5 Reasons I wouldn’t cruise Hawaii with Norwegian Cruise Lines
5 Reasons I wouldn’t cruise Hawaii with NCL
Hawaii, yes. NCL, hard no.
We went to Hawaii on a “once in a lifetime” trip with my parents in 2023. Hawaii is magical and life-changing, and way more amazing than I ever imagined, but cruising with Norwegian Cruise Lines (“NCL”) on the Pride of America left much to be desired. Here are the 5 main reasons you should NOT visit Hawaii on the NCL Pride of America.
1. Cost. Everything is expensive these days, so when you spend thousands on a dream vacation, you want it to be worth the price tag. We chose the NCL Pride of America cruise because it offers passengers the opportunity to visit all of Hawaii’s main islands, Honolulu, Maui, Hilo/Kona and Kaua’i over 7 days. For a balcony room in March, our cruise fare for two people with tax was almost $6,500. While this price may be comparable to other cruise rates, the actual cruise was not worth this price. Not including airfare, this price tag averaged over $1,000 for room and board, some food, and travel between islands. As I elaborate below, the Pride of America did not live up to this value. In addition to the cost of the cruise, other expenses included hotel stays before and after boarding and debarking the ship in Honolulu; excursions; car rentals; and food while not on the ship. I would have rather used the $1,000/day price tag on nice hotels and good local food and attractions.
2. Value. The value did not live up to the price.
The Ship. The entire ship was outdated and the front door to our room was broken and nearly impossible to open. NCL came to check this out, but nothing was ever fixed.
The Food. The food was just “okay”, and the options were limited in terms of choices and operating hours. To minimize expenses, we thought we’d eat dinner on the ship instead of in the port, but after returning from a long day on the Road to Hana exploring Maui, we found ourselves left with only 1 dinner option- the retro diner- which was also the sole option for in-room dining. Maui has many great restaurants, and we would have taken the opportunity to enjoy one of them off the ship had we realized NCL’s limited options!
The ”Priority” Access Pass. NCL offers passengers the option to upgrade by purchasing the “Priority Access” pass (currently $200 per cabin for a 7-day cruise). We quickly found out this was just another way for NCL to make money. According to NCL, Priority Access provides “priority check-in, boarding, tendering and debarkation. Plus, complimentary daily breakfast room service, a delightful treat, and a $50 USD spa credit to help you relax on your cruise.”[i] Not only did we not get these perks- when brought our concerns to NCL (both on and off the ship), they were ignored and dismissed. We did not receive anything “priority”. We did not receive our $50 spa credit. And we went through a painful debarkation- after asking numerous crew members where we could find priority debarkation, we found ourselves queuing in incredibly long lines. When we finally reached the front and mentioned that we were priority access, we were rudely snapped at by NCL crew members. Chaotic, unprofessional and miserable, would be a few words I’d use to describe that crew and the rip off that is NCL’s Priority Access. It would have been more fun to light the $200 on fire.
3. Missing Ports. As with any cruise, if visiting a tender port in rough seas, you may not be able to visit the island. While we do understand there is nothing that can be done with weather, we were incredibly disappointed when NCL decided to cancel our day in Kona. This cancellation caused us to lose hundreds for a kayaking excursion and the car rental we had planned on the island. If you booked an excursion through the cruise, you were able to receive a refund. We did not book through NCL because they did not have any kayaking excursions that would allow us to visit the famous Captain Cook monument. For us, this was a must-do on our Kona list. Had we been staying on the island, we would have been able to visit Hilo and Kona and not miss out on our excursion.
4. Port Logistics. For how our family travels and the attractions we wanted to visit, it was not practical, affordable or efficient to book NCL excursions in every port. For example, in Maui, we wanted to do the Road to Hana, visit Waiʻanapanapa State Park and Paʻiloa Beach (popular black sand beach) all in the same day- that was only possible by renting a car and planning this by ourselves. As a result, we found ourselves renting cars in EVERY. SINGLE. PORT. In some areas, we even had to take an uber to get to the car pick-up location. This required reserving cars, on the right islands on the right days, at the right times. Even more difficult than reserving, was figuring out what to do with the cars in overnight ports when we were staying on the ship. There is no parking at the cruise port! Thankfully, Turo was a great resource, and I would recommend them for car rentals- 10/10.
5. Time. Seven days may seem like a long vacation, but it really was just enough for a sample of the islands- almost like island tapas, if you will. We spent the longest amount of time in Honolulu- the cruise port- staying extra days before and after the cruise. This gave us time to visit Pearl Harbor National Memorial, Diamond Head State Park, Kualoa Ranch, Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden and get in a surf lesson at Big Wave Dave’s in Waikiki Beach. We also had overnight ports in Maui and Kaua’i. While we definitely jam-packed adventures in each of these places, we also wished we’d had more time in all of the above. We loved getting a sample “taste” of all the islands, but a day or two in each is not enough to truly experience all the great things they have to offer.
The best thing about this trip was introducing us to the magic of the islands. I don’t recommend the NCL Pride of America, but Hawaii is a must-visit.