CactusFlower527

I was just looking at the rules today. It seems like a better deal to take the rewards in cash and use the NCL card for onboard expenses to get the triple points. The OBC is only available in $50, $100 $150 increments from what I read. Cash is paid on the entire balance and is at par to OBC if you have more than 25,000 points. Am I missing something?

I've always just taken the cash..... anything else just seems like a headache and I am not sure you come out ahead anyhow....:confused:

I'm not sure about the summer months, but we cruised early May before the schools were out .. and there were maybe half a dozen kids on the ship and not a lot of really young adults. There were a lot of people middle aged and retirees. Of course there were still younger folks on honeymoons etc etc.... but I do think there was a much more mature crowd on our sailing. Possibly, one reason, is that the cruise is fairly expensive as far as cruises go, not just the cost of the cruise itself, but the airfare needed to get to the Island, pre and post hotel costs etc etc. Not something a lot of young people can manage (generally speaking).

I think if you get a balcony cabin they are much less confining. My brother had an inside family cabin and it was very claustrophobic. With that said.... I think everyone should do a suite at least once. They are nice, we just didn't use a lot of the amenities.. we hardly saw our butler. Yes you can beat the breakfast lines at the buffet by eating at Cagney's .. but the menu is the same EVERY DAY, and gets boring after day 3-4. If I had to do it over again, I would eat the buffet every other day just to get some variety. Suite guests do get priority on the Kona tender, but you can also get that by taking a morning shore excursion - as they are the first ones off as well.

You're in for the time of your life :D

POA is like a floating hotel/restaurant and is used for little else by most of the guests on it. It is not your typical ‘cruise ship’ experience.

When you see negative reviews, that is usually “why”… because it’s just NOT like any other cruise out there.

It is very port-intensive and most everyone spends their daylight hours on the Islands.

It is …early to bed, early to rise.. and busy/long/fun days. The “hallways” roll up on the ship by 9-10 pm (after dinner) as people are pooped out from the day.

We did a suite (links to some things in my signature)….in May 2014.

I would not waste money again on one.. we were hardly on the ship!

All we needed was clean beds and a place to shower.. and a balcony.

Next time it will be balcony staterooms .. as 2 of those would be the same or less than a suite and you get the extra bathroom.

Most of the suites only have one bathroom.

As mentioned already, dress-code is casual.

Take a lot of shorts, capris (ladies), tank tops and LIGHTWEIGHT cotton tees, swim suit if you doing any beach time, pool, or excursions like snorkeling etc.

One pair of pants should suffice… as well as some sneakers, slip-ons, sandals and a pair of flip-flops for the beach/ocean. There is a lot of walking while on the Islands, so shoes with those gel cushion insoles are great.

It is hot/humid there .

I did not wear half the clothes (polyester, spandex blend.. etc etc) that I took as most of it was “too hot” when I put it on… and found myself changing out and back into a tank top.

You will have a great time!!! I can't wait to go back

Regarding Haleakala, we are not early risers and no one seems to want to wake up for the sunrise. Is it still worth it to take a drive up there during the day and maybe catch the sunset instead? LOL

 

Haleakala has a visitor center and flora and fauna neat .. got lots of cool pictures there. The Crater can only be seen on a clear day. The day we went - it was overcast and crater was full of "clouds" so you couldn't see much. I'm still glad I went , but it's a long drive up and back down. Just depends on how important it is to you to "see" the Crater.

We stayed at the Pacific Beach Hotel .. it's right on Waikiki ... and walking distance to everything.. they have rooms $150-$200 on up per night..depending on the view. They almost ALL charge more for a 'view'. We did not have to do shuttles from the hotel to airport or ship port, but we rented a car while in Honolulu and the rental car agency offered free rides to the ship's port. Just something to consider.

Not really any specials, but face it.. most people on the Hawaii cruise are wearing summer clothing.. lots of shorts/tanks/flip flops, so you can take enough for every day PLUS extras. We were in Hawaii 10 day incl. the cruise and I didn't go through all of my clothes that I took. 2 years ago, I remember them giving us something on Tuesday and said we had to have it out by the next day and we would get it all back Thursday *night*. My guess it would be cheaper to buy extra clothes at the ABC store than to pay NCL to wash your laundry....

Wait til they start telling you that you can't use the refrigerator for personal items and fill it full of "for sale" items like a lot of the hotels in Las Vegas are starting to do. If you want to use the fridge for personal items, you have to pay X number of dollars per day.

