Pride of America Cruise Review by tandaart

Now that the jet lag is gone, and I’ve recuperated from a cold or flu I developed in Hawaii, let’s get down to a review of this NCL cruise and vacation. First the short version.

It was great, if you’re considering a trip and cruise in Hawaii this is the way to go. This cruise will disappoint only the most discriminating of passengers. We flew out of Philly, the night after watching the Phillies not clinch the pennant. Our pre flight stay was at the Marriott (Bartram Ave) for which I used points for a free stay. Up at 4am to bring our car to Express Park and then off to the airport. The flights to Chicago, then Hawaii went smoothly and without delay. Star taxi was waiting for us after we picked up our bags. (reserved in advance) Our trip started with a four night stay at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach in Waikiki. Most of our transport was done thru Star taxi (Call Bob) who turned out to be a former hometown boy of Albany, NY. We stayed in an Oceanview suite with bfasts included. The room was immense and perfectly clean; the staff here and basically throughout our entire vacation was great. The Outrigger is not the fanciest or most modern hotel here, but they do have their act together. As an added plus they do have a coin laundry on site. The restaurants at the hotel and in the Honolulu area were good and not overly expensive. We dined at the Shorebird, Roy’s, Ryan’s Grille and Dukes. We don’t normally eat lunch but bought snacks at the ABC stores or Coco Cove (flight attendant recommended). We scheduled a city tour with Bob that lasted about three hours ($120 for four); he’ll take you anywhere you want to go on Oahu. On Friday we visited Pearl and paid our respects.

Saturday morning we attempted to climb Diamond Head but the flu bug got the best of me. Afternoons were reserved for hitting the beach and soaking up some rays. While the beach at the Outrigger is not large it was never crowded and the property abuts the beach behind the Hale Koa (Military Hotel) and was generally empty. Boogie boards rent for $7/hr snorkel equipment $10/hr. You can purchase these at ABC stores as well as bamboo beach mats $1.99 small 2.99 large (?). Thursday was reserved for the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center); you can purchase your tickets and transportation from any hotel. We boarded the bus at the Hyatt Waikiki, since we went with friends, and met Cousin Leon. Have I mentioned how friendly people are here, wherever you come from on the mainland, just hang loose and let the aloha spirit envelop you. Well Cous Leon became our travel guide and tour guide at the PCC, we upgraded to Ambassador and got a buffet lunch too. Now if I was feeling better we probably would have done this by ourselves, thankfully he led the way, and opened our eyes to many new and exciting things. Also we never felt that the Mormon Church was trying to sell anything to anybody while visiting. I will warn you that this is an all day affair not getting back to the hotel until 11pm.

Saturday cruise day arrived and after returning from Diamond Head, grabbed a quick bfast, showered, packed, and got Star taxi to pick us up at 11:30am. For the next seven days have your Drivers Lic/Passport and cruise card (when issued) at the ready. POA is docked at Pier 2 a short walk from the Aloha Tower where a Celebrity ship was berthed. You roll your bags from the drop off point to inside the pier, pass thru security again at the embarkation area and wait in line at the NCL reception counter. Went straight to the latitudes counter and were processed in about fifteen mins. We had boarding No. 3 and waited another 15 mins. to go onboard. There you are greeted with Champagne and mimosas, and are invited to lunch in the Aloha Café (Deck 11). We chose this deck for our cabin (11526) due to the proximity of the pool, the café, and because of the limited number of staterooms/suites. Our stateroom was ready right after lunch, the rooms are a bit smaller than other ships, but comfortable and nicely set up. The balcony in this stateroom is oversized and we used every bit of it. We did a quick run thru of the rest of the ship and headed back off to see the Aloha Tower and shops.

