Wesley1707 Cruise Review on Pride of America on Jul 15, 2017

Pride of America Cruise Review

Wesley1707

Contributor Level: Second Mate

52 Days Till Next Cruise

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 107

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Sail date: July 15, 2017

Ship: Pride of America

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

It's very rare for me to give an NCL ship a 4 star review but this certainly is a ship like no other on NCL's fleet. Let's start with the most obvious feature of this ship - the nationality of the crew. For well known reasons most of the crew is American and this was a bit of a shock to the system when I first boarded the ship, however, I did not expect the staff to be so helpful and kind. They always put the passengers first and were very attentive. Of course the main feature of this cruise is the destinations. With Hawai'i being possibly the most beautiful place on earth you cannot complain about the ports which this cruise visits. It really is the way to island hop in style. Now to the bad points. As the ship was not built by NCL the structure and layout of the ship itself is not like most of the other ships on the fleet. But the cruise line has tried its best to adapt it into the fleet, to make this point unnoticeable. By doing this, however, the POA seems very compact and squashed in places (especially the Aloha Cafe). The age of the ship also does not help as there seemed to be constant maintenance onboard. Point being, no matter how hard Norwegian try to this new cruise era, it cannot be done. Another two features in which the POA falls short is the food and the onboard entertainment. Food in the buffets are often repetitive and a bit bland (especially breakfast) compared to other ships. The onboard entertainment also disappointed us. Firstly the bands that played poolside were frequently poor in quality and the onboard activities also fell short in the amount of availability. Overall, if you are in love with the idea of seeing the Hawaiian islands DO NOT let this review put you off. This is the best way imaginable to see these marvellous islands. If you are going on this cruise for purely the cruise side of the trip then this isn't for you.

9 Comments

clferr 7 years ago

A cruise is what you make of it. Are you really going for the food or for what you are going to be seeing? Sit back and relax.

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haremailus 7 years ago

My wife and I are going in December, I appreciate your details. I almost backed out because of so many service or food complaints. But many say it's all about the way to see the islands. We're keeping kind of a low expectations on service but looking forward to our first trip to Hawaii. Thanks again.

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karabeth1 7 years ago

we sail on August 17th! Great review and thank you for the details!

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ianchris 7 years ago

This review just confirms what my Partner & I are expecting from our forthcoming cruise on POA. Our main reason for taking the cruise is to experience the beautiful Hawaiian Islands, so really viewing the cruise as a floating hotel. However I am still looking forward to this part of our holiday.

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BigMick7 7 years ago

My wife and I are heading to Hawaii in December sailing on NCL.

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BigMick7 7 years ago

Did you take any excursions, if so how were the excursus. Also, how were the beaches?

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Wesley1707 7 years ago

Yes it's unfortunate about the UBP although being from the UK we were able to purchase it through a travel company here

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clferr 7 years ago

We are going end of January for our 40th wedding anniversary. Very upset we can't get the UBP! But will be getting a room for the day before arrival

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dbourdo 7 years ago

Thanks for the review, we sail in about 3 weeks and have read mixed comments. We're looking forward to seeing the islands and relaxing.

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