Our Review of Pride of America Cruise 7/15-22-2017

Here is my review our 25th anniversary cruise. I will cover the highlights and a few lowlights (very few). I have been a lurker on this site for the past year, gathered a lot of information so now I thought I would share our experience and maybe it will help someone out there make a decision. We will try to answer any question you may have to the best of our ability just note, we are not drinkers, did not attend any onboard activities (wore out), and were in a 10th deck aft suite (10678).

Flight from Syracuse to San Francisco via Detroit smooth as can be expected especially for someone who is not a fan of flying. Enterprise car rental for 3 days was absolutely exceptional, no fuss no muss, highly recommend. While in San Francisco, we did the big 4, Fisherman’s Wharf, Redwoods, Lombard Street, and The Golden Gate Bridge. We parked car at hotel and used public transportation, much easier.

Stayed at the Waikiki Marriot 2 nights one as a promo and I paid for one night. We would have chosen a cheaper hotel for our night, Marriot was $300, because they can, but we had a 6am tour scheduled on Friday and felt the hassle of baggage moving check-in/checkout wasn’t worth it. But there are plenty around the area at half that price.

Did a City tour with Discover Hawaii, which included Pearl Harbor and the highlights of Honolulu and Waikiki. Pearl is a must for anyone who goes to Oahu. The Saturday of embarkation we walked up Diamond Head, 7am up and down in 3 hrs. you could do it in less than 2 if you don’t hang around up top for a while.

Embarkation was a breeze for us, as stated we were in a suite, so we had our bags picked up at the Marriott, we were notified to just tag whatever bags we wanted to have sent to our suite and leave them just inside our door. As we checked onto the first shuttle from hotel to pier we were asked how many bags were left, so nice and easy. A 20 minute ride to pier, security check, suite check-in line and we were escorted onto the ship within an hour from the time we left the hotel.

Walked around some, found a chair at the main pool and sat until about 1 then went onto Cagney’s for lunch. Cagney’s would become our favorite eatery. After lunch we roamed around and sat through a presentation in the theater, and finally the suite was ready. Just before the muster drill, I would say about 4, drill was at 4:45, so a little later than most reviews have stated.

Suite was nice, large balcony, small bathroom. I spent 3 years on a US Navy ship and I had more room in the naval bathroom than in this one. I am 6’ 185lbs, and the shower, was tight, no turning around, let alone bending over in it. You had to get out of it to dry. That was really our only inconvenience in the suite, nothing you can’t deal with; after all you are on a cruise in Hawaii.

Dinner first night was at La Cucina, the Italian eatery, very good. Service excellent.

All breakfasts were at Cagney’s as a perk of being in a suite, again very good, service excellent.

Sunday in Maui, we did the sunset tour at Haleakala Crater. The ride up was pleasant, weather is an issue it does drop 20-25 degrees so be prepared. For us the fog set in just as the sun was setting so not the picture perfect sunset, but it was still an experience. Now our first low light or maybe a subtle warning. If you suffer from motion sickness and take the ship’s tour or any guided tour, this ride has multiple sharp turns. Especially coming down when it is dark it will throw your equilibrium off. Just be forewarned.

Monday in Maui, our actual anniversary, we spent the day in Lahaina. Very nice port on the other side of Maui. About a 45 minute ride, they drop you off at a mall and tell you when they will pick you up, about 5 hours later. We had a snack at Bubba’s Shrimp, very nice with a view. The main attraction here is a 1 acre banyan tree. Our return we had our anniversary dinner at Cagney’s, which is the steakhouse, excellent food, service also excellent.

Tuesday in Hilo, we took a tour of the National Volcano Park with Ricky’s tours. Found on TripAdvisor as well as Cruise Critic. Roughly $100 a person cheaper than NCL excursion, and he advertises he will have you back long before departure time. We were back 2 hours prior. The tour also encompassed Rainbow Falls, Lava Tubes, Orchid Garden, Steam vents, 1982 lava flow, (the one that flowed over a road) a black sand beach where it is possible for sea turtle sightings and yes we did. Dinner was in Modern Churrascaria, the Brazilian eatery, food was average, service average. This was the only location that we were not fond of; as it turned out just not to be our style. But had to try it.

Wednesday in Kona the tender port, wife did a deep sea fishing excursion had an excellent time a woman in her group did catch a 10lb Mahi-Mahi. I did a Kona Mocha tour which took me on a coffee and chocolate plantation tours. It took up the same amount of time as her tour.

Thursday in Kauai wife did the irrigation ditch tubing tour and I just hung around town and the ship. When she returned about an hour late we attended the Smith’s Luau. Now a smart and thinking ahead husband would have thought to take a change of clothes with him when he figured her tour was ending late, and we would be boarding bus to luau as she gets off her tubing bus. Well, not me oops. So she was a little wet for most of the luau, but still enjoyed the show.

