About us: We are two semi retired educators in our mid-60's who love to travel. We've logged 70,000+ miles on Amtrak and ViaRail Canada and have traveled the entire length of the Mississippi River on steamboats but had never taken a cruise. This one had been on our bucket list for years, so we decided it was time to go for it! Overall we had a wonderful time! Given some of the reviews we read our expectations were not all that high, so I will say our experience exceeded our expectations (it's Hawaii for pete sake!). Like any experience there are pros and cons, and these are ours based on no prior experience or anything else to compare it to:
Pre-Cruise-We stayed at the Waikiki Marriott the night before and it was fantastic! We had an ocean view room with a balcony that faced Diamond Head. There was a great poolside grill where we ate dinner (good food, reasonable drinks). It is literally steps from the beach (simply cross the street and you are there). There is a Norwegian check in desk in the lobby. The hotel staff was super and we got our information from the cruise desk regarding the time our shuttle to the ship would leave. You tag your luggage and leave it in the room and they pick it up for you. I only kept a tote with our travel docs and had them take everythng else. This went great! Had breakfast at the Starbucks in the lobby then hung out until our shuttle left. This process was easy and lots to enjoy. Recommend spending the night before you embark...otherwise you'll be grumpy. That good nights sleep did wonders for our disposition!
EMBARKATION: Very smooth! A LOT of people needing to check in but the check in point was well staffed and all went smoothly. We went onto the ship and (against advice from other reviews) went to the Aloha for the buffet. Because we only had the small tote getting around was easy. We did not find the buffet overly chaotic. It was crowded but there was an ample variety of fresh food and choices to suit any taste. (more on food later). We ate our lunch then went to explore the ship. We found a deck outside of the Aloha and hung out until they called that our cabin was ready. We only had to kill about 2 hours and the cabin was ready sooner than we had expected! This process went very smoothly. Our luggage arrived quite soon after we got to our cabin and we unpacked and settled in. More about our cabin (with pictures) later.
Our cabin was great! Felt really spacious to us (we were used to roomettes on the train) and lots of storage. Our cabin steward was perfect! Kept our cabin supplied with towels and super clean. He came twice a day and we would not have been more pleased. You can call and extension to get him if you need him, but we just left sticky notes. The bed was a king. They provide beach towels and you can take them off the ship so no need to bring your own. The shower is small but it has a french shower head and is designed to be adequate. There is a clothesline in the shower to hang up wet gear. The balcony is super nice with two chairs, two ottomans and a small table. You will want a balcony for this cruise. I have included some pictures and suggestions of things we found helpful.