I wrote a review earlier called "Not Perfect But We Still got the Aloha Spirit" but my port reviews didn't show up, so this is my part two.

For our 25th Anniversary,DH and I left the teens at home to visit Hawaii for the first time. This was our first time on NCL, although we have been on RC, Carnival and Celebrity before. Stayed Weds-Sat at Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort and LOVED it! Booked ourselves through Travelocity. Okay to stay in the TAPA tower if you are on an upper floor. We were on 18 and had a great view of the city, Diamond Head and the water. We wished we had more time to spend at the resort but we were on the run the whole time. (See port reviews below.) We picked up our car at Thrifty when we arrived on Weds. On Saturday we went to the airport to turn in our car and they had a ship shuttle for free. So we never did need a taxi. About the ship: The reviews here had our expectations low, but we have cruised other lines so it's hard not to compare. Regarding the staff, I felt that the dining staff was appropriately attentive, however it is not the over-attention you get on other lines. I'm sure the freestyle dining makes a difference when they don't have time to get to know what you like to drink, etc. We both loved the freestyle dining, though we thought we wouldn't. We ate twice in the liberty and twice in the skyline. They have identical menus, so eat at both so you can enjoy the different decor. The food was fine. You won't be wowed, but you'll enjoy the experience. We waited once for five minutes, the other three times we were seated immediately. (Men, don't pack a suit. No one wore them.) With two people you will often get the window seats, which are wonderful. We both loved the Cadillac diner because we just love that kind of food. It was like a TGI Fridays menu. I especially loved the potato skins and the warm brownie sundae...YUM! We never ate at the Key West because it was only open when we were off the ship, and we never ate at any specialty restaurants. We only ate at the Aloha for breakfast, which was delicious! Everything you can imagine, including biscuits and gravy.

Here was our biggest complaint about the food/drink: there was nothing to drink but iced tea! All other ships I've been on you can get free tea, lemonade and fruit punch. On POA you got iced tea and water. All other drinks were for sale. BTW, this is a Pepsi ship, no Coke products, which did not go over well with DH. He did manage to make it onto the ship with a 12 pack of Diet Coke in his luggage, which he kept in our room fridge. He also bought DCoke at drive-thrus while we were onshore. Regarding the bar, the drinks are outrageously expensive at $5-10 per, but bars have happy hour mai tais at $4 from 6-7 and 9-10. You can also get a bottle of wine which has five glasses in it, but they didn't offer it to me until Thursday. Read more