Pride of Aloha - August 13-20, 2006

[Bob of New Jersey]

Is it just us or was the service on the Pride, particularly the Main Dining Room service and the supposedly 'Freestyle Dining' system a huge disappointment? Could it be true that all the staff has been redirected to the Spirit thus leaving the Pride workers understaffed and undertrained? Based on my lousy experience, I'll never go on NCL again! Why pay for 'specialty' dining to get what other cruise lines give you all-inclusive? How about you?:mad:

[watchdiva]

Bob: Can you be a little more specific here? What type of problems did you experience on the Pride? Where did you hear that all the staff had been transitioned to the Spirit?

 

Maybe once you provide additional details you will get the answers you're seeking.

[Athankfulheart]

We were on the 8/13 POAh sailing as well. While the experience in general was great ( Only encountered 2 crabby people, whom I didnt already know) we felt that the lack of service in ALL of the rest.'s was extremely lacking ( and we aren't super demanding folks). As soon as I get over my overwhelming jetlag and lack of sleep I plan to write a short review of our overall experience. We had dinner reservations in each rest. on a different night of the week with 2 being in the Crossings. Our first meal in the crossings was ok service wise, only because Tristan took care of the table which had most of the children ( who came in at 530 and wished to leave for the 7pm childrens programs). The only other time we had reasonable service was in Kahili. It wasnt our waitress but another waiter who came to our rescue when things were (again) extremely slow and we were about to be late for our 7pm spa appointments. We arrived early for each of our 6pm dinner reservations to (usually) an empty diningroom, if you didnt count the many staff people. Despite this we waited a consistent 2 hours to receive any food. It was particularly disappointing to the children in our party who missed 1/3 of the childrens program on several evenings. Luckily our children are accustomed to dining out and were able to maintain themselves, but I felt aweful that they missed out on so much.

As far as what to blame it on ? Im not sure but my husband did talk to a particulary interesting waiter who I found to be honest and sincere. When asked why the typical staff person only stays for 4-5 months he replied that its such hard work with very long hours..... in his opinion the people werent used to working this hard and opted to go back to thier old jobs. To thier credit though, minus on less than ideal attitude from a waitress in Kahili, all of the staff was friendly and helpful. Justin ( Kahili) and Tristan (Crossings) as well as our Cabin attendant Micky ( Deck 10 rm 0227) were all exemplary folks. Justin got us to our massages on time when the regular waitress couldnt give us the time of day, Tristan saw to it that kids orders went in first and came out in reasonable time, and Micky was thorough and made me a very soft bed for my sore pregnant hips.

Anyways, I agree with you on the service, but it didnt ruin my cruise.I actually found myself coming to the aid of a hard working buffet attendant at breakfast when someones grandma started in on him about there only being 12 pieces of watermelon on the tray, which she thought he should have swapped out already ( and she shouldnt have had to tell him this). Id go back again but choose POA simply because it seems to have more for families/kids and also that the kids area is midship rather than hangin' out on the bow.

[electricron]

Is it just us or was the service on the Pride, particularly the Main Dining Room service and the supposedly 'Freestyle Dining' system a huge disappointment? Could it be true that all the staff has been redirected to the Spirit thus leaving the Pride workers understaffed and undertrained? Based on my lousy experience, I'll never go on NCL again! Why pay for 'specialty' dining to get what other cruise lines give you all-inclusive? How about you?:mad:

 

The Pride ships are manned by an America crew under a union contract.

The Spirit and all the other Norwegian ships, are manned by an International crew without a union contract. There's no way the union would allow Pride ship's crew to switch to the Spirit.

 

Which ships sailing for other cruise lines include whole lobster, tenderloin and porterhouse steaks in their all inclusive restaurants? Maybe on a rather small upscale line, but you will not find the finest beef cuts on the other mass marketed cruise lines, either Carnival, Princess, or Royal Caribbean.

 

Carnival, Princess and Royal Caribbean have at least one speciality, with a surcharged, restaurant aboard their newest ships.

