My Pride of Aloha tips--Add yours!

[wishkc]

Tips for the Pride of Aloha cruise (I returned June 12). Please add your own. YMMV.

 

1. Monday night, at the extreme aft of Deck 11 they grilled steaks and lobster. I had already eaten my hamburger, but my friend said the steak and lobster were delicious.

 

2. We arrived at the dock Sunday at 11:45. They started letting the line into the building at noon. Then we had to stand in line until almost 1:00 before they actually allowed us aboard. Once aboard, we had to wait for awhile in the theater because the rooms weren't ready. So, I don't know if going early actually helped much. Maybe someone else can give info as to arriving later.

 

3. The theater is kept quite cold, so you might want to take a jacket for performances.

 

4. I love NCL's production shows. If you're into that, be sure you don't miss the "Cirque" performance. I liked all of them. If you want a close seat, go early (1/2 hour).

 

5. We left the ship for port forward on Deck 3.

 

6. Lifeboat drill was a piece of cake - the shortest I've experienced.

 

7. Disembarkation was a breeze.

 

8. You'll need a good zoom lens to take photos of the lava at night. (I used a 12X, and got decent photos). The ship turns around, so you'll be able to see it well from either side, especially if you have a balcony.

 

9. I take a 6-pack collapsible cooler to use as an ice bucket. I put a 1-gallon plastic bag inside. Then I pack my liquids inside that. When I unpack, I take out the plastic bag. The cooler works MUCH better than their noninsulated ice bucket.

 

10. The tickets for the Lahaina, Maui, bus are sold with specific times. We reserved late, and all that was left was 8:00-2:00 tickets.

 

11. We reserved some of our shore excursions ahead of time online with NCL. A person I talked to said that they couldn't get some of the excursions they wanted, even though they checked on Sunday. (zipline, for example)

 

12. Take your own beach towel, if you don't want to mess with checking one out from NCL.

 

13. They're very picky at embarkation about food stuffs. They confiscated candy from me which was individually wrapped. I didn't understand that.

 

14. We didn't receive our room-service breakfasts at the time we requested. Always within 1/2 hour of the requested time, however.

 

15. Off topic - We had quite a bit of trouble communicating with taxi drivers in Waikiki.

 

16. Off topic - We arrived at Pearl Harbor at 7:15-7:30 am on a Monday. The tourist busses all seemed to arrive at that time. The line was quite long. Once it started moving, it took about 1/2 hour to get inside. The tickets we received were for the 9:15 movie and tour. It took us about an hour for that.

 

I hope I've given someone a good tip or two.

 

Have a great time! We did!

 

Suzanne

[norcalgal]

Thanks! We're on the POAM 7/23 - some of these tips will help me (doesn't look like too many are directly related to just the POA.)

[wishkc]

I forgot to say: the only electrical outlet in the bathroom is for electric razors only. As others have said, you might want to bring an outlet strip for the room outlet. There is a hair dryer in the desk drawer, but it's only 1000 watts.

[ERAMP76]

Here's one we found helpful.

 

We booked reservations for the specialty restaurants for two nights during the cruise in the atrium. There was a lady there taking reservations for whenever you wanted to make them.

 

One more hint, the surcharge for the specialty restuarants was 1/2 price on the first night.

[Hawaiian Eye]

15. Off topic - We had quite a bit of trouble communicating with taxi drivers in Waikiki.

 

 

 

 

 

This reminds me of a local guy I know, of Korean descent, from Kaneohe. He's a pilot for the Hawaii Air National Guard. One time he was in Pensacola, Florida for some training. He noticed a nice place to go fishing but it was in a fenced restricted area. After a few days the temptation was too great and he hopped the fence and started fishing. Eventually the MPs noticed him in the restricted area and went to get him. When confronted by the security his response was, "Oh, me no speeka Eengleesh." :cool:

[cruisecrasy]

Oh thankyou 'Hawaian Eye' - such a wonderful sense of humour with a lesson to impart also...nice going!!

[azpt]

Can you bring alcohol on board after excursions. I'm a first time cruiser and have read elsewhere some cruise lines are pretty leniant. I'll be going Aug 28th and really appreciate these helpful tips!!

[Hawaii 25]

Alcohol brought on board will be held until the end of the cruise.

Persons boarding the ship will have bags, purses, camera cases searched.