Hawaii Cruise Reviews

Terrific cruise!  Loved seeing all the Islands by sea.  One of the highlights was watching lava cascade into the ocean from my balcony.  This is a great cruise for ppl who don't like spending a lot of time at sea.  Staff was wonderful and the food was delicious.

This was my 4th cruise and the 1st where we didn't spend multiple nights as sea. Love having the opportunity to see multiple islands and the experience the different sides of the islands. I would happily do this cruise again

If your want a whirwind tour of Hawaii Islands this is it. Un-pack once and see all the islands, the itinerary gives you lots of time in each port.  Food, crew, and accodmadations are fantastic! We were off the boat exploraning each port of call and there is alot at each. It's exhausting -- you need a vacation after your vacation!  

AND THE LAVA IS FLOWING AGAIN

We were impressed with the Pride of America cruise around the Hawaiian Islands made the first week of August.  The condition of the ship, the staff, the food, our stateroom, the entertainment were all top notch.

No one showed up at our room for handicap assistance when we arrived in Honolulu on the 7th day. We checked twice the day before on the procedure since I had my own wheelchair.  This really made us feel used since they had our money and time, they left us to struggle. 

My husband and I are in our early 40s, very active, and have cruised ~20 times with every major cruise line and in many parts of the world. We love cruising and would rather cruise than do any other form of vacation. We were very excited about cruising the Hawaiian islands onboard the Pride of America. Unfortunately, it ended up being one of the worst cruises we've experienced.

The Pros:

1) We had never been to Hawaii, so liked the island hopping itinerary. It gave us a great feel for the different islands and helped us identify were we would like to spend more time during a future visit. The islands are spectacular and the trip was magical. You have limited time at each port, so plan wisely and prioritize.

2) The cost was reasonable when compared to doing an island hopping itinerary on your own.

3) The shows were great. Excellent singers and dancers. The specialty acts were good. The theatre comfortable and roomy with plenty of good seats.

The Cons:

1) BEWARE STATEROOMS ON DECK 7 FORWARD! This was a last minute cruise booking, so only guaranteed balcony staterooms were available. This was a mistake we won't make again. We've never had issues with "guaranteed" staterooms in the past. We were given a room on Deck 7 forward, which is immediately above the Mardi Gras Lounge. There was loud thumping music from 8 pm to between midnight and 2 am every night. We contacted customer service and requested a room change, but the ship was full. The Cruise Director, Manager of Customer Service and multiple other CS staff called to tell us that the music would be turned down - but the issue was never resolved. You could physically feel the vibrations from the bass. We ended up avoiding our room as much as possible. But that wasn't all... The cleaning crew decided it was a good idea to use heavy forklift equipment outside our room on 3 of the mornings we docked starting at 6:30 AM... The loud beeps from them backing up and moving the equipment made sleeping impossible. So... music until 2 am and woken again at 6:30 by the cleaning crew! Our Hawaiian cruise was ANYTHING but relaxing. Deck 7 forward cabins should come with a warning. I know we aren't the only people who have experienced this issue.

2) Poorly managed staff and lack of customer experience was evident in many areas.

Dining: We experienced buffet workers running through the buffet and roughhousing with co-workers, with one even breaking through a safety barriers and nearly hitting passengers. We had to listen to buffet waiters having inappropriate conversations about "getting it on" with some of the female staff.  For the first time ever, I asked to speak with a supervisor because I was so appalled by the unsafe and inappropriate behavior we kept seeing. The formal dining room was better but still disappointing. Dining room staff were unfamiliar with the menu items and couldn't answer pretty simple questions about the menu. Service was extremely slow. One night, we got tired of waiting to be acknowledged by our waiter so we left and headed back up to the buffet.

Tendering: The lack of safety concern was also seen during our tender to and from the ship in Kona. A disabled woman was not handled carefully enough by the staff and almost fell badly when getting off the tender at the port. There was 2-3 feet of walking space at the port as you exited and half of that space was taken by carelessly coiled ropes that could have easily caused someone to fall off the peer.

