Hawaiian cruises

als79kij83 · #1 (**permalink**) March 18th, 2006, 07:01 PM

I am getting married and we wanted to take a 7-day Hawaiian cruise. Does anyone have any advice? Was it a good cruise because I have read some conflicting statements regarding the Norwegian Hawaiian cruises. Any information would be helpful and greatly appreciated.

Barb Nahoumi · #2 (**permalink**) March 20th, 2006, 05:00 PM

Read the posts about the Pride of America & Pride of Aloha.

Also, check the destination section of Cruisemates. There is plenty of info about Hawaii there.

I'll be aboard the POA, next December,----------looking forward toward it.

Happy Honeymoon.

Barb

DEEN · #3 (**permalink**) April 3rd, 2006, 04:40 PM

My family and I were on the Pride of Aloha in December. Being a vetran carribean cruiser, I was not expecting too much from Hawaii. But I was so wrong, it has to be the most beautiful place I have ever visited. The scenery was spectacular and so were the people. But on the downside of the whole trip was the horrible ship and the service. I would rather not go into great detail but the food was awful and the ship, although recently refurbished seemed like it was ten years old. Unfortunatley NCL feels they have monoploy on the Hawaian cruise market, which reflects on thier service. I will most definatley visit Hawaii again but not on NCL.

timmer1957 · #4 (**permalink**) April 4th, 2006, 06:16 PM

We went on the Pride of America and except for the crappy weather, it was a good time. You can't plant on the weather, but if we had some tips on what to do if it was raining , it would have made for a better time. The time of year you go is important. We went middle of Feb which is still considered their rainy season. If you go late spring, you might be better off. Also make sure you fly in a day early, if you want to see Pearl Harbor
and do either a Pre of Post trip stay at one of the hotels. It would have definitely be worth it. We had our trip delayed because of weather and missed the first day and a half. We had to meet the ship at the first port of call.

Barb Nahoumi · #5 (**permalink**) April 6th, 2006, 02:45 PM

Sorry to read about your delayed trip. Since we are going in December, we decided to book the flight through NCL. That way, they would be responsible for getting us to the ship incase of a flight delay.

Did you book flights through NCL? Or were you on your own to meet the cruise?

Barb

hcat · #6 (**permalink**) April 7th, 2006, 02:02 PM

We just returned from a Hawaii 14 day RT on Celeb & met someone who worked in the cruise dir area on the Pride of America--he was very informative.(it's an American ship which is very appealing) We also learned that NCL stays overnight in at least two ports so you will get to see much more than we did. They also had the superior docking spot in Maui at an actual pier Celeb tendered & getting back on was a 2 hr farce!

We enjoyed outrip & Hawaii was very nice . If we ever go back it will be a cruise around the islands on NCL or just land based to mauai & Oahu for a few days...

BigE11378 · #7 (**permalink**) April 8th, 2006, 11:54 PM

My wife and I cruised for our Honeymoon in Hawaii. October 2005. She had never flown or cruised so it was an event I have cruised alot. The Pride Of America is a big beautiful ship but it does have some drawbacks. The crew is not great but sufficient. We got a deal and stayed in on of the penthouse cabins (pictures in the gallery section) and it was a huge room. I would recomend a three day (we stayed for a full week before and one day after the cruise, in case of bad weather etc.) pre stay especialy if u want to see Pearl Harbor and other sites (Don Ho was great!) The hotel to stay at is the Hilton Hawaiin in Oahu. The beach is private and secluded. Oahu is a city and the Hilton is set off from it and it keeps the city away from you. My email is bige11378@yahoo.com if you want more info.
Eric

10cruisessofar · #8 (**permalink**) April 9th, 2006, 05:43 PM

Don't cruise to Hawaii Jan-Mar. because that seems to be the rainy season. We cruised in Feb and the weather was horrible. I would also take the advice of the people who say to spend a few days on Oahu. Hope you have a great honeymoon!

lottolines · #9 (**permalink**) May 1st, 2006, 02:22 PM

My wife and I booked a cruise on the Pride of Aloha on April 9th. My wife has been on many cruises but this was my first, and now my last after this experience. When we first boarded, they lost our luggage for 5 hours. After much research on our own, we found out that security had it below because they thought there was a bottle of liquor in the bag, (there wasnt) They were exteremely rude and made us carry it up to our cabin. We then went to our cabin to find the bed was a futon!

We then decided to go to dinner, being delayed due to the above baggage fiasco. There were only about 10 people still in the restaurant. However, they made us wait 20 minutes until being seated because they said there were no tables were available? (The restaurant was nearly empty) The couple next to us advised they were made to wait 2 hours.

Overall the attitude of the staff was very rude, and even though they did not allow you to bring any alcohol on board, their choices were very limited. One poor fellow I ran into from Scotland had his special scotch confiscated, he was saving for his anniversary.

Needless to say we got off at the first port in Kauai after one sleepless night. We salvaged the rest of our vacation by staying at Marriott resorts and flying Aloha which were both wonderful. One last postscript, they would not let us park our rental car within 1/2 mile of the ship in Kauai. When I asked how we were going to take our bags to the car, they replied, "not my problem" and since I will never set foot on a cruise ship again, it is not mine now either.
Steve Lines