Live from Pride of America

[mooline]

Here we are on Day 5 of what’s been a great cruise so far! I'll give a Cliff Notes version of our experience to date.

 

There are 6 of us, in two suites. My husband and I are in the "Deluxe Owner's Suite with Large Balcony"; it's also called the Grand Suite. Our daughter and her family (husband and 2 girls, ages 6 and 11) are in a Deluxe 2 bedroom Family Suite. The Deluxe Owner's Suite is huge for just 2 of us, but it's fantastic space to gather our whole family from time to time. It has a beautiful grand piano, which has a piano disc self play system. The system is pretty loud even with the volume at minimum, so we haven’t used it often. My favorite thing about this suite is the huge balcony which is the perfect spot for my morning readings. Our daughter's suite is great in that it has a totally separate sleeping area for  the kids, about the size of an inside cabin. It's separated from the parents' sleeping area by a good sized hallway and a door. And, it has us own bathroom with shower!

 

Tip: If you have European power adapters, bring them, In both suites, outlets are not plentiful. The kids' room in the 2 bedroom suite has one standard USB outlet in each bedside light, but none of the other selling areas do.

 

We arrived in Honolulu on the Thursday prior to embarkation day. That afforded a nice time for a brief visit to the city. On Saturday, we arrived to board the ship at our appointed time, 11:30. The embarkation area was jam packed! I’ve planned every detail of this trip with laser precision, but… I forgot to print my E-docs, which are needed to pass through Port security! Luckily, I was able to pull the docs up on NCL's app. Whew!

 

Once into the boarding lounge and answering some "are you sick" type of questions, we were escorted to the ship with about 16-20 others.

 

The suites are beautiful and our butlers are phenomenal! My son in law loves basic American coffee, and his butler, Zoie, happily changed out the Nespresso machine for a drip coffeemaker. Our butler, Maria, learned that we have 2 young girls in Our group, and she is keeping us supplied with cookies, gummy bears and cut up fruit. 

 

So far, we've enjoyed breakfast at Cagney's just once, as most of our shore excursions have been very early. Otherwise, we've ordered Room Service, which Maria has delivered promptly at the requested time.

 

About the food: Cagney's for lunch on embarkation day, and for breakfast has not disappointed! I'll offer a dinner review in a few days, as we're scheduled there on the last night of the cruise. The big surprise has been the buffet - the Aloha Cafe.  We've had no trouble getting a table for 6, and have never encountered long lines. The food at the buffet has been extremely good! We ate one night in the MDR - the Liberty Restaurant. I hesitate to be negative, as every crew member we've met has been pleasant and hard working, but this spectacular setting was mediocre at best in the quality of food. Roast beef and steaks were tough, pasta dishes were meh, the sides are nothing special, but the desserts (Chocolate Lava Cake and Tiramisu Cake) were great. Unfortunately, the service overall was chaotic. Our server did her best, but all of our entrees came out at different times, enough so that a few were finished before others were served, and one appetizer never made it to the table. Tonight it's La Cucina, and we have high hopes. 😊

 

Thermal Spa.. man, what a treat!! For $100, you have full access all week to the steam, sauna and meditation room with heated stone loungers. My daughter and I each bought a package and we've used it every single day! 
 

Shore excursions: Except for one, our excursions are through NCL. The only one that was not was a custom horseback trail ride at Triple L Ranch in the west Maui mountains. We arranged car through Aloha Maui limo, and our driver waited while we rode (for 3 hours!). This was an incredible experience overall!

 

We all did Molokini Crater and Turtle Town snorkeling, which was great, despite not seeing any sea turtles. Two of our group did the Zipline in Hilo, two others did the Waterfalls and Farm tour, and two of us did the Crater Hike. Everyone had a terrific time… and word to the wise, the Crater Hike is intense. We're in very good shape, used to walking at least 4 miles a day, yet this hike was a challenge. Many parts of the trail to and from the crater are very steep and most of t is extremely uneven. Nonetheless we would do it again in a heartbeat to see the spectacular sight of a volcano emitting steam from its crater. Today, in Kona, we all did the Gold Coast and Cloud Forest, which also included a hike, but far easier than the Crater hike. It, too, was a great tour!

