Grand New England Cruise this month or early July?

[twototravel]

We are taking our first cruise with ACL in mid July on the Constitution out of Boston. Would love to see a review or just general observations from folks departing prior to us. Looks like first one departs 14 June. Would also be interested in how the pre-night at the Four Seasons is. The restaurant mentioned in the itinerary for breakfast the day of embarkation appears to be closed. 

[tipsygirl]

We are taking this cruise on July 4th, with 2 nights  precruise in Boston. We booked another hotel instead of the Four Seasons. We would also appreciate any feedback from others sailing before us.

[twototravel]

I will answer one of my own questions. I contacted the 4 Seasons in Boston and they set up a private breakfast area for ACL passengers.

[twototravel]

On 6/3/2021 at 4:54 PM, tipsygirl said:

We are taking this cruise on July 4th, with 2 nights  precruise in Boston. We booked another hotel instead of the Four Seasons. We would also appreciate any feedback from others sailing before us.

Tipsygirl - anxiously awaiting your comments/review of your cruise. Hope most things are running smoothly for you and your ship. 

[DavidHRC]

I will be on the Aug 3 sailing, and will report in a separate thread.

[twototravel]

DavidHRC - I depart on July 23rd. 

[tipsygirl]

We just left the Constitution this morning. It was not the cruise we had hoped for. I will provide more details when we get home. We had booked the Revolutionary War cruise for October, also on the Constitution, but we will be canceling.

[twototravel]

4 hours ago, tipsygirl said:

We just left the Constitution this morning. It was not the cruise we had hoped for. I will provide more details when we get home. We had booked the Revolutionary War cruise for October, also on the Constitution, but we will be canceling.

Sorry to hear this. I was hoping this crew would get their act together after a couple of sailings. There is probably one more sailing before ours. Keeping my fingers crossed for no major glitches.

[DarthCruiser]

On 7/14/2021 at 10:43 AM, tipsygirl said:

We just left the Constitution this morning. It was not the cruise we had hoped for. I will provide more details when we get home. We had booked the Revolutionary War cruise for October, also on the Constitution, but we will be canceling.

Anxious to hear your thoughts as we have the August 13 voyage booked.   Sorry it was not the cruise you hoped it would be.

[tango223]

We are currently on the ship & we are very very disappointed in the cleanliness of the ship, lack of service & mediocre food. This morning they didn’t have any orange juice for breakfast.  
 

We still don’t have pillowcases on three of the four pillows. They replaced the pillow covers so we have clean ones, but they don’t have any pillowcases.  Our room didn’t have soap, shampoos nor towels. We had to call 4 times to get them. There were crumbs on the floor so we had to have it vacuumed!  We aren’t the only ones with issues as we had a few meals with others to learn of their problems too.

 

While I understand the staffing storage, they should not book the cruise at full capacity. 

 

We were thinking about their lower Mississippi cruise, but it depended on this experience, Net net, this is our first & last American Cruise !
 

 

[DarthCruiser]

Sorry you are having a bad experience @tango223.  This will be our first trip on ACL as well.  As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression.  The reports so far are seriously dampening my expectations.  😟  Hope the situation improves for you!

[twototravel]

@tango223 Wow! I bet when we hear from @tipsygirl they will have had the same bad experience. Are you going to complain to ACL upon disembarkation?  Has the crew/Captain/Purser said anything about all the issues to the passengers? We are on the next one leaving on the 24th. Doesn't look like any improvements are happening. This will be our first ACL cruise and were also thinking of booking another with the discounts they give you while aboard since we still have money on a voucher but if our cruise is as bad as the ones before us, I think we may just sacrifice the remaining money. We had to cancel our Pearl Seas cruise to Canada so we transferred to ACL. I'm thinking we will just stick with the cruises from Viking or Grand Circle overseas.

Is the entire crew vaccinated? We are vaccinated and have been wearing masks, but concerned we could be a "break thru" case with the pre boarding testing. Did everyone come up negative on your sailing? 

How was the first morning at breakfast? That seems to be the first test of the kitchen crew since most passengers all arrive at the same time. Read previously that some weren't even served before they had to leave for an excursion. 

Since you are only a few days in to your cruise, maybe things will improve. Disappointed about your food comment. I had read it was pretty good with lots of lobster options.

Please continue to post observations so we can tamper our expectations for next week 🙂

[tipsygirl]

3 hours ago, tango223 said:

We are currently on the ship & we are very very disappointed in the cleanliness of the ship, lack of service & mediocre food. This morning they didn’t have any orange juice for breakfast.  
 

