NCL to Hawaii

[mattR]

Thinking of booking a NCL cruise to Hawaii. The Wind is much cheaper but think I would like to try the Pride of Hawaii. We crusied on the Sky about 3 years ago now I see it is the Pride of Aloha. Has much been done to this ship since other then new paint and carpets? Freestyle was new when we took our cruise 3+ years ago. What dose freestyle intaile? Are all teh resturants included in price or do you have to pay extra for some?

[electricron]

Thinking of booking a NCL cruise to Hawaii. The Wind is much cheaper but think I would like to try the Pride of Hawaii. We crusied on the Sky about 3 years ago now I see it is the Pride of Aloha. Has much been done to this ship since other then new paint and carpets? Freestyle was new when we took our cruise 3+ years ago. What dose freestyle intaile? Are all teh resturants included in price or do you have to pay extra for some?

 

Here's the list of restaurants for all three NCLA ships:

Pride of Aloha

Palace Main Restaurant (Main Dining Room)

Cuisine: Continental

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Crossings Main Restaurant (Main Dining Room)

Cuisine: Continental

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Royal Palm Bistro

Cuisine: French

Surcharge: Yes, $15 plus tax per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Kahili Restaurant

Cuisine: Italian

Surcharge: Yes, $15 plus tax per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Pacific Heights Restaurant

Cuisine: Hawaiian/Asian

Surcharge: Yes, $12.50 plus tax per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Hukilau Cafe

Cuisine: Assorted Buffet, Food Stations, Snacks & Grill

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Pride of America

Skyline Dining Room (Main Dining Room)

Cuisine: Continental

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Liberty Dining Room (Main Dining Room)

Cuisine: Continental

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

East Meets West

Cuisine: Japanese, Thai, Chinese (Sushi, Sashimi, Teppanyaki)

Surcharge: Yes, $12.50 plus tax per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Jefferson's Bistro

Cuisine: French

Surcharge: Yes, $15 plus tax per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Lazy J's Texas Steakhouse

Cuisine: Upscale Steakhouse

Surcharge: Yes, $15 plus tax per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Cadillac Diner

Cuisine: 50's-style diner

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Aloha Café

Cuisine: Assorted Buffet, including a kid-sized buffet area

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Little Italy

Cuisine: Italian

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Key West Bar & Grill

Cuisine: Grill Food

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Pride of Hawaii

Grand Pacific (Main Dining Room)

Cuisine: Continental

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Alizar (Main Dining Room)

Cuisine: Continental

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Jasmine

Cuisine: Asian

Surcharge: Yes, $12.50 per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Le Bistro

Cuisine: French

Surcharge: Yes, $15 per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Cagney's Steakhouse

Cuisine: Steak

Surcharge: Yes, $20 per person

Reservations Required: Yes

Paniolo Tapas & Salsa

Cuisine: Latin/Tapas

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Papa's Italian Kitchen

Cuisine: Casual Italian

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Aloha Lanai Cafe/Kids'Cafe

Cuisine: Assorted Buffet, Food Stations, Kid-Sized Buffet

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Balitlai Bar & Grill

Cuisine: Food Court, Grill

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

Blue Lagoon

Cuisine: Assorted

Surcharge: No

Reservations Required: No

[KeystoneCruiser]

Electricron took care of the restaurants question. Let me try and field the ship question:

 

The Wind is still a part of NCL's international fleet and for that reason has to touch a foreign port during her trips. In order to do that, she takes a three day trip to Fanning Island, Republic of Kiribit and that is why her cruises are 10 or 11 days. More sea days and a chance to see a remote country are the advantages to this one.

 

The three Pride ships, POA (Aloha), POAm (America) and the POH (Hawaii) are part of NCL-America and are the only American flagged cruise ships in the world. As a result of being American flagged they do not have to visit a foreign port and can stay in Hawaiian waters. They do 7 day inter-island cruises for the most part. The crew, by law, must be at least 75% American and the cruise line must pay American minimum wage. The advantage to these ships are that you don't have to take the Fanning Island detour or stop in Mexico or Canada like the other cruise lines. The drawback is that there is less time on ship since these are very port intensive cruises. Issues with service have been raised although it appears many of those concerns have been taken care of.

 

I was on the Aloha and yes, it is basically the Sky with new paint and carpets. She is the smallest of the three Pride ships. I did enjoy my cruise on her in 2004.

 

As far as Freestyle is concerned, the other comments I would make is that Freestyle basically means that you can choose WHEN you want to eat, WHERE you want to eat, with WHO you want to eat and WHAT you want to eat. You can also dress as you want for dinner since the only formal night is OPTIONAL and only about 40% of the passengers dress up (ranging from tuxes to shirt/tie.) Resort casual is perfectly accepatble to any meal at any time in any restaurant. (Resort casual = no shorts or t-shirts. Polo shirts and kahkis are fine) You also have no set dining times or tablemates. Finally, with Freestyle, you can remain in your cabin until you are called to disembark. No being herded like cattle into public rooms waiting to get off the ship.

 

Hope this helps. Please ask anything else you may have on your mind.

[electricron]

To add, besides renaming the Norwegian Sky as the Pride of Aloha, about the only changes you'll see will be the renaming of the restaurants, renaming of all the public spaces and the redecorating of the ship to look more Polynesian. All minor changes performed during a two week drydock.

 

The major change you'll see was the removal of the casino and turning it into a museum.

 

Have a great Hawaiian vacation!

[mattR]

Thankyou very much for the info!!!

 

Can you make reservations on-line for the service fee resturants? Or just on board the ship?

[electricron]

You can reserve tables only onboard the ship.

 

If it were the other way around, the restaurants would be booked solid a year in advance. That would effectively discourage most late passenger bookings, and in this case bookings more than six months in advance.

 

Doesn't anyone think through their ideas out from another's point of view?