Hawaii Cruise Reviews

Unfortunately the ship never made any of the advertised ports due to a fire in the engine room.  Flew from Tampa to SanFrancisco only to spend a day and a half in Honolulu, the flew from Honolulu to Atlanta and on to Tampa and home again.  Very disappointing, food was just ok.

Left ship, didn't want to spend six more days at sea without seeing anything.

Because this was our first trip to Hawaii not seeing all the Islands was disappointing. The trip seemed to go on forever.  The people on board were friendly.The staff was great and accommodating. Every time we cruise we learn

new things about cruising

The food was outstanding. Service at dinner was top-notch. 

Thanks Lawrence and David for you service in dining. 

There is some wear and tear on the boat and in our cabin that could use attention. 

I would love to do it again. 

Beautiful ship, too big and too many people, but my wife and I were able to do our own thing. Enjoyed great scuba diving in Molokini crater and Kona, the best Luau in Kauai, and very nice excursions in Volcanoes National Park in Hilo. Did Lahaina and Haleakala in Maui. 

The best show was "Oh What a Night performing the music of Frankie Vally and The Four Seasons. What a great group of guys. 

We should not have to pay for any food in any restaurant. In this ship you pay a cover charge in specialty restaurants, and some extra money for some lobster dishes. 

Old ship,  expired food, rude people specially Iount from Romania head waiter of Da Vinci dining room. My room stinks like old wet clothes all the Time 

This was my third Princess Cruise and my tenth overall.  We should have realized this was not what we were expecting as soon as we arrived at the pier.  I have never been given a number and asked to wait in a room until my number was called for boarding.  Usually when you are given a time to arrive you embark as soon as you are given your card to board the ship.  That was just the beginning of waiting.  The ship was booked to capacity (about 3500) and at least 10% of the guest were either using walkers or scooters.  As a result, getting an elevator anywhere was impossible.  One scooter and the elevator was full.  

The room was exceptionally small for a room with a veranda and I had one of the larger verandas which would have helped but we had exceptionally cold and windy weather which made it hard to use.  

The majority of the staff were pleasant and helpful but we encountered more than a handful of sarcastic, rude staff members.  Activities were the same everyday and after a week were boring but all that was offered.  For two weeks one activity was making leis, even for the five days after we left Hawaii.  There were two weeks of hula dancing, ukulele lessons,  and a choir of guests was formed all for a show on the last day.

The dining room staff in Horizon were exceptionally pleasant considering the conditions.  The dining room was worn and tired. Many of the chairs had ripped leather seats.  There were never enough tables for all the people.  One morning I handed my breakfast tray to one of the head waiters because we could not find a table.  This is the first cruise I have been on where I lost weight.  I was eating an average of twice a day, partly because of the crowds and partly because the food was repetitive and bland.  We spent 15 days on this ship and the menu never changed.  They had specials every night but most were either very spicy or very bland.  

Entertainment was just another horrible experience.  There was an 8 o'clock show and a 10 o'clock show.  The theater was big enough to accommodate 1/3 of the guests.  The average age of the guest was about 60 so everyone wanted to see the show.  If you were not at the theater at least 45 minutes before the show you were not getting a seat.  There were about 12 shows and we were able to see 6. As you can imagine they were not the best 6,   There was a magic show which everyone said was wonderful.  I was not able to see the early or late show in spite of getting to the theater at least 40 minutes before each show only to be told many of the guests stayed to see the second show  because they enjoyed the first so much.  There were many times on this ship when I felt no one was in charge.  Most ships offer the shows on tv the next day, for guest who missed them, not this ship.  They did have lots of advertising for Princess and you could buy a video at the end which had many of the shows you missed.   Everything on this ship was about the money.  They had sales everyday which looked more like garage sales.  If I am sailing to Hawaii why were they selling items with Alaska and The Caribbean written on them.

Disembarking was another nightmare.  I can only assume the majority carry their own luggage.  Try getting an elevator with at least 2000 guests carrying their own luggage and all the walkers, wheelchairs and scooters.  The rooms where you were asked to wait could not accommodate all the guest and so every passage way was full of standing guests with their luggage.  

I am trying very hard to say one nice thing about this cruise but unfortunately other than the pleasant staff there is not much I can say.  I think I am convinced I will never sail on Princess again.  As a returning guest I was given one free drink, I hope it did not break their bank.

 This trip was planned over a year ago and the cost including transportation to and from the ship, car rentals, hotel rooms, etc was almost $8000.  I felt as though it was a waste of hard earned money.  

What a fabulous crew that serve on this ship!  They made sure we had a great day everyday.  Definitely cruising with Princess again.  The balcony cabin was comfortable, the water pressure in the shower was better than at home and I loved the closet space for my 15 days of clothing.  Especially love that Princess has 'adult only' pools and spas.

I love to go on cruises.

I've been on 13 different cruises, but it was my first time on Princess.

It wasn't horrible, but it was the worst cruise in my experience.

The average age on the ship was 70yo (according to the cruise director). I'm 45.

The food in all the dining rooms was very good. The Horizon Court Buffett was not something I would feed my dog (we called it the Caca Court Buffett). Smelled really gross too.

The carpet in our room stunk but the room was otherwise very nice and clean.

The customer service staff was amazing, the best I've ever seen on any vacation over the years. The nicest, most polite and friendly group of service employees I've ever seen.

