From embarkation until the very end of the cruise, the ship's crew were friendly and helpful. Food was usually good or very good, with the exception of the Cadillac Diner, which was just OK. That food was a bit too greasy for my tastes, but it's the only real option after 9 PM. The ship had a few maintenance issues that affected our vacation, but we dealt with it the best we could. My request to NCL would be to keep at least one more restaurant open later to accommodate the guests who like to stay up late and/or return from a late shore excursion.
Karaoke nights are also very popular, so do those every night. I feel sorry for the bartenders who need to listen to it though, but it kept the guests happy.
Overall, a pleasant way to get a taste of three of the neighbor islands (Maui, Big Island - Hilo & Kona, and Kauai). I left off Oahu, because that is the start and endpoint, so you're free to add day(s) before and after the cruise.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Embarkation went smoothly, from check-in, to security, and visiting the Muster Station.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Skyline's Chicken Quesadilla and Philly Cheesesteak were the best. I only saw them offered for the sailaway lunch, but we wished we could have ate that more often.
On the first evening, the gelato and shave ice were disappointing. Only a few gelato flavors were available and it was still somewhat frozen. We were told that additional flavors would be available later in the cruise, but I kept checking, and the list didn't seem to get much longer.
The shave ice was quite hard too - this is not the kind of shave ice you'd get in Hawaii.
I'd request that the buffet remain open later into the evening because after 9 PM, your only realistic dining option is Cadillac, and their menu doesn't change. Most of Cadillac's food is too greasy, but it will do if you're hungry.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Karaoke nights seemed to be popular, so keep those (and add more?) to the activities list.
We didn't use the pools, but there were a few nights where the ship was rocking so much water was sloshing out of the pools and hot tubs.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Some of the shows are not appropriate for minors. We were warned, so we didn't attend. That was a shame, but the musicians and DJs were pretty good.
Children's Programs
Our teen was not interested in hanging out with the other teens.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Although we did not see anyone doing anything exceptional (we did not fill out a Hero Card), everyone we saw seemed to be friendly and helpful.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
I saw staff cleaning the restrooms often enough to have encountered the "closed for cleaning" signs when I wanted to use them. I also saw them cleaning railings, other high-touch areas, and vacuuming the floors.
I still managed to get lost even on the last few days, but only because it's not always obvious when you're heading FWD or AFT once you get out of a "room" (restaurant, venue, elevator).
Maybe the words on the signs could be color-coded to show restaurants in one color, bars in another, and everything else in white? Or bigger signs with each venue's name written the same way it's written on the door of the venue itself? (They all have different fonts and colors.)
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
The balcony is indeed large - there are two lounge chairs and a tiny table. You could easily place another 1 or 2 chairs out there, but then you wouldn't have much space to walk.
It was just enough space to dance around on.
The shower stall is quite tiny - it's difficult to avoid hitting the walls or soap/shampoo dispensers. The shower water temperature seemed to be a bit too hot even on its coolest setting. None of us complained, but this may be a problem for those with small children or anyone with s bad sunburn.
The room was clean and well-stocked.
Ship tip
Don't go overboard with the dining credits unless you are definite that you want to use them. A lot of reservations filled up a month before our sailaway date, so anyone with a bunch of credits had to wait in line on board to scrounge for whatever scraps opened up as people made last-minute changes.
I wish there were a stargazing shore excursion.
We did the Sunset on Haleakala, but that's not the same thing - you're on your way back before it's dark enough to see stars.
We like Maui, and visited the Maui Ocean Center on our own. Since we're Kama'aina, it didn't make sense to use an excursion for this (sorry, NCL). We also walked to Queen Ka'ahumanu Center, just because.
We went with another company's excursion because NCL did not have an itinerary that suited us. We wanted to as much of the Hawaii Volcano National Park as possible, and include a stop at a local farm or shop. While I wish we had time to do a Macadamia Nut Farm, Coffee, Chocolate, and Big Island Candies, we forgot our Time Turner at home.
We settled on a tour that included a fairly comprehensive visit to HVNP and Big Island Candies.
We did the Kona Sportfishing tour. Although we did not get any nibbles from the big reels, we did manage to catch a small ahi (yellowfin tuna) and aku (skipjack tuna).
It's called fishing for a reason - no guarantees you'll catch anything, but our captain's helpers did their best.
We were happy that NCL included a visit to the McBryde and Allerton gardens. Our guide was knowledgeable about the local plants, history, and of course the movie scenes shot at the gardens.
We didn't do an excursion the second day because we wanted to keep it open to rest.
Choose your color-coded tags as soon as you know when you want to disembark, but please don't hog them because once that color is gone, it means that timeslot is gone.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
