Pride of America - Aft Balcony Cabin

[rez4jc]

I just booked a balcony cabin on deck 8 and ended up with a cabin on the back of the ship. This balcony is supposed to be twice the size of a balcony on the sides of the ship. I think sailing away, watching our wake will be cool. My only concern is, will we miss anything in the "scenic" cruising? We are crusing Jan. 14, 2006.

[bankofdad]

I just booked a balcony cabin on deck 8 and ended up with a cabin on the back of the ship. This balcony is supposed to be twice the size of a balcony on the sides of the ship. I think sailing away, watching our wake will be cool. My only concern is, will we miss anything in the "scenic" cruising? We are crusing Jan. 14, 2006.

 

I booked an aft cabin on deck 8 (8204) for our upcoming cruise on POAm on purpose, mainly because we loved our experience on POAloha last year.

 

When we sailed POAloha last year we had a cabin directly on the aft of the ship and absolutely loved it. It was our first time directly on the back of the ship, and it gave us fantastic views during the scenic cruising around the NaPali, and also gives great views both port and starboard of the ship while sailing elsewhere.

 

I'll post a review when I return, and will take pictures!

[Gypsy509]

We have booked the last three cruises on the aft and love it. We are booked on 9204 on the Pride of America in Oct and cant wait??? The balconies are bigger and agree with Bankofdad that you get the best of both sides with the aft.

[Pitcruiser]

We were just in suite on deck 12 portside forward. Views for departure sail from Honolulu past Diamond Head (in the dark) and NaPali coast on port side - ship also always tied to piers on port side (great views of Matson shipping containers). I would think from the stern balconies you can lean out and look either way! One thing we noticed on the stern balconies - because they are tiered out the outer portion of each is visible to anyone on higher decks. Be careful to dress before you go out to the rail! Nice ship still working out some kinks (service, sewage problems, uneven food quality) - go with the idea of enjoying the islands and you will have fun!

[rez4jc]

I have cabin #8206, so I'll be looking forward to your review & pictures. If you want you can e-mail them to me: rez4jc@cox.net Thanks for responding, everyone, I'm getting excited now. I love the research part....any suggestions on what to do? I've never been to Hawaii and we are staying a week in Kauai post-cruise.

[bankofdad]

I have cabin #8206, so I'll be looking forward to your review & pictures. If you want you can e-mail them to me: rez4jc@cox.net Thanks for responding, everyone, I'm getting excited now. I love the research part....any suggestions on what to do? I've never been to Hawaii and we are staying a week in Kauai post-cruise.

 

I'll be sure to save your email and send some pics.

 

Here's a link to my review from POAl, which has a lot of info regarding what we did for Shore excusions. Hope it helps! http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=93997

[donna@donnaanderson.com]

Port side and other side fine for viewing volcano the night at Hilo from ship.

Port side wrong side for Napoli coast PM viewing from Kauai.

Balcony cabin has lot of wasted space--is not wide but deep and only has 2 nice chairs on it.

Hope NCL adds a table and chairs for eating on the deck in future. Now they store the sofa bed extension and table out on deck. We think the sofa bed extension stored out there will get sea salt damage etc, but I guess they think there is no place else to store it. We did not need extension for our little one, but for 3rd adult will need one. Do not recommend 3 adults in this cabin; too small.

However, that said, the cabin is pretty and well appointed and if you do not mind a tight space go for it. I am even getting used to a very tiny shower; I have not seen one this small since we stayed in Lourdes, France at an "Ibis" hotel since all the other hotels were booked.

I think if you want a larger bath you need to try to book a handicapped cabin; maybe we would do that in the future. Also our cabin is on the 11th floor; seems too far up for us.

However, bed great; sleep really well on it; love the duvet cover; is so comfortable.

Cabin attendant is fine, maybe not quite as good as the other cruise ship attendants, but certainly fine. This is an American crew after all and you can not expect the international service, but they try hard.

Am most impressed with the Kid's Club attendants; just wish it was opened more. For instance my child would love to go in it today when we have to be back on the ship by 3PM since we leave at 3:30, however, it is not open until 7 and babysitting is just that and has to be booked way ahead of time.

