Pride
of America
Hawaiian Islands
May 31 thru June 7, 2008
by
Nathan L.
Kimes, Sr.
My wife and I are experienced cruisers having been on lots of other
lines such as Princess, Cunard, Celebrity, Holland America, Royal
Caribbean, etc. We are both 57 and well traveled outside the cruise
scene. We realize that you have to be flexible, tolerant, and not
expect perfection if you want to enjoy your cruise. Don't take
everything too seriously and you will have a great time. Relax!
You're on vacation. That being said, we booked our Hawaiian cruise on
NCL America since they are the only line dedicated to the Hawaiian Islands.
Originally booked on the Pride of Aloha, NCL took the ship out of
service and notified us that we could change to the Pride of America
or be refunded our deposit. In just one phone call we re-booked on
Pride of America sailing just three weeks later than our original
departure date and had a wide variety of cabin choices as well as an
on-board credit for the inconvenience. NCL also reimbursed us for
the cost of changing our airline reservations and we received a
check for that in less than two weeks. Great customer service!
(Remember, be flexible, be nice, relax.) The only problem with the
change was that we had to fly into Honolulu one day earlier since
the airline—Northwest—was booked for the Saturday inbound
flights we needed. This worked out great since it gave us one night
in Honolulu before we left on the ship and we really enjoyed our
Friday afternoon and night on Waikiki and the next half-day in
Honolulu.
I had reserved a taxi/limo to take us to our hotel from the airport
and this is absolutely the way to go. You can take the airport
shuttle for $9.00 per person or pay a limo $30.00 to do the same
thing. However, the shuttle is a full size bus that does not leave
the airport until it is full. This could take thirty minutes or more
than an hour, depending on the time of day you arrive. Also, they
drop off everyone at their hotel and depending on where your hotel
is, you may ride for another hour or two before you get delivered.
The limo picked us up where the airport shuttle stops and we were in
our room in thirty minutes from pick-up, and this on a Friday
afternoon at rush hour. Call Passport Taxi & Limo four or five days
before your arrival and they will e-mail you all you need to know
about where to meet them after you get your luggage. We were in a
fairly new Lincoln Town Car with a great driver that handled all our
luggage at both ends of the trip.
We had a deluxe room at the Waikiki Sands Villa Hotel and they
upgraded us to a corner room with a balcony on two sides at no extra
charge. The hotel is only three blocks from Waikiki Beach and our
room overlooked the Ala Wai Canal and golf course and the other
balcony had a great view of Honolulu and Diamond Head and, of
course, a limited view of the ocean. The room was very clean, very
comfortable, and with the balcony doors opened we had a wonderful
cooling ocean breeze. The entire staff we dealt with were very
friendly and accommodating from the front desk to the bell hops. We
ate dinner in the hotel bar and grill and the food was really good
and priced very reasonably. Service was slow but the waitresses were
very friendly and took care of us. We loved the open air lobby—really puts you in the mood for Hawaii.
After checking in, we headed out toward Waikiki. It is no big walk
being only three blocks from the hotel and plenty of nice little
restaurants and shops on the way. The hotel is on Kanekapolei Street
and this dead ends into Kuhio Beach Park (Waikiki). That night they
had a dance school giving a performance of Hawaiian dances and also
some professional entertainers and musicians in what turned out to
be a two to three hour show open to the public at a stage area right
on the beach. Just walk up, sit down, enjoy. While this is going on,
behind you are people surfing and swimming as the sun sets. Quite a
photo opportunity and just what we hoped Hawaii would be.
Saturday morning we walked a couple blocks from the hotel to the
International Market Place and some of the many stores and shops in
the area and out on the pier at the park again before taking a taxi
to the ship. We arrived at the ship where we found out you are on
your own when they drop you off. You have to carry or wheel your
luggage about 100 yards through security and into a warehouse where
you are checked in. No body from NCL is anywhere to give you
directions or help. You have to figure it out by yourself and hope
you are going in the right direction.
Check in was fast and we were on the ship quickly once we found out
where the check-in area was. However, unlike every other cruise we
have been on, our room was not ready and we had to wait two hours to
get into our cabin. And we arrived at the ship at 3:00 pm! Oh
well, be flexible, relax... go have a drink and something to eat
and look over the ship.
The Pride of America is staffed with an American crew and staff
throughout. Service is not quite what you get with a European or
Asian staff but is sufficient and they get the job done. Almost
everyone was friendly and carried on conversations when you spoke to
them and acted like you were friendly also. Our cabin steward, Paul,
did a great job in keeping our cabin clean and supplied. He even
left clean beach towels daily and you can take them with you off the
ship if you go to the beach. My wife would always pick-up at least
two more clean bath towels every day when she passed a service cart
in the passageway since two towels a day are not nearly enough for
us. We could not get Paul to remember extra towels so we handled it
ourselves. Be flexible, adapt, relax...
