Hawaii Cruise Reviews

I was never bored with 10 days at sea.  I felt like there was always something to do, and the entertainment in the evenings was top notch.  Loved the entertainment each night.  Enjoyed the dance teachers Tom & Jo from Florida.  They were awesome and I took all their classes, so glad to have them on board.

The true disappointment was the fact that we could not visit 2 of our stops, Kauai and Hilo.  I was hoping that we could have rearranged our itinerary to have included them in some way.  When you have 5 stops in Hawaii and two of them you didn't make, its a real disappointment.

The cruise staff were amazing, from the Cruise Director Jaime and her assistant TJ to the wait staff who were so accommodating.  I felt like the staff really cared how much I was enjoying my cruise.

Was not our best cruise.  Food was just mediocre -- seemed like the same things every day.  Desserts are usually very extravagant but on NCL they were rather plain and blah.  We saw spills on the floor that several staff members would look at but walk right over and not clean up.  We had a problem with the toilet that took many hours, several phone calls, and an upset husband to get fixed.  The first time they never came till after 10 PM to fix it and had been told in the morning.  The fix only lasted a short time and we had to call again.  We were given another room but packing up and having to move was not something we appreciated doing in the middle of our vacation.  Sorry but I can not recommend NCL cruise.  Seeing Hawaii is fantastic--but maybe renting a car and doing it on your own is the best way to see it.  There are many really nice tours to go on and much cheaper than the cruise line tours.

Let me start by saying we love Carnival cruises overall. We know what it takes

to put on a 15 day cruise for over 2,000 people. The captain probably saved our lives by not going to Kawai & Hilo due to the 100 mph winds/rain.

Having said all that it was disappointing to get only $39 pp back for missing 2 ports. Kawai was the jewel of this trip and Hilo had the volcano excursion. VERY SAD we missed both. $78 does not compensate for the loss.

Also, we noticed some shocking "cut backs" from our other 9 Carnival cruises.

No dedicated alcohol server at dinner. We had to tell our main server who simply was overrun as it was.Drinks came after dinner was served and almost finished. Drink prices rose.The daily "paper" has shrunk to a pamphlet and you can no longer request "unsupervised" activities as before. At night the TV would "scratch out", understandably DirecTV's distance from shore, but how does that explain the closed circuit channels on board? The blue menu channels had lines running through them. No food menu on the TV until day 10...(?) You order a movie, a "snow" channel comes on, and it doesn't charge you!...like it's completely broken. Other guests experienced the same so it wasn't just us. Told the front desk, they were almost rude and denied there was any problem at all. Kept saying  "just call us and we'll refund you" instead of sending a tech out to see or fix the problem. The food was overall good but some of the deserts like the cheesecake were horrid. I asked the waiter "Why did you kill Gumby"?...the cheesecake would bounce a foot if you dropped it.

Good things:

The steaks and seafood were incredible!...so perfect every time.

The crew was great, so friendly and hard working. The room was terrific.The

3 ports we got to see were great. The comedy club was tremendous.

The ship was very clean.The Cruise Director was wild and funny. The Captain and his crew, again got us there safely, we didn't do a "Titanic". The ship itself

was very good, not as good as the Dream, but better than many.

Very decorative. The big chess set's pawns were too tall, looked like bishops, and was right in the smoking section-- poor, poor choice, as kids love to play on it. ..disgusting cigar smoke filled the air in that area...also in the casino. (They're called "Smoke Eaters" Carnival...buy some!)

Overall a 6.3 out of 10. Not responsible for the weather, but some more compensation should have been given.

We were unfortunate enough to get caught in a really bad storm so two of our Island stops were cancelled. While we were bummed, we understand that safety is important. The food was amazing, especially the wait staff and our room steward with great as well. It was fun playing the games and the cruise director kept us entertained the whole time. There is plenty to do on the ship even though we were at sea for 8 days total, it never got boring.

Now that all the positives have been listed there was one big huge negative and that was Guest Services on board. Every single member of this team except one girl was horrible every single time we saw them. Our cabin filled with the smell of gasoline and it took them over 2 hours just to come down and we had been to the guest service desk at least three times before. Their way of solving the problem was to give us a free bottle of wine which I felt was completely unacceptable.

