Hawaii Cruise Reviews

The cruise was well done & I can see why Pride of America is the best to see the Hawaiian Islands.  I was bummed my Sister & Brother-in-Law were not placed next to our cabin or vice versa, even though I emphasized I wanted that from the start and I bought the tickets 4.5 months in advance.  I also bought their tickets and they were placed higher & on a better side (Starboard) than my wife & I.  I'm glad for them but feel my wife & I were slighted since we paid for their trip. I loved the friendliness and attitude of the crew.  I only had one Bartender and one waiter on the last night that were not very pleasant.  Considering how many crewmembers you meet, that should not be held against NCL at all.  everyone else was excellent.

The food was fabulous most of the time but I did have to send a Porterhouse Steak back it was so full of gristle.  A first ever in my life.  Other items were just okay & others, fabulous, so it varied.  Not like the food you used to get on cruises 30 years ago. The Hollandaise Sauce for the Eggs Benedict was always perfect. 

More honest information about the various options for excursions would have been nice.  There are trade-offs in using the NCL excursions and 3rd-party tours, such as  the Hoppa On Hoppa Off shuttle, which the crew gets to use for free onshore, so hearing both sides & letting me decide which to choose would have been nice.

Our Porter only made us a towel animal twice the entire cruise though my sister & husband and friends we met had one made every day by their Porter.  Pretty small detail but it would have been nice since my wife had never been to Hawaii & it would have made it more fun for her.

So yes, overall, a great cruise and acceded my expectations since the last Norwegian Caribbean cruise and Freestyle Dining experience I had was not very good.  I would recommend this trip & the Pride of America but would fill in my friends with the added "Good to Know's" before they sail.

This is our honeymood trip. I have never imagined to take a cruise, because we don't earn much money actually. Fortunately, we found this is a smart choice to take this cruise. Food, entertainment, services, all are great. It really helps us save a lot of money, and really enjoyed this trip.

Our overall cruise experience was very good. We thoroughly enjoyed the freestyle dining. This allowed us to decide when, where and what type of food we chose to eat each meal. I was disappointed that NCL thinks they need to recover additional monies from cruisers by charging for soft drinks. I agree with the policy of charging for alcoholic beverages, but I think charging exorbitant rates for soft drinks is a bit excessive. I think it sends the message that NCL is looking to make additional money from the cruisers in any way possible.

1) Expensive cruise for such a dated ship. It needs to be upgraded in all areas throughout ship terribly. The mattresses are dated and uncomfortable. The linens need to be newer. I personally would not donate those linens to anyone they need to be discarded. Room P249 does not need to be used as a state room. It should be utilized as storage. One can hear absolutely everything in that room from Shooter's bar and Princess theater! 

2) Absolutely need a new activities director and manager. There were barely any engaging activities for children, teens, adults and elderly on this entire 15 night cruise. So many scenarios I could give; playing the same movies over again and and again. One activity with staff and adult passengers were to fly paper airplanes between the Christmas trees on Mid ship deck five. Another activity was Christmas card making. Several of us passengers were told that there was not enough space and supplies after standing in line for 30 minutes. It was the holiday season hence people would most definitely want to participate in this activity. To not have enough supplies was unacceptable especially when the ship was sold out/full and I'm quite sure this activity was planned prior to sailing. 

3) Varnish and blue paint are not enough upgrades. This should never be done while passengers are eating or actually on the ship due to the toxic fumes etc.....

4) Lack of handicap accessibility throughout the entire ship and the Princess excursions. These Princess excursions advertised that they are handicap accessible and "Easy". Handicap accessibility was promised by Price line and Princess representatives prior to our traveling date. I would invest in placing handicap upgrades throughout the ship since the majority of the passengers are elderly and/or handicap.

5) Princess excursion; too expensive for what we received. The first excursion in Ensenada should be removed due to the safety. My entire family felt unsafe and did not want to get off of the bus at any of the three areas. Other passengers verbalized this same feeling. Second excursion in Lahaina, we were to be on Maui beach for five hours and were there for three hours due to bus/travel time(should be on the beach for the five hours that I paid for and add additional time for transporting passengers to/from the excursion).

Third excursion in Nawiliwili was the Blue Hawaiian helicopter this was extremely disappointing; sunny on site, family was educated on safety and geared up ready to travel but was canceled at the very last minute due to inclement weather. Interesting, we seen the Blue Hawaiian helicopters flying almost immediately after we left on the excursion bus back to Princess! 

