I would absolutely recommend a trip to Hawaii just NOT on NCL! Everything was great until they took my money. After that I was ignored. No return phone calls or emails from my Senior Cruise Specialist! The ship itself is older, it had a library, a room for table games and a room for funerals, but no clubs for dancing (only one that played older music). The shows were laughable. The staff was unimpressive. They did not seem to care about making guests happy at all. Dinner in the main dining room took 3 hours one of the nights and at least 2 each other night.. They were incredibly slow and the food was not that great. Te coffee was served cold. The shore excursions were expensive, we rented cars instead and did our own thing. They had a party on one of the nights called the famous White Hot Party. The staff dressed in white and wore wings. They had it decorated like a dance club with neon lights and then they played 80's music. It was practically empty. So boring. I have been on many cruises and have never been so disappointed in a cruise. Hawaii is wonderful and I would recommend it on another cruise line. Read Less

This was my 7th cruise, first with Norwegian. Food was just average, paid extra for Brazilian Steak House evening and waited forever for my drink and it took 15 mins to get a plate so I could be served. As we left the restaurant, realized they had not even received all the meat options. Service was S L O W! Meat had little taste and wasnot worth the extra cost. Pool and deck service was zero, no one came around the entire cruise to take drink orders by the pool. Seemed like a lot of the crew was new, like it was their first cruise. The cruise line charges you a flat fee for the tips. I felt the crew was just doing a job, unlike other cruises where crew bend over backwards for you and are super friendly. This may have something to do with the all American crew of this crew. Unlike other cruises, foreign crew members are making money to send home to families, so going the extra mile to get a good tip is a great incentive. Entertainment was average at best. China, the Hawaiian Ambassador, on the ship was great. Her Leui making and hula classes were fun. I picked up my alcohol bought during a port at the end of the cruise and they gave it to me in a used McDonalds bag. Uncool. Some of the entertainment crew clothes didn’t fit and looked like they were squeezed into their outfits, unprofessional looking. The ports were beautiful and fun, but Norwegian can take no credit for that. Wouldn't take another cruise with Norwegian. Read Less

This was a great way to see all the Hawaiian Islands. Time on the ship was pretty much limited to evenings (if you want to get the most out of the Hawaii experience). There were shows and activities available on board , however, during the day we were off ship and not interested in daytime activities. We did attend a couple of evening shows which were great. The ship sailed mainly in the evening which was good because when the ship was sailing it was ROCKING - up and down, side to side. The water was extremely choppy and I didn't want to be moving away from my stateroom too much because it was hard to walk. The motion did not make me sick, just very hard to maintain an appearance of not being drunk while walking. The crew for the most part were very polite and friendly. Cabin Stewards were AWESOME! always cheerful. The bed in our cabin was very comfortable. The size of our stateroom was adequate. Would have like to have a few more TV/movie options that what was provided--and that was only because of the rocking motion of the boat (as stated above) and I personally not wanting to leave the stateroom while sailing. Restaurant selection could have been better. We were not told there would be a dress code for some of the "complimentary" restaurants; so we did not have appropriate attire with us and that was disappointing. This cruise is to cater to those who want to explore Hawaii for a once in a lifetime experience. I would save the "dress up" restaurant experiences for other leisure cruises. Read Less

Overall we had a good cruise, but we don’t recommend stateroom 4518. When docked and water supply hoses were connected to the port side of the ship, annoying sounds could be heard in our cabin. The sound would change, but sometimes it sounded like a washing machine and other times like a steam engine. This has got to be a known problem. Guest Services assisted the best they could, but they didn’t have a better cabin to move us to, but they did move us to an interior room to sleep the night we were docked and our cabin was noisy. Service was very good and so was the entertainment. The food was fair in the formal dining room. This was our first NCL cruise and it was pricey for an ocean view room. This ship seemed a little old. Other passengers told us that they like NCL and not to base our opinion of NCL on this cruise experience. They told us that other NCL ships are nicer. Read Less

We chose this cruise as the best way to see a variety of the Hawaiian Islands. SHIP - old, but recently renovated. CABIN - very small for a balcony room, clean DINING - food was good and what I would expect, not anything over the top, other than specialty restaurant - Cagneys, which was fantastic. ENTERTAINMENT - great comedian and magician, DJ was really good as was the entertainment in the Pink Champayne Lounge ACTIVITES - not much going on, we missed the music on deck all the time and the deck parties we have experienced on other cruise lines. SERVICE - it was seriously horrible. We have cruised 10 previous times (none with Norwegian) and have never had to search out someone to bring poolside drinks or assist us in a diningroom, or answer questions. This ship is completely different. The people working on this ship acted like it was a complete imposition for them to assist you. Even when tipped, no appreciation, nothing. In the Liberty Dining Room, we had to go find someone to fill our water, we filled our own wine from a bottle we purchased for dinner and the waiter actually slammed the coffee carafe in from of one of the ladies dining at our table as she had requested that he return with coffee. One night we were asked if we were ready for dessert and had not been served our entree yet. Many people were talking about how horrible the service was. I heard a lady ask a member of the crew - what is wrong with the morale on this ship? Several previous Norwegian cruisers on the ship told us not to judge Norwegian by this ship as they have had wonderful experiences on other Norwegian cruises, pretty sure we will not try again. PORTS AND SHORE EXCURSIONS - ports are beautiful and we booked our excursions with outside vendors, they were also beautiful. Read Less

