Our family of 12 sailed on Norwegian's Pride of America on the 12/28/19 cruise. We had a wonderful trip and I can't say enough about this ship, crew and itinerary. Our family was 6 adults (ages 39 through 64) and 6 kids (ages 4 through 12). Our vacation package included 1 night pre-cruise at the Hawaiian Hilton Village, pre-paid gratuities, specialty restaurants, and $50 per port excursion discount. We used the Norwegian Master Card prior to the cruise and had some onboard credit to use on the ship. We arrived in Hawaii on 12/27 our flight landed in Honolulu at noon and we were in our rooms with our luggage at the Hawaiian Hilton Village by 3:30pm. We had pre-scheduled Roberts Hawaii airport shuttle for transportation from the airport to the hotel. They met us at baggage claim with a sign and helped with all of the luggage. Registration at the hotel was easy, although we did wait in line. Norwegian had a booth at the hotel and we checked in with them too, they offered us extra luggage tags and answered our questions. They were so sweet and helpful, they got our vacation off to a great start. The complex was massive and interesting, there were shops everywhere and pools and a beautiful beach. We wandered around the shops, had sushi and shaved ice. That evening we sat in the sand on the beach and watched the fireworks. We were exhausted from travel so we ordered pizzas for dinner and ate in our rooms. We were all just so excited to be in Hawaii. On Saturday we had a 1/2 day Pearl Harbor tour booked through Viator. They picked us up from the hotel at 7am and we arrived at Pearl Harbor by 0830. We had time to tour the USS Bowfin and go through the museum before the movie and boat ride to the USS Arizona. This was a powerful and sobering tour, the movie was so well done. We were so glad that we did this excursion before our cruise At 11:30 we were picked up and the tour driver took us to the port. NCL transferred our luggage from the hotel to the ship and we never even had to go back there. We arrived at the port around 12:30, check-in was easy; there was a lounge for suite guests that we hardly had time to enjoy, we were on the ship and having lunch at Cagney's by 1pm. While we were eating they announced that our cabins were ready. We were in suites, 12008 (starboard), 12058 (port) and 13012 (starboard), and these suites were great! Roomy, beautiful, lots of room to unpack, an attendant (Larry) an a butler (Georgia). 13012 was bigger than the other 2 suites and worked well for a family of 6. It has a huge balcony! There was sparkling wine and flowers in the suites as we checked in. Having lunch at Cagney's and the gifts in the room set the stage for the entire vacation. We went to the Welcome Aboard show, to dinner in the Skyline and to bed early. The next morning we woke up in Maui. 2 of us scheduled a helicopter tour of the road to Hana (we knew we couldn't drive it with 6 kids). The tour was spectacular! We aw caverns, the coastline, multiple waterfalls, Jurassic Rock and George Harrison's home. This tour was through NCL and the $50 immediately showed up on our account. We were back on the ship by noon, had lunch and then went off to the beach to catch up with the family. They were at, Kihei, Kamaole Beach Park II (a 30 minute Uber ride) and it was a great beach; we swam in the warm water until about 3 then headed back to the ship. The next morning at 2:30am we were up and ready for the sunrise Haleakala Crater tour. Nettie was our driver and she got us to the top of the crater by 5:45, so we had a great viewing spot by the rail, sunrise wasn't until 6:50. It was crowded up there! It was pitch dark when we arrived and the night sky was amazing. I saw 4 shooting stars! We had about an hour of standing in windy 30 degree weather before the sun came up. Even though we dressed warmly, it was freezing! I wore a long sleeved t-shirt, a heavy sweater, my North Face jacket, hat and gloves, but only my sneakers. By the time we were back in the bus, my feet felt like frozen blocks. Despite the cold this was an experience that we will remember the rest of our lives. Only 2 adults went, I think it would have been difficult for the kids. We were back on the ship by 9:30, in time for breakfast. Then we got an Uber to meet the family in Lahaina. A beautiful little town (full of interesting shops) and the Uber ride to the town was great too! That evening we used our restaurant perk and had a wonderful dinner at La Cucina and saw the Lights, Camera, Action show. We enjoyed all the shows, our surprise was there were always seats in the theater (even for 12), it wasn't crowded like other cruises we've been on. The next day was New Years Eve and we woke up at Hilo. We had the Volcano National Park tour for all 12 us, our guide's name was John and we all enjoyed it. We saw steam vents, a lava flow from the 70's and on the way back we stopped at a orchid nursery. They had an orchid that smelled like chocolate. That evening in the Gold Rush Saloon they did the New Year's Eve count down for every time zone. We are from the East coast so we got to scream happy new year at 7pm! Then we went to Liberty Dining Room for dinner with our cruise supplied New Year's Eve swag. The show that evening was Wonders! A Magical Experience... it was fantastic! We were meant to be in Kona the next day and had a kayaking tour scheduled. We were up and ready to go when the captain announced that we were leaving because the tender service was cancelled because of rocky seas. We had an unexpected sea day to enjoy the ship. We sailed by the Molokai sea cliffs and saw whales and dolphins from our balcony. The men in our party when to the Whiskey tasting in the Napa Wine bar. They had fun! Dinner in Jefferson Bistro that evening....also wonderful.. We loved all of the specialty restaurants..so glad we had that perk. On Thursday in Kauai, we had a beach day at Poipu Beach Park The best beach ever! There were giant sea turtle sleeping on the beach. We all snorkeled and saw the most beautiful fish, probably 30 different varieties.. Plus the water was warm and calm. We spent about 6 hours at this beach. When we got back to the ship we had massages scheduled at the Mandarin Spa. Fantastic experience! Dinner at Cagney's, with a delicious chocolate cake for dessert. Kauai was our favorite island and this was such a memorable day.... perfect really. On our final cruise day we had the tubing experience with/Kauai Backcountry Adventures scheduled, only 10 of us could go, because you have to be at least 5. This tubing experience is through caves and the kids loved it. On the trip up the mountain we saw some of the settings for the Jurassic Park movies. We had to get back on the ship early and my Grand daughter who took 3 hula dancing classes on the ship was in the pool side hula show. We also all went to the lei making classes, don't miss them, they were surprisingly fun and we all still have the leis we made. As we sailed by the Napali, there were double rainbows in the sky. I know I've said this a lot but the coast and the rainbows were absolutely incredible! We saw this from my son's baloney while sipping a lovely red wine. I don't know how this could have been more perfect. Dinner at Tappanyaki that evening. It's a show and the chefs were awesome! We had our luggage in the hallway by midnight, had breakfast at Cagney's the next morning and were off the ship by 09. We had one more day in Honolulu, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Beach Club, went to the aquarium (it's run by the University of Hawaii) and had an impressive display of Sea Horses and then we hiked up Diamond Head. 9 of us made it to the top. We were seriously proud of this accomplishment. This was easily the best cruise we've ever been on. It all exceeded our expectations. Read Less

