KitinIowa

Yes, I believe behind the dinette and chairs was a pull down sleeper... obviously for two of us we didn't need to use either the couch or the wall sleeper so not sure how that all worked... the couch would not be too difficult to work around as a bed in this suite but I think the wall sleeper when pulled down would make it difficult for anyone to get to the bathroom unless they were in the sleeper....

We were aware, though, that our seasickness really became overwhelming outside of our cabin.... the entertainment and restaurant venues tend to be at the AFT or Forward parts of the ship and those places were the most uncomfortable for us.

Hopefully this works! If it doesn't and you have suggestions let me know.

Cruising in general --

If we could find a cruise that didn't move it would be fantastic! Just leave that #amn ship parked hahaha!

Disembarkation --

As smooth as Embarkation, we decided to keep our own luggage and walk off on Saturday morning. We left about 8:30 a.m. as our Butler told us to be out by 9 a.m.! We used leftover OBC to give a tip to the butler and the steward. The cab to the airport was about $25 with tip. He seemed to go directly there, but it seemed a little high for being so close? hmmm

Motion Sickness --

We would like to know if anyone else was on the same cruise we were and could comment on whether the seas were rough or not? Since we had nothing to compare, we really don't know. We were on the April 19-26, 2014 POA, please let us know!

Up front we knew this would be a problem for us. We would as prepared as could be, patches, dramamine, Bonine, SeaBands, ginger gum, etc. etc. We did them all! I do think the patches quelled the sickness a bit, but not completely.

Wife is VERY susceptible and I have a solid issue with motion sickness. For us, just one episode between us of actually "losing it" occured one evening about 8 p.m. Watching a show my wife left a bit early to return to the room. I followed 10 minutes later and found the staff cleaning up the remains outside of Deck 13 elevators. She was in bed and I asked her if what I saw earlier had anything to do with her (of course it did!).

Anyway, despite the accident, this was actually WAY better than it could have been for us as we have had major issues on planes, buses, and most public transportation! Throughout the United States and foreign countries... :-).

Cruising is something we always wanted to try and we did.....

Excursions --

We have been to Hawaii before, and we have had friends take us around on Oahu so we have seen some of the islands up close and personal. The cruise allows you to see a bit but really not very indepth. We enjoyed our excursions, none were bad but I think having a taste the other way it was just ok for us.

Shows/Entertainment --

We tried to hit a show every night we were on this cruise as it was our first and probably our last! The shows, as some have said, are a bit hokey even for somone from Iowa....

The magician seemed to be the general headliner, I am not much into magicians but went with it. The 4 Seasons tribute act I found the most entertaining, the cruise entertainment director annoyed me, but maybe that is just me. The Newlywed Game was fun.

Unfortunately for us, most of the shows occurred after leaving port which meant our time was limited before we needed to retreat to our bed to control the effects of the motion sickness. Some of the shows we wanted to see didn't start until 10:00 p.m. and we didn't quite make it! I will be posted dailies later when I get them scanned, etc.

Meals --

We tried to hit all the venues, at least within reason. For the main dining rooms they were beautiful areas. The meals as some have said aren't the best considering the great ambiance. Nothing terrible other than the prime rib my wife had at the Liberty. It was awful.

The Aloha Cafe always, at least, looked tasty! We only ate there twice I think and both times felt that the choices were plentiful and for a buffet well presented and fresh looking.

Cadillac Diner -- just there for the $5 milkshake. What I didn't understand there is this is just a milkshake nothing more, what is the big deal? It was good, but so many reviews said it was over the top wonderful? Really?

La Cucina -- Good! the waitstaff gave my wife ginger ale with bitters for the motion sickness. Wish we had gone here earlier in the week. This helped her a great deal! They seated us by the window and we had to look away since we couldn't close the curtains, nor watch the seas! We are two sad cruisers lol. Can't enjoy the ocean at all, at least when it moves .....

Jefferson Bistro -- upcharge for the Lobster for $10 for a frozen and $20 for a fresh one, I opted for the fresh. It was fine, but probably would have enjoyed the frozen just as much!

Moderno -- seasickness took our toll on us here, we should have started eating earlier before the ship departed the harbor. As soon as the ship moved our appetite stopped dead. Food was fine, although I am not as much into meat as I used to be. . . .

The shower was awesome, lots of jets, (I think 8 with the hand spray and rainfall). Very roomy for a large man!

The toilet area on the other hand seemed a bit confining with the door and what seemed to be a very small toilet.

Cabin photos -- 13020, Penthouse Suite Large Balcony

We loved the suite! I know many people are concerned that the suite overlooked the pool area. We found this to be to our advantage. We enjoyed listening to the band in the afternoon, the activities going on (none of which were particularly noisey!) and the fact that the Key West Grill bartenders could bring us drinks to our level from right below! Personal barhops, not bad! Only two of the rooms would be able to do that (the corner rooms were accessible from the edges, the two middle suites would not be). Yes, it wasn't particularly private on the deck, but we are not particularly private people so that wasn't an issue for us. The rooms are mid-ship so despite being on a high deck we didn't think they were susceptible to motion any more than the public areas.

