PoAm penthouse AD - double sofa bed

[Lightbulb03]

Does anybody know how the sofa converts to a double bed in the Penthouse AD category on the Pride of America? Does the seat cushion come off to reveal a frame inside to be pulled out like a typical convertible sofa leaving the seat back as a headboard? If so, where is the seat cushion stored?

 

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!:)

[Pitcruiser]

Just off POA in AD on July 30 sailing - cabin 12500

 

The sofa bed converts by the bottom cushion sliding out from the wall on a track. Bedding and pillows are stored in a tray under the seat cushion that is revealed when it is pulled out. The back then folds down over the tray. The bed is roughly queen size with one side against the cabin wall and the feet facing (and close to) the balcony door. There is no headboard and because the back cushion becomes one mattress nothing to store. There are two single quilts put on it and it is quite firm. It will sleep two - just hope the person against the wall doesn't have to get up in the middle of the night! The king bed in the room also really only sleeps two - there is a hard ridge that runs down the center of the bed. 12500 is great - balcony is huge and located in secluded area of the ship all the way forward on the port side - great view of Kawaii coast on last day sail. We also never had the on and off plumbing problems that a lot of people complained about. Stewardess Mandy was outstanding, but only had one more week until her contract was up.

[Lightbulb03]

Thank you, so so much, Pitcruiser. This is a tremendous help. From looking at the picture, that is exactly what I told my DH that I thought would happen. So the butler or room steward makes up the bed each night and closes it up each morning?

I'm assuming that the hard ridge down the King bed is the piece they use to turn two twins into a King.

Just briefly, I booked this cabin for the space, the king size bed and the balcony. My DH and I will have our two kids with us. One is 12 (DS) and the other 8 (DD). I thought they'd share the sofa bed. Boy was I wrong. What was I thinking? From what you describe, they'd never get any sleep. We'll be bringing a self-inflating 'mattress' that is about 1 1/2 inches thick and can be rolled up and stored in a suitcase with everything else. It's pretty compact. We'll find room for it on the floor.

Looking forward to this cruise very much.

[Lightbulb03]

Pitcruiser, Would you mind describing the butler service you experienced? And what perks you had in the cabin?

[Pitcruiser]

We had four in the cabin - wife, me and 2 kids (son 15, daughter 11). Stewardess sets up sofa bed during turndown at night and folds it up while making up the cabin in the morning.

 

There was no problem with two people sharing the sofa bed - because of the natural "division" created by the two "mattresses" people stayed on their side. If you want to put people on the floor that is no problem - this cabin is huge - you could easily host a small sleepover for the kids!

 

There are a variety of amenities that come with the Penthouse Suite. Butler and concierge service are first - Amanda the butler introduced herself the first night. She brings DVDs to you on request and will coordinate in-suite dining for you (my daughter always had something on order). You can order from the Liberty/Skyline restaurant menu - we had her serve dinner one night on the balcony (kids enjoyed this, but a little tight with all the dishes spread around). Al the consierge can make dining arrangements for you, help with excursions, etc. He provided priority tender tickets for Kona (no need to ask - all suites received them), priority debarkation tags (your luggage is available off ship as soon as debarkation begins - no need to haul it yourself if you want to get off first like other cabin passengers). I guess he also could help with excursions and spa appointments, but we didn't use him for that. One point - we needed to leave multiple messages for him and didn't see him until late on the second day of the cruise (my kids called him the "Mythical Al"), and neither Amanda or Al were around on "tip night" - we had to leave envelopes with cabin stewardess who promised to give it to them. Late in the cruise we also learned that Suite guests receive priority seating the main restaurants - we always had nice window seats when we went to Skyline and Liberty (same menu) - be aware that dinner in either can be a long experience - up to two hours with big delays between courses). You also receive priority in embarkation (the same lines used by Latitude members) but you have to wait in the long line outside the terminal before you can get to priority line inside. The concierge is supposed to meet you on checkin but we were told he was busy and would be down to see us later. There was a bottle of champagne chilling in the cabin and a bowl of fruit, complimentary snacks delivered to the cabin on two nights, and an invitation to a "VIP" party with the captain (this was the same thing as the normal Latitude party later in the week, just less people at it.)

We have had smaller suites on RCCL ships the last three cruises - this suite was almost twice the floor space and the balcony was three times the size as what we were used to - it really is great.

Enjoy - let me know if there are any other questions I can help you out with.

[Lightbulb03]

Ok, I just described the situation to the kids and relayed what you have passed on to me, especially the part about the fact that your kids shared the bed and they are basically the same age difference as DS and DD. They are in! No self inflating mattress needed. Just extra twin sheet to create a sleeping bag effect for DD that will separate the two of them.

 

I sold it by showing them with two envelopes how the sofa converts into a bed and how the two pieces are just like twin cots side by side. They'll be ok!

 

Yay, I'm relieved. Problem solved. Phew!:p

[Lightbulb03]

Did you pre-request/book any shore excursions from NCL? What did you do on each island? We are renting a car on Maui and for disembarkation day in Honolulu (our plane leaves at 9:30pm that night). We are staying at the Turtle Bay Resort pre-cruise for 3d/4n and will probably toodle around up on the North Shore.

 

I was also planning on checking in around 1pm on the ship after dropping off the rental car at the airport. Then we were thinking of getting off the ship for a few hours to take the Waikiki Trolley for a short tour of parts of Waikiki.

