Pride of America Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We took this cruise on the Pride in 2012 and enjoyed it then as well. We retired in 2015 and decided to spend some of the kids inheritance and booked this cruise, with all 11 of us. It wasn't cheap, with airfare, cruise and tours, but it was worth every penny. We and they thoroughly enjoyed it and being in Hawaii with all of us together was great.
The Pride of America is much different than any of the other ships or lines than we have sailed before. Of course it is very port intensive, as you are at port every day.
I have read other reviews from folks that evidently have a much higher thought of themselves than I do. I do not require "coddling" to enjoy myself. The staff from the first person we saw at check-in to the cabin attendant to the dining room(s) wait staff to the deck bar waiters/waitresses to the shore excursion staff to the Guest Services people couldn't have been more friendly. I have found on EVER cruise and cruise line that if you treat people as you would like to be treated and not as if they were your "person slave" that your experience is much better. I don't care who you are or where you come from, but everyone gets "attitude" and if they are "confronted" in a tone that isn't friendly the "attitude" you get back is quite the same, just as when you talk to someone in a friendly tone they conversation goes much better.
Cabin Review
Inside
The cabin was clean, small but efficient. Plenty of storage room for 2 or 3, and one of our kids had he husband and two teenage boys in the interior cabin. Knowing it would be tight, from the start, they didn't have a problem with it. It was more for sleeping and showering and dressing, than for an area to "hang out". The shampoo was a good quality, but the shower gel, though I am sure is a good quality, just isn't want we like. We always take a bar of soap from home and adds a whopping dollar to the cost of the cruise.
Port Reviews
Maui
The first day we rented a car and drove to Lahaina. Stopped at a couple of beaches on the way over and just walked around the town and sat under the "Banyan Tree" at the old court house. Very relaxing day. The second day the son in laws and a couple of the grandkids went on an offshore fishing trip. Only caught 1 wahoo, but they had fun. The daughters and one grandson went to play golf. They had a wonderful time. A couple of the holes on the muni course, very close to the ship, are on the shoreline and just a beautiful place to play. They said the course is very nice and their pictures showed that.
Kona (Kailua Bay)
We took the tender in, caught a cab to White Sands Beach, stayed a couple of hours, then cabbed back to town and saw a few shops. Went to Kona Brewery and ate lunch there. Not cheap, but not much in Hawaii is, but the food was fantastic.
Kauai
Kauai is my favorite island. There is a beach within walking distance (though there is a free shuttle to the area of the beach) that is at the Marriott hotel. It is a nice size beach and was not at all crowded. You have to be extremely careful of the waters in Hawaii, as the islands being formed from lava that is over 10000 feet high is much like a cone, large at the bottom and pointed at the top. Due to this the sand is pushed up on the lava to form the beach but the drop off from the water line can is in most cases is much more drastic than most people are used to. So "playing" in the water can be very dangerous. There are locations with barriers that have allowed the sand to build up to a more level area so for smaller kids those areas are much better. The daughters rented cars and went to the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" Waimea Canyon. We saw it the last time we were in Hawaii and decided to just go to the local beach and hang around there. A few shops and restaurants are there as well and if you haven't have Hawaiian Shaved Ice, in Hawaii, you have missed a great part of life.