MomOfSix13

Thanks for the heads up but we've been told we can bring wine/champagne (bottles) and pay a corkage fee, of $10 which we're thinking of doing as I don't really drink that much but it turns out cheaper. We're looking into excursions too but they seem a bit on the pricey side!!

Thats great! They only let us bring 1 on and it was a cheap bottle like 7.99 and then we paid $15, so it became a $22 bottle of wine :)

The excursions are expensive! If you are crafty you can actually book directly and uber there. For Example, in Kauai we did the muddy bug waterfall tour (on day 1) through the ship it was like $500-$600, but we booked directly and it was $350 plus the $15 uber ride. Still a huge savings!

Btw- it was an AMAZING tour and so much fun.

Hello Mom of six-- can you tell me how the seas were at night? calm or need to hold on seas?? thanks

Hi!

Our seas were quite calm, the boat only/mostly sails during the evening. During evening time you can feel the boat subtly, that kind of mild drunk walk. My hubby and I get that motion sickness feeling when we spin in a circle on amusement park rides, but the boat didn't bother us one bit. Neither of us had to take motion sickness medicine, but everyone is different.

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 :)

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.

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 :)

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!

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.

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.

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.

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:)

We just freestyle cruised for the first time in July on NCL "The Pride of America" and I loved it. No need to bring fancy clothes or worry about getting to your dinner on time, but if you wanted a sit down nice dinner you could make one and they almost always had a time a valiable. There were also al carte choices which cost extra but we didn't feel the need to go there. I liked being completely in control of when, where, and who we ate with :)