The entertainment was exceptional and I was amazed at the production shows. Always found a seat at the last minute.

The captain and officers on board were very nice, humble and you could really tell they wanted to be there and wanted us to be there too.

It rained the whole trip but since I live in California it was wonderful. We never get rain here so it was a pleasant surprise.

We rented a car on all 4 islands. The cars were around $20 to $30 for the day (we booked on )

The ship just went into dry dock and they were planning on replacing the carpets and fixing the ship up a bit.

Embarkation and disembarkation went very smooth and fast.

We are frequent cruisers of NCL, however, this was the first American based cruise we have been on. While there were a handful of people that we encountered that provided excellent service, sadly the majority was not. We were at a shared table of 6 for breakfast and not a one of us got what we asked for. The waiters seemed cordial at least and "going through the motions" at most. The food although some tasted good was not served in the right temperature. Overall, the service and food were lacking and the entertainment was good.

We didn't get everything promised by , and we paid a lot more than other people. I would not use for a cruise again.  The stateroom and bathroom not real clean.

Sad to say that other cruise lines outshine by far Norwegian. Rooms tiny. Food boring and unimaginative. Servers blaze, uncaring and forgetful. Buffet unorganized and foods that are to be warm cold. I do have to admit that the professional shows were excellent. The ship was clean. The steward that tended our room had to b tracked down. The ships motto "I can I can is not true. The first thing asked for ( a.99 cent extension cord for my hubbys breathing machine)we had to go to the service desk and sign a paper that we would return it or we would be charged 25 dollars. Ha! The ports we arrived at in all the islands were shipping ports with nothing around so that u had to either take an excursion or hire a taxi to get away from all the cargo containers. The excursions were very expensive for the value. Guess NCL has the corner on market there. In other words I believe we'll spend our time and hard earned money on the cut above cruise lines. Royal carribean, Princess, Disney , Holland American........etc. 

we had a great time but we're not able to see everything do to the poor weather. We went during rainy season and had to cancel a tour since it was raining so hard we would not have seen anything.

Specialty restaurants were poor. The main restaurant had better service than they did. We have been on NCL before and did not experience the poor service in the restaurants and cabin cleaning. 

This trip is worth taking, especially the 3 days tours before the cruise. Good your own airfare as you will be off the ship by 9:30. We had to wait until 5pm to get a flight home through snowy Chicago. We would have booked the connecting flight through Houston and not been payed over 3 1/2 hours more in Chicago. Being handicapped they wheeled me onto the ship and off the ship the last day. All in all we had a great time despite the negatives.

Have taken many NCL cruises in the past.  The food on the Pride of America, at least in the specialty dining rooms, was not as excellent as other larger ships.  Staff was very friendly.  Bathrooms were very small, especially showers.  Ship could use some painting outside.  All in all, very nice trip.

I traveled with a family of 21 to celebrate a birthday. Of the many cruises I have enjoyed, this was, by far, the least. The policy for bringing wine on board is antiquated and nebulous. Navigating the vessel was a logistical problem caused by small elevators and dead ends. Many dining room servers were inexperienced, resulting in order errors and delayed meals. The food was not hot when served. The cabins are exceptionally small (my husband and I had a midship balcony stateroom), making it difficult for the two of us to move around. Three other elder, adult family members were housed in the same size cabin.

I have been on many cruises and the Pride of America Hawaii cruise was a good idea in theory but ended up being quite disappointing.  

The boat did not offer anything special, the food was fine (exactly the same menu as our Alaska sailing), it was a very small boat also which made it very turbulent on the water.

I also booked a 2 room suite. And even after talking with multiple agents and NCL directly all assured me it was 2 bedrooms.

This was a stressing point to me because I was traveling with an infant and we needed a separate room.

But come to find out it is a large room divided into 2 by a privacy curtain. Hardly the same thing and definitely not what I was assured.

Also there are no liquor packages sold on this cruise. We were told due to it still be in the US territory they were not allowed to offer those packages.

So overall, if you want to see Hawaii I would recommend seeing it the old fashion way: little island hops and resort stays. You will be more comfortable.

This is the only totally in Hawaii cruise; because of this the ship is the only cruise ship registered in the US.  One positive point was that time wasn't waisted sailing to and from the west coast.  The food in the premium restaurants was excellent, although you had to pay a premium to eat in these restaurants.

The ports of call were excellent and well organized.  There were free shuttle busses in every port for rides into town.

While it may be a great way to see the Hawaiian Islands and we did have fun with family and friends on board, I discovered I am NOT a cruise person.  I don't enjoy the "sheeple" experience - that of being herded with everyone else on bus rides, at tourist sites and in restaurants.  That said, the entertainment was excellent, and the food wasn't bad either although my partner suffered intestinally (might have been seasickness or alcohol poisoning.)  We had a gorgeous suite with a private deck which was unbelievable, but our butler discarded some food we had set out for lunch on our excursion that day for no apparent reason.  

  First time on Norwegian, and the last.  

Quite choppy seas, and windy after leaving San Francisco. Four plus days of large ocean waves on the initial voyage to Hilo wasn't a very pleasant experience.

Sea conditions were much better on the return, except for being very windy topside, A much smoother ride on the return was appreciated by all passengers..