Nothing wrong with POA

[7Flags]

Before going, I read lots of posts on the POA and her Hawaiian itinerary, some good and some bad. Many of the bad ones related to her US registry and her American Crew. Well, let me weigh in with my opinion having just returned ... There is nothing wrong with the ship. She stacks up very well with other 10 year old ships. She is clean, bright, comfortable, and runs like a top. There is nothing wrong with the crew. They are US Citizens or Green Card US Residents of the proper percentage, and they are very attentive and efficient. There is nothing wrong with the food. It is very good, plentiful, and well presented. Free Style Dining if just fine. There is nothing wrong with the itinerary. How else can you see 4 islands and never check out of your hotel or get on a shuttle flight? We rented cars in every port and set our own pace. I will be posting a review in a few days, but if you have been hesitating on POA ... DON'T!

[dalgirl]

7Flags, Thank you for the encouraging remarks. DH and I are platinum members with NCL and love freestyle and most of their ships. We love all of their crew members and consider their service second to none.

 

We will be on POA in May and I am glad to hear that the all US crew stack up well against any other crews out there. This is our first trip to Hawaii and we decided to see all the islands without having to unpack:) We also are considering renting cars and doing our own thing every day at our own pace - looking forward to your review.

[Freckles_51]

Before going, I read lots of posts on the POA and her Hawaiian itinerary, some good and some bad. Many of the bad ones related to her US registry and her American Crew. Well, let me weigh in with my opinion having just returned ... There is nothing wrong with the ship. She stacks up very well with other 10 year old ships. She is clean, bright, comfortable, and runs like a top. There is nothing wrong with the crew. They are US Citizens or Green Card US Residents of the proper percentage, and they are very attentive and efficient. There is nothing wrong with the food. It is very good, plentiful, and well presented. Free Style Dining if just fine. There is nothing wrong with the itinerary. How else can you see 4 islands and never check out of your hotel or get on a shuttle flight? We rented cars in every port and set our own pace. I will be posting a review in a few days, but if you have been hesitating on POA ... DON'T!

 

This is good news - we will be sailing on her in October :).

I will watch for your review and hope that you indicate the type of cabin (did you have a suite?) and where you ate breakfast/lunch/dinner (specialty restaurants, MDR and/or buffet) ;)

[DALSAL]

I heard all the bad reviews too before my 2007 cruise on POA. Granted, we were not on the ship that much. We wanted to spend as much time as we could on the Islands, and used the ship as a means of transportation and a place to lay our head before going back out again. We found the ship wonderful and the crew we came in contact with were great! I enjoyed the hula dancing right after boarding with a cold drink in a pineapple, a great way to start this cruise!:D

 

Im going back for a weeks stay in Honolulu this coming February, but cant wait to take the cruise again! Dot

[psbtrvlr]

Before going, I read lots of posts on the POA and her Hawaiian itinerary, some good and some bad. Many of the bad ones related to her US registry and her American Crew. Well, let me weigh in with my opinion having just returned ... There is nothing wrong with the ship. She stacks up very well with other 10 year old ships. She is clean, bright, comfortable, and runs like a top. There is nothing wrong with the crew. They are US Citizens or Green Card US Residents of the proper percentage, and they are very attentive and efficient. There is nothing wrong with the food. It is very good, plentiful, and well presented. Free Style Dining if just fine. There is nothing wrong with the itinerary. How else can you see 4 islands and never check out of your hotel or get on a shuttle flight? We rented cars in every port and set our own pace. I will be posting a review in a few days, but if you have been hesitating on POA ... DON'T!

 

I completely agree with this!

[genealogyfan]

We would definitely go again. Thought the ship was nice, the cabins were nice. The food was decent (not 5 star quality but decent and good). Had no problems or issues with the cruise and the staff.

 

Everyone is different - there was a family on our cruise that had the total opposite feeling then us, was their opinion wrong, no - but I think some people are used to certain things or certain ways or just pickier. People also have different tastes in food - what one person likes another person hates - doesn't make either wrong.

 

We had a mid ship balcony, all the staff was friendly and great. Ate at the main dining room once - had no problem waiting for 10 minutes for a table, wasn't impressed with the choices in the main dining room so ate at the buffet for every other meal except once at the Cadillac Diner.

 

Ate our lunches on the islands. Highly recommend this cruise. We booked all private excursions, rental a car in Hilo and a car in the 2nd day in Maui; just walked around Kona, took a Road to Hana tour, and a Kauai photo tour, also used Roberts Hawaii for the lauau in Kauai and for transportation to the airport from the port.

