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American Hawaii

SS Independence

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Vikki Williamson
# previous cruises: 6
Date of Trip: September 22, 2001
Itinerary: Hawaii

Very old ship which is very close to being scrapped. Hard to maneuver since all elevators do not go to all decks. Confusing staircases as well. Keep your eye on the carpet...the fish are always swimming toward the front of the ship! The swimming pools cannot be used unless the ship is docked (too much sloshing)and it is only docked while you are in port. Lots of pitching and rolling and even the strongest had to use Dramamine. Old photo's are interesting but there is little attempt to make this ship pretty. She's an old and not particularly, good one.

The public area which is mostly used is the back deck. It is near the buffet area and small bar. A lot of silly games and demonstrations take place there. However, for those who care, there is no bingo or racing. The "showroom" is small with a low ceiling. The constitution bar is the prettiest of the four. The dining rooms are way below so no view but adequate space.

With no exaggeration whatsoever, we did not have one pleasant experience in the dining room. Had a table of 6 and nobody could eat the stuff. Became a running joke. We had late seating which may have accounted for some of the truly poor quality food. However, the service was just as bad. Not worth dressing for. The breakfast and lunch buffet's were adequate (edible) but very dull and boring.

We upgraded our cabin the minute we saw what we were assigned. We could have lived with the original cabin, but after taking 14 hours to get there, we wanted to splurge. (We flew there 11 days after the terrorism attack which accounted for an extra 5 hour layover in L.A.)The cabin we upgraded to was so nice we could have lived in it for months with no discomfort. Not especially attractive but spacious with an extra room (lanai) with hugh windows which opened. Dressing area for the lady, nice size bath, and bedroom with twin beds. Lots and lots of closet space. No noise from deck, hallway, or above. If you book this cruise, make an effort to get a cabin on the right side of the ship. Your view of Honolulu at night is great.

We attended one show in the evening. It consisted of 6 kids from a college of performing arts who "played to the last row". They were cute and you felt sorry for them dancing their feet off with the ship rolling.

There are activities offered each day for passenger participation. However, they are all conducted during the day when you are exploring the port. They could only be used by those people who stayed on the ship. Even the Don Ho show was at 6:00 P.M. and we were not scheduled to be back aboard until 8:00 P.M. We were unable to participate in anything. We rented a car on each island and really saw about everything we wanted to see. You could skip the car in Honolulu as the trams are wonderful and get you about everywhere you want to go. If you do want to rent a car, you can get wonderful internet rates before you leave home (or at a pay phone at each dock)instead of booking through the ship.

This is a middle income crowd. The majority "very down to earth" and friendly. Average age about 60 years. We felt very lucky to have such fun and friendly table mates. A few children you rarely saw. It was the youngest of the passengers (aged 30 or so) who had the most difficulty with the lack of late night activity (ends about 11:00 P.M.) No casino, of course. Very boring after 9:00 P.M. Don't go on this ship if you are interested in being entertained or eating fine food. You will be very disappointed.

Furthermore, you are advised that this itinerary and ship are not like a real cruise. You move only at night and wake up in port. There is no time at which you are moving during the day and can enjoy deck and activity time. It is very much like a ferry which you happen to sleep on and which is taking you from island to island. In fact, you have the feeling that the staff is all trying very hard to pretend it is a real cruise. Go on this trip if you want a "taste" of the 4 islands offered without having to lug your bags every where you go. We didn't pay much, didn't expect much, and sure didn't get much. Ever heard of anyone actually losing weight on a cruise? We did. Also, this is not an all American crew as publicized. It may, or may not be an all American staff. Security was very high getting back on the ship at each port.