NCL Pride of America cruised July 2017

We just finished our cruise of Hawaii on the Pride of America. It was Amazing! If you have any questions please let me know. I would love to answer them and make your trip more enjoyable. Wish I had seen all this before we took our trip:)

Hello, considering this cruise next June. New to NCL. Can you tell me what the daily gratuity is per person?

Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

Hi!

We had our daily gratuities paid upfront as part of a special going at the time so I'm not sure. I do know all soda, alcoholic, and al carte restraunts add the 15% gratuity in to the total automatically. So a $7.00 beer ended up costing $9.67. Then they ask if you want to add an aditional gratuity.

Hi!

 

We had our daily gratuities paid upfront as part of a special going at the time so I'm not sure. I do know all soda, alcoholic, and al carte restraunts add the 15% gratuity in to the total automatically. So a $7.00 beer ended up costing $9.67. Then they ask if you want to add an aditional gratuity.

How does $7 plus a 15% gratuity end up costing $9.67?

15% of $7 is $1.05, making the drink total $8.05

Were you in an embarkation port that also had tax added on??

Hello, considering this cruise next June. New to NCL. Can you tell me what the daily gratuity is per person?

Thanks!

 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

I think the DSC is currently $13.99 per person per day,

more if you are in a suite, and butler is not included in DSC.

How does $7 plus a 15% gratuity end up costing $9.67?

15% of $7 is $1.05, making the drink total $8.05

Were you in an embarkation port that also had tax added on??

Sorry I added extra $1 tip in after that. My hubby use to work for NCL so I always feel bad. So say $7 something beer cost almost $9 something. And no that was all the time u order a drink, or a special coffee etc.

Hello, considering this cruise next June. New to NCL. Can you tell me what the daily gratuity is per person?

Thanks!

 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

$13.99 per person unless you're in a suite and then it is $16.99 per person.

Mom of Six,

We are going on this cruise in November. Can you share with me what excursions you may have taken and if they were worth the money or not? Thank you so much.

Debbie

Hi Debbie,

I'm 38 and my hubby and I are pretty active, not in great shape but active :)

We arrived a day early in Honolulu and hiked Diamond Head, awesome!! And took a segway tour of Waiki Beach, soon cool and so much fun.

We booked our excursions ahead of time on NCL, but if you don't mind a little heard work try booking them directly and take an Uber...its so much cheaper.

Maui- we did a downhill bike tour of Halekelea Volcano...it was amazing and so much fun. You don't even pedal and u end up going about 20mph!

Maui Day 2- we did snorkel and turtle adventure of Molokini Crater...another amazing day

Hilo- Zipline Through Paradise- this was incredible and our guides were amazing! Hubby and I we able to zipline through 8 courses next to each. Worth every penny.

Kona- only tender port, but the first port where you walk off to shopping centers and a really nice small beach with water sports to rent. This is where we did the "Hop on Hop off" Google it in Kona Hawaii. That was a perfect way to explore Kona and took you to some great places. Wear water shoes to the snorkel beach they take you too.

Kauai- Rent a car and rent it ahead of time. They pick you up at the port and the whole thing costs like $45 for the entire day to have your own car to explore. You can park it at the port for $20 and take it on day 2. Then you can go wherever you want.

Day 1 Kauai- we did the mud bug tour to the waterfall. This was AMAZING ANF by far our favorite. You get covered in mud but they do give you clothes of theirs to wear. I recommend water shoes. We booked this directly and for 2 of us it was $330 and we drove our $45 rental car when if we booked through NCL they provide the transportation there and it costs about $600-$700. You do the math :)

If you want anymore info on anything we did please let me know I am happy to share.

Also if you download the Uber app this will be a true money saver. It costs $60 to transfer from the Honolulu airport with a service with terrible a.c. and uncomfortable seats. The Uber ride was $10! And the cars are like brand new and the drivers were awesome! Less than half the price of a taxi.

Thanks for the uber update for our trip from the port to the airport. The DD, DGD and I are going next summer and will book tours on our own. We booked with the pre-paid gratuities.

We are going in Sept. We the bike tour and the Crater snorkeling reserved also. How fast were you moving down hill?

Just remember, UBER can't PICK-UP from Honolulu International, oops Daniel Inouye, only drop off.You can walk a block away to the new Dunkin Donuts or the commercial center if you like. Daughter and new Son-in-law leaving Saturday for honeymoon cruise. What time did they start boarding?

Mahalo

Is there a "White Party" on the POA as there is on other NCL ships? If so, which night?

