A Great Cruise
Pride of Hawaii Cruise Review to Hawaii
7 Night Hawaii (Honolulu Roundtrip)
Sail date: July 10, 2006
Ship: Pride of Hawaii
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 14 years ago
Review summary
The ship itself was very beautiful. After the first day it was easy to navigate using the ship layout signs. Just remember which is the port and starboard sides and you will have no problem. Under cons we mentioned the growing pains of a new ship. Our suggestion would be to wait at least 6 months for them to work out the kinks with the staff before sailing on a new ship. By then, they will be at full strength with a strong dedicated staff. The shore excursions were excellent. You learn a great deal about the ancient Hawaiian culture. Volcanoes National Park and the Pacific Paradise Luau are a must. Our Hawaiian adventure was not complete without viewing the Napali Coastline(breathtaking) from our stateroom balcony as well as Mount Kilauea erupting into the Pacific Ocean. To round out your vacation a stop at Pearl Harbor is paramount. What a moving experience. Just a word of caution to any travel agent. NCL advertises Freestyle Cruising: Eat when you want, where you want, at the time you want without assigned seating. Let future travelers know that you need to make reservations for dining however. You can do this from your stateroom TV or by phone. DO THIS THE FIRST DAY YOU ARE ON THE SHIP. If you follow this advice you will get in the specialty restaurants immediately without a wait. If you don't, you will wait. This is also recommended for the main dining room. The Aloha Nui Cafe is buffet style and there are no reservations needed. Also, a handful of the Specialty restaurants have a minimal cover charge(steakhouse, french, asian themed). Once we got over the shock of having to pay extra for a meal, we easily saw why this is done. The Cagney's Steakhouse was excellent food and the service was excellent. The wait staff were real pros. The food served at these restaurants are expensive if you at on shore at one similar, so they are probably just trying to offset some of the cost. Again, make the reservations ASAP and you will have no problems. The onboard entertainment was great. The Broadway Review, Illusionist(three different shows with different themes(close up magic, traditional magic, illusion). Overall rating of a good because of some of the internal kinks being translated in front of the guests. Otherwise, The Pride of Hawaii gives the best that Hawaii has to offer. The next cruise we take will include either a pre or post hotel package to give us a little something extra. Aloha and Mahalo to .Ports of call
Pros: The shore excursions and onboard activities. A Massage at the Yin and Yang spa was first rate.
Cons: We were the 5th sailing of this itinerary. As in any new "business" you can expect growing pains. It was rumored that the ship lost some of its staff. You could see it in the faces of some of the crew that they were short handed. However, this in any way did not spoil our Hawaiian vacation.
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