Pride of America Review
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We chose Pride of America as it seemed to be the best and easiest way to see Hawaii and the islands. Getting on the ship was very easy and we were on just after 12.15 (lunchtime). However, we heard (after a few hours wait) they were doing a full sanitation of the ship and we didn't get to out cabins until almost 5.00pm. As we did not have access to the cases we were unable to use the pool or sit in the sun. The only thing left was to drink and sit and read. I whilst I am a great believer in ensuring the ship is clean I believe NCL should have offered us a complimentary drink (at least) for the inconvenience. Overall we have very few problems with the cruise with the food, accommodation, entertainment, cleanliness being of a high class throughout the cruise.
The only complaint I have is the cost of drinks, especially water. No one explained to us that there was a water package in place for which we could buy 12 litres for $28 (+ tax + gratuity of 18% taking it to over $34) which made a litre almost $3 a litre. Not a vast amount but you need to buy 12 litres for a 7 day cruise. However, because we didn't find out about this we bought a 1 litre bottle which cost $6.50!. How they can sell water for $6.50 a litre when it costs $1 at the local ABC store is beyond me. They will also not allow you to bring water on board which we found out when we came on board in Maui with water we had bought and had to dump. They claim it is for security like at airports but they don't stop you bringing sun tan lotion and liquid medicines on board, both of which would not be allowed (if over a certain size) at airports. It is to ensure you pay over inflated prices for their water. The best thing to do is to take a water bottle on board and fill it up from water stations in the Aloha café and this will save a lot of money.
We had an ocean view cabin which is small in comparison to Celebrity, Princess and Royal Caribbean cabins and they all seem to accommodate and extra 2 beds which fold down from the walls. As the cabins are narrow the only way to get into bed is bending forward at the waist as the wall beds do not allow you to stand straight. If you have a bad back this might be difficult.
Cabin Review
Mid-Ship Oceanview Picture Window
We had an ocean view cabin which is small in comparison to Celebrity, Princess and Royal Caribbean cabins and they all seem to accommodate and extra 2 beds which fold down from the walls. As the cabins are narrow the only way to get into bed is bending forward at the waist as the wall beds do not allow you to stand straight. If you have a bad back this might be difficult. The bathroom is small but manageable but luckily we brought our own toiletries as there was very little given by NCL.
We never saw our cabin staff in the week we were on board and unlike most other cruises we have been on, they did not speak to you as you passed them but carried on working or talking to their colleague. We found this a little strange but it didn't affect the overall experience in any way.