I just booked and am very excited

[carmel]

I remember way back in 2003. Hubby and I and our 2 DDs booked an RCCL cruise. We figured it would be the only cruise we ever went on. Kinda a bucket list thing. Zoom ahead and I seriously have to stop and count the cruises since then. I think this is 10 or 11. I'm not bragging - just demonstrating how addicting this activity is :D

 

We are on the Pride of America in March. We did the Pride of Aloha back in 2007. I actually prefer the Caribbean but DH adores Hawaii. I'm actually a little sad because DD1 will be on a college internship and can't go. This is our first vacation without her. :loudcry: The upside is that we now have DD3 and this is her first trip to Hawaii (she has been requesting the 'place she can wear a hula skirt and dance' for a long time now - she's 6).

 

Anyhow, I would love any info about PofA for those of you who have been on her. She looks like a beautiful ship. I actually ordered a Frommers for the islands and DH is excited to start planning our excursions.

 

Just had to share my excitement. Oooh, I need to go put another countdown ticker on my siggy!

[SuiteTraveler]

Pride of Aloha (now NCL Jade) and Pride of America are sister ships, so things should be similar. They will have an American crew and no casino. Other than that, Pride of America went through dry dock last spring and they have tamed down the colors. You can see the photos here: http://www.travelpulse.com/news/cruise/sneak-peek-norwegian-cruise-lines-refurbished-pride-of-america-emerges.html

 

More info on the dry dock:

https://www.ncl.com/press-releases/pride-america-receives-bow-stern-enhancements

[dexddd]

If you went back in 2007 when NCL had 3 ships there I'm curious how your experience was? We went in 2006 on POA and it was very unique and not like any other cruise we had been on (in a bad way).

 

I wasn't interested in going on POA again but reviews were getting better the last few years when there was only the one ship there. We were lucky to sail on the post-drydock trip back to Hawaii almost one year ago. Wow, the POA was completely different than 2006 and you could not really tell much difference from any other ship in the NCL fleet as far as service, food, etc. The POA after the drydock looks great. The article below mentions $30,000,000 while a reliable poster here had been told it was about double that, so who knows.

 

Interesting, I see CC started a new thread about the drydock (a wee bit late IMO) with 2,900 pictures which can be found here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2464791

[carmel]

If you went back in 2007 when NCL had 3 ships there I'm curious how your experience was? We went in 2006 on POA and it was very unique and not like any other cruise we had been on (in a bad way).

 

I wasn't interested in going on POA again but reviews were getting better the last few years when there was only the one ship there. We were lucky to sail on the post-drydock trip back to Hawaii almost one year ago. Wow, the POA was completely different than 2006 and you could not really tell much difference from any other ship in the NCL fleet as far as service, food, etc. The POA after the drydock looks great. The article below mentions $30,000,000 while a reliable poster here had been told it was about double that, so who knows.

 

Interesting, I see CC started a new thread about the drydock (a wee bit late IMO) with 2,900 pictures which can be found here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2464791

 

I've sailed Princess, RCCL, NCL(America) and Carnival. I did notice a step down in service on the Aloha back in 2007. We expected it as it was mostly college age kids probably not banking on this being a profession. However, everyone was nice and the food seemed just fine. It was just the little 'pampering' touches I noticed were lacking.

 

 

I thought the ship was beautiful. I think it was a good ship for port intensive cruises. For sea days, I love to do ship activities like putt-putt, sky ropes, trivia.....the Aloha (if memory serves me) didn't have those things. But again, with that itinerary, it was just fine.