 

On Carnival, the surcharged restaurant is often called the The Point Supper Club serving French cruisine. Expect to pay $25 per diner to enter the Supper Club.

On Princess, the surcharged restaurants are often called Sabatini's Trattoria & Lounge serving Italian cruisine and a Steak and Seafood House serving ---the name tells all. At Sabitini's, expect to pay $20per diner to enter; and at the Steak and Seafood, expect to pay $15 per diner to enter.

On Royal Caribbean, the surcharged restaurants are often called Johnny Rocket's, similar to the free of charge Blue Lagoon aboard NCL's newest ships and the Portofino Restaurant serving Italian cruisine. At th ePortofino, expect to pay $25 per diner to enter.

 

It appears the other mass marketed cruise lines have adopted surcharge restaurants, where one pays more to get better food choices and beef cuts.

 

Yet, NCL surcharges remain cheaper. At Ginza, expect to pay less than $25 per diner to enter; at the Le Bristo, expect to pay $15 per pdinner to enter; and at Cagney's, expect to pay $20 per diner to enter. Those are full surcharges, often you can enter these restaurants for half price.

 

If you don't wish to pay the surcharge, don't reserve a table at them, continue to dine at the free all inclusive main restaurants. But don't expect the finest beef cuts or whole lobsters at them anymore, on any of these mass marketed cruise lines.

[tnl]

Is it just us or was the service on the Pride, particularly the Main Dining Room service and the supposedly 'Freestyle Dining' system a huge disappointment? Could it be true that all the staff has been redirected to the Spirit thus leaving the Pride workers understaffed and undertrained? Based on my lousy experience, I'll never go on NCL again! Why pay for 'specialty' dining to get what other cruise lines give you all-inclusive? How about you?:mad:

 

 

We were on the same cruise and I didn't see the appeal of Freestyle dining.

The best service we had was in Kahili, the waiter was great and the pace of the meal was perfect. Service in the Palace was very slow, we were there for over 2 hours and sat for quite a while before anyone even took a drink order. We ate in the Crossings once and that was just ok. We weren't impressed with Pacific Heights. We already paid to eat there, then had to pay $1 a peice for sushi and the waiter was a dud.

Overall, the food was just ok. I can't say we had any spectacular meals.

We did have problems with reservations. We stayed at the Hilton pre cruise and the NCL rep there told me he would email my reservation requests to the ship. Didn't happen. On the ship I called and requested a 6:00 reservation at Kahili, got there and they said my reservation was at 5:30. So we couldn't get in that night. I think we prefer the set seating times, at least if you go for the early seating, you know you'll be out at a certain time. We did miss a few of the evening shows because of slow dinner service.

That said, we did have a good time. :)

 

Lori

[Bob of New Jersey]

Electricron,

 

You may be right or you may be overloaded on NCL stock.

 

The bottom line is that the service sucked and if you pay for meals and want to eat them in the Main Dining room, you should get great service.

 

As to quality, I thought the quality of the specialty reastaurants was okay but not as special as you or they would make it out to be.

 

And finally, I was recently on a Princess cruise to Alaska and received great service and food in Main dining rooms without having to resort to specialty restaurants. If cruise lines do what NCL has done on the Pride of Aloha they are doomed because they willl lose repeat business...

 

Even NCl knows there are a limited number of first time suckers out there and repeat business and positive word of mouth is needed.

 

Why would I go NCL again when I have never been disappointed on Celebrity, Princess and Royal Carribean.

 

Wake up and smell the coffee!

[johnql]

Why would I go NCL again when I have never been disappointed on Celebrity, Princess and Royal Carribean.

Actually, you haven't cruised on NCL yet - you sailed on NCLA, a different product altogether because of their mostly American crew (vs. the mostly foreign crews of the NCL ships, pretty much the norm on the other 3 lines you've sailed). This topic has been discussed at length on this board. You have every right to sail whichever line suits you best, but you should not generalize about NCL based on an NCLA sailing.

