An average cruise only

Item: Pride of Aloha
Rating: 3
Author: Barry87801581

Pride of Aloha Cruise Review to Hawaii

Barry87801581

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 37

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Hawaii (Honolulu Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 13, 2007

Ship: Pride of Aloha

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 17 years ago

Review summary

The ship was old and needs to be upgraded. Staff for most part was very nice. This is the second time in a row that I have had a problem with an NCL cruise. Will not cruise with them again. Freestyle crusing is a catchy advertising slogan but cruise is not really freestyle. You don't have the opportunity to eat when you want (unless you want to wait for up to an hour at a main dining room). The activity schedule is poor. Some of the best activites and entertainment scheduled at exact same time.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Quality of food was average at best. Restaurant variety was poor. Speciality restaurants were not inviting at all. I have never heard of a cruise ship that CLOSES its buffet lines and only has one buffet line open at a time for the entire ship. Buffet hours were terrible and did not correspond well with excursion departures and returns. The main dining rooms were nice with a good atmosphere. The servers were very good for the most part. I couldn't understand a wait time of 10-15 minutes for a main dining room when half of the dining room was empty. The room service menu was great if you wanted snacks but did not have any regular food options.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Entertainment was good. Very few good activities on board that were interesting. Some of the more interesting activities included an extra fee to participate. Don't understand why an extra fee would be necessary when you have paid a substantial amount for the cruise.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Staff was very nice. Staff constantly greeted you within hallways and public areas. The only complaint with customer service was not knowing whether the issue with the shower had been addressed or not. No type of notification left within stateroom.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Getting for one place to another was difficult at times due to some of the elevators only going to particular areas of the ship. Public areas were clean but old looking. There was evidently a plumbing issue with several of the public restrooms on board. Main restrooms on deck #5 were nasty smelling but due backed up plumbing when I tried to use them. Decor was outdated.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Size of stateroom was acceptable. Amenities were average. More storage definitely needed for multi-passengers in a room. Room was comfortable. Stateroom was old with outdated decor. New carpet needed. Shower drain clogged towards the end of the cruise causing a water overflow into the room. Water did not dry completely causing a mildewy smell to form. Customer service not very responsive to the shower situation. No indication that problem was even addressed after front desk notified two days prior to end of cruise.

Ports of call

Kahului, Maui

5 out of 5

Caught the Unalena show on the first night. The excursion was booked through the cruise line and it was excellent. Rented a car for the second day. Rental rates were very reasonable. The road to Hana driving trip was exhilerating and very beautiful. I would not recommend this driving road trip for the inexperienced driver due to only two lanes the entire way, lots of blind (one lane) corners, and lots of steep uphill/downhill grades.

Thumbs Up 0

Don't Miss: Unalena show

Nawiliwili, Kauai

3 out of 5

River cruise and fern grotto excursion was very nice. The tour company was excellent but good entertainment. Don't book through the cruise line. Cruise line excursions were overpriced. Got exact same excursion when booked directly through Grayline tours.

Thumbs Up 0

Don't Miss: River cruise / fern grotto

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

3 out of 5

No excursions done. Good transportation options were available for shopping.

Thumbs Up 0

Hilo, Hawaii

5 out of 5

Took the Macadamia Nut Factory / Volcano National Park tour directly booked through Grayline tours. Nut factory portion of tour was disappointing due to nothing going on at the factory. The selection of different types of macadamia nut products was excellent. The Volcano National Park tour was breathtaking and very exciting.

Thumbs Up 0

Don't Miss: Macadamia Nut Factory / Volcano National Park tour

Pros: The locations visited and time allotted for the locations

Cons: The food availability and quality

Recommends Pride of Aloha? No.

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