Pride of America: Port or Starboard Side?

[Teachkg816]

Hi,

Getting ready to book my honeymoon aboard Pride of America. We are thinking about getting a balcony room on deck 7? Any feedback? What side of the ship would you recommend? Why?

 

Thanks!

 

Hoping to book it tomorrow.

[Carey and Kerry]

I think the consensus is port side for the Napali coast sail by, aft is a good choice as well, but probably decks 8 or 9 instead of 7. There are a couple of threads (I can't link sorry) on the Hawaii ports of call thread about this same topic.

[Teachkg816]

Hi,

If anyone could help me link to previous posts on the topic I would appreciate it.

 

Also, need feedback on deck 7. I don't mind being a little lower, but if there is a reason I shouldn't book it I'd love to know.

 

Anyone ever see wildlife from the ship?

[lambs2]

Port side definitely because of the Napali coastline viewing. Be aware that the lifeboats are on deck 7, so make sure they are not blocking your view!

[Carey and Kerry]

The lifeboats as the previous poster, as well as if you are looking at being near the front of the ship, you will be above the Mardi Gras theater so noise might be an issue in the evening (might not since it's your honeymoon).....

 

About the links - go to ports of call, click Hawaii and start scrolling. It's not as busy a board so you shouldn't have to go more than a page or 2. I never have conquered the lonking process, maybe another poster can. But if not, try my way and you should see the threads.

 

Have fun!

[jackswife]

Was on POA end of March this year. We were on deck 7 in cabin 7540 Port side and it was wonderful. No complaints whatsoever. Was plenty quiet and we were in front of any lifeboats so the view was totally unobstructed.

[DAGVBSB]

Ok, our group is wrestling with this very question....

 

We were actually leaning toward starboard side but I would like to hear the arguements both ways.

 

Here are our thoughts:

1.) Na'Pali Coast... it appears on the map from NCL that on our cruise (July 10), the ship makes a turn and goes back the way it came allowing both sides to see the Coast... so Na'Pali doesn't matter.

 

2.) It would appear that the volcano viewing is best from the Starboard side. Since the volcano viewing occurs late at night, I would much rather just go out on my balcony to see it and then go back to bed...lol (much easier if it is on my side...)

 

3.) Does the ship still sail straight in to Kahalui, Maui?? If so, then the starboard side would have a better view of the island while the port side would be viewing the grain conveyer.

 

4.) Do they still sail straight into Hilo? If so, the Starboard side would have a better view of the harbor.

 

5.) Kona... I would rather have a view of the town instead of out to sea. I believe that the port side has the town view in Kona.

 

I don't know which side has the view of downtown Honolulu & Diamond Head but that would be interesting to see. We had a great view of Diamond Head as we sailed into Honolulu in 2004 on the Pride of Aloha (starboard).

 

I have no idea how they sail into Kauai nowadays, so any help there would be good too.

[Carey and Kerry]

DAGVBSB,

 

Some of your points were brought up on the Hawaii board, with some people preferring the starboard for those reasons. We were on April, 2008 and the sailby on Napali coast was longer and slower going. When the ship turned, it went faster and the shadows were longer, so the views were not quite as good I thought.

 

As far as the volcano, we were in the front of the ship, so I cannot address the turn around, since we saw it coming, not going.

 

Kona is (if memory serves) the only tender port.

 

I'm with you, it is nice just to step out on the balcony to see things. We are going back in April, 2010 and have booked AF this time to get a panoramic view. I hoping that will be the best of both worlds, we'll see....

[lambs2]

When we were on the PoAm three years ago the ship turned at the volcano and we had a great view from our portside balcony too, although the very BEST view was from up on top where the narration was taking place. On our cruise there was no turn-around at the Napali Coast so ONLY those of us with a port balcony, or up on the top decks, had the great view of the Napali Coast. Our son was just on the PoAm in June and said the same thing applied for their cruise.

[Kapuna]

Try the AFT balcony cabins and see both sides . We were on deck 8 and loved it .

[Ballzee]

Hi,

Getting ready to book my honeymoon aboard Pride of America. We are thinking about getting a balcony room on deck 7? Any feedback? What side of the ship would you recommend? Why?

 

Thanks!

 

Hoping to book it tomorrow.

 

I posted this earlier under another thread about noise around cabin 7522 and wanted to post it again here in response to your post. My wife and I just got off the POA last Saturday and were in 7516. I HIGHLY suggest you do not book over the Mardi Gras, meaning in the low 7500's. It was a great cruise except for the noise from the Mardi Gras every night until late, the last night, until 1AM. We tried earplugs but the thump from the bass soaked right through. It made what would have been a perfect cruise a bit of a nightmare. I saw a post from someone in 7540's that said they heard no noise, so that seems safe.

 

We are fairly young and not complainers, in fact, I can't think of a time we've complained about anything like this ever, but finally had enough after 3 nights. I get that the layout of the ship is what it is and there's not much that can be done, but it is really unfair. You are going on your honeymoon and spending hard-earned money. There are plenty of places on the ship that don't have this problem.

 

Here is the link to the other post asking about cabin noise forward deck 7.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1054834

 

Note the crew member that suggested changing rooms.

 

In all fairness, the front desk gave us a comp in East Meet West and a little on-board credit, I mean, what else could they do? Heck of a way to spend nights of a vacation I can't have back.

 

I like this line and love the ports. There are many good/great things to say about this cruise, and other than the noise, I look back on it fondly.

 

Do whatever you can to get away from the front of that ship on level 7!!!