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Pride of America (is that even an NCL ship??) Review with PICS!


willowvacay
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This is probably the best review I've read here. Very detailed and you answered questions I didn't even think of. We have a 8:15 pm flight and since we are arriving 3 days before the cruise I haven't figured out what we are going to do for 12 hours. The hotel room is genius. Will consider in our plans. Love the pictures. When your little one makes his/hers appearance make sure you aren't the only one taking pictures. Moms need to be in pictures with the baby. Thanks again for the great report.

 

We have the same issue that you have with a later flight after disembarking. We are at 5 pm and someone from Nov/16 used Pacific Shuttle for the day. It cost $165 for use of the van and you can take up to 6 people. They do a 1/2 day East Oahu tour and will then drop you off at the airport. We are going with another couple and found another couple on our roll call so are only paying $55 per couple which to me is a lot better than sitting at the airport.

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Hope u had a great time we did I because we could see a lot of the islands with out flying time. We stayed 5 days in Oahu then got on the ship. We rented a car at each port and even parked it over night at those. We saw so much by driving and it was cheap except for Kauai it was $95 for the day but worth it. We did the wings over Kauai airplane ride was the best and a helicopter in Maui. We heard the NCL was the best way to see the islands and it was.

 

 

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Awesome review! It brought back so many memories for me! DH and I sailed on the Pride of America for our honeymoons few years ago! I have a question for you about cruising while preggo. I'm currently 11 weeks and we just booked a cruise to Bermuda with Royal in May. I will be 21 weeks at the time. How many weeks were you on this trip and how did you feel overall? I have a 7 month old and felt great during my pregnancy with him and I'm feeling great so far with baby #2. I'm just wondering if being at sea had any effect on you? Or did you feel normal? Congratulations to you guys on your upcoming new addition! It's so much fun! We are debating on whether or not to bring our baby on the Bermuda cruise (to answer your earlier question about youngest is 6 months on most North America cruises =)) so don't worry baby won't slow your cruising down one bit! I'm sure he or she will love it just as much as you guys do! Feel free to message me if you want to talk babies and pregnancy!

 

 

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I am considering the POA as my first cruise, first time to Hawaii. I am glad I have found such good reviews of both here on Cruise Critic. Yours is especially interesting with the POA being after going to Hawaii for a regular vacation. It seems like the majority of people do the cruise first then go back if they're interested and able to. As a first time cruiser and a first time visitor to Hawaii, do you think the POA is a wise choice?

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Awesome review! It brought back so many memories for me! DH and I sailed on the Pride of America for our honeymoons few years ago! I have a question for you about cruising while preggo. I'm currently 11 weeks and we just booked a cruise to Bermuda with Royal in May. I will be 21 weeks at the time. How many weeks were you on this trip and how did you feel overall? I have a 7 month old and felt great during my pregnancy with him and I'm feeling great so far with baby #2. I'm just wondering if being at sea had any effect on you? Or did you feel normal? Congratulations to you guys on your upcoming new addition! It's so much fun! We are debating on whether or not to bring our baby on the Bermuda cruise (to answer your earlier question about youngest is 6 months on most North America cruises =)) so don't worry baby won't slow your cruising down one bit! I'm sure he or she will love it just as much as you guys do! Feel free to message me if you want to talk babies and pregnancy!

 

 

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I cruised Alaska while 6 months pregnant. I didn't have any adverse effects on the boat. It actually kinda rocked me to sleep in a soothing manner. There's certain excursions you can't do while expecting but overall don't worry about difficulties with cruising pregnant. It's all a great experience- cruising and expecting a precious baby! Congratulations to you and WillowVacay!! LOVED the review!! Thank you! We've contemplated this cruise but it's so expensive plus airfare to Hawaii! Eek! I have a former co-worker who took this cruise and complained incessantly about the ship so it made me rethink it. We've been to Oahu a couple times but I'd love to visit more islands next trip to Hawaii. You're making me strongly rethink this trip. I think I just may add it back into our travel plans within the next few years. Thanks again WillowVacay and best of luck on an easy delivery and a beautiful healthy baby!! Motherhood will change your entire life in the very best way!! It's the kind of love that you've never known!! Enjoy your journey and don't worry. Baby WillowVacay won't slow y'all down. He/she will just make it better because you'll experience it all together as a family. My kids (7 & 10) LOVE cruising!! While we try to get away alone without them once in awhile it's never on a cruise anymore because that's such a perfect family vacation! Thanks again for your awesome detailed report and enjoy your amazing life journey!

