Our cruise actually departed from Kahului, Maui but that port of embarkation was not listed as an option. The cruise got off to a bad start due to a 4 hour delay on the part of Hawaiian Airlines leaving from Seattle. However, since we arrived at the ship so late (7:00 pm), we were escorted directly to the Pursers Desk for check in. No lines, no waiting. We had previously received a free upgrade to a balcony cabin. Rather than good luck or a good travel agent (which I never use) I think we received the upgrade to put all of the Maui passengers on the same deck. When our cruise ended, it made it easier for the baggage handlers to have to deal with deck 10 only, rather than picking up luggage all over the ship. There were three of us in the cabin and rather than having an upper berth as in the cabin I originally selected, we had a hide a bed love seat for my son with the upgrade. When the bed was pulled out, it occupied all of the free space in the cabin and blocked the balcony. But as we would later discover, the balcony was worth any possible inconvenience. This was our 5th cruise and different than the Mexican, Caribbean or Alaskan cruises that we had previously been on. Since we were in a different port virtually every day and there are wonderful things to see in each place, we felt compelled to be doing something off the ship every day. These cruises are not for relaxing but for activities. This was our second cruise on NCL and I was not a fan of freestyle dining. I felt that the service was poor since the wait staff was getting an automatic tip instead of earning one. I had also heard some grumblings about the American staff on the U.S. flagged ship so me expectations were low. I am happy to report that freestyle dining worked great for this cruise due to all of the shore activities. We at lunch on the ship only one time during the cruise because we were never on the ship during the day. I don't think we ate dinner at the same time twice. Service in the dining room was fine and the quality of food was good. The size of the entree servings varied widely but the wait staff always offered to get an additional item if something wasn't satisfactory. Had I paid for the balcony cabin, it would have been worth every penny as we cruised by the Napili Coast on Kauai and flowing lava on the Big Island. You need to be on the port side of the ship to see Napili. At the volcano, the captain turns the ship around for all sides to see the lava at night. Debarkation was very smooth due to the relatively small number of passengers that got off in Maui. The airport is minutes away from the port. We had been to Oahu and Maui previously and used the cruise to revisit some of our favorite places and to see if Kauai and the Big Island would be worth a separate visit. If you have never been to Hawaii, this is a great way to get a taste of the islands. The reason we selected the Pride of Aloha was that it fit our schedule the best and was a better value. I like bigger boats and probably should have picked the Pride of America or the Pride of Hawaii but that is just personal preference. It's hard to go wrong with Hawaii.