My husband and I took a 10-day cruise on NCL, Pride of Aloha, Jan. 2, 2008. The itinerary included Honolulu, Oahu; Kahului, Maui; Kailua-Kona, Hawaii (big island); Kauai; Lahaina, Maui; Hilo, Hawaii; Honolulu. We chose the cruise having read many of the reviews on this site, and found that our cruise ship experience was largely what we expected. We planned to treat the ship as a moving hotel, and as such it worked perfectly for us, since it enabled us to visit many more islands than we would otherwise have done in ten days. We chose this cruise largely on the basis of the itinerary, and could not have been happier with the places we visited.
The following are some reflections on our experience, and recommendations for future travelers on NCL.
Room: We selected the smallest room available, and were happy with that choice since it was difficult to see what a window or balcony would have added. If we wanted to go outside, we could easily go out on the deck at any time of the day or night. As many had warned, there is very little space to store belongings. We moved the bed over to one side of the room to give ourselves a bit more room for open suitcases along the other side. There's also a little bit of closet space. The bathroom was tiny but user-friendly; we had no trouble with the shower or toilet, and there was a bit of shelf space for personal items. The room was kept clean; there were some spots and stains on the sheets, and the beds weren't very comfortable, but we still slept fine.