Not real proud of the Pride of America

[gooch47]

I hope to do a full review later, but I thought I'd post a few thoughts about our 7/12 Pride of America cruise.

 

It started off well with an excellent, efficient boarding process. We were lucky, though. After going directly to our cabins on Deck 11, we started hearing announcements that only certain decks were ready for occupancy. That went on until about 2:00 p.m. when the final ones were called.

 

We were concerned because our tickets for our Helicopter/Limo tour on Maui weren't in either of our cabins. (We were travelling with my husband's sister and BIL for their 50th wedding anniversary.) So we went to the Excursions desk and found that somehow the reservations for the sister & BIL had been lost. My husband personally called the 1-800 number prior to the cruise to ensure that we had reservations for this. This was to be the highlight of the 50th Anniversary Cruise. And they "couldn't do anything" because it was sold out. And then they claimed they couldn't be held responsible because the reservations number was an outsourced entity. They did allow us to cancel our reservation, but that started the trip on a very sour note.

 

Lunch in the buffet was OK but nothing spectactular. Service at dinner in the Freestyle Dining Room was horrible and the food wasn't anything to brag about either.

 

We decided to go to the 9:00 (or was it 8:00?) show that evening. We are normally Princess cruisers and thought that you had to get there early or you wouldn't get a seat. Well, at 30 minutes prior to showtime, the theater wasn't open. Nor was it open at 15 minutes prior to showtime. It finally opened about 5 minutes before showtime. The reason? The band was doing sound checks. We were surprised that most of the shows weren't anywhere near full.

 

Speaking of the shows, their two "Broadway" shows were sad, too. Six singers in evening dress singing tunes accompanied by a piano. Compared to Princess' production shows, that was sad. The comedian and magician were good, though.

 

Service continued to be spotty at the Freestyle restaurants. We found one waiter (George in the Liberty Dining Room) who was exceptional. We tried to get him each night, but wasn't always successful. We chose not to go to any of the specialty ones, but you shouldn't have to pay extra for good service. My entrees most night, including a fish dish, were overcooked. The breakfast buffet was outstanding, though, and we enjoyed eating at the Cadillac Grill diner.

 

The Freestyle Daily newsletter very specifically said to call a certain number for reservations for any of the dining rooms. But when we called, they said they didn't take reservations for tables for four. Don't you think it would have been good to mention that in the newsletter?

 

Our cabin stewardess was a little careless at times, too. One morning she left wet towels in the shower, and one night I turned down the bed and the top sheet was in a wad in the middle of the bed. She never tucked the top sheet in at the bottom of the bed, probably because it was barely large enough to cover the mattress. She often left the bath mat on the floor even though it was wet. The towel animals were cute, though. We were a little surprised that she didn't come in to introduce herself at the start of the cruise and explain things like the cash bar, etc. That is common practice on Princess. Our telephone was fairly useless, too, since the labels for the various buttons was missing.

 

This was our first cruise ever that we didn't book all our excursions through the ship. My DH got a little stubborn after the helicopter tickets incident, so we just took our chances at each port and everything worked out very well. We even got a helicopter tour.

 

So where were *OUR* tickets for the helicopter tour? That is a really strange story. The evening of the first day we were walking through a bar and heard someone call our name. It was a former pastor and his wife. They were on the same deck as we were but on the opposite side of the ship, in a cabin with the same last two digits. They told us that they had found tickets to a helicopter tour in their cabin with our names on them. The Pastor asked his wife if there were possibly more than one couple with our same names and they laughed about it. But then they saw us and couldn't believe it. The last night of the cruise we found their Easy Fly information in OUR cabin.

 

One of our waiters mentioned that rumors among the crew were that the Pride of America was on its way out of the fleet, too.

[gooch47]

Forgot to mention that the coffee makers in the cabins were a nice touch and the coffee overall on the POA was far superior to Princess coffee.

[llachance]

there were service issues. We didn't suffer the same when we sailed her but saw people at the desk complaining.

 

I am glad that we didn't have ticket problems with our shore excursions because the line was always long. But, if your pastor knew the tickets were not theirs why didn't they turn them in? Seems like that would have been an easy solution on their part.

 

We ate in most of the specialty restaurants and enjoyed them. Found the service a bit slow in all of them. And the food spotty as well.