Friday in Kauai we just walked around town and hung out on the balcony because of the 2PM departure. Lunch was in the Aloha, the buffet, very nice selection, if you can’t find something to eat on this buffet, then you are way pickier than me. Dinner was at the Cadillac diner, food was good, service a bit slow, but where are we going.

Saturday debarkation day, now the fun begins we are doing the self-walk off, have a voucher for the NCL bus to the airport and we pick the second one of the morning. All is fine wife has checked her phone flight is on time, so we aren’t in any real hurry. Walk off is no problem, on bus 20 minute ride to airport, put bag through agriculture inspection and off to baggage check-in. Gate agent checks us in says gate hasn’t been assigned yet, we are 4 hours early, don’t think much of it, we proceed through TSA, which even at 9AM takes 45 minutes. I find a departure board and find our flight DELAYED 2 hours. Normally we could take that in stride, but we have a connection to make, 1hr and 45min after we land, not happening. After a lot of frustration and contemplating we finally decide on waiting for the 8PM flight direct to Los Angeles. So we had 10 hours to kill at the airport. Our luggage had an extra stay in San Francisco because when they changed us to the direct 8PM flight to Los Angeles, the luggage didn’t get redirected as we were told.

Bottom line: DO NOT FLY UNITED

That covers our cruise we spent 3 days in LA/San Diego, catching 3 ballgames, the San Diego Zoo, and the USS Midway. Flight home San Diego to Syracuse via Minneapolis was uneventful.

Overview:

Suite-Very nice, comfortable bed, sofa was hard. Balcony was extremely nice. Bathroom could have been a little bigger. Bedroom you did hear some noise from above when they rearranged chairs, but no “party” noise. When ship was rocking the hangers were annoying until you found which ones were the offenders.

Food-Very good, selection was good

Service-We didn’t use our steward, or butler except for them to clean up our room and bring whatever they were supposed to. We didn’t do any special requests, with the exception of emptying the mini bar on our arrival.

Excursions-Yes, they are expensive. Yes, you can find same offered third party and we did use a couple of them. But also used most via the ship, just for the security of if something delayed the tour, the ship waits for them to return.

Overall Experience- Very nice as with anything else you make your cruise. We found absolutely no issues with the personnel on board. We found no one that was unhappy about being there, was that because we had a suite, I don’t know this is just from what we encountered in our week on board the Pride of America.

Thank you for your review! Going on this cruise in January 2018 and found out about Ricky from your post. Can you get the info on your wife's tubing tour?

Thank you for the review. We will be on this cruise in 2 weeks! Excited!!

Good review..very helpful to those who have not done this cruise yet.

Wondering what your experience was with the concierge??

Can you tell me more about the Smith Luau.....was it inside or outside. Were there hundreds of people (500) or smaller group (100-150). Thanks.

Thanks! Funny, I am from Syracuse originally, live in SF now, going on the POA in a couple months and staying at the Marriot before, via United. Very similar agenda.

What type of suite were you in?

Thanks! Funny, I am from Syracuse originally, live in SF now, going on the POA in a couple months and staying at the Marriot before, via United. Very similar agenda.

 

What type of suite were you in?

From their description of the bathroom, it sounds like Penthouse with Large Balcony. Small Bathroom , very similar to Mini Suite or Balcony cabin bathroom.

The Deluxe Penthouse with Large Balcony has the separate whirlpool tub and shower. Owners Suites have hot tub on Balcony and whirlpool tub and large walk in shower. Two sink vanity. ....and the Deluxe Owners Suite (only 1 on board) has a grand piano in it.

From their description of the bathroom, it sounds like Penthouse with Large Balcony. Small Bathroom , very similar to Mini Suite or Balcony cabin bathroom.

The Deluxe Penthouse with Large Balcony has the separate whirlpool tub and shower. Owners Suites have hot tub on Balcony and whirlpool tub and large walk in shower. Two sink vanity. ....and the Deluxe Owners Suite (only 1 on board) has a grand piano in it.

Or a Family Suite. Small bathroom, large balcony. I just saw a recent review of a couple upgraded to a family suite. Curious because that's what we have.

Can you tell me more about the Smith Luau.....was it inside or outside. Were there hundreds of people (500) or smaller group (100-150). Thanks.

Interested in this info as well, we are doing Smiths in 2 weeks.

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Thank you for the review! I believe we're staying in a similar cabin, although ours will be an accessible room, so I'm hoping the bathroom is a bit bigger. Sounds like you had a fabulous time!

Can you tell me more about the Smith Luau.....was it inside or outside. Were there hundreds of people (500) or smaller group (100-150). Thanks.

It is on a park like grounds. The dinner is served buffet style undercover. I would guess less than 500 people but more than 130m as there were 3 buses there at our time. Upon entering you had a photo taken and a tram ride around the grounds, then you to roam til they took the pig out of the ground. Dinner was then served and about an hour or so after the actual show was performed in an outdoor theater, but it did have some cover for guests.

