Pride of America....port or starboard

[BaileyandBella]

My parents are going to be staying in an AD Penthouse. My mom is wondering which side is best of when the ship is docked (to be facing the island and not open water). Or does she ship change sides for each port/island?

 

Do you suggest port or starboard?

 

Thanks

[born2cruize]

We will be in a BA port side next January for our third cruise in Hawaii.

 

In Maui, the port side does face the ocean and the starboard side faces West Maui.

 

In Hilo it doesn't matter as both sides face land. On the port you are facing the pier and south side of the island. On the starboard side you're facing the north coast of the island.

 

Kona, it doesn't matter as it tenders and while anchored it rotates so both sides at some point faces land or sea.

 

Kauai, the port side faces the port area and the town of Luhie (sic). The starboard side faces the southern hill and open water.

 

The real reason to choose is for the Na Pali Coast and sailby of Kilauea at night. Then your want the port side. In 2006 Na Pali Coast was gorgeous but because of the good weather we just continued straight past the coast and headed back to Honolulu. In 2008 the weather did not cooperate and could not see much of Na Pail Coast so about halfway we turned around and headed to Honolulu. So I can't tell you if your ship we be able to view the coast line from both sides. I do know that in 2006 it was hitting sunset as we completed the sailby and for photographs it was getting difficult to get good shots.

[linerode]

I'm booked on the starboard side because our TA said the direction we go will take us by NaPali coas on that side????? Is that not correct?

[NYAustinGal]

Starboard or Aft (along the stern) work for the night lava sailby (or up on deck). For Napali - first Port and Aft (stern) have views and then they turn the ship and Starboard and Aft can see the Napali Coast. We were closer on the port side.

[born2cruize]

I'm booked on the starboard side because our TA said the direction we go will take us by NaPali coas on that side????? Is that not correct?

 

The latest from people just returning is that after sailing past Na Pali Coast (on the port side) the ship turns around and sails to Honolulu (but at a higher rate of speed and further from the coast). So either your TA doesn't know starboard from port, doesn't know the route the ship is taking or just doesn't know. (Technically he didn't lie, just didn't tell you the truth).

 

Just one major point. Since it doesn't leave the port until 2:00PM and the cruise takes about 3 hours (until it turns around), and sunset is about 6:00PM you do the math.

[whale-watcher]

We chose port for the Na Pali coast sailby (no lava viewing on our cruise as there was no active flow at the time). We would have preferred starboard for the two overnights in Maui and Kauai as the port side view was rather industrial (and there was some noise in the early morning)

 

If we go again this winter we will choose starboard for the night time lava view and nicer in-port views. We ended up watching a lot of the NaPali sailby from the open decks anyways (improved whale watching with more panoramic visibility). Would also consider an aft cabin.

[country traveler]

We were considering taking a sunset cruise to Na Pali on our first night in port. If sail by is at sunset would it be a waste of money to book the sunset cruise?

[born2cruize]

We were considering taking a sunset cruise to Na Pali on our first night in port. If sail by is at sunset would it be a waste of money to book the sunset cruise?

 

Sail by is not at sunset, it finishes at about sunset, give or take an hour. Remember Hawaii does not have long sunsets like the Midwest or the Pacific Northwest/Alaska. Sunset is about 15 minutes :).

 

What happened in our 2006 cruise if you've done the Na Pali Coast is the the valleys and deep ravines will get long shadows as the day progresses. This makes photography difficult especially for point and shoot cameras. You can see what I mean by looking at the pictures on my site from 2006 (which was not taken with a point shoot). Of course I didn't post the majority of the late photos.

[cykl]

I'm booked on the starboard side because our TA said the direction we go will take us by NaPali coas on that side????? Is that not correct?

 

We were on the June 20 sailing and had a starboard balcony. It was great for the lava sail by. We went up to one of the public decks for the NaPali sail by so we could hear the narrative. We watched it from the port side and took pictures, then went to the Skyline for dinner and watched it again from the starboard. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about a room location just for this event. I don't know if the ship changes sides during different sailings, but we were glad we were on starboard for the overnights because we weren't looking at the pier.

