Pride of America -- A Suite view of the pool April 19-26

[KitinIowa]

Just back from our first ever cruise aboard the Pride of America around the Hawaiian Islands. Also, what I believe is the first review of the suites overlooking the pool off of Deck 13. Stay tuned for the misadventures of two "newbie" retirees trying this cruise thing out and the highlights and some unfortunate lowlights (no fault of Norwegian, just our personal ups and downs!) We stayed in cabin 13020 starboard corner suite SE. . . . more to come!

Edited April 29, 2014 by KitinIowa

[soaringfalcon]

Looking forward to it!!

[racingraysswimmom]

YAY!!! A POA review.;)

[TifffanyD]

Can't wait to see. We were on PoA while they were doing the work :)

 

 

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[theking329]

Can't wait. We sail on POA in August. Looking forward to Hawaii

[greatlakesgirl]

Looking forward to it! :)

[silvercrikhix]

Bring it on :D

[lcumpire]

We are sailing on May 10th - cannot wait for your review

 

 

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[jim1reed]

Considering a POM cruise next May.:)

 

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[punkincc]

Can't wait. We sail on POA in August. Looking forward to Hawaii

 

Looking forward to this review also! theking, you are a week ahead of us. We sail the 16th!

[KitinIowa]

Embarkation!

 

We have friends in Honolulu so they graciously picked us up at the airport on Friday the 18th of April and took us to our hotel at the Sheraton Waikiki. A free night there using SPG points and the helpful advice from our daughter who is a sales manager for Sheraton out of Phoenix.

 

On Friday, after another friend took us to brunch at Duke's we headed to the port at around 11:30 a.m. Dropped us off at the port and there were porters available to take our luggage. They pointed our way into the terminal (basically a long drab looking large shed). We scooted through the line and was inside getting our picture taken, etc. No one really pointed our way to the VIP line for suite guests at this point, I just happened to notice a sign across the way and thought maybe it was for suite guests so got my wife to follow me and it was the suite checkin, otherwise we might have waited a few more moments in the other line before they would have sent us on our way to the right area.

 

The suite check-in area was a small room just off the main cavernous terminal, nothing special but drinks and food were available but few seats, about 1/3 of the suite guests had to stand while we were there. Check in was painless and then we were the first group lead into the ship and to a lounge for a debriefing by the concierage and a couple of other people. We did quickly meet our butler at the check-in lounge. Just a quick hi is all. Her name was Arlough, nice young woman.

 

The debriefing was mostly about Cagney's for breakfast and lunch and that there was no priority seating at any of the shows onboard. A few handouts were given and then we were free to eat lunch or meander the ship until our rooms were called to be ready. Our room was ready by 2:00 p.m. at the latest, which was great.

 

Everything seemed to go well for this pair of newbies to this point!

Edited April 30, 2014 by KitinIowa

[KitinIowa]

Concierge, Steward and Butler --

 

Our concierge was Thomas, he was very visible the whole week we were aboard. Every morning in Cagney's talking to all the groups and very friendly and very helpful to those who used his services. We really had all of our tours set up prior to embarking so really didn't need anything from him, but enjoying his chats and seeing him move about all the guests. I would guess he would be helpful for the right person, just didn't have a need to use him at all.

 

Arlough, our butler, was an interesting young lady. I tried to be somewhat helpless to get her to wait on me.... that seemed to be the wrong strategy lol. First, I wanted to know about dining in the room for breakfast, she said I didn't want to miss using Cagney's for breakfast or lunch as that was my main perk, and that I couldn't order from Cagney's and have it delivered to the room as the chef wouldn't allow it. The food wouldn't be up to "his standards" ordering for the room, only order off the suite menu period. hmmmm? So, the next morning I decided to order off the "suite" breakfast menu and try it out.

 

I had ordered just a little orange juice, tomato juice and some cinnamon rolls with "french press" coffee.

 

Arlough comes right on time, and then admonishes us for not going to Cagney's. I just was trying to be a little helpless but alas she wanted me to take care of myself... we told her we were just having an appetizer for breakfast that we would go to Cagney's too in a bit!! She then thought we were a little weird...

 

She then says if we want French Press coffee she was going to train me to make it myself. She brings a French Press pot with additional grounds to use and then gives me a training lesson on filling it using the Lavazza machine and making my own french press. So much for a little bit of being catered too! We now had our own pot to make our own french press so much for the Suite Life :-).

