This was our first trip to Hawaii. We thought the cruise stopping at 4 Hawaiian islands would be a good way to get an initial taste for the islands. We opted for the three days in Honolulu prior to the start of the cruise itself. While it was tough getting around Honolulu with the traffic, the Hilton Hawaiian Village and Waikiki beach did not disappoint. From Booking our cruise and selecting activities through meeting us at our flight, transporting us to our hotel, taking us on excursions, to the ship, embarking, ship board and port activities at the various islands, disembarking and transport from the ship back to the airport, Norwegian had their act together. The only delays we experienced were due to things like traffic and late cruise passengers. Norwegian and contracted support personnel were professional, competent, patient and upbeat.

The ship was medium sized by current standards. It was clean and well maintained. Everything seemed to be working. It seemed like the ship sailed at much less than full capacity. This made getting services easy with minimal waiting - except for perhaps the breakfast buffet. It seemed like the average age of passengers on board was 65+. This obviously impacted activities on board the ship during the cruise.

Our cabin was somewhat small but standard fare on cruise ships these days. The bathroom was small but functional. There was ample storage space. Everything in our cabin worked. The balcony was smaller than what we have seen on other cruise ships and had too much furniture on it for its size. Read more