It is hard for me to be objective about this ship. My wife and I sailed on this ship for our honeymoon in November, 2007 when she was the Pride of Hawaii and it was our first and best cruise. At the time it was NCL's newest and most expensive ship ever built. The ships built since then definitely have bigger and better features, but I have a soft spot in my heart for this ship even though she is not the newest or fanciest any more. There were a few little things I could nitpick such as no Latitudes package or wine or stationary in our state room the first day and some minor issues with our shower which had a slow drain and inconsistent temperature but it did not stop us from having a wonderful time on the ship.

Embarkation was as smooth as possible considering the ship was sold out. We parked with one of the off site parking services and arrived at our scheduled time and were checked in and on the ship in less than an hour. The rooms were not ready yet so we went straight to the Grand Pacific dining room for an excellent lunch. We were happy to see that the Grand Pacific was relatively unchanged during the refurbishment, the carpet and chairs and some of the paintings were new, but the light fixtures and marble staircase were left unchanged.

We had not been on this ship since our honeymoon and were eager to see the refurbishments. Previously the Atrium and other public areas were adorned with Chihuly glass flowers, and I wish they had not removed them although the new color changing chandelier is also very nice. We preferred the purple and orange carpet to the brown and creme colored theme they are currently using, although I understand why they changed it considering the ship is in Europe half the year and is frequently used for charters. They also removed the water slide from the pool deck although compared to the breakaway class water slides this one was less than exciting when it was there. All in all the refurbs are classy, the ship is very clean and well maintained, and there are still a few leftovers from the Pride of Hawaii days if you know where to look, especially in the SS United States library and the bridge viewing room which still has the original US flag encased in glass. The Stardust Theater and the art in the corridors on the room decks were also as we remembered. Read more