Pride of Hawaii 3/5 cruise

[ekabran]

I was on the 3/5 Pride of Hawaii cruise. I booked the 3 day previsit on Oahu and stupidly didn’t bring my good walking shoes, substituting some lighter weight Keds. Had blisters on both feet and shin splints the first day! If you like to walk take your best shoes. The Marriott was lovely. I attended the Cirque Hawaii the second night, it was very good and the Chinese dinner prior to the show was excellent.

 

The weather was great every day. I went on a whale watch which was exciting, lots of whales, but most were quite far away and hard to see. I also did two snorkels that I loved. I took the helicopter tour of the volcano. It really wasn’t worth it. You can’t see that much activity in bright daylight and looking at vast areas of blackened desolation was a bit tedious. Since the ship returns to Honolulu at 7 am and my flight didn’t leave until 8:30 pm, I went to the Polynesian Cultural Center the last day and loved it. It is much shorter that the day/evening combo tour, but was long enough for me. If you go don’t miss the 2:30 pm grand canal show and keep in mind the Center is closed on Sundays.

 

I was 95% satisfied with everything about the ship and crew. It would be 100%, but the price for the drinks/sodas is excessive and the drinks aren’t very good. The shows ok.The ship was sparklingly clean. Everyone, crew and passengers were friendly. My cabin attendant, Andreas was a gem.

 

The comedian, Bud was excellent, proving that comedy can be funny without cursing, politics or ethnic jokes and all that goes with most comedy today. I find the portions where they get some poor smuck up on the stage boring and I didn’t care for the magic show, but the final night is not to be missed. The last skit is called “Fountains” and was so funny and creative.

 

My one pet peeve was the constant encouragement to say aloha, aloha! Aloha!!!--the person on stage always saying “hey, that was terrible, you can do it better, and louder and longer. Shut up with the endless alohas, get the amateurs off the stage and do the show.

 

The only rude person I encountered was a woman that was heading a tour group of 50 on the final day when we were lining up to go to the cultural center. She insisted, loudly and repeatedly that our bus was her bus for her private party in spite of the driver and other staff on the pier telling her it wasn’t the right bus for her group. She repeatedly kept telling me I wasn’t in her Group. I politely told her I was glad I wasn’t, but that I was listening to the driver, not her. It was all I could do to keep my temper. Finally they got them all of the bus along with their tons of luggage and we were able to depart while she stood there in the boarding area sucking up bus fumes. It was kind of funny watching her steaming and I kept hoping that security would come toss her off the pier.

 

I was by myself which I really enjoyed. I could do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I would highly recommend NCL as a way to see the islands.

[whale-watcher]

Thanks for the review...glad you had a great vacation.

[CruisinMK]

good to hear

[hello]

Enjoyed your review -- thank you!

[flag fan]

I'll be going to Hawaii solo, so it was encouraging that you enjoyed your solo cruise. Thanks for posting.

[cotts]

My son & I did the 7 day Hawaiian cruise on Pride of Aloha about 2.5 years ago. We were going to go on the Pride of Hawaii, but it sank in Germany.

The cruise was enjoyable, weather great(is it any different in Hawaii?) and stop-overs were long enough to have a good look around.

My complaint was that I had to hand in my alcohol at the start of the cruise.

The cost of drinks on the ship was prohibitive (especially when you convert the cost to Oz dollars - all drinks are 33% more expensive).

At the end of the cruise when I went to collect my drinks I found that a bottle of whiskey had been stolen by someone on the crew. I can only put it that way as I assume no passengers are able to access the storage area where the drinks are retained.

I filled in a complaint and claim for the loss, but have never heard anything back from NCL. Something that small can sour your whole view of an organisation. It's true, that if you look after the little things the rest will look after themselves. I have a poor impression of NCL customer relations.

[electricron]

My son & I did the 7 day Hawaiian cruise on Pride of Aloha about 2.5 years ago. We were going to go on the Pride of Hawaii, but it sank in Germany.

The cruise was enjoyable, weather great(is it any different in Hawaii?) and stop-overs were long enough to have a good look around.

My complaint was that I had to hand in my alcohol at the start of the cruise.

The cost of drinks on the ship was prohibitive (especially when you convert the cost to Oz dollars - all drinks are 33% more expensive).

At the end of the cruise when I went to collect my drinks I found that a bottle of whiskey had been stolen by someone on the crew. I can only put it that way as I assume no passengers are able to access the storage area where the drinks are retained.

I filled in a complaint and claim for the loss, but have never heard anything back from NCL. Something that small can sour your whole view of an organisation. It's true, that if you look after the little things the rest will look after themselves. I have a poor impression of NCL customer relations.

 

It was the Pride of America that took on water in Germany, not the Pride of Hawaii. If you got that wrong, it makes some wonder what else you got wrong. When they confiscated your wiskey, did you get a receipt?