First time cruise, has anyone any feedback on NCL to Hawaii

vtraveller · #1 (**permalink**) December 2nd, 2006, 05:44 PM

dteacher · #2 (**permalink**) January 25th, 2007, 12:19 PM

gO WITH A DIFFERENT LINE.

Jimbo_Boston · #3 (**permalink**) January 25th, 2007, 12:33 PM

Don't think of NCL's America cruises as traditional cruises. You will not get the same level of good food and service. The Hawaii Cruises are about the Islands. Think of it as an economical way to get food,lodging and transportation while seeing these wonderful places. Jimbo

Barb Nahoumi · #4 (**permalink**) January 25th, 2007, 09:32 PM

Aloha,

We recently cruised to Hawaii aboard the Pride of Aloha. The Islands are a magnificent, enchanting paradise, not to be missed.

However, this ship must be considered a glorified Island Ferry. Don't expect the same standards on the NCLA ships, as you might find on the internationally staffed NCL ships.

Barb

BigE11378 · #5 (**permalink**) January 26th, 2007, 12:44 PM

We went on our Honeymoon in 2005 to Hawaii.We stayed at the Hilton
Hawaainn in the Rainbow Tower it was fantastic! We stayed there for
6 days, which was just enough time to do everything we wanted to do.
We saw Don Ho,he was great and if you go to HAwaii you gotta do it.
We also went to Pearl Harbor, but we booked that ourselves
through "Duck Tours" it is a great way to sightsee Honollulou and
then get into the Arizona fairly quickly. The movie that you see
before you take the Navy Launch to the Arizona Memorial is riveting,
amazing etc. Another good reason for staying at the Hilton Hawaiin
Village is that they basicly have a private beach so you are not
worried about the homeless ,which Hawaii has a lot of, or others
causing you problems. After our 5 day stay we went on the Pride of
America (this was its ignagural season) it was a fantastic cruise.
The best way to island hop is by cruise ship! After the cruise we
had one day to unwind and as the Hilton was booked we were at the
Waikiki Marriott, it was along a public beach (and our best friends
stayed there the following month for their honeymoon) and you did
not have the safe feeling like at the Hilton. As to the excursions
we booked them through NCL although they were a little expensive the
service and friendlieness was great ,except for the GOLF we were
rushed by the marshals and I play fast and given no time to warm up.
The course we went to was one of the public courses and was a
cheaper one to play so that could have been the reason.The South
Seas Luau through NCL is great and the Movie Tours was alot of fun.
To let you know we spent around $12,000 on the trip and we are not
rich by any means but we loved it so much we are planning on going
back for our fifth anniversary and we are saving for it as I write. We did have some issues that NCL dealt with after the cruise and compensated us for. That being said .........
.....................You will LOVE IT and you wont want to come home.
Eric Trautmann

PacificHeights7 · #6 (**permalink**) January 26th, 2007, 02:18 PM

I highly recommend selecting another cruise line. NCL is terrible.

nmnita · #7 (**permalink**) January 26th, 2007, 06:39 PM

As Jimbo said, cruising NCLA is a different experience. They are the only American flagged line so fall under a little different laws than the lines that has international crew members. They are also the only line that does strictly Hawaii. If you want to see the islands in a short period of time for a reasonable price there isn't a better way. If you are expecting the same food and service you get when doing the Caribbean, Alaska or Europe you may be disappointed. NMnita

Michael52142 · #8 (**permalink**) January 27th, 2007, 11:33 AM

Vtraveller.

Go to my posting it is just down on this page, the Posting is titled.

Take the Pride of Aloha to Alang and get back the SS Norway
There are a lot of good ideas in the postings and a little about the ship, I hope that you are not going on the Pride of Aloha! be careful, remember Nmnita is out there.
There is some good advise on the Shore excursions. What ever have a good time.
If you are going to stay in Honolulu, for some days before or after the cruise, do your self a BIG favor and learn about THE BUS, for one buck you can get around the Island, or you can pay a cab BIG bucks to go anywhere the traffic is horrible.

rogmc · #9 (**permalink**) January 29th, 2007, 04:02 PM

My wife and extended family did the Pride of America in Nov 05, what a nightmare cruise. We have done 17 cruises and it was by far the worst!(See reader reviews on the NCL Hawaii ships) Spend a coupla extra bucks, and a coupla extra days and take a Princess or RCL ship out of Los Angeles. You won't be sorry. They go to all the same ports and you see all the same things. You just won't hate cruising when you get done.

paa5481 · #10 (**permalink**) January 29th, 2007, 05:29 PM

We went on the 10 day nor wind around hawaian islands and down to fanning island. We had a great time. The wind is an older ship but is one of the best dollar value cruises available. High winds a few days going to fanning and at night during april. Everything else on the cruise was great.

JP · #11 (**permalink**) January 30th, 2007, 01:02 PM

I cruised on the Pride of Aloha 2 weeks ago, and had a great time. Cabin, food (especially the buffet) and service (with one exception) were good. In the last 5 years I've cruised on Princess, Windstar, Holland America, Celebrity, Costa and Thomson, and would rate this cruise somewhere in the middle (definitely above Costa and Celebrity).