Pride of America Review

4.5 / 5.0
2,363 reviews

Wonderful Cruise Itinerary

Review for Hawaii Cruise on Pride of America
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canucksabroad
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Feb 2013

We had a very nice cruise on the Pride of America Feb 23-Mar 2, 2013. 2nd cruise, 1st with Norwegian. We booked a balcony (regretted not doing this on our first cruise). Were offered an upgrade a couple of weeks before the cruise to a penthouse unit, and took it at a great price. Large balcony and a quiet cabin and great individual service with a butler (George) and concierge (James) at our service. Besides the fantastic cabin, we also received breakfast and lunch at Lazy J's Steakhouse -- Filet Mignon and different eggs benedict for breakfast gave us lots of energy to thoroughly enjoy the busy itinerary of this cruise.

Service -- Due to the upgrade, it is quite possible the service we received everywhere on the ship, was improved over what we may have experienced from our original cabin. Our TV stopped working a day or two into the cruise, George (butler) had it looked at and replaced within 12 hours. Larry, our cabin steward was very attentive to us, and fulfilled our every need. Reading all of the previous posts, I wonder what the nationality is of those who complain that an "American" crew has a negative effect on quality or care of service (we're Canadian). NCL should hire Americans for this cruise, and I hope it's not American's complaining. We quite enjoyed all of the crew who served us (excursion desk, guest services, stores, bars and restaurants, embarkation and disembarkation). Friendly is, as friendly does -- maybe it was our approach, but for the most part, we had terrific service everywhere. If you are experiencing problems, you should contact guest services, just like you would in a hotel. Or, in the dining rooms, talk to the white sailor suit people, the bosses, and they will fix your problem quickly. Just like any cruise, or hotel, even though you prepay services, you should tip your cabin steward -- sooner the better -- pop a $20 in a towel animal and thank him/her. You will have towels and soaps for the rest of your cruise.

Itinerary -- This is the second cruise and the second time we chose a cruise that sailed at night to a new port almost every day. We pre-booked a snorkel/turtle cruise through NCL with Pacific Whale Foundation in Maui -- saw whales on the way there and back and became educated along the way about the whales and turtles we saw. Turtle Town is just off Wailea beach in Maui -- so, if you are staying there sometime after your cruise, this will give you the exact location to snorkel off your beach to see turtles.. many fabulous huge turtles. Pre-booked a Blue Hawaiian Helicopter tour over the volcano lava, very interesting, the pilot was very helpful with information during the excursion, as was the bus driver to the airport. Cruise sailed past the lava tubes at night on the way to Kona, no extra money? This was nice too. We wandered Kona Town then took a shuttle to snorkel in Turtle Bay - beach is awful there, but snorkelling OK. I think if I were to go there again, I'd rent a car in this port. Ziplined in Kaua'i with Just Live Zipline tours (booked through NCL). Matt and Doug were fantastic guides through the trees here, made us feel safe and really enjoy the experience. Don't bring your camera -- pay for the pictures after. It didn't cost much, and we split the cost with another cruisee and shared the photos -- bring a usb and do this too -- I had a laptop, but you could use the computer centre on board if you need. We really enjoyed our ziplining group of Americans and Canadians. Shuttle driver was very nice here too. We did a luau that they were heavily marketing on board in Kaua'i. If you've never done one, and like free mai tai's, go. Food was good. Entertainment told the story of Hawaii, so it was educational. Again, we had a very nice group of people at our table, so the evening was enjoyable, not a waste of time or money, but if money is tight, you could miss this type of excursion. Sailing past the Napali coast was a bonus the afternoon we left there. We were blessed with good weather for most of our cruise, and rainbows when the weather was a little dreary.

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