6) Observed throughout the 15 night cruise multiple staff members ignore or rudely treat my family and multiple other passengers. Heard several negative comments from the staff. One incident was on the Capri any time dining (around 1700) Mid ship 5; my family asked our waiter if they had seen any dolphins swimming. Our waiter and his two assistants made negative comments to us "Haven't you seen all of the whales around the ship? Just look around in here or around the walls and you will see so many whales" All three of them laughing while my family and I just shook our heads and said nothing. My mother and sons heard the staff on deck 14 at the Horizon buffet say "Hey, white boy don't I speak good enough English for you!" This is absolutely unprofessional and unacceptable behavior. If they are not happy with their employment they should seek employment elsewhere. No one wants to hear or feel negativity.

7) Pursers desk staff (excluding one female one time in the evening) were extremely condescending, rude and inpatient when anyone had a question regardless of the question. This is how I was addressed "Next" not one person said how may I help you......

On separate occasions Roman Stavenschi and Roberto Quispe Rivas were extremely condescending and rude to me regarding questions I had about my credits on my account. 

8) Staff/Crew appeared to be completely disorganized in regards to the immigration when we arrived in Honolulu. I can say that my family and I heard all day long and from multiple passengers negative comments regarding the disorganization from this staff/crew.

9) The food was not tasteful or pleasant anywhere. The any time dining was not a pleasant experience we felt rushed every single time we entered the room

(Capri anytime dining deck 5). The food was never hot anywhere even when we received food items from the grill! My family actually lost weight on this cruise. 

10) Albert Garcia (Housekeeper) and Marija Markovic' (Hostess) were very pleasant at all times and need to be acknowledged by Princess Administrative staff. 

11) Water heat and the water pressure were excellent in the room. 

12) This was my family first and and will be the last cruise with Princess.

Maui was the best. Would have liked more days on all  islands- especially Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island. Entertainment was outstanding, especially the pianist at the piano bar. Service was great. Embarkation and disembarkation was efficient and on time. Ship was clean, staff attentive but not overbearing, food was excellent. Lectures on the volcanos, whales, island information- history, sites, geography, and astronomy were outstanding and well attended. 10 days at sea were more entertaining and enjoyable than expected. Work out room had some old equipment that should be updated- otherwise ok for a ship.

The Star Princess offered solid entertainment throughout our 15 day cruise. The comedians and magicians were top-notch. The cruise director was funny and staff were engaging. We enjoyed our time in the Pacific, and Hawaii was a great stop along the way.

The ships staff was outstanding, every single interaction was pleasant and every effort was made to please us. I have to honestly say that this was the best of all our cruises and I base that on the part the Princess crew played. Because of that, we booked right away for the new year.

Hawai'i is the most naturally beautiful place I have ever seen!  This cruise stopped for a day and a half at each of the 4 major islands.  We very much felt we were able to get a feel for the individuality of each of the islands.  The cruise staff also went out of their way to bring us closer to the beautiful parts of some of the islands that can only be seen from the water.

Truly unforgettable!!  Balcony highly recommended.  Sailing into each port was breathtaking!

This was my first cruise on Norwegian and it was quite good.  As a graduation present to my granddaughter, it met the bill for visiting the majority of the islands and giving us sufficient time to do so.  The check in and out was outstanding. The wait was not long and getting off with their easy off by taking your own bags was perfect for us.  Getting on and off the ship at the ports was very good.  Food was good and the ship is not so big that you find it overwhelming.  Shore excursions were reasonable even though I had booked through another company, when I compared their prices to Norwegian, they were competitive.  Staff friendly and service good.  They had a program for 18-20 year olds which was perfect for our granddaughter as she connected with others her age and I knew she was safe as she stayed out way after our bedtime!  On the flip side, they need to speed up their service in the main dining rooms.  Main courses came in a timely manner, but the wait for desserts were at times excessive.  Hours at the buffet could be extended especially for breakfast.  All in all a wonderful experience for my granddaughter and a lovely time for us to make memories. 

I can't think of a better way to see Hawaii.  It was our first trip to Hawaii and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip.  I must say the waters were pretty rough at times, more rough than our Caribbean cruises but for me, I push through and try to savor every minutes.  The shows were outstanding!  We loved the piano bar and ended most of our evenings there.  The food was okay, not the best I've had on a cruise.  The place where the service was the best was at the Liberty Restaurant (upstairs from the Skyline as I remember).  The service at Skyline was slow and the wait staff was not very friendly.  Liberty was just the opposite.  There was not much variety at the Aloha Cafe.  Our steward was very sweet and always attentive.  Overall, our cruise experience was very good.

This was the perfect way to see Hawaii, on the Norwegian, Pride of America cruise ship! My husband and I are die hard cruisers with another company and were pleasantly surprised that anyone could impress us as much. Norwegian did just that. It was well organized, our room was perfect, even with what they called limited view, the food delicious, the employees took great pride in making our first cruise with Norwegian fabulous. As for Hawaii, wow, Norwegian had it perfectly timed out with the Port of Calls, the excursions available, the time exploring the islands, and the extra things the Captain did to be sure we saw the live Volcano and the beautiful Napoli coastline.