Just want to add a comment about overnight parking in Maui and Kauai from our experience in late May as it had only recently changed. There is no longer overnight parking at the pier on either island. In Maui, we parked at the airport ($15) and caught the car rental shuttle back to the pier. We used a 24 hour cab service to get back to the airport to catch the sunrise because the car rental shuttles don't start up until ~8Am. We were at the AP ~ 3AM to head up to Haleakala for Sunrise). I do not recall the name, but there were only two and the first one was booked for a private tour all morning. We were told the overnight parking in Kauai was nearby the peir, but opted to turn our car in early so I cannot speak from experience about Kauai. Hopefully someone else who's sailed in June can help with that info.

Good to know about 'no overnight parking' on Maui...

Hi guys,

 

After going back and forth about whether or not to do this for a while, I finally am going for it and booked the Pride of America. Am very excited about it, but booked it semi-last minute, so don't have that much time to plan now.

 

Can I get your opinion on a few things from those of you who have taken this cruise or know about Hawaii:

 

-Any recommendations regarding where to stay in Honolulu? We'll be arriving a few days ahead. Would like something with some kind of view and convenient to the cruise port. After reading some Trip Advisor reviews, I went ahead and booked the Hilton Waikiki (not the Hawaiian village, the other one) because I am an HHonors member, and it seemed like a relatively good price ($233 for AAA member.) Wanted to see if there may be an even better option.

 

-Thinking about renting a car in Maui and/or Kauai. Is this the way to go?

 

-What do you think are the must see things, or things that you enjoyed most, on each island?

 

Thanks! :)

We stayed at the Pacific Beach hotel .. it was right on Waikiki and very nice, lots of things (including the beach) within walking distance of the hotel. Just cross the street and you're @ the Beach. On Sat morning I was up early enough to be down @ the beach with my cup of coffee watching the Pride of America sail into port. We came in on Thursday.. went to the Polynesian Cultural Center and North Shore on Friday.... and then went to Pearl Harbor Saturday morning before embarkation - well worth seeing that. We did not worry about staying close to the port because the rental car places have free/courtesy shuttles that will take you to the ship's port as well as the airport. So we got a ride to the port, no problem.

We did rent a car in Maui, they even have a special parking lot if you want to keep it overnight - fenced with a security guard - for the cruise guests right @ the port, again walking distance. Yes, you can rent a car in Kauai .. however we did not. We had a private tour on Thursday, and I stayed on the ship and chilled on Friday while my brother went on an excursion and my mom went shopping (took free shuttles for that).

You will have a fabulous time.. we did this cruise in May 2014 and I am booked to go back next November (2017).:D

You will love the AFT room! At least I do when I have them

 

 

For the first time ever in cruising, I am telling people who want to do the POA, to get the cheapest room they can live with. They will not regret it later.

 

I want to go back and do the POA again, and I will be doing an inside room.

 

Just something to think about...

I so totally agree with this. After doing a fancy, overpriced/expensive suite .. that we paid $10k for. I would never do it again, We were hardly IN the room. This time we are doing an aft balcony for less than half that price.

There were some nice amenities with the suites, but I can live without all that and save the $$$$$$.

we mostly slept/ate on the ship and that was about it. Floating hotel.

From what I have read, T-Mobile does not charge for domestic roaming any longer. I'll have to call them to be sure. From what I can recall, they never charged us for international roaming last year either. Not 100% sure. I'll look into it.

They do not charge to roam...

it was totally free (within the limits of my plan) to use my phone in Hawaii....

We will be on the Pride in late July. Our family has the T-Mobile unlimited plan. We wouldn't need to purchase wifi if we can use our smartphones when docked at the ports - is that correct? Or is cell service/island service spotty?

I have T-Mobile and my phone worked in port and on most of the islands with a really robust signal. UNLIKE my brother's Verizon phone which had issues or low signal anywhere. Honestly, I would bypass paying for the wi-fi as it's pretty crappy.. UNLESS it's been upgraded since May 2014 when we sailed. IT was very SLOW and you can get all the same from your smart phone.

It is 8702 - I've seen older photos. Just wondering what may have changed. I wasn't sure if the refurbished only the suites on upper floors or all suites. I would also love to know if there is an actual view from the floor to ceiling window in the "2nd bedroom" area. It doesn't appear that there is.

doubt they did anything to the suites on 13 .. as those were already quite new.... fall of 2013 I think...

I do have pics of the suite we stayed in 2 years ago in my signature file

I remember arriving around noonish and about an hour later we were taken to our suite. However, our luggage did not arrive til sometime later, so be sure you take 'carry on' whatever you might need til your suitcases arrive.

