Our Pride of America Hawaii Trip Report Cabin 12506 Penthouse with large Balcony

[AlohaCathy]

We got back from our trip 6th July 2019 trip on Pride of America and thought I’d pop it here for anyone else who is planning there holiday. Feel free to ask me any questions. 

 

We stayed in large balcony cabin 12506 on the Pride of America. The cabin was amazing! HUGE balcony - three sunbeds (we asked for an additional one as we were three in a room) and a full table and chairs. It was the right side to view the Na Pali coast from the comfort of your balcony. Bingo! 

Plenty of space for the three of us and a curtain to separate the sofa bed from the queen bed. Large closet and loads of hanging. Nespresso machine for coffee.  Beautiful Bvlgari toiletries in the small bathroom. Larry was our fabulous steward. We had a butler and concerige as well. We had ice and canapés every day. The butler also emptied the fridge for us and provided fresh milk for us to have with the coffee and bigger cups. He escorted us off the ship fast on the day we left and on the tender day at Kona. This was helpful. He was happy to make reservations for us but we did most of these before we left via the app.   We also had priority seating in the theatre and the Conceirge took you to your seats each night which was lovely. We also used the concerige to change a dinner reservation when the dining room couldn’t move it for us. 

 

The ship is a little dated but they’re working hard to keep it freshened up, they were always painting and cleaning and it was spotless.

 

90% of the crew were helpful and lovely and keen to do a good job. We met two rude waiters who had a bit of attitude but that was it. 

 

We’ve had better food, but it was just fine. 

 

Cagney’s breakfast was good. We had a package with three premium dining, water package and drinks package - id strongly recommend this. We also had onboard credit and bought a set of binoculars- decent price and highly recommended. 

 

I did a few stretch and flex classes and they were excellent. The gym was good. 

 

The shows were all fun that we saw - we passed on the magician - he was a bit lame.  I won the bingo! That was fun. The comedian was quite funny but it was very old fashioned misogynistic humour that grated. My husband enjoyed it though! These Guys WorldWide were very good - excellent choice of music. Go on the first night as they put on a showcase of all the entertainment so you can decide what you might want to see later in the week. 

 

Ship excursions were exorbitant- we did our own thing and it was easy to navigate round. 

 

If you’ve read the negative reviews don’t worry you’ll have a great time if you just think of the ship as your floating hotel! 

 

We had an amazing trip and would recommend it! 

 

AIR MAUI HELICOPTER REVIEW

We walked out of the port and called an Uber/Lyft from the grocery store in the mall opposite the port. The grocery store was a good place to grab some cold drinks. A helicopter trip is expensive but worth it. Make sure you take the advice and wear dark clothes, the guy in front had white writing on his black shirt and it annoyingly reflected on the windows. Didn’t spoil it. I was worried about feeling sick but it was fine. I felt very safe with the great captain. They try to flog you the obligatory photo/video package but it’s not a high pressure sell. It was expensive but it was so much cheaper than the ships tour. They had good strong Wifi there which was helpful. We got an Uber back to the ship via a great shopping mall that was nearby. We booked our tickets on the Costco US website! We live in the UK and Had to use a friend in the US’s address and credit card but that was fine she “gifted” it to us! (We had to pay her back obviously but it was fine to buy and gift the voucher to someone if you know what I mean. The price for one of us to go on the ships tour was the price for all 3 of us! 

 

Enterprise Rent A Car Maui

We’d seen everything the day before from the helicopter so wanted to see it close up on land. We hired a car from the Enterprise Kahului Hana Hwy location. It’s a safe and easy walking distance from the ship just 10 minutes. Rental car Cost was $70 and we booked a Hyundai Elantra. We had a little drive along the coast. We visited Costco and they had a ton of Hawaiin shirts! You can get your fuel there if you need to as well. Renting the car was very fast and so painless, Miami airport could learn a thing or two! Admittedly we waited until the rush was over and went a bit later, this was a bonus as we got a much upgraded car for free and it had a built in sat nav. Mainly because all the prebooked cars had already gone so only the good cars were left! Navigating was very easy. We just took a little drive up the coast road and stopped In a beautiful beach where we were the only people. We drove until the road turned single track then did a u turn and drove back. Another lovely day! Very relaxed and and a day for just exploring and seeing.

 

Hilo, Big Island

Mauka Makai Adventures

We loved our tour with Josh, he collected us from the Pride of America and we spent a fabulous day touring the Island with 5 other people. I booked this trip last minute via TripAdvisor as I wasn’t sure about renting a car and I’m so glad we did this trip rather than our own Self-guided one. We learnt so much about the area, loved our visit to the Volcano National Park (pouring with rain but it was fine!) the waterfalls were pretty and we loved seeing the turtles on the beach. It was so so tempting to take some volcanic rock home but we respected the rules (and the gods) and left it there!! Lunch was so delicious. We weren’t really bothered about the orchid farm or chocolate shop but it was a nice end to a really fabulous day. Take warmer clothes for the volcano area - we did need them on. This is a fabulous shore excursion and good value. The van was comfy and there was plenty of room. 