We chose this cruise because it originates in Hawaii and because we had my disabled brother with us. Despite the fact that we booked 15 months in advance (paying an extremely high fares vs advertised fares closer to departure dates), it was a constant struggle to be sure that we had adjoining cabins and that our travel plans were linked. Eventually, we thought we had everything worked out, only to arrive at our hotel in LA to discover Norwegian had not books adjoining rooms for that part of the trip. We were exhausted from traveling from the East Coast and it took nearly 45 minutes to straighten out the problem--there were no adjoining rooms. On de on the ship, our accommodations were fine. I will give Norwegian credit for a vefry smooth boarding and disembarking process. The meal processes were also quite smooth or such a huge ship and so many guests. The food was blah by anyone's book. I'd rate it as college cafeteria standard for folks who don't have discriminating tastes. It was plentiful. We ate at the Brazilian steakhouse one evening.It was not impressive. The entertainment was also blah except the one night we saw the magician. The onboard activities were mostly silly and uninteresting. We are not interested in bingo or karaoke or ping pong tournaments. Shore excursions were less than steller except for the day at Haleakala. They were grossly overpriced and quite frankly, boring. Because of my brother 's disabilities, we booked only Level 1 activity excursions. There were no Level 1 excursions offered in Kauai, so we were on out own. The catamaran/snorkeling excursion was fun, but was not really Level 1 since boarding the boat was quite tricky and the boarding ladder for snorkelers could not be used by two of us. In summary, I am done with cruising on large ships. I am disappointed in Norwegian's lack of attention to the nee of disabled passengers. I am deeply disappointed that we spent a large amount of money for only a so-so experience. Read Less

This is an excellent way to see the Hawaiin islands. The service on the ship was excellent and the crew was very friendly. The dining rooms and specialty restaurants are very good with excellent service. The ship is very clean and very well maintained. The Balcony cabins are very clean, however very small compared to other Norwegian Cruise Ships. The cabins cannot really accomadate any more than 2 people unless you have a young child, as the pull out sofa bed is very small. All areas of the ship have a wonderful American theme. Embarkation and disembarkation was a breeze! Norwegian seems to have mastered how to do it right. If any one is planning a hotel stay before or after the cruise, I highly recommend the Kahala Hotel and Resort in Honolulu. This is a wonderful property that is in a beautiful area only 10 minute cab ride from Waikiki Beach. The Kahala has all the amenities and their own private beach. We had a wonderful time and would highly recommend "Pride of America" I give Norwegian top marks again!!! Read Less

