Dear Cruisers;  My family (3 small kids) recently spent spring break on the Pride of America.  We arrived HNL on Thursday and spent two nights at the Aqua Palms.  Nice clean hotel, great rates and free breakfast.  Friday was spent at the zoo and the Polynesian Culture Center (a must see!)  Saturday was at Pearl Harbor..another must see.We have sailed on Carnival a few times and Princess once.  We were part of a larger family group sailing on this ship. 

Saturday afternoon we returned our rental car and had a limo waiting for us and our luggage to the pier.  You need to take you and your luggage past a security check point before checking in for your cruise.  After dropping off our luggage (no porter needed, we just put it on a conveyer belt and off it went) we checked in for the cruise.  Check in wait time was about average.   Your sign and sail card is also you room key and lets you on and off the ship (with picture ID for the adults).Our cabin was on the 9th floor, balcony.  The cabin was quite, comfortable, and functional.  Each cabin has a minibar and hairdryer.  Bedding consisted of a pull down berth, 2 single beds that can slide together, and 1 sofa that can pull out (we slept 5 in our cabin although I was booked in another cabin).  Cabin service was for the most part okay.  Our room attendant missed cleaning our cabin  a few times as well as setting up our bed a few times.  The first night I called the front desk many time asking for an clothes iron to no luck.Dining:  the first night we opted for dinner in the formal dining room.  Service was prompt, walk right in on our time table (freestyle cruising!), sit down, and be served.  The food was good, but the portions were small.  Formal dinner for me was a salad, shrimp cocktail, and 2 (two) chicken wings and some sliced carrots.  I needed more!  After formal dinner we "topped off" at the buffet.  Most dinners were at the buffet.  Food was good, although the menu did not change much.  The last night we ate at the formal dining room, the service was S-L-O-W.  It was 40 minutes between courses.  That might be fine with adults, but it was an eternity for kids.Breakfast was always at the Aloha cafe.  The Aloha was the best buffet  at sea I have seen.  There are about 40-50 different items to choose from, for all meals.  There was so much good food, one station for bread & cheese, one station for fruit, three stations for hot entrees, one station for soups and salads, one station for dessert (watch out for the fondue pot!).  You get the idea.  We also ate a few times at the Cadillac Diner.  Service was good as was the food.  We also had roomservice twice.  Room service consisted of sandwiches, salads, pizza, and a few desserts.  Since our cruise fare was so much, I couldn't cough up more money for a specialty restaurant.  In each port Wal mart, K mart, and Hilo Hatties would send free shuttles to take you to their store.  It was nice because you did not have to pay high prices on the ship for stuff you need.In each port you could walk to beaches.  We opted to rent a car in Hilo and Kauai to see the island at our own pace.On board entertainment at night was great.  The magician, comedian, and Polynesian review were all top notch.  My whole family loved it.Napali coast on Kauai was breathtaking and sailing past the lava flows off Hawaii's south side was a first for me.One thing sorely needed was self-serve laundry facilities.  The ship's crew were all friendly and treated us well.  Remember it was March and it was very windy at times.  Our ship rocked, our cabin creaked, and we stumbled around the ship a few times as tried to walk.Debarkation was the easiest I have seen.  Since we visited all domestic ports, no customs was needed.  You choose your debarkation time by your luggage tag color Friday night ( you still need to have all luggage out Friday night).  Saturday morning simply get off the boat at the time you want, get your luggage, and you are done.  No waiting, no wondering when your color would be called.  We had our limo waiting for us and off to the airport we went!Would I go again, you bet!  Is Freestyle cruising better than traditional?  It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't base an entire cruise around it.