Other than that I would recommend this Cruise to anyone that loves cruising. 15 days is a long time to be at sea for many people so I would not recommend this as a first cruise. While I was disappointed with guest services the pros definitely outweigh the cons and I will be returning to Carnival in November.

Irisa went out of her way to help me with my husband who is DISABLED and in a WHEEL CHAIR getting him some breakfast on Lido and to the table in the Early Dining she was OUTstanding. Early Dining, Conrad, Conrado and their team was Outstanding as well. Now, for the cook, he needs to be replaced. For our Stateroom Stewards, ASIH, JOKO and KADEE, I can't thanks them enough. They went beyond what was expected of them (OUTSTANDING). I hope they ALL got a GREAT TIP. They deserved it  For paying a large sum of money for this CRUISE from HELL. What a waste!!!!!!!!!!

The entertainment on the cruise was exceptional!  Great shows and activities to keep cruisers entertained.  Most of the food was acceptable.  Most of the food that was NOT supposed to be served hot was very fresh i.e. salad, desserts etc.   The only minor complaint we have is that both on the Lido deck and Dining room the food was not always served as hot as expected.   The entrée food was mostly fresh but just had to be heated a in a microwave for about a minute for those of us that would like it a little higher temperature.  I was told a microwave was not available on the ship.  Other than the food issues I had a very enjoyable time and would recommend Carnival for a cruise.  I would rate it a 4.5 stars.

We had a good time.  The food was very good.  The weather was not good.  The wind was real high and we did not make 2 of our islands because of the wind.  But we was safe!

The food in the Dining Room was excellent.

The waiters in the Dining Room were exceptional.

The entertainment was subpar.

The stateroom was adequate.

The Lido staff could not keep enough tables clean and ready when guests departed them.

There was insufficient port time available.

Not enough on board activities, particularly for men.

The disembarkment in San Diego was not co-ordinated and took entirely too long.

This was our 21st cruise on Carnival and it was very disappointing. In fact this was the worst cruise we've ever taken, but that was primarily due to weather which no one had any control. It was a once in a lifetime cruise and due to weather we missed two islands! The captain and crew did their best, but all the apologies didn't change anything.

Overall, we had a wonderful trip. Cloudy and windy as we travelled across the Pacific, so that restricted our "sun" time, and actually prohibited us from being on the upper deck for nearly the entire return trip. As we toured the islands, weather again forced us to  miss to of our scheduled ports, which was very disappointing for everyone in our party. The ship was adequate, and the staff aboard the ship did a great job of taking care of our needs. The entertainment was not as good as we remember from prior cruises.

Muy Buena la comida en todos los comedores y la atencion a los dormitories.

la limpieza muy Buena, la atencion del personal sobresaliente

personal de informacion y tramites , muy profecional.

la oficina de los tours muy poco explicativos y los precios muy altos.

el entretenimiento estubo muy bien.

We are very experienced cruisers who have been cruising since the 1970s on a variety of ships and lines. This was our worst experience in almost 50 years. The only saving grace on this cruise were the Hawaiian Ambassadors who taught Ukulele, Hula, and gave the Hawaiian enrichment lectures. If it wasn't for them we would have bailed out at the first stop on Hilo. The other lecturers were very good too. Also the staff was very courteous and friendly. Pretty much everything else about this cruise was horrid:

The bed in our room didn't offer proper support and was too soft - my back hurt the entire cruise. 

The food was ghastly. All the meat and seafood was overcooked and tough. Most of the seafood was flavorless - especially the lobster and shrimp. The buffet featured unidentified stuff floating in glop. The fried items were mostly soggy and flaccid.

The ship was horribly overcrowded with lines everywhere, especially at anytime dining where sometimes the wait exceeded an hour. The cruise staff often scheduled activities in venues that were way too small for the audience. There were also long hold times on the dining reservation line and for onboard customer service.

Large swaths of the public area were effectively unusable due to the reek of cigarette smoke from the Casino and Snookers bar.

The crew insisted on varnishing woodwork in public areas during peak hours sickening many passengers. Princess also nickels and dimes you to death. The amount of in your face selling of junk on board was repulsive. The photographers trying to get you in their pictures with their ridiculous outfits was extremely intrusive.

