Pride of America Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This is the only totally in Hawaii cruise; because of this the ship is the only cruise ship registered in the US.  One positive point was that time wasn't waisted sailing to and from the west coast.  The food in the premium restaurants was excellent, although you had to pay a premium to eat in these restaurants.

The ports of call were excellent and well organized.  There were free shuttle busses in every port for rides into town.

While it may be a great way to see the Hawaiian Islands and we did have fun with family and friends on board, I discovered I am NOT a cruise person.  I don't enjoy the "sheeple" experience - that of being herded with everyone else on bus rides, at tourist sites and in restaurants.  That said, the entertainment was excellent, and the food wasn't bad either although my partner suffered intestinally (might have been seasickness or alcohol poisoning.)  We had a gorgeous suite with a private deck which was unbelievable, but our butler discarded some food we had set out for lunch on our excursion that day for no apparent reason.  

  First time on Norwegian, and the last.  

Great way to see four of the Hawaiian Islands and see how different each one is.  Shore excursions were superb.  Specialty restaurants on board were wonderful.  Cabin crew were exceptional in terms of service and response time.

ALL WE WANTED TO DO WAS RELAX: ALL WE DID WAS RELAX:

UPGRADED to a SUITE: from a Balcony......HOW SWEET LIFE can be.

We felt so BLESSED....EXTRA BLESSED.   EXTRA RELAXED  

   WOW  WOW  WOW  WOW   WOW  

This really is the way to go is you want to visit several islands.  Your hotel goes with you and you can sleep in the same bed each night.  This cruise offers you the opportunity to be on shore as much as possible, while the ship cruises at night.  

 The ports were unattractive, but the beauty of the islands we visited was unparalleled. Take excursions: we kayaked, snorkeled (on the way on our catamaran we saw pods of dolphins swimming around), and hiked  through the rain forests and waterfalls. We took a free day in Hilo and walked for miles by beaches and found a Blacksand one and a sea turtle in it's natural environment.  Another free day was in Kauai, where there's a nice enough beach within walking distance from the port. I also recommend at said stop going to Maui divers and picking out an oyster and setting your beautiful pearls in jewelry.  The food on the cruise was overall good,, but my wife was very upset with how poorly they cooked their fish.  I Thought the staff was very nice and I enjoyed the activities on the boat. I would highly recommend this cruise.. 

Pride of America was a good choice--we really enjoyed the cruise and the staff.  The dining rooms were very clean as well as our accommodations.  Enjoyed free style dining and the freedom of dining in different restaurants each night.  Feels more like a vacation with my husband and not with strangers.

We absolutely loved this cruise.  It is the 2nd time we've taken it, and hope to enjoy it again.  The staff was excellent, competent, friendly, and many were downright fun, adding to our experience rather than just serving us.  Just a few notes of things we missed:

*night cruise past Big Island's live volcano eruption

*anniversary cake (ordered, confirmed order, but no sight of it)(we saw other cabins leave their plate outside their doors so we know these were provided to others)

*available recipes for some of the soups (chilled soups were incredible, muselix cereal)

*seems like some of the announcements could have been grouped or shorter.  We don't need to know about every event - that's what the newsletter is for!

Some of the things we loved:

*announcement about the Napali coastline

*welcoming registration process & entertainment (so organized, yet personalized)

*options for workout, walking on board

*daily newsletters and info

*water & washcloth returning from day trips to boat

My husband and I loved the décor of the ship, which showcase many national landmarks and beautiful places all over the United States, and about the heroes that made this country great. The name of the ship conveyed our country's greatness.  We were happy to have chosen this ship for our cruise in Hawaii. Because of the un-kind weather, 2 of our shore excursions (Maui beach, and Kaui Snorkel) were cancelled but staying in the ship about made up for it. I had a solo use of the pool!

It was a great vacation the service on the cruise was great and the staff very friendly and helpful. The island's of Hawaii were amazing I will definitely recommend this cruise to anyone it was amazing.

