My wife and I our veterans of fourteen previous cruises. We've been on Carnival, Princess, Celebrity, RCL (albeit older ships), an older NCL(it was the Seaward back then, have no clue what it is now), and older lines that are no longer in business. We did our 1st cruise in 1989,on an old ship named the Britannis. Our 15th cruise in honor of our 20th anniversary, was the Pride of America. So as you can see my basis for comparison is based on experience. EMBARKATION: We arrived at the ship around 4:00 after spending the day before at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, then exploring Oahu. Embarkation was quick and easy, without much of a line. CABIN: We had a balcony cabin. It was small compared to Carnival or Princess where we have also had balconies. SHIP LAYOUT: I think that because the ship has so many nooks and crannies used for speciality restaurants the inside public decks had no sense of flow, hallways could get crammed and it could be somewhat claustrophobic. The pool deck buffet area also felt to crammed. SERVICE AND AMENITIES: Our cabin steward was polite and efficient, nothing more or nothing less. If you requested turn down service you got it, otherwise none. We got one evening with a towel decoration, a monkey on a hanger from the AC vent, it spent three nights there. There was no terry robe or slippers awaiting us, or candies on the bed at night. The waiters for the most part were polite, but nothing more. They certainly didn't wait on you hand over foot. FOOD: I will preface by saying I'm not a fan of freestyle cruising. i like meeting up with your tablemates and making new friends, on this ship it just does not happen. However, I grant to each there own. Getting back to food it was well flavored but there cuts of of meats were lacking and the portions were not very large. We ate in the main dining room four times and ate at three speciality restaurants. At the Lazy J steakhouse I ordered a steak which I would rate not as good as an Outback steak and paid a $20.00 premium. The bistro and asian fusion restaurant were cheaper and maybe worth the price. The main dining room as I said earlier was fairly tasty, though one night I ordered a chicken dish of which I was served a leg. They always had a vegetarian dish, but never a weightwatcher of healthy alternative. Ordering an egg beater or egg white omelette in the morning could be done but the cook had to go back into the galley to get it. GYM and SPA: I did get up the gym twice, not bad at all, plenty of aerobic machines, some Lifestyler weight machines and dumbbells. There was a steam and sauna in the mens locker area. I usually go take a steam nd shower before dinner while my wife uses the stateroom bathroom. I'm used to a nice tiled steamroom, I got molded plastic and steam that was on sometime then off others. PORTS: This is the reason I choose this cruise. I booked all of our excursions except one myself. I researched them thoroughly and used Tripadvisor for guidance. In Hilo I used Vavoom Volcano Tours, great tour great lady, check Tripadvisor a more detailed review. In Maui, we went ziplining and downhill bicycling on Haleakala. Both were nice days. In Kona we did Captain Zodiac snorkel adventure through the ship. Very worthwhile and I would highly recommend it. In Kauai we rented a car one day drove the north shore, and hiked a little on the Kalaula Trail, next day took a helicopter tour with Jack Harter Helicopters, expensive but magnificent. Kauai was my favorite port. NIGHTLIFE: After waking up at 6:00 most mornings and having active days we were in our cabins by 9:30 most nights, and it appeared most of the ship did the same. OVERALL: As my shippet said the ship is the Holiday Inn of the sea. Clean and basic, no frills no extras. If you compare the ship to others I've taken in the Caribbean it does not stack up. If you want a relatively inexpensive way to see Hawaii, this is your ship, after all it's the only game in town.