NCL Pride of America Review - Dec. 3, 2011

Honolulu Friday & Saturday

We arrived in Honolulu in the early afternoon on Friday 12/2. Our flights on Hawaiian were on time. We took a taxi to our hotel, the Waikiki Parc. The hotel upgraded us to a prime ocean view room at no extra charge thanks to the help of my travel agent. We changed into shorts and sandals and ate lunch across the way at the Halekulani's House Without a Key sitting on the patio looking at Diamond Head and the beach - wonderful.

Saturday morning we ate at the hotel's ample buffet - another perk courtesy of the travel agent. We then set out on the Trolley for a trip to the Ala Moana shopping center to pick up a few things I forgot to pack. I found the perfect pair of slippers and we started on our Christmas shopping.

We headed back to the hotel, checked out and were at pier 2 around 12:30. The baggage line moved quickly. We were soon getting our photo taken and in line to check in. The Latitudes check in is at the far left. We went over there and were checked right in and on our way on board. We checked our carry on bags and orchid leis at the Mardi Gras theater and went to the Skyline dining room for lunch. We shared a table and met a lovely couple from North Dakota who we saw many times on the ship and excursions.

Around 2:00 it was announced the cabins on deck 11 were ready. We claimed our carry on bags and headed to the room. It was almost ready - our room steward still needed to vacuum. She didn't understand our request to empty the mini bar so we did it ourselves. She did offer ice though and kept it refreshed throughout the cruise. The room is fine and is the smallest we've seen for a balcony cabin. It does have good storage space. We loved the location on deck 11 - seemed close to everything. The bathrooms could use a refresh as they are worn - particularly the mirrors and shelves. I remembered the shelves behind the corner mirror later that night - it definitely helped in that tiny counter space. There is no local nightly news on the TV - only BBC, Fox and MSNBC.

We unpacked and headed to the CC Meet and Greet. NCL's group coordinator Leonie had moved us to the Lanai Bar, made nice directional signs and arranged Mai Tai's and cookies. We had a fantastic Cruise Critic turn out. There must have been 35-40 people there and it was also well attended by POA's officers, including the Captain. They all introduced themselves and genuinely seemed to want us all to have a great vacation. We enjoyed meeting many of our Cruise Critic online friends. Again, we were thrilled with NCL's hosting and the turn out.

We had made a reservation for Le Bistro that night. It is $15 the first night and is a sampler of the upcharge restaurants. The caesar salad, crab cakes, filet and asparagus were delicious, but we couldn't finish the french onion soup. The sushi looked good, but the other italian and chinese dishes weren't too appealing. We have set sail for Maui. The ship moved quite a bit that night.

Maui - Sunday and Monday

Up early this morning as was our very loud neighbor who was talking on a cell phone for hours on the balcony. Finally, I leaned over the railing and asked him to lower his voice. Thank goodness he did and his wife too for the rest of the cruise.

We ate in the Aloha Cafe this morning. It was crowded but manageable. The food choices were pretty good, but were the same each day.

We caught the shuttle to Thrifty and picked up our rental car about 10:00am. They were out of the smaller cars and gave us a Jeep at no extra charge. We drove to Ma'alaea and checked out the Maui Ocean Center before going on our PWF whale watching tour. The tunnel aquarium was a favorite here and is at the end of the tour just before the nice gift shop. Skip the audio tour - it was long winded and we stopped using it after the first 2 sites. On the PWF boat, we saw at least 7 whales which was terrific.

We headed back to the ship about 3:30 after a stop at KMart to pick up a few more things and snagged the perfect parking spot at the pier for overnight. For lunch we tried the Cadillac diner which was the only place open at that time. We sat on the deck which was nice and the food was ok.

Later that night we were in line at the Skyline when a hostess asked for people who would share a table. We said yes and were whisked inside. Unfortunately, we were escorted to a table with a couple who had not requested to share a table and had already ordered their food. It was very uncomfortable for all of us and the hostess did nothing to remedy the situation. We left and never went back to the Skyline.

We walked upstairs to the Liberty dining room and were seated right away at the window and had a good dinner. Although the menus are the same in the dining rooms, we much preferred Liberty. It seemed to be better staffed, was quieter and much more pleasant - plus no shorts or flip flops. I think this was the night we saw the Polynesia show - it was very good and the costumes were colorful and fun.

The next day we got in the Jeep and headed to Iao Valley. It is an easy walk around the area. We stopped at Long's on the way back toward Kahului and picked up a bunch of chocolate macademia nut candy boxes and bottled water for the mini fridge. Since it was warm, we dropped them off at the ship and then headed back out to Mama's Fish House for lunch. What a fantastic setting and the fresh fish dishes were delicious. We stopped at the windsurfing beach up the road for a while and then headed back to return the car. All went smoothly and we made it to the free Kukui nut lei making session and then we were on our way to Hilo.

A note about the Napa Wine Bar Happy hour - I loved this. It is a nice setting with good live music and was $4.95 for a glass of Merlot, Chardonnay or champagne from 5-6 pm. The table service was slow, but just go up to the bar and you can get served right.

Dinner in the Liberty again was good - we always followed the server's suggestions. Overnight, I forgot to turn off my smart phone and the battery was dead in the morning since it was searching all night for a land tower. The POA doesn't have/use ship cell towers which is a $$ saver.

Hilo - Tuesday

Our Volcanoes National Park tour didn't leave until 12:30 so we took our time in the morning. We went to the Cadillac Diner for an early lunch - the chef salad, fish & chips worked out well for us.

The bus left right on time for VNP. Nice tour and nice to not have to drive it. Walking through the lava tube was the highlight for me.

Back to the ship and dinner in the Liberty again.