 

I prerequested the volcanoes/rainbow falls tour, Historic Kona and the Waimea Canyon, River Cruise and fern Grotto tour on Kauai.

[Pitcruiser]

This was our second visit and cruise around Hawaii - first was on the old Independence in 1988 pre-children. We pre-booked all excursions.

 

Stayed precruise 4 nights in Hyatt Regency on Waikiki - did Pearl Harbor (Arizona, Bowfin, Missouri), Paradise Lauau, Fort DeRussy, walked up to top of Diamond Head, drove to North Shore, and adjusted to the time change. We had rented car but I returned it to the airport the night before the cruise and just cabbed to the pier.

 

Boarded ship around 1:00 but stayed on as we had already had four days on Waikiki - unpacked suitcases (Penthouse gets them really fast compared to previous experiences), etc.

 

Hilo: Volcano National Park excursion booked through ship. Nice tour - kids thought volcano was cool. We didn't include Rainbow Falls but heard from others it was nice.

 

Maui - Day 1. Rented car from Avis - all rental companies run shuttles from pier to airport to pick up cars. Drove to top of Haleakala, to Lahaina, and part of the road to Hana just to show the kids what a wild road it is.

 

Maui - Day 2. Wife and daughter did Haleakala Ranch horseback; son and I did Haleakala Rank zipline. Both book up fast. Everyone really enjoyed themselves.

 

Kona - Wife and son did outrigger canoe ride - daughter and I did snuba. She had a blast and snuba can be done by kids as young as 8. Interesting way to try diving (air line is only 25 feet so you can't get too deep. I have dived scuba and much prefer scuba with the independence a tank gives you.

 

Kauai - day 1. No tours - just went to beach as hotel within walking distance of ship. We had done the Fern Grotto / riverboat thing on previous trip and did not want to go again.

 

Kauai - day 2. Helicopter tour for all. This a blast - highly recommend it.

 

Debarkation. Had 9:30pm flight so burned some Hilton points and got room at Hilton Hawaiin Village that we used for the day.

 

Hope this helps - have fun.

[Pitcruiser]

One more thought. I saw on another thread that this is first flight trip for all of you in a while and you were looking for some tips. (Anything for a fellow Jersey native - I was born and grew up in Toms River, but haven't been back in years).

 

All four of us carry backpacks. Kids pack IPods, lots of snacks (important for kids!), Gameboys, reading material, cell phones, their chargers, etc. in theirs - I carry cruise and travel docs, reading material, digital SLR camera, Blackberry and cellphone, etc. in mine. Wife and daughter also had sweaters for the cold airplane and airport terminals. We all carry a couple of bottles of water in side pockets of packs - they don't give you much on planes these days! We also carry aboard my 22 inch roll aboard (I have done a lot of business travel) and each put a change of clothes and our swim suits in it. We also put other camera equipment and jewelry in it - all the things we don't want to check. We wear our sneakers onto the plane (takes less space than packing them, and taking them off for the airport "strip search" is no big deal) You will want good sneakers for walking in Hawaii. We each crosspack a full outfit in someone else's suitcase also in case a bag is lost by airline for a few days - that way everyone has a couple of outfits and swimsuits while the lost bag hopefully shows up. (My wife's bag disappeared for three days going to Turks and Caocos recently, and all of our bags disappeared for one day last summer coming from San Juan. Don't want to scare you but luggage does get misrouted by airlines a lot.) Flying post 9/11 is a pain, but it will be worth it when see Hawaii!

[Lightbulb03]

Thanks, Pitcruiser, I'm on your wavelength. I've got the backpacks for the kids already. They just have to pack what they want in them. Snacks and water are definite must haves as well as sweaters and camera. They are on the list. I like your advice on the cross-packing. Never can be too sure where your luggage will go.

 

We made the mistake of checking baggage on a short trip to Norfolk, VA for a wedding. We showed up at the wedding in airplane-crushed and wrinkled clothes because our bag ended up in Sarasota. We were the most comfortable guests at the wedding. Never check to a shortstop destination.

 

How was your Pearl harbor experience? I understand it is quite crowded this time of year.

 

I received my confirmation yesterday for the NCL shore excursions. All set.

Thanks again for all your help.:D

[Pitcruiser]

Arizona Memorial very crowded - waited in 45 minute line to get number for tour - wait was them about 2 1/2 hours. Went over to Bowfin and submarine museum - purchase submarine and Missouri tickets as a package to save money. Toured sub, etc., went back to Arizona for movie and trip to memorial, then back to sub museum area for shuttle to the Missouri (over the new bridge to Ford Island).

[hawaiigal]

Hi Lightbulb03, I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but the sofa in our cabin was very, very, hard! Not at all soft or mattress material. Maybe the sofa in your cabin will be different, but ours made into a bed just like another poster described. We had a family suite where two cabins connect. One large cabin with a king bed and a smaller cabin with two sets of bunk beds. The four of us were traveling with my in-laws. The in-laws slept in the larger cabin with the queen bed, because there was no way our children were going to get any sleep on the hard sofa! It's made from different material. I like a firm mattress, but this sofa was hard. I never would have slept on it myself. I hope your sofa is different than ours!

[Lightbulb03]

Thanks, hawaiigal.

 

This sofabed sounds like more of a futon type bed than a sofabed we might buy for the family room. I think we'll be ok. Even if I were to bring the self-inflating mattress, one of them would be on the hard floor on that anyway.

 

Thanks for the info.