 

At this point, I'll stop so any of you can ask questions, and I'll continue to post as our week continues.

[N&NCruiseMama]

We’re planning an extended family cruise next year (getting a balcony) and are trying to decide between port and starboard side of the ship for best view of the ports.  Would you mind giving a breakdown of which side faces the different Hawaiian ports?  Thank you, for all your info so far, it’s very informative. I’ve enjoyed reading them.

[TSUmom]

Enjoying your review!!  Thank you for taking the time to share.....

[cruiseny4life]

Thank you for sharing! Sounds like you and your family have really gone all out to make this one heck of a vacation! Keep on having a stunning vacation. 

[mooline]

6 hours ago, N&NCruiseMama said:

We’re planning an extended family cruise next year (getting a balcony) and are trying to decide between port and starboard side of the ship for best view of the ports.  Would you mind giving a breakdown of which side faces the different Hawaiian ports?  Thank you, for all your info so far, it’s very informative. I’ve enjoyed reading them.

Aloha! 🥰 We are on the Port side, our kids have a forward facing cabin. The ship sails at night (except for the last day) so there isn’t much to see land wise, but PLENTY of stars! Plus, it’s ails in a circular route, so my guess is at one point or another, every balcony has an island view. 

[mooline]

Apologies for the typos in my first post. I don’t see the edit option on the post, guessing that’s because I’m using my iPad vs. computer.

 

We're on the way to Kauai, have been sine last evening. We're steaming along at a good clip, some rocking but nothing at all extreme. My poor 11 year old granddaughter has been queasy most of the trip and Dramamine isn’t cutting it for her. Scopolamine for her next cruise for sure! Everyone else is fine (and my scopolamine patch takes care of my problems)
 

Update on La Cucina: The food was very, very good. Once again, though, the service seemed disorganized. My husband's lasagna entree was brought out with the appetizers (and only 3 of us had apps). My granddaughter asked for no mushrooms on her fettuccini, but there they were. It wasn’t a big deal to her, so she ate around them. The waiter refilled my wine even though I said I was good with what I had. We're pretty chill people by nature so none of this rose to the level of complaint for us, but it might irritate others.

 

Tonight is Skyline, the sister restaurant to Liberty, so we'll see how we fare.

 

And, today is the Hidden Falls kayak trip… with an exuberant 6 year old… wish us luck! 🤪

[mcmomny]

Thank you for the review, we loved this cruise and often talk about doing it again!

[mooline]

PS: The kids and my daughter had a lot of fun at the ribbon lei making class yesterday, so put that activity on your list - and it’s free!

[mooline]

1 minute ago, mcmomny said:

Thank you for the review, we loved this cruise and often talk about doing it again!

Do it! We're already talking about the same. So much to see and do, so little time. 😊

[Ellis1138]

6 hours ago, N&NCruiseMama said:

We’re planning an extended family cruise next year (getting a balcony) and are trying to decide between port and starboard side of the ship for best view of the ports.  Would you mind giving a breakdown of which side faces the different Hawaiian ports?  Thank you, for all your info so far, it’s very informative. I’ve enjoyed reading them.

 

 

Except for Kona, all the ports that PoA docks in are industrial. So you'd be getting the views of shipping containers. With the PoA no longer sailing the Na'Pali coast, there's no longer a better side of the ship. There is, however, a problem with PoA and a "sewage smell" in rooms that are towards the aft/stern/rear of the ship on Decks 7, 8 and 9. 

[dexddd]

Have a nice finish.  That room is hard to get.  Also think it is actually starboard.  We stayed on 12 too but port side, that floor is very quiet.

 

Is Key West bar open and does it just serve drinks?  When we sailed it was right after drydock so it wasn't open much.

 

Is the wood fired pizza stiil good?

