Great destination but disappointing ship

Item: Pride of America
Rating: 3.5
Author: ellanorah

Pride of America Cruise Review to Hawaii

ellanorah

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 46

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5

7 Night Hawaii (Honolulu Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 09, 2019

Ship: Pride of America

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 12010

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

I don’t think we will cruise Norwegian again basically because most of the food was subpar. Jefferson’s Bistro, however, was great, with the exception of the service which was slow and lacked congeniality. I have previously cruised with Celebrity which was exceptional; food and service.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Smooth

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

The buffets were decent. The main dining rooms were poor. Specially dining was good to excellent

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Did not participate

Entertainment

3 out of 5

The comic and Four Man singing group were very good. The Las Vegas and Movie Musical stage shows were less than stellar.

Service and Staff

2 out of 5

The wait staff in the restaurants were not very personable and less than efficient. Our room steward was decent. The concierge did not attempt to meet our requests. Didn’t even return our calls to say he attempted something or apologize when he couldn’t comply.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

No complaints here.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Beautiful suite. Only complaint was the hand held hair dryer was extremely heavy and you had to hold the button in the “on” position while you use it for it to work. Very awkward. We were told it was to help prevent fires.

Ship tip

Eat only in the buffet or specialty dining. The regular dining was very disappointing. Cafeteria food. Tasteless.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Honolulu, Oahu

5 out of 5

We arrived few days before the cruise in order to do Pearl Harbor (full day), the southern coast 4 hrs, and the North Shore( full day).

Thumbs Up 0

Kahului, Maui

4 out of 5

Did “Best of Maui” excursion. Decent but didn’t see the resort areas. Second day there, the cruise line unexpectedly changed the time of the excursion to 7;15 am from 11 am. This was not appreciated. The excursion on the Atlantis Submarine was very good however.

Thumbs Up 0

Hilo, Hawaii

4 out of 5

Did the Best of Hilo excursion and enjoyed it.

Thumbs Up 0

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

4 out of 5

This side of the Big Island was prettier than the Hilo side.

Thumbs Up 0

Nawiliwili, Kauai

4 out of 5

Very layback. Lush vegetation and beautiful waterfalls.

Thumbs Up 0

Cruise Napali Coast, Kauai

4 out of 5

We were exhausted and opted not to take our excursion here. Just rested and read on the deck for the day.

Thumbs Up 1

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Very smooth

7 Comments

MountainMama08 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

Thumbs Up 1

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Cruiserike0322 5 years ago

Sorry for your experience

Thumbs Up 0

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66gt350ps 5 years ago

Done lots of cruising but now are older and do not need water slide and casinos to keep us happy. Love casual nature of NCL with no extra suitcase with fancy clothes needed. Going on the Pride in few weeks for 7th time. Love Hawaii scenery, stories and being in a port each day.

Thumbs Up 0

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NJCruiseGuy 5 years ago

I would not judge the entire cruise line based on this ship. It is an older ship that is the only American flagged ship in the fleet so that he can sell to and from an American porch with that visiting a foreign port. This Cruise is about the Destiination and not the latest and greatest amenities on the ship.

Thumbs Up 2

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NJCruiseGuy 5 years ago

I would not judge the entire cruise line Baystone they won American flagged ship that they have in their fleet. This is an older ship that is primarily meant for the Destiination and the ports, not the latest and greatest amenities.

Thumbs Up 0

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cruisereckoning 5 years ago

We have never cruised on Norwegian, see comments going both way.

Thumbs Up 0

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DerekMire 5 years ago

Quit cruising then

Thumbs Up 1

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