My Mini-novel review of Cruise on Pride fo America; Sorry I can't reccommend it.

[CrusinAgain]

I think you did a great job of a thorough review being fair throughout. I'm sorry to read it wasn't to par which is why we are doing a round trip to Hawaii on Princess or HAL. I just have never read consistent good reviews on this ship.

[greenwichvillagegirl]

"Interesting" review. I am wondering why it was necessary to point out the fact that the gentleman at the front desk "helping" you was African American?

 

I WAS WONDERING THE SAME THING! I'm going on that same cruise in 4 weeks and am now utterly depressed!

[iheartbda]

I WAS WONDERING THE SAME THING! I'm going on that same cruise in 4 weeks and am now utterly depressed!

Why?:confused:

[GypRasc]

To anyone "bummed" and now not looking forward to this cruise I would like to give just a little advice. Not everyone comes back with a bad review. As a matter of fact I've read more good reviews on these boards than bad. That's not to say this poster didn't have a bad trip but I really got from this post that they went with the idea that this cruise was going to be just like any other cruise which it is not! I also have to wonder how much planning went into their trip since they didn't seem to realize about Roberts excursions until just before the cruise. Anyone that checks these posts out can see that there are dozens and dozens of tour companies that are reliable and much less expensive than the cruise lines.

 

I am not a picky person (I'm also not into gourmet type foods) and am going on this cruise with the belief that the food with be so so but that my "hotel" will be waiting for me at the end of the day and will take me to my next destination without incident. Night life on this ship is almost non-existent because most people tire themselves out on all the excursions they've done during the day trying to pack as much of Hawaii into their trip as possible. This is also why the daily activities are scheduled at basically the same time. Hardly anyone stays on the ship because they want to "see" Hawaii.

 

Keep checking out the posts and I think everyone will realize this may not be the "perfect" cruise but it certainly can be the "perfect" vacation if planned properly!

[Cubechick]

I WAS WONDERING THE SAME THING! I'm going on that same cruise in 4 weeks and am now utterly depressed!

 

I also say, "why"? I've never had a bad cruise and don't intend to have a bad one on the PoAm.

 

It seems the OP's biggest problem with the cruise was being questioned by the staff when they asked for something. I would take that as the staff member trying to figure out the best solution to the problem, not trying to be argumentative. For example when being quizzed as to whether an allergy was really an allergy or simply a taste preference I would interpret that as the person trying to figure out if I need my food prepped in a special area or not (like with peanut allergies, which can be deadly). When asking for my bill and being asked "why" I would think that the person was wondering if I thought there was a problem and was looking to offer to help if there was...granted a better question than a plain "why" would be "Do you think there's a discrepancy?"...;)

 

 

To each their own...

 

I'm going on this cruise to see Hawaii, and I'm sure the PoAm will deliver. :)

[Living in Paradise]

thanks for your great insight. You covered just about everything except one important question from my husband. Is there pizza (free?) on this ship? How was the ship's Luau? Is that good enough, or should we go to one on Oahu (we'll be there for 4 days prior and 3 days post cruise)? Thanks for taking so much of your time to help out the future sailors of the POAm.

Living in Paradise

[IWORK2CRUISE]

.

 

 

And the topper: (and this one still gnaws at me)

5.) My mother has severe food allergies and has for years. The first afternoon I asked the restaurant reservations desk who to call for her to make arrangements and they gave us a four didgit ship number to call. (I don’t know who it was to as my mother made the call.). The lady on the other end basically called my mother a liar. After explaining that she was allergic to garlic, ginger and most spices, the lady asked my mother: “are you really allergic to those items or is it that you just don’t like them and want a special menu?” (totally rude and arrogant manner according to my mother.) My mother, who is 81 and who I get my fighting nature from, replied: “its called colitis, why don’t you look that up and hope you never get it!” and hung up. She was very shaken by it because she had never been treated that way over her medical issues anyplace.

She didn’t tell me for a whole day and only after she suffered through the first dinner meal on the ship did I notice and ask what happened.

Luckily, we found a very nice Maitre’d who was working in Cadillac Diner and he helped give us the contact information for someone who could help and said that if she had any more problems to look him up and he would help. That night at dinner the Head Chef came out and spoke to my mother during dinner and brought her the menu for the next night (Lobster night) and took a special order for her for the next night!

While I can't really say for NCL America, I do know that with NCL they are VERY accomodating with food alergies and special diets. You are requested to contact them in advance of the cruise and then meet with a representative once on-board.

[flashdog_1]

Thank you for the review. Although your experience on PofAm was totally different from mine in Nov/Dec last year maybe because of the size of your group and I only had my DD. My review is in my signature if you'd care to read it.

[Obi1]

.

 

 

And the topper: (and this one still gnaws at me)

5.) My mother has severe food allergies and has for years. The first afternoon I asked the restaurant reservations desk who to call for her to make arrangements and they gave us a four didgit ship number to call. (I don’t know who it was to as my mother made the call.). The lady on the other end basically called my mother a liar. After explaining that she was allergic to garlic, ginger and most spices, the lady asked my mother: “are you really allergic to those items or is it that you just don’t like them and want a special menu?” (totally rude and arrogant manner according to my mother.) My mother, who is 81 and who I get my fighting nature from, replied: “its called colitis, why don’t you look that up and hope you never get it!” and hung up. She was very shaken by it because she had never been treated that way over her medical issues anyplace.

