Disappointing Hawaiian Cruise

Pride of America Cruise Review to Hawaii

Cruiser7269

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 10

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5

7 Night Hawaii (Honolulu Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 13, 2024

Ship: Pride of America

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 13504

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 months ago

Review summary

We had a Hawaiian cruise which was to include 2 days on Maui, 1 day at Hilo, 1 day at Kona, and 2 days at Kauai. Due to a technical issue with the ships backup generator, the boat was unable to leave from Hilo to Kona. Someone said the Coast Guard wouldn't let the ship sail. We had to stay in Hilo and didn't get to see Kona. As Hilo and Kona were on opposite sides of the same island, we decided to rent a car and drive from Hilo to Kona when we found out we wouldn't be going there. Unfortunately, the captain told us around 8 AM of day 2 on Hilo that everyone needed to be back on the ship by 1 PM to leave. Therefore, we had to cancel our plans to drive to Kona. The ship ended up leaving the next morning and sailed all day which was the first day we were supposed to be in Kauai. Thus we got cheated out of another day of seeing the islands. We had to wait in line at the excursions desk a couple of times to get the credit for the canceled excursions that we prepaid for. We also had to talk to cruise relations to get a bar bill corrected. To make up for the loss of 2 days island experiences, NCL gave us $200 credit and the offer of 20% off our next cruise if used by December 31, 2025. As we don't have any plans to take another cruise, this offer was meaningless to us. The entertainment that was offered on the ship wasn't that great and certainly didn't make up for the loss of excursions to the islands. We also didn't think the food was anything special. We did enjoy the suite we were in in.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Because we had a suite, we were taken aside to check in and offered snacks but we had to wait there until more guests arrived so the concierge could welcome us. Our family that didn't have a suite, got on the ship before us.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

specialty restaurants were nothing special

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Hula lessons were fun. Lei making was ok but I didn't need instructions to make one. Our main focus was seeing the islands so we didn't participate in many onboard activities

Entertainment

3 out of 5

comedian was good but music wasn't that good

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

everyone was friendly and the steward get the room clean

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

this was a suite with plenty of room and a nice size bathroom

Ports of call

Honolulu, Oahu

4 out of 5

we did the 3 days before the cruise through NCL. We had a great bus driver for all three days and got to see a lot of the island. We were a little disappointed with the Pear Harbor tour because the tour didn't include a reservation for the Arizona Memorial. We now know that tour groups can't make advance reservations but NCL didn't tell us that in advance. We had to run off the but to get on the stand by list. Luckily we did eventually get called to the boat that takes guests to the memorial.

Thumbs Up 0

Kahului, Maui

5 out of 5

We did the best of Maui tour and saw many different places on the island

Thumbs Up 0

Hilo, Hawaii

5 out of 5

We did a zipline tour which we thoroughly enjoyed

Thumbs Up 0

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Did not visit port

due to a technical issue with the ship we did not get to sail the day we were supposed to go to Kona. We were stuck in Hilo

Thumbs Up 0

Nawiliwili, Kauai

5 out of 5

We did a best of Kauai tour which was a good way to see much of the island.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Because we were in a suite, we got to go to a special line to get off the boat. Our luggage was waiting for us

7 Comments

66gt350ps 6 months ago

Due to changing weather conditions, a stop in Kaikua-Kona is sometimes cancelled as well. It is not a guaranteed stop there as they have to anchor off shore and transport people using the tenders. If it is stormy, windy or higher surf, they do not risk it. Looks like the ship made the best of the situation and at least the problem was solved.

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Gwbigdog 6 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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HeavySeas 6 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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cruising2004 6 months ago

Thank you for your review.

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bubbles60 6 months ago

The Pride of America is a great way to see the Islands. Sorry you missed a port.

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javawoody 6 months ago

Appreciate the post

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karlgrgurich 6 months ago

This seems to be a very up and down cruise line

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