 

For what it's worth, we loved this cruise so much that I just booked it again for 2011.

[pspercy]

would it be a waste of money to book the sunset cruise?

 

In my opinion, no.

 

The little cruise boats get very close to the cliffs at times, from what I've heard the cruiseships stay a ways off. It's not really a true sunset cruise as they have to be back in port before "official dark" but it'll end dark enough:) We've done HoloHolo twice and were happy. It can get quite bouncy.

http://www.holoholokauaiboattours.com/

[warjo2611]

We chose port for the Na Pali coast sailby (no lava viewing on our cruise as there was no active flow at the time). We would have preferred starboard for the two overnights in Maui and Kauai as the port side view was rather industrial (and there was some noise in the early morning)

 

If we go again this winter we will choose starboard for the night time lava view and nicer in-port views. We ended up watching a lot of the NaPali sailby from the open decks anyways (improved whale watching with more panoramic visibility). Would also consider an aft cabin.

Thanks

[Pickels]

We will be in a BA port side next January for our third cruise in Hawaii.

 

In Maui, the port side does face the ocean and the starboard side faces West Maui.

 

In Hilo it doesn't matter as both sides face land. On the port you are facing the pier and south side of the island. On the starboard side you're facing the north coast of the island.

 

Kona, it doesn't matter as it tenders and while anchored it rotates so both sides at some point faces land or sea.

 

Kauai, the port side faces the port area and the town of Luhie (sic). The starboard side faces the southern hill and open water.

 

The real reason to choose is for the Na Pali Coast and sailby of Kilauea at night. Then your want the port side. In 2006 Na Pali Coast was gorgeous but because of the good weather we just continued straight past the coast and headed back to Honolulu. In 2008 the weather did not cooperate and could not see much of Na Pail Coast so about halfway we turned around and headed to Honolulu. So I can't tell you if your ship we be able to view the coast line from both sides. I do know that in 2006 it was hitting sunset as we completed the sailby and for photographs it was getting difficult to get good shots.

 

Hi, we are planning for a 2012 cruise on the POA and we are looking at penthouse cabins. I know you get butler and conciere service, what other perks are offered with the penthouse cabins. thanks.

__________________

[born2cruize]

Hi, we are planning for a 2012 cruise on the POA and we are looking at penthouse cabins. I know you get butler and conciere service, what other perks are offered with the penthouse cabins. thanks.

__________________

 

Never had once so can't comment, maybe someone who has can respond.

[vbmom87]

Hi, we are planning for a 2012 cruise on the POA and we are looking at penthouse cabins. I know you get butler and conciere service, what other perks are offered with the penthouse cabins. thanks.

__________________

 

 

Perhaps you could post this question on a new thread on the NCL board. Or you could try a search on the NCL board. Likely it has been discussed there before:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107

[Zimomiller]

Hi, we are planning for a 2012 cruise on the POA and we are looking at penthouse cabins. I know you get butler and conciere service, what other perks are offered with the penthouse cabins. thanks.

__________________

 

This link will answer most questions

 

http://www.nclsuitesandvillas.com

[cleobella]

100% port side is best. We had a wonderful afternoon sailing by the coast , viewing it from our balcony. It was quite spectacular and as an added bonus we got to see dolphins and whales swimming in the water as we sailed along. It was truly one of the most memorable travel experiences of my life. We watched the lava flow from deck at night. Im glad we saw it but it really is not that dramatic as the lava does not always flow strongly and you do see it from quite a distance. Book port if you can, but if you can't or have to book an inside cabin then make sure they get a good seat port side on deck for the coast.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We have an aft balcony and we're hoping to get a nice view from behind!:)

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We had port on our last PoA sailing and booked port again for this September.

 

As said before port sees the Napali Coast first then turns for a starboard view. By the time we turned the light was fading so we felt the port side was the better deal.

 

The lava sailby was about 8 or 9 pm and we were just finishing up dinner and scampered out onto the deck. The cabin turns out all the outer lights for a better viewing of the lava. Remember, there is no guarantee the lava will be flowing, but we were lucky and Madam Pele was really po'ed that night so we had a fabulous 7 tubes.