We met Jack and Sharon from Reno on the first golf shore excursion day on our GolfAhoy Pride of America circle the Hawaii islands golf cruise.
We booked a Penthouse Suite for our Hawaii golf cruise. Jack and Sharon said they’d booked an Owners Suite for the large balcony and hot tub.
One of the many value-added perks and privileges of being a Suite guest passenger on the Pride of America is priority VIP embarkation and disembarkation in ports o’ call a welcome convenience on golf shore excursion days. First off, first back on! VIP Honolulu port check-in on Saturday, featured champagne, and a quick Butler escort to our Suite.
Before we booked, we compared the costs of a Large Balcony cabin with that of a Penthouse Suite. For the extra dollars we choose to treat ourselves to a Penthouse Suite. A month before our cruise departure NCL sent us an email inviting us to put in an auction bid for an upgrade to a Deluxe Penthouse Suite with a Large Balcony. We bid. We won, and our Deluxe Penthouse Suite with an extra large balcony is spacious, and our Butler has executed flawlessly on every request so far. He got us a second Cagney’s Steak Housereservation on a so called “sold out night”. He also unpacked our luggage and put our clothes on hangers in the closet and folded other items neatly away in drawers. Part of the Suite guest Butler perks is he’ll repack your luggage the evening before disembarkation back in Honolulu at the end of the cruise.
Our Butler porteraged our golf bags from our Suite to the disembarkation golf plank at each port o’ call – we tipped him $5 a bag each way.
The King Size bed in our Suite is amazingly comfortable. I liked that the bathroom includes an actual bath tub, first time for me on a cruise. The balcony is over 400 square feet. Dining size table and chairs, chaise lounges, cocktail tables, and meals served course by course by our Butler when we choose to dine alfresco on our balcony.
Back to Maui and The Plantation golf course.
The GolfAhoy website digital brochure describes the Plantation course as; “Ranked the #1 golf course in Hawaii” playing the Plantation Course is on every golfer’s bucket list. GolfAhoy has included the best (and most expensive) Championship Hawaii golf courses in this package! The Plantation course was designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. The course was designed on a grand scale in keeping with its location on the slopes of the West Maui Mountains and offers dramatic ocean views from virtually every hole. Its lengthy 7,411-yard par 73 layout challenges the pros, but its wide fairways and generous greens make it very playable for the average golfer. With dramatic elevation changes, this course offers plenty of downhill tee shots. You’ll feel like one of the pros when – with the aid of the aggressive slope of the 18th fairway – you will enjoy hitting one of the longest drives of your life. The Plantation Course is the site of the PGA TOUR Tournament of Champions, held each January, and features an elite field of previous year’s PGA TOUR winners.”
After our 18-hole challenge on the Plantation course on Sunday our GolfAhoy private driver returned us to the Pride of America. Back onboard our Butler offered to draw me a holistic salts and moisturizing bubble bath. Turned out Jack and Sheilah soaked away post-golf “eighty-year-old aches and pains”, in their balcony hot tub.
Suite guests are invited to eat breakfast and lunch in Cagney’s Steak House Specialty Restaurant. Of the five Specialty Restaurants on the Pride of America we enjoyed Cagney’s most of all. For dinner in Cagney’s the Premium Cut Filet Mignon and the 16-ounce Ribeye are popular choices. Instead of fries or a baked potato side, order the Truffle mashed potatoes. Yum!
Specialty Restaurants on the Pride offer a variety of regional cuisine choices ranging from French; Brazilian; Asian; Italian; and Japanese.
The Cadillac Diner is a 24-hour eatery serving up deliciously cooked to-order burgers and creamy milkshakes. An convenient restaurant choice for early riser golfers.
The Aloha Café serves up whatever you’re craving, and chances are you will find it at the Aloha Café. This indoor buffet restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. I had a plate of the lunch time buffet Indian Curry with specialty sides – Vegetable Samosas, Vindaloo Lamb, Roti, Chutney, and Basmati rice. Mighty tasty.
