I haven't gone on this cruise.... yet :-)
It's the only American flagged mainstream cruise ship with a staff that's also mostly American.
The best place to start learning about the PoA would be on Cruise Critic.
They have an NCL specific forum as well as member reviews (over 900 of them) of the ship and experiences.

Sounds like a great idea. Have fun planning!

Pride of America Overview

Pride of America Reviews

NCL Forum on Cruise Critic

Thanks, I'll look at that website!

We've cruised with kids, but took a week cruise in the Caribbean, not Hawaii. Our daughter was 9 at the time and was bored after 2 days on the ship.

As far as Hawaii goes, we stayed for 7 days at the Grand Hyatt Kauai and absolutely loved it. Our kids loved it, too. We then flew to Oahu and spent three days at a high rise hotel right on the beach in Honolulu and did not like it at all. Too crowded, congested traffic and too many tall buildings (for us).
Lynn

We've been to Oahu twice this year, seven and eight days at a time. The first time we stayed in a high rise hotel in Honolulu. Very nice accommodations, but be aware if you rent a vehicle, as Lynn said, the traffic is horrible and you have to pay for valet service. At $30 a night plus the cost of the rental it was so not worth it.
The second time (last week) we stayed with our daughter at their home on Hickham AFB and did baby night and morning duty for our 9 month old granddaughter, giving our daughter and son-in-law a break. It was a much more pleasant stay.

We enjoy cruising - have cruised about 5 times in the Caribbean. I know it's not for everyone, but my Mom LOVES it and we've been going with her about once per year since my Dad died. The NCL cruise out of Honolulu has been highly recommended to us as a great, somewhat stress-free, way to see Hawaii - especially the first time. Accommodations and many meals, which I understand can be expensive in Hawaii, are taken care of on the ship. You get a couple of days or so at several islands, so probably a great introduction to the area.

We've actually talked about doing this cruise possibly in the fall of 2015. Cruise Critic is a great resource for cruisers.

...meant to add, here are some recent Pride of America reviews from members of Cruise Critic. In general, reviews seem to be very positive, the majority ranging from 4 - 5+ stars.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cruise Critic reviews