Hawaii Cruise Reviews

Wonderful cruise to the islands of Hawaii.  Just enough time in each island to enjoy the beauty.

Cruise personnel were always very helpful and polite.

we selected this cruise for one sole purpose and that was to relax and rest. that was accomplished. We mostly ate at specialty dining rooms, due to the poor quality and arrogance of the wait staff because we ate (anytime dining) which was not  in the best interest of the dining room. we were directed to unsatisfactory tables and guests. the rts were remote and unattractive and did not offer much, we took no excursions. too expensive and we thought the whole cruise was very expensive and very much a money maker for princess. the ship is old and dated. the theatre seating was too tight with very poor visibility.the public rest rooms were always dirty and not well maintained. language was an issue some of the time. the ship was not willing to take care of an issue we had and there were lots of other complaints among gest of similar situations.  we plan to cruise with an alternate cruise line in the future.

Disappointed in the menu and the quality of most sit down meals.  Beef was specifically atrocious.  

Staff was outstanding and impressive.

Crown room where we ate twice was exceptional except there was no one thee to greet you when you arrived.

The Share dining experience does not lend itself to sharing and thought the food and service was exemplary the concept is a bomb for a volume operation where on a floor below you have a feeding trough in the Horizon. 

The spa was all about selling extra services and not about customer satisfaction.  My wife and I went three times and almost had to beat our way out.  

Cost of photos seemed high and we spent hundreds, but worth it all in all.

EFY was a gem (excuse the pun) quality and variety.

Internet an absolute rip off, and the fact that you are charging your employees does not create loyalty.  

Lastly, your evening performances should cause you shame.  Several times the show star was drunk and an embarrassment to himself as well as the audience should have been fired on the spot.  

I am 73 years old and have been cruising for almost 40 years, so I remember the good old days when our dollar bought value.  Please don't continue down the slippery slope of ROI instead of Value for the buck.  Creativity alone will not solve the problem.  I would rather pay a surcharge for an upgraded meal them eat cheap poor tasting, well you get the point.

By the way I was raised in the food business, have owned my own restaurants, meat markets, and fish stores.  Not one easy to fool.

Spencer Roy Clarke

*** EDITED 1/6/16 BY CRUISELINE.COM TO REMOVE PERSONAL INFORMATION ***

Fun cruise. Great entertainment and events. Weather was unseasonably chilly - so do pack accordingly.  The food on Ruby Princess was a huge disappointment! The dining room food was consistently cold and bland (think hospital food). Horizon court food was OK but breakfast was cold and unappetizing daily. Lots of people complained about it.

Wish the planning on the cruise would have included more land days and a couple less sea days or at least an overnight in Honolulu! Honolulu was great! 

Our first time taking a cruise. We weren't sure what to expect, and we were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food and the service, and the activities and entertainment. We will definitely do another cruise in the future!

This is my 6th NCL cruise, and I enjoyed the week, that visited 4 main islands in Hawaii.  The balcony stateroom was fine - and we had (there were 2 of us) had plenty of room.  I generally don't spend a lot of time in my cabin, as I am up and out either on the back of the ship, or on a shore excursion.  I enjoy the food on the NCL ships, and the buffets work well for me, in particular due to a busy schedule.  I booked my shore excursions for us through NCL directly.  I enjoyed all of them, but wanted to say one thing about the luau that occurs on Thursday nights, during the cruise, on land.  We were 2 people, so I didn't book a table at the event, because the tickets said only when groups were 10+ should you do that.  But what happened was that we were seated at an "over flow" table, way in the back, and with several kids, who were hyped up on sugar.  I didn't feel the view was very good, and the children were distracting.  The food was average Chinese buffet, frankly.  What I should have done was to book a table ahead of time, regardless of the size of my party, or attended a Luau in Honolulu before the cruise.  So, if you go on this cruise, and book the luau, on land with NCL, be sure to book a table as soon as you are on board at the beginning of the cruise.  Otherwise the excursions were all good, and we saw a tremendous amount of the islands in a week.  Also, due to the American registry, 75% of the employees have to be US residents/citizens.  So you are supporting Americans in booking this cruise.  NCL has recently merged with Oceania, so let's hope the cost of the island cruise doesn't go up tremendously.  We had a great time, felt the ship was fine (although it gets some renovation in Feb. of 2016 in SF), and would recommend this highly.  Just book your luau table asap once you are on board.  Mahalo & Aloha!

