I never sailed the islands of the Pacific, and this was a perfect opportunity to do so. A few days in Sydney prior to sailing allowed two visits to Hunter Valley (two different companies) and a lunch at the top of the Sydney Tower. Staying at the Sydney Harbor Marriott allowed wheeling your luggage right up to the ship with no problem....very handy! Boarding was quick and easy.
Tropical ...
This was our first cruise to Australia and the South Pacific. We rented an AirBnB in Sydney (near KingsCross) a week before the cruise to explore the many sights. As always with Holland America, the embarkation went smoothly and quickly. Our luggage arrived to our cabin before we did and we were able to get unpacked and ready for our adventure. We set sail in the evening while taking in the ...
We recently sailed on the POA on the March 25th to April 1st cruise in the 2 bedroom large family suite 10678 (on the aft port side). Like any ship, the cabins are not huge, but we had four adults (two in the master bedroom, one in the second bedroom with the pull out sofa and one in the main room with the pull out sofa). Unfortunately, we only had one bathroom. I will say with this cabin, we ...
This was my wife and my opportunity to visit several islands on my 3rd and my wife's 2nd visit to Hawaii. We wanted to see several islands and this cruise was the opportunity to do so. Check in to the cruise ship was fairly quick. You dropped your luggage off in the luggage area and then joined a line to check in. Several counters were open that made it a 10 minute or less wait.
Staterooms ...
POA looks like an NCL ship but it didn’t feel like any other cruise.
It really is transportation to the islands & not much more. You have no time to enjoy the ship herself. You go, go, go, nonstop, We ate breakfast on the ship, grabbed some fruit for lunch, filled up our water bottles & came back for a late dinner. Hint: if you plan to make yourself a sandwich for the next day go to the ...
We didn't want to take a 2 week cruise leaving California, so this was the only option. We are a couple in our late 60s.Our package included 2 nights at Hilton Beachcomber Hotel. We were in cabin 9606. It's not a particularly big cabin but I haven't been in any others on this ship so I cannot compare. This cabin had a balcony. Lovely to be able to sit on the balcony and watch the Na Poli coast. ...
We chose this cruise because we couldn't decide which island to visit, and didn't want to include the ocean crossing in our holiday--so that meant travelling on NCL Pride of America!! Having been spoiled with HALs food a couple of years ago, we found that to be plentiful but average; they were trying hard, and we didn't try any of the extra fee dining (except for milkshakes in the Cadillac ...
I have cruised more than 20 times and found Pride of America to be a nice size ship for getting around. The room was smaller with less storage space then the last NCL ship I was on. I must say that the 2 shows I saw were the best I have ever seen on a cruise ship. The shows were crisp and well done. Unfortunately I can't say the same for the food service.
Not once regardless of whether it was ...
The itinerary is perfect. Great way to see the islands.
This is our second cruise on NCL's PoA around Hawaii. We did this trip 10 years ago.
The 2 biggest changes we noticed were a plus and a minus.
The food was much improved over our first cruise. 10 years ago most dinners consisted of BBQ items. Not much in the way of fine cruise dining. This time the menu items more resembled a cruise ...
Selected the cruise for spring break. We realized that the ship was nothing more than a floating hotel as there are no days at seas. The islands were great and the ship was so-so.
The ship has ~2000 passengers but seems small.
The main lobby is small and seems to have a low ceiling. Same comment on the Aloha buffet where we had breakfast every day. It was crowded and tough to find ...