I just booked a suite for next year on the POA. On my amenities invoice I see the 3 meal dining package (for 2), gratuities (for 2) and $50 per stop excursion credit. I thought free Wifi was part of the current promo as well, but it isn't on my list? When did this promo start?

Unless they have upgraded the wifi since 2 years ago, it was pretty bad! we just found ourselves using our smart phones while we were in port..

its nothing I would pay for, so if you can get it free.. all that much better

We had suite 13502 - it was a huge suite, with a HUGE deck.. a king bed, queen murphy and a sleeper sofa of unknown size (we didn't use it). 1 pretty large bathroom; we had 3 ladies in that suite and I am not sure it would have been all that great had we had more. My brother traveled with us and he booked a studio right across the hall from us...which they then upgraded (free of charge) to a family inside cabin - which was also right across the hall from where our suite was. :D he basically used his room to 'sleep' and shower (extra bathroom).

Pride of America is mostly a floating hotel. It's a beautiful ship, but the sidewalks typically roll up around 9-10 pm every night because everyone is so pooped from the day's events and another full day ahead of them the next day. We didn't do much on the ship but sleep and eat .... it was still a lot of fun and I can't wait to go back.

Hi We are planning to book one of these new suites facing forward on deck 13. For anyone who has booked can you let me know if wind due to facing forward was a problem? Also, was there a lot of rocking due to location at top of ship as well as forward. Thank you!

Yes I do feel like we felt more motion being at the top like that, as for the wind.. when the ship was in motion, the wind on the deck made it almost impossible to sit outside. We were in 13502. Hard to believe it's been almost a year since we sailed.

Just a tip .. bring the lounge chair cushions in at night because we got a lot of rain... at night in particular - and our furniture all got wet and then we couldn't sit on the loungers.... I know it's a 1st world problem.. but all the same.....

BTW: I would do the POA again in a heartbeat !!!! :D

Me too.. the hardest decision is WHEN? Next year? The year after? ! LOL

Be sure to read all of the reviews

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=349

with every ship, every itinerary and every sailing, you will get good and bad reviews.

We went on May 10, loved it; this was not the first POA sailing for 2 of the 4 people in my party (does that say anything?)

There were Aussies on our sailing - had the lady pianist playing WALTZING MATILDA at dinner one night (they were having a great time).

With that said, it is not your TYPICAL cruise. Hawaii is the star:D, and the cruise is VERY port-intensive. There are no sea days. There are no casinos... and not many people stay up later than 10 pm (we were in bed by 9-10 every night because we were getting up by 6 am every morning.)

Some of the negativity is spun around those who think that POA staff doesn't ki$$ their butt enough:confused: - sad to say that isn't why *we* went on the cruise. Our cabin steward was polite and funny. We are simple people, polite folks, we had a great time and we hope everyone around us did also.

I didn't see any unhappy people on our cruise and did not witness any complaining... so? I say don't let the negativity taint your experience!:D

Just booked 13002 sailing May 30, 2015 for family of 6 from Alabama, kids will be ages 9, 12, 15 and 17. I would appreciate any any tips or advice concerning pre/post cruise tours, hotels, shore excursions, flights, etc. I'm just starting to research and the amount of information is overwhelming! Thank you, Mike

just some advice .. you may want to explore one of the more inexpensive family inside cabins as an 'extra' cabin - if that is at all feasible.

We saw the cabin you booked . No idea why they say that suite holds 6 people . To me it seems too small for that many people but that is just my opinion. It may work since your children are young . There would be no way for 6 adults would fit .

Agreed, most of their kids are older kids though.. the 15/17 year old are adults by all practical purposes.

What was the view like? Were there people visible on the deck below you?

And... were *you* visible by others?

 

We've really been waiting for various first-hand reports from Deck 13, forward suites (or forward/side).

 

Thanks.

 

GeezerCouple

The suites on Deck 13 are great. we had Suite 13502... suite was 500' square feet, deck was 490' square feet. The bridge was below us, above us an open observation deck - the people above can only see you if you are out by the railing, otherwise, there is a canopy cover that goes most of the way out.

I have sent in my reviews of the cruise, stateroom, and ports/shore excursions.... and it's here on CC. I think it will be a stretch for 6 people.... King bed , double murphy (not queen) - not sure what the couch bed was...(didn't use it). We had 3 adults in the suite, and that was enough people for us. . Only 1 bathroom in these particular suites. Some will need to shower at night before bed and some in the morning..

we honestly were not on the ship much ... we spent most of our time on the islands.

Yes.

Never, ever use a debit card for this.

NCL really does discourage the use of DEBIT cards for your On Board Account....

yes people do it all of the time...

I wouldn't, though.