Pride of America Review
Rating by category
Additional details
I had done a lot of research on the ship, ports, and things to do before going on our vacation, and found this review site to be very helpful. So I wanted to be sure and add my review to help others looking into this cruise. We came away from our Hawaiian vacation feeling like it the best trip we had ever taken, and were very pleased with our cruise experience.
We flew into Honolulu 3 days before the cruise, which allowed us to adjust to the time change and see Oahu. Had flight on American from Dallas through Los Angeles with air miles, and was able to upgrade to first class for all flights. Nice! Flights were on time and comfortable. We stayed at Hilton Prince Kuhio on Hilton points for the most part. Had a room on 32nd floor with fantastic ocean view. Nothing to complain about there, plus due to Hilton priority member, had free breakfast every day.
I had booked all our excursions, on Oahu and all other islands, on the internet or by phone prior to the trip. I had gotten all 4 Ultimate books from Amazon and read them from cover to cover to decide what to plan. Great books, highly recommend them. Also had ordered maps for each island, which helped a lot. We rented cars from Thrifty on every island except for the Kona stop. Had signed up for Thrifty preferred member as other suggested, so we got to step into the preferred line at the counter, which moved much faster. No issues with any cars from Thrifty except for the fact that when we picked up the first car in Honolulu and we were a few miles away, we noticed that it was almost empty of gas. We filled it up, then I called Thrifty who told me to just bring it back with 1/4 tank and they would make a note, which they did.
Cabin Review
Mid-Ship Balcony
Deck 10 balcony cabins had a problem I didn't realize until after booking. The supports come up on both sides of the balcony so your view is obstructed somewhat to the forward and rear. But as a positive, you have a little more privacy from your next door neighbors. The other problem with it is that if you have cigarette smokers below you who are rude and ignore the rules about not smoking on the balconies, then the smoke is drawn right up into your balcony and cabin.
As far as whether starboard or port is best, we felt like starboard was a good choice. The volcano viewing could be done right from our balcony and it was late at night, so that was nice. For the Na Pali coast, you have to be out on the port side, but it is still daylight, so we didn't mind sitting up on deck waiting to begin that part. As far as views in port, you always dock in a warehouse area, so I don't think one side or the other really matters. And if you are in port all day like we were, you aren't sitting there anyway until after you depart.