PoA itinerary change

[ggTexasGal]

20 hours ago, Sexydva74 said:

We're on in July (also affected) and decided to book a plane ride because it picks up closer to the ship.  One of the main reasons I booked this cruise (besides being my 50th birthday) was to cruise the Na Pali Coast and see it from our aft balcony.  While we'll still keep the aft balcony, I'm disappointed to not be cruising it.  They didn't let us know until after payment.

Hopefully you have a wonderful birthday cruise, despite the sad loss of Na Pali Coast from your aft balcony!

[njkate]

On 3/9/2023 at 3:59 PM, Ellis1138 said:

I offered that to my husband, since our deposit is refundable and I haven't made any other payments. I've been to Hawaii twice with a previous husband and done Na'Pali by helicopter, catamaran snorkel and also partial Kalalau Trail, so for me, it's not huge, although I did get a cabin on the port side for this purpose. 

 

But my current husband, who hasn't been to Hawaii, doesn't want to do multiple airplanes and multiple hotels; He wants the cruise, even just as a floating Best Western. 🙂

Check Princess, they have longer Hawaii cruises sailing from California

[Ellis1138]

7 hours ago, njkate said:

Check Princess, they have longer Hawaii cruises sailing from California

He doesn't want any sea days. He gets upset if a cruise has more than 1 sea day. My options are limited. He also only has 5 vacation days to work with.

Edited March 11, 2023 by Ellis1138
Needed to add vacation day issue.

[GeezerCouple]

12 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said:

He doesn't want any sea days. He gets upset if a cruise has more than 1 sea day. My options are limited. He also only has 5 vacation days to work with.

 

Only 5 vacation days?

How are you going to work that even with only POA?  That's 7 days for the cruise alone, and with the distance from any mainland, there are going to be some travel days, too.

 

GC

[LloydJr]

1 hour ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Only 5 vacation days?

How are you going to work that even with only POA?  That's 7 days for the cruise alone, and with the distance from any mainland, there are going to be some travel days, too.

 

GC

Add weekends and a holiday or two?

[Ellis1138]

4 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Only 5 vacation days?

How are you going to work that even with only POA?  That's 7 days for the cruise alone, and with the distance from any mainland, there are going to be some travel days, too.

 

GC

 

Yeah, combining it with some of the free holiday days off.

[Sexydva74]

12 hours ago, ggTexasGal said:

Hopefully you have a wonderful birthday cruise, despite the sad loss of Na Pali Coast from your aft balcony!

Thank you ❤️

[jnoble2296]

On 3/8/2023 at 2:51 PM, SimplyAlbert said:

We're on a November sailing and got the same notice.   We're just going to do a shore excursion to see it.

Sadly, I think this plays into NCL's decision.  We will probably do the same thing, but hopefully not book thru Norwegian.

[jnoble2296]

On 3/9/2023 at 2:48 PM, Oceansaway17 said:

aw gee this was my third try as well to go on POA.

I will wait a couple of weeks before I call as I think a lot of folks will cancel and phone will be busy.

NCL just keep getting more and more negative IMHO.

I will really be pissed if the make change to my NCL Star r/t out of Iceland doing Greenland next year.

I am curious to know if you have called.  Our phone calls (a group of ten) have fallen on deaf ears!  They can say all they want about a carbon footprint.  I am not buying it. Follow the $$$

[Oceansaway17]

2 hours ago, jnoble2296 said:

I am curious to know if you have called.  Our phone calls (a group of ten) have fallen on deaf ears!  They can say all they want about a carbon footprint.  I am not buying it. Follow the $$$

oh yes I did call and I booked the EPIC next year for Greece since I have never been there.

 

I told the lady why I was changing and she chuckled and said she understood and is hearing others not happy as well.

[ChiefMateJRK]

POA is a Monopoly.  It has no competition in the one week HI cruise market.  Cash is currently (and has always been) king in business.  If people will book it without the Na Pali coast, then they'll just pocket the fuel savings.  I don't know what percentage of POA cruisers are first-timers to HI, but I would guess it is a significant percentage.  POA was our first cruise ever, and we had no idea what the Na Pali coast even was.  We just wanted to visit HI on a budget and the POA was cheaper/easier than most/all other options.  I don't think much has changed.  I'm actually glad that was our first cruise experience, because if we knew what "real" cruising was, we likely would have been somewhat disappointed.  I sometimes wonder how many more years this POA experiment will last.

[SimplyAlbert]

18 hours ago, jnoble2296 said:

Sadly, I think this plays into NCL's decision.  We will probably do the same thing, but hopefully not book thru Norwegian.

We've decided to spend another week in Hawaii after the cruise and will stay on Kauai for 5 days.  I won't book any excursions there through the ship.  We'll most likely do beach days when the ship is in port and do our touring on the days we're spending there.   

[alwalaska]

On 3/8/2023 at 2:12 PM, AdoraBelle said:

There was a long thread on another social media site about a week ago, allegedly posted by someone who had been hired & trained for POA, but then told at the very last minute that they were no longer needed, and essentially let go right before they were supposed to fly out to meet the ship. This (again, allegedly) happened very recently, and to a whole group of trainees at once. 

It was specific to POA. I don't know what staffing roles were affected. 

That could have been at the same time that NCL cut 50% of the housekeeping staff on all ships when they went from 2 to 1 cabin make-up per day.  I would assume they would rather keep current staff than bring on the newly trained that still have much to learn on the ship itself.  Or, POA could be going back to a non-US flagged ship and sailing other itineraries.  Who knows. 

[BirdTravels]

On 3/29/2023 at 4:56 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

I sometimes wonder how many more years this POA experiment will last.

 

Do you remember back when it was the Pride of Aloha... The ship was eventually renamed Norwegian Sky... but alas, with the recent dry dock, they stripped her of all of her Hawaiian heritage. 

[TMoore1144]

I sail PoA on July 15th and got the same notice.  Very disappointed, but nothing I can do about it as I can't change my dates (work, Anniversary and Birthday).  I think it is a financial move that also gives some eco benefits.  And I will be looking for something that lets me see the coast a different way.  How much is the environment helped by not sailing a cruise ship on the coast vs. a bunch of people now driving or sailing or flying the coast separately?

[The Traveling Man]

7 hours ago, alwalaska said:

POA could be going back to a non-US flagged ship and sailing other itineraries.  Who knows. 

Almost anything is possible, of course, but it seems highly unlikely that PoA would be removed from the Hawai'i itinerary.  There is a great deal of demand for its cruise itinerary, federal regulations require that a ship be US flagged to sail exclusively in US waters without visiting a foreign port, PoA is the only US flagged ship of its size so it has this niche market pretty much all to itself, and it would have to be substantially rebuilt to incorporate a casino (which is de rigueur on most other cruise ships).

[DCwom]

Bummer, we just booked the POA for May next year and didn't really understand the what the Na Pali Coast was yet, now I want to see it! What I do find odd about the emails is that they call out start-stop dates, why not just say they're not sailing it anymore?