Hawaii Cruise Reviews

The century is too small a ship with old fashioned stabilizers to sail the Pacific to and from Hawaii. The tendering was the worst. We waited almost three hours before we got off the ship in Maui and were a half hour late for our tour in Kona. We felt we were like cattle' the tenders they used were life boats from the ship which no one seemed how to handle. It was just awful for the handicapped. One crew member actually dropped a portable wheel chair between the dock and the tender if that gives u any indication. As for the food it was good. The attentiveness from the wait staff was very good. There was not enough entertainment while sailing to and from Hawaii. For example no music except for 45 min. Or sometimes just 15 minutes. Then there would be an hour and half delay before music was played again. We will not sail with Celebrity again nor will we recommend it to our family and friends.

I was very impressed with this 15 night cruise. The food was awesome!!! The staff was awesome!!! The entertainment was great!! The room was great!!! only one negative thing---they offered a behinds the scene's tour on the ship the engine room, bridge etc... they wanted $150.00 for it. That was just WAY to expensive.

We were very dissapointed on our cruise .The food at times was sub par as example Pork Chops were to tough to cut or chew some of the roast beef was also this way. Also it seemed that everything that you wanted to do cost extra even a simple cup of coffee on deck 5 had to go up to deck 14 to accomplish that task.If you want a good steak or Lobster you had to pay 25 dollars per person and that is not right.It seem princess is in the selling business instead of cruises.Entertainment was ok but to get from one show to another it was impossible to get there in time allowed between shows .When you got there all seating wes taken.

This was a great way to get to get a flavor of the islands without having to pack and repack clothes and add additional travel time and expense which would have been required in island hopping. Loved the excurions wihch were offered.

Overall the Cruise itself was wonderful, but there were a few hiccups. Cruise Only did not live up to its agreement. We were promised certain benefits that were never delivered. As part of this cruise we were to be given a book of gift certificates totaling between $350-400 that were ne'er delivered, and further once the cruise was booked no followup from Cruises Only occurred to make sure everything was satisfactory. Only after the cruise are they interested, I am not sure I will use Cruises Only again. To further exacerbate these challenges, if I had a problem, I facilitated follow up which is good, but no proactive interest was given to ensure satisfaction was noted. The Cruise itself was awesome, and this helped to make up for the lack of customer service. As always NCL was great. The only criticism I have is that even though we spent over $2000 on shore excursions, we had to pay $3.00 each time we wanted a diet coke, really? Some sort of trade off with NCL, based on your on board purchases, should afford you some of these benefits, I am not suggesting free drinks like alcohol, but soft drinks. Finally, during our meeting for Shore Excursions, there was a lot of disarray in the meeting area, even so much that some of the NCL staff was rude. No one greeted us and instructed where to sit, rather relying on the speaker to repeat over and over the same instructions when people came into the room. When we sat in a wrong area, we were rudely treated on scolded that we were sitting in the wrong area as we were not with a specific tour. There was a lack of organization, which could have been addressed by someone meeting people upon their arrival.

In our opinion, the ship was too small to handle the rough waters to and from Hawaii. We suffered from motion sickness in spite of taking pills, etc.

As other reviews have stated, and correctly in my opinion, the ship, service and food leave a lot to be improved upon. But, the islands are beautiful and NCL is the only cruise line that does the islands without sailing from the mainland. I didn't expect much in line of food and the ship and I wasn't disappointed. The ship was dirty, old and small. The cabins were extremely small compared to other cruises I have been on. The cabin steward was friendly but did a horrible job cleaning the room. I had to call her supervisor to get the hair and dirt from the previous occupants cleaned out of the bathroom. I never did receive the extra bath towel I requested the first night we were out. The food was mediocre and the service was extremely slow. We got coffee with no spoons to stir it and gave up after 15 minutes and went to the Cadillac Diner. The Cadillac Diner was the exception on the ship - the food was good, the service extremely friendly and the food was delivered to your table quickly. The excursions were great and the sites to see fabulous. If you want to see the islands without sailing from the mainland NCL will get the job done. But don't expect that you will have a true cruise experience with the pampering, fabulous dining and beautiful shipboard amenities.

This is the first time we've escaped winter with a cruise. From the boarding to disembarkation, Princess took very good care of us. Our cabin was very efficient. I especially appreciated lots of hangers and plenty of drawer space. The small refrigerator is another nice feature. Fresh fruit in the room was nice for a light snack. We enjoyed the dining options. We had breakfast most mornings on the Horizon deck. While at sea, we took advantage of an English pub lunch which added some variety to our normal menus. We selected Anytime Dining. Even though we never made a reservation our wait time was less than 10 minutes. Food was presented well and quite tasty. Most of the shows were entertaining. We saw Lincoln and Argo as well as the Oscars. The folks who were in the sing and dance shows were terrific. The Hawaiian couple gave us insights into their culture as they entertained us. Princess offered a wide variety of shore excursions. Unfortunately Mother Nature did not cooperate when we were in Oahu so we were not able to go on the Arizona. This is a perfect cruise for those who want an escape. The two of us were able to catch up on our reading and unwind. If you really want to be entertained 24/7 you might want to consider other cruises. We are experienced cruisers (this was our 20th one - third with Princess). We're already looking at Princess' options for next year.

princess did a nice job of making our cruise enjoyable. The seas were calm. and Hawaii was beautiful. My travel agent was great in helping me select a gret cruise.

