Pride of America Large Balcony or Suite?

[Scubadoc]

We are beginning to plan a Hawaii cruise for next summer. For us, the most important part of the cruise is having a great balcony that is deep enough for two nice lounge chairs. We spend a lot of time staring at the beauty from our balcony! We are stuck between a large balcony cabin or a Penthouse Suite with large balcony. The price difference seems significantly more than the difference between a balcony and a suite on most of the Caribbean cruises we have done.

 

For those of you have been on the ship is it worth the money to do the suite? What are the benefits that could make it worth the money? I am just starting to research but I haven’t seen a lot of pictures that give me a clear idea of the difference in the two cabins. Thanks so much! 

[omahabob]

There are several different types of balcony and suite cabins. Could you be more specific?

[dexddd]

POA commands higher prices across the board.  Suites even more.  POA has a watered down suite experience compared to other ships namely no b or l from Cagney's in room.  Only real benefit for a suite is breakfast or lunch (most likely not on ship for lunch) at Cagneys.  It is a very port intensive trip.

[ggTexasGal]

To get the best help with recommendations, perhaps you could state what type of square footage would be comfortable for you.

While a balcony is a big deal to us on Caribbean cruises, we did not utilize our balcony nearly as much in Hawaii as we thought we might.

If you will be out and about most of the day, then enjoying dinner and entertainment onboard, you might select the largest balcony room available, instead of a suite, to keep your expenses down.

In case you weren't already aware, NCL uses "American workers" (mandated by Hawaii), which drives up the cost of cruise.

 

[SimplyAlbert]

We're booked on an aft-balcony and saw u-tube videos of our room.  There are two loungers (and a table and chairs) out there.

[azappraiser]

We had an aft balcony in 2014... next door was suite with a much bigger balcony.  I'm an early riser, so I'd sit on the balcony with my coffee enjoying the sunrise.

[omahabob]

I've stayed up long enough to see a sunrise, but I don't remember GETTING up to see one. Certainly not on vacation anyway.

[dexddd]

13 hours ago, azappraiser said:

We had an aft balcony in 2014... next door was suite with a much bigger balcony.  I'm an early riser, so I'd sit on the balcony with my coffee enjoying the sunrise.

Morning coffee?  Looks more like a Foster's oil can.

[azappraiser]

9 hours ago, dexddd said:

Morning coffee?  Looks more like a Foster's oil can.

 

Pic was taken in the afternoon... besides, it was 5 o'clock somewhere... 😏

[DCwom]

On 8/1/2023 at 9:06 PM, Scubadoc said:

We are beginning to plan a Hawaii cruise for next summer.

 

On 8/2/2023 at 7:02 AM, ggTexasGal said:

While a balcony is a big deal to us on Caribbean cruises, we did not utilize our balcony nearly as much in Hawaii as we thought we might.

If you will be out and about most of the day, then enjoying dinner and entertainment onboard, you might select the largest balcony room available...

 

We're always had a balcony in the Caribbean as well, but for the POA we were really considering an inside since you're off ship everyday. We did opt for a balcony because we ended up with COVID on our last cruise and it will be a balcony or nothing from now on. Larger or smaller is between you & your wallet, everything about Hawaii is expensive you need to decided where to economize.

[azappraiser]

Here's a morning pic from the aft balcony on the 2nd day in Kauai...