Sailing on the Pride of America - November 5 - 12, 2022 - Review

[NikiPinkston]

Oh, yes, sorry, I just forgot! Thank you for asking. Here they are along with disembarkment info:

DAY 7 P1.pdf DAY 7 P2.pdf DAY 7 P3.pdf DAY 7 P4.pdf DISEMBARK 1.pdf DISEMBARK 2.pdf DISEMBARK 3.pdf DISEMBARK 4.pdf

[ULCajunCruiser]

3 hours ago, NikiPinkston said:

Oh, yes, sorry, I just forgot! Thank you for asking. Here they are along with disembarkment info:

DAY 7 P1.pdf 1.97 MB · 2 downloads DAY 7 P2.pdf 1.87 MB · 2 downloads DAY 7 P3.pdf 1.17 MB · 2 downloads DAY 7 P4.pdf 1.85 MB · 2 downloads DISEMBARK 1.pdf 2.91 MB · 2 downloads DISEMBARK 2.pdf 1.27 MB · 2 downloads DISEMBARK 3.pdf 1.24 MB · 2 downloads DISEMBARK 4.pdf 1.44 MB · 2 downloads

Thank you so much!!!

[NikiPinkston]

49 minutes ago, ULCajunCruiser said:

Thank you so much!!!

Yes, of course! You're welcome. Have a lovely day!

[whitsmom]

Did you have regular cell reception on the ship or did you have to be in airplane mode and use WiFi calling?  We have a business and need to be available.

 

We cruise in mid-January and cannot wait!!!

[NikiPinkston]

8 minutes ago, whitsmom said:

Did you have regular cell reception on the ship or did you have to be in airplane mode and use WiFi calling?  We have a business and need to be available.

 

We cruise in mid-January and cannot wait!!!

We kept our phones on airplane mode while at sea between islands but, whenever we were in port, we took it off and used our phones normally. We never used wi-fi calling so I really can't speak to that- sorry. Have a wonderful time!

[whitsmom]

1 hour ago, NikiPinkston said:

We kept our phones on airplane mode while at sea between islands but, whenever we were in port, we took it off and used our phones normally. We never used wi-fi calling so I really can't speak to that- sorry. Have a wonderful time!

Thank you!  The reason I ask is that when we cruise the inside passage in Alaska we could see land on either side and we had cell reception almost the entire time.  I wasn't for sure if when cruising around the islands if land was close enough to count (cell towers). 

 

[NikiPinkston]

@whitsmomMost of the time when we were at sea we were so far out that we couldn't see land unless we were leaving or entering port. The POA sails at night, so there may have been times we were close to one of the islands and just didn't see it, so I would say try it and see if you're close enough to connect to a cell tower.

Maybe this will kind of help you visualize how close to land we sail:

Edited November 30, 2022 by NikiPinkston

[gregmarty]

Thank you for the great review!  I’m very seriously considering booking this cruise for January and your review has me eager to go.

[erieboater]

Thank you so much for a very informative review.  DH and I have booked POA for our birthday cruise in February.  I love gathering as much information as possible here on CC before a cruise.  Yours has helped immensely!  We had a land vacation that included a few days on Oahu as well as a week on Maui.  Loved seeing input from you as well as folks on Maui and will take all to heart.  I've downloaded all your Freestyles and will enjoy going through them later today.  I'm going to have my DH read your review, as well.  We're both getting very excited.

[NikiPinkston]

7 minutes ago, erieboater said:

Thank you so much for a very informative review.  DH and I have booked POA for our birthday cruise in February.  I love gathering as much information as possible here on CC before a cruise.  Yours has helped immensely!  We had a land vacation that included a few days on Oahu as well as a week on Maui.  Loved seeing input from you as well as folks on Maui and will take all to heart.  I've downloaded all your Freestyles and will enjoy going through them later today.  I'm going to have my DH read your review, as well.  We're both getting very excited.

I'm so happy that my review was helpful! I'm the same way - I love reading everything that I can find on CC about our upcoming cruises, and our fellow CC members are wonderful about contributing great information. Have a fabulous time on your birthday cruise!

[georgiacat]

Thank you for writing this review of POA.  I am not finding many of them.  I am also gleaning as much information as I can before our trip to Hawaii next spring.

[Chardonnay Char]

You said East Meets West was not open.  Any other restaurants/eateries NOT open?  thanks for the info.

[NikiPinkston]

18 hours ago, Chardonnay Char said:

You said East Meets West was not open.  Any other restaurants/eateries NOT open?  thanks for the info.

The Liberty main dining room was closed and Skyline MDR was open for dinner only. In addition to East Meets West, Moderno, and La Cucina were also closed.

[Paula_MacFan]

2 hours ago, NikiPinkston said:

The Liberty main dining room was closed and Skyline MDR was open for dinner only. In addition to East Meets West, Moderno, and La Cucina were also closed.