Motion was a huge issue for us as we suffered quite a bit from seasickness aboard the Pride of America, thankfully the best place for us was in bed! We knew this was going to be a problem, we were just hoping that our first (and ugh probably our last cruise wouldn't be too bad, I think cruising just doesn't work for some people!)

Concierge, Steward and Butler --

Our concierge was Thomas, he was very visible the whole week we were aboard. Every morning in Cagney's talking to all the groups and very friendly and very helpful to those who used his services. We really had all of our tours set up prior to embarking so really didn't need anything from him, but enjoying his chats and seeing him move about all the guests. I would guess he would be helpful for the right person, just didn't have a need to use him at all.

Arlough, our butler, was an interesting young lady. I tried to be somewhat helpless to get her to wait on me.... that seemed to be the wrong strategy lol. First, I wanted to know about dining in the room for breakfast, she said I didn't want to miss using Cagney's for breakfast or lunch as that was my main perk, and that I couldn't order from Cagney's and have it delivered to the room as the chef wouldn't allow it. The food wouldn't be up to "his standards" ordering for the room, only order off the suite menu period. hmmmm? So, the next morning I decided to order off the "suite" breakfast menu and try it out.

I had ordered just a little orange juice, tomato juice and some cinnamon rolls with "french press" coffee.

Arlough comes right on time, and then admonishes us for not going to Cagney's. I just was trying to be a little helpless but alas she wanted me to take care of myself... we told her we were just having an appetizer for breakfast that we would go to Cagney's too in a bit!! She then thought we were a little weird...

She then says if we want French Press coffee she was going to train me to make it myself. She brings a French Press pot with additional grounds to use and then gives me a training lesson on filling it using the Lavazza machine and making my own french press. So much for a little bit of being catered too! We now had our own pot to make our own french press so much for the Suite Life :-).

Arlough spent most of the time giving us advice on how to enjoy our perks without hassling her too much!

Our Steward was Rebecca, really really a nice sweet woman who did an absolute excellent job with the room. Very clean very efficient and emptied the refrigerator for Arlough when we requested it from Arlough :-).

All in all a good experience, although not quite what I was expecting, maybe I was expecting too much?

Embarkation!

We have friends in Honolulu so they graciously picked us up at the airport on Friday the 18th of April and took us to our hotel at the Sheraton Waikiki. A free night there using SPG points and the helpful advice from our daughter who is a sales manager for Sheraton out of Phoenix.

On Friday, after another friend took us to brunch at Duke's we headed to the port at around 11:30 a.m. Dropped us off at the port and there were porters available to take our luggage. They pointed our way into the terminal (basically a long drab looking large shed). We scooted through the line and was inside getting our picture taken, etc. No one really pointed our way to the VIP line for suite guests at this point, I just happened to notice a sign across the way and thought maybe it was for suite guests so got my wife to follow me and it was the suite checkin, otherwise we might have waited a few more moments in the other line before they would have sent us on our way to the right area.

The suite check-in area was a small room just off the main cavernous terminal, nothing special but drinks and food were available but few seats, about 1/3 of the suite guests had to stand while we were there. Check in was painless and then we were the first group lead into the ship and to a lounge for a debriefing by the concierage and a couple of other people. We did quickly meet our butler at the check-in lounge. Just a quick hi is all. Her name was Arlough, nice young woman.

The debriefing was mostly about Cagney's for breakfast and lunch and that there was no priority seating at any of the shows onboard. A few handouts were given and then we were free to eat lunch or meander the ship until our rooms were called to be ready. Our room was ready by 2:00 p.m. at the latest, which was great.

Everything seemed to go well for this pair of newbies to this point!

Just back from our first ever cruise aboard the Pride of America around the Hawaiian Islands. Also, what I believe is the first review of the suites overlooking the pool off of Deck 13. Stay tuned for the misadventures of two "newbie" retirees trying this cruise thing out and the highlights and some unfortunate lowlights (no fault of Norwegian, just our personal ups and downs!) We stayed in cabin 13020 starboard corner suite SE. . . . more to come!

thanks!

My wife is concerned that the hair dryers on the ship Pride of America will not have a heat setting and will just dry blow. She needs a heated hair dryer... first time cruisers here... what is the answer?

She says that she has run into hair dryers in hotels with just a fan setting and no more... is that the case?

Thanks for the info..... that may be simpler :-)

Can you pick up wine on the 2nd day of the cruise and pay the corkage that day too? If we would decide to purchase in Maui instead of on Oahu?

We are thinking of bringing a couple of bottles of wine onboard....

When we pay the $15 a bottle fee will they take the bottles from there or will we need to carry them around until we get to our room? Or do we have any choice?