Pride of America Cruise Tips

[jfleming03]

We will be traveling in July with about 10 people and was wanting some tips on shore excursions, what time boarding the ship usually takes place, and some things to do in Honolulu. We will be arriving in Honolulu a couple of days before the cruise

[koreakruiser]

Or, you might also check out the PoA roll calls.  Not a lot of activity but a lot of questions and answers about activities and tours.

 

 

[mcmomny]

Also check out Trip advisor for each port of call, lots of info there too.

 

We booked all of our excursions on our own and not thru the cruise line, plus we rented cars at each port of call.

 

Still one of our most favorite cruises!

[NikiPinkston]

I highly recommend visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center, and Pearl Harbor is also a “must-see.” There are “circle island tours” that let you see a lot of Oahu, including  Kualoa Ranch, the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout, and the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, and I believe that they may also include Pearl Harbor. Dole Plantation is also kind of kitschy and fun. We will be visiting Oahu again this summer, and the Bishop Museum is definitely on my list, although I don’t know if there are any shore excursions that include it. There used to be a tour, pre-covid, that stopped there and the Iolani Palace, which we very much enjoyed visiting last time we were in Honolulu. If you like to shop, there's Ala Moana Center and the shops and malls on Kalakaua Avenue, and don't miss Waikiki Beach. Here’s my review of our POA cruise in November, 2022. The first couple of posts are about our pre-cruise time in Waikiki; I hope it may be helpful. Bon voyage and have a fabulous cruise!

 

 

[carohs]

Hi! We mostly toured on our own with rental cars. In Honolulu we explored Pearl Harbor, PCC and had a beach day in Waikiki. Although logistically you have 10 while we were only 4. Trip advisor was one of my go to sources of information planning this. The FB group being the other. 

 

 

[windymama]

We are arriving in June 2024 via the port at Kahului, Maui on the PoA. One of our 2 days on Maui will be the Road to Hana excursion, and this has been already booked. On our second day, we want to experience all that Maui has to offer at one of its most exceptionally beautiful beaches. We plan to lounge, swim, eat, and possibly may also take a beginner's surf lesson. PoA has an excursion to Wailea Beach and we have considered this because transportation is included. The ease of getting to the beach and back to the ship is something important to us, as well. What would you all recommend?

[CruiserBruce]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

The ease of doing Wailea via the cruise line excursion is hard to beat...takes care of the getting back issues.

[Silver Sweethearts]

8 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

The ease of doing Wailea via the cruise line excursion is hard to beat...takes care of the getting back issues.

If this is the excursion we have read about, most all you will be getting is a tour bus ride from Kahului to Wailea (about half an hour max) - and back to the ship about five hours later.  Everything else costs extra.  We encourage you to research this further.

[mskaufman]

On 1/1/2024 at 11:24 AM, windymama said:

We are arriving in June 2024 via the port at Kahului, Maui on the PoA. One of our 2 days on Maui will be the Road to Hana excursion, and this has been already booked. On our second day, we want to experience all that Maui has to offer at one of its most exceptionally beautiful beaches. We plan to lounge, swim, eat, and possibly may also take a beginner's surf lesson. PoA has an excursion to Wailea Beach and we have considered this because transportation is included. The ease of getting to the beach and back to the ship is something important to us, as well. What would you all recommend?

On Day 1 we did the Road to Hana.  Good choice.  On Day 2 we did the sunrise at volcano.  It was also a good choice, although we left the ship at around 3 am.  We were back on the boat by 10am.  There still might be time to go to the beach.

[JasmineC]

On 12/25/2023 at 8:20 PM, jfleming03 said:

We will be traveling in July with about 10 people and was wanting some tips on shore excursions, what time boarding the ship usually takes place, and some things to do in Honolulu. We will be arriving in Honolulu a couple of days before the cruise

We were just in Honolulu in December prior to and after the cruise.  I would highly recommend renting a car and driving around the island. We did that prior and after.  It let us go off the beaten path and explore roads/beaches we may not otherwise see from the main roads.

[mcmarya]

One thing I noticed trying to book independent excursions when on a ship other than the Pride of America--not a lot of independent operators offer tours for passengers of other ships, especially small ones.  We had to use a ship's tour to do anything in Nawiliwili since other tours only operated on certain days of the week.

[Silver Sweethearts]

1 hour ago, mcmarya said:

One thing I noticed trying to book independent excursions when on a ship other than the Pride of America--not a lot of independent operators offer tours for passengers of other ships, especially small ones.  We had to use a ship's tour to do anything in Nawiliwili since other tours only operated on certain days of the week.

Remember that the POA operates the same route every week.  Other ships are infrequent visitors. Those other operators cannot count on the continuous income the POA usually provides for them.