Customer service was bad dining at the skyline was awful waiters never filled our drinks never gave us salt and pepper that we ask for we had asked a different waiter for the butter gor our rolls - bad experience there! Being frequent cruisers we are custom to better service throughout the ships we have said in the past

The crew was super! The buffet was great and the dining room food was barely OK (not the NCL I remember). Rent a car if possible (they all pick-up at the cruise ship) all of the ports are basically dumpy except Kona and a car is needed. Parking is available at each port except for Oahu. Cars are much cheaper to for island touring than shore excursions. Limited things to do on the ship- no casino or gambling, including cash prize bingo due to the ship being in US waters. The shows were OK. Very very busy cruise as you are in port everyday. Walmart or Kmart also ran shuttle in both Maui and Kauai if you need to pick up a few things.  

enjoyed the cruise.  It was a bit rocky at times, other than that the islands were beautiful!!  enjoyed the food in the skyline dining room the best and the lounge in the back of the boat. 

We have been on 20+ cruises on over 5 different cruise lines, so I consider myself a bit of a connoisseur. I have also been to Hawaii and lived there for a time, visiting most of the islands.  However, my daughter, who is now 8, has never been.  So this was her chance to get a taste of what Hawaii is all about.  The boat is slightly smaller so it can get into the smaller ports.  That means only one pool on board.  But this cruise is meant for you to be getting out and taking shore excursions and seeing the sights.  Speaking of which, I would recommend at least having a VERY good idea of which excursions you want before boarding if not booking them ahead of time.  They fill up FAST!

The food on board is very good.  Not just phenomenal, but very good.  I would recommend trying the main dining room.  It is every bit as good as the specialty restaurants.

You would have thought your were going to some 5star New York City restaurant by the way the restaurants host treated you.  They were rude and made you felt like you were doing them a favor by coming to their sit down restaurant.  Really its just food off the buffet served at your table. Deserts were horrible.

The officials doing the screening at the port of Hilo treated us like we were unwanted. My first experience when getting off the ship was angry stares by the officials as we left the port. When we returned at the end of the day,  they yelled at me for not placing my sunglasses in a bin on the conveyor belt. I had put them into my hat instead which I placed on the belt. They justified their actions by saying I would have yelled at them later for breaking my glasses. There was no need to yell and be rude. They seem like they hate their jobs. All had bad attitudes. The cruise line needs to persuade the port management to train their workers. Their negative actions impact the experience of the passengers. This memory is still disturbing.

First time to Hawaii, This was a great way to see it.  It was almost perfect. We have cruised a lot but this was the first time with Norwegian. Before you spend time looking they are the only ones with a route anywhere near this good. Things you need to know. The ship is the only US flag ship in the Norwegian fleet, and operates different then other Norwegian cruses. There is No Casino on this ship, it never leaves U.S. waters, and since the distance between the Islands are not far the ship travels very slowly. With out a doubt the roughest ride of any cruise we have been on, good news is you spend most of your time on the islands and very little time on ship. Another good point is since you are "in the states" you almost always have phone and internet reception at normal prices. The main dining room and buffet were ok, not equal to other cruses we have been on, however the specialty restaurants we Amazing and well worth the small upcharge. The ship is smaller and has less shops and entertainment then most, but the main attraction is the islands and your shore time is longer than on most cruises. The Crew, Staff and Servers all top notch and take very good care of you. When on Kauai you have to do the Tubing Trip one of the best excursions I have ever done on any cruise.

The staff were wonderful and friendly the Itinerary was excellent. We will do this cruise again! The food was awesome and our cabin was great on the 11th deck I would recommend a high deck for a great view of the Napli coast.

All I can say is cruising the Hawaiian Isles is True Paradise.  The crew, staff and officers were beyond the best.  Very helpful, warm, welcoming and accomodating