Pride of America Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The ship was beautiflly decorated with the tropical island theme. All areas were spacious and well planned.

From the beginning, we went on this cruise with a tiny bit of apprehension because of some of the negative reviews we read. However, the ship and staff far exceeded our expectations. Everyone we came in contact with on this ship went out of their way to please us. We particularly enjoyed the opportunity to visit several different restaurants over the course of the week. Our favorite was Jefferson's Bistro, followed by Lazy J's Steakhouse; they're more than worth the extra charge. We took advantage of a "wine tour" as soon as we got on board, so we were able to make reservations for several restaurants and order wine for our meals before we even set sail. We didn't care for the crowds at the Aloha Buffet, but found that if you arrive early it's not too bad. We also didn't appreciate the "tip" space on our dinner checks; it implies that we should be leaving extra gratuities when in fact we're already being charged $10 per day per person for that very purpose. We gave our waiters a tip just because they were so wonderful, but we didn't like feeling like we "had" to. The shore excursions were a bit pricey but we took advantage of the Molokini Snorkel which was awesome. We rented a car the other days and hit all the top spots on our own, plus had time to shop, all for the cost of one day's car rental; that worked best for us. The entertainment on the ship was pretty good, there were two comedy shows that were hilarious. We found the main pools to be crowded and the pool area in general was very noisy. We ventured over to the Oasis Pool and Hot Tub in the ship's aft and it was much quieter and more relaxing. We only had a couple of complaints about this trip: 1) Our room was tiny and the shower was worse; it was similar to what showering in an airline bathroom would be like; very, very, cramped. It's a good thing we got a balcony room, we could not have survived in a regular outside cabin or heaven forbid an inside cabin; we can't imagine feeling any more confined. 2) The Aloha Cafe (buffet) was billed as being open 24 hours, yet we went there three different times and found it to be closed, usually when we were in port, and 3) We were celebrating our 25th Wedding Anniversary and notified the staff upon embarkation; we received a card that instructed us to give that card to the Maitre D on our anniversary and we would receive a "special treat", unfortunately we were unaware that the special treat would be absolutely nothing, go figure? Anyway, that was not significant enough to ruin our beautiful vacation. We loved it and as we stated before, the staff on the Pride of America is outstanding. We hope to bring our children back with us soon so they too can enjoy Hawaii the way we did. If you've never been to Hawaii before, this is the way to see it all in one trip.

The ship was on schedule and the crew was always curteous . We appreciated the effort to show the best viewt of the islands from the sea. The food in genderal was of good quality. The shows were nice but poor in resources. The cabins are not the cleanest and the beds are unconfortable. There was favoritsm and no clear rules in the restaurant reservations .

This ship did not "Wow" me. It was decorated nicely, but not great. The only thing great about the Norwegian cruise line is the freestyle cruising. The "all American" help was only a plus as far as language, but not anything else. I would not cruise on this line again to Hawaii.

I was very disappointed. I cruised twice on the American Hawaii Cruise Lines, and one other time on Norweigian. This cruise took place over Memorial Day, and being on an American ship, we figured they would really do special things for Memorial Day. Wrong.....They did absolutely nothing special. How unpatriotic can people be???? Staff was okay but not great. There are advantages that we have now realized when cruise lines use personnel from all over the world. They work hard for their money and nothing is too much trouble. Americans are used to doing bare minimum and it shows.

The ship was immaculate, the staff was everywhere & incredibly helpful & gracious. The restaurants were all so elegant & the food was very delicious & beautifully presented. I truly felt like I was catered to hand & foot. All the time on ship I kept telling myself that w would not wait very long to take this same cruise again!!

nice ship but free style isn't all its cracked up to be. had to make reservations days ahead or you couldn't get in to some resturants or had to dine late like 9 or 9:30

This was our first cruise to the Hawaiian Islands and on NCL Pride of America. The ship was beautiful, very clean, had plenty of restaurants and bars. The entertainment was not the best, except for a team of 2 comedians, who were hilarious and used crowd participation. We enjoyed the Freestyle Dining and the speciality restaurants were a positive option. There is an additional service charge for the speciality restaurants, however, after 8:30 pm, the service charge is 2 for 1. We had 1 negative experience with the speciality restaurants, "Little Italy", food was fair and service was awful. The itinerary was great and Hawaii is breathtaking. Shore excursions were plentiful; we were in Maui for 2 days, so we rented a car--it is a nice option, you can do it at your own pace and not be rushed. In Kona, snorkeling was amazing, highly recommended. When the ship was leaving was leaving Kauai (our last day), we were able to see the breathtaking Na Pali coastline and the ship's captain turned the ship around so that both sides of the ship could view it. We stayed in a family suite, in the aft section of the ship. The room was large, a little crowded for 4 people, but our balcony was almost as large as our room. It wrapped around the side of the ship--perfect for relaxing after shore excursions or a day at the pool. I highly recommend the Pride of America--we realy enjoyed it.

