Pride of America/Family Suite/Deck 9 or 10?

[hugosmom]

We are planning a trip in February on Pride of America, and it looks like we might be able to swing one of the aft Family Suites with Balcony (AF). Looks like Deck 10 is directly below the Aloha Cafe (maybe it has another name, but it's a dining area) and we're wondering if there would be a big difference in the noise level between that and Deck 9 if we are on the balcony.

 

Our other possibility is category AD (Penthouse) - those are forward and I didn't see anything directly above those except other staterooms.

 

I'd love to hear pros and cons of either choice. And would also appreciate ideas about whether port or starboard is the preferred side for getting the most of this Hawaiian cruise.

 

Thanks in advance!

[CC Help Michell]

We are planning a trip in February on Pride of America, and it looks like we might be able to swing one of the aft Family Suites with Balcony (AF). Looks like Deck 10 is directly below the Aloha Cafe (maybe it has another name, but it's a dining area) and we're wondering if there would be a big difference in the noise level between that and Deck 9 if we are on the balcony.

 

Our other possibility is category AD (Penthouse) - those are forward and I didn't see anything directly above those except other staterooms.

 

I'd love to hear pros and cons of either choice. And would also appreciate ideas about whether port or starboard is the preferred side for getting the most of this Hawaiian cruise.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Portside, for the Napali Coast sailby. Some people have reported their ships turning during the sailby to give both sides of the ship a view, but the dominant side on our sailing was definitely the portside -- the captain did a quick 360 at the end. If your cabin is under the aft lanai you certainly could have a bit more noise from chair scraping, etc. However, the extra space and aft balcony would also be nice to have.

[princessebird]

Portside was definitely the dominant side for the Napali coast sail-by last week, and it was nice see the coast of Kauai as we got there. But realize that's only about 4 hours of the entire trip (the Napali coast itself was more like 45 minutes). However, you should know that the portside is the side that is next to the pier in both Maui and Kauai and that they had some pretty ugly views (in Maui we watched cargo containers be moved back and forth and in Kauai we saw an oil refinery, we think) and you are in each for at least 36 hours. Also, the dock itself was pretty loud. My husband and I like leaving the door to the balcony open at night, but the roar of the nearby roads and early morning workers at these industrial ports made us shut the balcony door each night we were in port.