Pride of America Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Family balcony was adequate for our family of 4. The food was not a strong area for this cruise. Breakfast buffet was the same food every day. Dining room food was just ok. East meets west was the best food that was included in the price of the cruise. Most employees were friendly but we didn’t see our room steward until the last day of the cruise. He always had the room cleaned up and read for us at night but we never saw him around. Getting on and off the ship was very easy.

We had this trip planned for over a year. We have been reading so many bad reviews that we almost decided to bail out. I am so glad we did not. We had an Owner’s Suite with a hot tub on the huge balcony. The room is stunning with beautiful woods and etched glass. This the best cabin I have ever seen. Having said that the beginning of the trip was very confusing. We were directed to a private area for people booked in suites. They provided all kinds of snacks. It was here that we were greeted by a concierge (we did not understand his role until 2 days into the cruise). He handed us over to a butler (female) that had a sour demeanor. She was instructed to take another couple and us aboard ship. As we were traveling in that direction, I noticed that pictures were being taken. I informed her that I wanted to have embarkation photos done. To which she replied,”I can’t force you to continue on. Do what you want to do but I am escorting this other couple aboard ship. I will notify your butler that decided to do your own thing.” Her tone of voice was very condescending and sarcastic. Needless to say it started the cruise on the wrong foot We stopped and had pictures taken and found our own way on board greeted immediately by our butler. He was very nice and accommodating but we rarely saw him for the rest of the trip. He gave us his contact number and I finally caught on to the fact that if you want to see your butler you have to contact them. Our room stewards introduced themselves to us that first evening. We saw them several times during the day and night. I even asked him if he ever rested. They were extremely attentive and helpful - very hard working. Our room was cleaned a minimum of twice a day We saw the Concierge every day and he was extremely helpful. Breakfast and lunch is complimentary at Cagney’s Steakhouse for guests in suites. The food is wonderful and the service is exemplary. The concierge was always present and asked if we needed anything. He always reminded us of reservations. In the evenings he directed us to reserved seating in the Hollywood Theater. They actually rope off part of the middle section for suite guests The ship was very clean. The excursions were enjoyable The shows were just OK Almost everyone on staff was nice, friendly, and eager to help (with the exception of the first Butler we met) We found a taxi to take us to the airport as soon as we exited the ship terminal. The fee was $27.37. The ship line was asking $25 a person to take a shuttle to the airport

Love the itinerary, just wish NCL would change up some of the speciality restaurant menus. Was not at all happy with Conceirge on this boat. We were basically ignored. Our last conceirge on the Sun (Carlos) was amazing. He should be teaching classes on how to treat your passengers. He greeted us everyday at breakfast for suites, stopped by the suites during the day and would also look for suite passengers at the specialty restaurants. I didn’t see our concierge except at breakfast and I think he only came to our table once or twice. You could really sense the difference when compared to boats the go outside the US.

I would do it again. It has made me a cruise customer, I got the bug. Leaving again on another one next month. Let’s see how Carnival does it

PERFECT!!! Thank you Norwegian Cruise Line! We WILL BE BACK cruising with you again!! Couldn't be happier!!

Great time., easy acccess ro islands if you wish and hopefully no more missle crisis’ although on the ship we had plenty of water and food, so we would have been ok

Very good cruise to explore the Islands. Had to do a day at sea one day instead of 2 days in Maui.

Great cruise. Were disapointed the itinerary changed and we missed the first port and we had a sea day but the whale watching was incredible.

Overall, we had a great experience , our first with Norwegian. We upgraded to the suite experience for this once in a lifetime trip. I must say that the service on Princess is better but the ship was equivalent.

We loved this cruise! Sad this is our last night. Every staff member we interacted with was so nice. We especially loved Brittany from MN! She took care of us at the pool and in the Mardi Gras Lounge. The ship was clean. The staff was fun. We would recommend this to anyone!

We loved it! I was concerned after reading less than favorable reviews from others, but we had an amazing time and would recommend it to anyone wanting to see all the islands.

Great excape from real life for a much needed break. Great way to see as much as possible in 7 days.

