While it may seem odd for someone who lives in Hawaii to take a circle Hawaii cruise it is actually done by a lot of us "locals" as a very cost effective way to travel between islands. I took the Pride Of Aloha because it offered a great schedule... hitting all the islands, including 4 days at sea, sailing 1200 miles south of Hilo to the tropical atolls of Kiribati... Now, I have read a lot of reviews on this , and other, sites all about the troubles of this ship and its poor rating. Could it be that bad I asked myself?

The following is what I observed, and as a cruiser of over 30 years experience sailing on short 4 days to longer 34 days, on lines from NCL to Regent ( Radisson); from inside cabins to Penthouses with butlers. I will also add you can add another 10 years on Navy time. I am a foodie and have a Cordon Bleu certificate. I list these so as to give you the reader a base line of my opinions

Check in: NCL lets you check in on line and uses E-tickets.. I arrived in Honolulu and took the $5.00 bus direct to the checkin counter. It picks up at baggage claim at each terminal. It was a breeze and beat the $30 cab ride . Ship: At 856 ft it was the largest I had ever sailed on.. I normally like to sail on ships of under 1000, and this ship held 2300 ! I was a bit nervous of what the excess people might do to the experience. Maintenance of the ship was excellent, paint,metalwork,fixtures,elevators. Decks were covered with a dry-decking that reduced slipping and kept your feet cool... In short very high quality Maintenance and I experienced no flaws or glitches in the 11 days I was aboard. I was amused to listen to a man, on his first cruise explained to me that this ship was ready for the scrap yard. Why do you think so I queried politely, Look he pointed to several areas of rust around an outside speaker, about the size of a nail head, " its rusting away...its terrible". Read more