The ship was just magnificent. It was a beautiful and very clean ship. The staff was fantastic, and the best part was the ability to meet the captain.

This is a great way to see a lot of Hawaii in one week. This being our first trip to Hawaii, it was exactly what we wanted. If you are used to luxurious crusies, you might be disappointed. I would compare this cruise to staying at a Holiday Inn and eating at Steak and Ale. Reasonably priced and good quality. This is not the Ritz Carlton! But, who cares. You need a floating hotel and you get off at a new port at 8:00 a.m. and get back on at 5:00 and sail to a new port. You really don't even need a balcony because you are only at sea during the day one time. I would do it again in a minute. My father-in-law wantged to stay on and go around one more time!

i expected a lesser cruise when booking our hawaii trip on norwegein but was pleasantly surprised. fun, fun fun. the speciality restaurants (japanese, steakhouse) were really good and worth the surcharge. main dining hall plagued by "freestyle" as quality suffered...food just ok despite good-looking dining hall. waitstaff overwhelmed.. the all-american (generally young) staff was surprisingly helpful and full of quality ideas and funny anecdotes. we thought theatre entertainment was a liitle cheesey.

Make sure to talk to your travel agent about the age group before booking this ship. Really just not enough stuff to do while at sea. There is plenty to do when you dock thats for sure. Thank goodness for that. I had a great time because I was with my husband. The reason we went on the cruise was to go to a wedding in Maui and didn't want to be in Maui for all 7 days. Hope this helps

It is a marvelous ship. Very well structured check-in, check-out process at all the ports, including those where tender boats had to be used. There is no chaos or overcrowding pretty much anywhere. Ship is very well maintained inside and outside. Very good itinerary. The shore excursions offered by NCL are expensive. I'd recommend considering other options if cost is of a concern to you. We chose to rent cars in most places and explore ourselves. We had a great time.

The ship was impressive and clean.

Beautiful! We went for our 25th wedding anniversary and it is a memory we will always cherish.

We enjoyed the ship and it's staff, however, we only ate in the main dining room once because the servers never checked on us or for got to bring what we asked for. In the future, I would like to see more professional type shows at night. Other than that, our experience was good. We enjoyed the variety of speciality dinning and the ship was contantly being maintained.

My family of five just returned from cruising The Pride of America. I have been on seven cruises and have travelled with my family on three cruises. The check in process in Honolulu was very effecient. The ship appeared to be clean throughout the cruise. This is a great way to see the islands of Hawaii. There are so many excursions to choose from on the ship. But we are quite independent travellers and ended up picking up a car rental on each of the islands thru Thrifty. If you decide to do this be prepared for a little wait to catch the shuttle back and forth to the ship and also picking up the actual car. It was not only Thrifty that had this challenge it appeared to be all of the agencies. Also, the parking at Kahului pier in Maui was inadequate. We ended up parking in an industrial area. I was worried about theft but never heard about any incidences. The service on board was ok. We have always experienced attentive international staff on other ships and found the staff on Pride a little lacking. I just felt that the staff was not intuitive as to needs like you would find on some ships that the staff remains for a year or two. Alot of the staff seemed to be new or not intending to sign up for another tour of duty. I'm not completely sold on the freestyle dining yet. If you didn't want to wait you needed to make reservations. It was just another thing I really didn't want to have to think about. However, it was nice to have different choices as to cuisine. We went to the Lazy J twice. The first time was fantastic. The filet was probably the best I have ever had. The service was great. But the second time was not the same experience for service and taste. We had a outside stateroom with a balcony. (We will never cruise again without a balcony, well worth the additional cost) It was ok as far as storage and space. The highlight of the trip for us was seeing the volcano flowing at night and cruising pass the Napali Coast. Something you just can't see from land. It was awesome.

The ship had a very bad smell. The food was not good. The food was always cold when you did receive the food from the Buffet and the Skyland Restaurant.

The ship looked very good. However, there was a bad smell on the ship. The Food was not good at all. Why did we have to pay a cover charge to eat at the other Restaurants? This is unheard of on a Cruise. I was told that I could put down my $10.oo per day on the bill to deduct from my on board credit. However when I received my bill I was told that I could not do that or buy anyting on board as my bill had been delivered. Then I was told to go see the Credit Department on Board. I was then told I could buy something from the Shop, however, all the sales were over. This is unheard of on other ships, they explain what your options are to received a credit. It does not go un noticed until you receive a final bill.

the ship was fairly clean. The cleaniness of the rooms were poor. The food was lousy and often cold. The entertainment was lousy. I should get a refund. This was the worst cruise.