[Bob of New Jersey]

Didn't know the difference from the materials ..tickets etc...that have NCL all over them. But you're likely right about the staff. So, I'll be more specific and just leave it at in my opinion based on the experience we had, the PRIDE OF ALOHA sucks...(although I see a lot of poor ratings for other ships like Pride of Hawaii on this site too.) In reality don't you realize it doesn't matter how they carve it into subsidiaries, people that get bad service on one willl likely not try another under the NCL brand?

[johnql]

Didn't know the difference from the materials ..tickets etc...that have NCL all over them. But you're likely right about the staff. So, I'll be more specific and just leave it at in my opinion based on the experience we had, the PRIDE OF ALOHA sucks...(although I see a lot of poor ratings for other ships like Pride of Hawaii on this site too.) In reality don't you realize it doesn't matter how they carve it into subsidiaries, people that get bad service on one willl likely not try another under the NCL brand?

Would you say the same thing about Carnival's brands? Can one assume that a HAL cruise experience would be the same as one on Princess, or one on Carnival, or Cunard, for that matter (all of these lines are owned by the same mega-corporation)? Different brands do have different ways of doing business. Just something to keep in mind. IMO, it's just unfortunate that NCL and NCLA have names that are so similar that some people do not draw a distinction between the two.

[Zeno]

Is it just us or was the service on the Pride, particularly the Main Dining Room service and the supposedly 'Freestyle Dining' system a huge disappointment? Could it be true that all the staff has been redirected to the Spirit thus leaving the Pride workers understaffed and undertrained? Based on my lousy experience, I'll never go on NCL again! Why pay for 'specialty' dining to get what other cruise lines give you all-inclusive? How about you?:mad:

 

1. You were on an NCLA ship not an NCL ship

2.. Service staff (stewards and waiters) cannot be inter-changed between NCL (internationally crewed ships) and NCLA (American crewed ships) - so your comment about Pride crew being diverted to the Spirit is simply garbage.

 

Personally, why would I ever go on RCCL, Celebrity, Princess, pay more and be told when, where and with whom I must eat and be forced to dress up whether I want to or not?

To answer my own question - if the itinerary was what I wanted and the price was right, I would consider these lines but frankly I love Freestyle on NCL and it would not be easy for me to switch. (NOTE I said NCL not NCLA (I have no NCLA experience)).

[cruizinwithkids]

It sounds as if the issues regarding NCLA still have not been worked out. That is too bad as it continues to cut deeper and deeper into the financial results of NCL.

 

My question to OP is did you research at all on these boards? The Hawaiian cruise is an entirely different product than a "traditional" NCL cruise. I don't think electicon is overloaded on NCL stock, but perhaps knowledgable on NCL. I would like to go to Hawaii some day and see as much as possible in seven days. How would you recommend I do it?

[dwrist]

It sounds as if the issues regarding NCLA still have not been worked out. That is too bad as it continues to cut deeper and deeper into the financial results of NCL.

 

Interesting tidbit of information that was shared with us by "in the know" staff onboard the Star---NCL is at the bottom of the barrel as far as financial matters pertain to Genting Group--they do not rely on NCL to keep the profits up for the Genting Group. They have too many other 'investments'.

IMO with American base business that is similar to tax write offs:rolleyes:

[Barb Nahoumi]

I have been on other NCL ships, the Majesty & Sky, and had good service on these international ships.

 

In December, I will be aboard the Pride of Aloha, for my first trip to Hawaai, as part of a large group of family and friends. We are looking forward to seeing and touring this beautiful state.

 

From reading these boards, I realize that I can't expect 5-star service & food.

If I want to attend a show ar other activity, I might grab supper at the buffet, to guarantee I get there on time.

 

Perhaps those with kids, who want to attend a children's activity at 7pm, should consider the buffet as a dinner option. Just a thought.

 

Barb

[kannruss]

Electricron,

 

You may be right or you may be overloaded on NCL stock.

 

The bottom line is that the service sucked and if you pay for meals and want to eat them in the Main Dining room, you should get great service.

 

As to quality, I thought the quality of the specialty reastaurants was okay but not as special as you or they would make it out to be.

