Norwegian Cruise Line
** Update: Since we sailed on this ship, it has been to dry dock for a $30 million refurbishment. Read the PRESS RELEASE here to check out the updates.**
Our first impression
We boarded the ship immediately after that and explored the Pride of America as our room was not quite ready yet. As you enter, you immediately see the huge Americana style staircase and beautiful marble floors of the 5th deck. Very impressive and warm feeling!
By mid afternoon our room was ready so we went up to the 8th floor to check it out. The room was a little smaller than our rooms on other ships we have been on, but we figured it would be since the ship was quite a bit smaller.
Overall, the room was clean, except for something on the runner across the bed (not sure what that was), someone’s slippers left in the closet, and the balcony which had dirt and cigarette butts in the corner.
We set out to see where the eateries are, where the pool deck is and where all the entertainment takes place. This appears to be an older ship, with some things in need of repair, but all-in-all is kept pretty clean and tidy and all the workers were friendly and happy and always had a greeting for us!
Since we had some time to kill before our room was ready, we went down to the Gold Rush Saloon for drinks and met a really nice couple from Canada. Had a great time talking with them and sharing stories and met up with them several times during the cruise here and there.
We don’t set sail until 8:00 p.m., so we spent some time at the pool listening to the band and checking out the buffet for both lunch and dinner. Good food, hot and fresh, about what you would expect from a buffet. The only thing I didn’t like was that the drink cups were on the small side so you had to refill 3 or 4 times to get enough. Great desserts and the soft serve ice cream machine and toppings were yummy!
We then went down to the Hollywood Theater for our first show, which was the comedian. He was hysterical and got members from the audience up and on stage.
After this, we pretty much went to the room to wind down and watch a little TV (and by “little” I mean a 13″ non-digital TV, which we heard are going to be upgraded in March 2013 when the ship goes to dry dock). The seas are a little rough going between the islands and you do hear some “creaking” near the balcony door, just something you have to get used to and not too bad after awhile. Off to sleep to get ready for day 2 of our cruise….
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Cruise Day #2
This morning we woke up in Kahului Harbor in Maui.
We’ve had great luck with the weather! Today we have the Atlantis submarine excursion scheduled, so excited!
So, we go up to the Aloha buffet and have a great breakfast, then get ready for our bus trip to the western side of the island. The ship is docked on the eastern side of the island (which the islanders call the “windward” side). It is generally much windier on the eastern side.
Our submarine ride begins in the harbor in Lahaina and we arrive about an hour before our scheduled dive. We had some time to look around Lahaina and visited the old courthouse and their banyan tree in their courtyard. It is amazing!!
It is the 3rd largest banyan tree in the world. It is so big they actually have a kind of “flea market” under it today with people selling their local goods and street performers.
The Atlantis Submarine
It’s beautiful and warm on this side of the island. Finally it’s time for our submarine voyage! We get on a party boat and get our safety instructions, etc. and the crew lets us know what we will be encountering when we arrive at the submarine, which is stationed about a mile and a half out off shore.
As you arrive there, you get to see the sub emerge from the sea and then they offload the previous group and your group gets on the sub. This is an actual working submarine. We actually dive down about 130-150 feet and see all kinds of beautiful fish and coral reefs. It’s really hard to get good pictures as they all turn out bluish gray, but it was just gorgeous down there!
You see a really cool shipwreck, which the Atlantis Submarine company actually towed there and sunk to be used as a manmade reef for the fish and other creatures. This was an awesome experience and I would recommend it for anyone, even families with small children over 3 years old.
It is very roomy in the sub and not claustrophobic at all with good aeration at all times. The crew of the party boat and the sub are great and keep you laughing, all the while giving you great information about the sub and the ocean. All in all, I would definitely recommend this excursion! Very fun!
One thing I would do is go online or call the Atlantis Company if you want to book this trip as we could hear the lady at the check-in booth giving people prices as they walked up and their prices were quite a bit cheaper than what we booked it for on the ship.
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Cruise Day #3
Today we spend another beautiful day on Maui. We had a great breakfast at the Cadillac Diner and then got ready for the day.
We opted to do the “Lahaina on your own” excursion, which basically consists of transportation to the other side of the island to Lahaina. The weather today is just as gorgeous and warm as yesterday!
We opted to take the city bus from Lahaina (which runs about every half hour or so) from the street on the side of Hilo Hattie’s up to Whaler’s Village and Kaanapali Beach. This is just a short trip, about 20 minutes or so, and costs only $2.00 per person each way. Way cheaper than a cab!
