Has anyone just returned from Pride of America

[Queensland Girl]

We are going on POA 11/11/06, and have been reading all about Pride of Hawaii. - Has anyone just come off POA. - Could they tell us their dining experiernces and where they suggest to eat and howto book. Thanks:) :)

[CruisefanfromCA]

Just got off Pride of America yesterday. Lots of drama with buoy issue, earthquake, etc. As for food - the Lazy J Steakhouse had the best food but has $15 cover. Service is also very good. The Teppanyaka "benihana" style restaurant was $20, and was kind of a letdown. The chef didn't do anything really fancy, and the food was just OK. Little Italy was no extra charge but the food was bland and boring. Didn't go to the French restaurant but heard good things. Basic dining room food is good but the service is sketchy. Service in the Cadillac diner was lousy, and food was cold. Back deck of the buffet is the best place for casual eating. Go all the way through the buffet to the back. Buffet was pretty good.

[DaisyL]

We came home last week, Oct. 14 from the PoAm The food quality is hit or miss. If you are interested in making reservations at the specialty restaurant you should do so the first or second day of the cruise.

 

Here's our experience (3 couples) and of course this is very subjective:

 

The first night we made a reservation for the Steakhhouse (used B1G1 free coupons). One person had the lamb chops and they were awful; fatty with grisle, The rest of us had filet mignon and all were good except 1. The scalloped potatoes were raw, but the mushrooms, asparagus and creamed spinach were excellent. The service was good and friendly.

 

The second night (Sunday) was lobster night and we did not find this out till later since we thought it was served on Tues. formal night on past cruises. Just as well since we heard the wait was horrendous, 75min, plus!! This night we ate at the French restaurant (made reservations the 1st day) with 3 having seafood, very good ... and 2 having duck -dried out and tough. The lobster/shrimp appetizer and escargot were excellent.

 

Tues we tried to make reservations for any specialty restaurant but everything was booked for the rest of the week.. The Italian was able to seat us at 9:30 PM that night. The assortment of antipasti was good and very traditional, and we each ordered different made-to-order pastas and all were good except 1 that was too oily.

 

The rest of the week we ate in either Liberty or Skyline and had to wait ~ 20 min except Fri. night which was very busy, arrived at 7:15 pm and there was an hour wait so we went to the 7:30 pm show instead and returned at 8:30 PM. Most meals were very good, but they would run out of items often.

 

As you can tell, we enjoy a sit down dinner in the evening but the buffet was very good for breakfast and lunch. Because we were on the go we only dined in the dining room once for breakfast, and enjoyed it. Look for the espresso/cappucino machine at the back of the ship for breakfast. Don't forget the outside grill on the upper deck-mid ship (I think 12?), very good hamburgers, hotdogs, kielbasa, grilled chicken and specials daily, we had most of our lunches (and drinks) here after returning from touring.

 

We thought the service was very good with the waiters personable, friendly, enthusiastic and eager. We really enjoyed the american crew! The menus, we thought , were a little odd with choices but we also thought so on the Dawn in May.

 

Any specific questions, just ask!

[Queensland Girl]

Thanks you replying - Would you be able to tell me which night was lobster night and is it only served in the 2 main dining rooms - Liberty & Skyline. From some reviews it used to be Tuesday night, but some appear to say it is now Sunday night ( the night of the lava viewing ). Thanks:) :)

[Queensland Girl]

Would you be able to tell me what is a BIGI coupon, and where do I get one from. Thanks:) :) :)

[DaisyL]

Queensland girl, Lobster night was Sun night for our Oct. 7 cruse on the PoAm but optional formal was Tues. night and Thurs. night.

 

Just ask when you board .... The buy-one-get-one-free coupon for a specialty restaurant was in a coupon book with our docs. I'm not sure who gets the coupon book. This was the only coupon we used as the others weren't useful to us.

 

Have a geat time... and enjoy Hawaii... cruising is the best way to get a good flavor of each island. Unfortunately you need to do a lot of pre-work for this cruise but it's all worth it.

[delgadofam2002]

I am planning a cruise to Hawaii between June-July 2007. Not sure which ship to go with. I know the first thing I would do is to arrange to always have the same server. That is something we enjoy. I have cruised with RCCL, Carnival, Princess, & once on the NCL Sun. Princess being my favorite of all. Need help.