We chose the POA because it was our 25th anniversary and we wanted to visit Hawaii and it was a great way to see multiple islands. After reading some of the reviews we were a little confused by some things so I thought I'd clarify a few since I couldn't find straight answers. 1 - The food in Cagney's is great for breakfast and lunch as a Suite guest. Martha (restaurant manager) has turned things around. The service and the food quality was great. 2 - Each suite is stocked daily with up to 2 (1 liter each) bottles of still or sparkling water. 3 - You pick three bottles of wine at check in that are delivered to your suite the night of departure. These bottles can be consumed in your cabin or at a restaurant or bar. 4 - A bottle of champaign is waiting in your suite at embarkation. 5 - You can pick soda to be replenished daily in your suite, up to 6 cans. This is something to consider in lieu of a soda card, however it doesn't cover any soda consumed in any of the restaurants or bars. We did the math and since most of our sodas were consumed in our Suite we didn't get the soda card. 6 - NCL has started offering a Hawaiian Unlimited beverage option, but it is $100 per person per day. Unless you're planning on consuming about 8 alcohol drinks per day it isn't necessarily worth it. I've also uploaded a walk through video of the suite since there weren't any recent videos. It can be viewed by searching youtube for "Pride of America suite 8500" Gulsen our Butler, Gene our Steward and Thomas the Concierge were absolutely amazing. Kaj the Hotel director actually performed our vow renewal and with Zoe's help from the group events group it was fantastic. Overall we had a fantastic trip. The ship is in good shape and although we didn't eat at the buffet we had good food at every restaurant we went to. The ship is smaller than many of the Caribbean ships that you may be familiar with both on NCL and other cruiselines. However, that makes it seem "less crowded". In addition, because of the size some of the amenities you would expect aren't at the same scale. For example the pool is not as large as you might expect. The entertainment isn't as "top rate" either and there aren't as many other amenities as you'd find on some of the other ships, like water slides, rollercoasters, ice skating, etc. However, because of the nature of this itinerary, ie you're at a different port every day, much of your time is spent off the ship, and very little on it. As far as dining, as I mentioned previously we didn't do the buffet, but the selection of food choices, both specialty and otherwise mean that you won't go hungry no matter how picky you are. There's a coffee bar, gelato bar, sushi bar, bakery. Granted all a la cart. There's also the cadillac diner (which is 24x7 and included), which has great milk shakes and simple "diner" fare. East Meets West and the Tepanyaki restaurants have "good" quality asian bistro food as well as a hibachi experience. The Moderno Churascarea is a great experience for those that like the brazilian steakhouse style. The Tuscan Bistro is excellent italian food. We did not eat at the french restaurant but heard positive reviews. All of the restaurants have no dress code except Liberty and the French Bistro which require close toed shoes for men and no shorts for women. Our experience with service was great from all of the crew. We never had anything less than excellent in terms of how people acted or reacted to requests. In fact, our experience was so positive we have already booked another trip, with our three college age children for spring break. We've also been advising people who are "new" to cruising that its a good intro, since you don't typically have any sea days, and it could very easily make you want to do more. In speaking with other guests who have had problems with motion sickness in the past they commented that they didn't experience it this time since we are predominantly sailing at night when its either dark outside or they're sleeping. Read Less

This was our first cruise. My husband and I went with my brother and sister-in-law who had been on a cruise before. It was suggested that we take the cruise out of Honolulu as that way we would get to experience more time on the Islands of Hawaii. Overall it was a great experience! We had a room with a balcony which made it so nice to be able to open the door and listen to the waves as we set sail to another island. We also got ample opportunities to take sunset pictures which were breathtaking! The bathroom was a little tight maneuvering around, especially for my husband who is a fairly large man. We disembarked onto the islands at every opportunity. We found that talking to natives on the islands provided us with the best prices for exploring the many attractions it had to offer. We save over 40% off what the ship prices provided and we got the experience of the people that live on the islands. Disembarking and embarking went pretty smoothly. You always have to have your ship card on your person as well as a photo id to get on and off the ship. There was many different food offerings on the ship. The buffet was pretty good. It offered the biggest variety and there were several stations serving the same food so that lines were minimal, even at the busiest hours. We did eat at a couple of the restaurants that were not included in our package, and I would say the Steakhouse was the best meal we had on the ship!! The service was excellent and the food was phenomenal. There was a crew member who sprayed your hands with hand sanitizer any time you entered the food buffet area. I reasonable precaution given all the people on board and hearing of illnesses on past ships. The Cruise Director was so friendly, enthusiastic and informative. There was plenty to do on board the ship. Entertainment included comedy shows, magic shows (for adults and children), plenty of music and dancing that varied each night as well. Also, other types of entertainment that involved the travelers such as a "Not So Newlywed Game" which was very funny! Given all the free food offered, I was glad to see this ship had a wonderful fitness center that included many of the latest treadmills, elliptical machines and other fitness equipment as well. I used them daily!! The pools were clean and we also enjoyed the experience of the Jacuzzi and meeting new friends!! Overall, our cruise on the Pride of America was a dream come true for my husband and myself. We would definitely go again, and I would recommend this trip to any of my family and friends! Read Less