I’ve had much better... there was a problem with the water in the cabins, it didn’t work at night. The American based staff were no where as enthusiastic about their job as others from different countries. All in all, my family had a nice time, I’ve just had better in the past.

Hawaii is beautiful and this is a great way to see a lot of different islands! Ship is easy to navigate and clean and comfortable!

Ship was good. We made cruise a good time. Seemed like everyone else was asleep by 9 pm. We sat alone several nights in piano bar enjoying the music.

I was a little nervous about the cruise with some negative posts. I was very happy with many aspects of the cruise. The food was great! Service in rooms, dining and bars were very good. The entertainment was wonderful. The live musicians were very good. The cruise for us was mainly about the islands and the excursions. There were 2 days that it rained, in Hilo and Kona. Other than that had great time on excursions. Loved Kauai the best. BEAUTIFUL!!! The let down was in Kona, it’s the only time they tender to the island, and with the rain, we felt that the service was lacking. We were in a long line NOT under cover, and they have plenty of other boats could have used. We’ve been on other cruises where they tender to an island or port and would take hundreds at a time or have more boats to keep people moving. Poor planning on Norwegian. The other downfall was lack of activities besides dinner and shows. With no gambling in Hawaii, none in ship. We were there for the islands and enjoyed that, but would have been nice to have more options once back on ship. Overall though very satisfied, but downgraded to 4 star for reasons above. Highly recommend the cruise, best way to see the islands. Make sure to see the volcano in Port at Hilo and go to Waimea Canyon at Kauai. Golf in Maui was pretty sweet as well. Make sure to shop around for best deals on excursions. Don’t just take the Norwegian excursions. Can find much better deals if you’re price conscious.

The Pride of America was really a great cruise. Wonderful way to see the islands. Staff was very friendly and the food was great. The ship was very clean and we did not want for anything. Way to go, NCL.

I made a very detailed blog review here: https://adventuresandmisgivings.wordpress.com/ And a vlog here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBglg7OHEeg42GMtigyI4Vc_NAn6tYbbc In summary: I hope you don’t think I am a Debbie Downer complaining about everything. I really do have some amazing memories from our trip. But that was likely our one and only trip to Hawaii, and I made quite a few planning mistakes, and a few travel vendors had terrible customer service failures. If I had to do it all over again, I would spend half the trip on Hawaii and the other half in Waikiki and skip the cruise altogether. The cruise has several great features- you do get to see the 4 big islands (if the weather permits), you get a free lava flow cruise (I didn’t!), and a free Na Pali Coast cruise, hula lessons, lei making classes, and a hula show. Where NCL falls far short is their insistence on making this cruise just like any other cruise. This ship only goes to Hawaii. The ship is American themed, and I know Hawaii is the 50th State and all, but I didn’t fly all this way to eat New England clam chowder. Hawaii is culturally and physically a world apart from the East Coast. The food on the islands was knock your socks off incredible, and there’s zero reasons why this can’t be continued on board. Even the fruit on board isn’t fresh Hawaiian fruit. We never once saw our cruise director. There was very little to do on the ship. Once I was denied entrance to the pool because the crew was having a water volleyball match. Excuse me? NCL America has to step up their guest services level. Most of the crew were on 4 month contracts and they didn’t CARE about losing their job. A ship full of temp workers isn’t going to be out to impress. And for all the garbage advertising they put in my door, they could have sent a note that said hey we are having some plumbing issues we hope to fix it by whenever. Honestly, I don’t think the crew communicated well with each other either, so this is a systemic problem coming from management. It wasn’t a terrible cruise. I’ve been on worse by far. However this cruise cost two or three times what I’ve paid for much better cruises. Don’t charge Disney prices and follow up with Motel 6 service.

Great cruise with a great staff. Rained 6 out of 7 days No lava flowing to the sea Ruff seas Do not believe the bad reviews of the ship and staff. Both are good

Wonderful way to get to the islands..Enjoyed all the fresh fruit especially the pineapple. We enjoyed the individual sun deck area on 12 or 13th floor. Cleaning people were very friendly and made cute animals with towels and kept rooms very clean.