Background: We are veterans of many cruises, all with Royal Caribbean. This was our first with NCL, on Pride of America. Our party included my parents, my brother & sis-in-law, my son and me (DH had to stay home and work). Mom was born and raised in Hilo, HI and it has been her dream to view Hawaii from a cruise ship. With many aunts, uncles and cousins in Hawaii, we have made numerous trips and thought this would be a fun way to see the islands! My brother made most of the arrangements and found an excellent deal with a well-known travel agency. We had done much research about Pride of America on the Cruise Critic boards and thank everyone for their reviews. We went into this cruise with open minds.

Pre-cruise: We arrived in Honolulu two days before the cruise and stayed at the Hawaii Prince on the west end of Waikiki (close to Hilton Hawaiian Village and the Ala Moana shopping) and found very reasonable rates through expedia.com that also included a rental car. Our pre-cruise time was spent with relatives and went by so fast that I couldn't believe it was time to embark on the cruise!

Embarkation: We drove over to the cruise terminal at Pier #2 about 11:30 am and dropped off our luggage and checked in. The lines were moderately long and we stood in line for about 20 minutes. Check-in was quick with verification of ID's and credit card and soon we had our "Embarkation Card" or key card in our hands. We dodged the pushy photographers and went to the rental car. There is a US Post Office by the airport that's open all day Saturday and we mailed some boxes home then returned the rental car. My cuz' picked us up and after lunch dropped us off at the Pride of America. We had to evade the photographers again and this time they were more persistent—at one point telling me it was required for "security reasons." What a lie! They just want to make $$. Read more