Flight plans: best to make ur own if it is best NCL got a great rate and if ur ok with backtracking 1200 mi and a 3hr layover in Denver and a 7hr flight from there to Honolulu no problem. Actually the flight was ok and the GKids ages 9 and 11 were pretty good and handled it well cuz Grandma prepared with crayons and colour books in a carryon bag.

Embarkation Honolulu: This was a breeze, not sure if because of our afternoon arrival, no waiting, very short lines, very efficient, everything taken care of right there, stateroom card and picture, then just walk onboard. The staff inthe atrium were very helpful in directing us to our stateroom. total time from airport to stateroom less than 45 min.

The Ship:Layout is fairly simple but can be confusing to some as it seems that clubs and such seem scattered all over the place. GKids had ship figured out within the first day. Found their way from stateroom to pools right off. GParents took a little longer. pools and hottubs are deck 11 along with Aloha buffet 2 pools one a deep pool about 8ft deep theother a semi wading pool about 4ft deep at its deepest 4 hot tubs 1 at each corner of the pools, also a pool and hot tub aft on deck 12, sports decks and kids clubs and spa above that. Main dining rooms Skyline and Liberty are 1 deck each one above the other on decks 5 & 6 aft. Pay restaurants are also on 5 & 6, If u want more info NCL's website has a good layout of the ship.
Staterooms: Insides small with few amenities, shower cap, shoe rag and small bottle of hand lotion, soap and shampoo in dispensers. 1, 2 door closet, desk with mirror and 2 drawers and a good size hair dryer mounted to wall beside mirror, demi bar with 2drawers and refridge above 2 shelves and 2 drawers below. Standard toilet and shower. Beds were adequate if not somewhat cotlike suitcases stored underneath quite well. Did like the full length mirror on the wall outside the bath. Did get a peek at a side balcony stateroom and it did not look much larger than our inside tho not sure. rooms adequate but not Carnival good.

Freestyle Dining: Ain't nothing free about it. Found it most inconvient to have to make reservations for everything. they have monitors that supposedly show the status of all the restaurants but don't believe them u cannot just walk in even tho they show no waiting times and even with a res. u may have to wait. Main dining rooms groups of 5 + must make reservations and they are for when they have an opening not at ur convenience. The three nites we did dine in the mains our reservs were most inconvient 1st nite showed up 7:30 with a reserv cuz we did not know u needed one and had a 45min wait, 2nd time got one for 8pm got confirmed for 8:30 showed up at 8:10 and were told we were late, kuckily they had not given our table away, both reserv times caused us to miss all the shows and our 3rd altho early 6pm came just when we were cruising by the magnificent Na Pali coast line on Kuaui. Did get to get up from our anniversary dinner and go outside and take some pics then
come back in to lukewarm food, not restaurants fault tho, due to mechanical problems causing us to leave Kuaui port late. Thank God for the Aloha buffet, most meals eaten here, breakfast was eaten on what is known as the Aloha lanai outdoors aft. Itinary is so port heavy lunch was ashore most of the time. Food in both dining rooms and Aloha buffet was good but not anything to write home about. Unfortunate result of freestyle dining is that u don't get to know the waitestaff.

Specialty Restaurants:don't know what they were like could'nt get a reservation as we did'nt get to ship until around 4pm Sat. and they were already all booked up for the whole cruise so book early, but that was ok cuz did'nt really want to pay extra. same for the Little Italy free restaurant, but it was frustrating to go by and see empty tables and still not be able to be seated. by the way window tables in the main dining rooms were for 2, larger groups 5+ in the middle of the room. also note they do not take reservs for less than 5 u just show up and hope they can seat u. Also note the Key West bar and grill on deck 12 and the Cadillac Diner on 6 are 2 of the best eats on the ship, KW serves burgers, hot dogs and sausage doges and a special like BBQ ribs or sandwich from 2pm to 6pm. Cadillac Diner serves typical 50s diner fare and is open from 5am to 3am burgers and fries, fish and chips, meatloaf and mashed taters and such for free and shakes and maltsand sundaes and
such for a fee about $3.If u like the fare at the specialty rests. I heard they were quite good but remember to make resrevations as soon as u get on the ship.

Itinary: Outstanding. Overnites on both Maui and Kuaui. Rented a van in Hilo on the big Island, in Maui, and Honolulu on departure day as our flt home was'nt leaving til 10:15pm.
Bought 2 ship shoretours Molikini snorkel and Golf outing on Kuaui. On Maui a trip to Lahina is a must where we found that most of the tours offered by NCL are available there for about half the price or less. We saw the Molikini snorkel for about $30/person instead of the $99/person the ship charges, the Atlantis Sub for $29 vs the $99 on the ship, of course u have to get there, but there are busses.All the car rental agencies have transport at the piers at each port.

Onboard Entertainment: Did'nt get to see much due to overnites and reservation problems. Did see the Magician and he was good so assume the other shows were also.
Pools and hot tubs were crowded but not overly so, were able to swim and soak pretty much whenever we wanted to. Also got crewman to open hot tub early in morn to soothe my sore back. One of the reasons we chose the Pride of America was because they have a bungee tramp for the kids disappointed it was only open for an hour each day. It also seemed that alot of stuff closed down somewhat early outside bars and such.
Kids Club: paid $80 for 2 kids packs, they had a pop bracelet,ballcap,tee, colour book & crayons, and backpack, signed GKids up for age appropiatekids club activities. They went once. Spent most of the time on board in the pool or video game room. Speaking of the pop card $52 for 7 day cruise, brought on own Pepsi, ship uses only Coke products.
All the ports had a Wal-mart with free transport to and from the pier which was nice, as GDaughter needed shoes for dining rooms and did'nt bring any, still trying to figure what actually constitutes RESORT CASUAL, obviously not shorts, tees, sandals.
Actually needed to refill a prescription on Maui and in the process found out that the W-M
there had a great selection of made in Hawaii clothes, 100% Kona coffee, and cheezy trinkets galore plus some real finds at great W-M prices and of course being retired W-M associates we have permanent discount cards. Whoopee!

Crew: Its supposed to to be all American, but our room steward said she was originally from the Phillipines but uses a Guam addy. She was very attentive to our every need and our ice bucket was always full. The rest of the service was nothing more than what was expected. A big drawback to freestyle dining is different waiters all the time so who do u tip extra, sorry to say no one on the wait staff. Room steward did get a little extra tho.

Disembarkation: Just as easy as embarkation with plentyof time for breakfast. Left the ship around 9am to pick up our car for the day, found our bags no problem. By the way don't get sucked into the EASY FLY, read all the fine print and u will find it costs $20/person extrano one mentions that before hand so, buyer beware, some thot it was worth it to have bags taken care of all the way to the plane and tickets in hand when u leave the ship. I did'nt.

All in all the cruise was unremarkable except for the Islands, Paradise found. For us Carnival cruisers it was all the little things we found annoying, small rooms, stuff not being wiped down everyday windows not being washed. Oh yeah the whole cruise the passageways had a pervasive scent of sewage in the air. A room steward told me it had been like that for about 2 months.

So at this time if I was asked if I would recommend NCLA's Pride of America: NO!
Would I rec. her ininary: Definately YES!
?s welcome
Fair winds and following seas. John