Hawaii Cruise Reviews

We were late getting back on board the ship in Lahina. A wreck had occured and we were within 7 miles of the ship. The wreck closed the highway down and there was nothing we could do be sit. We started calling the port authority and told them what was going on. They notified the Capt. Since we were out on our own it was not the Cruise Company's responsibility. We understood this and also understood they did not have to hold the ship for us. But they did and many more details how hard they worked to help us work out this problem. They could have had I don't care attitude, but they didn't. They were absolutely FANTASTIC. I wish I could give the praise this crew deserves.

It's a smaller ship, max of 670 passengers...embarking and disembarking is quick and simple.

THe ship was beautiful and well maintained.

The ship is fairly nice. The standard Carnival style layout. Mini-golf on the top deck was neat.

not impressed at all

not avail.

Disappointing with open dining, entertainment was lousy.

We were not "provided" with all the information. It took several calls to your agency to get what information was needed. We expected a mail package but found that NCL operates entirely off the internet.

The food was average and below and the service was bad. The rooms were smaller than on older ships we have been on with a port hole window and we were in a stateroom.

The ship was beautiful and staff was outstanding. We really enjoyed the wide variety of dining options....food was great.

The ship itself was clean and neat. The ports of call were great. The staff was rude. The food was less than quality. The entertainment was ok but not spectacular.

After reading many of the online reviews of the " Pride of America", I didn't know what to expect. All of the reviews were so conflicting, I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. I came on the ship ready to be dissapointed. After spending a week on the ship, I am thrilled to say that it was fantastic!!!!! There was no sign of anything negative. Cabins were spotless and were kept that way by our friendly steward. Every time we left the cabin it had been cleaned and towels were anew. Everynite we had a different towel animal ( offering mints) sitting on our bed. All conmmon areas were clean and spotless as well, and crews were forever polishing and sweeping the halls and stairs. Every crew member that I came into contact with would smile at me and say hello, and even ask "how are you doing?" or "are you enjoying the cruise?" They made me feel as if I was a guest in their home. The ship itself was beautiful, with all the brightly colored American themed areas and photos. A lot of the reviews that I read complained of a sewer odor. There was never a foul odor anywhere that I could smell, and I was all over the ship! Food was fantastic everywhere we ate. Tried a few of the restaurants but found that the food in the Aloha Cafe was just as good with no waiting or hassle (and we could wear our shorts) so we mostly ate there when we were hungry. Clean up service in the cafe was exceptional!! As soon as all the food was gone, the plates were speedily whisked out of our sight like magic, so we could go and get some more food...and such an assortment of foods, it was hard to stop at one helping. All of the shows that we saw were very enjoyable and employed quality talent. The only review that I read that seemed to come true for me was the temperature of the ship. Although each cabin has its own thermostat that can be set comfortuably to ones liking, most of the common areas were freezing!!!!! I sometimes found myself very cold and miserable even with my jacket on. I don't feel that it should be necessary to wear a heavy winter coat on a hawiian cruise. Other than that, the cruise was great and I would jump at the chance to do it all again...of course, next time, I'll know to pack my winter coat and maybe some thermal underwear!!

On the first day out, all the public bathrooms from deck 12 to deck 5 went out. They later repaired them but the sewage stench lasted for days. We had some passengars become serious ill and had to change course for them to be fighted to Hawaii from Christmas Island. Because of this we missed our two days in Maui and spent 5 days sailing around the Pacific until our next port. There were few activities since this was unscheduled and we spent most of the time reading as eating places closed early to preserve food. Not the ships fault unless you count poor planning. We were told it was a 4 star ship. As I said before, a disappointment.

We recently sailed on the MS Zaandam, she is a beautiful ship. The only problem we had is the air conditioning system. Some areas of the ship were cold, others were comfortable. The other major problem was the showers water temp. It was to hot, one could not set the temp to a comfortable setting.

Majority of ships crew were excellent. Most of the entertainers on the cruise were excellent. When an accident occurred on one of the tenders, we were never asked if we were injured or needed assistance. Very poor communication by the crew members.

The ship is gorgeous, the staff very helpful, esp at the desk. They were able to answer any question that I had or look up the answer. We truly had a great vacation. Anna

My husband and I are avid cruisers and recently went on this trip (2/2008). We we very disappointed with the crew as they seemed to not really care if we were on board o not. Unlike many other ships we have traveled on previously. Little things like recognizing you by name when you leave your cabin, trying to make your stay enjoyable and memorable. When we asked for assistance on a couple of things...the request qwas ignored. When arriving at the airport, no one was there to help with luggage etc and we paid for transfers. We might as well got a cab. At least the cab driver may have helped to load the luggage. We also unloaded it oursleves at the pier and then reversed the whole procedure upon transfereing back to the airport after the cruise. The food was not very good either. We have been on cruises where we have gained weight as the food was wonderful. But I actually lost 3 pounds on this cruise! Not a bad thing...but ....Also the dining experience wasn't great. We stoof in line with the so called free-style dining the first night and second night for over 1and a half hours prior to be seated. We decided to make reservations at the other dining resturants on board. But what we weren't told was in order to dine in these other speciality resturants...free style there were cover charges in each. So we paid them nightly to avoid standing in line. We were also suprsed to see that the resturants also had a dress code policy.....but it was never enforced. We shoered and dressed nicely for dinner every evening only to find people next to us with hairy backs and arms showing in their sleeveless T-shirts! Gross. O m sorry, but these folks should have been told to go to the buffet. But they were constantly allowed in the dining rooms. Many had shorts, sandals, jeans and etc on as well. We felt like we were on a first crusie on something like Carnvial! However this was about our 20th cruise on supposidly a much nicer line?????? We were disappointed. The only thing this ship had going for it was the itinerary. 10 days on each island without having to sail to Fanning Island.

We chose this cruise line only because we wanted to see the various Hawaiian Islands, the port of embarkation was great as it was Honolulu and it saved time traveling across the ocean to Hawaii. We used the ship as a hotel and transportation from one island to the other. Our Cruises Only agent, Harry, told us not to expect much in the way of service as this was our seventh cruise and have found the other cruise lines to be very service oriented. The food was mediocre at best and the entertainment average.

The ship was large and they say fully booked. I paid a usual fare and with airfare this was not an inexpensive vacation. Upon arriving to my cabin, the safe was not working, (the mechanical parts to the door were missing). I asked for another room with a working safe, not available. It took 3 days of cruising before the safe was fixed. We had to inconviently use the safe at the pursar's desk. The room was made up twice on a 7 day cruise before lunch, the rest of the days it was made up around dinner time, the reason given was that some of the crew left the ship because it was the last cruise and they werent staying on with the ship.

The ship was fine but the staff was a big let down.