Best Hawaiian Cruise on any cruise line with an excellent port intensive itinerary.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The food in the buffet and the one main dining room that was open due to "staffing issues" had a good variety of quality good tasting food. The specialty dining rooms also had limited options (East meets West and Moderno were still closed) and the quality of the meals was underwhelming in our usual favorite Cagney's Steakhouse. Hopefully, it was just a one off. Surprisingly, La Cucina, the Italian Restaurant (which is normally our least favorite place) turned out to be utterly delicious so we chose to eat their twice.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The number of onboard activities is limited with very little variety but that really shouldn't come as any surprise on such a port intensive itinerary where the start of the cruise is ashore in Hawaii.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Performers did there very best to try and entertain the passengers but the variety was limited. ALDO, a musician, played practically every evening in three to four sets, which was an hour or two too much of ALDO. The shows in the theater were standard comedy, magic, singing and dancing which was performed by the troupe aboard the ship.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
The crew did their best to make passengers happy and give us an enjoyable cruise, but the staffing issues were noticeable with extremely long delays in getting seated, getting waited upon, having the order taken, and then having to wait long periods of time on a food order that often came to the table wrong. One exception, was David Lyle, our main dining room server, who was exceptional in these challenging surroundings that he operated. Quite honestly, David Lyle, may have been the BEST SERVER we have ever encountered in ANY of our dining experiences at sea. He was friendly, helpful, knowledgeable, polite, funny, attentive and extremely prompt in the service he provided amongst all the chaos.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
As the oldest ship in the Norwegian fleet, as well as one of the smallest, Pride of America has some quirks but that's what not only makes her unique but also fun. As such, getting from the bow of the ship all the way to the aft can be accomplished very quickly. Since POA is the ONLY American flagged ship in the WORLD, the crew must be staffed by 75% Americans which can pose an additional burden of having full staffing. Passengers who like to gamble will not have any fun on this ship as there is no casino since the ship is never in international waters. Likewise, shops onboard the ship are open everyday whether at sea or in port because it is an American vessel which also means that there is no "duty free" shopping.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Our cabin was a Large Balcony cabin located Deck 9 at the front of the ship.
The inside of the cabin was spacious enough for the beds to be split along with a small pullout couch. The bathroom was typical size with a shower curtain that thankfully had rods in the curtain to keep it from swaying and clinging to body parts as they are prone to do during one's shower. The wall mounted television was absolutely unusable to watch anything on because of its tiny size. Honestly, a 17 inch laptop has a larger monitor in which to view things. Surprisingly, there was a large amount of storage space that saw roughly a third(33%) of it go unused. The Balcony was very spacious and covered which was extremely nice during those times when mother nature sprinkled us with some "liquid sunshine" as Hawaii is likely to experience at anytime during the year. The rainbows 🌈 were often spectacular. Our cabin had a very good location away from any loud noises or high winds.
Ship tip
Realize that it is mostly an American crew so don't be surprised if you ask something of a crew member and their reply is, "I'm sorry but I am on break. Maybe another crew member can help you with that, or if you're not in a hurry, I'll be glad to assist you in fifteen minutes." They're not being rude rather just being honest. Remember, they're an American flagged ship which means American Labor Laws apply.
Absolutely seamless.
We had breakfast in the main dining and while we were still eating our group was called. Getting through customs was a breeze and the transportation hub was very well organized
Description is identical to ours and we have done this cruise 7 times and are booked to go again. News is the ship is getting more staff now and is expected to have full staff by Feb. 2023. Love the island visits and scenery.
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