Overall the ship needs a total makeover and a lot of upgrades - subsystems such as the vacuum toilets failed repeatedly, the air conditioning in our room never got it cold enough. Vast areas of the public spaces were either too cold or too hot. The exterior of the ship has large areas of peeling paint and rust.

In spite of all this we had a fun time - we're not going to let a crummy cruise company destroy our good time.

Good selections of excursions that were worth the money. Would love to have a "learn to play" offering for those of us who don't know how to play bridge or mahjong but would love to learn. Having a separate water bottle "fill up" station would prevent people from using the drinking water stations which is a health hazard. Food was good, nice variety, always fresh fruit and salad greens. 

This cruise gave us an overview of Hawaii.  We started our trip with a six day on our own stay on the big island of Hawaii.  We loved our stay there but would not have had any idea about the other islands.  Now we know that while the other islands we visited on the cruise each have great points about them, our heart is with the big island and we will return there for future trips to Hawaii next winter.  We had a veranda and it was worth the extra cost because this ship is crowded especially for lounging around the pool.  Our best excursions were to the seahorse farm in Kona and the gardens in Kauai.  As far as the food was concerned it was great with especially good pineapple.  Their coffee is so so and it isn't the good Hawaiian coffee we had on land.  Their workout area does not allow for stretching or floor work at all.  The large area that is used for classes could be left for people to use when class isn't in session.  But it is locked up and there is no room anywhere else.  There were also a lot of complaints about their "water policy".  The security people as you boarded back after a day ashore made you either drink or pour out all liquids.  They said it was not their policy but the ships. We felt this to be abuse especially since we had bought our water on the ship for our excursion. Be prepared for this to either chug or pour out.  Some people had bought some type of plan to use the SPA area during the cruise and I can see that might be an advantage since the showers while good are tiny.   All in all we enjoyed our introduction to Hawaii on this cruise.

 we have very excellent time,timewe have very excellent time,time we love it very muchwe have very excellent time,timewe have very excellent time,time we love it very muchwe have very excellent time,timewe have very excellent time,time we love it very muchwe have very excellent time,timewe have very excellent time,time we love it very muchwe have very excellent time,timewe have very excellent time,time we love it very muchwe have very excellent time,timewe have very excellent time,time we love it very muchwe have very excellent time,timewe have very excellent time,time we love it very much 

Food is excellent.  Variety of activities made me not feel boring at sea. I appreciated the waitress and her assistant for their service on our dinning taste.  Irina, our waitress, understood our dinning needs right after our first dinner. We were taken care of very well over the length of the cruise.

Great food. Excellent service - the best. Had a problem with Maitre D when I asked f irst day about getting a small table for myself at dinner because I never eat after 6.15pm and should I sit with others that would not be possible. He was very hostile and rude to me but did give me a table eventually. I reported him and was called. The table he gave me was the best service I ever had.

I did not care for to stand in line for an hour at priority check, only to be told that their staff was cut in half, due to another Princess boat being in dock at the same time. Princess decided not to hire other staff - instead just to keep us waiting to check in with half the staff. I saw this a month before when I came in from Panama so it wasn't an emergency which check in staff hinted was the problem, this was planned months and possibly years before. Very bad PR-little money saved by Princess - possible money lost due to disgust of some passengers. 

Great Cruise. Food was outstanding (they did a great job catering to my husband's Celiac's disease diet). Wonderful entertainment every day. They did a good job with reducing the risk of illness by requiring everyone to use the hand sanitizers at the front of each restaurant/food line.

The shore excursions we chose for each of the four Islands was fantastic. Saw a lot in a short time (one day at each Island).  Great trip!

The Star is in need of a refurbish and I heard it will be done soon. The ship is getting worn. But is still fun and provides a great experience. The trip was great the food was excellent. The staff was friendly and it is a great itinerary. 15 day Hawaii is a wonderful cruise.

The best part of the cruise was it's fee style! We had a much better control of how we wanted to spend our time on the cruise or dining options to choose from compared to the other cruise lines! The tours were excellent in most part. There were good free shuttle services on the shore that were never advertised by NCL but are available. The service on the cruise was just right! The food was fine. Entertainment on the ship was poor, but we did not need it. The best entertainment was visiting the islands with the many activities offered there. Embarkation and Disembarkation  was very well organized! I would definitely recommend this cruise for families with kids and for those who like to explore new places.