Beautiful Sites, Great Food, Awesome Entertainment

Pride of America Cruise Review to Hawaii

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 52

Overall rating:

4.8 out of 5
Pride of America

7 Night Hawaii (Honolulu Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 29, 2018

Ship: Pride of America

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7028

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

This was my first time sailing on a Norweigan cruise ship and the PoA didn't disappoint. We had a balcony room that offered nice views and cool breezes. Our room steward, Velma, was fantastic. I took advantage of the laundry service once and even though I was delivered the wrong laundry initially, I had my garments within an hour. Food was delicious and most of the waitstaff were great. We had one experience where we felt forgotten when we were in the Skyline dining room for breakfast...did a lot of waiting for water refills and to be waited on. The ports were phenomenal and had plenty to keep you busy. The pools weren't ever full when we visited (in the morning hours around 10-11am), nor were the hot tubs. Easily the best vacation I've ever been on. Hawaii is so beautiful that we didn't want to leave!

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Since my husband and I did the 11-day Hawaiian Adventure, the first 3 days were spent on a tour bus with an awesome driver. The embarkation process was smooth and easy. And our bags were already at the room!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
The food was phenomenal. All these reviews giving the food 2 & 3 stars...not sure what they're expecting, but it was delicious! My favorite was Cagney's Steakhouse.

Pink's Champagne Bar

3 out of 5

Waited for a while for someone to take our order (not at the bar proper-the waitstaff) even though people walked past us several times.

Gold Rush Saloon

5 out of 5

Karaoke night was fun. Bar staff was extremely friendly.

Skyline Restaurant

4 out of 5

We had great times here...only had one bad experience.

Aloha Lanai Bar

5 out of 5

Never had an empty glass!

Mardi Gras Cabaret Lounge & Nightclub

5 out of 5

Great bar/wait staff and great shows/games.

Liberty Restaurant

5 out of 5

This place was great. Food was excellent and the decor is very patriotic.

Cadillac Diner

5 out of 5

Food was great and so was the service!

Aloha Café

4 out of 5

The food was good, but it was always very crowded.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
We didn't participate in a lot of the activities, but definitely took advantage of the comedian show and Bingo, The Almost Newlywed Game, and the Battle of the Sexes. Really entertaining and fun!

SS America Library

3 out of 5

Nice selection of books if you could actually borrow them. Library staffed only 2 hours per day...and even if someone was working in the library, most of the time they weren't able to check you out. IDK why....

Mandara Spa & Salon

3 out of 5

Had a manicure. Wasn't the best...save your money. Got the shellac mani...peeling and bumpy already. It's been three days.

Reception

5 out of 5

Awesome! Staff was extremely nice!

Oasis Pool

5 out of 5

Shallow pool, was kinda small too. But it was in an area that was never crowded.

South Beach Pool

5 out of 5

Very clean and nice. Not crowded when we visited. Water was cold, but you got used to it.

Hot Tubs

5 out of 5

Warm but not excruciatingly hot. Very nice.

Newbury Street Shops

5 out of 5

I bought a few things here...never felt over charged.

Entertainment

4 out of 5
Comedian was funny. The only show we saw was good, but too short.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Our stateroom steward greeted us every time she saw us (Velma!). But all the staff was extremely friendly and nice.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
The ship was clean and there were constantly people walking around collecting dirty plates/silverware/cups.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
The bed was comfortable except for the portion where the two twins were joined at the bottom. That was kind of a rough spot. The room was bigger than the picture window we had initially booked, but it didn't feel like we had much room to walk around. I assume this is usual on all cruise ships as I had an internal stateroom on another ship and was still pretty cramped. I loved the balcony and made sure to spend time on it at least once per day.

Ship tip

Make reservations for dinner every night the first day you board. That way you won't have to worry about waiting for a table to come open or worry that if you want to make a reservation later on, the time will be full.

Ports of call

Honolulu, Oahu

5 out of 5
We spent 3 days touring the island on a Polynesian Adventure tour bus before the cruise. Learned a lot about the island, the history, and the culture and saw some beautiful sites. We also visited Pearl Harbor and it was a very humbling experience.

Kahului, Maui

5 out of 5
Do the sunset whale watching tour. It won't disappoint. Plus, we saw whales!

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

4 out of 5
We didn't do an excursion at this port. We pretty much got off the ship, walked the beach, and got back on the ship. Visit the Del Sol store though. Great staff and good deals!

Nawiliwili, Kauai

5 out of 5
After being given the idea from a waiter at Cagney's, we rented a car and drove around exploring all day. My favorite part was the Waimea Canyon and Lydgate State Park.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Since our flight was late (9:40pm), we did another tour around the island as an excursion to waste time. Had a great driver and stopped at some look outs that we didn't the week before.
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3 Comments

MountainMama08    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

yailuv2cruise    5 years ago

Thanks so much for your review! We will be on POA on Saturday...first time on an NCL cruise and first visit to Hawaii.

donnaowens821    5 years ago

Good review

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