Pride of Aloha vs Pride of America

[Jfeasel]

The summer of 2006 11 of us want to take a Hawaiian cruise. Several of us cruised way back in 1987 on the SS Independence and loved the island hopping. Anyway, in our group, we have have 4 teens/kids ages 15, 13, 11 and 9. Do you think they will like either ship? They've all been on cruises before, but they've all been Disney cruises which they loved and the 15 year old has even done an Alaskan cruise on Holland America. I'm afraid they might be bored on the NCL Hawaiian cruises. Any thoughts?

 

Also, I'm worried about the cabin sizes. We'd need one cabin that would sleep 4, one for 3 and 2 for 2. What would size of cabin would you recommend for the family of 4 and family of 3, both of which would have 2 kids in each cabin? I've cruised on the RC Monarch of the Seas and Carnival's Fascination so I'm familiar with smaller cabins but loved the size of the Disney cabins.

[KeystoneCruiser]

Julie, I was on the Aloha, but not the America. I would try the America with so many teens & near teens. There really wasn't much for teens to do on the Aloha and they ended up running through the corridors.

 

As far as rooms are concerned, I believe the only rooms for 4 people are insides, obstructed views and suites. Balcony's are nice for 3 or 2. Perhaps you could get connecting balconies for the 3 and one of the 2's and the other two rooms could be inside rooms across the hall. You could all enjoy the balconies together. Although, you may not want to spend the extra money for balconies since the America and Aloha are so port intensive, you don't spend much time in your cabins except to sleep and change clothes. Perhaps two ocean views with two insides.

[herb]

for 2006 I think choosing Aloha over America will depend on how you want to spend your week in Hawaii.

 

America will do 7 day cruise...Aloha will do 3 day cruise/4day hotel or 4 day cruise/3 day hotel.

 

Who knows, maybe they've changed that whole idea; but that's how I had heard they would differ.

[bobnsandi]

for 2006 I think choosing Aloha over America will depend on how you want to spend your week in Hawaii. America will do 7 day cruise...Aloha will do 3 day cruise/4day hotel or 4 day cruise/3 day hotel.

Effective October 1, 2005 the Pride of Aloha will start 7-night cruises originating in Kahului (Maui). The Pride of America will offer 7-night cruises originating in Honolulu. That may change once the Pride of Hawai`i comes on line in mid-2006.

 

We've been aboard both ships. Our visit aboard the Aloha was for a few hours, and we only got to visit public areas. We sailed aboard the Pride of America's.inaugural voyage (13-nights) and got to see several cabins. They are smaller than other ships we've sailed aboard, but not too bad. For our money, the public areas and overall layout of the Pride of America's is superior to her smaller sibling.