Pride of America Review
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I had never been to Hawaii or on a cruise, so this was all new to me. Based on some of the negative reviews written about November and December cruises on Pride of America, I was a little concerned. I'm not sure what happened to those cruisers, but my group of three had a wonderful time. We began the cruise expecting to have a good time, and we did. We rented cars for each day we were on the islands, and this turned out to be a good choice. It was cheaper to rent a car than to pay for three different excursions at each island. Embarking was smooth and took a little time, but there were processes to be followed and paperwork to be checked. We all had to check in and received our key card at that time. You will have your luggage delivered to your cabin, but this really means the luggage will be delivered to the hallway outside of your cabin. It took until about 3p for the rooms to be ready; announcements were made about when certain decks were ready for passengers to go to their rooms. Disembarking was smooth and quick. You can disembark by groups (if you have your luggage picked up the last night of the cruise) or you can carry your own luggage off. There were people leaving the ship at 730a. You can book a shuttle or catch a taxi when you are off the ship. There are plenty of taxis available...we only had to walk to the front of the line to get a taxi.
FOOD: we liked the variety. We did not eat at any of the specialty restaurants that cost $$, and we enjoyed the complimentary dining. We mostly ate at the Aloha Cafe (buffet) as there were many choices. The coffee was the best! We discovered that there is a large deck off the Aloha Cafe so we ate meals outside. We did eat at Skyline. While you don't have to make a reservation, we did and never had to wait. There were many appetizer, entree and dessert choices. Dress is casual...I saw everything from shorts/sandals to dresses. Liberty restaurant is also complimentary and we were told it's the same menu as Skyline, but it is more formal dress. We did not eat at Liberty. We ate at the Key West bar once for lunch. It is a small buffet and was ok. I had dessert once at the Cadillac diner, but not a full meal. There are also tables on the deck for the Cadillac diner. Lots of bars available...for a fee. I had some cocktails and an 18% gratuity is included in your bill. Went to a margarita tasting (for a fee) at the Key West diner, and it was fun.
ENTERTAINMENT: More enjoyable than I expected. There was limited information provided on the NCL web site about entertainment options. There are activities to involve the guests such as the Newlywed Game, Dancing with the Stars, and some others. These were fun. Also scheduled entertainment..our favorite was the Oh What a Night Tribute. I attended twice! Most shows are at 7p and again at 9p. The comedian Michael Somerville was very funny. The first night there was an overview of upcoming entertainment....recommend attending to get an idea of what to expect. Recommend taking advantage of what the ship offers...most events are less than an hour in length.
Cabin Review
Obstructed Oceanview
There were three of us in this cabin. The bed is a queen size, but we had it separated into two beds, and then we used one of the fold down bunk beds. Separating the beds provided more room and worked best since one of the bunk beds was down. There is a ladder in the closet that is used to access the bunk bed. We debated up until we boarded as to whether we should have booked a balcony room. We are glad we didn't spend the money. We were often gone from the room, and there were plenty of areas on the ship to sit outside (Aloha Deck was one...not too crowded like the pool areas were). The window view was obstructed by one of the tender boats, but we could see over it and were able to have light in the room. Again, the decks provided us with views while we were on the ship. The bathroom was adequate size for a ship. Figuring out how to turn on the shower and then get the right temperature of water was a little challenging...recommend to get the temperature you want BEFORE you get in the shower. There are mirrors in the bathroom and also above the little desk. The blow dryer is not located in the bathroom, but it worked fine for its location. We did use the closet for hanging some of our clothes. There is space under the beds to store suitcases. We were located mid-ship, as we read that would be a good area for access to ship activities and to not feel much movement of the ship. We walked a lot, so we didn't think that any activity was too far. The rooms were quiet....I think we had quiet neighbors, but there was no disturbance we noticed.