We chose this cruise because of the tremendous value and experience of seeing the Hawaiian Islands. We live in Honolulu, but since the inter-island ferry shut down and airlines have started raising their rates, it has gotten prohibitively expensive for a family of four to experience the islands. We booked about 6 months in advance and I noticed that a lot of the larger staterooms were already booking up.

We have cruised before out of Miami and knew what to expect with boarding, the room key, dining, etc. I found out almost too late that there is no parking available at the pier. Not a problem for most people, but anyone from Oahu had better call the cab( 4 tutu tutu tutu, am I right ;). One thing I felt set this ship apart from the beginning was the "freestyle" dining. Essentially you eat as you would at any restaurant, whenever you want. There is no assigned table and essentially no dress code (although some restaurants are more fancy than others). You should make reservations if you want a specific restaurant, but you can usually find a place to eat somewhere oh the ship. The Aloha cafe is the open buffet for everyone and is of no extra charge. Restaurants like Cagney's Steakhouse and Teppenyakki fill up fast and charge a "cover charge". We opted for the ultimate dining package which meant we didn't pay any cover charges and could eat at any restaurant we want every night. The only thing we paid for was drinks. You can get a plan for that also but we don't drink enough to make it worthwhile. I was worried after reading some negative reviews about the food. Rest assured, the food was delicious. We ate in almost every dining room and restaurant (there are more restaurants than nights on the ship) and every sing one was incredible. I've heard the Aloha Cafe was not as good as the restaurants, but I thought it was still pretty good. You're not going to get a bone-in rib eye from the Aloha Cafe, but they do make a great bread pudding and everything was still very good. It's what you'd expect from a buffet, but much better than any Golden Corral that I've been too. Of special note, Cagney's Steakhouse (they DO have a great bone-in Rib Eye) and the Brazillian restaurant (I forget the name but it was something like Moderno) were really excellent. When I say this, please know that I am from Texas and have experienced many Steakhouses in my life. It was really that good!

The Cabin was immaculate and very delightful to stay in. We opted for the Owners suite with large balcony of which there are only 9 on the entire ship. Every morning the stateroom was cleaned and refreshed. Every night, the beds were turned down and the sofa was turned into a full size bed with sheets made and separate comforters for each of our kids. They called about a month before we sailed to get our preferences on pillows and towels and customized our room for us. Our Butler came by several times to check on us and dropped off chocolates and strawberries. On one night we celebrated my daughter's birthday. They decorated the room for her and had a cake waiting for us to surprise her when we came back from dinner. The crew really made the day wonderful for her. Read more