 

Kona, Big Island

We got the tender into the port and had a walk around. It’s a pretty town. We walked up and down the high street and went to a nearby lovely beach. Huge waves, toilets and changing rooms. Lots of people were body boarding. It was only a short Uber/Lyft back to the ship. 

 

Wings Over Kauai 

We’re so sorry we didn’t get to fly due to the weather. The owner kindly came and collected us from the Pride of America and explained it was touch and go whether we’d be able to fly or not because it was so cloudy with heavy rain forecast. He gave us the option to head to the airport a quick ride away to chat to the pilot to see the current situation and get our money back if the plane didn’t go. Sadly we ended up with a full refund as we couldn’t reschedule as we were back on the ship for a new port of call. We do hope to be back one day to see the island by plane. We were very impressed with the safety record and service and no quibble decision to refund us. This is a well run outfit book with confidence. He also kindly dropped us off at the very large shopping mall on the way back so we had a good shop in the Macy’s etc. There was also a Costco at this location too but we resisted! We just missed the public bus so decided to get an Uber/Lyft back to the ship instead. 

 

Kauai Day 2 

Kalapaki Beach is within 9 mins  walking distance of the dock at Nawiliwili. It's a public beach park with some rentals. There are food trucks and restaurants nearby. I had a lovely walk along the beach and to the big hotel that was there. Good waves and a decent little beach! 

 

Afternoon Cruise Napali Coast - Our cabin was 12506. We sat on our HUGE balcony (3 loungers and a set of table and chairs) and used the binoculars that we’d bought on the ship the day before to spot the waterfalls and boats bobbing about. The views were simply breathtaking. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. THIS was why we chose to cruise on Pride of America. 

[cat shepard]

Thank you so much @AlohaCathy, for posting your review, and wonderful pics and videos. I will be visiting Hawaii this coming October, and am looking forward to seeing some of those same places.

[Beachiekeen]

Wow thank you! We will be in a suite on deck 12 also and are also doing Mauka Makai and Wings Over Kauai. I’m sorry you missed it. That balcony looks awesome! 

 

Do you happen to remember the times for breakfast at Cagney’s? Also what time did you board and when was your room ready? 

 

When we we get to the pier, is it easy to find where you drop off your luggage, and were there porters there to help you? 

 

Thanks so much for sharing and so glad you enjoyed the cruise! 

 

[AlohaCathy]

6 hours ago, Beachiekeen said:

Wow thank you! We will be in a suite on deck 12 also and are also doing Mauka Makai and Wings Over Kauai. I’m sorry you missed it. That balcony looks awesome! 

 

Do you happen to remember the times for breakfast at Cagney’s? Also what time did you board and when was your room ready? 

 

When we we get to the pier, is it easy to find where you drop off your luggage, and were there porters there to help you? 

 

Thanks so much for sharing and so glad you enjoyed the cruise! 

 

You are going to love it it’s the most amazing trip! The balconies are amazing and get a very good amount of shade which really suited us so we could escape the sun and cool down. We used it loads. Cagney’s was quite a short service I seem to remember I don’t remember times sorry 7:30-9:30 something like that. We always got seated straight away and the food was lovely in there. I was surprised how small it is. We boarded around 12:30, make sure you get taken to the special suites area (on the left) as you get whisked on board. Don’t be shy about telling the staff you have a suite and they’ll direct you. You can pick up lots of information, get a cold drink, have a snack and meet Chris the conceirge and some of the other staff for a little chat. You also do a bit more paperwork there and get your room cards. Do as much of the paperwork as possible before you leave - everything was so much quicker because we’d done the bulk of it ourselves in the UK. Once you have all your docs checked and got your keys you get on the ship. 

 

It’s a small port. Our uber pulled up outside, we walked across to the entrance and our cases were sorted straight away. I didn’t see a porter, but I’m sure there will be people to help if you can’t manage. There are lots of staff there to help you. It was no trouble at all. 

 

Rooms seemed to be called quickly, we weren’t even ready to go when we got called. We had an amazing lunch in Cagney’s as soon as we boarded, the food was superb. The library and games room

are also on this floor and very close to Cagney’s. We left Cagney’s and headed to the library.  We picked up the daily Sodouku print out (we popped in and got this every morning for my teen) and choose some books (no-one to check them out and we didn’t realise you needed to until later! I put them in my bag and we did return them at the end of the cruise and added some extras!).

 

We then grabbed some games and walked opposite to the games room. We got called half way through our first round of mastermind. But we stayed for a few more games and then headed up there. Wow. The balcony. It blew us away! 