This was my first cruise I would rate it 2 1/2 because they closed the large indoor pool for maintenance for at least. 2 days. It was to cold for me to use the other outdoor pool. They used some kind of lacquer on the pool being worked on and it produced nauseating fumes which made me sick they did their best to air out the smell but it was in the air for a good 3 days I was already sea sick and this only made me feel worse ad I ealked by the pool to get to the dining area I was out of commission until we got to Hawaii. The sea was pretty rough both ways 

The crew was very professional. They were courteous very friendly sociable and could not do enough for you

didn't really have one - weather was bad all the way to Ha. and sea was rough

got to Ha. and my husband got noro-virus??(don't know how to spell it ) and he was quarantined to our room -  he had vomiting and diarrhea as did half the ship.  He missed two of the islands.  We got a cold and still have it - half the ship had it too. Went zip lining on the second island in the rain and their equipment failed to film us (we were counting on it as we could not use our phones due to the rain) so we have nothing to show our family???  That was it - the very last island was a nice shopping area: however had nothing else to offer.  We had such bad colds and were coughing so it was difficult for us to walk the entire shopping area.  It was sunny but very windy.   

More entertainment specially during sea days. Otherwise not much complain. Amazing food and dessert except for burgers at grill had no seasoning, taste bland.

Had a pleasant relaxing Hawaii cruise.   No icebergs encountered.  Good food, lots to do on ship.  Would have liked a longer stay in Honolulu.  Friendly crew, multiple shore excursions available at each port or just go ashore and do it yourself.

Hi the service was excellent. Food was good. I would have liked more at least one golf excursion. Too much of food contained alcohol.our room Stewart and waiter were extremely attentive.

we loved our cruise. Cruising is new to us but enjoyed the people and cruise line.  Holland America treated us like royalty. We were younger than most of our cruise mates but found people friendly and socialable.  The 5 days at sea on way "home" seemed long- no internet to connect to our children!   Also, missed "Christmas" season mood setting! We will use holland America again. Also, was a good price and Dorthea our agent was very helpful!

Excellent stateroom attendant. Excursion not what advertised. Book excursion for tour of pineapple plantation. Told night before excursion that road to facility was washed out 4 months prior to cruise, too late to cancel. Alternative site was a trip to surfacing site. Poor substitution. NCL should have advise of change prior to cruise date. I would have cancelled excursion if advised of change. Feel NCL took advance of passenger, and should refund part OD excursion fee.

The onboard ship activities, entertainment/food was outstanding.  Our cabin steward was the best, attending to every detail.  The service in the main dining room Liberty could use a little upgrade but it obviously was too busy of a night that we chose.  We loved the freedom and efficiency of the Aloha Cafe for most meals, especially breakfast.  We booked our excursions prior to sailing and was just enough for 5 days.  Be careful to leave yourself some down time to rest and relax.  We stayed in Oahu through Tues late afternoon to get R/R after busy cruise.

We loved this cruise. Advice:

1.  Best room location is Starboard side, mid to aft ship.  Everything except the 2 theaters are mid and aft ship.  All the good viewing is on the Starboard side.  Deck does not matter.

2.  Before you go watch the TV documentary "Conquered" a history of the islands.

3.  If you can drive and follow a tour book (we like the "Revealed" series for the islands), it is better to rent from Enterprise (either a short walk or will pick you up at every port) and drive yourself.  Smart phone GPS works great.  You can use the itinerary from the bus tours to set your agenda and then add or subtract as you want.  Renting is much cheaper and you will spend much more time site seeing.  You can easily find places to get lunch. Plus you can go to places (such as Hosmer Grove on Maui; one of our favorite places) that the tours cannot go to because of no bus access.  You can also stay as long as you want at the places you like and leave the ones you do not rather than 20 to 30 minutes at each place. You will miss the bus drivers commentary but that can be good or not.

4.  If you are going to do bus tours use NCL.  They have it all set-up and you will have the same service staff that you met on board.  And, if any problems the tour director is on board to take care of you.  The only unhappy people we met were ones who had used other tours!

5.  On the first day make dinner reservations for every night.  The popular restaurants and times fill up fast; so plan ahead before you get on board.

6.  Read the daily activity sheet CAREFULLY every day.  There are drink specials and new things each day that are sometimes only listed on the bottom of the daily sheet.  We missed one or two because we did not read the whole thing carefully.

7. If you want to see Oahu stay AFTER the cruise not before because it is much easier to rent a car and drop it off at the airport than at the port.  So have Enterprise pick you up from the ship on the last day and stay where you want which could be outside of Honolulu and then drive the island for a few days and drop the car at the airport when you leave. It is worth it to spend a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center and see their show.