[mooline]

9 hours ago, dexddd said:

Have a nice finish.  That room is hard to get.  Also think it is actually starboard.  We stayed on 12 too but port side, that floor is very quiet.

 

Is Key West bar open and does it just serve drinks?  When we sailed it was right after drydock so it wasn't open much.

 

Is the wood fired pizza stiil good?

How right you are! We are starboard… and I was a sailor a while back so you'd think I wouldn’t make that rookie mistake.

 

Yes, the room is hard to get, we booked this cruise more than 18 months ago, and this was my least preferred week in the month of June, but the suite was booked every other week.

 

My husband is loving the wood fired pizza, so yes, it must still be good!

 

The Key West bar is indeed open and serving drinks. Not sure about food but I'll check.

 

9 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

 

 

Except for Kona, all the ports that PoA docks in are industrial. So you'd be getting the views of shipping containers. With the PoA no longer sailing the Na'Pali coast, there's no longer a better side of the ship. There is, however, a problem with PoA and a "sewage smell" in rooms that are towards the aft/stern/rear of the ship on Decks 7, 8 and 9. 

 

Actually, yes there are shipping containers yet the scenery beyond them is beautiful. We are sailing Na'Pali, I think we are one of the last if not the last to do it.

[mooline]

Update, dining and a Kauai shore ex:

 

The Skyline MDR was great! I know it is the same menu and presumably same staff as Liberty, but it was much better for us! The sirloin was more tender, the pork loin was excellent, the tilapia and lamb shank entrees were very good, and the ziti was also good. Coconut shrimp was one of the appetizers last night… yum! Service was very well coordinated and attentive. We may have had a better experience partly because the ship was not at all full, several hundred passengers headed out to the luau. 

 

Kauai shore ex: we did the Hidden Valley Falls Kayak. It is awesome, incredible scenery paddling along the river at the foot of soaring mountains. There's a hike of about half a mile to a small waterfall stream and pool, with a rope swing to plunge… and yes, we did it! Be aware, though that the hike is over a very rough, narrow, and muddy trail. If you have only flip flops or water shoes, it's challenging! That said, we'd definitely do it again… and none of us tipped over!

[mooline]

On 6/22/2023 at 5:28 AM, dexddd said:

 

Is Key West bar open and does it just serve drinks?  When we sailed it was right after drydock so it wasn't open much.

Confirmed: The Key West Bar is open, and right beside the bar, they serve sandwiches and grill food at lunchtime, buffet style.

[dexddd]

Safe travels home.

[mooline]

We’re now on the flight home 😢, but it was a lovely cruise. 
 

Dinner at Cagney’s on our last night was absolutely wonderful! Tender steaks, very attentive service and a scrumptious dessert! (OMG cheesecake, and OMG it was!)

 

Our daughter’s cabin had a credit balance, due to a change in shore excursions. They settled her account right on the gangway, and insisted that her refund had to be given in cash. The process took about 10 minutes, and we're still wondering why they couldn’t simply refund to her credit cars.
 

Otherwise, disembarkation was well organized, it was easy off the ship.

 

We had about 5 hours to kill before going to the airport, so we arranged in advance to sightsee with Private Tours Hawaii. It was a great choice, we went to Diamond Head Overlook,Leonard's Bakery food truck,  the Dole Plantation (which was mobbed, so we didn’t stay long) and then to a small village on the North Shore, ultimately ending at HNL in plenty of time for our flight home.

[mooline]

Another "tip": 

 

The Wi-Fi arrangement is confusing! We upgraded our "per stateroom" 250 minutes of Wi-Fi, to unlimited premium streaming. When doing this in advance of the trip, we had the option for the upgraded Wi-Fi for only one person, and that's apparently all you can get if you buy in advance. This means others in your party have to use your sign on, and you have to disconnect their device in order to connect yours. The Wi-Fi wasn’t 100% reliable, but it was "ok".

 

In order to access Wi-Fi (whether you have a prepaid package or not), you do NOT use the NCL app. Here's how you do it:

 

Connect to the ship's Wi-Fi network. 
Use your browser, type in loginnow.com

You'll be brought to the page where you can sign in, either to use a prepaid package or purchase one.

