Pride of America Cruise Reviews - Reviews

It has been several years since we cruised with NCL. They are now owned by a conglomerate from the Orient or somewhere similar. The ship is beautiful and very modern. The ports were great, except for Hilo. Wouldn't want to go back there. The food was good but not as great as it used to be. The entertainment was bad. Gone are the days of Las Vegas style shows! The staff were mostly Americans. They just didn't seem to be very well trained or maybe, not as good a work ethic as other nationalities. NCL now has mandatory tipping at a rate they set. If you want to adjust the amount, it is difficult to do so. When you are evaluating cruises, be sure to add $12 per day, per person for tipping to your cruise costs! Security is a big hassle while traveling these days. I'm not conviced it is warranted. Overall, it was a very good cruise.

Great ship - a little smaller than the mega-ships. One pool. A nice private resturant if you are staying in one of the suites - well worth it! Ship is pretty modern and the layout is very efficient and pleasing.

Very clean and sanitary. Very nicely decorated

Cleanliness, choice of shore excursion, organization Loved free style cruising but would prefer to have the same waiter every night. Entertainment could be better. Overall we had an excellent experience.

After reading the reviews (mixed) prior to our trip, I was a little concerned that we might step into a bad situation. After 7 days aboard the Pride of America, I can tell you that any bad experience has to be a fluke and not systemic. The crew was wonderful, responsive, and timely. The ship was "ship-shape" and the ports of call beautiful. I absolutely loved it!

Everyone was so helpful. Some in our party wanted to dress up for dinner, some did not and it didn't matter. We all felt comfortable where ever we went on the ship.

OK People, Here is the deal: the food is horendous. I mean I read reviews before getting on the ship and thought I knew what I was in for and I was wrong. One night I even complained to someone who brought out a FAT chef who looked like he didnt give a crap and I explained how their food was under cooked or over cooked, very bland, spices in food that does not belong there, and how I had to eat things I didnt like just to get a meal. The FAT chef looked at me like ya whatever and asked for my room number. Not once did he apologize and the next day the stir fry rice that had southwestern seasoning in it was still there. I think they enjoy getting crap from people about how bad their food is. This lets them know that they are doing their job properly to try to force people to go eat at the pay restaruants which I refuse to do. FREESTYLE CRUISING SUCKS! Second, our room steward never introduced themself to us, we had no pen in our room, no creamer, our peanuts out of our mini bar were half eaten and I found out cause they tipped over and felt light. I informed our steward as someone else was complaining that she over charged them on their mini bar bill and she said she only charges people for items that are missing and she does not check to see if things are open. OMG! WOW! She also was very snippy. My mother in-law payed for a better room with a balcony and the sheets and towels situation was night and day. Theirs were nice and white and clean. Ours were stained, dark, and ripped. It seems that the cruise line likes to treat upper class better. the only reason we got the cabin with no window is it makes my wife sea sick. Our room steward didnt vacuum the last three days, and I complained several times about our bed smelling like pee. It cleared up about two days later but nobody did not one thing about it. last but not least, apprentley in all the paperwork and reviews we went through, we never saw one thing about tipping other than this was a no tipping ship and that all your tips where included in the price you payed for your room. THIS IS NOT TRUE! at the day before we left we found out that they added $220 charge for tips to our bill for the restaurant people and our steward whether you ate their or not. THIS IS HIGHLY UNACCEPTABLE and as usual when we tried to adjust the tip at the pursers office they gave us a hard time about it. I will not pay for lousy service by a room steward. Other than that, the cruise was fine.