The staff on the ship was, for the most part, excellent and helpful. The food was average to poor. The NCL excursions were too limited in what was offered. One day our excursion was cancelled at the last minute due to not enough people have signed up. We were told nothing else was available. We had to scramble to contact other companies and found a good selection of independent excursions of which we took advantage. The shows were pedestrian aside from the magician who was very good. The cabin was small but fine for two people. The poor customer service was from NCL before the cruise. We booked the cruise directly with NCL. When we spoke to the booking agent we discussed that the reason we choose this cruise was because it toured the Napali Coast off Kauai. That was our only "absolutely must see" of the Hawaii trip. We discussed and understood that itinerary is subject to change due to weather, natural disasters or other emergencies. Well a few weeks before the cruise were were notified by NCL that the Napali Coast was going to be skipped due to maintenance being performed on the ship. We called to try to reschedule the cruise for when it would return to its normal itinerary or to cancel. We were told by NCL that we did not call soon enough before the sail date to do that. We explained that we called as soon as we were notified about Napali being skipped for ship maintenance but basically we were told tough luck, NCL can change the itinerary for any reason and you have no recourse. I am sure that NCL has enough satisfied customers that they do not have to concern themselves with a situation such as ours. However, we will not use them again. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the itinerary. "Pride" is the only cruise ship that stays in the Hawaiian Islands (no days at sea). We went 2 days early - to make sure luggage arrived before sailing, and to enjoy some sights on Oahu. We arrived at port about 3:00PM, and there were very few people waiting for check in. Embarkation went very quickly and smoothly. We originally purchased a balcony cabin, but had bid on and "won" a suite (more later). So the butler introduced himself as soon as we checked in and took us to a nearby sitting area with refreshments. After a few more people joined our group, he did a short talk on what we could expect as suite guests, then personally took us to our suites and showed us the amenities. We had carefully examined the "Free At Sea" offerings, and had the option to select ALL. Knowing about the HUGE automatic gratuity charge on the "unlimited drink package", we did not choose that. We chose the 3 nights dining in specialty restaurants, and doubled up on the $50.00 discount per day on shore excursions. We did not need the wi-fi, since our Verizon had good connectivity near the islands (but lost it between them). We couldn't use the "free and reduced airfare" since it could not accommodate our need for extra leg room. Although we enjoy shows, we ended up attending none due to timing with our dining. Also, being seniors, we don't stay up late. We thought the shore excursions were well handled. There are "many" luaus available in the Hawaiian Islands, and I really think Norwegian should offer more than one as shore excursions. We did the Volcanoes National Park tour at Hilo, submarine at Kona, and "Director's Cut" on Kauai, all of which were good. Dining was fine. Suite guests were invited to enjoy breakfast and lunch in Cagney's Steakhouse, which we did on several days. The food, as expected, was excellent. We also had both in the dining rooms and buffet, which were well done. Our dinners in the specialty restaurants were excellent. The shops were as expected. There were a few basic pharmacy items (if you may need something, BRING YOUR OWN, Consider buying it on land BEFORE you get on ship). We missed the advertised 50% off sale, but $99.00 for an Aloha shirt???? Buy your souvenirs on shore. My only complaint is that sometimes, the ship was FREEZING. This was mostly in our cabin, but also in the corridors and even in the Bistro. I was happy to find the public areas, particularly the pool deck, were not BLASTING music. I've been on other ships (not Norwegian) where earplugs were needed to lounge around the pool, and we had to scream in the central area of the ship since the live music was being amplified 5 decks above. It was a joy not to have a casino. I'm happy to play blackjack for a few hours on a cruise, but HATE the cigarette smoke. No smoke to deal with here! GREAT CRUISE! Read Less

This was suppose to be a trip of a lifetime to Hawaii ! The coordination between the NCL cruise line and the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort was poor. Even though the rooms were prepaid we had to wait in line for almost 2 hours to check into the hotel. There was no representative at the hotel from NCL to coordinate the land portion of the tour. Once on the ship, we were amazed at the lack of service from our room steward/stewardess. We had to leave daily reminders (in writing) to get anything done. Many of the help in the restaurants were either surly or rude. The entertainment was good, the shows were lively, the comedian was great, the magician was amazing. The quality of the food was good, not great. The Asian food choices were very limited. Being in Hawaii we were expecting more variety. The specialty dining rooms were overall disappointing. Read Less