 

Had a great cabin steward but talked to her every single day and relayed what we needed. We also insured that we turned our cabin dial when we were ready to have it cleaned. A trip to the pursers desk may have helped your steward issue.

 

There's been rumor that the PoA would be moved out of Hawaii. I hope not. Despite some shortcomings, compared with other NCL cruises (and I had shortcomings on them as well) I think it is the best way to see all the islands. In fact I am signed up to do it again next year.

 

Lisa

[terrymtex01]

I feel that your "review" (in quotes since you said you want to do a longer one soon) is a fair review and there are no complaints that to me are uncalled for. I would feel very upset with some of those things too. The only one thing I wanted to comment on specifically is about the specialty restaurants. You honestly are not paying for better service. You are paying to have a different dinning experience. A smaller more intimate setting as opposed to the large crowded experience you have in the main dinning venues. We always eat in both the specialty restaurants as well as the main dinning venues and have had the same servers in both. I do wish you didn't have to pay for them, however if you didn't it would be hard to get a reservation in them because every one would want them.

 

One other thing I do want to mention is that I'm sorry you didn't know about the reservations issue with the main dinning restaurants. It is posted here several times that you usually can't make reservations unless it is a large group. I can't remember if the number was 8 people or 12. But I know it is a larger number than four.

 

I do hope you had some fun on your trip and enjoyed spending the time with family. We have never been to HI, but if it has any beauty close to Alaska's, the ship really is the least part of the cruise. Get ready to get flamed as some people don't like hearing anything negative about NCL. Personally I have no more loyalty to them than I do RCCL. I do like NCL a lot, but can take honest criticism about them.

[gooch47]

The problem wasn't that the pastor had our tickets. Actually, that worked out well since they weren't in our cabin and it alerted us that we might have a problem. The problem was that there were only two reservations for four people.

 

I know you don't go to the specialty restaurants to pay for better service. The point I was trying to make was that you shouldn't HAVE to go to the specialty restaurants to expect better service.

 

We did have a great time and were more than pleased with the cruise itinerary. We really enjoyed spending two days on Maui and 1.5 days on Kauai.

 

This is minor, but we also had been told that the ship would turn around during the lava viewing so our side of the ship could see it from our balconies. We spent time on Deck 12 viewing it from the Port side, but they never turned so we could see it from our balcony.

[greywillow]

The only one thing I wanted to comment on specifically is about the specialty restaurants. You honestly are not paying for better service. You are paying to have a different dinning experience. A smaller more intimate setting as opposed to the large crowded experience you have in the main dinning venues. We always eat in both the specialty restaurants as well as the main dinning venues and have had the same servers in both.

Good point.

 

You also are paying for having access to additional choices. A Jewel-class NCL ship offers about fifty different main courses at dinner, while a main dining room typically has four-to-eight, including the "always-available" items. Managing "inventory" for fifty items while minimizing waste is much more difficult than doing the same for four-to-eight.

[CC Help Michell]

I thought your review was balanced and informative, and I appreciate you taking the time to share it.

 

I did want to comment on one statement -- "It started off well with an excellent, efficient boarding process. We were lucky, though. After going directly to our cabins on Deck 11, we started hearing announcements that only certain decks were ready for occupancy. That went on until about 2:00 p.m. when the final ones were called."

 

What you encountered is just standard NCL boarding procedure. It's tied to the leisurely disembarkation NCL offers, that lets you remain in your cabin until the last all ashore call if you wish. When passengers are still in cabins until 10:00 AM, that pushes back availability for incoming passengers. The tradeoff for waiting for decks to be announced as ready when you board is not having to wait in a public area for hours prior to leaving the ship when you return to port. 2:00 isn't bad; on our HAL cruise this summer the cabins were announced as ready right before 1:30 PM (all at once). I'm sorry you didn't know about this procedure in advance, but it's good you pointed it out here so that others who may not have known will learn about it.

 

I hope you at least had fun in Hawaii (I assume that part will be in your full review!)

[gooch47]

Again, I know we weren't familiar with NCL procedures, but 2:00 seemed late even with the leisurely departures. Most people don't stay until 10:00, many want off as soon as they can. I would think that there would be relatively few cabins left to do by 10:00.