Exploring Maui
Whaler’s Village is a beautiful shopping center right in front of Kaanapali Beach with upscale stores and lots of eateries, including a Subway and a frozen yogurt shop.
As you go behind Whaler’s Village, you come upon Kaanapali Beach with all its beautiful hotels! This is a beautiful, clean, family beach. All the major hotels line the beach area.
You have to go and see the Westin at Kaanapali! Oh my gosh, the pool area is so inviting and tropical with its lush gardens and water slide for the kids. We laid on the beach for several hours soaking in the sun and relaxing!
You can rent any kind of beach equipment (snorkeling gear, paddleboards, boogie boards, etc) at a booth right in front of the Westin Hotel for really good prices. I think snorkel gear was about $5.00 for the day.
Lailani’s on the Beach
We got hungry, so decided to eat at Leilani’s on the Beach. What an awesome restaurant with a great ocean view, but nice shade! Not pricey at all and the portions were huge! My husband and I split and sandwich and they brought it on 2 plates with tons of fries. Very yummy!
Had a nice cold drink with lunch, then decided to check out the shops in Whaler’s Village. They have a great variety of shops with all different price ranges, so not just pricey shops. Had to catch the 2:30 bus back to Lahaina, so didn’t shop all that much, but had a great time at the beach here and would definitely like to come back and stay a week or two at Kaanapali Beach, especially at the Westin!
The Pool on the Ship
After getting back on board the ship, we went down to the pool area for drinks and to listen to the band. The ship also serves an outdoor limited buffet around 3:00-4:00 p.m. around the pool deck (hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken breasts for sandwiches, fries, etc), so this works out great if you plan on having a later dinner or skipped lunch.
After the band gets done playing, the crew gets the audience engaged in playing some games and doing limbo by the pool. Really fun to watch!
Dinner at the Aloha Cafe
We ate dinner at the Aloha Café again and the meal was great! The variety of fresh fruit is great and the desserts are always delish!
The Mardi Gras on the Ship
After dinner, we went to the Mardi Gras to see singer/musician Willie K. Willie is a terrific performer! He can sing anything from pop to opera and plays an amazing ukulele and guitar! Wonderful show!! Following this show, we stayed and watched the Not so Newlywed Game – hilarious! Off to bed, big day tomorrow!
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Cruise Day # 4
Today was a big day!
We have the Circle of Fire, open door, Paradise Helicopter tour which flies over the active volcano of Kilauea!
We don’t have to be at the airport until 11:30, so we had a leisurely breakfast at the Aloha, cleaned up the room a bit and then took the free shuttle to Hilo Hattie’s to kill some time. Looked around there, then went back to the port. Took a taxi from the port to the airport (about $15 each way).
Circle of Fire – Paradise Helicopter Tour – Hilo, Hawaii
I was super nervous about riding in a helicopter, let alone one with no doors!
You first meet with your group and watch a video about the island’s culture, the volcano, etc., and then have a safety briefing. You then walk out to the tarmac and get loaded onto your helicopter.
Our pilot was Marco and he was awesome. Looked like he was about 18 years old, but I was assured he was much older than that…
I got to sit in the middle between the pilot and my husband, which made me feel much more secure. The weather was beautiful as we took off and therefore we didn’t wear our windbreakers. Big mistake!
As we got about 5 minutes into the ride the rain clouds came and we got damp. It was cold up there, but the view on top of the volcano took away the feeling of being cold very quickly. It was fantastic!
You could see where the volcano had flowed the year before, wiping out the villages around it. It was sad and beautiful at the same time. There were tiny bits of road you could see from the helicopter.
We got so close to the bubbling pots of lava, so cool! Marco then took us out to the coast where the lava tubes were flowing and we could see it coming out of the cliffs and dropping into the blue water. Such a sight to see! It was amazing how well he handled the helicopter with how windy it was.
On the way back to the airport we flew through the rainforest and saw some gorgeous waterfalls, exactly what you would imagine seeing in Hawaii!
Richardson State Park | Black Sand Beach – Hawaii
After finishing at the airport, we took a taxi back to the ship, had a bite to eat and then headed out again to find the nearby black sand beach. The taxi driver took us to Richardson State Park, about 15 minutes away, and said he or another driver would come back for us.
This is an amazing beach that has sea turtles in the tide pools of the black volcanic rock and beautiful lush gardens around it. There are a lot of “local” kids who hang out at this beach, so probably not one I would recommend again, although they didn’t bother us in the least.