She didn’t tell me for a whole day and only after she suffered through the first dinner meal on the ship did I notice and ask what happened.

Luckily, we found a very nice Maitre’d who was working in Cadillac Diner and he helped give us the contact information for someone who could help and said that if she had any more problems to look him up and he would help. That night at dinner the Head Chef came out and spoke to my mother during dinner and brought her the menu for the next night (Lobster night) and took a special order for her for the next night!

While I can't really say for NCL America, I do know that with NCL they are VERY accomodating with food alergies and special diets. You are requested to contact them in advance of the cruise and then meet with a representative once on-board.

 

There is a link on NCL's website to their ACCESS desk/dept. I contacted them because I have diabetes and have special requirements.

I contacted them and they responded back to me in about 2-3 days. I was also sent a 3-page questionairre to fill out and return so they knew exactly what my requests were. There is a "special diet" section for "severe allergies or special dietary request". There is also an "other comments" section where you can expand on your dietary requests (or other needs).

I returned the form and then sent an email to be sure the access desk received it. The access desk did receive my form and in their email stated that I should meet with the Restaurant Manager to discuss my needs.

NCL is very willing to work with you.

[Montalbano]

Although I've never been on the POAm and probably never will be either, I read your interesting review because I like to read how different people experience different cruises.

 

In general, I like your review. What I don't understand are the 5 points that made it that you do not recommend this cruise.

I think, that if you feel that strong about these situations, you should have addressed them at the ship, instead of only on CC. NCL cannot do a thing about it anymore, and I'm pretty sure that some of them just were a misunderstanding or miscommunication (as is the case with most things one can get irritated about).

[DMH15]

Absolutely a fantastic review!! It was so good to read. Im sorry but I had to laugh about the lady in the Aloha cafe with the beef. I thought you handled that very well lol

Thanks again for a great review!

 

This sounds exactly like the lady who was serving in the Tapas Bar on the Sun last year. Someone on CC had said you can make a meal of those appetizers, (I think it was Nita)... well on our cruise, you'd starve if you were trying to do that. I went up to get snacks for our group of four. She gave me four small meatballs. Each time I went up it was one more. I had to ask for a second. Well, I don't know about you, but three meatballs about the size of a quarter is no dinner... we gave up and went elsewhere.... I think the Sports Bar.

[DMH15]

OP: You obvuiously went to a lot of trouble in writing and presenting your review. Thank you for your efforts. You did present a lot of positives with the negatives. That's good.

 

But, if I am reading right, you did not address your mother's dietary issues until on-board. I would have made an effort to do this prior to the cruise. Perhaps the outcome would have been more to yoru liking.

 

I hope your next cruise is great. If you have not tried X, they are great. They are my second favorite.

[Planer's Edge]

This sounds exactly like the lady who was serving in the Tapas Bar on the Sun last year. Someone on CC had said you can make a meal of those appetizers, (I think it was Nita)... well on our cruise, you'd starve if you were trying to do that. I went up to get snacks for our group of four. She gave me four small meatballs. Each time I went up it was one more. I had to ask for a second. Well, I don't know about you, but three meatballs about the size of a quarter is no dinner... we gave up and went elsewhere.... I think the Sports Bar.

 

I have been in Las Ramblas (tapas bar on Sun) many times. Their serving sizes usually reflected how busy the bar was. When it was quite busy the servers did seem a little stingy with the portions. Other times when it was not very busy they were very generous with the portions.

 

Although this food outlet was meant as just a place to have a snack with a cocktail and company, I understand some people try to make a meal out it. As you said, you opted for the Sports Bar which is more attuned to this type of leisurely "dining" which is similar to Blue Lagoon on other ships.

 

PE

[cashflow]

You said that you had 3 mini vans from Roberts in Maui---did they drive you around ( & you requested the mini vans) or did you rent them & drive them yourself?

[DAGVBSB]

You said that you had 3 mini vans from Roberts in Maui---did they drive you around ( & you requested the mini vans) or did you rent them & drive them yourself?

 

 

When you rent Mini-vans from Roberts, you are actually renting them from Hertz. BUT, we found that it was cheaper to rent through Roberts than directly through Hertz. (Mini-vans with taxes through Hertz were running about $140 while Roberts was $85 plus taxes and fees. I paid $102 per van after all that. I rented one, my brother in law rented one and our friend rented one.

 

The Hertz van picked us up at the pier and drove us about 3 miles to their office. We did minimal paperwork and off we went back to the pier to pick up the other 15 members of our party. We then drove ourselves around Maui as I have been there twice and found Maui extremely easy to drive around. We drove ourselves to the Ocean Center, Iao Needle and Lahania.

 

No tour guides for that day or the rental in Kauai.

