Me and my wife just celebrated are 25th anniversary on the Pride of America. We brought are 12 year old daughter with us. We did a upgrade 3 weeks out from an inside cabin to a port side balcony room 9628. We were surprised with all of the negative reviews of this ship and felt the opposite. No bad smells, American crew was awesome! I will do a day by day with some tips that might be helpful.

Day 1 arrived pre cruise 1 day early. Stayed at a hotwire hotel the Hawaiian Monarch. Sufficient for a night sleep but definitely you get what you pay for! Rented all of our cars through Hawaiian discount. Rented a car at the airport for a 1 way to the branch at Waikiki beach. They offered a free shuttle to the port which saved us from any taxi or shuttle fees!

Day 2 went to Hanauma bay at 600 AM they let us in for free since the cashier did not arrive until 630 AM. Great snorkeling and nice beach! Turned in our car at Waikiki Beach at 1130 AM and was shuttled to the pier and onboard by 1200 PM easy embarkation. We chose to eat at Liberty dining room every night because of the port intensive itinerary. The food was excellent every night. Service was great shout out to Miriam best server in all of our cruises. Are cabin was small but sufficient. In hindsight I think the balcony was not worth it since most of the ports are not scenic and you are never in the cabin due to the itinerary being so busy. Seeing the Napali coast from the balcony was nice but it would have been just as good from the promenade deck on 6 below us which did not look very crowded. Read more