Pride of America Hawaii Review 5/29/2010- LENGTHY!

[spacepotatoes]

I do have a question about Kauai. I see it said you have to be onboard at 1:30 each day. If you are staying overnight, why is that? I was thinking of not booking excursions through NCL on the days we stayed overnight in Maui & Kauai because I thought it wouldn't be a problem if we got back late. Now, I would be too nervous worrying that we might be.

 

The Thursday daily actually says that all aboard is 1:30 PM on Friday so you're fine. You have all day Thursday in Kauai, just be back on by 1:30 on Friday. Have a great time!

[auntsue]

At any of the four ports/stops, do you get off in a town/place where you can just walk around or shop on your own, or do you really have to take a tour to see anything? I just booked two modest tours (no helicopters or anything like that) and I'm almost up to $600. I don't really want to stay on the ship if we don't book a tour, but I can see I'll be up over $1000 if I do book any more tours. We'll be in Waikiki for ten nights before and after the cruise, so we're already going to be spending a fortune on this trip.

 

DH does not drive, so renting a car anywhere is not really going to work for us. He is legally blind, so he can't help with directions or read signs and I don't really like driving, especially in a strange place.

 

What are my options at the ports?

[spacepotatoes]

If I remember correctly, Maui is mostly a commercial port but there is a walkway that leads to a small area where there are shops, etc. I think people were saying it's about a 5-10 minute walk. I'd highly recommend a tour or excursion on Maui. Kona is a tender port but once you get to the dock, you're right in Kona so you can walk around. There are cafes and shops. I think there is also a small beach not too far from the dock. In Kauai, there are some shopping centres near the port but you have to walk a little ways to get to them. There's not much else nearby, though, so an excursion/tour there would be better too. I don't remember Hilo, but maybe someone else can chime in on that one.

[spacepotatoes]

I just remembered that on Maui, the ship had a shuttle that took people to Lahaina and brought them back. I'm not sure of the exact cost (we rented a car), but it wasn't nearly as expensive as the regular excursions and you are free to explore the town on your own once you get there. It's about a 45 minute drive from the port and it's much nicer than staying near the port area. There are beaches, shops, and lots of historical sites with free/very cheap admission if you are interested in that sort of thing. It should be listed as one of the Maui shore excursions on the NCL website, if they are still offering it.

[auntsue]

Thanks for the info. Our tours are in Hilo and Kauai. Absolutely nothing appealed to me on the Maui list which is unfortunate because we are there for two days. (We've already been to Iao Valley and the crater.)

 

I guess I'll sign up for 'Lahaina on your own.' That's good for five hours. Do you know anything about the city bus that goes there? I saw it mentioned in a previous post. I imagine it would take all day if it takes 45 minutes to go directly from the ship.

[riofriotex]

At any of the four ports/stops, do you get off in a town/place where you can just walk around or shop on your own, or do you really have to take a tour to see anything? I just booked two modest tours (no helicopters or anything like that) and I'm almost up to $600. I don't really want to stay on the ship if we don't book a tour, but I can see I'll be up over $1000 if I do book any more tours. We'll be in Waikiki for ten nights before and after the cruise, so we're already going to be spending a fortune on this trip.

 

DH does not drive, so renting a car anywhere is not really going to work for us. He is legally blind, so he can't help with directions or read signs and I don't really like driving, especially in a strange place.

 

What are my options at the ports?

 

Maui - agree with the other commenter that you might want to take the shuttle to Lahaina. There is a lot to see and do in that town, shops, places to eat, historic sites (and I think most of the latter are free).

 

Kona - ditto, except all you have to do is take the tender and everything is right off the pier. Some of the historic sites within walking distance are Hulihee Palace and Mokuaikawa Church, and the exhibits and Ahuena Heiau (Kamehameha's personal temple ) on the grounds of the King Kam hotel right at the end of the tender pier.

 

Hilo - I remember at this port that there were a lot of local representatives around - I think for example you can get a free shuttle to Hilo Hattie's to do some shopping.

 

Kauai - The Anchor Cove shopping center (and a Duke's restaurant), Nawiliwili Beach Park, and Kalapaki Beach right by the Marriott, all in walking distance.

[spacepotatoes]

I guess I'll sign up for 'Lahaina on your own.' That's good for five hours. Do you know anything about the city bus that goes there? I saw it mentioned in a previous post. I imagine it would take all day if it takes 45 minutes to go directly from the ship.

 

I didn't know there was a city bus that went there! We didn't really see any city buses as we were driving around the island, but then we weren't actively looking for them either so we could have just missed them. We used the city bus in Waikiki, though, and it was great.