My husband and I embarked on the Pride of America with high expectations to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary. We boarded without incident and had lunch before our room was ready. It was in the Aloha dining area which served buffet style. We were very impressed with the variety of food offered from fresh fruit, salads, meats, sides and desserts. When we got to our assigned stateroom, we were pleasantly surprised. We were assigned a handicapped room which was much larger than what we expected. It was nicely decorated with a very comfortable bed. It was great. So was Mattie our room steward. He was helpful and kept our room clean and neat.

I can't say enough about the crew. Each and everyone of them went above and beyond our expectations. The bartenders, servers and assistant servers were always pleasant and eager to please. 

In addition, the evening entertainment was wonderful. We saw a tribute to the Beatles, Oh What a Night performing Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons songs, some Motown and Michael Jackson songs. We also saw the "Not So Newlywed Game," which was tons of fun. There was a talented magician, a variety show and other kinds of entertainment.

On the downside, there weren't enough activities to get to mingle with others. There weren't fun games to get everyone involved. In addition, the food was rather bland. We ate plenty of fresh fruit,salads, sides and desserts because the rest of the food offered was very bland. My husband had a filet served with unseasoned gravy. Who does that?  It was overcooked and tough. I had red snapper one evening and had to send it back to the kitchen--it was overcooked and tough to cut with a butter knife. Instead I ordered salmon which was also overcooked. We encountered many occasions when our meals were overcooked and very, very bland which included eggs, burgers, pork, fish, etc. 

Moveover, NCL consistently charges almost 50% more for the same shore excursions as Roberts Hawaii a company that has been around for quite a few years and has a high rating based on customer reviews. 

Bottom Line

#1 NCL needs to hire a new chef that knows how to flavor food and cutdown on overcooked food.  

#2 NCL should have some games and fun activities for adults in the evening in order to get to meet other people.

#3 NCL should stop overcharging their guests for show excursions. 

We enjoyed our cruise. It's a great way to travel to four of the islands with only unpacking once. The balcony room adds another option for your cruise. The rooms were small, however with your own balcony, your space feels larger. We could watch the sun rise and set, enjoy all the activity as we set sail or pulled into a new port and all while wearing our p j's. The staff was there to help and serve us. Our cabin was kept clean and well stocked with towels daily. The food choices were over the top 24/7.

A great way to see all the beauty of Hawaii in its many forms, just don't expect the luxury, entertainment, cuisine or service you may have experienced on other cruises. While Hawaii is always wonderful, if you're looking for anything out of the cruise experience, you will probably be disappointed.

Where to begin... This trip was so relaxing and so exciting from beginning to end. We are frequent cruisers and have done back to back 7 day cruises before but the 15 day Journey cruise was different. There were 5 sea days at the beginning and 5 straight sea days at the end. For me, this is perfect but my husband was a little antsy after the 3rd sea day each way. There were lots of things for us to do each day without spending a fortune--- although we did leave a tiny fortune in the ship's casino...

The weather, in November/December was ok for us but we are from Michigan so we how low weather standards. With that said, I would have liked a little less wind so we could enjoy sunbathing a little more.

We had never been to Hawaii before so we enjoyed the full day long stops at each port. It gave us an opportunity to get a good feel for the islands without feeling rushed. We did not choose to do guided excursions but ventured out on our own instead. We didn't want to be tied down to anything and instead decided to go with the flow each day. This worked out really well and we even used Uber for rides a couple times. We were disappointed in the "welcome centers" at these ports. They were quite industrial and "blah". I like some of the caribbean ports, where you get off of the ship and feel like you've arrived in paradise from the moment you step off of the ship. But have no fear, once we got past the custom areas and into the towns, it was much like the paradise we expected each time!

The food and service on the ship was great. Nothing much different than other cruises. Our serving staff in the dining room did seem exceptional. Excellent energy and quick service, as well. The cruise director, CHloe, was super personable. She really mixed with the passengers and made us feel welcome and as if we had been friends for years!

I

THE HANUKAH  CELEBRATION  WAS THE VERY BEST EVER---THE STAFF WAS OVER THE TOP---CLOEE SHOULD BE CONGRATULATED FOR THE CHOICE OF CAREING STAFF----HE WAS nO WORDS TO TELL YOU HOW GREAT HE WAS----SORRY I DO NOT HAVE HIS NAME----SPECIAL CREDIT ALSO TO OUR ROOM STAFF----THE VERY BEST OF ALL MY MANY CRUISES HOPE I WILL BE AS LUCKY TO BE WITH STAFF PEOPLE LIKE THIS AGAIN-----THANK YOU ETHEL BLUMENTHAL------

