Welcome to Your Favorites, where you have the opportunity to share your travel experiences with fellow Internet Travelers around the world.

Norwegian Cruise Line

MV Pride of Aloha

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: J. Petty
# previous cruises: 31 to 40
Date of Trip: January 14, 2007
Itinerary: Hawaii

This cruise exceeded my expectations in almost every way. The ship is bright, cheerful and comfortable, and even looks like a ship.

Service was fine (with one exception), and all of the crew people we talked to were friendly and enthusiastic. The itinerary has to be one of the world's great ones, and I preferred this way of seeing the islands to staying longer on one island (which I have done); we're already thinking about trying the new 10 day itinerary next winter.

The main public rooms are brightly decorated in Hawaiian themes. There is an interesting museum of Hawaiian artifacts, and a nice wrap-around promenade deck.

We tried the 2 main dining rooms once each; they were both fine. All of the remaining meals we ate up in the buffet (Hukilau Cafi), which was outstanding. It had a wide variety of well-prepared dishes, complemented by the wonderful island views.

Our inside cabin was comfortable, clean and very quiet. It could have used more storage space; I ended up keeping some of my clothing in my suitcase under my bed. There was no clothes drying line in the shower; it would have been useful considering all of the times that we came back with wet swimsuits.

Because the islands supply the real entertainment, we only made it to the crew show, so I can't judge the professional entertainment.

Some of the crew performers were very good, but the real reason we went was to see the famous (infamous?) "Fountains" act that I'd seen some of on TV back home. Everyone found it either hilariously funny or disgusting.

We spent most of our time ashore doing snorkeling excursions. It's very easy to rent a car and drive to any of dozens of outstanding sites. Most of them are free, most have lifeguards, and the sea life is stunning. On a previous trip I'd done a tour out to Molokini from Maui, but several of these do-it-yourself excursions were more rewarding. Hilo is the one port where it's harder to find good snorkeling, but I wanted to go up to the summit of Mauna Kea to see the observatories (some of the world's finest). I took a ship's tour, which used 4wd vans to drive up the gravel roads to the summit; the views are amazing, but we didn't get to see any of the telescopes. I would have liked to have seen the sunset from up there, but the ship doesn't stay in port long enough.

There were passengers from all over the world, but the majority were of course from the U.S. Everything is extremely casual, so anyone who requires some formality on a cruise wouldn't do very well.