Pride of America August 13 Review

[travelling mom]

Just returned from our Pride of America Cruise and we all had a great time. I want to thank everyone for the wealth of information I found on this board that made this possible. I'll be happy to answer any questions any of you might have.

 

We are a family of 4 and did a 3 night pre-cruise stay as well as a 1 night post cruise stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. HHV is a beautiful property and they had a spectacular firework show on Friday night which we watched from our balcony. We rented a car from Hertz at the HHV location (very convenient) and did the following:

- Hiked Diamond Head, go early otherwise it gets very hot

- Drove along the Windward Side to the North Shore - beautiful drive :cool:

- Dole Plantation

- Pali Highway- loved the view

- Pearl Harbour - get there really early, remember not to bring bags of any kind, otherwise you will have to check your bags in a tent in the parking lot

- Aloha Swap Meet

We did manage to get some beach time in between.

 

This is our first cruise and we chose it because of the NCL itinerary, making it possible to stay overnight in Maui and Kauai and also because it is a brand new ship. We decided to go for an inside quad cabin because this cruise is so port intensive with no sea days. After reading many reviews about how small the cabin was, I was concerned that the cabin would be much too small for the 4 of us. I was however, pleasantly surprised when I saw it, yes it was small, but the layout was very well thought out. There were 4 drawers, shelves, mini safe in the main room and 5 shelves in the closet.. There was sufficient hangers for your clothing. With the evening shows and fitness centre, we were only in the cabin to sleep. The Freestyle Daily is delivered to your stateroom each night and left behind the dial directly to the left of your door. You can communicate with your room steward by turning the dial . There are 4 dial settings ‘ Welcome’ ‘Do not Disturb’ ‘Please make cabin’ ‘ Turn Down service’. Our room steward was good although we did not receive any towel animals, much to the disappointment of DD.

 

We decided to do our own shore excursions simply because we wanted the flexibility to do what interested us without having the rigid schedule of a tour. We rented from Thrifty at each port except Kona. We are Blue Chip members (you can join free on-line) and this will allow you to go to the front of the line. This is a huge time saver, at every port we were in and out in less than 5 minutes, except in Hilo, where they had only one customer service agent and she served us next even though there was a long line. Most car rental companies run shuttles to and from the pier, just look for the ‘Rental Car Shuttle’ signs at the pier in each port and line up until you see your car rental company’s shuttle. Overnight parking is available at the Kahului pier for free. Please note that the lot is very small, we came back at 7:30pm and had difficulty finding a space. The security guard told us to park further away but we still were not able to find a space. We had to circle around a few times before we noticed someone leaving. Parking in Nawiliwili, Kauai was $10.00 at the Aloha Centre, a few minute walk from the pier.

 

We arrived in Hilo 2 hours late due to engine problems. The weather was perfect, no rain in sight (Hilo is the wettest city in the US). We spent most of the day at Volcanoes National Park. On our way back into town, we stopped off at the Mauna Loa Nut Factory and did a loop around Banyan Drive. To top that off, the evening sail by at Mount Kilauea was spectacular, you could see the steam form as the red lava poured into the ocean. This was a highlight. In Maui, we visited, Haleakala where we saw the rare Silversword plant in full bloom (only blooms in June, July & August), Iao Valley, Lahaina, Ka’anapali beach. We made advance dinner reservations at Mama’s Fish House in Pa’ia and we’re very glad that we did. This restaurant has the most idyllic setting being located beach front with the sandy beach and palm trees just steps in front of you. The food was excellent. In Kauai, we drove to the top of Waimea Canyon and then hiked the last mile to Pu’u hinahina Lookout. The view was just magnificent. On our way back we stopped at Wailua Falls. Kona is right off the pier, very friendly walking town. At all ports, there were free shuttle services to various shopping plaza’s, Hilo Hatties, Big K and Wal Mart.

 

Freestyle Dining - For embarkation day, the ship was offering $5.00 per person for Jefferson’s Bistro and East meets West. Starting Sunday, you are able to make dinner reservations for the remainder of your cruise on Deck 5, but beware, the line is very very long so get there early!

