The PRIDE of America

One way to sample a little bit of the various islands is to go on the NCL America (Norwegian Cruise Lines of America) ship Pride of America. The ship departs each Saturday evening and brings you back the following Saturday morning. They visit Maui for two days, the Big Island (Hilo and Kona) and Kauai (a day and a half).

Other ships visit the islands, but they start off from Mexico or the west coast of the US and cross the Pacific to Hawaii, cruise the islands and then cruise back to the mainland. This takes at least two weeks. And they only run in the fall, winter and spring. If you want to go in the summertime, you basically have to take the Pride.

Saturday, 19 June 2010

This morning, I got up about 5:30 and edited some photos and posted them while I still have hi-speed and free internet. Then we went to Jimmy Buffets for breakfast. They were having some kind of meeting in the main restaurant so we had to eat on the patio and do the buffet.

Building across the street from the hotel

Jimmy Buffet's Restaurant Patio

He's 12 so he can have the child's buffet which was $9.45. He had pancakes, and dry cereal

My photo and His photo of his breakfast

and a huge omelet,

His omelet

while I just got a bagel and bacon and juice

My breakfast

There was a ladybug on the table.

Ladybug at breakfast

After we finished playing with the ladybug, I got my grandson to put it in the shrubbery

Marauding myna bird at breakfast

so it wouldn't get eaten by one of the birds that were cruising the tables

We finished packing and checked out by phone. We struggled down with our bags and asked for a taxi. But there was a Gay Pride parade in front of the hotel

Gay Pride Parade

Gay Pride Parade

Gay Pride Parade

so the taxi had to come in from the back. While we waited, my grandson took some pictures of the parade. He wanted to know why people would be proud of being Gay. I told him to ask his mother that question when he got home. (Because I did not know what his father would want me to say)

Alley beside hotel from the taxi as we were leaving

The taxi driver didn't appear to speak much English - he mostly talked to the dispatcher in Hawaiian or Japanese. He spent his time hunched over the wheel as if he couldn't see well, and humming to himself. He dropped us off outside the gate.

I suddenly realized that I had not printed out ship boarding passes. I had registered so far in advance that couldn't print them out. But they let me in the gate without them but told me I couldn't go inside or check the bags until noon. So we went and sat.

When I saw some baggage men come out, I asked one of them and he took the checked bags including my grandson's backpack with his computer and passport. He said I should go inside and sit. So I did that.

Then someone inside said I could go and register, so we had our embarkation photo taken

Boarding photo

and went through security. I beeped and had to be wanded. I had forgotten to take my cell phone out of my pocket (I so seldom use it) and I had a NCL Latitudes pin on.

We registered. They did not ask for my permission to have my grandson with me. We got group one to board. I asked for a wheelchair so the lady at the Latitudes desk said she would get one for me. They gave us ladies a flower for our ear,

My flower

and did some hula demonstrations (I took a video but the computer ate it)

Hawaiian dancer at embarkation

and gave us fresh coconut while we waited. Finally at noon, the wheelchair pushers came and my lady snagged one for me.

He took us up to the buffet.

Seats in the Aloha cafe (the buffet)

My grandson had all his fav foods - bread, mashed and fried potatoes, corn on the cob, pizza. And he had a root beer.

J.'s lunch

My lunch was a chicken Ceasar salad, cheese and spinach turnover and an oatmeal raisin cookie

My lunch

We took some photos from the buffet deck of the harbor

Plane leaving airport and Coast guard ship

Playground on shore

Aloha tower

and I hadn't gotten a photo of the Aloha tower before so we took pictures of that too.

Tower from the ship

When the Aloha Tower was built in 1926, a brilliant navigation light was displayed from the top of the tower. Although it was maintained privately, the tower was an important beacon for ships arriving in Honolulu. It has been inactive as a navigational aid since the late 1960s although it is floodlit at night. The Aloha Tower is a 184 ft square masonry tower topped by a domed cupola.

We looked at them bunkering (taking on fuel).

Bunkering

They had a band playing in the atrium.

Musicians

Atrium elevators and Stairs in the centrum from the elevator

The Great Seal and States names as decoration around edge of center atrium

I thought maybe I could sneak in at 1300 (as I have been able to on other ships)

Rope off corridor to room

but the hall was roped off with a yellow rope and the rooms were obviously not ready. So I went to the internet cafe to look at emails while I was waiting.

Since we couldn't get into our rooms yet, so my grandson went off to explore the ship.

Diagram of the ship

Promenade deck

Decoration by elevators

Elevators

Shuffleboard court

Main Liberty dining room

Theatre

24 hour Cadillac Diner

We went to the lifeboat drill.

Life boat drill

We finally got into the rooms at 1600. Way too late. And the rooms were not clean. I found a towel stuck in the top of the shower curtain.

Our room has a closet on one side at the entrance - hangers

empty hangers

and some open shelves at the end and at the other end a ladder.

inside the closet

The ladder is to get into the upper bunks - we have a room for four. Then there is the TV area

TV

which has a top shelf where the bedspreads are kept. Then the next level is a small fridge and the TV (which has ESPN, CNN, Fox News, and TNT) Then is a shelf with the ice bucket.

Ice bucket area

Then there are two deep drawers and some shelves where we are keeping the beach towels and a stool.

Twin beds each have their own reading light, and a little table - just a table - no shelves or drawers.

Bottom of his bed

Between the beds is a window which looks out on the mechanism to launch the lifeboats,

View from the window

and we can see part of the promenade deck.

Desk - hair driver, my computer and phone on the wall

On the other side from the TV is the desk/vanity with a mirror and hairdryer, two deep drawers, and the plugs. Above this is the cabinet with the safe and a shelf above that.

The bathroom has a shower, sink, small medicine cabinet behind a mirror

Glasses holders

and a toilet.

Toilet

There appear to be two trash bins made of metal and recessed into the shelf under the sink.

bathroom waste basket

Shower curtain with rods

The shower curtain has rods in it so it hangs straight

There was a rainbow as we were leaving

Corridor to our cabin

We went to dinner at 5:30 in the lower Skyline Restaurant.

Skyline dining room

Kitchen Skyline dining room

I had the peach soup which unfortunately appeared to have some kind of nuts in it (trying to avoid nuts). Both of us got steak. He had fries

His photo of his dinner

and I had a baked potato.

My steak and potato

Then I had a small sliver of coconut cheesecake.

A small sliver of coconut cheesecake.

Tomorrow we will be in Maui