Pride of America Review
Best part of this trip was the crew and people we met on board.
Rating by category
Additional details
I've only been on one other cruise before and it was Royal Caribbean or Princess (honestly can't remember) back in 2004 for my senior trip. We visited Cozumel, the Cayman Islands and Key West. It was a nice, 3-4 day trip but nothing like our most recent cruise. NCL's Pride of America was a solid vacation, mainly because we finally met people our own age a few days in.
PoA only has one area on the ship to smoke (the Waikiki Bar, deck 13, aft) and honestly it's the most laid back, chill area of the ship complete with great views. You end up talking to the "regulars" and we made a few legit friends that we kept in touch with after we got back home. The bartenders (Gabby and David) turned a good vacation into a great vacation and kept my husband and I sane on a boat (erm ship) where our age group made up maybe 20% of the population. They recommended some local bars to hit when we were in port overnight and they did not disappoint. The cruise director, Jasper, was also extremely nice and just an overall fantastic person. NCL's staff was the best part of this trip, hands down. It is extremely regimented like a well oiled machine and they were some of the nicest, most down-to-earth people we met.
The ports were well planned out and although we only had one full day of sun, we made the best of every day we had. We went hiking, visited the Keck Observatory, hit some botanical gardens and enjoyed a few local breweries. The ship itself was small compared to other ones I've seen/been on but you wouldn't be able to tell unless you're the person who spends most of their money on the ship doing ship things.
Cabin Review
Obstructed Oceanview
We got an invite to bid on an upgrade to our room...balcony or ocean view. I really wanted the balcony and bid a fair amount on it. It wasn't enough. We did end up getting the ocean view though. Not bad. I wish they gave you a chance to purchase an upgrade instead of the bidding process they use. But they do give you a meter to tell you how poor your bid is so theres that lol.
Port Reviews
Maui
We visited Lahaina on day one here, it was one of two full sunny days we got. The town is very clean (like pretty much all of Hawaii) and it has a ton of shopping for everyone, whether you're on a budget or not. This was the first real highlight of our trip.
Hilo
Hilo was nice but the weather was not. It was windy, cold and rainy. But we visited the WM Keck Observatory and it was pretty cool. I would've loved to try and summit Mauna Kea but we just did not have suitable weather gear. We hit a brewery and botanical garden here. Also saw our first Hawaiian waterfall. Nice place.
Kona (Kailua Bay)
This was the first day we were able to walk around in swimwear...Kona was beautiful. Everything you think about when you think of Hawaii. Sunny, a bit humid, clear blue water...just beautiful. We stayed around the port, did some shopping and swam in the ocean right next to where we had to hitch a ride on the tender back to the ship. One of my favorite ports.
Kauai
Kauai was my favorite port of all. We had a full day of hiking and some beautiful scenery and we actually went with a young married couple we met on the ship. They were nice enough to share their rental with us and we all had an all around amazing day! Kauai was one of two ports we stayed docked at overnight so we went to a bar that evening (Cafe Portofino) that was recommended to us from the ship's bartenders. We had a blast and I didn't get back to my room until 6am the next morning. Well worth the hangover lol.