 

 

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Awesome review! It brought back so many memories for me! DH and I sailed on the Pride of America for our honeymoons few years ago! I have a question for you about cruising while preggo. I'm currently 11 weeks and we just booked a cruise to Bermuda with Royal in May. I will be 21 weeks at the time. How many weeks were you on this trip and how did you feel overall? I have a 7 month old and felt great during my pregnancy with him and I'm feeling great so far with baby #2. I'm just wondering if being at sea had any effect on you? Or did you feel normal? Congratulations to you guys on your upcoming new addition! It's so much fun! We are debating on whether or not to bring our baby on the Bermuda cruise (to answer your earlier question about youngest is 6 months on most North America cruises =)) so don't worry baby won't slow your cruising down one bit! I'm sure he or she will love it just as much as you guys do! Feel free to message me if you want to talk babies and pregnancy!

 

 

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Sorry it took me so long to respond. I guess I haven't been getting my emails from cruise critic. Thanks for the encouragement about taking babies on cruises! We are looking forward to introducing our little one to these kinds of fun vacations!

 

On this cruise I was also 21 weeks. Overall being in second trimester I felt pretty good. We went to the gym and worked out like normal. I don't have any troubles with sea sickness normally and my pregnancy nausea basically stopped around 16 weeks so that wasn't an issue for me on this cruise .

I did have a little trouble with swelling due to walking long distances in flip flops and warm weather but that resolved quickly with propping my feet up and proper rest. Also it helped that my husband is super supportive and had no problem going back to the room to lay down if I was tired or just taking a rest in general if we had done too much walking. Just be sure to push the water drinking! I hope you really enjoy your cruise!!

 

 

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Thanks for your review. I learned quite a bit about the Pride of America. There are bits I like about the older ships and bits from the new ones.

 

 

We feel the same way about the older and newer ships! They all have great things to offer and also all have some drawbacks. We always end up having a great time!

 

 

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I am considering the POA as my first cruise, first time to Hawaii. I am glad I have found such good reviews of both here on Cruise Critic. Yours is especially interesting with the POA being after going to Hawaii for a regular vacation. It seems like the majority of people do the cruise first then go back if they're interested and able to. As a first time cruiser and a first time visitor to Hawaii, do you think the POA is a wise choice?

 

 

I do think it's a wise choice if you have the time to visit Oahu a little more. The time in Oahu is extremely short if you do this cruise like we did. Otherwise there is a lot of port time in each port so you have a chance to see a ton. It would take a few days to see Pearl Harbor, hike diamond head, see the surfing on the North Shore, and spend time on Waikiki beach. Enjoy your trip!!

 

 

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I cruised Alaska while 6 months pregnant. I didn't have any adverse effects on the boat. It actually kinda rocked me to sleep in a soothing manner. There's certain excursions you can't do while expecting but overall don't worry about difficulties with cruising pregnant. It's all a great experience- cruising and expecting a precious baby! Congratulations to you and WillowVacay!! LOVED the review!! Thank you! We've contemplated this cruise but it's so expensive plus airfare to Hawaii! Eek! I have a former co-worker who took this cruise and complained incessantly about the ship so it made me rethink it. We've been to Oahu a couple times but I'd love to visit more islands next trip to Hawaii. You're making me strongly rethink this trip. I think I just may add it back into our travel plans within the next few years. Thanks again WillowVacay and best of luck on an easy delivery and a beautiful healthy baby!! Motherhood will change your entire life in the very best way!! It's the kind of love that you've never known!! Enjoy your journey and don't worry. Baby WillowVacay won't slow y'all down. He/she will just make it better because you'll experience it all together as a family. My kids (7 & 10) LOVE cruising!! While we try to get away alone without them once in awhile it's never on a cruise anymore because that's such a perfect family vacation! Thanks again for your awesome detailed report and enjoy your amazing life journey!

 

 

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Thank you so much for the well wishes and for the encouragement about cruising with little ones! We really hope baby willowvacay loves the cruises as much as we do!

 

We had a great time on this trip! It was more expensive than our other cruises but we would have likely never made it to Kauai without the cruise and apparently we were missing out!! Lots of reviews and cruisers are negative about this cruise but it was a great way to see several islands and really get to enjoy Hawaii.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Thank you so much. We are at the other end of the spectrum, one DS26 launched (hoping for an engagement soon) and one DS looking at college as I type. We will be celebrating our 30th anniversary this year and just said to DH how about another cruise (mind you we are on the Escape in Aug 2017) in October for anniversary, I was thinking Europe but when I mentioned Hawaii he said yes definitely. I was worried for the reviews are really mixed, I wondered if there were two different ships (LOL) these reviewers are going on. You gave a delightful report, very detailed while balanced and the addition of pictures was awesome. Congratulations on your new addition, wishing the remainder of your pregnancy is happy and healthy and you deliver a healthy and beautiful baby. New adventures await, enjoy every precious moment for I know it can't seem possible but they are fleeting moments and he/she will be grown and planning their own trips before you realize what happened. Sending prayers, hugs and a little pixie dust to you. (Disney cruises are awesome).