The best part of this cruise is the fact that the ship stops in Maui and Kaui overnite so you actually have 2 days in each port and not have to rush back to the ship. Also loved going by the volcano at night and the coastline of Kaui in the day time. The food was ok, some of it actually very good. The steaks in the main dining room were poor with no real taste. Service was good. We had heard that since the cruise was based in U.S. the staff weren't attentive which we didnt find to be true. They were slightly understaffed becuase the ship was trying to prevent the spread of a stomach virus (which my wife got anyway) so all buffets were plastic wrapped and no passagner could touch any food. It was all handed to you by waitstaff. The ship needed some updating and it is going in for refitting shortly. The shows were also medicore but we weren't there for shows, the real treat were the Hawaiian Islands.All in all it was a good time for us and I would recommend it.

Had a real good time......All the staff was wonderful. Food was good, but me and a lot of other passengers that i talked to found the food to be very salty....

Our cruise aboard the Sapphire Princess to Hawaii was a real treat. The Sapphire Princess is a beautiful ship, the crew was friendly and eager to serve, and the itinerary was delightful. We couldn't have asked for a better experience.

The buffet was always the same, dirty dishes and trays were left for a while before being picked up. Entertainment was mostly terrible. Dinning room service for breakfast and lunch was very slow.

If youve never been to Hawaii, this is a perfect way to go!! We love cruising and we thought this was a perfect way to go see all the islands! We had a great time but the weather wasnt as good as we had hoped for on our way out and back from Hawaii, so we werent able to soak up all the sun like we had hoped!! The ship is beautiful but hard to find your way around. Alot of activities during the day if you choose. Food was great but would have liked to seen more variations thru out the two weeks! Overall, a great way to go to Hawaii and see all the island....now we know what islands we want to go back too!

Cruise was disorganized and entertainment was unsatisfactory. One evenning, an entertainer did not get on board the ship for the evenning show. The daily entertainment schedule could not be relied on since many things were changed during the day. Inexperienced crew tendered us from the ship to a port. In the process of transferring us, they banged into the dock walls and the ship's hull. We paid extra for the steakhouse and several of us became ill that evenning and next day. As a result, we missed the first formal night. This is the first cruise that we went on that did not have any religious services. The crew claimed ignorance in not answering many of our questions regarding the ship and cruise. Many used the excuse that this was their first time aboard this ship.

Very enjoyable, after we got our Sea Legs we really enjoyed it. Most everyone that worked on the Boat was very friendly. We enjoyed most of the entertainment and really had a great time. The total experience was Very good and we thank everyone that made this such a good time.

very tlittle to do uness you gamble. tv was nonexsistant shows were good when. they had them. stafft tried hard but were much overburdened. I would never go on carival again. Heard many simulr comments while on board. even this comment is large. I was ill which may have colored my comment. My husband was not pleased with the cruise either.Overall my dream cruise was not good

The days at sea were very nice. Weather wasn't bad except for one windy day. We joined in on the crafts each sea day but they ran out of crafts by the second day. Also with the scrap booking. The shows at night were hit and miss with several shows postponed until a later date. We had three great singing and dancing shows towards the end of the cruise.

-15 day cruise was okay, the food was good, the service was great, great people -If your taking little ones as we did 5 year old and 2.5 year old, wouldn't recommend in January, too cold. The bad weather in our at sea days ruined our plans to play in the water park, pools and slide. -The ship was very limited for any fun activities for our children, (wanted nothing to do with camp carnival unless we where there with them, was not allowed) -It would have been nice if they had a big indoor play area for the children and if they could have shown cartoons in our state room. -Any helpful tips i can pass along, be weary of many at day seas, especially with little ones. Research the weather getting there, the temp. crossing the pacific to Hawaii ruined it for us.

We left from San Pedro January 16, 2013, no problems. The suite was perfect. The 5 sea days on the way to Hawaii were a little rough. Being on deck 15 didn't help. We don't get seasick, so that wasn't a problem. Sleeping was tough with all the rocking and rolling, 12 ft. waves and gale force winds. Hubby got the flu on the way over, I got it on the way back. Room service was great. Room steward, Geronimo was excellent. Bingo was fun. Dinner waiters were excellent. Dinner companion's were very nice. The 5 sea days on the way back were also rough, again 12 ft. waves and gale force winds. I would recommend this cruise, but not in January. Maybe a little later due to the weather. Hawaii was wonderful. Hilo excursion to Rainbow falls was great. Honolulu we shopped as we have been there before. Kauai, we took the movie tour and it was excellent, highly recommended. Maui, we took the whale watch excursion and that also was excellent, saw lots of whales.