There is no Casino on the Pride. Lounge acts seem to wrap up at eleven. After eleven it’s quiet time on the Pride.
Tomorrow, we will play the Wailea Emerald course.
The GolfAhoy website digital brochure describes the Wailea Emerald course as the USA’s first most women-friendly golf course! Among the world’s great golf destinations, few shine as brightly as Wailea. Renowned for its ideal golf weather – typically sunny with gentle breezes – Wailea on the magical island of Maui is rated among the best golf courses in the USA by both Golf Magazine and Golf Digest. Here, you can experience the Wailea Golf Club, whose Championship Emerald course boasts breathtaking ocean views from every hole. The Wailea Emerald Course was designed to be fun for practically every player, and the 6,825-yard Wailea Emerald Course was one reason Golf for Women Magazine first granted the Wailea Golf Club a Top Fairways Award for the country’s most women-friendly golf club, an honor that the Wailea Golf Club received seven times. Other golf authorities agreed: LINKS Magazine and Golf Digest lauded Wailea’s picturesque Emerald as a great course for women. Despite its women-friendly reputation, the Emerald Course is delightful for all players. Its carpet-like fairways, fragrant tropical foliage, and numerous ocean and island vistas capture almost everything you can expect from a golf round on gorgeous Maui. While Emerald’s friendly fairways are not a cakewalk, the course is ideal for players who enjoy the challenge of golf but view it as an enjoyable form of recreation rather than a grueling test of concentration and precision. Memorable holes include #6, a par 4 downhill dogleg measuring 415 yards from the white tees. There’s plenty of landing area for your tee shot, but the green falls off sharply in all directions into grass bunkers, leaving you with a tricky pitch shot if your approach shot isn’t on the mark. Hole #11 is the longest on the course, 535 yards from the white tees and usually into the wind, making it tougher to reach the green. One of the more unusual features of the Emerald Course is the double green shared by holes #10 and #17. The green borders a 2.7-million-gallon brackish water lake and is one of the most picturesque spots on the course. The Emerald has four to six tee boxes on every hole, enabling golfers to tailor the course to their skill level.
Over the next week with the GolfAhoy Hawaii Golf Shore Excursion package we’ll get to play the Wailea Emerald course; the Mauna Lani or Mauna Kea golf courses; Poipu Bay; and the Ocean Course at Hōkūala.
Mauna Lani GC or Mauna Kea GC. Mauna Lani Resort features two championship courses, the Francis H. Iwi Brown North and South. Both Island of Hawaii (Big Island) golf courses offer a challenging experience to novice and professional golfers alike. Mauna Lani was home to the Senior Skins Golf Game for 11 years and now hosts the prestigious Hawaii State Open in December each year.
Poipu Bay GC. Where Champions play! Here, nature and renowned designer Robert Trent Jones Jr. have conspired to create a stunning venue for golfers of all abilities. Play on the same course challenged by even the best professional golfers in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. A unique and unforgettable golf experience awaits you, bringing every aspect of your game into a fresh and thrilling focus. More than an award-winning Championship course, Poipu Bay Golf Course offers exceptional amenities such as an in-cart satellite navigation system that tells you the exact distance to the hole and the pin placement, complimentary bottled water, and refreshing cold towels. Visit the Golf Shop at Poipu Bay for fashionable logo golf wear after your round and tell them GolfAhoy sent you.
Ocean Course at Hōkūala. One signature Championship hole after another! Here, where the ocean meets the land, it is as good as a golfer’s life gets. The Ocean Course at Hōkūala has been completely renovated in anticipation of your visit. Winding through mango and guava groves to dramatic seaside cliffs, MSN Travel called the Ocean Course at Hōkūala one of the world’s twelve most beautiful courses. It’s little wonder that the list of accolades for this Jack Nicklaus Signature track is as long as its string of holes that hug the Pacific. This continuous stretch of oceanfront golf is the longest in all of Hawaii and a certain highlight of every visit.
