Aloha!. We had a great time on the Pride of America in Hawaii - husband, wife, two sons in their 20's and one friend of theirs. We had a balcony stateroom and they had an inside cabin. The service exceeded our expectations after what we had read on Cruise Critic. The food was fine but not great. We did none of the extra pay restaurants and had fair experiences in Little Italy and Cadillac. We had excellent services and lots of fun n Skyline - get to know Jacqueline and Rebecca! We rented cars everywhere except for Kona (wished we had done it there also) through Hertz Gold and it worked well. We did no NCL excursions. In advance we booked scuba and the Maui mountain bike on-line. The main thrills were the huge sea turtles, the lava everywhere, the gorgeous scenery everywhere and the freedom offered with the cars and not having a scheduled dining time every night. We were able to reserve in Skyline because we had 5 in our group. Tips: • Get up early and go to bed early • Aloha not crowded early in morning • Be sure to find free cappuccino and espresso coffee machines • Bring lots of zip-lock bags o For taking lunch off of boat, etc. • For lunch off of boat o Order room services, put in bag in refrig and take next day (we ordered on-line and it came in 30 min) o Make sandwich at breakfast w/ bagel or English muffin and bag and take to lunch o Take fruit with you to lunch • Bring small refrigerated back pack for lunch and drinks • Bring a carry mug to take coffee or ice water or juice with you off of boat • Revealed book series is awesome - I have Maui and Kauai books • Read cruise critic - many suggestions very valuable • Cell phones do work on all islands • Must get Shave Ice with Ice Cream in it • Rent a car on all islands - we didn't on Kona and regretted it • Balcony was great • Get to know room staff early and tip early • Get to know wait staff in restaurant and request same ones for good service • You can order many extra entrees, etc. - believe me, we know, Will often have 5-6!! We also requested food from other restaurants and sometimes got it! • You cannot bring any alcohol on to the boat but you can bring packaged food back on • You need your boat card and DL with you all of the time - take a small bag or small wallet • Safes in room and you set your own combination code - works well • Don't need a jacket ever • Go in wal-mart or safeway to buy food gift items • Shop at ABC stores - best prices, same items as elsewhere • Definitely take hats or visors - reef shoes also good idea • They provide beach towels • They offer a week long "coke" program -pretty pricey, none of us got it, even Keith, and were fine without it • Watch for cocktail specials daily in the different bars - we liked the bar up top on the back best - most Hawaiian drinks about $6 - not bad - good size • We liked the pool up top at the back best also - small but empty • Plan your days off the boat before you get there - that makes the most of the day and you are all making group decisions and wasting time • We did no ship excursions o Reserved scuba and mountain bike trip before we got there o Hired a driver in Kona ($200 for all of us for the day to go to a neat beach but we could have rented a car for probably $60) • You don't have a lot of time on the boat - ex, we went to no shows at all but didn't feel like we missed anything we would have done - we did play spades in the card room one night • Everything is very casual - you can really wear shorts to dinner although we didn't usually except in Aloha • Our additional charges on the boat totaled $300 - that includes $10/day for two people for tip added and drinks for 5 four or five times • Additional cash spent on boat - probably $120 in tips to staff in Skyline and $20 to room steward • ATM on boat and anywhere you want off-shore Comments about Boat:

Positive: o Service better than we expected – try to make friends with them o No crowds in line for food or on and off of boat o Do not have to sit with other people o Fitness center open 24 hours (didn’t really matter to me, but some people do want to go at 5am!!( o We had to wait a long time for our food in Little Italy but never in Skyline o Room kept clean well o Quiet o Balcony awesome o Ice cream machine – ice cream great o espresso/cappuccino coffee makers o Met two nice guys who went to Briarcrest – graduated 1999 Josh Childress and ___?

Negative: o Doors too heavy everywhere, especially to room o Need larger glasses at meals o Food only OK, but not bad o Most of the staff hate their jobs, they are quitting all the time, just leaving without giving notice. o