Pride of Aloha vs Pride of America - forward or aft

[stuNYC]

I am planning to go to Hawaii for 60th birthday in January 07. First time to Hawaii and NCL. I have some questions for all you knowledgeable past travelers

 

1.Which ship: Pride of Aloha or Pride of America

 

2. Which iternary: Maui RT or Hn RT. I plan on staying a extra week in Maui after the cruise. I can't seem to find an iternary Maui RT that fits my timeframe. Should I change my timeframe or can you get off at Maui instead of Hn as last stop

 

3.Which cabin: Owners or Penthouse- forward or aft. I have to wheel my wife in a wheelchair; although neither are centrally located, which would be more convenient. It is hard to figure out from the deckplans

 

4. Will we be happy with open sitting when we are used to and like to sit with the same people at dinner

 

5. Any factors that I should have asked that would influence my decision

 

Thanks for your help in advance. I hope I can reciprocate on questions on the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity boards.

[gistry]

We just got back from our first cruise, choosing Pride of Aloha, and had an owner's suite. Both my husband and son are disabled, with my husband using a wheelchair and son still able to walk with a cane. We were celebrating 35 years of marriage and my son's 32nd birthday.

 

The owner's suite was forward and completely away from everything we did most often (food and entertainment). We spent very little time in the room. It was large, much larger than we needed for the three of us. The door to the owner's suite or other suites, as far as I could tell, does not accomodate a wheelchair. You have to fold a wheelchair to get it into the suite. And, first thing, my son stubbed and skinned his toes on the little raised separations(?) between rooms.

 

The hot tub was nice, but we only used it once or twice (time crunch). We had a fantastic view coming into ports and leaving, and of the lava flowing into the ocean, but there is plenty of room on deck or from balconies to watch those.

 

Next time I would get a room aft, even if it was a lot smaller, as long as my husband is able to walk a little. All the wheelchair accessible rooms are all interior, with no outside light. They appeared to be quite large and were close to the elevators.

 

Dining is open. You are not seated at tables with other people, unless you request to be seated with particular people. We invited people to dine with us and often chatted with people at nearby tables.

 

If your wheelchair has pneumatic tires, bring a bicycle tire pump. Shockingly, my husband's tires were flat when we received the wheelchair at the Maui airport and NOBODY was particularly interested in solving the problem. Finally, at the ship, we were able to get the tires reinflated. I think that if we weren't in the owner's suite, we would have had a real problem.

[bonvoyagie]

While I know that you want to spend extra time in Maui after the cruise, the best embarcaton point is Honolulu. You board on deck 5 right at the lobby, In Maui, and everywhere else you are getting on and off on Deck 3.

 

As far as ships go, I think the Pride of America would be the best choice 1 it is newer and seems to be more wheelchair friendly than the Pride of Aloha. The PoAm also has more Mini Suites that are located both fore and aft on the top three decks. Because of the port intensive nature of this cruise you are not in your room very much - I know we found ourselves taking a tour every day - which quickly wore us out. But if you don't go off the ship, there are not many planned activities onboard during the day. Most tours return between 3 and 5 PM - just in time for dinner. They also start between 7 and 8 AM. You can also rent your own car and tour on your own. We will do that if we go back again.

[gistry]

Just another little note about Pride of Aloha and boarding in Maui vs Honolulu. POA was finished being refurbished in late June 2006. Because of the different boarding ports, people in Maui have a two day jump on excursions over those boarding in Honolulu, but those boarding in Honolulu have four or five day jump on those boarding in Maui, because boarding/disembarking is a continuous cycle. If you are going to book through NCL, do it as early as possible. Be cautious in booking excursions on your own in Kona in advance, because it is a tendered port and sometimes can not be done by wheelchairs.