We are here for the spectacular golf. The cruise ship is just our floating club house taking us overnight to a new links layout and challenging Championship golf.
Before our Hawaii golf cruise, we booked the GolfAhoy three-night pre-cruise Turtle Bay Golf & Spa Resort package. If you book this pre-cruise or post-cruise accommodation with golf included package, be sure to add the Ocean Club Lounge privilege package. Ocean Club Lounge guests enjoy chef-curated menus off the main restaurant full breakfast and lunch spread, and evening hors d’oeuvres and cocktails.
The Suite Experience
Booking a Suite on the Pride of America comes with many perks, including priority VIP embarkation and disembarkation, a welcome convenience on golf shore excursion days. From the VIP check-in at Honolulu port with champagne to the quick butler escort to our Suite, every detail was attended to.
We initially compared the costs of a Large Balcony cabin with a Penthouse Suite. For just a few hundred dollars more, we upgraded to the Penthouse Suite. A month before departure, NCL invited us to bid for an upgrade to a Deluxe Penthouse Suite with a Large Balcony. We won the bid, and the upgrade was worth it. The Deluxe Penthouse Suite was spacious, and our butler was impeccable, managing everything from securing reservations to unpacking and repacking our luggage.
One of the standout features was the butler’s assistance with our golf bags, ensuring they were transported from our Suite to the disembarkation plank at each port. The comfort of our Suite, particularly the king-size bed and the balcony spanning over 400 square feet, added to the luxurious experience.
Golfing Highlights
Our golf adventures began at the renowned Plantation Course in Maui. Described as Hawaii’s #1 golf course by GolfAhoy, the Plantation Course is a bucket-list destination for golfers. Designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, this course offers dramatic ocean views and challenges both pros and average golfers with its lengthy layout and dramatic elevation changes. Playing here, especially on the 18th fairway, made us feel like pros.
Dining on the Pride of America
As Suite guests, we enjoyed an exclusive breakfast and lunch privilege at Cagney’s Steak House Specialty Restaurant. The Premium Cut Filet Mignon and the 16-ounce Ribeye were our top dinner picks, especially when paired with truffle mashed potatoes.
The ship also offers a variety of regional cuisine across its five Specialty Restaurants, including French, Brazilian, Asian, Italian, and Japanese options. The Cadillac Diner, a 24-hour eatery, served delicious burgers and creamy milkshakes, while the Aloha Café offered a vast buffet with something for everyone. One highlight was the Indian Curry spread at lunch in the Aloha Café, featuring Vindaloo Lamb, Vegetable Samosas, Roti, Chutney, and Basmati rice.
Other Activities and Amenities
The Pride of America does not have a casino, and the lounge acts typically wrap up by eleven, making for a quieter atmosphere after that time.
Upcoming Golf Courses
Our golfing itinerary included playing at Wailea Emerald course, Mauna Lani or Mauna Kea golf courses, Poipu Bay, and the Ocean Course at Hōkūala. The focus of our trip was the spectacular golf, with the cruise ship serving as our floating clubhouse.
Pre-Cruise Experience
Before the cruise, we booked a pre-cruise package at the Turtle Bay Golf & Spa Resort through GolfAhoy. This package included accommodation and golf, with the added luxury of the Ocean Club Lounge privilege, which offered chef-curated menus and other exclusive amenities.
Looking Ahead
Next up, we are set to play the Wailea Emerald course, praised as the USA’s most women-friendly golf course. Renowned for its sunny weather and gentle breezes, Wailea offers breathtaking ocean views from every hole. The course is designed to be fun for all players, with fairways that challenge golfers while still being enjoyable.
Stay tuned as we continue our Hawaiian golf cruise adventure, exploring some of the best courses the islands have to offer.
A bespoke GolfAhoy 10 Day VIP Deluxe Hawaii Islands Golf Cruise package in a Penthouse Suite starts from $9,995 per person, double occupancy, all-inclusive.
