Pride of Aloha

[Cruisin'again]

Considering NCL Pride of Aloha - Is the service and conditions really as bad as we have read/heard OR has NCL really cleaned up their act on this ship? We have cruised 15 X on RCCL and 5 X on Princess and 1 X on Crystal ?

Thanks for your help !

[benchmarklearning]

We just returned a week ago from the POA - had a great time. I posted a review on this board - you may want to read it.

[grandma bev]

Considering NCL Pride of Aloha - Is the service and conditions really as bad as we have read/heard OR has NCL really cleaned up their act on this ship? We have cruised 15 X on RCCL and 5 X on Princess and 1 X on Crystal ?

Thanks for your help !

 

There is no way you can compare your 3 cruise lines experiences to Pride of Aloha. It's more like a floating hotel that brings you to glorious Hawaii. Best way to see the islands' date=' IMO. Very little time is spent on the ship, so we didn't consider it a "cruise experience" like those you mentioned. Like a hotel, you could have wonderful accommodations with excellent maid/steward service, or it could be bad. Like a hotel, mealtimes could be good or bad. Seeing the islands that way was a fabulous experience for us.[/color']

My advice: book the ship and do your research, especially planning your "freestyle" mealtimes, etc. on the ship. And enjoy Hawaii!

Bev

[smarterman64]

i agree with grandma_bev. You are barely on the ship. You really only sleep on the ship, nothing else. You sleep while it gets you to the next port. very efficient for those who have short vacation times and don't want to spend the extra time to go to foreign ports.

That's another reason i think the complaints people make about the ship aren't too well deserved. These people booked this cruise for a reason and that should be their primary reason. It's a very very convient way to see the islands.

Also makes me think that ncla could change itineraries and offer even more port time in some islands, perhaps all of the stops could be overnight.

[Dancyalien]

I had a good time on my honeymoon in March. The service was a little slow but other than that the food and entertainment were good. As the other two posters said cruising is the best way to see the islands. And probably the most economical. Do your research on the ports. You can see most of the islands for cheaper that the ncl excursions, if you do you research. Another good idea is to rent a car at the different ports. We rented one with another couple in Honolulu to see Pearl Harbor. It was great. Pearl Harbor was FREE, we just paid $5 pp to have the audio tour (well worth it) Plus we split the cost of the car. So all in all we spent $40 for the two of us to do pearl harbor. I think the cruise line charges 40 pp.

 

Also, I had a balcony on the port side, which was nice if you can afford it. We sat right on our balcony as we went by the Napali coast. Also we video taped the lava viewing of Kileua as we went by at night (avoiding the deck and probably lots of people up there).

 

The only thing I didnt care for was there werent that many restaurants. If I do it again Id like to try the Pride of America of Pride of Hawaii.

 

Hope this helps!!