NCL POA - what is NOT included?

[kaymoz]

We just signed up to sail the Hawaiian Islands on NCL's Pride of America (POA), and are excited about the fantastic itinerary at such a great price. 

 

We are new to NCL, with our most recent cruise on Oceania last summer on an 824 passenger ship.   This line routinely provides lots of "frills,"  even for those not in a fancy cabin category.  (As examples, we enjoyed the fresh berries every morning at breakfast, courtesy water bottles for passengers on their way off the ship every day, and no queuing for disembarkation.)   Prior to sailing with O, we did the Transatlantic crossing with Cunard in 2015, and before that was too long ago to matter. 

 

For our upcoming cruise on POA, we want to plan appropriately and manage our expectations.  (Yes, we want to undo mentally some of that Oceania spoiling!)  We'd appreciate any advice, such as what is included/what is not included, the extras that are available/worth it/not worth it, when we will have to wait in lines for things, what might typically run out, etc.  

Edited December 28, 2018 by kaymoz
acronym decoding

[BirdTravels]

You will be in a US port every day (twice overnight) 

 

Freestyle dining - show to a main dining room when you want 

 

Specialty Dining - requires reservations made 120 days prior to cruise (130 days for suites) 

 

No beverages can be brought onboard except wine with a corkage fee for every bottle

 

Pay for bottle water

 

Pay for soda (included in beverage package if you have it)

 

Pay for specialty coffee

 

Pay a service charge for room service (except for free continental breakfast)

 

Rooms have liquid soap / body wash dispensers / shampoo dispensers of generic (non-branded) in bathroom

 

A la carte pricing in Specialty Restaurants 

 

20% mandatory gratuity on purchased beverage, dining, spa. 

 

Queue for disembarkation 

[kaymoz]

Thanks for such a comprehensive description! 

 

Is there a place on the ship where complimentary non-specialty coffee and tea are always available?

[BirdTravels]

Buffet when it is open

 

Caddilac diner is open 24 hours 

 

[pabeachie]

We are also going on POA next fall, and are new to NCL.  Can anyone give me any tips about doing excursions on your own if we rent a car?  Also, any other tips would be great, as to the specialty dining restaurants, buffet, diner.

Thanks.

[The Other Tom]

On 12/28/2018 at 10:43 AM, BirdTravels said:

Specialty Dining - requires reservations made 120 days prior to cruise (130 days for suites) 

 

I think you meant to say it's possible to make advanced reservations but not "required".  We've always waited to make reservations once on the ship, but, of course, you take your chances with times if you wait that long.

[papa B me]

17 hours ago, The Other Tom said:

 

I think you meant to say it's possible to make advanced reservations but not "required".  We've always waited to make reservations once on the ship, but, of course, you take your chances with times if you wait that long.

 

We will be on the POA the end of February.  We decided to wait and make reservations on board.  When you made your reservations on board were you in a suite?  We are in the DOS and wondered if it helps having the butler to make the reservations when you get on board to get the times you want. 

[The Other Tom]

2 hours ago, papa B me said:

 

We will be on the POA the end of February.  We decided to wait and make reservations on board.  When you made your reservations on board were you in a suite?  We are in the DOS and wondered if it helps having the butler to make the reservations when you get on board to get the times you want. 

 

No, not a suite.  Just a "regular" cabin.  No Latitude status either.  As I said, the reservation times were somewhat limited.  We like to eat early and had no problem but the popular times were already booked.

[Aprille]

3 hours ago, papa B me said:

We are in the DOS and wondered if it helps having the butler to make the reservations when you get on board to get the times you want. 

 

The concierge can make dining reservations for you and you will likely get the times you want (or close to it). Best chance is to go and speak with the concierge on embarkation day. If you wait until later in the week you can probably still get reservations but maybe not the time you want.

[MSEm]

We cruised the POA on the Jan 12 sailing. We booked it to see the other islands.

It will be very different from your Oceania cruise.  The food will NOT be of the same quality.

The Omelettes in the cafe was good, but fresh OJ was an extra charge. Ice cream at the Ice cream shop was all extra charge. We ate in the dining room on deck 5 in the evening.  Several people ordered the grilled steak. They call complained that the steaks were tough. I was shocked that the bread was cold. Wines will be very expensive.

Our cabin steward was great. Dining room service was good. Most of the cafe service were good.

All beverages in the cafe will be self serve. There is a coffee cafe with snacks and coffees, all for an extra charge.

Room service is limited and has a $7.95 convenience fee. The refrigerator in the cabin is fully stocked with soft drinks, wine, water all at an extra change.

We had booked a balcony cabin. The shower was small and there was 1 small area for storage in the bath.

The closet was OK, The balcony on 2 plastic chairs. The desk did not have a draw to storage hair brush, hair clips, etc.

We did enjoy the cruise and seeing the islands. It was our first vacation to Hawaii but I do not expect to cruise again with NCL.

Our next 2 cruises will be on Viking Ocean.

[kaymoz]

OP here, and we actually just returned from our cruise which was a good experience all around.  The staff all seemed attentive and I thought the ship facilities were very good overall.  I loved the color continuity of turquoise for the striped pool towels, the lounge chairs, and the bathroom interiors (at least in our cabin).  I know it's a small thing, but it shows the attention to detail in planning that I appreciated.  Again and again, I saw management seeking and responding to passenger feedback--a great sign.  We didn't expect the food to be as good as with Oceania, but it wasn't bad, tho the service in the MDRs was very slow for two of the three dinners we had there.   

 

I did miss a few of the nice touches with Oceania -- afternoon tea every day in the lounge with live classical music,  and easy accessibility to comfortable outdoor dining from the buffet, with waitstaff service for beverages and incidentals.  On the POA it's a really long trek, so I found most hot foods had cooled by the time I sat down to eat, and the servers only clear tables and do alcohol bar service.  Nevertheless, I would recommend the POA for its incomparable itinerary, and would sail with NCL again, with the right destinations & price.

[Pittypatbr]

Thank you, Kaymoz.  You answered some questions in my mind.  Would you share any specialty dining experiences you had?

[kaymoz]

The best meal we had was in Jefferson’s Bistro — fine food options & preparation with good service in delightful surroundings. We dined in East Meets West one night and while it wasn’t easy to get in there, we weren’t that impressed.  However when we tried Tepanyaki the next night (which is a seperate room inside East Meets West) we were blown away!  The showmanship by our chef was fantastic, and luckily we did it early in the week so when we learned that he’d be making omelets on Friday, we could stop by his station for another look at the master at work!