 

Now we did schedule a private tour through Roberts when we returned to Oahu. We got a mini-bus for 8 hours and driver to take us whereever we wanted to go on Sunday after the cruise. Picked us up at our hotel at 7:00 and dropped us off there at 3:00 p.m. The cost was about $1000 and divided by the 15 adults, came out to just under $70 a person.

 

The tours that Roberts and the other companies offered in Oahu didn't give us as much time as we wanted at Dole Plantation, so we created our own tour.... Pearl Harbor from 7:00 - 10:15; Dole from 11:00 to 1:30 and a city tour of Honolulu from 2:00 to 3:00. It was a great tour.

[DAGVBSB]

But, if I am reading right, you did not address your mother's dietary issues until on-board. I would have made an effort to do this prior to the cruise. Perhaps the outcome would have been more to yoru liking.

 

 

 

Did that for our Dawn cruise in 2006. We were told that since it was an isolated dietary need we would have to talk to the chef or food service manager once we got onboard. (of course, you know my opinion of NCL Customer Service...)

 

This time, we didn't even try because of the past experiences. (on the Star in 2005, all of the advance discussion did nothing...the people on the ship never got information on the dietary issues from corporate from before we arrived.)

 

 

But on the Dawn, we found a fantastic Maitre'd named Sonny the very first night. (he worked in Cagney's but most recent word is that he is now in LeBistro.). Sonny made it his business the rest of the week to make sure mom was taken care of... calling Maitre'd's in advance and helping to plan her menu. On the day of Great Stirrup Cay, the did not go ashore and when the went to lunch in the buffet, the menu was limited and there was nothing for mom to eat. Sonny was working the buffet and quickly had the chef prepare a special meal for her. He was the best. We had a similar success story on the Star in 2005, just not with one person. (The POA in 2004 was just terrible in the food department all the way around so we don't use that as a measuring stick...lol)

 

The problem on the POAm was until we found a Maitre'd and a couple waiters who actually understood mom's problem (which wasn't until Monday), she hardly ate except at Breakfast.

 

Like I said, I know we should have addressed the rude lady on the phone as soon as it happened but mom didn't get her name and had thrown away the card with phone number. (and she didn't tell me for two days....)

[spacepotatoes]

How was the ship's Luau? Is that good enough, or should we go to one on Oahu (we'll be there for 4 days prior and 3 days post cruise)? Thanks for taking so much of your time to help out the future sailors of the POAm.

Living in Paradise

 

I didn't see an answer to this question yet so I thought I'd chime in. We did not go to the ship's luau when we were on POA last year, though we spoke with several people who did go and enjoyed it. Since you are going to be spending extra time in Oahu, my recommendation would be to take a day and head up to the Polynesian Cultural Centre (on the northeastern side of the island). It's fun to explore and in the evening, they put on a luau and show. The luau is nice and the food is pretty standard luau fare - good, but a bit bland (I heard the same comments about the ship's luau as well). What makes it wortwhile is the evening show. The PPC does a fantastic job, they put on a great show. You can book directly through the PCC website and they will provide transportatin, or you can book through several private tour companies as well. One thing you should know, in case it is a deal-breaker for you, is that the PCC is run by the Oahu campus of Brigham Young University and so they do not serve alcohol on the premises. Hope this helps!

 

The the OP, I'm sorry your cruise did not go as you'd hoped. I actually had the opposite experience - great time on the ship and not such a good experience with Roberts. Hope your next vacation is a great one, wherever your travels take you :)

[DAGVBSB]

I didn't see an answer to this question yet so I thought I'd chime in. We did not go to the ship's luau when we were on POA last year, though we spoke with several people who did go and enjoyed it. Since you are going to be spending extra time in Oahu, my recommendation would be to take a day and head up to the Polynesian Cultural Centre (on the northeastern side of the island). It's fun to explore and in the evening, they put on a luau and show. The luau is nice and the food is pretty standard luau fare - good, but a bit bland (I heard the same comments about the ship's luau as well). What makes it wortwhile is the evening show. The PPC does a fantastic job, they put on a great show. You can book directly through the PCC website and they will provide transportatin, or you can book through several private tour companies as well. One thing you should know, in case it is a deal-breaker for you, is that the PCC is run by the Oahu campus of Brigham Young University and so they do not serve alcohol on the premises. Hope this helps!

 

:)

 

 

I second your story on all fronts. We did not go to the ships luau in spite of the fact that they overhype it on board. I just have a problem with paying for dinner during a cruise that you have already paid for. (same reason I tend to avoid the overpriced specialty restaurants like Jefferson's Bistro and Lazy J Steakhouse.

 

I heard mixed opinions on the Luau. Some loved it (in fact most loved the entertainment... it was the meal that was so-so) and others thought it was overpriced for what you got.

 

Of course, if you stay on the ship on Luau night, it is not very crowded and you can pretty much go to any dining venue any time you want. (exception being Tepperanaki). We really enjoyed a relaxing night on the ship that night.

We also went to the PCC and have been there twice. It is a great experience where you have a good time and learn alot about polynesian cultural while helping to pay for education for students who might not otherwise be able to afford it.