Cabin Notes about Balcony Aft Pride of America
We had signed up just for the cheapest balcony on the Pride of America, for $1725.66 for both of us. We got the rate only a month or so before the sailing date. That was $862 each including all fees. That was via Expedia and included "free coupon books". They ended up sending us three books, and we gave the coupons we didn't use away to other Cruise Critics members.We were thrilled when we ended up with cabin 8708 - the very center back aft cabin on deck 8. It was GREAT. The balcony was huge, with one lounge chair, one regular chair and a small table as well. Some people had warned about motion - well, on our cruise we had a level 3 hurricane so the entire ship was in motion :) It was hard to say if our room was any better or worse than other areas. I didn't mind the motion at all :) There was no real "noise" from the engines - I brought a decibel meter with me and have those notes in my reviews. Now, when you're on the balcony you do hear the noise from the waves, but heck, that is true everywhere :)
The room is tight, yes. It's a close fit to walk around the bottom part of the bed. But I was feeling sniffly the entire time and spent a LOT of time in the room, and is really comfortable to be in.
The closet is *great* - the shelves and baskets meant we didn't have to use the hanging shoe tree we'd brought with us. There were plenty of places for our various shoes and hiking boots and such. There were plenty of hangars for our clothes, and enough drawers for our undergarments and socks and things. We even had shelves for our books and things.
The bathroom is small, yes, but no smaller than other ships we've been on. There was a small area behind one mirror for putting things, but it was good that Bob brought a hanging toiletries bag that hooks onto a towel rack. That came in very handy. They have soap and shampoo, but no conditioner - make sure you bring some. The windy decks get your hair very tangled :). Also, I noticed that cold air comes in under the door when you're taking a shower, so I always stuffed a towel against there while I showered. The water seems to swing from hot to cold while you shower sometimes, so it's wise to set the shower a little bit cooler than you normally might, so that on the hot "swing" it doesn't get too hot.
The room has a thermometer so you can set it to be exactly the level you personally want. There is a main light and two bedside lights. The main light doesn't have a light dot on the switch, so while you can find the bathroom light at night, you can't find the main light :). Also, bring a flashlight!! The power did go out at 3:30am one night and it was VERY helpful to have the flashlights with us. Plus, they let you go into the dark half of the lava tube on the Big Island which was REALLY really cool.
I highly recommend an aft cabin if you can get one, the view was always great, and the balcony size was really nice :)
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