My wife and I were going on a vacation to Hawaii and my wife wanted to see all of the major islands (no children). Our choice was to pack up every couple of days and arrange flights between islands along with rental cars, or take a cruise around the Hawaiian islands. We found only one cruise that originates in Hawaii and goes to all of the major Hawaiian Islands, the NCL Pride of America. You depart and arrive back to Honolulu. The itinerary is great. Two days in Maui with an overnight, one day in Hilo, one Day in Kona, and two days in Kauai with an overnight. The ship only sails at night so there are no full days at sea. As this cruise is a 100% American cruise and never leaves US waters, there is no casino and no bingo (for money).

We took the cruise to see all of the islands, and were not disappointed! The excursions from the cruise ship were excellent. We only needed to use a tender from one port. All the others, we docked on shore. The cabin was very small, especially by the new cruise ship standards. The shower was barely big enough to turn around in! The one thing that caught our attention was that the crew were almost all 100% American Citizens or resided in the US. This was quite different than all of the other cruises that we have been on, as the crew on those ships was mostly international and had almost no crew from the US. On all other cruises, our room steward introduced him/herself as soon as possible and made themselves available to us. On this cruise, even after 7 days, we never met or knew the name of our room steward. Just not as hospitable as other cruises we have been on.

I was quite surprised at the main dining rooms. These have typically been no charge dining facilities. Not so on this cruise. If you wanted something special on the menu, even in the main dining rooms, there was a charge. Now don't get me wrong, you can eat for no charge in the main dining rooms, but the better entrees are all for purchase! On all other cruises, there has always been an evening where we had a Lobster Tail. Not on this cruise. That is a for purchase option. As far as entertainment in the evening, this was great. The theater was more than adequate to hold audiences at 7 pm and 9 pm. We went only to the 7 pm shows so can not talk about the later night shows. There was a magician who was excellent as well as a comedian, and of course, the variety shows put on by the cruise company. All were fantastic. As we were most interested in visiting the islands, the service issues we had did not affect the way that we felt about the experience. It was really a great way to see all of the islands!