Before I start, I want to point out this is going to be a long review. So, It's my 50th Birthday, and I am about to Embark on the NCL Pride of America. Pulled out all the stops and have booked the very best cabin on the Ship, 12006 Deluxe Owners Suite with the biggest balcony ever seen. Embarkation, arrived at the port to can what only be described as slightly disorganised. Eventually found out where we had to drop off our bags before filling out a health questionnaire before getting to go through. Once we went through the security point, I could hear some Hawaiian music and a couple of ladies dancing. We knew we had priority boarding so headed to where we saw some signs for suite guests. This wasn't what I expected. Quite a few people all suites hearded together, there was some refreshments over one side of the room and a lady taking your cabin card photos and information on the other. The member of staff handed us a change in itinerary, the cruise which was stopping at Kuaui, Maui, Hilo & Kono, we would now not be stopping at either Kono or Hilo, Hilo I understand because of the recent Volcanco, but now Kono was out too. A small Island had been put in it's place in Kuaui but we would now be staying at Honolulu another day, not that happy with the change, we could have gone out to sea that would have been better than spending extra days in port. Anyway, the worst part of this cruise for me, was embarkation. Bearing in mind this day was my 50th and this was not a smooth embarkation and ruined the start of this holiday. Now I am not trying to be snobby here, I had booked the best cabin on the ship, but this was a 50th trip, once in a lifetime, so forgive me for wanting the best when paying what I paid for this trip. All suite guests are in this room, so the room was small and noisy, lots of kids that day. (Sorry, I think the top cabins should have been separate to all Suites). A Concierge explained what was going to happen and how we would be escorted to the Cagney's Dining Room for lunch. We all followed him for a short walk onto the ship before getting into the main atrium of the ship. This was crowded and noisy. A couple of staff said to follow them up to Cagney's for lunch which we all did. When we got to Cagney's we were told to wait in the bar/lounge to be called to lunch. Some 10 minutes passed and nothing was happening and we could see some champagne on the side which must have been for the suite guests but we didn't want to just go and take it, but of course after a while most people did so we did too. When some 20 minutes or more passed and we could see that a lot of the suite guests just went into Cagney's without being called and we found out later that Suite guests were already in there who had embarked earlier. My Husband decided to go and speak to the Restaurant Manager and he informed us the restaurant was full. So with no explanation of what was happening and being told to wait in the lounge the restaurant was now full and we had nowhere to go. This was a joke, this is the way your treated when your in a Suite. Eventually my Husband complained enough to get us a table. By this time, once we had sat down we had a bowl of soup and was completely fed-up, was this how it was going to be. We then heard our cabin was ready, so we left. I am sorry but when I pay the money I paid, I expect better service than that. Not to be hearded on like cattle with 30/40 other people, be told I am getting lunch, and have to complain just to get lunch. It's not on. Disorganised and chaotic and not what I expected. Anyway, once we found our Suite on the 12th Floor, I could see our door colour was different to everyone else, when I stepped inside, WOW, WOW, this was amazing, suddenly the embarkation was a distance memory. This cabin was fantastic. There was a bottle of chilled champagne waiting for us along with chocolate covered strawberries and fruit. The only thing my Husband was a little upset about, he had arranged for the cabin to be Birthday decorated and it wasn't. Following on from our debacle of embarkation, my Husband rang the Concierge and complained, he immediately sent up our Butler, Suzanna, to see us. Well what can I say about Suzanna, this lady is AMAZING. Upon my Husband explaining about what had happened on embarkation and it was my birthday today, that was the last upset we had. That evening, she personally decorated the cabin, I had balloons, banners and a birthday cake. I would go on to have 3 more on this cruise. She made our cruise so great, there wasn't anything she wouldn't do for us. Every morning she delivered our breakfast and set it up on a beautiful white linen table cloth out on the balcony, gone was the balancing it on your lap on a little table this was a proper silver service. Every day we had fresh fruit, but it was the other little touches. If we were on an excursion, or returning from port, there were canapés waiting for us, and chocolate strawberries. One day I requested a cheese platter, you have to ring your Butler not room service, the most amazing platter arrived with different biscuits and bread and what we didn't eat we wanted to save in our fridge, but the next day for health reasons they take it, but a new one was replaced for us. One day we came back with so much food on our dining table, we could have held a party for the other suite guests. We always had plenty of wine and one evening Suzanna came and found us in a bar having drinks before dinner and offered to take one of our bottle of wines from the suite and make sure it was ready for our dinner. This lady went above and beyond. She was always there, making sure we had everything. One of the days, we had to get a tender to shore, so passengers had to get tickets, she said to just ring her and she would escort us off. Sure enough, at 10.30am we rang down and she took us downstairs, through a specific entrance away from the queue and along with another couple we got the first seats on the tender with no tickets and no queueing. The cruise itself was really nice, Hawaii is so beautiful. However, we spent way too much time in ports. In Kuaui when in port, our balcony overlooked a container yard/rubbish dump. It was so noisy you couldn't sit out on your balcony. Again, in Maui, a container yard, really noisy and both of these ports were over night so you lost a lot I think. I think if they had gone out to sea a little more, it would have broke it up. In Kuaui, if you weren't on an excursion, there was nowhere to walk off to so you were really limited on what to do. The ship itself, albeit a little old, is really nice. I have been on a lot of ships newer than this one, but I liked it. On previous reviews people have complained about the miserable staff, I know we had a Butler so that helped, but when visiting the bars, nearly all were pleasant, expect one lady in the Champagne Bar, who poured a $28 glass of champagne and wouldn't fill it up it was only over half full and she said we don't fill up champagne flutes to the top, so either stop using the flutes and use slightly smaller glasses, or stop charging $28 for a half glass of champagne, we made her fill it up, she didn't appreciate that. We ate in a Speciality restaurant every night, Jefferson's Bistro was our favourite. The hostess, was lovely and greeted us which such a welcome. Cagney's was really nice, both the food and the ambience in these restaurants was lovely. La Cucina, least favourite, I am not sure this warranted a Speciality and Moderno Churrascaria, this was just a lot of meat, tasty, but a lot of meat. So, the whole cruise, Hawaii is wonderful, and we visited some beautiful places. The excursions were good and we had some great guides. Disembarkation was hectic and busy, but not for us. Suzanna escorted us through all the crowds right to the front and off the ship. I liked the ship overall and found the staff very friendly, just wish we spent less time in port 4 days out of 7 is a little too many I am just glad we had such a beautiful cabin to enjoy. Without Suzanna though, even with such a beautiful cabin, she made our holiday. The Concierge we didn't really see him, he relies on the Butlers to do their thing. My only reason for knocking down my rating was the itinerary, this was disappointing when I travelled so far for a once in a lifetime trip.