Pride of America Review

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A Comprehensive review of the POA with photo links

Review for Hawaii Cruise on Pride of America
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marvin martian
6-10 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Apr 2011
Cabin: Owner's Suite with Large Balcony

It is our 4th day 4 in Hawaii and out first day aboard the Pride of America. My wife Colleen and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on the 6th and spent the last few days in Wakiki with our girls, and our best friends. With everyone safely back on an airplane and headed back home, we climbed aboard the NCL Pride for a week of pampering.Anyone who know's us, knows that we are big cruise fans. I think this is something like 7 or 8 now, but normally we are inside stateroom folks. Occasionally we will get a balcony room, but we don't really do anything but sleep in it, so why spend the $$$. This time we decided to splurge on a suite, and I have to say I think I am now spoiled and will likely never go back.Hawaii Cruise 2011, Day 1 Pride of America. Our AMAZING cabin, suite 10,000We started with the regular drop off via cab and slugging of the luggage to the porter to check them. Thats where the ordinary stopped and where things become amazing. Because we had a suite, we did not have to wait to go through security, they had a special line for us, with no one in it. The other one was long. Once inside the cattle call warehouse was full of hundreds of people and seriously long lines, but another desk awaited us where we stepped right up and were warmly greeted. There we met our personal Butler, Wally. Wally is fantastic and quickly issued our room cards then personally took us aboard and gave us a quick tour of the ship. He took us to a lounge and profusely apologized because he said although our room was ready, they had not opened the floor yet, so it would be about 15-20 minutes.He got us glasses of champagne and we met the Concierge James, who took our dinner reservations for the week. It was probably only 5-10 minutes and they released the floor, and off we went to Suite 10,000.Photo's Herehttp://theamsteinblog.squarespace.com/journal/2011/4/12/hawaii-cruise-2011-day-1-pride-of-america-our-amazing-cabin.htmlHawaii Cruise Day 2: The Road to HanaOur first stop on the Hawaii Cruise was in Maui and we chose to go on the Road to Hana adventure. An absolutely beautiful seven-hour drive, that I probably will never need to go on again. Don't get me wrong, it was worth every second, but let's just say the first half is four strait hours of curvey roads similar to the Lariat trail followed by another three hours of dirt roads on a cliff side occasionally, it breaks into something that was paved in the 60's but has never seen a pothole repair crew in its life.Out driver, Henry was fantastic. a local Hana guy who knew tons about all the vegetation and trees. At one point when we stopped he just grabbed a bunch of baby fern and we all tried it. Tasted like asparagus. It would be great in a salad. He said growing up in the 40's and 50's he and his parents just lived off the land and the only time they ever needed money was to go to a movie or a dance. Food is abundant on this part of the island with avocado mountain apple and guava trees everywhere.pictures here:http://theamsteinblog.squarespace.com/journal/2011/4/15/hawaii-cruise-day-2-the-road-to-hana.htmlHawaii Cruise Day 3: Haleakala Sunrise and Bike RideIt's Day three on the POA and we are up at 02:45 am. A fact that is made a little better by the very cool Lavazza coffee machine that is in our room.The plan today is to drive to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise.When we get there about 5, the stars are absolutely amazing. you can see the Aurora Borealis across the top of the sky. The weather is cool but not freezing as we were warned, a sweatshirt is all we need.At 6:04 am God himself shows up and and provides the below vista.Pictures Here:http://theamsteinblog.squarespace.com/journal/2011/4/17/hawaii-cruise-day-3-haleakala-sunrise-and-bike-ride.htmlHawaii Cruise Day 4: Hilo and Volcano's National ParkToday is Day 4 and we are well rested after a very long day yesterday. Last night we tried out the deck hot tub. Sitting under the stars, with a glass of red wine, a full belly and a days adventure behind us I almost feel guilty at the excess. ....Almost.This cruise has been different as we are already almost 1/2 way done and I feel like we have not really used the amenities of the ship yet. Everything I have read on the other posts about not needing much other than a room on this particular ship is true. The food is actually very good, even in the buffet. The first night aboard we went to the 'sampling' at the Jefferson Bistro. This is not to be missed. They had a small buffet set up with samplings of the highlights from all of the specialty restaurants on board. I had crab cakes, sashimi, a small filet, and an assortment of various sides, and three (yes 