 

We dined at Jefferson’s Bistro the first night and found the food to be very good with the exception of the Smoke Salmon/Avocado appetizer (it was extremely salty). Service was excellent. We dined at the Skyline twice and the Liberty once and found the food to be on the best average. Wait time was not an issue as we usually dined around 6:00pm. We found Little Italy to be excellent and I would highly recommend this. My DS & DD enjoyed the Aloha Café, we found out later that they had a different theme each night. I believe Sunday was International, Monday - ? (we dined at Mama’s Fish House), Tuesday - Asian, Wednesday - Mexican, Thursday - Seafood/Lobster and Friday - Mediterranean. For breakfast, we dined at the Aloha Café, there was always plenty of pineapple available with the exception of disembarkation day. For lunch one day, we dined at the Cadillac Diner. The table service was not slow and their seafood chowder and crab cakes were good. NCL’s famous Chocoholic Buffet was held on Wednesday in Kona at 2:30 - 3:30 pm in the Skyline Restaurant. What a sight to see.

 

Entertainment - Production shows were good, we really enjoyed ‘ Rebecca Lowe in concert’, the juggling of Barry John and comedian Bud Anderson. We have to give a mention to W.T. Greer, the piano entertainer who performed at Pinks Champagne Bar. He was excellent and felt that he could have been part of the main show in the Hollywood theater. As this cruise is very port intensive, there were not many activities on board. We liked the class with the Hawaiian ambassador learning how to make a Kukui Nut Lei.

 

 

Photo Gallery - Located on Deck 5 between Jefferson’s Bistro and Skyline Restaurant. Walls of photographs line the corridor. Each night between 5:00pm and 10:00pm you can pose for photos against different back drops.

 

I have to admit that there were problems, late arriving in Hilo, sewage odors on deck 6 one morning and power outage on board the entire ship for approx 2 hours, as a result of a breaker problem. Due to engine problems the Na Pali coast cruising was cancelled. That was a real disappointment. We especially loved the freestyle dining and disembarkation. We decided to carry our own luggage off the ship and as a result we could leave the ship at any time.

 

Overall, we had a great time and would definitely travel with NCL again.:D

[judyjudy56]

Thanks for the review. We are considering this cruise. Need to make a decision soon for next June.

[luvscorgis]

Thank you for the detailed review. I was reading the review page of this website and getting really depressed thinking we had made a mistake booking on the POAm cruise. I hope they get their act together. Your review made me feel better. I'm sure there will be problems but hopefully nothing major.:o

[lhall85917]

Thank you for the informative review. It is always helpful to hear both the enjoyable and disappointing things that may occur - helps us to prepare better. We're glad you had a great time!!

[Genessa]

thanks Travelling Mom for your review!

 

WE are thoroughly planning to enjoy our July '06 cruise on PoAM and eac h review gives more and more info and really helps us plan and anticipate!

 

We are booked at HHV, too, so it was great to hear it is a nice hotel.

Thanks again!

[Hoosier Gal]

Travelling Mom:

 

Thanks for your review! Getting excited about our upcoming POAM in October. Just curious you said you rented from Thrifty in every port except Kona. What did you do in Kona?:confused:

[travelling mom]

Travelling Mom:

 

Thanks for your review! Getting excited about our upcoming POAM in October. Just curious you said you rented from Thrifty in every port except Kona. What did you do in Kona?:confused:

 

We had originally booked a car from Enterprise in Kona and then decided to have a more relaxing day. After a week of non stop activity since our arrival in Honolulu, we needed a day to rejuvenate ourselves. We just walked around the town at our leisure. We tendered back to the ship for lunch and then back into Kona.

 

If you are thinking about renting a car in Kona, you can try Enterprise rent a car, but Dollar rent a car is the closest, they have an office in the King Kamehameha Hotel right across from the pier, but their rates are higher.

[ejnsb]

thanks for all the great info. we're on the nov. 19 cruise. Did your group have or use cell phones during the week? We're on cingular and their map shows some of the island to have coverage and some would be roaming.

[travelling mom]

thanks for all the great info. we're on the nov. 19 cruise. Did your group have or use cell phones during the week? We're on cingular and their map shows some of the island to have coverage and some would be roaming.

 

You shouldn't have any problems with coverage. We had cell phone coverage at every port with the exception of Kona.

[ErinFl2003]

It's good to see that the reviews of POAm are improving. Glad you had a great time.

[electricron]

I'm surprised someone hasn't stated this brand new ship should be drydocked because it is having engine problems, both electric and propulsion.

 

All ships, from brand new to decades old, will have engine problems.

:rolleyes: