Hawaii Cruise Reviews

Cruised with family. Like the size of this ship. Easy to get around. Not many shops on board. Heard they are adding a couple of Restaurants with the update. That will be a plus. Maybe Guy Fierro?

This is a beautiful ship with so many options offered for a comfortable, fun, and memorable vacation. Money well spent.

All handrails should be sanitized on a regular basis. My husband had to use the handrails whenever we used the stairs and I'm sure this is how he contracted the norovirus. Afterwards my husband purchased surgical gloves to use for the rest of the cruise. I did not see crew cleaning certain areas of the ship like I have on other cruises. Several handrails were dirty. Several public restrooms showed mold along the floor boards. We did wash our hands continuously and used hand santizier afterwards

We’ve travel with Princess Cruises before and haven’t been disappointed. The crew, entertainment and 24 hour food is great! Already planning next cruise to Panama Canal in a couple years.

Ship, food, staff, islands themselves were phenomenal. Excursions (except helicopter) need work.

Loved the itinerary, a grrreat way for anyone, especially people who have never been to Hawaii, to experience the islands. The entertainment was great, something for all ages! The ship activities were varied and targeted all ages! The food and drink quality was SUPER!

My objectives: 1) to see all the islands, 2) not have to check-in and out of hotels, 3) understand my food costs, 4) see whales. All of these were met.

Delicious food, helpful staff, comfortable cabin, interesting excursions

Overall the cruise was good. Edwin was a room steward and he was fantastic. The only negative things I could really say was I was disappointed that we did not sail the Napali Coast (which I was looking forward to seeing again) and was not prepared for how rough the seas actually was during the cruise and especially the excursions that included boating. Both the Whale Watching Sunset Cruise and the Molokini Snorkeling were terrific and I would do them again but MANY people were terribly sick on the rides too and from the destinations. If you can book a suite, it was definitely worth the added expense.

We have been recommending this to local Hawaii residents. Going thru Hawaiian Airlines got us specialty dinners which we really enjoyed.. When I tried to do the Wifi package, the gal said I'd have to go to a Starbuck's to sign in. So we never used it. There could be more Hawaiian culture activities. I would recommend paper toilet seats in the public areas.

Princess highly values its "elite" members. If you are not "elite" (151+ days of cruising on Princess), you are treated fine, but not like the "elite" people. This was even more overt on the Star Princess. I definitely enjoyed this Grand Princess cruise better than the last Princess cruise on the Star. The staff was friendly. The bar staff was wonderful. Food could be tastier, but wasn't bad. We all enjoyed the stromboli. The ship rocked quite a bit a few days, but that does not bother us. The weather was chilly many of the days. People wore coats every day except a couple that we were actually in Hawaii. Teen club was too full of drama for my kids who tended to say away. More free activities where you do/make things would have been welcome. Ukulele and hula were fun sea day activities. However, when I took hula on the last cruse with a different teacher, she instructed in different moves. Having to relearn new moves for the same songs was annoying.

Incredibly over priced way to see the islands. You would be better off flying to the islands then creating your own itinerary and island hopping on your own.

We selected this cruise as it was the only available cruise to do inter island Hawai’i stops. It was worth doing as it was far easier than flying to each island. Ship needs updating and food quality even at specialty restaurants wasn’t great. Officers and most staff were friendly, but there was some spotty service. Pick rooms away from entrances to stairs and elevator- which can be a bit hard to tell from diagrams. Cruise should offer guests at least one free exercise class in gym- classes are pricey. Entertainment needs significant upgrade.

Nice and relaxing for the most part. In my own personal opinion I thought it was maybe three or four days too long.

This ship / cruise / itinerary and the associated activities are clearly geared toward the older crowd. Other than the kid's club which had very limited hours of operating, there was nothing for the children to do and all entertainment and amenities are geared toward the older crowd. The Hawaiian ports of call were fantastic, but Ensenada was dirty, polluted, and a huge disappointment. I wouldn't bother to get off the ship in Ensenada. The cabin had a deep, musty, moldy smell and we all developed a cough and sinus issues by about the 3rd/4th day which persisted for the remainder of the cruise. The whole staff was exceptionally polite and helpful so I feel bad for them about leaving a bad review, but this cruise, and I suspect Princess cruises in general, is geared toward senior couples and not young families. The pool was very deep, small, and no life guard was ever on duty so young children can't really use it. All of the shows and activities were also geared for the older crowds and the kids really had nothing to do for the duration of the cruise. The 4 Hawaiian port days were great, but the 10+ sea days were painfully boring. The food was just okay, but it was so limited. Net message, if you have a young family, choose just about any other cruise line or itinerary. We won't be sailing on Princess again until we are in adult diapers.

All in all, we had a super time. As I described above, I was disappointed in the shore excursions, and in the future, I will probably not book excursions through the cruise line. I could have taken an Uber to Pearl Harbor and seen everything I wanted to see for far less than the $99/person Carnival charged. But those negatives were far out-weighed by the tremendous staff on-board, and the many and varied activities and just the memories that we took home with us. Due to the nature of a cruise, you're just not going to be able to see as much as if you stayed in one of the ports. That's not a knock on Carnival, it's just the nature of crusing. We have already decided that we will visit Hawaii again someday and stay at a resort on one of the islands.

I want to mention the outstanding service of several crew members: Arnold our room steward, Jenifer the dining hostess, Putu and Hasto and Jose from India in the dining room, and unfortunately I do not have the names of two others, but the first was the cool lady in the casino bar that can open soda cans with the bottom of another soda can and the gentleman that served drinks in the Phantom Theatre. After one or two orders, he knew our stateroom numbers and what sodas we preferred...hate that I never caught his name! Adam, the cruise director, was incredible and I loved that he didn't shy away from saying "Merry Christmas" instead of only Happy Holidays. These, as well as so many others on the crew, made it a very fun and enjoyable experience.

Fantastic experience overall. I’d choose NCL again. As a first timer it went great and I’ll sail NCL again (can’t wait). Food was great except at Liberty. Loved Jefferson the best. Loved the pool side area. Only wish you had a 2 week cruise in Hawaii. Most excursions were great. One on Hilo volcanic was poor and North Shore Oahu was cut short (fantastic guide though) State room better than I expected. The staff were mostly fantastic. The guest services need to be better informed as we got bad info a couple times. We loved it and would love to sail NCL again!

We had a great time and will probably rebook this cruise. It was extremely enjoyable. The weather was fantastic except for the last day it rained in the morning and it rained the day we left otherwise it was awesome weather to enjoy the area.

Great ship but library is limited , no books except those from passengers. Excursion room too large and is mostly empty. It would have been a great place for the library and game room.