3) desserts, all wonderful.We have yet to see a show, or spend any significant time in any of the lounges. With no sea days, its go, go go. The common areas of the ship are nice but not extravagant. This ship is not the Pearl or one of the RCL mega-ships, but it fits its purpose just fine. It is really a floating hotel, unpack once and wake up each morning at a different location, ready to explore.The Cruise Critic meet and greet was on the first night at five after we got aboard. Quick but nice, we did get to meet most of the ships top staff, something RCL has stopped doing in our recent experience. Five minutes with the captain (Buz), the hotel director, cruise director, chef, and other administration was nice. you could tell they cared, and during the rest of the voyage, if they saw us in the halls, they would recognize us and stop and say hello. A cruise is what you make of it. Set out to be miserable, and you will be. We are enjoying ourselves completely and the few hiccups along the way are just part of the fun.We also did the pub crawl, directly after the M & G at on day 1. $20 gets you 5 drinks at 5 different bars in 45 minutes and a grand tour of all of the ships best watering holes. Each person gets a cruise staff generated nickname emblazoned across their chest with masking tape. Some very double entendre. Another not to be missed event and after pounding five drinks, it made the sail away party mute. If you have ever been on a cruise before, you are probably familiar with the kids pirate parade. Picture this, but with adults, drinks and a balloon popping game that is NSFW.Ok, on to Hilo on the big island. Today we rented a car and were off the ship by 8. Use Thrifty as everyone else mentions and make sure you register for the blue chip program in advance (its free). When you get to the lot to pick up your car, its waiting for you. The ship is full of folks that don't get that message, and this is another opportunity to skip a long line.We hit the visitor center in Volcano's National Park by 8:45 ahead of all the tour busses. The plan was originally to take a lap around the crater circle drive but mother nature was not cooperating. Since the Japan quake, the lava flow has stopped. 14 years this thing has produced lava and it chooses March 2011 to stop. Oh well. As a result they have closed the circle drive because they do not know where the lava is currently going. Last time it did this 14 yeas ago it popped out at a new location and they apparently don't want that to happen under some poor soles rental car.We chose to go left on entry first and down the chain or craters road based on what we have read. We stopped at the Thurston lava tube and were able to explore it alone - very cool. The first part is lit, then has a stairway that goes back up again. the second part goes back some 300 meters but requires flashlight. we purchased a little LED one at the ABC store the day before but did not realize until we opened it in the car that it did not come with batteries. Bummer. We went in as far as the LED light on my iPhone 4 would allow and at one point turned it off. Pretty scary & Blair Witch like experience.We then drove to the shore down the chain of craters and stopped at the bottom to see the arch. There is a small parking area at the bottom where the old road that went around the island use to be and if you walk past the shack you can see where the lava has taken back and eaten the road that is now gone.Back up to the top and by the lava tubes again, now its 10:30 and there are already a half dozen tour busses there - glad we went early. Next we went over to the crater and lava vents. Today they are only spewing steam. None the less, standing next to a steam vent while its spews is quite an experience. My lovely wife Colleen, who is ever prepared had packed a half dozen quart size baggies on the trip and before we left in the morning we hit the buffet and packed all manner of cheese, meat slices, fresh fruit, bread and a bag of Maui salt and vinegar chips. We stopped at a nice spot up by the museum at the top of the creator and had a picnic.Thrifty has a 'they get to pick the car' option that is cheaper than a midsize option and we ended up with a new Ford Fusion. It was equipped with the new Ford Sync platform and my iPhone sync'ed right up so we had good music for the trip. It is pretty cool technology, but the voice recognition is not quite perfected. When we asked it to "play artist the Eagles" it came up with some 50's band I did not even know I had on my iPhone, and the way the computer voice (we named her Roxanne), said Boz Scaggs almost made us pee our pants.Our rental car shuttle driver told us about an Orchid farm at mile marker 22 on the way back down and we stopped there and saw some beautiful flowers. One smelled like chocolate. They also had a rare orchid that was symetrical and one some huge orchid beauty pageant prize...supposedly it's worth 20k...We were running short of time so we skipped rainbow falls and shot across town over to Akaka falls (about