We were on the Pride of Aloha 4/8/07~4/15/07. This was our third NCL cruises (the other two were Southward to Baja, Mexico and Sea to Panama Canal.) We also cruised twice on Celebrity to Alaska (Galaxy and Mercury), once on Carnival Elation to Western Caribbean, and once on Princess (don't remember the name of that ship.) This was our first trip to Hawaii. I was a bit worried because of the negative reviews, but we ended up having a wonderful trip and totally enjoyed it.

Air and transfer: Air and transfer were included with our cruise. By the time we got to HNL, it was 3:30pm. I would have preferred to be there earlier, but was unsuccessful in rescheduling for an earlier flight. Transfer was smooth. Greeters were at the gate as we leave the plane, and also at the luggage pick-up area. After we got our luggage we were directed to the area where they checked off our names, put our pieces of luggage on the truck and we waited for about 10 minutes to get on our bus. There were quite a lot of people and some had to catch the next bus. Our bus driver was very funny; he also gave us a tour on the way to the pier by pointing out all the interesting sights and gave us a brief history of Hawaii.

Embarkation: Very easy, short line at the security and ID check area. No lines at the check-in counters. We got in the front of the Latitudes line and then were told to go to the regular line because the counters were empty. This was the easiest check-in that we've ever had. It took maybe five minutes. After we got on the ship I immediately went to the reception desk to ask for the possibility of upgrading. Was told to put our names down on the waiting list and wait for 48 hours. Our room was ready when we got to the ship, but the set-up was only for two people while we should have three in our cabin. Bumped into a cabin steward outside and asked if he was our steward, he said "yes", told him about the bed and towel problem, he fixed it before we got back from dinner. We also received our Latitudes pins, the invitation to the Captain's reception, and the $20 pp onboard credit on our door. The OBC was a surprise. We still don't know why we got those. I've called our TA before and asked about the NCL promo OBC, but was told that it was for new bookings only. Out of the three families, two families got the OBC, and one never did. They asked about it for three days and couldn't get an answer. We are all Latitude members. Read more