We had an inside cabin
on deck 10 forward. This was only one floor below the Aloha Cafe
buffet so was convenient, especially at breakfast time when you are
in more of a hurry to eat and go. But all the other restaurants
except those at the pool are located on the lower decks so everybody
has to take the elevator anyway. The food at the buffet was usually
fresh and hot but not a great deal of variety from day to day. The
usual stir fry and sandwich type buffet with good salads and lots of
fruit and deserts. Breakfast never changed but there was always
plenty of it. The main dining rooms had somewhat better food quality
but again was limited in variety. And the portions were tiny no
matter what you ordered. Two nights we left the dining room after
eating and went to the buffet to get something else because the
portions are so small we felt like we just had appetizers. I think
they do this on purpose so you will go to the restaurants that
charge a per-person charge to eat at them. We tried two of these—the Lazy J Steakhouse and East Meets West Asian—and both were
excellent in every way and well worth the small price of $10.00 per
person. We had to spend our on-board credit so the charges did not
matter to us anyway. The only really bad meal we had was at the
Cadillac Diner (no charge), where the menu is very limited and all
fried food. They try to make a ham sandwich a gourmet meal and
failed miserably. I just wanted a ham and cheese sandwich! No big
deal—just
go back to the buffet and get what you want. Be flexible, relax...
All in all, the food was probably the worst
we have had on any cruise but even at that, it was okay and we never
went hungry. Just go up to the pool and have a hot dog or hamburger
if all else fails.
The best thing about "Freestyle Dining" is the open seatings in the dining rooms. If they would
improve the food quality I could be an NCL fan but as it is now I
don't know that we will be back on NCL for a while. But everyone
should try "Freestyle Cruising" once and see how it suits you. It
may be just what you are looking for.
The entertainment was very amateurish and was like watching a
college music department's show. They tried their best but just did
not have much production value to the shows we saw. The usual cruise
comic and cruise magician were pretty much run of the mill and
neither of them seemed very happy to be there. Have a couple of
drinks before going to the shows and you will enjoy them much more
or do like my wife and spend the time in the ship's shopping
gallery. Be flexible, adapt...
The ship itself was
very clean and in very good condition. Someone was always cleaning,
dusting, vacuuming, etc. The lobby is really beautiful as are most
of the bars and public rooms. The "pay as you go" restaurants are
also very nicely decorated and are very comfortable and clean. The
pool area was always kept litter free and they washed the area every
night. As is always the case, unoccupied loungers are hard to find
around the pool but there are plenty available overlooking the pool
on the sun decks. In general, the ship was nice and comfortable and
quiet at night and the air conditioning worked great in our cabin.
What else could you ask for?
The ship made four ports plus Honolulu. This is what we wanted, to
see different islands and use the ship as our traveling hotel. This
worked great for us and I would recommend this cruise for everyone
that wants to see the variety of the islands. We rented a car at
each port except Kona and, again, would recommend this to anyone as
the way to see the islands. A rental car is cheaper than a shore
excursion booked thru the cruise line and you can go your own
schedule. The most we paid for any one car was $54.00 and this was
because I rented a convertible one day on Maui. A mid-size car will
run you $35.00 to $45.00 and all the major rental companies have
shuttle buses that pick you up at the pier and take you to the
rental location and back to the ship. Driving is just like any place
else in the U.S. and traffic was never a problem. However, be aware
that they drive much slower in Hawaii than any where else I have
been. So don't get in a hurry and enjoy the scenery... relax. There
is a lot to see so start out early and have a good map with you.
Everyone we met at restaurants, parks, service stations, convenience
stores, shuttle buses, stores and shops, etc. were really friendly
and accommodating. We were told several times that they depend on us
tourists for their livelihoods and how much they appreciate our
visiting Hawaii. That was kind of different and nice for a change.
It was not nearly as expensive as we were led to believe with food
and gas prices only moderately to slightly more than we pay on the
mainland.
Some must see places we recommend are:
- Honolulu - Waikiki Beach, Pearl Harbor (really great!)
- Maui (port of Kahului) - Drums of the Pacific Luau at the
Hyatt, Ka'anapali; the road to Hana (just go half way!); Lahaina town
- Hawaii (port of Hilo) - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; Onomea
Scenic Drive, Akaka Falls State Park
- Hawaii (port of Kona) - take the two and one-half hour air tour of
the island in a fixed-wing aircraft operated by Island Hoppers. It
is better
than the helicopter tour, longer, cheaper and you see the entire
island. We loved it!!
- Kaui (port of Lihue) - Waimea Canyon (wow!! and free);
Coconut Coast drive if time allows; Niamalu Beach is also a short walk from
the ship.
In closing, Hawaii was pretty much what we expected—beautiful,
lush, relaxing and unique in many ways. The people of Hawaii make
you feel welcome and want your visit to be a great experience. Ours
was and we hope to return to Hawaii again. If you decide to go, just
remember to be flexible, adapt, and relax!! Aloha...
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