a 40 minute drive). Then back to drop off the car and on board again at 5. Dinner was in the Italian place, where we split some carpaccio, a pizza, an order of saltimbocca and the pesto tortellini along with a nice chianti. We did the wine package on day one, another good deal. Pick any six bottles and save 20%.Pictures Herehttp://theamsteinblog.squarespace.com/journal/2011/4/17/hawaii-cruise-day-4-hilo-and-volcanos-national-park.htmlHawaii Cruise day 5: Kona on the big islandLast night we did the long sail around the top of the big island to Kona. I don't think Captain Buz has too much actual captaining to do on this ship. I think the total distance is only a little more than 100 nautical miles but we puttered along at 2 knots all night long...Today we snorkel at 12:30 so we got up late and had a nice breakfast in the Lazy J. Kona is a tender port so we hopped off about 10am and wandered around the shops for a little while settling into a little overlook bar on the main drag for a couple of frosty Kona Longboards before the excursion.So far we have booked everything with either Roberts tours or MauiAdventures.com and nothing through the ship. In each case the tour we ended up on was a combination of ship booked people and direct booked people. Same tour, only difference is we saved about $40 each time booking direct. Thanks Cruise Critic!Captain Zodiac was indeed an adventure. 14 people on what is essentially a big rubber raft catamaran with two big Johnson 150's strapped to the back. Hang on!, - then off you go to snorkel one of the most beautiful reef's I have ever seen. The boat is remarkably stable and we never felt like we were going to get tossed off, but straddling the pontoon like a saddle and tucking your inside foot under a rope bar for stability was both a bit scary and cool at the same time.Once at the reef we had 90 minutes to snorkel. That side of the island drops into the ocean very steeply and 10 feet from shore you are in 10 feet of water but 30 feet from shore you are in 300 feet of water. The resulting fish that like to hang out at different depths are varied and amazing. we saw eels, parrot fish that chomped at the coral and made a crunching sound, and probably 30 or 40 different kinds of tropical fish in every color imaginable.On the way back, we buzzed the shore line in the zodiac stopping at several caves, blow holes and lava tube exits along the way. At one point we stopped at the face of Pele, a set of lava tubes that looks like the face of the volcanic goddess said to be a warning of her fury.Of all of the islands we have visited so far, I think I like the feel of Kona the best. Oahu is very commercial and packed with tourists. Maui is nice Hilo on the other side was cool to see, but Kona has a feel to it that I can't describe. Laid back and comfortable, almost what I picture in my mind a 60's beach town would be. (as I write this, we have actually been to Kauai already) If I ever get a wild hair and decide to move to Hawaii, Kona is the place.Because of the H20 nature of this trip the pic's are on the water camera. Please check back here in about a week and I will post those once I have them developed.Back to shore about 3:45. Just enough time to grab another Maui Longboard and some island nacho's before the last 5PM tender back to the ship.Tonight we chose to have dinner in our suite dining room. Wally our butler brought us a menu from the Jefferson Bistro and we ordered when we left this morning. When we got back to our suite, our dining room was all set up with a crisp white cloth, fresh flowers, and a chilled bottle of bubbly. He then served us escargot and french onion soup. I had a shrimp and scallop entree layered with puff pastry and Colleen had one of the biggest bone in filets I have ever seen. We split a whole lobster and finished with tiramisu. Simply divine.I have read many places that the food on this ship is only marginal. I'm here to tell you - Bobby Flay would be proud.Once we finished our gastronomic extravaganza, we had espresso under the stars on our deck, then it was a short ten foot walk to our comfy bed.Pictures Herehttp://theamsteinblog.squarespace.com/journal/2011/4/18/hawaii-cruise-day-5-kona-on-the-big-island.htmlHawaii Cruise Day 6: KauaiIt's day 6 and we are going to be on this island for two days, so we got another Thrifty car. Blue chip rocks. Not so lucky this time, we ended up with a Mercury land yacht. What ever we saved using the they pick the car program, we just lost having to fill this beast up at $4.65 a gallon. Also no iPhone jack... bummer.This morning the plan was to drive up to Weimea canyon and enjoy the views. Unfortunately we got a bit of a late start and it was much further than we thought. We had a 12:30 tour booked that we needed to be back in Lihue for, and by the time we got halfway up the canyon we had to turn back. We made it to the first overlook about 10:30 but by then the whole valley was socked in and we could not wait for the clouds to clear. Alas, I have to enjoy photos that others have posted