Back onboard by 3:30 downed another mimosa, and went to the room (luggage already there) to unpack and pick up our vests for the 4:30 drill. Our mandatory drill was in the theater and it lasted about fifteen mins. We had already made three nights of dinner reservations when we came onboard, tonite was to be Little Italy. The Italian restaurant on POA was actually better than the one on the Gem. The only disappointment was the waiter never brought the antipasto trolley, otherwise the dishes were very good. If you do enjoy wine with dinner order a bottle, anything remaining they will hold and store for another meal. Latter that evening we went to the Welcome Aboard show put on by the staff and resident entertainers. We did not spend any time at late nite cabarets or bars but the entertainers on board were good and nice people to boot since we met many of them while off ship. Again we met a hometown girl Sara of the crew, from Guilderland who we kept on running into throughout the sailing. I can’t say enough about this crew, they were friendly, warm, fun to be with and talk to, and that went from cabin steward to the officers. I do not remember a cruise that we have taken where we met so many new people, fellow cruisers to staff. They make it a point of telling you that they will not be available certain hours for cabin services, this is due to following both Hawaii and Federal labor laws. This for the most part is an American crew but our cabin steward was from the Philippines and our bus boy was from Guam. The ship itself was very easy to navigate, with a wide open central main desk area. Interior walkways were wide and ran for the most part bow to stern on both sides. The library was large and full of reading materials; the internet was right next door. Now the only bad incident we had was that a piece of our luggage was damaged coming aboard. We called the desk, left the luggage outside that first night and received it back repaired the last day. I was totally impressed that they could repair that broken handle. Before discussing the various ports and excursions, let me say that if you can physically handle it with your family; rent a car for at least a day in each port, outside of Honolulu. And if you have a GPS bring it with you, even if you don’t rent. We used thrifty and enterprise agencies. There were no long lines or waiting for the vehicles, but most agencies did not have extra cars to rent.

Maui- Sunday We did the NCL tour to Haelakala Crater, the bus driver was very informative and over half the trip is the drive back and forth so pay attention or take a snooze. You are reaching an altitude of about 10000ft or more so the air does get thin at the top. Unfortunately the clouds we saw at the bottom were also present at the top, just like the cruise, the captain and tour drivers don’t control the weather conditions. I do have some nice close up pictures of rocks and clouds. Speaking of pics and video, I will post them on my shutterfly site as soon as I post process everything. The afternoon we went off ship to the local shopping in Kahului, you can catch free shuttles to the mall, we hit the drug store for cold and flu meds. Dinner that evening was at Jefferson’s Bistro the French restaurant and it did not disappoint, I confined myself to the bouillabaisse to help fight the cold.

Maui- Monday We rented a car from enterprise (not airport site) to start a trip to Kanaapali and Lahaina; this is an easy drive with some scenic lookouts to stop at along the way. We met our friends who were staying at the Sheraton in Kanaapali for a day at the beach and snorkeling at Black Rock. If you park at the shops in Kanaapali the parking for 4hrs (?) is free with a $15 purchase, its $20 for the day at the Sheraton. The snorkeling is very good here, but I was limited to my time in the water due to breathing problems. Our friends had made a 2:00PM appointment for a time share spiel (warning, they never last 30mins) so we left for Lahaina. Lahaina is a quaint tourist trap kind of town, it is crowded and parking is in pay first lots ($5 for 2hrs). We had a nice lunch at the Fish Company and visited some of the boutiques and stores in that area of town. A little rain started to fall so we called it a day and started heading back by 3:00 with a few stops along the way. Gas prices are pretty high in Hawaii; we paid about 3.48 in Maui it went down to 3.28 in Kauai. Dinner that evening was at the Skyline and again measured up much better than the Gem.

Hilo – Tuesday Rented a Jeep thru Thrifty and set out for a trip to VNP (Volcano National Park). The roads get rural quicker here due to smaller population and probably not wanting to live near an active volcano. VNP can be pretty much an all day affair, we did the requisite visits to the steam vents, Volcano House overlook, Thurston Lava tube, and the Jagger museum. We continued down Chain of Craters Dr all the way down to the Petroglyphs and did the 1.3mi hike to see them. From the lookouts along the way you could see the steam rising from the shore where lava was entering the ocean about 3-4 mi (?) away. On the way back we visited Rainbow Falls which was flowing very vigorously, but due to overcast skies no rainbow. Dinner was at the Aloha Café since we were beat after the day’s journey and hikes.