We chose this cruise because it was the only cruise around the Hawaiian islands. We purchased our tickets which included 3 benefits, 3 shore excursion discounts, 3 dinners in the specialty dining rooms and free wifi/internet. When we tried to book our shore excursions we were told we did not have any discounts, specialty dining and free wifi/internet. We tried to explain that these benefits were included with our initial purchase but the desk on the ship said they had no knowledge of our benefits. Luckily we had the telephone number of Norwegian Cruise Line's office. After several days and attempts to call them on our cell phone, despite the 5 hour time difference and the reception we connected with them and they said we did have the 3 benefits and they would email the ship. The ship never contacted us that they had received the email but when we went back to the ship's desk they said we did have the 3 benefits and they would include them on our bill. NO APOLOGY OR EVEN AN OFFER OF A FREE ICE CREAM OR DRINK FOR UPSETTING OUR PLANNED EXCURSION AND DINNER RESERVATIONS. WE NEVER DID RECEIVE FREE INTERNET/WIFI. OR A CREDIT FOR THAT. Also I talked to the NCL representative about a balcony upgrade and she suggest cabin 9502. I trusted her and that balcony was the most forward balcony/cabin on the ship and th balcony was completely framed by a 2 foot metal structure cutting out a big portion of our ocean view. The first night of the cruise was extremely rough!!! We also came into port 2 hours late. As I learned later while over hearing a conversation from the crew the ship was having engine problems which we were never made information from the captain. Finally, my husband has celiac disease which make him unable to eat wheat, barley or rye. We made NCL aware of this issue and they assured NCL would take care of him. Because of the issue with the dinners in the specialty dining we had to eat the the buffet. There was no signage on any of the food indicating if they were gluten free so we asked the staff and they also did not know. I registered a complaint to NCL more than 5 days ago and they have not answered me or refunded me for not providing wifi/internet as promised in my contract. This is not a cruise I would recommend to anyone. Read Less

My cousin and I had a wonderful girls vacation on the Pride of America! They only thing that could have made our trip a little better was less rain, but the crew had no control over that! The Napoli Coastline was beautiful and I would have liked another highlight or two more like that while on the ship. The food was wonderful & accesssability to food was available nearly 24/7! They ran out of a few food items, and service was a bit slow at the Liberty restaurant, but it wasn’t a huge deal. I celebrated a birthday on the ship. I think they were uploaded to sing and bring me a cake, but they forgot. I didn’t really need it anyway and may have enjoyed a drink more than more dessert (which was readily available on the ship). They also offered me $50 off a spa treatment, but you still had to pay another $100 or so for a service. Would have been nice to just get a little free service, like nails done or hair do or something, but I guess everyone needs to make a living;). We went to a bunch of great entertaining shows and also learned how to make several different types of leis! I was also impressed with security coming off and onto the ship, although getting off the ship the last day was a bit hectic (long lines to get off and confusion as to if we took our own bags off or tagged them). The gentlemen taking care of our rooms were also fantastic and always had our room looking great! Hawaii is a beautiful part of the United States and the Pride of America was a great way to see several of Hawai’s many islands. Read Less

We just got back from our cruise on the Pride of America last Sunday, February 24, 2019. We chose this cruise because we have been to just about all the Caribbean islands on the Royal Caribbean, Carnival and NCL ships. We thought it was time to see something new. We have been on everything from Royal Caribbean smallest ship in the ocean to their largest etc. I must say that the NCL Pride of America was AWESOME in every way possible. We booked our trip last summer and I did not even look at any reviews. Then I started researching port excursions about a month before the cruise and noticed there were various bad reviews on Yelp and some other review sites like Yelp. I must say that I became a bit nervous after reading these reviews. Well NCL Pride of America was amazing and so much more!!! For starters we stayed in a penthouse suite with our 2 daughters who are 13 and 16. We were greeted within 3 minutes of walking thru check in and were escorted to a private desk for an immediate check in. It was seamless. It was the fastest that we ever got on a ship ever!!! We spent some time eating at the lunch buffet and walking around the ship to see where everything was at. I just kept telling my husband how in shock I was of the negative reviews that people put on the internet about this ship. Honestly, I have never ever taken the time to write a review but I really felt like I have to in this case. So the next night at dinner at Cagneys Steakhouse I asked Martha who is in charge of Cagneys why could there possibly be so many negative reviews. She explained that it really was a shame as well! She also mentioned that the ship had a multi million dollar refurbish 3 years ago! I figured as much because I knew it is a an older ship but so many things on the ship look brand new. So basically in a nutshell the food, entertainment and service was absolutely AMAZING and I would soooo recommend anyone interested in this Hawaiian Cruise to take the cruise of a lifetime!!!!! You will NOT be disappointed!!!! Read Less