of this canyon and have only one to share with you.We must have pissed of Pele in Kona, or pushed the excessive luxury a bit too far because some guy from Alberta in a rental jeep then backed into our land yacht in the overlook perking lot. (I do have pictures of that, Thrifty!) so at 10:45 we headed back toaccessible tube the ditch. Later, when we returned the car, however the lady back at the rental place was great. We filled out a form and were back on our way in no time. We'll see if it turns into a problem once the claim is filed.Our next adventure was tubing the ditch. This excursion was worth every penny. Back in the late 1800's, miles and miles of irrigation ditches and tunnels were hand dug to feed the sugar cane plantations water requirements. the land that these ditches is on is still privately held (now by Steve Case, AOL CEO I hear) and is not accessible to the public. The tour takes you up to the top in one of those six wheel Swiss Army Puitzers and then you get to inner-tube all the way down. One of the tunnels is miles long and not much more than two inner-tubes wide. We were issued helmets with spelunking lights, but use of the light was optional. - Very cool.At one point they stopped us in a tunnel as a group and we all turned out lights off while we were told a scary story. The whole thing is just one gigantic lazy river, but as the guide said, "we do have class five ripples!"At the end we stopped in a beautiful meadow next to the river and were served a picnic lunch - build your own sandwich bar. Jennifer our guide was funny, and Kahana a local girl in her 20's, told us about the mountain and the history of the plantation and camps.As with the snorkeling, the pic's are on the water camera. - stay tuned.We headed back to the land yacht and decided we would go to the Marriott we had passed on the way from the pier. This is a beautiful property and umbrella drinks at Dukes on the beach were in order. Once there we actually discovered the beach was about a 10 minute walk from the boat. We listened to the live music and enjoyed the early evening.For Day 7 we scheduled helicopter tour and we also found the place across the street from the little shopping center also by the ship, so we decided we would give the land yacht back to Thrifty early, as everywhere we needed to go tomorrow was a short walk.We then headed back to the ship for showers and a quick dinner. By the time we ate - it began to poor - the only bad weather we have really had on this ship so far. And pour it did - Apparently they don't call this the wettest spot on earth for no reason. Kahana said it rains on average 350 days a year on top of the mountain.We went to the main (Liberty) dining room tonight and the staff was friendly and the food good. I do understand why some people don't like the freestyle dining thing that NCL does. If you go to the main dining room you get a different table, and different wait staff every time. As a result they don't get to know you like when you have a consistent waiter. They don't memorize your favorite drink, or greet you by name. Also, because this is a US flagged ship, the staff is all US (along with all the labor laws associated with that).In our experience we found most everyone warm and friendly. They all seem to want to do a good job and if you spend a moment to ask them where they are from and show some genuine interest in them, they almost always show a genuine interest in you and the service is just fine.The only difference I would be able to put a finger on is a lack of a Disney like 'on stage' presence from a few of the crew when in public areas. Chatting in the open with each other about this problem or that. Also - (and this is my only pet peeve - growing up in the restaurant industry). The tables in the specialty restaurants and dining rooms just did not look vey nice. No napkin folds, knives with the blade side out, table cloths with big linen room creases running across the middle of them.... Ok, enough - I have to provide feedback on something - and thats my particular two cents.From the entire experience thus far - out of 5 possible stars - I give them a solid 4.9Pictures Herehttp://theamsteinblog.squarespace.com/journal/2011/4/19/hawaii-cruise-day-6-kauai.htmlHawaii Cruise Day 7: Na Pali coast and back to OahuWell it is day 7 and almost time to end this wonderful cruise. This morning we has a helicopter tour of the island cued up but mother nature had other plans. We wondered over to the helicopter tour office and watched the safety briefing video only to then be told that the flight was scrubbed due to weather 10 minutes prior to our departure. Unfortunately they were booked for the rest of the day and the ship left at 2, Such is life - on to plan B - so we shopped instead. As we were leaving the tour office, the groups for the 10:00 flights arrived. I'm sure they got the same news as it rained off and on all morning.About 2 the Pride headed out for the Na Pali coast and the sun came out. This is a beautiful side of the island and we did see