Kona – Wednesday I actually thought that this day would be one of the low points of the cruise, but it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable. The tendering went very well compared to our experience in the Bahamas. The ironman triathletes were in town practicing for the upcoming event, so there was somewhat of a festive, rowdy atmosphere. We booked two excursions this day, the outrigger canoe, and the glass bottom boat; not being avid coffee drinkers or starbucks wannabees we skipped the plantation tours. The outrigger canoe, with Chris as our guide, had us paddle for about five minutes and then the inboard engine was turned on. It was an enjoyable 1 hr cruise thru the bay with spinner dolphins joining us for most of the trip. Going back to shore Chris dove off the boat and brought us up a puffer fish and sea urchin to touch. If you bring an underwater camera he’ll even take pics for you. With a few hours to kill before the next excursion we shopped Kona, used our ship coupons at Del Sol, and bought some artwork from Cindy Coats. (If you enjoy a more primitive style of art you’ll like her work, check it out online). We do like to collect more regional flavored art as a memento and remembrance of our vacations. This also turned out to be a better deal than what was available at the Park West auctions. Had a relaxing lunch at the Kona Inn, which also sports some nice boutiques. The glass bottom boat leaves right from the tender pier and this time we were looking down into the water with a naturalist explaining the various fish and life down below. So if you enjoy nature and aren’t the wildly adventurous types, these two excursions fit the bill. Dinner that evening was at East meets West (Asian fusion) which started out great, then entrees mediocre, and deserts good.

Kauai – Thursday This was our longest day, starting with picking up a Jeep from Thrifty and heading out on a North Shore journey. Our first stop was Anini Beach; you can see the Kilauea lighthouse from the approach, so we didn’t bother to backtrack later on. Anini Beach is a nice calm, family friendly beach with good beginners snorkeling from the protecting outer reef, just be wary of all the chickens. The chicken should be the state bird, we saw hundreds compared to the Nene, zero. Hit the road again by noon, with stops at the Hanalei lookout and then continuing through Hanalei to Ke’e Beach, literally the end of the road. There are at least 7-8 one lane bridges from Hanalei to the end so get use to them if you didn’t do the road to Hana. The park was packed with cars this day so just find a spot if the lots are full. The beaches are clean, with a little more active surf but again reef protected. Once again don’t mind the chickens. We started heading back by 2pm with a stop in Kapaa for some lunch at the Olympic Café. While having lunch I noticed a guy at the bar with a tee from the Anchorage Inn, in Somers Point, NJ; since we have a summer place in adjacent Ocean City my wife went over to ask where he was from. Turned out he lives in Hawaii but works the bar at the Anchorage during the summer. We then headed out to find Opaeka’a Falls, and then on to Wailua Falls. We ended the drive almost right in back of the ship visiting the Menehune Ponds. It was about 7pm when we finally got back to the ship and had a quick dinner at the Aloha.

Kauai – Friday Decision day, we opted for the Waimea Canyon tour rather than one more beach tour. Our driver was funny and informative, and took us off the main road to see some local areas that looked like towns from the 50’s. The canyon is beautiful, but you only stop at the first lookout in the park, I don’t know how we could have managed the canyon and north shore in one day. The ride down went thru Po’ipu beach with a stop at the Spouting Horn and then a drive by tour of the coffee plantations. The only sight of a Hawaiian green sea turtle during our stay was the carving we purchased at a rest stop during the tour. The heaven’s let loose upon our return to the ship, and we started to doubt that the Napali Coast sail by would be worth the viewing. The interesting thing about Hawaii weather is that at higher altitudes and with large mountain formations the weather can be very variable. Well, the sun broke out as soon as we rounded the point at Haena State Park where we had been the day before. Last nights dinner was back at Jefferson’s Bistro before the final show.

Honolulu- Saturday Disembarking the ship was simple, we left with the 9am group and had our luggage stored at the pier. We caught a local bus to the Ala Moana Mall and hung out there until 11:30. Picked up our bags back at the pier and took a cab ($22) to the airport. I don’t know about other airlines in Honolulu but United was pretty strict about weights and carry on size, but we made some adjustments and went thru security easily. If you are flying United meals are for purchase aboard, Honolulu airport does not have a great selection of food to take out for your flight. Also only the departure areas of the terminal have AC (except the food court). We grabbed a bite at Dewar’s Clubhouse (so-so) and then headed to our gate. The flight to Chicago (4pm) was overly warm and dry, but I managed to doze for four hours. We made our final flight destination Philadelphia by 11:30 and Express Park was basically right there after getting our bags. Summary – Mahalo, to the many people in Hawaii, the members advice from cruise critics, the hotel and restaurant staffs, the taxi drivers and tour guides, and the crew of NCL Pride of America. These are the people that make your stay relaxing and enjoyable. It always helps to have crystal blue waters, warm but comfortable weather and outstanding vistas, and if you embrace that Aloha spirit you will most certainly enjoy your stay in the islands.