Entertainment Staff: Late in the cruise, I decided to try the popcorn available from one of the bar areas. As I entered the room with others also seeking the popcorn, I saw a group doing beer tasting. As I got half way through the room, the person with the microphone decided to mock those of us getting popcorn stating that "we weren't supposed to be allowed in the room" and then made a derogatory comment about our "need for popcorn" - getting a nervous laugh from the group he was leading. There were no signs stating that the room was closed or that an event was going on and both of the doors were wide open to the public areas. I've never been treated so poorly by staff on a cruise ship.

Conclusion:

It's a good value and if you choose your room wisely and don't plan to spend much time on the ship, you could enjoy the benefits of this island hopping cruise. If you want to view this as a normal cruise: beware and avoid. You will be disappointed. Because of the service issues, we will never cruise the Pride of America again.

The location and friends met was the best thing we experirenced yet. Very disappointed in staff, cleanliness and overall experience of the actual ship. Really doubt if we will use NCL again. This was also the opinion of many of the 'cruisers" we met on this trip.

I liked this type of cruise that gave me the opportunity to see 4 islands.

A lot of very nice people serving but some of them just made me, my wife and the other couple that were with us to think if it was a good idea to  cruise with Norwegian.

Hawaiian Island 7 day cruise.  This was our 15th cruise on 6 different cruise lines.  (I am a Hawaii resident)

SERVICE:  Although I’d heard bad reports about the crew, I found them just fine; friendly an efficient and thorough in all their work.  They were both foreign and American, but interestingly enough, a lot were relatively recent hires. (large turnover?)  The officers however were rather aloof and pretty much kept to themselves.

STATEROOMS:  The staterooms were adequate, clean and efficient.  TV included FOX, MSNBC, BBC news channels and a few movie channels.  We had a coffee maker in our room.  Occasionally there was a distinct odor of sewage in our bathroom as well as around the ship from time to time.

DINING: Open dining and no set serving times.  There were 6 venues listed as “complementary” and six that were specialty for an additional price.  The buffet offers a wide variety of food choices with adequate seating. There is also a 24-hour hamburger shop that is mostly complimentary. 

 Two main dining rooms; one was casual and one was more formal (ie.-slacks, sportshirt and shoes.  Mostly large groups and families, but no mixing of couples at large tables with a chance to meet other cruisers.  If you were just a couple, you were seated at a table for two!  Service was much faster than other cruise lines. The main dining menus were very limited with choices of pork, veal, some beef, and seafood.  There was no kid’s menu, which I though was odd, seeing that it is definitely a cruise for families.   For Italian, French, steak or Oriental cuisine you had to go to the specialty restaurants at a cost of between $20 to $30 per. Although the main dining rooms are listed as “complimentary” in the brochure, there were some items that still cost extra on their menus.  Wine at dinner is NOT complimentary.  You may not bring any spirits on board for use, even in your room.  It will be confiscated until you leave the ship or pay a corkage fee. 

BARS:  There are lots of bars (9) on board with most drinks in the $7 to $12 range.  There is a percentage added to you bar bill at the end of the cruise to cover gratuities. When served, you also get a tab to sign that includes a space for tips!

ENTERTAINMENT:  The usual piano bar/lounge.  Also the usual variety of evening shows; a song-and-dance group, a magician(bad), a comedian(worse), and a specialty act(good), most of which were a step or two down from what you’d expect from, say the Carnival family of cruise lines.

SERVICES:  WiFi was extra (cell phone service on the outer islands is marginal).  The pools and spas were clean.  There were activities for all ages including a teen nightclub and a specialty water area for toddlers. Room service is $8.  $25 deposit for pool towels!  Excursions were pricey but some were really spectacular and worth it.  For some, you would be better off to just rent a car and drive around yourself, as many of the attractions are free or low cost.