We still don’t have pillowcases on three of the four pillows. They replaced the pillow covers so we have clean ones, but they don’t have any pillowcases.  Our room didn’t have soap, shampoos nor towels. We had to call 4 times to get them. There were crumbs on the floor so we had to have it vacuumed!  We aren’t the only ones with issues as we had a few meals with others to learn of their problems too.

 

While I understand the staffing storage, they should not book the cruise at full capacity. 

 

We were thinking about their lower Mississippi cruise, but it depended on this experience, Net net, this is our first & last American Cruise !
 

 

We also experienced poor housekeeping and lack of attention to requests for basic things. We paid full price and they did not deliver. 

[tango223]

On the positive side…the shore excursions so far are very good. Today we did the Camden Hill State park & then the Lobster bake-delicious.  Weather was pretty much perfect today. 
 

We’ve issued a complaint to the management but they blame their suppliers & staff quitting as the issue.  No wonder the major cruise line bring in mainly non-US staff to do these jobs.

 

I’ll post more as we go.

[Brownie54]

I just posted this on another thread, but our experience on 2 American Cruise Line cruises a few years ago was not much better. Unless things have changed, the same crew will do the following: serve all 3 meals AND clean your rooms. In our opinion they are overworked and underpaid. We have moved on…

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, Brownie54 said:

I just posted this on another thread, but our experience on 2 American Cruise Line cruises a few years ago was not much better. Unless things have changed, the same crew will do the following: serve all 3 meals AND clean your rooms. In our opinion they are overworked and underpaid. We have moved on…

Just curious, how much are they paid?  I only ask because you said they were underpaid.

Edited July 17, 2021 by jagoffee

[Tom2]

13 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

Just curious, how much are they paid?  I only ask because you said they were underpaid.

This is what they advertise for housekeeping and servers:

Qualifications

• You are at least 18 years old and have graduated from high school.
• You are an American citizen or valid Green Card holder 
• You have to be willing to work at least 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 28 weeks.
• You are able to  meet moderate physical demands, including lifting, bending, climbing, and long periods of standing or walking.
• Calm under pressure and positive attitude.
• Pre-Employment Drug Test: Under Federal Law and the Department of Transportation we are required to pre-employment drug test all shipboard employees. This includes testing for Marijuana and other controlled substances. We are also an alcohol free company.

Perks

• $1,000 New-hire Bonus! - Work onboard for 6 weeks (42 days) and the bonus is earned 6 weeks from your first day onboard.
• Earn Money – Pay ranges from $700 to $900 per week.
• Minimal Expenses – your living expenses are all covered while onboard. It’s a dormitory-style environment.
• Travel the Country - We visit 30 states on our different cruises and travel through the most beautiful areas in our country.
• Hospitality Experience – This is a strong foundation for a career in the hospitality industry and a way to build your resume.

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, Brownie54 said:

I just posted this on another thread, but our experience on 2 American Cruise Line cruises a few years ago was not much better. Unless things have changed, the same crew will do the following: serve all 3 meals AND clean your rooms. In our opinion they are overworked and underpaid. We have moved on…

Brownie54, I see that we  have a different definition of underpaid.

I do agree that they work very hard.  

1 minute ago, Tom2 said:

This is what they advertise for housekeeping and servers:

Qualifications

• You are at least 18 years old and have graduated from high school.
• You are an American citizen or valid Green Card holder 
• You have to be willing to work at least 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 28 weeks.
• You are able to  meet moderate physical demands, including lifting, bending, climbing, and long periods of standing or walking.
• Calm under pressure and positive attitude.
• Pre-Employment Drug Test: Under Federal Law and the Department of Transportation we are required to pre-employment drug test all shipboard employees. This includes testing for Marijuana and other controlled substances. We are also an alcohol free company.

Perks

• $1,000 New-hire Bonus! - Work onboard for 6 weeks (42 days) and the bonus is earned 6 weeks from your first day onboard.
• Earn Money – Pay ranges from $700 to $900 per week.
• Minimal Expenses – your living expenses are all covered while onboard. It’s a dormitory-style environment.
• Travel the Country - We visit 30 states on our different cruises and travel through the most beautiful areas in our country.
• Hospitality Experience – This is a strong foundation for a career in the hospitality industry and a way to build your resume.

Thank you for the info.  Better deal than serving in the Navy and you get a lot of time off if you wish.

[nybumpkin]

9 hours ago, Brownie54 said:

Unless things have changed, the same crew will do the following: serve all 3 meals AND clean your rooms. In our opinion they are overworked and underpaid. We have moved on…

On our sailing last month, the dining room staff was separate from the housekeeping staff.

[tipsygirl]

On 7/16/2021 at 7:29 AM, tango223 said:

We are currently on the ship & we are very very disappointed in the cleanliness of the ship, lack of service & mediocre food. This morning they didn’t have any orange juice for breakfast.  
 

