Last year we decided to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary in Hawaii. After examining many different vacation options we concluded that the 7 day NCL Pride of America (POA) cruise along with 3 extra days in Honolulu offered the best opportunity to maximize our exposure to the islands. We've cruised on 7 previous occasions but this was our first on NCL. For us, the key attraction of the POA cruise is that you are in port everyday and this allows the opportunity to arrange tours and/or activities. Other cruises to Hawaii originating from the west coast involve too many sea days for our liking.

Overall, our experience on the POA was very positive. The ports that it sailed to gave us the opportunity to explore the islands with organized tour groups or on our own. We have nothing but pleasant memories of our first visit to paradise!

We were particularly impressed with the ship's excursion services. Staff from the ship assisted each tour group off the ship and through the port terminals to meet tour guides and transport operators. We never were left standing around waiting for a bus or tour operator. Instructions on where and when to meet were clearly printed on the tour coupons delivered to our cabin at the start of our cruise. With regard to the deliverables there were no disappointments. Read more