much better than reviews we had read

The Pride of America was incredibly clean --from stateroom to dining room and between-- in spite of its back-to-back schedule and being the last of three in the lineup. The staff were predominantly friendly and eager to please, providing some great tips for our off-shore visits. The few exceptions were annoying, but minor and easy dismissed. Freestyle dining is FANTASTIC! On other cruises, if you eat early, you lose out on shore time. Eat late and you miss the on-board entertainment. However, miss dinner and the options are often sub-par. The Cadillac Diner on this ship was a perfect (no up-charge) alternative to the usual buffet, with menu-based table service, expansive hours, accommodating staff and a fun atmosphere - even offering on deck dining! The buffet (Aloha Cafe) had a great and quality selection. The food not only looked good, but tasted great as well. We found the included food options so good that the up-charge restaurants were unnecessary, although some of the menu items looked very promising if that's your preference. With a baby due in about four months, we preferred to be as casual and spontaneous as possible (no wasting an hour or two just to get ready for a long, drawn-out dinner). One of the bar staffers noted my wife's pregnancy, and offered us the "Teen Passport" which was an EXCELLENT value for both us and NCL. Without it, we'd have avoided *all* up-charge drinks. Instead, they got a nice first-day charge for two booklets, and we enjoyed delicious smoothies and other non-alcoholic beverages, such as an occasional soda or milkshake, during the whole cruise. THIS SHOULD BE OPENED TO ALL CRUISERS, NOT JUST TEENS (and the occasional pregnant woman). Most barstaff rolled with it, but one or two obnoxious staffers hassled us about being over 18, which was inappropriate, especially given their ignorance of my wife's condition and my solidarity. There were plenty of cozy and quiet spots, but always something to do and people to meet as well. The future cruise deposit program is a fantastic idea, and a win-win for anyone planning to cruise again, within 2 (I hear now FOUR) years! We nabbed one and may even come back to see more of Hawai'i on this ship again. Due to the pregnancy we also avoided booking excursions up-front, but we priced them out off-ship and found the ship prices to be VERY reasonable and competitive. We were actually sorry to miss a couple of the ship's excursions - next time! ;^)

The ship was very clean and they worked very hard to keep up with that.

The ship was ordinary. The cruise, itself, aside from going to Hilo on a Sunday when museums were closed, was about as good as it could have been. We do lots of things during cruises, including gaming. It is one of those times when we do things that we ordinarily do not do. Though it could have been stated elsewhere and missed by us, it was not apparent until we received our cruise documents that there was no gaming on board.

great price verses local cruise travel agencies. Recieved the same service.

This was our first cruise and we had a wonderful time.

We had a wonderful time on the ship, the shows were nice, the drinks WAY overpriced but that is with all cruises. We were a bit put off with the $12 a day service fee added on at the end of the trip, I think that they should be honest and tell you up front, not when you get the bill!!! The room stewards kept the room very clean, and for a ship it was a large room, ocean view balcony. The food was good, but again, a added fee for the highest quality food of $15 to $25 a person depending on what you wanted to eat.

Hawaii is great but the over all ship experience was not. Room on the 4th floor was extremely loud with engine room noise, food was room temperature and flavorless, had to pay for all soda, but all the coffee you could drink for free. Very uncomfortable bed.

the ship was great in every way

This was our 4th cruise, 1st on NCL. The ship was very easy to get around. Very basic, not too lavish. Had a family suite with a super large deck which was wonderful. Didn't realize that paying over $7000 didn't get you anything extra for a suite. Not even a fruit basket! Only advantange of the family suite was embarkation and the room space. Ship rolled and rocked way too much.

The ship is small, clean, and well staffed. All staff we encountered were friendly and helpful. Food is another story, uninspired, and tasteless, especially in the Aloha buffet. Food was rarely replenished, and except for the salad bar and the soft serve ice cream, uniformly bad. Ate at two specialty restaurants, the Lazy J Steakhouse, took over 2 hrs. to eat, with 45 minutes between order and delivery of salad ! Also ate at Little Italy, service was good, but food mediocre. When you spend considerable money for the cruise, you shouldn't have to spend extra for better food. Shore excursions were outrageously priced. Far better to use Roberts Tours less expensive, and just as good to the same locations. Public transportation on all the islands is excellent and inexpensive $!.00, and can take you most places you want to go, some of the islands even have free transport, so if you are somewhat independent and adventurous, by pass the ''organized tours'' and see the islands for yourself with the locals.

I would recommend this only because of the ports of call, the excellent excursions but not the crew. The ship was beautiful and it's too bad the crew doesn't take much pride in it. It was dirty and the crew did nothing but the bare minimum.

The ship is new and just beautiful. the stateroom I had was clean, convenient and very tropical, fitting to the destination! Liked that there was no casino, instead there were specialty restaurants. Crew was very friendly. The spa was quite good, as was the gym.