I choose this cruise because of the ports. Chance to go to the 4 major Hawaiian Islands. Shortly after the final payment deadline, NCL notified us of an itinerary change. Due to scheduled maintenance (that they knew about far ahead) they were skipping sailing down the Napali Coast in Kauai. (This is the most beautiful part of the island that you can only view by boat or plane/helicopter.) We skipped 1st port of call Maui. As we were approaching the industrial port in Maui for docking- this port was canceled because the Captain deemed waters too rough to dock. Long story short- we didn't dock either day in Maui. Instead they sailed to the Big Island and gave us an extra day on industrial port side in Hilo. In the past year NCL has revamped the menus in their Specialty restaurants and almost doubled the prices. Many of the long time favorite menu items are now gone. You can get a far better meal at a nice restaurant at home at a cheaper price. The ship has a wonderful large library, but the book cases were kept locked most of the time. There were always a shortage of deck chairs in pool/spa area. There were lots of other open deck areas where chairs could have been placed- but they never were. Consequently it was hard to ever sit outdoors in the nice weather. It was evident that ship windows had not been cleaned in quite sometime. I could barely see out of my cabin window. Buffet area was always very crowded. Seemed like the same food choices everyday. They had an excellent Hawaiian ambassador onboard to talk about each of the port stops- but they scheduled him at 6:00 PM each day which would cause issues if you had dinner reservations and/or were trying to go to shows or watch sail aways. Read Less

Embarkation: Super easy and quick. We were early (second in line to wait for security) as we wanted to drop off our luggage and check-in prior to going to Pearl Harbor. Ladies and girls will get a beautiful orchid lei and men and boys will get a shell lei. Check in was a breeze at the counter. I'm sure if you hit the wrong time, you would have a bit of a wait. I'm sure the Platinum or higher line would help with the queue if you have that status and used it as it didn't snake around the terminal as the cattle call line. Entertainment (shows): The two main shows were great... if you can make it to them. Many others have mentioned that since there are no sea days, you're typically in port exploring Hawaii and after a full day of excursions and walking, you want to eat and sleep. We also caught the magician Jason Andrews twice and the up close magic in Mardi Gras was really cool. We saw the comedian once for the family show and he was really funny. It was way over the kids heads so they weren't too impressed. Behind the Scenes Tour: This was subpar as compared to other BtSTs we've done. This is a perk for attaining Platinum and above. It ocurred on Friday at 9:30am (Nawilliwilli, Kauai). It is hosted by CruiseNext staff taking you to the stage area, dressing rooms for performers, laundry, galley, provisions and a walk along "Route 66" (I-95 for many of the other ships). I'm used to actually seeing and hearing from the heads of those departments and having access to speaking with them on other tours. Latitudes Internet Perk: What is with the fee to activate my FREE Internet access Latitudes perk? On prior cruises, you can access the plan without a fee. Perhaps it is only on the PoA being domiciled in the USA? Outdoor areas and pools: All were well kept without a lot of cups and dishes sitting around. If you have kids, there is a "pool" and "hot" tub on 12 mid/aft behind the checkers game. I put them in quotes because, it's probably 5" deep with a tiny slide and the "warm" tub was just that. Some folks may feel a bit clausterphobic even though there is glass looking out to the deck. Dining: My favorite! I am really not picky when presented with food I didn't have to prepare. If it's not moving, I'll eat it. If I'm really hungry and it is moving, it would probably stop moving in my mouth. You get the idea. We had the 3 ultimate dining package perk (3UDP) with our reservation and initially chose Teppanyaki twice along with Cagney's. We had Teppanyaki on embarkation night and it was "ok." A bit saltier and greasier than we're used to. So we moved the second Teppanyaki to La Cuccina. We also receive the Platinum perk of Le Bistro (Jefferson's) or Cagney's with a bottle of wine and Moderno or La Cuccina. For those two we selected Jefferson's and La Cuccina. The food at Jefferson's Bistro was great as long as you can find something on the menu that you like. Henry provided wonderful service and was very attentive. The Maitre'd (didn't get his name) at Jefferson's Bistro was phenomenal. He was accommodating and helped with an extra dessert. Read Less

Everything was fantastic. Price was cheap. Experience was amazing. Recommending it to everyone. Lots of buffet food in Aloha Cafe. Specialty food was horrible so dont try it. Lots of options in the ALoha Cafe Cabin was clean. Little bit smaller but it was comfortable. Shows were amazing and entertaining. Standup comedy and shows were great. Service was great. Everyone was smiling and ready to help. Chef's were engaging and talking. Felt bad for kids to be working so hard on the cruise but when I spoke to one of them he explained me that he's on cruise for 4 months and get 2 months vacation so that was good. Spa is expensive. Massages are $200 or more per hour. We didnt do any shore excursions but its better to rent the car on each island and it was amazing experience. I didnt like the fact that we had to come back before 5-6 to cruise because later evening stay would have been fine and we could have covered more places driving around. Anyways, this Trip is one of my best trip. I do lot of trips but this one stands apart. Read Less

Went on the cruise to see the Hawaiian islands on a low budget. Overall it was great to do so and felt shorter than it was. The cabin was nice in size and great except the bathroom did not seem like it was cleaned out prior to us being in the room and would occasionally have a odor of urine coming from the toilet. Dinning options were good with a variety. The food just was over seasoned for myself personally at times it was very salty. Entertainment was always available each night which was a great addition. Only downfall was the Dj who played the most strange combination of music it sent us back to the cabins early due to the music selection. We wish some of the drink tastings started a little later than the times they started because it interfered with our excursions at times. Overall service of the ship service was great. Everyone was always helpful with answers to any questions we had. Read Less