We got a little nervous when it was getting close to the time we were supposed to be back on the ship and no taxi had arrived, but all of a sudden a lady taxi driver showed up and said the other driver sent her – gotta have faith I guess, but it was a little nerve wracking.
Dinner at the Liberty
Tonight we had dinner at the Liberty again. The food was great and they always have live music playing while you eat, which is nice.
Hollywood Theatre – ‘Oh What a Night’
Wanted to see a show, so we went to “Oh What a Night” in the Hollywood Theatre. This is a tribute band to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and what a great show they put on! They get the crowd really going! I wish they played every night! Off to bed to get ready for Kona tomorrow!
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Cruise Day # 5
Kona, Hawaii
During the night, our ship moved from one side of the big island to the other, so when you wake up you are in Kona! This is the only port that you have to be tendered in to the shore. They use the ship’s own lifeboats to do the tendering and it is a very smooth and quick process. It was a matter of 20 minutes from when we lined up to board the lifeboat until we were on shore.
Kona is a very cute little town. There’s a small beach to your left as you get off the boat that looks very clean and calm, but we wanted to see a little more and do some snorkeling today.
Snorkeling on Turtle Beach
We went across the street to the Beach Shack where we talked to one of the shop owners. They arrange tours there and for only $10 per person, plus $5 for a beach chair each, we were shuttled by her friendly husband to what they call “Turtle Beach” or Kahalu’u Beach.
They issue you a wristband, which also gives you 10% off at the snack shack there, and they make trips back by this stop every 30 minutes to pick you up. This is a nice clean family beach with a lifeguard, clean bathrooms, freshwater showers and shade! So glad we picked this excursion!
The snorkeling here was even more amazing than what I had seen in the Caribbean! The water was clear and there were so many varieties of fish to see.
They had volunteers here from ReefTeach, a group that educates the public on reef safety, etc. They had charts of the fish so you could identify what you had just seen in the water.
The water is shallow here and you can stand up even about 200 feet out from the shore. There were so many kids in the water and it was amazing watching them snorkel for the first time and get so excited!
They also run a surf school right outside this beach, so you have to stay pretty much in front of the main beach so you don’t get knocked out by a surfer or paddle-boarder! The water was amazingly warm, no wetsuits needed! This is the ultimate place to get some underwater pictures since the water is crystal clear.
Mornings are best for snorkeling at this beach as the tide does come in about 2:00 and makes it a tiny bit deeper and rougher, but still definitely okay for swimming and snorkeling.
Back to Kona for a Drink
The last pickup for the shuttle leaves at 3:00 from here, so we caught the last one and went back to Kona for a drink at the restaurant overlooking the pier where we caught the tender. This was just a nice, relaxing day.
Back to the Ship
Went back to the ship, showered and had drinks by the pool again and enjoyed the music! It’s a nice time to wind down before dinner.
Dinner at the Aloha Cafe and Entertainment at the Hollywood Theatre, again~
Went to dinner at the Aloha again as we liked not having to change from our comfy clothes.
After dinner we went back to the Hollywood Theatre and saw the husband and wife singing team (sorry, can’t remember their names), but they put on a good lively show!
Sailing by the Lava Tubes from Kilauea
As the show ends, the cruise director announces we will be sailing by the lava tubes from the Kilauea volcano, so we all rush onto the top starboard side of the ship. They said that this is the most the lava has flowed all year and it was so amazing to see! There was river after river of bright red lava flowing!
Our lady Hawaiian ambassador from the ship was on the public address system and told of the Hawaiian folklore associated with the volcano and said a prayer in Hawaiian and then in English. It was a magical experience and how lucky were we to get to see this! Next stop, Kauai!
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Cruise Day # 6
As we wake up, we realize we are entering the Nawiliwili Harbor in Lihue, Kauai. The harbor is really pretty and we get to see the sun rise above the peaks. We ordered room service, which is okay, but really doesn’t have the variety of the buffet. It is nice to just sit out on your balcony and watch the ship come into the harbor though and not have to rush down to breakfast.