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Thank you so much. We are at the other end of the spectrum, one DS26 launched (hoping for an engagement soon) and one DS looking at college as I type. We will be celebrating our 30th anniversary this year and just said to DH how about another cruise (mind you we are on the Escape in Aug 2017) in October for anniversary, I was thinking Europe but when I mentioned Hawaii he said yes definitely. I was worried for the reviews are really mixed, I wondered if there were two different ships (LOL) these reviewers are going on. You gave a delightful report, very detailed while balanced and the addition of pictures was awesome. Congratulations on your new addition, wishing the remainder of your pregnancy is happy and healthy and you deliver a healthy and beautiful baby. New adventures await, enjoy every precious moment for I know it can't seem possible but they are fleeting moments and he/she will be grown and planning their own trips before you realize what happened. Sending prayers, hugs and a little pixie dust [emoji92]to you. (Disney cruises are awesome).

 

 

Thank you so much! We are very near the end of the pregnancy and the excitement is getting crazy! We can't wait!

 

We have a hard time with all the negative reviews whether looking at cruises or at hotels on trip advisor. I'm always trying to figure out if they're crazy or the place really sucks. Haha. I'm glad you found this review to be helpful because we always try to take the good with the bad and make the best of any trip regardless :). We had a great time on this trip and look forward to maybe going again sometime with our little family! Enjoy your Escape trip and your future Hawaii cruise!

 

 

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This was such a wonderful review. We have been contemplating a trip to Hawaii, but with all of the so-so reviews of POA had pretty much ruled that out. Now you have me thinking about it again.

 

By the way, the minimum age for sailing on Disney is only six months old, as they have a nursery on board (it does cost extra though up until age 3). Disney cruises are pricey, but are oh so wonderful. We're just the opposite of your family. Now that our "baby" is 19, we are trying out NCL for our next two cruises after many on Disney. We started traveling with our son when he was just an infant. He was hiking in Yellowstone at the age of three. His love of travel was instilled at a very young age, and I'm sure your child's will be as well. Best of luck to you on your new and most wonderful adventure!!

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Thanks for reading the review! Also thank you for encouraging travel with a child! We have big plans for travel as a crew and so many people in real life have been discouraging saying things like "it will be a long time before you go on another trip." Haters ;). I am so encouraged that so many people on here continued to pursue their love of travel and pass it on to their young children!

 

 

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Thanks for reading the review! Also thank you for encouraging travel with a child! We have big plans for travel as a crew and so many people in real life have been discouraging saying things like "it will be a long time before you go on another trip." Haters ;). I am so encouraged that so many people on here continued to pursue their love of travel and pass it on to their young children!

 

 

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Hi

 

I have 2 kids (17 & 23) they were both on planes and on vacation at 3 months old and we haven't stopped vacationing. My 17 year has been on 15 cruises starting 1 years old. I've been a single mom a long time and still went on vacation with them. The type of vacation my change but you can still go away and have fun. Btw, I think cruise are great to go on with kids. Congrats.

 

I'm going on POA next week and this time it is without the kids [emoji4]

 

 

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Thanks for reading the review! Also thank you for encouraging travel with a child! We have big plans for travel as a crew and so many people in real life have been discouraging saying things like "it will be a long time before you go on another trip." Haters ;). I am so encouraged that so many people on here continued to pursue their love of travel and pass it on to their young children!

 

 

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Oh no! They are haters for real. I'm with Pickles61. DH and I met on a cruise and have been traveling ever since. Our oldest was on a plane at 7 months and our youngest was on a plane to Hawaii at 3 months. You absolutely CAN still travel with kids! Family vacations are even more amazing because you share the experience and the memories as a family! You'll know when you're ready to hit the road ( or sea [emoji6]) again and don't let anyone discourage you. Ours are 10 and 7 now and they love cruising more than we do! Lol. Enjoy your baby and enjoy family travel as well. After all it's free to fly with kids until they turn 2! [emoji38]

 

 

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Oh no! They are haters for real. I'm with Pickles61. DH and I met on a cruise and have been traveling ever since. Our oldest was on a plane at 7 months and our youngest was on a plane to Hawaii at 3 months. You absolutely CAN still travel with kids! Family vacations are even more amazing because you share the experience and the memories as a family! You'll know when you're ready to hit the road ( or sea [emoji6]) again and don't let anyone discourage you. Ours are 10 and 7 now and they love cruising more than we do! Lol. Enjoy your baby and enjoy family travel as well. After all it's free to fly with kids until they turn 2! [emoji38]

 

 

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Thanks for the encouragement and thanks for reading!!

 

 

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