I would agree with the last few reviews on how much everything has improved. In an effort to avoid repeating all the same things, and to save time since I am still jet-lagged, I will just review the shore excursions and ports.

Kauai - we walked over to the shopping area and the beach behind the hotel (Marriott, I think). it's a 10 minute walk at the absolute most. The beach was great and we rented a body board for $10 for the entire day. The second morning there, we took the tubing the ditch expedition. The road to the starting point is a very bumpy dirt road. The shore excursion description says "don't do this if you are pregnant or have back trouble" This is not because of the tubing, but because the ride there is about 45 minutes and rough for most of it. The tubing was great. The water was very cold, but the scenery was incredible. There were also plenty of shuttles to shopping here.

Hilo - Volcano National Park through NCL. I thought the tour was great, and our bus driver took us to a black sand beach at the end because she had a few extra minutes. It was well worth it. Read more