NCL Cruises, Pride Of America Review

Overall Rating

Great trip from start to finish.

Wifi I think should be free. It was something like .70 a minute.
Average wine was available for around $35 which I also thought was very high. I am not clear why you can not bring your own wine onboard unless it is because it cuts into their own profits.

Easy check in from boarding the plane to being shuttled to the airport. No luggage problems at all.
Lots of food to choose from. 99 percent of it was of good quality.
I had no problem with noise while in my balcony room. Privacy was good.
We had a few problems but someone always promply answered the phone and the problem was resolved if not immidately but within the hour.
Staff was friendly, and helpful. A+ Many had a wonderful sense of humor.
I would have liked to experienced the sailing portion a bit more in the day but thelast day was fabulous. We sailed by the Na Pali coast. Renting a car, bicycle or moped is a great was to tour the island as opposed to a tour group.
I brought my GPS and had no problem locating anything.

I would highly recommend this cruise on the boat Pride of America.

Members' Comments onvivianaldridge's Review

• KUJayhawk on 12th Oct 2007

  You must of NOT been on the same cruise that over half thought it was terrible. I and most of the other people on the cruise you were on will NEVER cruise NCL again. This is my 25th cruise so how many have you had to compare with?

• socram13 on 14th Oct 2007

  I agree with most of this review. e didn't bother with the wine and we only had a couple of beers, and they were reasonably priced. We were happy enough sailing overnight - why waste a day?
  
  I checked the internet costs (not Wifi) and that was identical to Disney's Cruise prices. Seems as though ship internet costs are usually high and speed is slow.

• socram13 on 16th Oct 2007

  Re comment number #1. The number of previous cruises is irrelevant and this reviewer had a good cruise, and so did we. Half the reviews may be poor, but that does NOT relate to half the passengers on this cruise or any other.
  
  It was my first cruise, and although I had no other cruise as a comparison, I have had over 60 years of eating and sleeping - and the last 30 have been spent travelling the world, also sleeping and eating, so I think that I am well able to comment on dining and cabins. Inexperience as a cruiser is irrelevant.
  
  It appears that the most negative comments regarding these cruises come from experienced cruisers who obviously had an expectation that was not met (apart from the hiccups with plumbing which are genuine problems of course).
  
  This is Freestyle, relaxed, budget cruising, and not the luxury cruising that some people seem to have experienced elsewhere and seemed to expect on this cruise. Our fellow cruisers (and we met many of them) were happy and friendly and the ship was full. The overall atmosphere was wonderful.

• KUJayhawk on 17th Oct 2007

  We are all here reviewing CRUISES...NOT 60 some years of eating and sleeping. The word expertise means that a person can do a certain thing and also comment on this certain thing with a GREAT deal of authority and in mine and a lot of others who have a expertise in cruising feel NCL's itinerary in the Hawaiian islands, aboard the Pride Of America is POOR. We didn't get our luggage for over 12 hours, our toilet was NOT working for over 13 hours, was missing towels about EVERY day, very rude customer service people, food was NOT of good quality and COLD many times, public restrooms closed....I could go on forever, BUT I have to go to work.

• socram13 on 19th Oct 2007

  I think you are missing the point. I believe, as do most others, that our lack of cruising experience does not mean that we are incapable of assessing the quality of food and bedding. An 'expert cruiser' as you put it is not better qualified to assess the quality of food than a first time cruiser who has been a professional caterer.
  
  I detect from reading many reviews, that there is a trace of snobbery from those who have cruised many times, who seem to think that a budget cruise line should perform at the same level as a luxury liner.
  
  There is no excuse for poor plumbing, or poor service, but as our plumbing was fine and all our dealings with the staff very friendly, we can't complain. There again, we are always friendly to service staff everywhere, and strangely enough, rarely encounter poor ongoing service, as a polite but firm and friendly manner usually resolves most issues amicably. We were not impressed with the restaurant staff, nor the restaurant food, but as that was only three meals out of about 17, we soon learned where to get the food that suited our needs!
  
  Having read several reviews just before we cruised, we were more than a little apprehensive, and as the cruise exceeded our expectations in just about all respects, we were happy.

• KUJayhawk on 23rd Oct 2007

  I'm glad your experience was a good one on NCL and you are definitely entitled to your opinion, BUT ours and many others weren't as good as yours and that's our opinion. I know trying to compare NCLK with Royal Caribean is not fair, BUT service and mechanical things should always be in working condition with customer service being "job 1".

• teresatapp on 8th Apr 2008

  This was useful as we are thinking about renting a car on a couple of the islands instead of the "group tours". I have also been told to consider a taxi driver who will give you a tour of the island. Any thoughts??

• vivianaldridge on 16th Apr 2008

  We rented a car ahead of time on a couple of the islands. At some ports bicycles and motorized scooters were also around for rent. I enjoyed both those things over the group tours.
  
  Have fun. I am sure you will have a good time :-)

• socram13 on 16th Apr 2008

  Renting a car is relatively easy and we hadn't even pre-booked. If you study a good guide about the islands in advance, you'll know where to go. Maui car hire was cheap but our second island hire was not.
  Some so called attractions are really not worth looking at, such as a waterfall we travelled for ages to see, only to find we couldn't get within a 100 yards and it was far from spectacular!
  We found that a car on Maui gave us the opportunity to go for a swim/snorkel at our leisure, yet a coach tour on a Sunday on the first island stop had no opportunity for a cup of coffee until about lunch time. Parking a hire car overnight at Maui was a bit fraught, as there were undesirables cruising the area and they were definitely not keen on tourists.... Overall, I would think that the car hire option was worth it, but we weren't able to do it in advance due to a late decision to take the cruise and the travel agent wasn't much help. When the car hire coach arrives at the dock, just ask if they have spare cars available, climb aboard and head to their depot.
  Best of luck.

• sweber25 on 7th Dec 2008

  If everyone were bringing their own booze on board they wouldn't sell any! Of course drinks are high, it's how they make up for the incredible cost of operating that ship! It costs them well over 1 million dollars to operate a 7 day cruise!

• sweber25 on 7th Dec 2008

  WiFi? Free? What is this a business trip? You DON'T need the Internet while on a cruise! You're on vacation, not work!

• vivianaldridge on 16th Dec 2008

  NO, I do not want to work. LOL. I enjoy free wi-fi to either look up information (say about the island) or saying hello to my friends and updating my travel blog...but that's just me.