T

The State of Hawaii is beautiful, but the cruise was marginal. Guests were prohibited from bringing water onboard, yet no water was accessible from the staterooms. This caused guests to go hunting for potable water at every turn- often carting small cups of water from the buffets at all hours in order to have a bedside drink. In addition, there was a terrible odor throughout the Champagne Lounge- it smelled of raw sewage. Finally, the lack of evening activities onboard the ship made for a boring trip and very early nights. I would not recommend this cruise to anyone.

The entire cruise and crew were phenomenal. Although we had a rough start due to the weather, the opportunity to see and enjoy God's magnificence was priceless. Thanks to the hospitality crew who assisted my mom with wheelchair assistance when requested. Addition thank you to the dinning/chef  crews for keeping use fed and relaxed.

The food service was great. Tara did wonderful job,  She was the highlight of the cruise.  Otherwise rooms are small.  Room attendants were never seen. This was our third time on this cruise, and their new guidelines are too restrictive.  This will be our last NCL cruise, if possible!

This was our first cruise on NCL and we were very disappointed in Pride of America.  We have cruise 10 - 12 times, so have a certain expectations.  The ship itself seemed tired and didn't have a "grand cruise ship" feeling at all.  90% of the employees seemed to hate their jobs and you definitely were not made to feel special in any way.  The food was average at best.  The entertainment was so-so.  The cost was way higher than we normally pay, but since they have the only market for summer cruises in Hawaii, there were no choices.  We went with family/friends, so weren't able to choose another time.  Overall, very disappointed and probably would not consider NCL again.  Maybe other NCL ships and service is better, but this left a bad taste for us!

Favorite part of the cruise was the friendly staff.  We were always greeted with a smile and felt welcomed!  Only thought on what needs improvement, is the supplies offered for sale in the gift shop.  Several items of mine were taken at the airport from security and really didn't have time or access to buy them off the ship.  When I went to the gift shop these items were either not available or too costly.

Hawaii was the favorite part of the cruise. We were very pleased with the experience.

The service on the ship was not the friendliest. It seemed as though the staff was not real happy as they did not smile or great you with excitement as we have experienced on other cruises.

Overall the Hawaii cruise was great!

I loved Everything service, food, rooms, entertainment and trip itself!!!  Provide more papaya everyday on the Aloha Buffet!  Excellent luau.  Need more buses for return trip from Luau.

There were no favorite part of the cruise.  The entertainment was awful.  On the 3rd day.of the cruise we were told, not asked that our carpet would be changed!!! What was most disturbing is our son and his cousins were celebrating their high school graduation and there was little to none activities available for them on the ship. I felt horrible for them.  This was my first cruise and last with Norwegian. ..there was a total of 18 people traveling together and we all agreed goodbye Norwegian,  Hell Carnival cruise ship!!!

My husband and I enjoyed every moment of our cruise. Our stateroom was amazing, especially the balcony. We had an Aft room and it was worth every penny we spent on it! I loved all of the food choices and the different places complimentary meals were served! When we go on this cruise again we will spend more time eating breakfast in the Moderno restaurant for breakfast. It was quite calm and peaceful. We also had great window seats for the dining room which provided a cozy romantic ambiance.

We've never been to Hawaii and when planning it, we had no idea where to go. The Pride of America was the answer. We were very impressed with the ship and the service. We are avid cruisers and this was our first time on a NCL. The ship's ports were great to encompass the main islands of Hawaii. We especially loved the overnight stay at Maui and Kauai. It allowed us to explore the island by renting a car and not being tied to just hours on the island. We loved that. The ports were conveniently serviced by shuttles to take you where you needed to go. The crew was helpful in answering questions about each port, especially the last day when the captain took the ship off course to view the Na Pali Coast, which is only accessible by boat or helicopter. That was very special. We loved the cruise and glad we did Hawaii this way.

Buyer beware!!!  Don't book with !  They will rip off your promotion from Norwegian.  I thought I selected prepaid gratuities when I booked.  No record of it.   says I was supposed to call to select my promotion even though I booked entirely online.  I booked a 7 day Hawaiian cruise for two people and did not get my promised promotion.  Neither Norwegian nor would do anything about it.  Feels like Bait and Switch to me!  Will never use either company again!