 

And finally, I was recently on a Princess cruise to Alaska and received great service and food in Main dining rooms without having to resort to specialty restaurants. If cruise lines do what NCL has done on the Pride of Aloha they are doomed because they willl lose repeat business...

 

Even NCl knows there are a limited number of first time suckers out there and repeat business and positive word of mouth is needed.

 

Why would I go NCL again when I have never been disappointed on Celebrity, Princess and Royal Carribean.

 

Wake up and smell the coffee!

Have fun on the other lines. I'll stick to NCL

[kannruss]

Didn't know the difference from the materials ..tickets etc...that have NCL all over them. But you're likely right about the staff. So, I'll be more specific and just leave it at in my opinion based on the experience we had, the PRIDE OF ALOHA sucks...(although I see a lot of poor ratings for other ships like Pride of Hawaii on this site too.) In reality don't you realize it doesn't matter how they carve it into subsidiaries, people that get bad service on one willl likely not try another under the NCL brand?

Again - you are listing all NCLA ships. Pride of America, Pride of Aloha, Pride of Hawaii - all NCLA ships.

 

I wish you would try another cruise strictly with NCL because I think you'd have a better experience.

[ce2000]

Bob, sorry to hear that you didn't have a great cruise experience on NCLA, but it appears that you are not alone. As far as the food goes, I am not sure that the food on an NCLA ship is any different than on a NCL ship. I was on the NCL Jewel last Christmas and was dissappointed with the food in the main dinning rooms, However, the food at Cagney's Steak House was very good, and breakfast in the main dinning rooms was very good. I found that the service in the main dinning rooms were good, but when the food isn't good, the service just doesn't seem to matter. I just got off the Caribbean Princess on Aug. 12 and the food in the main dinning rooms was very good. I believe that NCLA should be a premium line with excellent food and service that provide a great Hawaii experience. Disney is able to charge more because they offer a unique experience for kids and grandparents, and I think NCLA should be able to offer a unique experience to Hawaii. I believe that they should do away with one ship. I just don't believe that the demand is there for three ships. I can't believe the low prices I am seeing for NCLA cruises. If they did away with one ship they could move the crew from that ship to the remaining two ships to aleviate the staffing problem.

[KeystoneCruiser]

I was on the Pride of Aloha in 2004 and the service was the worst of any cruise I have been on but to brand the entire NCL operation as bad because of the POA is not even remotely true.

 

I have been on the Star (twice) and the Dawn and have had fine service, 10 times better than on the Aloha. So please do not condemn the mother company (NCL) for the problems of one of her children (NCL-A). The three Pride ships have to, by law, be crewed by Americans while the mainline NCL ships have International crews.

 

It has been debated over and over on these boards, but lets face the simple fact that keeps reappearing: The American crew simply does not work as hard as the INternational crews.

 

Bob, since you are in New Jersey, I hope that you will give the Dawn out of New York a try (or the Spirit or the new Gem). I think you will find an entirely different view of Freestyle cruising.

[tomluvsaida]

Did you make reservations? Did you eat in any of the specialty restaurants? There seems to be a constant correlation between people that don't make reservations in the specialty restaurants and stick to the main dining rooms without reservations being very unhappy with the cruse. The oposite also seems to be the case. People that make reservations and dine primarily in the specialty restaurants seem pretty happy with the cruse.

[housecall]

How long can ncla keep going? ncla must fall under the umbrella of ncl. At some point ncl will have to realize this isn't working.

 

I sailed to hawaii on the wind last year and had a great time. but, I wouldn't for my life sail ncla. the reviews i've read are just awful.

[dwrist]

Interesting tidbit of information that was shared with us by "in the know" staff onboard the Star---NCL is at the bottom of the barrel as far as financial matters pertain to Genting Group--they do not rely on NCL to keep the profits up for the Genting Group. They have too many other 'investments'.

