We booked this cruise so that we could experience the benefits of luxury cruising while visiting several Hawaiian islands. Sadly the luxury cruise part was too much to ask for. While the crew was excellent, the overall experience was somewhat below average. Nothing was explicitly wrong, but it was clear that NCL is following the lead of the airlines in its "race to the bottom."

We booked a stateroom with a large balcony, one level below a suite, and were surprised to see just how small and cramped the room was. There's a reason that the NCL website doesn't show actual photos, instead using misleading drawings of the rooms. If we had seen an actual photo, we would have definitely booked a suite (or not taken the cruise at all). What looks like a large screen TV in the drawing is actually a painting on the wall of the cabin. There's not enough room for 2 people to walk past the bed at the same time. The bathroom is so small as to be comical. This largest non-suite room was a claustrophobic's nightmare.

As for the food, the standard fare in all the Freestyle Restaurants was cafeteria level quality. Nothing bad, but nothing especially good...except for the self-serve ice cream machine. The specialty restaurants were noticeably better quality, but represented what we'd come to expect from other cruise lines - Princess's main dining room serves better quality food than the specialty restaurants on NCL. Having said that, if you choose to eat at the specialty restaurants, you'll be satisfied; it's worth the extra money! Read more