[mylesf]

Just a couple of things with your review:

 

You did eat in a specialty restaurant: The Cadillac Diner

 

If you watched any TV at all, you would have seen the information about the Easy Fly program. They ran it all the time and it is hard to miss. Or if you booked through a travel agent they should have advised you of this option.

 

Thank you for the fair review.

[gooch47]

We were neither interested in nor qualified for Easy Fly. We made our own arrangements through Hawaiian Air.

 

I guess I didn't consider the Cadillac Diner a specialty restaurant since there wasn't an additional charge.

[mylesf]

We were neither interested in nor qualified for Easy Fly. We made our own arrangements through Hawaiian Air.

 

I guess I didn't consider the Cadillac Diner a specialty restaurant since there wasn't an additional charge.

 

 

Then why comment on the Easy Fly Program?

[CocoKai]

Thank you for your review. We are headed to Hawaii in two days but not via cruiseship. On our recent cruise, the Pearl, we found a drastic difference in the level of service between the included dining and the specialty dining. The service was so lacking in the included restaurants that it really forced you to use specialty.

 

Also, we received this tip on another board and it has been invaluable. Tip your Steward up front on day 1 and you'll have fantastic service. If you tip on the last day, you are off the ship and will do nothing for you. Day of Embarkation.... we gave her $20 to chill our champagne and bring glasses and continued to reward her throughout the cruise for things here and there. Our room was spotless. There was always plenty of everything and she would ask if she could be of service. Yes, you shouldn't have to do that to get good service but it definently works.

 

Hawaii is amazing.....2 more days, need to pack.

[greywillow]

Thank you for your review. We are headed to Hawaii in two days but not via cruiseship. On our recent cruise, the Pearl, we found a drastic difference in the level of service between the included dining and the specialty dining. The service was so lacking in the included restaurants that it really forced you to use specialty.

 

Also, we received this tip on another board and it has been invaluable. Tip your Steward up front on day 1 and you'll have fantastic service. If you tip on the last day, you are off the ship and will do nothing for you. Day of Embarkation.... we gave her $20 to chill our champagne and bring glasses and continued to reward her throughout the cruise for things here and there. Our room was spotless. There was always plenty of everything and she would ask if she could be of service. Yes, you shouldn't have to do that to get good service but it definently works.

 

Hawaii is amazing.....2 more days, need to pack.

I suspect the initial tip to the steward did nothing. What you saw was a difference in two stewards. We've never bribed...excuse me, tipped--up-front and always had fine cabin service. I love it when someone draws a sweeping conclusion from one instance.

 

Also, we've never seen a difference in service level between main dining rooms and specialty restaurants. As someone has pointed out above, the staff is rotated through all these restaurants.

[CanadianTwosome]

Thanks for posting your experience. We actually had some excursion reservations lost on our last cruise as well, but it worked out for the best because our daughter had an ear issue and she and my husband spent the morning in the infirmary. When we initially discovered the problem the night before and I went to the purser's desk, they told me that while it was sold out, they were going to try to contact the tour operator to see if we could be accommodated. When I returned to the cabin and found my daughter complaining about her ear, I called them back and told them not to bother... I don't know if we would have gotten a tour or not, but I was glad to not incur a cancellation fee. :) It's really unfortunate when reservations get lost like that, because once it's sold out, there really is nothing anyone can do most of the time. Do you tell the 'last' people who booked that they can't go? I'm glad you were able to find a private tour - and I'll bet it cost less, too!

 

I'm curious about the food issues, now... not because I question your assessment, but I'm wondering if you sent anything back? I'm a big sender back of food that isn't prepared to my liking... so I'm wondering if you did, and if you did, if they were able to make it more to your liking. I always like to know how complaints are handled - to err is human and all that, but if I'm unhappy with something, I like to think someone will make an effort to address the issue. :)

 

Happy anniversary, by the way!!

 

To those asking about the Easy Fly comments - the reason it was mentioned is because documents were delivered to the wrong cabin. The comment was about the misdelivery, NOT about the program.

[Cruise_More_Often]

Then why comment on the Easy Fly Program?

Maybe I didn't read the right area in gooch47's review, but the only mention I saw of the Easy Fly Program was when she mentioned that she found someone else's tickets in her cabin.