 

DH and I used this Frommer's guide for Lahaina, maybe you'll find it useful:

 

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/maui/0015010008.html

 

There is a map if you scroll all the way to the bottom. We didn't have time to do the whole tour start to finish so we just cherry picked what we were most interested in. It was a nice walk and along the way, we stumbled on a place called Local Boyz. I think it was on Front Street. They had the best shave ice we tried on the entire trip :D

 

The ship will also a have a map that you can take with you that includes shops, etc.

[klingoncruiser]

Thanks for the nice review. :)

[can'tcatchup]

Am in the VERY preliminary stages of thinking about taking this cruise, but would be in combo with spending a couple weeks divided between Kauai and the Big Island either pre- or post- cruise. (We did Mauia and Oahu in depth last year.)

 

Now I'm wondering since the cruise is so port-intensive if that's a dumb idea since we'd probably already have had the chance to see most everything on those 2 islands before (or after) the cruise. Thoughts? We're not beach/water sports people .... maybe we could leave the "shopping part" of our trip to the port days? But that may not be good either if the ports are not near shopping.

 

Other questions: you mentioned smoking allowed in the cabins. This is not something I'm used to in recent cruises. Are there cabins that are non-smoking? If not, what do they do about residual smoke from the previous occupants?

 

When renting a car for the 2 days on Maui, where does one park it overnight?

 

Enjoyed your description of the specialty restaurants, but can you give any info about the non-specialties ... i.e. what is considered to be the "main dining room" (name?) and does it serve dinner only, or also breakfast and lunch? Is there more than one non-specialty dining room and if so, how are those assigned? Am not particularly a buffet type person, though the bbq on day 1 sounded nice.

 

Recent cruises have been with RCCL and Celebrity - I realize that this would be a different type of cruise, but I guess I'm wondering... totally different with little emphasis on dining and entertainment, or just a little different and more casual (which I wouldn't mind).

 

Thanks for any help in forming my decision as to whether this is for me. :)

[riofriotex]

My personal opinion, can'tcatchup? If I had the time and/or money to do each island intensely, I would not take the cruise. We had the money, but not the time to go to each island and do it justice. Also, I and my husband in particular hate flying, ESPECIALLY in small island-hopping planes, so a cruise that gave us a taste of each of the four islands was perfect for us (and we were able to fly nonstop to Honolulu).

 

Pride of America was only my second cruise, the other one also being with NCL, and PoA was totally different from the other with little emphasis on dining and entertainment. Since the cruise is so port-intensive, the ship really serves mostly as a floating hotel. I don't think there is much emphasis on the entertainment because most people are so exhausted from their port time that (like us), they don't GO to the entertainment.

 

As for the food, while I was quite happy with it, since the food is not a focus for me, it would probably disappoint people who prefer finer dining. We ate mostly at Aloha Cafe (the buffet), because I could fill a plate and take it back to our stateroom for the husband and I to share. The two "main dining rooms" are Skyline and Liberty, with the latter just above the former. They serve the same food as Aloha. I found service to be a bit slow (we ate dinner at Liberty twice) but friendly. One or the other, if not both, is open for every meal.

 

The only specialty restaurants we ate at were Jefferson's Bistro ($20 cover, French, quite good) and Little Italy ($10 cover, pretty good, my parents really liked it). We ate at the bistro on Thursday night when many on board were at the luau; even then, since we did not make a reservation far in advance, we could not get in until 9 PM with a same day reservation. Little Italy, on the other hand, we were able to get into on Friday night with just 30 minutes advance notice. I did not want to make reservations far in advance for any night, not knowing how tired we'd be after a day in port.

 

I don't remember the cover charges for all the other places but I know there is Lazy J Steakhouse, Teppanyaki, East Meets West, and a sushi place. We're not into those types of food. There is also the Cadillac Diner, which technically isn't a specialty restaurant since there is no cover charge and you don't need reservations. It's the only place open very late at night (that isn't a bar). They do charge extra for their milkshakes. My parents ate there and liked it.

 

As for the entertainment, I would have liked to go to the Polynesia theme show, but it was Sunday night, and as we were traveling with my aunt the nun, we went to Mass in Maui instead. :) On the other hand, I am not big on entertainment; we did not go to anything on our previous NCL cruise. PoA also has some Hawaiian-theme classes, like making all kinds of leis (ribbon, shell, kukui nut, and flower), hula, etc. The timing of these was usually late afternoon, which made it hard to make them with sightseeing all day, but the couple I attended were quite good.

 

I'm pretty sensitive to tobacco smoke but don't remember any residual smells in the cabins. Can't remember if there were any non-smoking ones.

 

There is parking within walking distance of the ports in both Kahalui, Maui (free) and Nawiliwili, Kauai ($20).

[can'tcatchup]

riofriotex, I appreciate your frank response to my questions and will certainly take it into consideration as I get into more seriously planning a return trip to Hawaii. I am starting to get the feel for the POA being more of a means to getting around to touring all the islands than being a typical cruise experience.