My parents gave us this trip as a family gift to celebrate 4 birthdays and their own 15 year wedding anniversary. Their children and grandchildren were not present when they were married in Hawaii 15 years ago. We looked forward to this cruise for six months only to find it a HUGE money pit! Very disappointed in the cruise itself. The drinks were always taxed due to being in port everyday! The auto gratuity was over priced due to the service and food quality. I'm a great tipper, but I would not have given the cooks extra tips at all! Crew members were actually serviced before my sister and I on two different days at two different locations on board. Not ok when you pay $30k for a vacay. We bought a wedding package to surprise my parents for a vow renewal for $500 so they would have the entire family present this time around. The photographer was less than par and the photos were super dark. After the viewing of the photos my parents were about to spend another $600 for 6 prints on a USB drive. Luckily my husband stepped in an intervened before that mistakehappened. Unfortunately we will not ever have good photos of the event only memories. We decided as 4 separate families that none of us would be on Norwegian ever again!! There are too many amazing cruises out there for the price we paid. .However, Hawaii is NEVER ugly or regretful. I'm glad we were together as a family in the beautiful islands. #family4ever#norwegianNeveragain Read Less

This was definitely a vacation from hell!! I have been on many cruises in my lifetime and this by far was the worst.. First of all they nickel and dime you for everything, Whoever heard of charging a $15 corkage fee for each bottle of wine you bring on board that you don’t need them to open. Secondly, the staff is very rude and it almost seems like they don’t want to be there..Most ships I’ve been on the staff are usually very friendly and upbeat. There is a lack of entertainment on this ship, I didn’t expect to spend 7,000 ( for my husband and I)on a cruise and have to find ways to entertain myself.Also this cruise seems to cater to the senior citizens because everything shut down pretty early. One night I was at the poolside bar with a couple of friends and there wasn’t a person in sight, I’m guessing that everyone turns in early for bed. One thing that really annoyed me about this cruise was the fact that everyone on our floor toilet stop working for a minimum of 15 hours and we were asked to use community washrooms in the hallways which were disgusting with vomit and feces all around them. Save your money and choose another cruise line because this one definitely dropped the ball in so many ways Read Less

We had never been to Hawaii and figured this would be a good way to get a taste of multiple islands so we would know where we might want to stay for an extended vacation. We did accomplish this however the ship was a disappointment, especially the food in the main dining rooms. The buffets were good and the specialty dining was much better especially Jefferson’s Bistro. The main dining food was tasteless and the servers had no personality. We had a suite which was lovely; large, lots of storage, comfy bed, roomy deck. The room was the highlight of the cruise. We weren’t happy that they unexpectedly changed the intinerary at one port forcing us into a 7:15 excursion when it was supposed to be at 11. When we reached the excursion destination none of the shops were open yet due to the early hour. Our concierge did not get back to us with a request for specialty dining. Even if he couldn’t fulfill the request, he should have returned the call explaining the situation. We will not be cruising with Norwegian again. We highly recommend Celebrity Cruses. Read Less

First cruise, so nothing to compare with. Overall very good. The buffet was crowded, the food was better in the sit-down menu restaurants. Enjoyed the added comp packages. Check in and check out was smooth and organized. Traveled with a mobility scooter so had an ADA cabin but the door was very heavy and it DID NOT have auto open/close...help was needed to hold the door. In addition, the elevators were very narrow and the scooter needed to go down the middle. Also the room button panel was behind so help was needed to select a deck number. The deck aisles did have auto open/close buttons. The balcony on the port side had excellent views. The actual cruising was done at night so no scenery was missed. Island excursions were limited due to using the scooter but the excursion on Kauai was handicap accessible and worthwhile. The bus driver handled the scooter easily. Not recommended to travel solo if handicapped. Enjoyed all four islands even though three were from the ship. Last time in Hawaii was over fifty years ago with the military. The entire crew was pleasant and helpful. No complaints. Read Less

Our honeymoon-fantastic/Super fun!!! We booked our trip through a travel agent -We did half land and half sea cruise- Honolulu for a few days then pride of America In Honolulu we saw: Wakiki beach, Pearl harbor , dole plantation, pacific airport museum, Polynesian cultural center , kaula ranch( awesome movie props present ) as well as bus tours We did excursions on the cruise: 1.Snorkeling molokini turtle 2.Hilo bay waterfall and Kayaking 3.Submarine and Lahaina on your own 4.Parasailing 5.Hiking 6. Kaui directors cut The directions to our excursions were very easy to follow. We had the specialty dining package and ate at most of the fine dining restaraunts - all delicious The room we had was balcony view with tv and bathroom . The room was cozy and clean. The activities on board were entertaining but the pool hot tub and mandara spa were our go to locations. We enjoyed every minute. Read Less

