Pride of America suite question.

[Jacobs Ema]

I have never sailed in anything but the Haven. We are headed to Hawaii on the PoA, and I was wondering about the butler for the suites. Is it ok to ask them for the same things we asked for in the Haven? Or are there more of the suites so they would be busier? I also have read a lot of comments in various groups about the crew…that being mostly American, they are less service oriented than other crews. Any insights? 

[BirdTravels]

You can ask your butler for the same sorts of things. You’re in port every day and have two overnight stops where you really want to try and get off for a luau or two. You will spend a lot less time in your room. 
 

The POA is a US flagged ship. It has to have a predominately US crew. All crew are trained to be passenger focused. 

[Jacobs Ema]

21 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

You can ask your butler for the same sorts of things. You’re in port every day and have two overnight stops where you really want to try and get off for a luau or two. You will spend a lot less time in your room. 
 

The POA is a US flagged ship. It has to have a predominately US crew. All crew are trained to be passenger focused. 

Oh, believe me! I have no plans to spend much time in our room!! This will be my only chance to see Hawaii, and I intend to make the most of it. I just picture coming back exhausted and needing a pick me up before enjoying the ship for the evening😁 Thanks for the reply

[Go2SeaTheWorld]

Both our Butler & Cabin Steward were excellent. They were always accessible and accommodating for anything we asked or needed of them. 

[WorldTourPrincess]

I have cruised as a Suite guest on the POA several times, and as a Haven guest on other ships. Yes you can ask the butler and concierge the same things. Yes the crew is mostly American, but not 100%. Our room stewards have all been foreign, and my most favorite butler was from Rhode Island! My parents and I are headed back to the POA this coming summer. It’s such a great way to see Hawaii!

As to your other question, I do see a difference in crew being American vs foreign. In my opinion, and I’m not stating this as fact, I feel that most American crew view their jobs as just that- a job. The foreign crew view their jobs as their careers. They are often providing for their families back home and take great pride in their craft. They are not going to risk their livelihoods at any cost. That being said, I think the grew is great.
 

The only ship that sticks out in my mind as having the worst crew was onboard the Celebrity Summit. We will never sail with them again.

[DaisyGoldberg]

I loved my Pride of America cruise, but as others have said, it is so port intensive that I'd weigh whether I needed the Haven. (Clearly if you love it and it's not oppressively expensive to you, go for it!) As I recall everybody came back exhausted and went to bed and the evening activities were much less attended than any other cruise I'd been on.  I assume the daytime activities were similar as everybody wants to maximize every port hour. 

[dexddd]

The one major difference is they won't bring Cagney's to room for breakfast or lunch.

[Go2SeaTheWorld]

There isn't a Haven on the POA. We had the Aft-facing Penthouse Suite with the Butler & we were still able to place pre-excursion room service early breakfast orders that I thought tasted better than what we had when we went to Cagney's later in the morning.  Granted, I realize kitchen staff probably has a considerable turnover, much as restaurants on land do, but my husband & I both felt that paying the extra (since we did have it) was worth it.  It always boils down to what is most important to the traveler.

[MNcruisingcouple]

We were just in a suite on the Dec 9 sailing and had a fantastic butler.  She wanted to bring us coffee, snacks, post-excursion sandwiches.  She always had us stocked with candy, cookies, fruit.  

There were maybe 3 times during the cruise that we felt that the American staff were less attentive than our usual experience. 

[Jacobs Ema]

On 12/29/2023 at 11:22 AM, DaisyGoldberg said:

I loved my Pride of America cruise, but as others have said, it is so port intensive that I'd weigh whether I needed the Haven. (Clearly if you love it and it's not oppressively expensive to you, go for it!) As I recall everybody came back exhausted and went to bed and the evening activities were much less attended than any other cruise I'd been on.  I assume the daytime activities were similar as everybody wants to maximize every port hour. 

It IS expensive. And that is why we only cruise every 3 years or so. It takes a while to build up the cruise fund😁. But hubby loves the pampering, and I love the hubby.