While I wouldn’t compare our honeymoon cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America in Hawaii to the Titanic, it definitely came in at a close second.

This same ship left 600 people behind, who were lined up and ready to board at Hilo just two weeks later, as a tsunami was heading their way a few hours later. Can you believe they left families that were split apart and begging to get on the ship?

Thank goodness for the kind people of the island, who sheltered and fed them over night while The Pride of America sailed away leaving these people stranded at the dock while their desperate families were watching from the rails.

Our Hawaiian cruise was doomed from the moment we stepped into the dreary Norwegian Cruise Line’s warehouse in Honolulu last July. We were waiting to embark on our extremely expensive cruise on the Pride of America ship.

I never could understand how Vacations To Go, could charge that so much while other passengers paid far less as we found out during our cruise. I guess there are scammers everywhere! Think twice before booking anything through Vacations to Go.

This was Steve’s first cruise and my 6th one. I was excited to compare it to my prior wonderful experiences on Celebrity and Carnival. I have gone on Alaskan, Caribbean and Mexican Riveria cruises. I had lovely rooms and was often upgraded to suites, on every cruise but I never paid as much as this one. I knew this NCL cruise was going to be very special based on the price alone.

Unfortunately this cruise was a complete bomb from the moment we boarded. This small ship that was old and garishly decorated even though it had just gone through dry dock remodeling. I felt like I was at a patriotic convention with over the top red, white and blue decor on every inch of the ship, it had none of the tasteful decor of a Celebrity ship with lovely art displays.

We ate some lunch while we waited to get into our “luxurious” cabin we had been promised when booking through Vacations to Go. The “welcome buffet” was anything but welcoming. It did not come close to comparing to any of my other cruises I had been on. I was shocked at just how horrible the ship looked. It was like staying at the Excalibur in Vegas instead of the Bellagio. The food and drinks were at the very same level too. Except for the Starbucks drinks that were extra.

A few hours of exploring led to walking into our cabin that was tjny, old and reeked of mold. We immediately went to customer service and stated that we needed a different room due to my severe mold allergies and respiratory problems.

Two officers eventually came to assist the kind but flustered customer service representative and the officers were very rude and refused to help in any way. Many other people were complaining at the same time, and we eventually were told we could disembark if we didn’t like the room, but would have to leave within 30 minutes. They told us we would not be entitled to any refund if we did decide to leave.

So we decided to stay on board. We just didn’t have time to gather our bags and get off in the 30 minute allowed window. This became one of the biggest mistakes we have ever made. It just went screaming downhill after that decision.

These officers were basically threatening us in public while many other people were complaining about similar problems. We asked that they remediate the problem and shortly afterwards they came to the cabin and sprinkled carpet fresh powder to COVER UP the mold smell, not remediate it.

That was why the whole ship reeked of perfumed cover up powder. Every day we saw the cleaning crews pouring this powder everywhere. This was like putting “lipstick on a pig” rather than just remediating the mold issues.

As time went by and we began our “luxury” Hawaiian island hopping cruise, I felt sick, I couldn’t breath and I was trapped on an old moldy ship ready for the patriotic convention….red, white, blue and ugly.

We rushed off the ship at every island, anxious to explore and eat some good food. At night we went from one specialty restaurant to another on board but the nightmare continued. Everyone we spoke to said the exact same thing, where is the high quality food we are paying extra for?

Whoever in their food management thought they could sneak soy replacement into their grilled burgers and other foods should be fired. This was nothing in comparison to what we had experienced with the exceptional food served by Celebrity and Carnival.

After being on board for a few days, we realized it wasn’t just our cabin that had mold, but the entire ship. The only safe place was outside on the pool deck with fresh air. Even with that, my allergies got worse, and I was miserable. Halfway through the week, l woke up to red itchy spots on the side I sleep on, A local urgent care on Kawaii diagnosed that I had bed bug bites compliments of our ship, the “Pride of America.” Pride doesn’t seem like a word I would ever use to describe Norwegian Cruise Lines.

This 20 year old ship has a long history of employees and passengers falling overboard to their deaths, many other horrible mishaps, and it even sunk on its virgin launch. Things certainly have not improved much over the years.

Even the employees were sick from the mold on our cruise, but if they complained to their supervisors, they were terminated, so kept their mouths shut. The passengers were complaining from the moment they boarded until the week from hell was over. As we stood in line to disembark, one person after another was complaining loudly while the officers ignored them and rushed them off the ship.

While we were on board, we met with the captain, the officer in charge of customer relations and the officer in charge of food service, and the talk was cheap and worthless. The stewards tried to make us as comfortable as much as they could, but when we pulled the suitcases out from under our bed at the end, they reeked of mold.

A few days after our cruise, we filed reports with the Hawaii tourism board, the maritime department and Norwegian Cruise Lines administrative offices, they offered a $1,000 credit towards another cruise. No explanation of our unbearable experiences onboard.

But guess what was the best part of our cruise? I got to visit three different Emergency Room’s/Urgent Cares as a result of my bed bug bites and mold allergies from our week on the Pride of America.

My advise is to NEVER book a cruise through Vacations to Go with Norwegian Cruise Lines and never step on board the Pride of America. It is considered one of the worst experiences by seasoned cruisers and has a horrible reputation. The only reason people go on this cruise, is because it’s the only choice for cruising the islands. My advice is to take a great cruise on another cruise line, then fly to each island and stay for however long you want.

Please take my advice and DO NOT cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America. The Titanic cruise was undoubtedly more fun…..until the Iceberg.

I hope that you will join me on this crusade for Social Injustice. Look for opportunities to right the wrongs in this chaotic world of crisis around us right now.

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