Pride of America Which side of ship

[Evangaline]

Hope someone can help me. Just trying to take various things into account before booking my cabin. Which side of the ship faces the shore when it is in port in Hawaii or does this vary from port of call to port of call? And are there any other things to avoid when choosing a cabin on this ship?

[toomuchluggage]

Portside for Napali coast although they do a turnaround so both sides get to view

and starboard for volcano viewing.

 

Personally I would choose an aft cabin over the wake of the ship, here you get all the views, quietness of the aft of ship which means less foot traffic by your door, no wind and we sleep with balcony door open every night.

 

As for which side the ship docks I can't remember 100% so I won't take a guess. Kona is the only "tender" port, while the ship docks close to shore the tender process is fairly quick in the AM but can be a zoo with long line up coming back but for the most part your undercover out of the sun so overall it's not bad.

Edited January 2, 2011 by toomuchluggage

[LJenning5]

Hello - We are looking into this cruise for the fall and I have only been on one cruise (10 yrs ago) and my husband has never been on a cruise. Any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated!!

 

- The flight I am looking at arrives in Honolulu at 2:35pm on Saturday. Is this enough time to get to the ship and get on board before the 7pm departure??

I am really nervous about this but the flights arriving on Friday are twice as much!! We can't afford to do the friday flight so I am not sure what to do here.

 

Love the tips on which cabins to book - thats a HUGE help!!

 

THANKS!!

[chet the jet]

Just got off this ship on Dec 18. Had aft cabin 10682. Was nice but you get lots of noise from the Ahola cafe at 6 in the mornning. first two days in port in was on the port side. In Helo it was port also. In Kona it is tender. In Kaua'i it was starbord. Does not make and difference in any port as all you see is docks. Nothing to look at anyway. In Maui you have a better view on starboard side. Did not spend that much time in my room anyway as we were doing other things. I just posted a long review on this site today. There are pictures posted (1400) on this site of mine

[mking8288]

LJ - if you HNL flight lands at 2:35 pm, it should be just fine - luggages usually come off quickly by the time you get into the terminal. Plenty of waiting taxis to take you to the pier terminal in under 20 minutes - unless you wanted to save and use the airport express buses - traffic shouldn't be a major problem as it's a Saturday. If you are arriving from the East Coast, be prepared for a little bit of jetlag as there's a 5 hour time zone difference - try to get some rest & nap en route. POA will delay departure if a large group of cruise pax booked on NCL flight packages are delayed coming in - when we sailed last May, our sailing out of HNL was pushed back to 10 pm waiting for them to make connections.

 

As for which category of cabins to book, different answers for different folks depending on budgets & preferences. My view on it is that it's a busy 7 day schedule going from island to island, and if you really try to maximize port time to try to see as much as possible, you will out off the ship as early as 7:30 am or 8 am (as soon as it dock/drop anchor if tendering in) and eating breakfast at 6:30 am with the sun rising - POA sail quietly into the port as early as 6 am (we sat in MDR enjoying a leisurely breakfast watching the crews throwing ropes across to secure the gangway (it's either deck 3 or 4 depending on tides) On overnight stops, we're out late watching the sunset at 10,000 ft. so I don't think we missed not having a balcony (3 oceanviews in our group) - money saved for not spending extras paid for lots of shore excurisons (on our own - rented our own minivans ahead of time & took GPS unit along)

 

If this were Alaska, Bahamas, Caribbean or Mexico with longer sea days, then I would do balcony - for the POA busy schedule, we barely spend time on the ship, except to eat, sleep & virtually no time wasted in the cabin, let alone sit back in the balcony.

Edited January 3, 2011 by mking8288

[lambs2]

Our portside balcony cabin was incredible for the Napali cost viewing! When we sailed on Pride of america in 2006 we stayed up on deck for most of the volcano viewing to hear the commentary which was not piped into the cabins on our sailing. Then the captain turned the ship around so that the port side was facing the volcano and we went back down to our cabin's balcony. But that sail-by of the Napali cost is something I will never forget and getting to sit out on our balcony for hours watching was a real treat. I am sure an aft cabin would be fantastic, though.

[kdkoch]

Starboard side goes by the Lava Flows (if there are any) -- which doesn't really make a difference unless you have a room with a large window or balcony. The ship goes by on both sides for the Na'Pali coast. Most times, the ship is docked bow in or stern in, with neither side closest to port.

Edited January 3, 2011 by kdkoch

[UN4GTBL]

Hello - We are looking into this cruise for the fall and I have only been on one cruise (10 yrs ago) and my husband has never been on a cruise. Any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated!!

 

- The flight I am looking at arrives in Honolulu at 2:35pm on Saturday. Is this enough time to get to the ship and get on board before the 7pm departure??

I am really nervous about this but the flights arriving on Friday are twice as much!! We can't afford to do the friday flight so I am not sure what to do here.

 

Love the tips on which cabins to book - thats a HUGE help!!

 

THANKS!!

Did you book the flight that arrived in HNL at 2:35 and if so did you have any trouble getting to the port on time? I am running into the same situation. Thank You

[nana541]

Did you book the flight that arrived in HNL at 2:35 and if so did you have any trouble getting to the port on time? I am running into the same situation. Thank You

 

 

The person you are asking has not logged into Cruise Critic in nearly 3 yrs.

The thread you originally asked is hull of current posters with recent experience ..... Just trying to help you understand that your current flights are not likely to get you to the ship before sail away !

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[punkincc]

Did you book the flight that arrived in HNL at 2:35 and if so did you have any trouble getting to the port on time? I am running into the same situation. Thank You

 

All aboard is at 6:30 PM, so if you arrive on time and don't have any trouble collecting luggage, you would have 4 hours to get to the port which should be plenty of time. It is a quick 30 min or less by taxi to the port depending on traffic. The life boat drill is at 4:45 and I would try to make that if possible as you will have to do a make up drill later if you do, and it may conflict with other plans.

 

You do realize that any weather delays or mechanical issues may mean you will miss your cruise.

Edited December 14, 2014 by punkincc

[Seawoff]

Hello - We are looking into this cruise for the fall and I have only been on one cruise (10 yrs ago) and my husband has never been on a cruise. Any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated!!

 

- The flight I am looking at arrives in Honolulu at 2:35pm on Saturday. Is this enough time to get to the ship and get on board before the 7pm departure??

I am really nervous about this but the flights arriving on Friday are twice as much!! We can't afford to do the friday flight so I am not sure what to do here.

 

Love the tips on which cabins to book - thats a HUGE help!!

 

THANKS!!

 

I strongly. Strongly advise you not to fly in on Sat that is just too stressful.

 

Check on the Thurs. flights.

 

Take two days to get on Alaho time. There are hotels for around $150 a night. Unless you want to be right on the beach.

 

Have a nice trip, Hawaii is very expensive so pack a suitcase with money ;)

Edited January 22, 2015 by Seawoff