On our way to Kona. No lava flowing into the sea yet so nothing to see - we missed it by less than a week!

This may have been the night we saw the Not so Newlywed game - very funny.

Kona - Wednesday

We had booked the NCL Kona Land and Sea excursion and met in the theater for the tender call. We were all on the big bus when the tour guide discovered one passenger was missing. We waited 20-30 minutes for the next tender and an elderly gentleman traveling on his own showed up. I'm glad we didn't leave him behind.

We went to the Painted Church, Place of Refuge and a commercial coffee stop. Then we were back at the pier and boarded a Body Glove catamaran for a sail down the coast. We came across a large pod of dolphins and enjoyed the boast ride and entertainment (a singer, guitar player and hula dancer).

The line for the tenders was long when we got back to the pier so not much time for shopping in Kona.

Dinner tonight at East Meets West. I had the lobster special - well worth the extra $.

Kauai - Thursday & Friday

We hopped the shuttle to Anchor Cove mall to meet the transport to our Air Ventures tour. It was a terrific tour - just loved it. We couldn't get as close as all those helicopters we saw but could see Waimea Canyon, the Na Pali Coast, Princeville, etc. just fine and it was 1/2 the price. We went over to Thrifty at the airport to pick up our rental car - this time a Jeep Liberty SUV. We went down to Poipu through the tree tunnel and had lunch at the Sheraton, went to the Spouting Horn and to Wailua Falls. Then returned the car and headed back to get on the ship.

The hair dryer smoked and sparked before dinner. We called and someone showed up immediately to fix the problem. He called an electrician since the outlet is covered by a metal box under the desk.

Dinner tonight at Lazy J's - delicious, particularly the scalloped potatoes, filet and asparagus. When we got back to the cabin, the new hair dryer was installed.

Earlier in the week we had purchased the future cruise reward credit - such a deal on a reduced deposit and a $100 credit for the current cruise. We decided on our 2012 cruise to New England and Canada and to try a suite this time.

Friday we had booked NCL's Waimea Canyon tour. It left early and was a lot of time in the bus - again, better than me doing the driving. We got back to the pier about 1:30, ate lunch and went to the Latitudes sail away event on the bow. Very fun to chat with others and sip champagne as we sailed away from Nawiliwili. We then worked on packing and found a spot on deck 13 for the Na Pali sail by. It rained and a stunning rainbow appeared and followed the ship for a long time - it was just gorgeous. As the ship turned, we each got a glass of champagne from the bar on deck 12 and went back to our starboard balcony to watch the coast in the sunset - it was beautiful.

Dinner tonight again in the Liberty and then we finished our packing and hit the hay. It was a choppy night back to Honolulu and the balcony door opened on its own a bit mid way through the night. I should add, that the bed was comfy, the pillows not as nice. I asked for a new one on Monday and received it right away, but it was in the same shape as the others. I should have just bought a new one at KMart - just didn't think of it at the time.

Overall, we were happy with the ship and crew. The crew works very hard. We did tip our cabin steward extra for all her efforts.

Honolulu - Saturday Disembark

On Wednesday evening, I spotted the disembark tags near the reception desk and picked up 2 of the 9:00 dark green tags for our 2 bigger bags. By Thursday evening these were all gone.

Our flight wasn't until 2:30 so we were in no hurry to leave the ship. The disembark process seemed to work pretty smoothly and didn't seem as rushed as our Barcelona trip earlier this year. We had breakfast in the Aloha Cafe and it was still surprisingly busy at 8:00am. We left at 9:00, picked up our big bags easily and then waited in a long line to check our baggage with NCL at the pier building for $5 a bag. It was convenient.

We then stood in the taxi line which was slow. They put us with a family going to the airport. We were going to Iolani Palace which is not far away and I guess the taxi's who have paid for the pier permit want the higher fares. This taxi driver did not speak much english, charged us full fare and the other family too and didn't drop us off at the correct location. I would arrange different transportation next time. We enjoyed our Iolani Palace tour and the docents there called a much better taxi for our trip back to the pier and then to the airport.

A wonderful vacation. I recommend the Pride of America for a tour around the islands. Aloha!

Great details in your trip report, many thanks for taking the time to write and share with us.

Glad you had a good time, and didn't let the bad things ruin your positive attitude. Great tips in your review!

Great! Thanks for your review!

I enjoyed your review! I went the week after you but I read all your blogs before you sailed. So glad you had a great time! I appreciate that you were able to make the best of the not so good things that can, and do, happen.

I enjoyed your review! I went the week after you but I read all your blogs before you sailed. So glad you had a great time! I appreciate that you were able to make the best of the not so good things that can, and do, happen.

Thanks. It really was a good trip - nothing that bad happened. The only ship issue was the Skyline seating and that was a non event since there are so many other options for eating.

Enjoy your November cruise - I'd love to see that lava flow.

Adding Iao Valley photo.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

Aloha!

What is that deal, first time I've heard of that. We were also wondering what to do about that last day, since our flights don't leave until about 3pm too

What is that deal, first time I've heard of that. We were also wondering what to do about that last day, since our flights don't leave until about 3pm too

There was a gal at a table in the pier building with a sign saying you could check your luggage right there. We picked up our luggage and walked out to the foyer type area and there was a room to the far left with 2 people checking in luggage - $5 for each piece including small carry ons.

We were at Pier 2 which is a long walk (with luggage) over to the Aloha Tower pier area. I had read there is a baggage storage company over there, but this was much more convenient since we didn't have a ton of time. The taxis though only want to take people to the airport so I'd arrange a shuttle or other form of transportation. They can meet you right outside the gate which is close to where you check your luggage on Pier 2.