Is there a "White Party" on the POA as there is on other NCL ships? If so, which night?

Not the OP, but another thread has all the recent dailies from the POA and it showed the White Hot party on Wed night.

We just finished our cruise of Hawaii on the Pride of America. It was Amazing! If you have any questions please let me know. I would love to answer them and make your trip more enjoyable. Wish I had seen all this before we took our trip:)

Can you give an opinion on which side of ship is best for a balcony room? Thanks

Can you give an opinion on which side of ship is best for a balcony room? Thanks

That depends, if you want the night view of the lava and dont want to see the port building you don't want port side.

If you want the view of the Napoli coast you want port side. Port side was worth the view of the coast on the final day. It was breathtaking!

Is there a "White Party" on the POA as there is on other NCL ships? If so, which night?

There is, it was on our third day, wish I had known about it :)

We are going in Sept. We the bike tour and the Crater snorkeling reserved also. How fast were you moving down hill?

We reserved both prior to the trip. The bike tour down the volcano was clocked at 20-25mph! An absolute rush. No pedaling...the only calories that were burned were from holding the break and excitement. The tour moves as fast as their slowest rider and puts the men in the back and the most scared rider in the front. The bikes weigh 40lbs alone.

That depends, if you want the night view of the lava and dont want to see the port building you don't want port side.

 

If you want the view of the Napoli coast you want port side. Port side was worth the view of the coast on the final day. It was breathtaking!

This site will tell you if there is any lava flowing into the sea at the current time. If there is no lava flowing to the sea, then the ship sails north around the island and the side your cabin is on makes no difference for the lava flow.

You do want a port (left) side cabin for the Na Pali coast view.

https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm

That depends, if you want the night view of the lava and dont want to see the port building you don't want port side.

 

If you want the view of the Napoli coast you want port side. Port side was worth the view of the coast on the final day. It was breathtaking!

This site will tell you if there is any lava flowing into the sea at the current time. If there is no lava flowing to the sea, then the ship sails north around the island and the side your cabin is on makes no difference for the lava flow.

 

You do want a port (left) side cabin for the Na Pali coast view.

 

https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm

Thanks for all the input - I just booked port side balcony for April :cool:

Thanks for all the input - I just booked port side balcony for April :cool:

Good call, and congratulations!

Port for the Napali coast view seems to be the consensus.

This site will tell you if there is any lava flowing into the sea at the current time. If there is no lava flowing to the sea, then the ship sails north around the island and the side your cabin is on makes no difference for the lava flow.

 

You do want a port (left) side cabin for the Na Pali coast view.

 

https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm

Thanks for the sire address. We booked port side based on other CC advice but your site really helps.

We just finished our cruise of Hawaii on the Pride of America. It was Amazing! If you have any questions please let me know. I would love to answer them and make your trip more enjoyable. Wish I had seen all this before we took our trip:)

Hi there, we're due to go on the POA 9th Sept this year (not long to go now) we are first time cruisers, we have paid for the service charges up front, which we have been advised is the gratuity - however we have been advised that you still have to pay gratuities for drinks but then got told that this is discretionary - can you clarify this for me - we're trying to budget for the 7 nights that's all. Many thanks

Hi there, we're due to go on the POA 9th Sept this year (not long to go now) we are first time cruisers, we have paid for the service charges up front, which we have been advised is the gratuity - however we have been advised that you still have to pay gratuities for drinks but then got told that this is discretionary - can you clarify this for me - we're trying to budget for the 7 nights that's all. Many thanks

Hi! I am super excited for you! The drink gratuity is not optional, they do add one in and then give you an option to tip again... really weird in my opinion.

No liquids can be brought on the boat and they search EVERY suitcase, so I recommend bringing a reusable water bottle. You can bring it to the buffet and fill it with whatever you like, as long as you don't puht youhr water bottle under the spout . I used their plastic cups and dumped into my water bottle. A bottle of water is really expensive like $3-4 :)

Hi there, we're due to go on the POA 9th Sept this year (not long to go now) we are first time cruisers, we have paid for the service charges up front, which we have been advised is the gratuity - however we have been advised that you still have to pay gratuities for drinks but then got told that this is discretionary - can you clarify this for me - we're trying to budget for the 7 nights that's all. Many thanks

If you purchase the drink package you pay the "gratuity" at the time of the purchase and no further charges will be added to your bill. The exception being in those ports which charge the "state tax" on beverage purchased on the ship. Should you purchase per drink once you are on the ship you will note on the receipt a gratuity charge.