These are my wife's words. I will add on at the end. So many different opinions of this experience! I really didn't know what to expect so tried to arrive at the dock in Honolulu with an open mind. Still, it is hard to do that when I have a history of hearing some negative comments in my industry (travel) regarding this cruising experience. The crew is American. That is unique in the cruise industry. Maybe they started out with some issues on being service oriented, but we found that the level of service was as good or better than many other cruises we have been on. The wait staff were friendly and willing to visit and happy to go the "extra mile" to make our experience what we needed and wanted. Our cabin steward, Eduardo, was friendly and prompt about servicing our cabin twice a day. We wanted to bring drinks on board and store them, as well as our amenity bottle of wine, in our refrigerator. He happily cleared out the fridge and stored all the "for sale" drinks away on a shelf. We had towel animals on our bed, which is always fun and a nice touch. We like having a balcony cabin off the rear of the ship. The views are usually good, and often the balcony is larger than others. On the Pride of America, it was not an exception. In fact, we figured our balcony was at least 150 square feet! More than the floor space in our cabin (with the bed covering much of the floor space). We did feel the room itselve and the bathrooms were a bit smaller than we have seen on other ships, but this is a unique cruise. There are no "sea" days. You are in port more time than you are at sea. We spent very little time in our cabin (mostly on the balcony when not sleeping) and not a lot of time on the ship over all. Excursions are certainly available. Our choice was to rent a car on each island (in advance) and do our own touring. We had six people in our party so we split the cost of car rentals and gas. Specialty restaurants: We have eaten at the Bistro on the Norwegian Jewel and loved it. The food and service at the "Jefferson" Bistro (Americana theme for the ship) were again well worth the extra cover charge. We did think the "extra" charge for a lobster tail was a little over the top ($20). The base cover charge for this restaurant was $20 per person. Teppanyaki was another that we tried. It was good—the food quality was great and certainly the chef was entertaining as he tapped out a rhythm with his spatulas and knives, while creating wonderful steak, seafood, chicken, vegetarian, and beef entrees on his grill. We did feel that the $25 for this restaurant was a bit steep and thought the $20 would have been appropriate. This particular ship with the focus on Hawaii has two "Hawaiian ambassadors". They are lovely ladies who do a variety of cultural classes as well as history presentations. You can easily learn a lot about the Islands, just by attending their workshops and presentation. They offered a hula recital at the end of the cruise with participants from some of their hula classes. The ladies did very well and it was obvious, they enjoyed their time! Oh yes, there was even one man who participated! Good for him! The evening entertainment was probably more focused on comedians and acts with just a few participants rather than the Broadway type normally seen on cruise ships. The entertainment seemed good, but different than we were used to seeing. While it is great to spend two days in one port, one should realize the realities of staying on a ship. Ships dock in the port. Ports are generally used for commerce. This means barges, shipping containers, forklifts and lots of work-type noises. This can be either interesting, or irritating, depending upon what you like/expect or whether you really just want to take a nap on your balcony. Norwegian Cruise Line is known for their "freestyle" dining where you can show up any time during dinner hours to eat. Since we had a party of six, we opted to participate in their reservation system for the main dining rooms. We could make a reservation (even just a couple hours ahead) and go to the head of the line (if there was a line) in order to be seated at our appointed time. This was a great way to combine both the Freestyle option and reserving a table. We even asked for a specific table once since we liked the waiter there. Too bad he wasn't there that evening, but the concept was good!

One thing I had really hoped to see was flowing lava at night when we sailed by the Volcano. Just my luck! After years of showing off, it slowed down when word got out I was coming! Still, it looks like fire on the mountain, though I had hoped for something more spectacular. Stronger binoculars might have helped as well. I would especially recommend this cruise for someone who wants to experience Hawaii and see the sights there. It was not a restful cruise because we chose not to be in the restful mode! It was our choice to go every day to see what was on each island. I met a couple who was doing the cruise twice in a row so they could relax and still see what they wanted. They said it was cheaper to do that than to pay for an extra week at a resort and pay for the food! Good thinking!

Now for the negatives which I get to present. On two occasions, our bill was wrong and only by a small amount, but I wonder if over time this adds up. In the diner, a tip is included just like the bar. I mistaken took the signed copy of the bill with me and left the unsigned. When it appeared on my account, it was for $2 more than my copy. When researched with the staff, the copy turned in had a $2 tip added and signature that did not resemble mine. THey removed the tip and will look into it. Also, I missed that in Teppanyaki, tax or tip was added to my service charge and should not have been. The Deck 10 balconies are right under the buffet and start getting noisy around 6 AM with tables are pulled around and chair dragged across the deck. Also made some new friends as they leaned over the railing above to look in our balcony and discuss our room. Read more