Pride of America questions

[kelda]

Hi Everyone,

Unlike many of you on the board I am quite unexperienced when it comes to cruising. I took my first cruise to Alaska in NCL pearl and fell in love with cruising. We stayed in the haven 2 bedroom stateroom that i loved and my only issue was that the balcony was tiny. I loved having a butler, my husband loved the entertainment and the variety of restaurants in the ship, while my kids loved the kids club and were there all day.

This year we have decided to take another cruise but this time we want to try pride of America. I know it is an older ship but will we have a similar positive experience? We are looking at getting an owners suite for my husband and I and a penthouse suite for the kids. We plan to do a lot of sitting on the balcony so are the sizes of the balcony different? There are 4 kinds of penthouse suites so i am finding deciding on a category hard. What is the difference between category SH and SF? We want a quiet deck so we are thinking of deck 13.

[dexddd]

Hi Everyone,

Unlike many of you on the board I am quite unexperienced when it comes to cruising. I took my first cruise to Alaska in NCL pearl and fell in love with cruising. We stayed in the haven 2 bedroom stateroom that i loved and my only issue was that the balcony was tiny. I loved having a butler, my husband loved the entertainment and the variety of restaurants in the ship, while my kids loved the kids club and were there all day.

This year we have decided to take another cruise but this time we want to try pride of America. I know it is an older ship but will we have a similar positive experience? We are looking at getting an owners suite for my husband and I and a penthouse suite for the kids. We plan to do a lot of sitting on the balcony so are the sizes of the balcony different? There are 4 kinds of penthouse suites so i am finding deciding on a category hard. What is the difference between category SH and SF? We want a quiet deck so we are thinking of deck 13.

 

Unfortunately the search function isn't working as there were a couple posters who had some information about those rooms since there was a makeover and addition of rooms including those on 13 that finished in the Fall of 2013. You will want to be very careful at finding current, accurate info about your intended rooms and don't take what the NCL reps tell you as gospel.

[buckeye82]

We were on the POA in December. I would think that if you really want a quiet cabin you might want to look at cabins on the decks that are "sandwiched" between other cabin only decks (for example deck nine). I would agree with the advice to be careful about deck thirteen. I am pretty sure some of those suites overlook the pool.

 

We were in a two bedroom suite in an aft corner. It had a huge wrap around deck. We really enjoyed it! There was a queen or king size bed in the main bedroom and a small pull out couch in the second "bedroom". My adult daughter slept there and said she had to sleep curled up, but she loved it because she could close the door and have privacy. The living room sofa could have held two more people. The bathroom however was very small. The balcony cabin next door connects to the suite if that is something you need.

 

We thought the ship was pretty and the nightly shows very good. There were also other activities including hula dancing and lei making classes. Just be aware that there are no sea days, so you are in a beautiful port each day. Keeps you busy!

[ksimpso3]

We were on POA Nov 30-Dec 7. We were in 2BR aft family suite 8202. I have lots of pictures in my review (see my signature). I would recommend the suite. You don't say how many children you have, but my 2 adult daughters stayed with us and we were fine. As the previous poster states, there is a balcony room connecting to this suite. The balcony is huge, and it was extremely quiet back there. I do have some pictures of the new suites on deck 13 also, but I think they would be noisier than you would like (especially the ones overlooking the pool). This trip is all about the ports though, so you really are only on the ship to eat, shower, and sleep. There is only 1/2 of a sea day on the way back to Honolulu the last day. It was a great trip.

[kelda]

I chose deck 13 because i read somewhere that the penthouse suites were refurbished in aug 2013. The owner suite on deck 13 comes without a bath tub on the balcony and i like that since i feel the balcony will feel bigger. Is stateroom 13000 overlooking the pool?

[ksimpso3]

I chose deck 13 because i read somewhere that the penthouse suites were refurbished in aug 2013. The owner suite on deck 13 comes without a bath tub on the balcony and i like that since i feel the balcony will feel bigger. Is stateroom 13000 overlooking the pool?

 

No, 13000 is not overlooking pool. It looks directly over the bow of the ship. The balcony is HUGE!! Part of the balcony is visible from the sun deck on deck 14, but a good portion of it is under cover too. I have a few pictures of the balcony as taken from deck 14 looking down. (I also have a couple of the penthouse next door that you are looking to book as well. That balcony is also very large.) I think those are the best balconies of all the suites.

 

13000 balcony:

 

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3cc32b3127ccef48f4d0dd9f900000030O08EaMWrVq0cg9vPhw/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00009455501420131214025455434.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

 

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3cc32b3127ccef48f7fd7580a00000030O08EaMWrVq0cg9vPhw/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00009455501420131214025501896.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

 

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3cc32b3127ccef48e8566788a00000030O08EaMWrVq0cg9vPhw/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00009455501420131214015239320.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

 

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3cc32b3127ccef48f09ea580c00000030O08EaMWrVq0cg9vPhw/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00009455501420131214015152043.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

 

 

This is balcony of 13502 (opposite side of your suite):

 

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3cc32b3127ccef48e81cbf91500000030O08EaMWrVq0cg9vPhw/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00009455501420131214015453975.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

 

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3cc32b3127ccef48e102bb92500000030O08EaMWrVq0cg9vPhw/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00009455501420131214015414262.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

 

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3cc32b3127ccef48f8d0c58a800000030O08EaMWrVq0cg9vPhw/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00009455501420131214015406613.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

 

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3cc32b3127ccef48f0f8f586a00000030O08EaMWrVq0cg9vPhw/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00009455501420131214015326604.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

[VideoTech]

We found, while booking our POA cruise for 3/15, that it's VERY hard to find good information about the suites on this ship. This is primarily due to the renovation of the ship last September...apparently during that renovation some of the cabins were "upgraded" and converted into Penthouses and suites of different types.

 

Unfortunately, NCL's website is very confusing, because it has not been accurately updated to reflect the changes. The NCL reps, of course, have no first hand knowledge of the ship, and they simply rely on the website as well.

 

We booked an Owner's suite, but noticed it was still described on the website as a Penthouse. The size and location didn't make sense either, and while we were assured repeatedly that it was an owners suite, we were not very happy about it.

 

Eventually, we noticed that another OS was available. This one was described as an OS on the website, was in an OS location, and showed an OS floor plan. So we switched, and we were able to find photos and videos online that reassured us...it was definitely an OS.

 

I'd search online for photos and videos of any suite you are considering booking on the POA. While it's true that you're not on the ship for much except food and sleep, you still want to get what you're paying for!

Edited February 28, 2014 by VideoTech