NCL Hawaii Pride of America ... Great Cruise
Pride of America Cruise Review to Hawaii
7 Night Hawaii (Honolulu Roundtrip)
Sail date: April 13, 2013
Ship: Pride of America
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 11 years ago
Review summary
First of all let me start by saying that we are newly retired folks who enjoy being on a cruise ship. Although we have done a fair bit of East Coast travel we are always looking for a reasonably priced, clean, and updated room. We do not stay at five star hotels and eat modestly at family restaurants. With that in mind, let me begin..... We have now sailed on THREE NCL cruises and have found them to be very good!! Embarkation was a breeze and the rooms were ready very early in the day (by about 1pm) for a 7pm departure. WE arrived at the pier at about 10:30am and the porters took opur bags immediately for checkin. For the small tip involved, we avoided a line up for the regular baggage checkin, which did not open until 11am. At 11am we allowed through security and on to the registration desk to get our room keys. At noon we were able to go onboard for lunch. Very restful and unhurried!!! Our room was a balcony cabin 7034 which is right above the Mardi Gras lounge, a bit of a concern for us, BUT we never heard a sound at any time of day!!!! Great view of the Lava Flow right from our balcony!!! The restaurants offer a wide variety to suit most tastes (sorry...not the gourmets among you!!!) and of particular interest to us is the freestyle dining option wherupon one can use the Aloha Cafe (buffet style) or one of the two main dining rooms. The Cadillac Diner is open 24 hours a day.... The evening entertainment was quite good, with a very special shout out to the cat of "Oh What A Night" for any Frankie Valli fans. The main shows with the ship cast were good and the additional activities rounded out a good overall entertainment package. Since you are in PORT every day, the day time activities are much lighter than usual and because the ship does NOT enter International waters, there is no casino and the onboard shopping is quite "light". We found the staff to be friendly and quite good in their upkeep of cabins and general areas. The cruise director, Silas was very good. The wide open area found mid ship on decks 5 (registration desk etc) and 6 (Pink's Champagne Bar) provided for an excellent spot to meet and relax. During our cruise, the piano stylings of Michael Masci were EXCELLENT!!! We have found NCL to offer a very good product at reasonable prices geared to a mid level market. WE have not found them to be "party ships" with drunken fools nor stuffy and stilted like some higher end market cruise lines. For us it was a great middle balance. ENJOY. In order to see the islands either rent a car and explore on your own or "spring" for a few excursions.Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Aloha Cafe is a great place to eat, but the Dining rooms also work well for the evening meal.
Ports of call
Traveler Photos
4 Comments
EastCoaster 11 years ago