This was a great cruise if you want to see the islands and are willing to pay for excursions. We had a lot of fun.
The ship has entertainment but it is limited.
The food is excellent in the specialty restaurants but just ok in the main dining.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Overall Great Cruise
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We ate four nights at the specialty restaurants which had great service, food, and staff.
The one night we at the Liberty restaurant service was slow, the steak tough, the fish dry, the salads came after the main course and it took 2.0 hours to get through our meal. We cancelled our other reservations at the Liberty and ate at the Aloha Cafe for the remainder of the trip.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
If you like lots of dancing, bar hopping, late night entertainment, casinos, kids activities, water slides, etc. ---this is not the ship for you. This is a vintage ship and we enjoyed it because that is what it is. We enjoyed the fitness center and the thermal spa. The thermal spa was very small compared to the larger Norwegian ships and only had the steam room, sauna, and heated beds. I went several times and was the only person in the steam room and sauna every time.
My husband and I went to two of the Lei making classes and had a blast. One was with Karkula seeds and one with real flowers. Both classes were free. The flower lei class was the day of the Luau excursion which was very nice to be able to wear them to that event.
The pools and hot tubs looked ok but we did not use them.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We enjoyed every show that we attended. The Polynesian Dancers, the comedian, and the magic show were all very good. We also attended the Luau shore excursion and wished we had skipped it as we liked the Polynesian show on the ship better.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
This is a mixed bag. Outstanding in several areas, terrible in others. We were in a suite on the twelve floor. Our butler (Jeffrey) and our steward (Ariel) were outstanding. The best I have had on a Norwegian ship and I have been on several. The concierge was also excellent - rearranging our dinner reservations, getting us cars to on shore, arranging off ship meals (Mamma's Fish House-Maui). I would have given the ship five stars except that my sisters were in a suite on the 10th floor and their experience was totally different. They were not allowed into their suite until almost five o'clock (five hours after boarding the ship). They did not even see their butler (Maria) until 7pm. Their luggage did not arrive to their suite until after dinner that night so they came to dinner in their travel clothes. When we spoke with the ship management about their experience as suite guests, we were told that they did not allow anyone into their rooms until the entire floor was ready. Since the 10th floor had many balcony rooms, even though they were in a suite - they had to wait until all rooms on the floor were cleaned. I have never ever been on a ship that had such a policy for suite holders. I was shocked. Their luggage although priority tagged is the responsibility of the Butler. Since their butler was on shore leave that day, they had to wait until she got back on ship to get their luggage found. Never seen that before either.
Concerning wait staff - see my comments in the restaurants. Specialty restaurants - excellent staff, the others mixed service (some good, some poor).
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The ship is vintage and small for Norwegian which we liked. Our room was clean and cleaned twice a day. The common areas were very clean. The spa was spotless. This is not a new vessel, so it is dated in a few areas. Some of the toilets were scratched near the bathrooms, some of the soap dispensers leaking.
The layout was great for what we liked. We never waited long for an elevator except after shows. We chose our room on the spa floor which made it very convenient.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
A small suite, conveniently located on the same deck as the spa. Outstanding steward and butler. Very clean. I wasn't a fan of the tub/shower combination - we just prefer a shower. Climbing into the tub which had tall walls to take a shower was not ideal but typical of vintage ships.
Ship tip
This ship is for you if you want to see the many of the Hawaii islands. If you a getting a suite - book on the 12th or 13th floor so that you can get into your room soon after boarding the ship. Eat as many meals as you can at the specialty restaurants. Go to the Lei making classes but be there early.
We did the volcano bike ride and loved it. We are older(I am 65 and my husband 74) and had no issues. However, this is not for the faint of heart. Our concierge told us that they have had one broken leg and one sprained arm this summer from that excursion. I always felt safe, the equipment was safe, but you need to know how to ride a bicycle on mountain roads.
Here we took the botanical garden, zipline/waterfall. An excellent excursion. Lots of fun ziplining through the jungle over rivers and a waterfall. The botanical garden was lovely - well marked with lots of orchids and views of the ocean. The staff took pictures of us ziplining and emailed them to us afterwards which was nice part of the overall excursion.
Since we were in a suite, we had priority disembarkation. The car we had booked to pick us up and transfer us to a hotel cancelled the morning of disembarkation. Instead we hired a porter in the terminal and he took our luggage right over to a cab so we did not have to wait in line for a taxi. The taxi line was quite long.
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