some whales in the distance at one point. The plan was to watch from our balcony and the views were fantastic. The ship provided a narration about the Na Pali coastline but we were unable to hear it from our room. Suggestion for NCL - pipe the narration into the rooms on the TV channel that shows the front of the ship. We headed up to the top and saw some amazing untouched beaches and areas accessible only by boat or the most hardy backpackers.That evening we chose to go to the teppanyaki place and had yet another incredible meal the chef was fun and at one point pulled me behind the grill to see if I could do the 'egg roll toss and crack on a spatula' thing. needless to say, the yoke was on me (and the table and the side). He said he was half Japanese and half Philippine. His nick name was jalapeño.That night we did go see the show, (actually our second) and it was a variety mash up of all of the people who had appeared the week before. Murray the magician was funny, Tim the comedian was even funnier and pulled a dozen people on stage for a rendition of Old MacDonald and the four guys singing do-wap were good, but not really my thing.The next morning we were in Oahu bright and early at 7. We had breakfast again at Lazy J's and crab cake benedict's. Nutri-systems here we come. The disembarkation was completely painless especially since there are no customs to go through They were calling decks to get off in specific order. James the Concierge was in the main lobby and walked us to the security card swipe but it was not really necessary as there were only a few people in line getting off. Our luggage was in its designated section and waiting for us and by 9 we were in the shuttle back to Thrifty again.Out trip to Hawaii was actually two weeks, split 4-7-3 and we spend the first 4 days in Waikiki at the Outrigger on the beach. Waikiki is very commercial, densely populated and fun to see, but I don't need to come back. The Outrigger is nice, and Duke's the in house restaurant is good and had great views. We did rent a Mustang one of the 4 days and took a lap around the island. We went up the West side as far as we could go to Kaena Point. There is a road that goes from the point around to the North Shore but its dirt and you need a jeep.Do you know what the difference between a jeep and a rental car is? A rental car can go anywhere. We might have tried but it was muddy and the pony was not the vehicle to try in. This whole area can be missed if you don't have time. Tent city and shanty towns of the homeless are along this whole route. So we backtracked and hit the H2 to the North Shore and around that way. A very pretty drive.Back to day 7 of the ship and 11 of our trip. We had the last few days booked at the Turtle bay resort on the North Shore. Out car today is yet another land yacht - this time of the Crown Victoria variety. We took the H3 across this time and counter clockwise around the island. We stopped at the Kualoa ranch. This is where they filmed part of Jurassic Park several other films and more recently the TV series Lost. Their movie tour takes about an hour and includes a WWII bunker that they have turned into a movie museum.On arrival at Turtle Bay we find a absolutely stunning resort with amazing sunsets and a great little poolside bar that you can sit at and watch the surfers go by into the bay. A bit pricey but if you are planning on being in town before or after the cruise - I would highly recommend this place over Waikiki. about $50 more a night than a beach front there, but worth every penny. The little town of Haleiwa near by has great shopping and a little place called Jameson's by the sea that has a good lunch and views of the beach. Don't forget to try the shave ice, and a little shrimp shack. Places litter the North Shore and are all good.One night we also did a Luau at Germain's. The pork was very good - tried the poi, it really does not taste like much of anything - most just a starch staple of the traditional Hawaiian diet. We skipped the Polynesian Cultural Center mostly because we ran out of time and felt we got enough hula dancing from the Luau.Well - thats it. That's my 14 amazing days in Hawaii. The Cruise is with out a doubt the best way to see the islands. The culture is clearly different between each of them and without having to pack and unpack and trudge through every airport it can't be done another way. If I come back, it will likely be to Kona or here to the North Shore again. Thanks for reading!. I would love to hear your comments if you know of someplace we missed for a return trip sometime and I hope my review has helped a few of you make decisions. More exhaustive pictures below.Pictures herehttp://theamsteinblog.squarespace.com/journal/2011/4/19/hawaii-cruise-day-7-na-pali-coast-and-back-to-oahu.html

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Owner's Suite with Large Balcony

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Suite 10,000 Best view from the whole ship.

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