[hill6]

Thanks for the good words on her. We leave in 77 days.

[cr8tiv1]

Dear 7Flags...

 

I am so glad to hear that POA met your expectations and more. I believe they have the very best itinerary of all the cruise lines. I was on her when they first started (2006) and with 3 ships. So glad to hear that everything has improved.

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Now if somebody would just do a West Coast to Hawaii cruise, one way, like in the old boat days (Lurline, Matsonnia, etc), I would be a happy camper. Does anyone know if this would qualify under NCL's American Flags?

 

Renee

[Shipcats6]

Can't wait to read your review. We cruise September 15th. Doing my happy dance. :)

[TSUmom]

I have to agree 100% with the OP. Sept 15th will be our 4th time on Pride of America, we love the ship, the crew and the islands. My very first cruise was on POA so she will always be special to me!! That start my whole addiction to cruising:D

[brettsmom2004]

We sailed her in 2007 and had a wonderful time, no problems whatsoever. The food was good, the room clean, the staff friendly, entertainment was great.

 

Booked her again in January 2012, we embarked on the ship and was having lunch when my friend had a medical emergency and had to be ambulanced to the hospital. We missed the cruise altogether, but let me tell ya, the medical staff was wonderful, they immediately took her to the sick bay and took tests, hooked her up to IV's and did everything they could to make her comfortable until the ambulance arrived. They even found and transported our luggage and belongings to the hospital.

 

They helped me get lodging for myself until she was released the following Wednesday (Saturday-Wednesday). I have nothing but nice words for NCL and POA as they were very helpful in our time of need, they made followup calls to me to see how she was doing, how I was doing and if they could do anything else for us.

 

We have booked her again!...for September 2014, yep...we love POA and her itinerary...Yep, Thelma and Louise sail Hawaii again!

 

~L~

[CGBanks]

Thank you for taking the time to voice your opinion ~ We are sailing on November 10th and look forward to celebrating my husband's birthday with a cruise to Hawaii !! I will be anxiously awaiting your review ~

[rockabutzer]

Always good to know that you made a smart decision. And this cruise will be awesome!!!

 

 

Aloha

[cleophus12]

I concur with the OP. I don't know what the PoA complainers on these boards expect out of a cruise, but we were very pleasantly surprised--especially after reading some of the negative reviews here. We have cruised many times, mostly with RCL, and while we prefer that line to NCL, we enjoyed the PoA immensely. The American crew gets a bad rap for reasons unknown to me. We thought the crew was very friendly and efficient. Our only complaint was the entertainment which was amateurish at best IMHO. Otherwise, the food was good, the itinerary is unmatched, and the ship was lovely.

[jdavid]

We did the Pride of Aloha about five years ago and booked the POA this February mainly because of the itinerary. We are Princess Cruisers by choice (haven't had a negative experience with them) while we are lukewarm to NCL. NCL has its fans like any other line. We will choose it when the itinerary is what we want and frankly they are the only show in town for an inter-island cruise. we are planning a 5 day pre and 5 day post cruise in Oahu so the cruise fits well.

 

Last m

March we did an NCL Caribbean and found the food and service not to our liking. Specialty restaurants were excellent though except for the Italian. I saw comments about this restuarant negative on other NCL ships so we will be avoiding this place on POA.

 

BTW - friends we convinced to take this cruise three years ago had a terrible time in every respect including awful weather.

[Umbarger]

Agree with OP. I have done this cruise 3 times and would do it again in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, the prices seems to keep going up, up and up. Not only the cruise but the airfare!

[Kansas Gal]

I have been on a number of cruises and could probably find something bad about them all. It seems to me most of the negatives posted about the POA fall into 2 classes - those who have unrealistic expectations and don't understand the concept (basic transportation, food and lodging) and the just plain silly (like complaining because you only get one free glass of champagne at the art auction, or getting French fries when ordering English fish and chips). While the sillies may have a legitimate complaint somewhere in their rant, I just stop reading and discount the entire review when I see something like that. It's mostly a matter of a person's perspective - the old glass half full or half empty.

[Havin'fun]

We were on POA this past January and had a wonderful time. The crew was warm and friendly, everyone was always eager to help. We hope to do this trip again soon. Oh - if the comedian is Tim Kaminski, make sure you see him the first night. He is hysterical! Smooth sailings all!