We still don’t have pillowcases on three of the four pillows. They replaced the pillow covers so we have clean ones, but they don’t have any pillowcases.  Our room didn’t have soap, shampoos nor towels. We had to call 4 times to get them. There were crumbs on the floor so we had to have it vacuumed!  We aren’t the only ones with issues as we had a few meals with others to learn of their problems too.

 

While I understand the staffing storage, they should not book the cruise at full capacity. 

 

We were thinking about their lower Mississippi cruise, but it depended on this experience, Net net, this is our first & last American Cruise !
 

 

These are some of the things we also experienced . 

[tango223]

An update. Some additional new crew members arrived day before yesterday some from the Jazz. Service is a little better but still not up to what we think it should be.

 

We inquired about the training new personnel get  & we were told that because of the situation, many just get on the job training.  
 

We did see a large delivery of towels to the ship so the towel shortage has been fixed.  So hopefully that it will get better for those sailing after ours.

 

Someone inquired about whether all the crew members are vaccinated. We don’t know that answer. All of the passengers were given a Covid test the morning of the embarkation, no one at least at the hotel failed the test. I think almost all passengers are vaccinated but we have heard that there are passengers not vaccinated on the ship. We are asked to wear masks while in public places but we are noticing more & more not wearing masks & no one is enforcing it either. 

 We are in Boothbay today. Most people are staying on board because it is pouring & it is a tendered port & 64 degrees.  We are doing our laundry, there are 2 washer & 2 dryers on the 5th floor next to the exercise room.

 

That’s all for now.

 

 

[twototravel]

19 hours ago, tango223 said:

An update. Some additional new crew members arrived day before yesterday some from the Jazz. Service is a little better but still not up to what we think it should be.

 

We inquired about the training new personnel get  & we were told that because of the situation, many just get on the job training.  
 

We did see a large delivery of towels to the ship so the towel shortage has been fixed.  So hopefully that it will get better for those sailing after ours.

 

Someone inquired about whether all the crew members are vaccinated. We don’t know that answer. All of the passengers were given a Covid test the morning of the embarkation, no one at least at the hotel failed the test. I think almost all passengers are vaccinated but we have heard that there are passengers not vaccinated on the ship. We are asked to wear masks while in public places but we are noticing more & more not wearing masks & no one is enforcing it either. 

 We are in Boothbay today. Most people are staying on board because it is pouring & it is a tendered port & 64 degrees.  We are doing our laundry, there are 2 washer & 2 dryers on the 5th floor next to the exercise room.

 

That’s all for now.

 

 

@tango223 Thanks for the update. Is the ship at max passengers? How is the Wifi onboard, better when in port? Although we are vaccinated, worried about getting a positive test morning of embarkation. Assume if that happens, we just go back to the airport. I wonder if ACL would then compensate us for being unable to cruise?

[tango223]

7 hours ago, twototravel said:

@tango223 Thanks for the update. Is the ship at max passengers? How is the Wifi onboard, better when in port? Although we are vaccinated, worried about getting a positive test morning of embarkation. Assume if that happens, we just go back to the airport. I wonder if ACL would then compensate us for being unable to cruise?

The passengers are at max capacity but not the crew.  The Wi-Fi on the ship isn’t that good. I’m using my cellular to post things.  It is better when we are docked.

 

I’m sure you’ll be fine with your Covid test and that was our worry too.  Everyone passed that was in our hotel we had to sit & wait until we got the all clear.  The testing at the hotel took about an hour because there were long lines to check your vaccine docs, then another line to take the test. We saw the lines before we had breakfast & decided to do it after breakfast…but the line was even longer afterwards.

 

 

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, tango223 said:

The passengers are at max capacity but not the crew.  The Wi-Fi on the ship isn’t that good. I’m using my cellular to post things.  It is better when we are docked.

 

I’m sure you’ll be fine with your Covid test and that was our worry too.  Everyone passed that was in our hotel we had to sit & wait until we got the all clear.  The testing at the hotel took about an hour because there were long lines to check your vaccine docs, then another line to take the test. We saw the lines before we had breakfast & decided to do it after breakfast…but the line was even longer afterwards.

 

 

Is ACL requiring everyone to be vaccinated?

 

They did ask us if we were vaccinated for our cruise next month.

[twototravel]

50 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

Is ACL requiring everyone to be vaccinated?

 

They did ask us if we were vaccinated for our cruise next month.

@jagoffee I think they are encouraging passengers to be vaccinated, but not mandated. They said if you are not vaccinated, you must submit negative PCR test results beforehand and then take the rapid test again with all those vaccinated.