 

Arlough spent most of the time giving us advice on how to enjoy our perks without hassling her too much!

 

Our Steward was Rebecca, really really a nice sweet woman who did an absolute excellent job with the room. Very clean very efficient and emptied the refrigerator for Arlough when we requested it from Arlough :-).

 

All in all a good experience, although not quite what I was expecting, maybe I was expecting too much?

Edited April 30, 2014 by KitinIowa

[buckeye82]

I think that is the same butler we had! She certainly was never shy about expressing her opinions!

[KitinIowa]

Cabin photos -- 13020, Penthouse Suite Large Balcony

 

 

We loved the suite! I know many people are concerned that the suite overlooked the pool area. We found this to be to our advantage. We enjoyed listening to the band in the afternoon, the activities going on (none of which were particularly noisey!) and the fact that the Key West Grill bartenders could bring us drinks to our level from right below! Personal barhops, not bad! Only two of the rooms would be able to do that (the corner rooms were accessible from the edges, the two middle suites would not be). Yes, it wasn't particularly private on the deck, but we are not particularly private people so that wasn't an issue for us. The rooms are mid-ship so despite being on a high deck we didn't think they were susceptible to motion any more than the public areas.

 

Motion was a huge issue for us as we suffered quite a bit from seasickness aboard the Pride of America, thankfully the best place for us was in bed! We knew this was going to be a problem, we were just hoping that our first (and ugh probably our last cruise wouldn't be too bad, I think cruising just doesn't work for some people!)

Edited May 1, 2014 by KitinIowa

[KitinIowa]

[KitinIowa]

[KitinIowa]

[KitinIowa]

[KitinIowa]

[KitinIowa]

[greatlakesgirl]

Nice pics! Looks like a lovely suite.

[KitinIowa]

The shower was awesome, lots of jets, (I think 8 with the hand spray and rainfall). Very roomy for a large man!

 

The toilet area on the other hand seemed a bit confining with the door and what seemed to be a very small toilet.

[KitinIowa]

Meals --

 

We tried to hit all the venues, at least within reason. For the main dining rooms they were beautiful areas. The meals as some have said aren't the best considering the great ambiance. Nothing terrible other than the prime rib my wife had at the Liberty. It was awful.

 

The Aloha Cafe always, at least, looked tasty! We only ate there twice I think and both times felt that the choices were plentiful and for a buffet well presented and fresh looking.

 

Cadillac Diner -- just there for the $5 milkshake. What I didn't understand there is this is just a milkshake nothing more, what is the big deal? It was good, but so many reviews said it was over the top wonderful? Really?

 

La Cucina -- Good! the waitstaff gave my wife ginger ale with bitters for the motion sickness. Wish we had gone here earlier in the week. This helped her a great deal! They seated us by the window and we had to look away since we couldn't close the curtains, nor watch the seas! We are two sad cruisers lol. Can't enjoy the ocean at all, at least when it moves .....

 

Jefferson Bistro -- upcharge for the Lobster for $10 for a frozen and $20 for a fresh one, I opted for the fresh. It was fine, but probably would have enjoyed the frozen just as much!

 

Moderno -- seasickness took our toll on us here, we should have started eating earlier before the ship departed the harbor. As soon as the ship moved our appetite stopped dead. Food was fine, although I am not as much into meat as I used to be. . . .

[KitinIowa]

Shows/Entertainment --

 

We tried to hit a show every night we were on this cruise as it was our first and probably our last! The shows, as some have said, are a bit hokey even for somone from Iowa....

 

The magician seemed to be the general headliner, I am not much into magicians but went with it. The 4 Seasons tribute act I found the most entertaining, the cruise entertainment director annoyed me, but maybe that is just me. The Newlywed Game was fun.

 

Unfortunately for us, most of the shows occurred after leaving port which meant our time was limited before we needed to retreat to our bed to control the effects of the motion sickness. Some of the shows we wanted to see didn't start until 10:00 p.m. and we didn't quite make it! I will be posted dailies later when I get them scanned, etc.

Edited May 1, 2014 by KitinIowa

[KitinIowa]

Excursions --

 

We have been to Hawaii before, and we have had friends take us around on Oahu so we have seen some of the islands up close and personal. The cruise allows you to see a bit but really not very indepth. We enjoyed our excursions, none were bad but I think having a taste the other way it was just ok for us.