I did not choose this cruise but it was fantastic. i was worried on arrival that our plane was an hour late but ncl was waiting when we disembarked the plane. The food in the Skyline was amazing and the Diner was fun to experience. all the staff I interacted with were very friendly and polite. My cabin was spacious and I loved having the balcony to go out on when I was in my room. The Vegas show was great. the entertainment director was everywhere and very good at her job, i loved the Not so newlywed game show night. i enjoyed all the ports and the excursions, however would have enjoyed more cultural options on land. the ports were beautiful and the guides that showed us around were knowledgeable. i would defiantly do this cruise again as well as cruise with Norwegian again. i traveled with my adult family there were no children in my group. embarkation from the boat was simple and easy. Read Less

This was an excellent way to see most of Hawaii, without having to pack up and change locations. We considered it a floating hotel. Our room attendant was amazing. Always smiling, happy and very kind. She kept our room immaculate, tidying up twice a day. The staff we encountered were all friendly and easy to engage in conversation. Anyone I asked for directions or assistance was more than happy to help. Probably, our only complaints had to do with the food. It is not that there weren't more than enough choices to make as far as venues are concerned, it's that (especially in the Aloha Cafe), the food was slightly warm to lukewarm much of the time. If it had any warmth when self plating it, by the time we got to the table, it didn't have much appeal. The Skyline had nice choices, but the first time we tried it, again, the food was lukewarm. We didn't experience the Entertainment options on this cruise, so can't comment on that. We found the 13th deck to be a perfect little hideaway spot with a small dipping pool and whirlpool. It's the area where smoking is allowed, and it does have an outside bar. Not many people use that as their pool area, so it's not overcrowded and noisy. We went on three NCL reserved excursions, the Maui Plantation; Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; Kauai Director's Cut. All good choices and we enjoyed all three. I would recommend this cruise for anyone who would like to see the most the Hawaiian Islands have to offer in a convenient way. Read Less

We enjoyed this cruise so much and will be back soon! We chose this cruise for the accessiblility and because it gave us the opportunity to see all the major islands of hawai'i. Our experience was special right from the start. The crew was very accomodating and fun. We felt very welcomed especially by our stewardess and all staff onboard. We really enjoyed the bands that played especially "The Drivers" The night shows were great and the food was excellent! As far as any constuctive criticism all we can say was that it could have been easier to stay at one port in big island instead of going to both kona and Hilo. I also wrote in the room review that the shower area could have used a little bit sprucing up. I also wanted to give a lot of recognition to our stewardess who did such a great job keeping our room nice and clean. Keep up the good work! Ps washy washy Maria was fun keeping us clean between meals :) Read Less

