Hawaiian Islands Cruising

Joan · March 30, 2005

Am considering a Hawaiian Island cruise sailing out of Honolulu next Spring and the Norwegian/Pride of America name has been suggested. Has anyone any experience of the 7 day trip on this boat (or any other) and the overall service etc ?

JohnG · March 31, 2005

Pride of America is will be brand new this year. It was built expressly for Hawaiian cruises. Because Norwegian Cruise Lines America agreed to use American crews on Pride of Aloha...the first one, last year...and Pride of America, they don't have they are allowed to start and finish in US ports without a stop in a foreign country (Fanning Island or Ensenada). This allows them to spend two night overnight in Hawaiian ports, Maui and Kauai. This gives NCL ships about 45 hours in Hawaiian ports, instead of the 25 or so that all other lines have, because the others have to make the long transits to/from North America. You get to see more of the islands in the same length cruise. It is sort of like using the ship as your hotel. NCL uses Freestyle, meaning that they have about 9 different restaurants, not more than 3 of which have surcharges, and you can eat at whichever one you want at the time you want as long as it is open.

They had some rough times in the first months the Pride of Aloha was in service with the inexperienced 80% US crew. But customer comments since the first of the year have been very good. And now they have an experienced crew on Pride of Aloha, and will use half of it to start off Pride of America this year, just as other lines are able to do. On any ship, the first six months has some bumps in service, as they work the bugs out, but you'll be cruising almost 9 months after she enters service. I wouldn't hesitate. You'll have a great time. In fact, I'm going to go that summer, 2006, on her to celebrate my wife's 50th, my daughter's 16th, and my son's high school graduation. You can send me an email or private message with any questions.