Hope that helps.

Good review..very helpful to those who have not done this cruise yet.

Wondering what your experience was with the concierge??

He was around every day at breakfast always checked if we needed anything. What we were doing. We had everything pretty much all laid out before we boarded, all we may have needed his help with was maybe our departure, and that as it turned out was not needed.

Thanks! Funny, I am from Syracuse originally, live in SF now, going on the POA in a couple months and staying at the Marriot before, via United. Very similar agenda.

 

What type of suite were you in?

The official booking was a 2 Bedroom family suite with large balcony.

Were shorts allowed in the restaurants?

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Thank you for your review! Going on this cruise in January 2018 and found out about Ricky from your post. Can you get the info on your wife's tubing tour?

It was the shore excursion right through the ship. It is called Tubing Adventure, on Kauai.

Thank you for all the replies. They are very much appreciated.

Were shorts allowed in the restaurants?

 

The buffet, Aloha, it was ok. Cadillac diner ok, the specialty we didn't, and honestly I really didn't look to see others attire. Wife just told me the Freestyle Daily has the dress code for all the eateries.

Lots of good info here. We're going in March 2018. I'm glad to hear that not all the negative reviews of the POA are accurate....especially the ones about the rude crew and staff. Maybe they were rude to people who were rude. Goes both ways.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.:)

Good review..very helpful to those who have not done this cruise yet.

Wondering what your experience was with the concierge??

I'm on board now and Chris is okay - a little disconnected / disengaged. You'll get more cooperation and better communication with you butler and steward. Peter is our butler and Bonni is our steward. Both amazing. :)

Were shorts allowed in the restaurants?

 

 

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Yes you can wear shorts, tank tops etc... Women should wear some sort of cover up over there swimsuit. However, there are two restaurants with a dress code and that is Liberty or Jefferson's Bistro.

"If you choose the Liberty main dining room or Jefferson's bistro, we ask that you wear jeans or slacks. For men, a collared shirt and close toed shoes. For women, dresses/skirts and tops. Kids under 12 are welcome to wear nice shorts in all dining venues "

That's directly from the freestyle daily.

Hope that helps.

Lots of good info here. We're going in March 2018. I'm glad to hear that not all the negative reviews of the POA are accurate....especially the ones about the rude crew and staff. Maybe they were rude to people who were rude. Goes both ways.

I am here right now on PoA day three of our cruise. Our family is very low key/maintenance- we do a lot for ourselves.

We have already found our favorite staff members that we clicked with, and those that we know we won't and that's okay.

We love our Butler Peter and steward Boni- they are the best. We also really are fond of Martha who oversees Cagneys and Zuben the ships Sommelier- he's amazing. All of the wait staff has been super nice.

Vincent the cruise director and Chris the conceirge are okay - not like the cruise directors and conceirge of past cruises - just different energy I guess.

But the shopkeepers are a little crabby.

In talking to the staff they say that 25% of the staff are international crew members from all over the globe. The captain is very cool and he's from Croatia - The rest of the staff are Americans. Our experience has always been to cruise with international crewmembers and we have found those folks to be very service oriented- and it's mind blowing to me that they remember our names! The American staff I wouldn't say are rude but mostly indifferent- just a different atmosphere.

But you're right you reap what you sow - I find that kindness goes a long way. :)

Have a great cruise.

Hi - I don't want to start another thread with my question and since the OP said they would try to answer anything...(or anyone else reading)

Do you know when NCL open its Hawaii POA itineraries? I was very surprised to see 2020 available already. I'm planning for January 2021 (yes, I plan ahead LOL!) But, seriously, I'd like to put down a deposit as soon as it's available- and that may be a year earlier than I thought it would be!! Thank you.

I'm on board now and Chris is okay - a little disconnected / disengaged. You'll get more cooperation and better communication with you butler and steward. Peter is our butler and Bonni is our steward. Both amazing. :)

Chris was ours too, he was alright as I stated. We just didn't need to interact with him. I don't remember the names of the butler and steward. Are you/have you ate in Cagney's? Is the hostess, Brenna? She was on when we were there and she really made our cruise, really regret not getting her email address.

Yes you can wear shorts, tank tops etc... Women should wear some sort of cover up over there swimsuit. However, there are two restaurants with a dress code and that is Liberty or Jefferson's Bistro.

 

 

 

"If you choose the Liberty main dining room or Jefferson's bistro, we ask that you wear jeans or slacks. For men, a collared shirt and close toed shoes. For women, dresses/skirts and tops. Kids under 12 are welcome to wear nice shorts in all dining venues "

 

 

 

That's directly from the freestyle daily.

 

 

 

Hope that helps.

Yes it does help. Thanks.

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