We had just completed a cruise on Celebrity from Hawaii to Sydney and loved it so when we saw this itinerary (much better) for a great price we decided to fly back to Hawaii and do it all again. Again embarkation in Honolulu was a breeze. Sadly our upgrade bids failed and so did our attempts onboard, was surprising to find out the cruise was sold out as it had not been selling well when we booked last minute. It is our first time on Jewel but she is a carbon copy of the Jade so no issues with orientation. She is a little dated but is maintained well and was generally clean. As with other NCL ships in these classes the public area configuration means sometimes changing levels and there is a lack of public walkway space so on these longer cruises with an older clientele it can be slo moving at times. The positives of these ships are not too many passengers, the full promenade deck, the terrific views from Spinnaker lounge and the aft facing bar outside the buffet. The pool deck is a reasonable size for the number of passengers compared to their larger ships. There is a great variety of dining options. On this cruise smoking had been banned on the promenade deck which is fantastic but was a shame that they did not advertise it correctly so past passengers continually smoked out there despite there being no ashtrays and put everyone at risk by either throwing their butts overboard or extinguishing them on everything from paper packets to the ships dining ware (disgusting) and caused a lot of consternation between passengers and the smokers and the crew. I have no idea why the officers refused to put signs up rather than employ security staff who were regularly ignored. Again we were annoyed by the drinks tax issue NCL claims in USA ports, no other line charges these on drinks ordered under a pre paid drinks package - how can there be tax when there has been no transaction, NCL may as well charge you tax on your meals and accomodation under this logic, the hotel director could not explain this and the chief financial officer simply refused to meet us, we were told “it’s only $15” which is true but if you consider a small sum then you pay it! We had cabin 10,145 an inside which had an interesting configuration being parallel to the hallway but we enjoyed this as it seemed to utilise the space better, the cabin also felt modern. Unfortunately we had a junior steward who regularly forgot to deliver mail and laundry and often didn’t clear out dirty glasses and plates. Dining - was generally good. We find NCL is always behind other main lines like X and HAL but for the price paid was good quality with plenty of options. We tended to have breakfast in the buffet on the outside deck on port days or Osheehans for a change. Lunch on sea days we always dined in the mdr as we enjoy the views over the wake and the attentive service. Dinner in the Tsars palace was very good and the venue felt more spacious than on other ships, service was always top notch. When we felt like a change we alternated between Chin Chin and Osheehans which do tasty quick meals. The Chinese needs more vegetarian and seafood options. We don’t like the Azura mdr compared to Tsars as it feels dark and claustrophobic and the staff seem more rushed. As platinum members we get 2 specialty restaurants and we tried the French and the Italian- as on other ships we were treated like 2nd class citizens for dining under this program which is very strange and it certainly doesn’t incentivise us to pay for additional dining in these venues. Food and service in the French was good but only marginally better than the mdr so could not justify paying. The Italian is a nice space but the pizza is the same as in the buffet (slightly better toppings) and the rest of the food was decent without being outstanding. This cruise changed CDs on day 4 which I have never seen before and in our view it seemed to disrupt the flow the ship had attained. Dave the new CD seemed to moan about being back at work constantly and was constantly talking about cruising around Australia and NZ (this cruise didn’t go to those places - nor did the following one except for its final destination). Also, the activities seemed to be lessened on the changeover and considering we had 5 sea days in a row there was a complete lack of variety in activities (NCL seems to have gotten mundane in this area compared to Celebrity). Strangely they had a lot more activities on port days? On the plus side there was a couple of great matinee shows in particular by Igor the band leader and saxophonist. The production shows were well performed and the cast seemed very talented, I do feel like some semblance of a story line would be good but this is just nit picking. Guest entertainment was generally good, personally I don’t like ABBA so the 2 nights of identical show were a bit much, I also don’t go to hypnotist shows anymore (reports were that someone didn’t come out of it Read Less

The trip and Hawaii cruise by NCL allowed us to fulfill a wish from 5 years back. We were looking at this as a cheaper means to tour Hawaiian islands. To an extent we succeeded in that goal. Cruise itself was fairly well managed but definitely not excellent. Food served on the Pride of America ship is not catered towards vegetarians and therefore for us was so so. Some excursions were good while others were over-hyped. In general we felt that the excursions were definitely overpriced. After paying through our noses the first few times, we decided to venture out on our own towards the end. This helped us to give another level of experience by driving ourselves to the places we had interest in. Entertainment within the ship was either not well timed or not well published. If we were able to attend a few in-house shows, that may have given us a more balanced experience. On this score, the in-house events were better planned on our earlier cruise by another shipping company. One thing did surprise me - the travelers were mostly older people, not many kids or younger adults. I am sure that NCL can make some improvements to give us all a better bang for our dollars. One event to add would be a formal group dinner. Read Less

Took the cruise to celebrate 40th Anniversary. Have been on other cruise lines with much better food in the dining rooms and specialty restaurants. Cadillac Diner had the best Overall quality of food out of all the dining options. We had a great time, yet quite disappointed on our anniversary dinner that we had scheduled at a specialty restaurant....we brought the card ...as we were told to...that was in our cabin to let them know it was our anniversary...woman ripped off the bottom...gave back the rest and said I’ll take it.....never even got a “happy anniversary “ from her...who I guess is like maitre d....or anyone.... let alone anything else....was very disappointed Comedy show...saw him three times...was very funny. Magician was very good. Pianist was very good....saw him several times. Some of the other entertainment not so great. Excursions we went on were great. Met some great people. Our cabin steward was very good and friendly. Read Less

