I have cruised 3 times prior to this cruise and I have never disliked being on board a ship while cruising. Our included dining options were basic, bland and most of the time TERRIBLE. The service was also terrible and awkward. The only time we felt noticed or welcomed with friendly conversation was by Eric (who tended our statroom), Jamahl Miller, (who worked the pool deck towel station), Antoin- (worked table 13 in Liberty Dining) and Charles (table 21 Liberty dining), everyone else we encountered (esp dining/bar staff) either looked over or through us making us feel ignored and unwelcomed. The fine dining experience was a HUGE disappointment to my husband and I both. We look forward to our dining experience upon cruising but the food was so unsatisfying that we would leave dining and go straight up to aloha cafe to fill on food that somewhat appealed to us. The formal dining food quality compared to that of a cheap buffet or diner at home. My New York Strip steak (requested medium) came out so spongy and tasted as if it were marinated in the salty sea below us, the side dish included cheap fast food style French fries, and a huge slice of cold raw tomato with the sides of it grilled. I tried to combine a piece of the tomato and steak together to lessen the saltiness flavor of the steak and it still was gross. I’m the type of person that can eat just about anything and everything but I could not even try to eat more than several bites. I also hardly get to have seafood due to my family’s dislike of it, so i always jump on the opportunity for a delicious salmon filet when given. I requested the grilled salmon filet with the pea purée etc and after 2 bites of it I sent it back with a complete loss of appetite. I opted for the ‘starter’ Caesar salad instead just to fill my stomach prior to bed. After cruising Norwegian we realized just how much we appreciated a scheduled dining itinerary. We missed having one assigned dining staff to get to know throughout the week and not having to wait for a table to be available. The second night dining, our waiter was walking away while replying to us making us feel like we weren’t worth a decent response. Mid week we went to enjoy relaxing in the jacuzzi on deck. Two of them were already crammed packed of people, one was closed for cleaning (understandable) and one had 2 older couples in it. It was just around dinner time so other than the jacuzzis, there wasn’t a whole lot of people on the pool deck. The pool bar waitress walked by us several times without even looking our way, we literally had to wave her down like we were drowning to get her attention. Then upon my husband signing our bill she asked what he put down for the tip probably thinking his 1 was a 7 and he confirmed it was a 1. She replied “oh Okay!” in the rudest tone. As reference to the jacuzzis on deck, it would be nice to have an ADULT ONLY jacuzzi. As parents on vacation from our little ones, we were trying to relax and between the overactive/ volcanic jets and the kids ‘swimming’ in it, it wasn’t easy to relax. In everything, it felt like the cruise and staff wanted to squeeze every hard earned dime of ours out of our pockets for the mediocre-awful service/quality we were given. We didn’t bother going to the shows or events on ship as we usually looked forward to. The welcome show was already a bust when saw the magician magic trick and both my husband and I both saw exactly what he did to do the trick- felt equivalent to watching a magician at a kids bday party. So instead of wasting our time at the shows we would rather turn in early in order to get off the ship as soon as we could at port and enjoy the delicious food and the friendly welcoming locals on the islands of Hawaii. The ship itself is a beautiful ship and it was an excellent way to travel to the different islands. We appreciate the ride and board; however, we rather not ever cruise the Norwegian Pride of America again. We could’ve saved less island hopping, booking hotel rooms and paying for delicious meals off the ship.