IMO with American base business that is similar to tax write offs:rolleyes:

 

Since we are starting over with NCL and NCLA, I thought I would post this link to a tidbit of information for people to help clarify the business aspect of the cruise line. Have fun:) http://www.genting.com/groupprofile/index.htm

[cruizinwithkids]

Interesting tidbit of information that was shared with us by "in the know" staff onboard the Star---NCL is at the bottom of the barrel as far as financial matters pertain to Genting Group--they do not rely on NCL to keep the profits up for the Genting Group. They have too many other 'investments'.

IMO with American base business that is similar to tax write offs:rolleyes:

 

Thanks for this. I checked out the Genting Group Website. I am a major number geek and I can't wait to look at it all more closely.

 

My real point in my posting was the usual why did you wait until after your cruise to check out the boards? and give me a better way to see Hawaii with just a week's vacation time.

[GOLDENBONNY]

1. You were on an NCLA ship not an NCL ship

2.. Service staff (stewards and waiters) cannot be inter-changed between NCL (internationally crewed ships) and NCLA (American crewed ships) - so your comment about Pride crew being diverted to the Spirit is simply garbage.

 

Personally, why would I ever go on RCCL, Celebrity, Princess, pay more and be told when, where and with whom I must eat and be forced to dress up whether I want to or not?

To answer my own question - if the itinerary was what I wanted and the price was right, I would consider these lines but frankly I love Freestyle on NCL and it would not be easy for me to switch. (NOTE I said NCL not NCLA (I have no NCLA experience)).

 

I been on NCL ship,but I agree with every thing OP said.Why would you go on RCCL or Princess?Try them and will see the difference.I am not bushing NCL if you like them so much very good,thats why we have so many lines everyone can find what he loves.Only one thing I dont understand why US crew service should be any different from internatioanl crew?they get paid money they should work proper like all of us on our jobs

[PrincessAmadala]

Since the dining experiences seem to be such a hot topic, here is our 2 cents. :)

We have cruised before, but never with either NCL or NCLA, so this was our first experience with "freestyle" dining. We (Mom, Dad, 19y/o DS and 16y/o DD) ate breakfast in the buffet 3 times, in the dining room 3 times and room service once. We did not eat any other meals in the buffet; three dinners in the specialty restaurants, some dinners in Crossings, 1-2 dinners via room service (we had two AB penthouse suites), other meals on land.

 

Bottom line: we all agreed we did not like Freestyle dining as much as we thought we would but it wasn't "awful", the cruise is as great as you make it and Hawaii is magnificent!:D

 

We will probably not cruise with NCL only because we did not like the Freestyle dining concept, but I can see why others certainly would enjoy this option. If we decide to see Hawaii again, we would seriously consider cruising again and we would probably only use NCLA because as a whole the experience cannot be matched by any other line (4 islands, 5 ports in 7 days!)

[mikedw]

I think it was said on another board awhile back, unlike former American Cruise Lines in Hawaii, NCLA has very deep pockets because of there parent company and I'm sure they realize since there was practically no cruise ship employee base in this country, that it will take several years to stabilize the turnover. Also I listened to NCL last earning call, they made a 20 million dollar profit, but lost about 30 million due to the currency exchange rate between the euro and dollar. They also have over 300 million in the bank. Mr. Veith did say in the earning call that customer feedback has improved significantly on the Pride Ships, it's still a bit below the international ship, but they're constantly trying to make it higher. Lets face it, you have over 6000 people a week on those ships and they're sailing pretty much full. We might hear back from 1 person a week if were lucky on here, not exactly a very good sampling.

 

NCL has a 30 year monopoly on the interisland Hawaii market. Lets face it I don't think any other cruise line would attempt to put up with all the extra regulations and laws to have a US flagged ship and I honestly don't believe that congress, especially the delegation from Hawaii will let this fail. Just my opionon on the matter, I toured the POH when it was in Baltimore, but haven't sailed them yet.

 

Michael

[hotspur]

Why would you go on RCCL or Princess?Try them and will see the difference.

Haven't been on RCCL or Princess, but have cruised HAL and Celebrity, and saw no significant difference except the regimented dining--in terms of choice, dress, timing, and companions, where a huge advantage goes to NCL.