This definitely ticked off our bucket list. My sister and I cruised with our parents and 2 aunts, so a total of 6 of us. We are in our early 40s and they are 71, 72, 75 and 80 just to give you some perspective. This is our 6th cruise, all but 1 with NCL. That said, NCL and the POA were a bit disappointing. We decided to book the 11 day land and sea. Our thought was with everything organized it would be pretty seamless. Would not recommend doing that if you want flexibility. The lack of communication was unreal and the hotel was confused. You are booked morning (think 7am) till almost 5pm every night! Add a long travel day and we were exhausted before the cruise started. You are on a tour bus for 3 solid days. We arrived on Wed. Night after dark and were greeted then taken to get our luggage, there was some confusion with transportation but the staff worked thru that quickly. Upon arrival at the hotel we learned the NCL had not communicated a room change and that seemed to throw them completely off. They took care of us but honestly the lack of an NCL staff member was noticed and likely could have eliminated this. Because of the room mix up 1 party was missing vital information about the 3 days on land. The hotel could have cared less, but luckily we communicated. Thursday was our day 1 and we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. This included a stop at Dole which was a WASTE OF TIME. The PCC was great and you could spend more than a day there. It would have been nice to have more flexibility to do that. Day 2 was Pearl Harbor. NOT ENOUGH TIME. Day 3 we had to checked out by 700am to get on the bus with all your luggage for the ship packed. Then a day at a ranch, which is a movie site. I would have rathered some beach time but no way to get to the ship if you skip out. Again NCL could easily offer some flexibility options. Long bus ride again then at the pier for check in. Due to the late arrival this part was actually seamless. We arrived at our rooms and luggage was there which was great. Downside was that there was no time to get to tour the ship before safety drill and leaving. The room in one word- SMALL!!!!!! I don't expect tons of space but this was crazy. You had to walk sideways thru the stateroom. We were in a balcony room. Storage wasn't horrible. NCL could take out already 1 stateroom on each sided and gain some breathing room. Everything was dated, that said I believe this ship is going into dry dock in March 2020 so there is hope. For such tight cruise location(distance between islands) we cruised fast and it was SUPER BUMPY. Sometimes walking was difficult. Night 1 we went to the opening show, same as on other ships they overview all the performers. Not bad but the cruise director was very distracting, she needed foundation garments!!!!!! This was the theme all week. It's a shame because a female cruise director is not common and she could have made a better impression, she just looked sloppy. Day 2 and 3 were in Maui, beautiful!!!! Day 4 was Hilo, Day 5 Kona, Day 6 and 7 Kauai. The locations were great but if you are good with a map and driving, RENT A CAR . The NCL excursion are overpriced and make stops that are not needed. I would have preferred more time at the actual locations and fewer stops at convenience stores. Specialty dining is stupid and we could never get it. The main dining was NEVER full. NCL needs to look at the way they do dining. They also took pictures almost every night and blocked the main stairs. Very few people took pictures and with old slooooow elevators closing these stairs was a pain. Elevators were confusing when going to shore and slow. Disembarking was fine other than my bag getting taken by someone else. The dock staff was great and got it back, NCL staff could have cared less. NCL seems to have gotten very relaxed with staff and it appears that they could use some better training. Those staff that had been on the ship awhile took pride and did good work, newer staff seem need more training. Read Less

We did not want to be at sea for 14 days so we elected to fly to Hawaii and board the ship there. NCL was the ship plus several people did tell us they traveled on Norwegian, however, not the Hawaiian ship, and everything was great. The food was horrible and the service was substandard.While having breakfast in the Skyliner, I asked for a refill on coffee and the young lady just plopped a coffee pot on the table and walked off. The cup was empty and I thought she would at least fill it up. I will NEVER use Norwegian again. Plus there was a terrible smell in our room and in the hall ways and by the chapel and card room. It smelled almost like sewer water. Several people commented about the smell. Twice we were chased out of the card room for them to use for something else. We left and had to play cards in the chapel. The second time a notice was put by the card room that there was going to be an art class in the card room. That art class never materialized. They held up the room for hours for nothing. Not good. We had just come off of a Princess cruise to Alaska about 6 weeks before and the food and service was EXCELLENT-- like night and day. Shame on Norwegian. We paid so much money for this cruise and it was just a big disappointment. Read Less

Having never traveled to Hawaii, we thought this would be a good way to check out multiple islands and learn a bit about each one. The POA was a great experience all the way around! The staff from our airport arrival to our return trip home were available, helpful and knowledgeable!! We were especially appreciative of the deck staff during tendering. Their care and consideration of passenger safety was top notch. The entertainment was fun and energetic! The dining staff were attentive and friendly. The food was excellent and abundant !! What more could you ask for!! On our final day we disembarked and took a NCL tour of the City of Honolulu, the USS Missouri and the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Our Guide, Garfield, was fantastic!! He made the visit more meaningful. This was an incredible trip/vacation for us full of beautiful scenery and happy memories! Thanks to all!! Read Less

NCL offered a very appealing itinerary with two overnight stops which allowed us to explore the islands on our own. We thoroughly enjoyed our Deluxe Owner's Suite with hot tub, it was beautiful and spacious and our butler Roland was helpful and friendly. The ship was easy to navigate and had everything we needed. Embarkation and disembarkation was an easy process, we had personal attention and service and felt very spoiled! Dining was okay, the specialty dining was nice, the buffet was mediocre but we were always able to find what we wanted. We enjoyed the complimentary room service and our butler also arranged a nice afternoon snack for our final day of cruising so the rest of our party could join us in our suite. We booked a couple shore excursions which were fine and explored on our own via rental car in the overnight ports. All in all a very pleasurable cruise. We have been on probably a dozen cruises with many cruise lines and found NCL to be a nice, affordable choice. If you've been to Hawaii before, or never been, this is a nice way to see more than one island. Read Less