I am planning to post this review on several travel sites. About a week before we were set to leave on this cruise I started reading reviews on several sites and became a bit worried as there seemed to be a significant number of negative comments about the ship, staff, food, entertainment and other items. By the time we left for the vacation I was not sure what to expect. I am happy to report that we had a mostly positive experience and really enjoyed ourselves. Here is my take on the whole experience:

OVERALL CRUISE: We sailed April 14 to April 21 2018. One thing that I think has to be kept in mind with this cruise is that it is not really a “normal” cruise like you might find in the Caribbean. Cruising around Hawaii is all about visiting the islands and doing things on the islands. Generally there were less shipboard activities than on any previous cruise we have been on. On the other hand, we were in port every day, so were off the ship a lot more. My wife and I have done several cruises over the years on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Disney. This was our first experience with Norwegian. Another thing that is quite different from other cruises we have been on, is the ports are all shipping ports. With the exception of Kona (where you had to tender to shore), there was not much to do or see in the actual ports where the ship was docked since they were all geared for cargo. Some of our travelling companions were a bit disappointed in this aspect of the trip.

STAFF: I have seen quite a bit of criticism of the staff in other reviews, but we had no such issues. We found the staff to be great for the most part. Our stateroom was cleaned twice a day very nicely. The food / wait staff / bar staff were all good too. We really did not have any bad experiences with anyone. Read more