Pride of America Review

Positively Paradise

Review for Hawaii Cruise on Pride of America
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slix1
First Time Cruiser • Age 20s

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Sail Date: Oct 2009
Cabin: Balcony

I had read a number of highly negative reviews but decided that Hawaii was worth taking the chance. I have been to many beaches and even Tahiti but never Hawaii. This is not my first cruise so I have somethings to compare with. I am very happy to say that I had no problems on my Oct 3rd cruise. My first impression of the public rooms is that they are attractive and fit the theme. I know that some people mention specific, genuine problems and I appreciate those reviews. Other reviewers must have been seeking to say something negative to seem discerning. If you are a positive person, you will have a wonderful vacation. I am not a pushover but there was just nothing to complain about. This is my second NCL cruise and I was on the newer Pearl before.

My BE balcony cabin was great. The bed is wonderful after a long day. The storage unit seemed spacious and we did not completely fill it. Our two medium suitcases fit under the bed. I like having a coffee pot in the room since the time change had us up early a few times. I could drink coffee and take another hundred pictures from the balcony. We did have a very few beers on the balcony in the afternoon. The price is the same as the bars. I also had good cabin service. The room was always clean and straight and never short of anything. We had new ice every day and towel animals several times. I did use the wheel by the door to let him know when we had left for the day and he could clean. One of our friends on a different floor did not get as many towel animals but didn't feel they lacked anything. Our first cruise was in 1985 and the joke back then was a passenger went to the bathroom in the middle of the night and found his bed had been made up in those few minutes with the bathroom door shut. I know there are still cruises with an amazing passenger/crew ratio but they are in a much higher price category also. We ate in many of the restaurants and the buffet. We especially enjoyed Jefferson's Bistro and ate there twice. The second time was the jazz brunch while sailing toward the NaPali coast. The buffet did not have as many selections as the Pearl but the food was prepared in small enough batches to not be steamed to death. I think they do a good job of feeding a huge number of starving vacationers. We had read that the Liberty and Skyline dining rooms took a long but our visits were at 8pm or after and were fine. One time was a walk up for four people. The servers did seem to handle a lot of tables and we off half a second after you said every thing is fine. The rooms are attractive and it is table service so it seems more relaxed but the food did not seem miles better than the buffet. The hamburger, fries, and shake at the Cadillac Diner were super. I was too full for the brownie. I guess I will just have to come again. We also had breakfast at the Cadillac. I had to ask about fruit since it is not on the menu. The waiter offered to bring some and quickly had a full bowl for the table. Still, I felt the buffet fit our group's varied tastes. The breakfast buffet opened early and I think the only think missing was the omelet station. We showed up a 6am to make an early snorkel trip. It seemed that we had an easier time getting dinner reservations for the nights that we stayed in port. This may be due to a large number of people choosing a luau off the ship.

NCL offers a number of shore excursions but we reserved cars ourselves. Don't try this unless you know you can co-exist with your spouse and friends in a vehicle all day long. Better to let the tour guides take care of you than ruin the day. I have posted my port excursion review on the Hawaii forum. Please get off the ship. Every island is amazing. I am actually considering doing this cruise again in the whale season and seeing the sights that I couldn't fit in plus more snorkel time. We were behind a family in the tender line on Kona that lives in Honolulu. They said this is the fourth time they have taken this cruise. The kids have wonderful activities and they get to see more and more of the other islands. They said they had priced other ways to see their state and all were more expensive and would be very tiring to pack and move. We had an idea of the entertainment since being a repeat NCL cruiser. We did not see the Hawaii show due to being on Haleakala. The Second City Improv was mostly funny and the magician was mildly entertaining. The crew talent show was a new idea to us and we had mixed feelings. One guy had a great voice but two women were not up to par. We were glad we didn't leave after them because the last gag skit was very funny. We also thought the guy in Pink's Bar was very good. You would not have to drink to hear him. In fact you could usually hear him in the main lobby right down the big staircase from Pink's. We didn't go to any of the later entertainment and decided not to completely adjust the five hour time difference. At least that was the reason we gave for getting sleepy early each night and heading to the cabin. I will say that the shows were not the quality acts and definitely not the sets as the Pearl. I guess you can tell my advise from the title. Again if you are a positive person, you should have a great vacation. I hope that some of the people with a chip on their shoulder secretly enjoyed themselves.

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin BC

NCL chose the room while I was booking. I wanted midship for motion control. The other plus is that you are never more than half the ship away from anything. I specifically asked which side sees the lava sail by and was correctly told starboard. I don't like their policy of allowing smoking on the balconies but my cruise was quiet and smoke free.

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