This was our ninth cruise as a family with 3 teenage daughters. It will certainly be our first and last cruise on NCL. The concept of using the Pride of America as a hotel and transportation among the islands convinced me to close my eyes to many of the reviews that I read here. I should have believed the negative reviews and spent the considerable money it cost us somewhere else. First the pros: embarkation (around 2:30 p.m.) was simple; disembarkation was also fine. From a safety standpoint, the captain and crew did a good job of avoiding the tropical storm heading toward the islands and rearranged the itinerary so that we visited islands before or after the storm. Unfortunately, we lost a day in Kauai and spent it instead at sea. Of course NCL could not control the weather. The special entertainment on board was good: Oh What a Night - a Frankie Valli Tribute band was excellent; the magician was great; and the comedian was good and presented a family-friendly program in the main theater.

Now the cons: the food and service that we experienced were the worst of any of our nine cruises. Not only was the food not very appetizing on the buffet, but also in the main dining rooms and even specialty restaurants. The food was cold, menus never changed (with a minor exception for a special each evening) and many items seemed to be "watered down" -- salad dressings, coffee and tea. If there are any vegetarians in your family, it will be a difficult week with very little to choose from -- and waiters do not know if some of the items are vegetarian or not. Service was an issues. We intentionally went to the main dining room late so that it would not be crowded -- but the service still took forever and the waiters did not seem to pay any attention to whether we needed anything or not. Even arriving upon opening of the main dining room for breakfast did not bring fast service. The upcharge of $19.95 per person plus 18% gratuity still did not bring good service at the Brazilian steak house, but at least the food was somewhat better there --but not great as you would expect at an upscale restaurant. Each of the restaurants had the same issue -- tables were not cleaned off, even when people were waiting for their reservations. We waited almost 45 minutes to get into the French bistro, for which we had a reservation. It seemed as if there was no sense of organization or business sense displayed in how people would be moved in and out of the restaurants. In speaking to a number of the restaurant staff, many had only been on the ship a short time, leading me to wonder if turnover is a problem, along with lack of training.

The cabins were very small, but the worst problem was the cleanliness, not only of our two cabins but also of the restrooms throughout the ship. There was dust on two shelves by the TV when we entered the room and sand remained on the balcony for five days. There were also black hairs in the shower and bed in our daughters' room and it looked as if the sink had not been cleaned. I reported both of those issues and asked to have their room re-cleaned. Then there was the sewer smell. A number of days, we could smell a horrible odor in our room, which we told the steward about. He said he reported it, but nothing ever happened and no one ever explained what it was. On the last night, our toilet overflowed at 4 a.m. We were told that the vacuum failed. Water started to pour out onto the rug in the main cabin. Thank goodness that we were leaving in 3 hours. Two maintenance people fixed the overflow within 30 minutes. Read more