Our trip on POA was fantastic.  Our 2-bedroom suite with large balcony had plenty of room for 3 adults.  The description of "large balcony" online does not really do it justice.  It was huge, with 2 chaise lounges, a dining table with 4 chairs and plenty more room to spread out on your own personal deck off the back of the ship!  I would book this cruise again for that balcony alone.  Beautiful views as you left each island. The itinerary was also great, giving you a taste of all the islands.  But it was also more hectic than your typical cruise to the Caribbean, Bahamas or Mexico.  No days at sea here so we were always getting up early and off the boat to explore. The on board entertainment options are not on par with newer and bigger ships, but again, this itinerary leads to much more time off the boat than on it.  Great way to see Hawaii (especially for a first-timer) and figure out which island you like best.

The Pride of America is a beautiful ship displaying themes of American history throughout, with  emphasis on Hawaii and the culture. The ship is thoughtfully cared for and clean.  Staff are plentiful and helpful.  Food in the complementary dining areas is beautifully presented.   I especially like the seven port stops and all sea travel is at night, so no lost days at sea. This was my second time to do this cruise.

Thanks, MaryB., Littleton, CO

The NCL trip to Hawaii was amazing,  Crew was so nice and so good to us.  Different type of cruise we have ever taken.  Only on ship at night for dinner and shows, there was no days at sea, and we really like it.

The food was wonderful, "The dinning rooms were great, and the buffet was great.

The show on board was so good, loved them all.

an excellent cruise-great food and service, probably the best i've ever experienced in over 50 cruises. no problems as everything was great

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I've taken this cruise before, but on the Oosterdam, which was a much better experience.  The Veendam is a small and old ship - tatty in some areas.  Plus this cruise seemed like a nursing home - so many walkers, people in wheel chairs and scooters. Unpleasant cranky very old people.   And the entertainment was really lame - especially Buddy the piano player.  Only really good entertainment was the jazz combo in the Ocean Bar.  The guitarist in the MIX bar played everything in the same tempo and key - very monotonous. Fortunately, the dining staff and the bar staff were fun.  I also don't care for the way the cooking demos are handled anymore.  They used to be hands on and we could taste what either the chef or we cooked.  Overall, the experience was for people who wanted a passive, spoon-fed vacation.  I would not take this cruise again.     

Service on board was very good. Buffet lacked variety. Too long at sea. Had fire in one of the mechanical rooms so didn't get to follow scheduled inteneary Only went to one out of four islands. Spent two days in Honolulu. Generous reimbursements.

Ve?.Our Cruise was wonderful except for missing 3 Islands due to an Electrical fire.  The bed felt like A bed of bricks which hurt us very bad even with 2 Douets on it for padding.  B602 for reference.  The stay, the people, Dave and Duke, all of the waiters and waitresses (ie: Ivana S, junior waitress, Jasper in the Da Vinchie and Alex Avilla) stood out as exceptional.  We are very appreciative of fhe Captain in his efforts to keep to apprised  of the condition of what was going on with the ship and the package he fought to get us for the inconvience of the fire and 3 islands we couldn't go to.  Princess is a Cruise line we will continue to do our vacationing trips with. 

My husband got hurt on a railing in the explorers lounge while we wanted to go to and Art Auction we have never been to. He cut his left arm 2"×1" and went to the Medical dept and it was closed between 11am and 4pm.  Why???  We had to pay $95 just to get him seen.  It was closed, who closes between those hours?  We did the accident reportand now I have to get reimbursed.

All we had complete clnfidence in our Captian and never felt in danger.  We want to plan another trip back to the Island and see what we couldn't.  It will be our 3 trip with Princess.  Thank You, The Grand Princess.

 Mr. & Mrs. Dave Sunderman

Sonoma County, Ca

We didn't get to stop at most ports due to the fire. Princess did make it right with comps, I guess, but would have like to seen family and friends on the islands we didn't stop at. The ocean was very rough the whole cruise.

As a result of having engine room issues on our cruise, we only got to one port, Honolulu.  Our Captain petitioned for us until 3:00 AM, and was able to get everyone a full refund for our cruise, plus 50% of what we paid for this cruise credit on our next Princess cruise.  Not only that, anyone who wanted to opt off in Honolulu, they paid for their flights home.  Most of us remained on the ship and had a fantastic time, as the cruise director was able to bring on additional entertainment for us, and they were terrific.  Despite only going to one port of call, this cruise could not have been better, and we cannot praise Princess enough for all of their efforts and for the efforts of all of their staff.

Margaret & Terry Dillon