[NLVCruiser702]

Hi Pete,

 

I'll join the chorus of those thanking you for your review, responses to questions, and photos.

 

The wife and I leave 9/23 for two nights at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, followed by the POA cruise in suite 10000, directly above your suite 9500.

 

After seeing your pictures one question immediately came to mind. Does NCL provide the beans for the coffee maker or should I buy my own in Honolulu? This is something that has been in my mind since we booked the cruise last January.

 

BTW I encourage everyone to be creative in finding a booking for their travel. We booked through Costco and initially got a 10% discount off full retail on the cruise. I checked back a few times to see if fares fluctuated at all and was ecstatic when just 2 weeks later I found Costco offering the same class at a total of 30% off list. I called Costco and they very quickly and efficiently worked their magic for me. Voila!!! The savings makes my $100 per year membership fee seem like a spit in the ocean (pardon the pun). It pays to keep an eye on prices and work through a travel "agent" who can make the adjustments that are in the best interest of the customer.

 

Same for rental cars. Travelocity gives a nice grid of prices for all sizes of cars and all rental companies. Based on those prices, I go to the rental company sites and see if my Costco, AAA or AARP discount gives me a better deal. THEN, knowing that rental car reservations in the USA carry no cancellation penalty when made directly with the company, I check again as the departure date approaches. Alamo/National have last minute deals, though not in Hawaii this time of the year. If the rates are cheaper, just rebook then cancel the original reservation. (Hey, what else does a retired guy have to do with his time?)

 

Thanks again for all your help.

 

Travel safe.

[spacepotatoes]

Hi, can'tcatchup (love that name!). Here are my responses to your questions, in red.

 

Am in the VERY preliminary stages of thinking about taking this cruise' date=' but would be in combo with spending a couple weeks divided between Kauai and the Big Island either pre- or post- cruise. (We did Mauia and Oahu in depth last year.)

[i']

[/i]Now I'm wondering since the cruise is so port-intensive if that's a dumb idea since we'd probably already have had the chance to see most everything on those 2 islands before (or after) the cruise. Thoughts? We're not beach/water sports people .... maybe we could leave the "shopping part" of our trip to the port days? But that may not be good either if the ports are not near shopping.

 

A couple of weeks for Kauai and the Big Island is far more than you need, IMO, if you are also doing a cruise. Personally, a few days on each would be sufficient. DH and I rented a car while we were docked in Kauai and managed to see a good portion of the island in 1.5 days. We made it to Waimea Canyon, Spouting Horn, Coconut Marketplace, Princeville, and the Kilauea Lighthouse. We also made some pitstops by waterfalls and other things that were easily accessed from the road. You can see a lot during the cruise time, with some careful research and planning. You can then use your land time to relax. On the Big Island, we did the Volcanoes National Park and Rainbow Falls excursion in Hilo and the beach day in Kona, both through NCL. We weren't too sold on the Big Island, so for us, that was sufficient, though you may find that you really want the extra time to explore more there.

 

As far as shopping, your options are limited near the port, with the exception of Kona. But if you were to rent a car or take the shuttle to Lahaina while on Maui, that would not be a problem. Many of the ports offer shuttles to Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Hilo Hatties as well.

 

Other questions: you mentioned smoking allowed in the cabins. This is not something I'm used to in recent cruises. Are there cabins that are non-smoking? If not, what do they do about residual smoke from the previous occupants?

 

There are no non-smoking cabins, but we didn't experience any issues with this. I have heard that the cruise lines use ozone generators to get rid of the smell and that they work really well. The only time we noticed any smoke, aside from the public deck where it is allowed on the port side, was one corridor deck 3 that we had to walk through to get to the gangway. When their cabin doors were open as we walked past, it was pretty nasty. Otherwise, never smelled a thing.

 

When renting a car for the 2 days on Maui, where does one park it overnight?

 

Parking is very limited at the port and since we didn't keep our car overnight in Maui, I'm not sure about this. But, the security agents at the port can probably tell you, or even the agents at the rental car place. You could also try the Ports of Call boards. I remember that in Kauai, there are a few shopping centres near the port that let you pay for overnight parking. There may be something like this in Maui too.

 

Enjoyed your description of the specialty restaurants, but can you give any info about the non-specialties ... i.e. what is considered to be the "main dining room" (name?) and does it serve dinner only, or also breakfast and lunch? Is there more than one non-specialty dining room and if so, how are those assigned? Am not particularly a buffet type person, though the bbq on day 1 sounded nice.

 

There are 2 MDRs, the Skyline and the Liberty. The Liberty is a bit more formal, but both are nice. DH and I only ate in each of them once. Food was good, the servers were friendly, though service was slow. Since NCL is "Freestyle," you are not assigned anywhere. It's up to you where and when you want to eat. I believe at least one of them is open for breakfast and lunch (most likely Skyline) but I don't remember for sure since we just ate at the buffet for those meals. The Freestyle Daily will tell you what is open and when each day.

