This was our third cruise, and our first with NCL. Our first two cruises had international crews with a friendly "no problem!" attitude. We were attracted to the PoA because of the cost and the itinerary. On the positive side, the ship itself was beautiful, clean, and well decorated. My cabin was adequate, kept clean, and was comfortable. The entertainment was great, as was the itinerary. I especially liked the way the captain went out of his way to give us a close sail by of the Na Pali coast complete with humpback whales, and a nightime cruise by the lava flow on the big island.

I was, however, really disappointed in the customer service. We had several problems with shore excursion scheduling, starting from our advance booking on the NCL website. Unable to make changes on the website, or to speak with anyone in customer service who had any knowledge of any of the trips offered, we had to deal with the sullen American teenagers behind the shore excursion desk. Numerous mistakes and problems had us showing up there on a daily basis. My advice to you is to do your own homework and rent cars at each of the ports directly online. Most, if not all, of the companies pick up at the piers.

We had maps from AAA and guidebooks, and were able to see everything we wanted to, and on our own time schedule. We heard many complaints about the bus tours. Our excursion to Molokini Crater was cancelled due to weather, but because we had a car, we were able to find a great snorkeling spot on our own! Another thing that we did was to buy the Hawaii "entertainment" book online, and we saved a lot of money on half priced meals and event tickets. Read more