Since we spent the day in the sun yesterday in Kona, we decided to do a less sun-intensive excursion today. We picked the river ride up the Wailua River to the fern grotto. This was a really relaxing excursion, but beautiful scenery. Our bus driver, Damien from Robert’s Tours, kept up quite entertained on the bus! What a character he was and by the end of the trip he knew almost everyone’s names on that bus! As you board the boats for the trip up river, they have musicians playing Hawaiian music and hula dancers performing up and down the aisles. They are really welcoming here and make you feel really at home. We passed lots of people in kayaks and on paddle boards going up river to see the falls, but we went to the left to the fern grotto. This is an amazingly green grotto with probably over 100 types of ferns and flowers everywhere. You gather on a platform underneath a cave on the side of the hill with a slight waterfall coming over it. This is a place where people get married, if they are so lucky! It’s just beautiful! Our guide sings the Hawaiian wedding song and makes all the couples give each other a kiss! Very cute! After the fern grotto, we get back on the bus to go see the falls in the Waimea Canyon. It’s so pretty up here and the falls are really flowing! On a side note, you can take the city trolley car up there for free from the port if you don’t want to do any other part of the tour. Bought some amazingly delicious fresh roasted macadamia nuts from a woman up at the falls… way better than the ones in the jar!! After leaving the falls, we stop at a beautiful ocean lookout spot that was great for taking pictures (sorry, can’t remember the name of it). Blue, blue water and white foam! All in all, a very nice relaxing tour and fun bus ride with Damien! The Robert’s tour guides give you information along every step of your tours, even coming from the airport to your hotel at 2:00 in the morning, they are amazing!
Tonight we had a nice dinner again at the Liberty, then went to watch the Glen Miller copy band. They actually were pretty good and had a good time watching the couples dancing, some of which were amazing (I think they were like competition dancers or something..)!
We are really enjoying the “freestyle” dining and shows on this cruise! We ate when we wanted to, saw shows when we wanted to and were in bed at a reasonable time each night and felt really rested even though we were out in different ports each day!
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Cruise Day # 7
Today is our 2nd day in Lihue, Kauai. We slept in a bit, had a leisurely breakfast again at the Aloha, and then gathered our things for a leisurely day at the beach in front of the Marriott Hotel, which is about 1/4 mile from the entrance to where you get off the ship. First, we stopped and looked around the shops before the beach and bought some souvenirs and t-shirts to take home. Not a lot of shops here, but a lot of handmade items and shirts. We then went and explored the Marriott Hotel area. Beautiful pool and garden areas! We found a spot at the back of the beach where you can lay your towel out and use the grass as a backrest and enjoyed a few hours in the sun! There are a lot of surfers and outrigger canoes in the water here and it’s so beautiful to watch! This is a short day in port as we have to be back on ship by 1:30 as we set sail an hour after that. As we are hunting for some lunch, we spot Duke’s Restaurant and decide to eat there and have a drink before boarding the ship. Had some great nachos and enjoyed our last little bit of beach time!
Back on the ship, we wait and wait and wait, but we aren’t leaving… they kept calling the names of some people who obviously had not boarded the ship on time and kept us sitting in the harbor for a good hour and a half past our shove off time. Finally…. we head off for our last night of cruising on our way back to Honolulu. This is the afternoon/evening where you see another amazing highlight of the trip – the Napili Coast. If you are lucky enough to be on the port side of the ship, as we were, you have a beautiful view of coast line and the sunset, and even whales coming out of the water and spouting! This is something everybody should see! You can also see the coast as the ship turns around and cruises by again, but the timing is later and it’s almost dark by that time so not as good for pictures. But, as the ship turned around and starting cruising again, I looked down and saw the cutest dolphin jump out of the water right down from our balcony! This is the only dolphin I saw the whole trip! I think he just wanted to tell me yes, there are dolphins in Hawaii!!!
After dinner at the Aloha tonight, we went down to the Hollywood Theatre to see the farewell variety show. This included all the band members we saw during the trip, the comedian, the dancers and the members of the Oh What a Night show. It was really good. My husband even got picked by the comedian to go on stage and had to act like a pony! Ha-ha! Too funny! They bring all the staff from the ship on stage so they can take a bow and some of them even sing and dance. Very nice show, but sad it was our last night!
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Summary of our experience
This ship definitely needs the refurbishing it is getting in March of this year, but besides a few minor cleaning snafus, we found everything really up to par. I would love to come back on again to see the new upgrades and take another tour of the islands! Maybe next year?
1. Don’t fly on Allegiant Airlines!
2. Don’t stay at the Aston Waikiki Beach unless you are prepared for noise!
3. Do take the Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America to see the islands! Gives you a good taste of each island!
4. Bring an umbrella, rain pops up suddenly here and there!
Aloha, and mahalo for reading my rather lengthy review!
