Our cruise on the Pride of America's June 21 trip to Hawaii was a chance to celebrate my parent's 50th wedding anniversary with the family. The itinerary was chosen by my parents, and never having been particularly interested in cruising, we were "along for the ride". For the most part, we were pleasantly surprised.

Our trip began with a flight into Honolulu airport where we were met by a representative for NCL who escorted us to a bus. Our luggage was stowed on a Ryder truck for transportation to the ship. We arrived at check-in around 3:30 and spent about 1/2 hour waiting in lines to pass through. Nevertheless, even for newbies, the process was easy to follow with clear signage and helpful staff. We were a bit over-awed by the chaotic scene in as we entered the ship so we hurried through to find our cabin where my husband's luggage was already waiting for us. (Mine was there before dinner.)

Cabin: The stateroom was smaller than I anticipated based on the pictures in the brochures and their ability to manipulate space, but larger than some of the nightmare we feared. We were especially pleased to find the bed was of adequate size for my 6 ft. 5 in. husband. There was plenty of storage, hangars, and shelving to stow all our gear for the week long adventure with room to spare. Our suitcases slid nicely under the bed. Unfortunately, a bad first impression was made when I went to stow my toiletries and found the medicine cabinet dirty with items left behind from a previous guest. It was just the first of many little things that, while not spoiling the trip, tarnished the luster. Read more