 

Recent cruises have been with RCCL and Celebrity - I realize that this would be a different type of cruise, but I guess I'm wondering... totally different with little emphasis on dining and entertainment, or just a little different and more casual (which I wouldn't mind).

 

My impression would be that it is more casual than Celebrity but comparable to RCCL. There is not as much emphasis on entertainment, probably because most people are too tired after all of the ports to make it to the shows. I know we were! They had some Polynesian-themed shows, The Second City, and maybe a magician? We only made it to The Second City shows and the Farewell show, both were good. There was a White Hot Party and on the night spent in Kauai, there was the ship-sponsored luau (on the island, not on the ship). They had other activities during the day, like hula lessons and lei-making classes but we were never onboard to try any of them at the time.

 

Thanks for any help in forming my decision as to whether this is for me. :)

 

As others have said, this cruise is more about the ports and the ship serves as more of a floating hotel than anything else. As long as you keep that in mind, it's a great way to see the islands!

[can'tcatchup]

spacepotatoes, I appreciate your responses. I was in Hawaii twice prior to our trip last year where we did Oahu and Maui in depth. The first time was a tour, and we had a taste of each island. I think we covered just about every square inch of Oahu and Maui when we went last year and did it on our own. I recall really liking Kauai back on that first trip; so that's why we want to spend a week there and a week on the big island. We want to see everything and drive everywhere that's possible or allowed. :)

 

I will continue to explore this a bit, but I think you all are helping me see that this cruise might not be for us, and that it would be an unnecessary duplication of what we'll see in our independent travel.

 

Thanks again.

[souxiequzy]

The rental agencies I have reserved cars with are mostly at the airports. Is it a problemexpensive getting to airport? Thx

[spacepotatoes]

Did you check with the rental agencies to see what their options were for cruisers? Many of them have shuttles that will pick you up and drop you off at the port. Sometimes you have to call the local offices to get accurate info instead of the 800 number for reservations. I know that on at least one of the islands, the airport was very close by and that was the one the shuttle went to, but I can't remember offhand which island it was now. I want to say Kauai, but it might have been Maui.

[avcruiser17]

Thank you so much for the great information. A quick question...with Thrifty Rental - are there shuttle buses at the port to take you to a rental counter or are they within walking distance. I notice when I am on their website booking cars it defaults to the airport location. Is this the correct location? Thanks in advance for your help :)

 

Kim

[mking8288]

Thank you so much for the great information. A quick question...with Thrifty Rental - are there shuttle buses at the port to take you to a rental counter or are they within walking distance. I notice when I am on their website booking cars it defaults to the airport location. Is this the correct location? Thanks in advance for your help :)

 

Kim

 

Thrifty at HNL is just off the airport and they will send the shuttle van over to the cruise pier to pick you up - usually quick & get you on the shuttle in under 30 minutes, confirm with the local agent about the exact pickup location inside the secured area. The local Thrifty # is 877-283-0898 and you might want to call them directly and confirm the details.

 

When we're shopping around for best car rental prices, they came up with the best rates among all - Dollar was next and Hertz being the most expensive (and, it's our preferred choice for corporate travel & Hertz has more shuttles running back & forth .... oh, well)

 

The trip from the pier back to car rental location is about 15 minutes, and if you aren't enrolled in their Blue Chip frequent renter program, do it for free as it will speed everything one & you can zip out of there quickly, keys in hand once they checked your DL and reconfirm your credit card info, etc. and you sign-off on the car conditions/damage report before driving off.

 

Mahalo :)

[can'tcatchup]

spacepotatoes' date=' I appreciate your responses. I was in Hawaii twice prior to our trip last year where we did Oahu and Maui in depth. The first time was a tour, and we had a taste of each island. I think we covered just about every square inch of Oahu and Maui when we went last year and did it on our own. I recall really liking Kauai back on that first trip; so that's why we want to spend a week there and a week on the big island. We want to see everything and drive everywhere that's possible or allowed. :)

 

I will continue to explore this a bit, but I think you all are helping me see that this cruise might not be for us, and that it would be an unnecessary duplication of what we'll see in our independent travel.

[/quote']

 

Thought I'd let you all know the outcome. We did not take the cruise. Instead, we flew to Kona (direct out of LAX) and spent 8 days on the Big Island before flying to Kauai where we spent 7 days, both islands touring with a rental car. We saw LOTS in mostly a very relaxed way and enjoyed the trip. We just missed, by 3 days, the eruption of the volcano on the Big Island. Our flight out of Lihue, Kauai was also direct to LAX.

 

Also, thank God, we arrived home a day before the earthquake-generated tsunami that did so much damage to the Kona side of the Big Island. Thankfully, no major personal injuries or death though .... very sorry for the people in Japan.