Edited July 25, 2019 by AlohaCathy

[AlohaCathy]

I forgot to include the scuba diving! We did scuba diving, booked it last minute the day before when we were on Kauai when we knew the weather wasn’t good enough to do the plane ride with Wings over Kauai. The boys were amazed they saw eels, turtles, turtles being cleaned by other fish, tons and tons of colourful fish, trigger fish..  the list went on. It was the most amazing scuba experience. The company they were with didn’t collect them, they had to Uber there and find them. They booked two dives and managed to leave very early, do the two dives and be back on the ship ready for the afternoon coastal cruise. I’m not sure who they booked with but can find out if anyone is interested. They have dived a lot in Europe but this was the best diving they’ve done by far. Highly recommended if you can fit it in. They didn’t take their log books but we keep their cards with the passports in our travel wallet. A good tip in case your plans change and you want to go scuba diving which was the case here. 

[Beachiekeen]

Thanks so much again. I will be with a group of six family all new cruisers who are all going to look at me when we get to the pier and ask which way do we go! :) I just wanted to know as much as possible. I’m so excited to see that balcony! 

[Cindy]

Thanks for sharing! We recently booked this cruise for late April of next year. We have a big aft balcony, but alas what looks like it’s easily going to be the smallest cabin we’ve ever had...good thing it’s just a week!😂

 

I’ve been having a lot of fun planning the ports. We’re booked with Wings Over Kaua’i and I’m hoping for better luck than you had. I also reserved Mauka Makai for both days on the big island, so it’s great to have a good report. I’m surprised it was a lot cooler in the volcano area. Taking warmer clothes is not something I would have thought about!

[B-52]

We will have the same suite on our upcoming cruise....

 

Question. I would like to hold a reception in our suite for the Roll Call people.

Do you think, Between the Steward, Butler and Concierge, , they would help setup, supply snacks and drinks??

 

Also, were you contacted by the Concierge before your trip??

Edited July 26, 2019 by B-52

[AlohaCathy]

8 hours ago, B-52 said:

We will have the same suite on our upcoming cruise....

 

Question. I would like to hold a reception in our suite for the Roll Call people.

Do you think, Between the Steward, Butler and Concierge, , they would help setup, supply snacks and drinks??

 

Also, were you contacted by the Concierge before your trip??

That would be lovely set up outside on the balcony, the inside area of the suite is tiny there’s not really enough room inside. There were three of us and we were bumping into each other inside 😂

 

We had a letter before and it said to message with requests for help before your trip and they’d help. But to be honest they were useless, I emailed and asked for:

 

the fridge to be emptied 

for some fresh milk in the fridge 

an extra sun bed on the balcony

 

I had a rubbish almost auto response reply saying just ask when you get there at guest services! Didn’t even mention butler. 

 

It was sorted straight away. If it’s the same team you’ll have Guy as your butler, he’s very knowledgeable and keen to help. Ask him when you meet him and I’m sure he’ll sort for you. I had the above written down and when we met him I passed it to him and he sorted it. 

 

This is the email in the letter you could try asking for help now: customerservice@ncl.com

I wouldn’t hold out much hope but at least you’ll have written down what you want and can pass it on when you arrive!

 

[AlohaCathy]

9 hours ago, Cindy said:

Thanks for sharing! We recently booked this cruise for late April of next year. We have a big aft balcony, but alas what looks like it’s easily going to be the smallest cabin we’ve ever had...good thing it’s just a week!😂

 

I’ve been having a lot of fun planning the ports. We’re booked with Wings Over Kaua’i and I’m hoping for better luck than you had. I also reserved Mauka Makai for both days on the big island, so it’s great to have a good report. I’m surprised it was a lot cooler in the volcano area. Taking warmer clothes is not something I would have thought about!

You’ll spend all your time on the balcony don’t worry about the size or the suite! It will more spacious because of the outside area I promise! Take a light waterproof - we got SOAKED. It wasn’t cold but we did need an extra layer. Where proper shoes as well. Flip flops won’t cut it if you want to climb the waterfall and walk amongst the lava. 

[Tutone56]

Enjoyed your review, one question if you're still monitoring this thread.  We will be going to kalapaki beach as well.  Do you recall if they have beach chairs to rent?  Were there public restrooms available?   Thanks.

[Beachiekeen]

24 minutes ago, Tutone56 said:

Enjoyed your review, one question if you're still monitoring this thread.  We will be going to kalapaki beach as well.  Do you recall if they have beach chairs to rent?  Were there public restrooms available?   Thanks.

Yes to the restrooms.

[AlohaCathy]

51 minutes ago, Tutone56 said:

Enjoyed your review, one question if you're still monitoring this thread.  We will be going to kalapaki beach as well.  Do you recall if they have beach chairs to rent?  Were there public restrooms available?   Thanks.

Hi 

Yes there were lots of facilities at this beach including surf lessons, sunbeds, shades, food trucks and rest rooms. In fact it was probably the most well equipped beach we visited! Here are some photos I took:

 

 

[Tutone56]

Thank you Beachiekeen and Aloha Cathy.