Norwegian Cruise Line
NCL Pride of America Cruise Review
Hawaiian Islands

Ruth Dockins
Age: 63
Occupation: Public Relations
Number of Cruises: 2
Sailing Date: February 4th, 2006

This was my first time to visit Hawaii. Part of the fun of a vacation is the anticipation of it. I believe that most of the people who sent in reviews of the Pride of America Ship took away much of the fun part of my vacation by creating in me a sense of dread instead a sense of joyful anticipation. I had read so many bad reviews of the ship I really was dreading the vacation but had already paid for it so had to go.

Well was I ever surprised! The ship was beautiful! Sparklingly clean, every member of the staff (except for one) was friendly, helpful and worked very hard to see that we were having a good time. They even quickly and willingly corrected our own mistake. We had mistakenly booked a tour for a different day than the rest of our group. When we realized that, we went to the excursion desk and asked if we could change the date of the tour. They graciously did it in about 15 seconds.

When we received our bill on the last full day it was correct and easily understandable. There was a sur-charge (tip) added for each day but it was exactly what we had been told prior to booking no surprises, as some previous reviewers had indicated.

We had an inside cabin that was tiny but we didn’t plan on spending time in the cabin anyway. The bathroom shower was small but clean and had shampoo and soap dispenser in it. As someone else has mentioned in their review the bathroom was very small but really worked well because you could use the commode as a stool and put on all your make-up (if you wear make-up) or shave without getting up. There are only two outlets in the room but that wasn’t a problem.

The food was very good. The service was slow on a couple of nights but we were able to enjoy each others company while we were waiting for our food. Our servers were very friendly and helpful. My husband ordered two entrée’s one night and received them both. I ordered two desserts one night and got them as well. The food in the Aloha Café was just as good as in the dining rooms and available all the time. The only complaint I have about the Aloha Café was the drinking glasses. They were very small which led all of us to bringing several glasses at a time back to the table. I don’t particularly like the free style dining because have always enjoyed having the same table and servers throughout the trip but it wasn’t so bad that it ruined my trip and certainly was not a surprise as we had been told about it before booking. One server that was exceptional was Jenny Cherry. I hope someone from the cruise line reads this and realizes what a wonderful employee they have in Jenny.

I would recommend that you book your excursions via internet before you leave home. Some of them fill up rather quickly I understand. I had no trouble with bookings however because I did it from home and had the confirmation in hand when I got on board.

I would also recommend arriving in Hawaii at least the day before sailing because of possible delays with airfare.

The entertainment was o.k. not outstanding . The juggler was really good, the comedian was great, and some of the entertainment put on by the staff was really good as well.

I have come to believe the folks that complained so much about the trip probably couldn’t be satisfied no matter how they were treated. I have always been able to see the positive side of most situations and even though there were a few things I would have preferred to have been different they weren’t so bad as to make me complain. As I said before I went with a sense of dread but would do it again in a heartbeat.

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