But all and all this has been a great cruise and the beauty of the ship will knock your socks off!

[DaisyL]

We just booked POAm for Oct. 2006 ... How's that for early planning ? We booked the forward cabins on deck 8 with the larger balcony (there's several there) on the Starboard side. I guess we lucked out for PM viewing of Kauai from our balcony.

 

We have a cabin with connecting rooms though. Does anyone know if we lose anything, storage especially, because of this ? We were limited with the cabin selections because we're traveling with other couples and wanted to be next to each other and we wanted the extra balcony space, too.

 

Any info on these cabins would be appreciated ... I'm not sure how the storage compares on the POAm to the NCL Dawn but I'm hoping we don't lose any of it due to the connecting rooms (which we will not open to our neighbors). Thanks ...

[Pitcruiser]

I just came off POAm - viewing of Napoli coast was from port side - ship came out of harbor - turned to port and cruised along the coast for a couple hours - beautiful colors with the late day sun. Our suite was on the port side forward. We sat on our balcony and watched the coast go by.

[ejnsb]

Pittcruiser, were you far enough forward to get the extra balcony space? Also, can you access another cabin's balcony from yours? We are booked in 7514 and 7516 in November. NCL said the balconies were larger and accessible to each other.

[donna@donnaanderson.com]

Port side for Napoli coast Kauai viewing; was wrong about this; view it around 6PM-7PM. It is gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Cruise ship leaves at 3:30PM on Friday instead of 6; all must be back on the ship at 3.

 

New itinerary change and NCL info line did not seem to know this before I cruised but it was known by the ship staff.

 

Don't make any independent Kaui tours on Friday PM as a result!

 

Kauai is one of the most gorgeous places on earth---the road to Princeville is superb; did not go on the west coast to view the canyon but heard it was great too.

 

Rent a car here!!!!!!!!! Visit the beaches too.....Gorgeous!!!!! And we have travelled throughout the world and this is amongst the very best.

[Conanc]

Donna,

Thanks so much for all of your postings and information. What do you think about the scenic viewing from the aft cabins? For some reason, they are supposed to be highly sought after however they are still available. I would think the view would be more panoramic but how is it watching where you've been instead of where you are going? :) Thank you again!

[wavebye]

This is what I received via email yesterday from NCL. I guess they say departure time at 2pm in order to get everyone back on ship in time.

 

 

Dear Valued Guests,

NorwegianCruise Line has important information for you regarding an itinerary change to the Pride of America's 7-day Hawai`i cruise, departing Honolulu, O`ahu, Hawai`i

All guests booked on any of these voyages need to be aware of this change. On our first 7-day sailing in Hawai`i we found that by slightly modifying the itinerary, we could provide our guests with a better experience in Kaua`i and the Na Pali Coast. Therefore, on Thursday morning we will arrive two hours early in Nawiliwili, Kaua`i. Guests will be able to enjoy the sights and activities on the beautiful island of Kaua`i for a full day and overnight. Friday, we will depart Nawiliwili early so that we can take you past the breathtaking Na Pali Coast that was originally scheduled for Thursday morning. With this modification we are able to cruise more slowly past the Na Pali Coast in the late afternoon rather than cruising past at top speed early in the morning as originally scheduled.

The revised itinerary is as follows:

Day Port Arrive Depart

Sat Honolulu, Oahu 8:OOpm

Sun Hilo, Hawaii 8:OOam 7:OOpm

Mon Kahului, Maui 8:OOam Overnight

Tue Kahului, Maui --------- 6:OOpm

Wed Kona, Hawaii 7:OOam 6:OOpm

Thu Nawiliwili, Kauai B:OOam Overnight

Fri Nawiliwili, Kauai --------- 2:OOpm

Scenic Cruising, Napali Coast

Sat Honolulu, Oahu 7:OOam

We apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause, and appreciate your understanding in this matter. Should you have any further questions about this change, please call Your Travel professional. We look forward to welcoming you onboard soon.

Kind Regards,

 

Tanya Martinez