Cruise Ship: Pride of America
Cruise Destination: Hawaii
Cruise Dates: October 21 through October 28, 2006
Guest Contributor: Douglas Maggard
I will keep this short(as possible).
My first cruise, so not much to compare it to. Service was great, at least my experience was good, Everyone I dealt with was great.
The food was mediocre to average at best. The "Teppanyaki" was edible but not worth the additional price. I live in the mountains of Kentucky and I can find much better Japanese Hibachi grills here than they had on the ship, the resturarant itself was very nice but the food was, in my opinion, below average. I ate my first meal on Saturday evening in the Liberty main restuarant, and both myself and my wife left hungry, The food was terrible. The one bright spot for food was the LAZY J Steakhouse, It was fantastic, one of the best steaks I have ever eaten.
The dress code of "resort casual" was enforced very loosly, I saw shorts and T shirts in several of the restuarants at different times, although they were coordinated outfits.
The ship is very nice, kept clean, and there is enough to do to keep anyone busy. They need to find a way to spend more time "cruising", You wake up each morning or so in a different port after travelling all night. Sometimes you can feel a bit rushed,
The ship is very smooth running and you can hardly feel the motion unless the seas get up around 6 ft. Had a couple of rough nights sleeping.
All in all it was OK, you can find a restuarant or 2 you like and stick with them, hottubs everywhere, a nice pool, and enough bars to satisfy anyone.
They lead you to believe all is paid for in your package, although I still felt the need to tip, especially my housekeeper, as she seemed extremely overworked, but still managed to do a bangup job. There is a 35.00 per person charge for Coke of all things, I still cannot figure that out. All you can drink of anything you want, except alcohol, but they feel compelled to charge $35 per person for a week's worth of soda. They will allow you to bring Coke or other canned drinks on the ship, much cheaper to do that, keep it in your refrigerator in the stateroom and have it available as you want it.
I enjoyed the cruise although it was not what I had expected. The next time I visit Hawaii, I think I will find a motel room on a quite part of either Maui or Kauai, and just relax.
Kauai Is Fantastic . . .Beautiful. In my opinion the best of all the islands.
Doug from Hazard Kentucky
