No, ours was just a standard balcony cabin. Very small in comparison to other lines we have sailed on. First time on NCL, so I can't compare to other NCL ships.

HeyHeyJP, we're also planning a trip for May2015. Second week probably.

 

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Hey Jim1reed, we're booked for the May 16th sailing

Glad you enjoyed my report. I feel like if I can say something someone else hasn't mentioned, then maybe it will help someone on their cruise.

 

Thanks for the review !

Thanks so much for posting your review!! Very helpful in deciding our excursions for our June sailing. :)

You didn't mention if you were in a wheelchair accessible cabin, so I am assuming that you weren't. Was looking at Norwegian website and didn't see place to indicate that you need an accessible cabin. Are there accessible cabins on POA?

We were in 7540 on POA in March. We had a very small balcony cabin. Right next door to us was 7542, an accessible room. It looked to be twice the size of our cabin. I got a peek one day when the door was open for cleaning.