If sharing WiiFi, be sure to sign in with the name and birthdate of the person who purchased the package.

[LouChamp]

Aloha. Thank you for your posts. Hope you had a safe journey home and wish you and yours good health and all the best.

[PTV]

Hi Mooline,

Thanks for the review of PoA. I'm sailing in July and want to know what documents did you need to present during check in? only Driver's license or did they ask for another ID like passport, birth certificate etc. 

NCL web site says Only Driver' license is ok if US Citizen. in that case, do they ask any other document to prove you are a US Citizen?

I'm waiting for my US Passport and have sent my original Naturalization certificate for that. So, I only have a copy of my naturalization certificate. I called NCL but they don't want to confirm as they said its my responsibility to figure out what is the right document?

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

 

[mooline]

@PTV, just our drivers licenses, and the kiddos didn't need anything (their parents were with them - there is an attestation form to be completed if they are traveling with adults other than their parents.

 

I'm not an expert, but I think the copy of your Naturalization certificate would probably suffice, if you're even asked. Does your license indicate other than US citizenship?

[mooline]

On 6/24/2023 at 11:23 PM, mooline said:

Another "tip": 

 

The Wi-Fi arrangement is confusing! We upgraded our "per stateroom" 250 minutes of Wi-Fi, to unlimited premium streaming. When doing this in advance of the trip, we had the option for the upgraded Wi-Fi for only one person, and that's apparently all you can get if you buy in advance. This means others in your party have to use your sign on, and you have to disconnect their device in order to connect yours. The Wi-Fi wasn’t 100% reliable, but it was "ok".

 

In order to access Wi-Fi (whether you have a prepaid package or not), you do NOT use the NCL app. Here's how you do it:

 

Connect to the ship's Wi-Fi network. 
Use your browser, type in loginnow.com

You'll be brought to the page where you can sign in, either to use a prepaid package or purchase one.

If sharing WiiFi, be sure to sign in with the name and birthdate of the person who purchased the package.

I'm not sure if this is unique to POA, or if all the ships are like this, but here are the instructions to connect to wifi:

 

Document_2023-07-02_170045.pdf

 

The Internet Cafe folks are very clear that you shouldn't use the NCL app to access wifi - use your browser. That worked pretty well, and as I said before, the wifi "sharing" wasn't a major big deal for us (plus, we had good cell service when in port). However, if you're traveling with kiddos, be aware that sharing wifi will deepen sibling wars. Truth told, the kids engaged in creative pursuits - coloring, journaling, even playing together a bit) when Mom or Dad had the wifi.

Edited July 2, 2023 by mooline

[mooline]

Now that we're home - and recovered from jet lag (long trip going east was a challenge, of course), I'll be posting the Dailies and a couple of other docs.

 

Let's start off with the Mandara Spa price list (which does not list the $100/all week thermal spa pass- the best value on the ship), and the "Week at a Glance" entertainment.

 

 

Mandara Spa POA Menu 6-2023.pdf Entertainment Week at a Glance - POA 6-2023.pdf

[mooline]

And here are the Embarkation Day "Welcome Aboard" and Splash Academy weekly activities

Welcome Aboard POA 6-2023.pdf Splash Academy POA 6-2023.pdf

[mooline]

Now, here come the Dailies!

 

Day 1..

 

POA Day One 6-17-2023.pdf

Edited July 2, 2023 by mooline

[mooline]

Day 2...

 

By the way, my daughter and her family did the Family Scavenger Hunt this day, and had a blast! They got to meet several staff, including Director of Operations Steven Jacobsen, who helped them find the "ducks", and they discovered all kinds of areas around the ship. Her family came in 3rd, each of her kiddos got a choice of prize. The 6 year old chose a stuffed lamb and the 11 year old, a juggling set.  🙂

Everyone remembered the kids and greeted them by name when they later saw them on the ship.

 

POA Day Two 6-18-2023.pdf

Edited July 2, 2023 by mooline