Recent trip reports from last week say Moderno and LaCucina were open but not for advance reservations.  

[NikiPinkston]

39 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

Recent trip reports from last week say Moderno and LaCucina were open but not for advance reservations.  

That's great news!

[smokeymtn51]

Niki,

Thanks for the great review. I have a question about room stewards. My daughter and family have 2 rooms and they have not seen a room steward  yet and they started sailing 24 hrs ago. The kids are sleeping in the Pullman bed and they had to call someone to make it up. After a full port day, they came back to find the room the way they left it. Do they have enough staff? Do you need to call each day for room service?

[cruiseny4life]

9 hours ago, smokeymtn51 said:

Niki,

Thanks for the great review. I have a question about room stewards. My daughter and family have 2 rooms and they have not seen a room steward  yet and they started sailing 24 hrs ago. The kids are sleeping in the Pullman bed and they had to call someone to make it up. After a full port day, they came back to find the room the way they left it. Do they have enough staff? Do you need to call each day for room service?

Question - did they turn the "Do Not Disturb" light on? We did this accidentally once and didn't see our steward until late in the day. We crossed paths in the hall and he asked if we wanted our room made up since the light was on. We told him we didn't mean to have the light on, so he went in and made up the room.

 

If not, then someone from the room should go speak (politely) with Guest Services to let them know they haven't seen the room steward. Alternatively, they could probably find the room steward (we always know exactly who ours is by 6 PM on the first day) in the hallway/in a room close by and request service. 

[NikiPinkston]

@smokeymtn51, I had accidentally turned the dial outside our room to the "Do Not Disturb" tab instead of "Please Make-Up Room" one day before we went into port and this happened to us. We saw our steward in the hall when we came back onboard and he made up the room right away (and I apologized for my mistake). Our steward was wonderful, always making up our room promptly each morning and making sure that any small requests that we had were fulfilled. We often ran into him in the hallway & had a brief, cheerful conversation, and it seemed to us like there wasn't really a problem with staffing. We were also normally served promptly almost everywhere we went, and there were several crew members in the pool area and in the theater floating around to take our drink orders. The only venue where the wait was a bit long was in the MDR but, even then, our servers made up for it with their attentiveness. (Although my husband wasn't happy with the quality of his steak.) I agree with @cruiseny4life, if you can't find your steward in the hallway or in a nearby cabin, I would quietly let Guest Services know. Most of the stewards we saw or spoke with were working really hard to please passengers, as was the rest of the crew with whom we interacted.

[broncofan99]

Great review.  This is a bucket list cruise I am hoping to take.  Great pictures and review. 

[cruisequeen4ever]

It was fun reading about your adventures as we have been to some of the same places and are about to embark on our second Hawaii cruise aboard a different cruise line. Hawaii is such a magical place, whether you’ve been there once or tons. 

[NikiPinkston]

5 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

It was fun reading about your adventures as we have been to some of the same places and are about to embark on our second Hawaii cruise aboard a different cruise line. Hawaii is such a magical place, whether you’ve been there once or tons. 

I totally agree, Hawaii is like nowhere else on earth. Have a wonderful cruise!

[Katemusical]

I loved your review! Thank you!!

 

ONE MORE WEEK FROM TODAY AND WE ARE ON OUR WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NikiPinkston]

3 hours ago, Katemusical said:

I loved your review! Thank you!!

 

ONE MORE WEEK FROM TODAY AND WE ARE ON OUR WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you, I'm so happy that you enjoyed it! Have a wonderful time! I envy you as I've always wanted to spend time in Hawaii during the Christmas season.

[Rbender827]

Still working my way through all of this fabulous information so this may have already been mentioned... what time do you have to be back on board the overnights in Maui and Kauai? Also what time can you get off the following morning? My PCC won't respond to any of my questions and the NCL live chat said they don't know. This is my 8th cruise but I'm really struggling to plan this one and it's my Honeymoon. I think I'm just overwhelmed by all of the options. 

[NikiPinkston]

We arrived in Maui Sunday morning and the Freestyle Daily shows that all aboard is Monday at 5:30 p.m. We didn't test it as our excursion was during the day, but it was our understanding that passengers could come and go freely while we were in port. I heard of some folks leaving the ship in the VERY early hours of the morning Monday to see the sunrise from Haleakala and others spending Sunday night on the island. For Kauai, we arrived Thursday morning and all aboard was Friday at 1:30 p.m. as the POA cruises the Napali Coast that afternoon, but I believe it was the same situation - we were free to come and go while in port. We had sailed the POA before in 2016 and I had been planning this cruise since before covid (it was originally scheduled for March, 2020 & rescheduld numerous times), so I would be happy to answer any questions if I can. Thank you for the "fabulous" and have a wonderful honeymoon!