 

Gooch47, I'm sorry you had less than a spectacular time on your cruise. I, too, enjoyed your review and found it fair.

 

It's too bad you didn't get to see one of the fantastic Jean Ann Ryan production numbers in the main showroom on the PoA. I guess NCL hasn't contracted with JAR Company to provide entertainment on that ship. We were on the Coral Princess last fall, and the entertainment couldn't come close to what we've seen on the NCL ships we've cruised on. However, I've read on these boards that NCL is not renewing the JAR Company contracts on some (perhaps all?) of its ships, and if that is true, I think it's a huge mistake!

 

Thanks for the review!

[CocoKai]

greywillow: We had the same room steward the entire time on our cruise. We were there. Bribe? No, I always leave an extra tip for the room stewards. I really think they have the hardest job on the ship. Can you imagine dealing with high seas, the ship has Noro, people are seasick and you have to do your job! Yikes. So, rather than leave one tip at the end of the cruise, spread it out throughout the cruise and acknowledge their good service when it happens. Tried and true....it does seem to bring another level of service. Try it on your next cruise and see what happens, if you want to leave an extra tip.

[mylesf]

The wrong tickets had to do with a shore excursion not the Easy Fly program. If you use the Easy Fly program, which I have, they don't bring you tickets. You get airline luggage tags to attach to your luggage and boarding passes. When you put your luggage out you don't see it again until you get to your home airport.

[DocJohnB]

Then why comment on the Easy Fly Program?

 

This sounds like you are really trying to pick at her, don't you think.

 

CAREFULLY read her OP. What she said about the Easy Fly Program was (when talking about her pastor finding her tickets):

The last night of the cruise we found their Easy Fly information in OUR cabin.

 

She never addressed the machinations of the Easy Fly program at all.

[DocJohnB]

You get airline luggage tags to attach to your luggage and boarding passes.

 

One would assume that the OP not being familiar with the Easy Fly program may have thought they were something they weren't (tickets).

[Cruise_More_Often]

I think I'm the one who mentioned the word "tickets," rather than what the OP said ("information"), and I've used the Easy Fly program myself. Somehow, my typing fingers get waaaaayyy ahead of my brain sometimes.

 

Anyway, it was a very good review!

[ksmaage]

Gooch47,

Thanks for your comments. We were on the POA last January and experienced many of the same things you talked about. They lost our tickets for a shore excursion, lost reservations we made in a speciality restaurant, etc. We noticed also, as you did, that the evening shows were poorly attended and the dance floors and karaoke were pretty much dead.

We still had a great time once we realized that the real attraction is the islands instead of the ship. On the other hand, that shouldnt be an excuse for poor service and hohumm entertainment.

 

WIth all that said, we will probably do the cruise again. There is so much to see on the islands and this is really the best way to do Hawaii.

[Lancer525]

CanadianTwosome:

 

Thanks for a great, informative, and level-headed report! There are a lot of lessons that can be learned from some of the things that you encountered.

 

One of the things I'm curious about, is why you did not obtain any kind of confirmation via email about your helicopter tour? If you had a written document in your hand that showed you'd paid for it and were entitled to be part of it, don't you think that might have made a difference when you went to the desk to inquire?

 

Not that a little Anniversary Package compares to a Helicopter Tour!, but I made sure I had an email straight from NCL that our package was paid for and we were confirmed to have the extra amenity. That way, if nothing happens (technical/communication problems can occur) then I can show something in writing at the desk.

 

I am really sorry your trip didn't go exactly as planned, but I also commend you for your admirable resourcefulness in making the best of a bad situation!

 

Thanks for the post!

[mylesf]

This sounds like you are really trying to pick at her, don't you think.

 

CAREFULLY read her OP. What she said about the Easy Fly Program was (when talking about her pastor finding her tickets):

 

She never addressed the machinations of the Easy Fly program at all.

 

 

Yep you are right...I stand corrected, not the first or last time that will happen....

[DocJohnB]

Gooch47,

 

WIth all that said, we will probably do the cruise again. There is so much to see on the islands and this is really the best way to do Hawaii.

 

Having lived in Hawaii for a couple of years while in the Navy, I would disagree with it being the best way to do Hawaii. It is certainly a great way to experience what Hawaii has to offer, but I contend that the only real way to do Hawaii (besides living there of course) is a land vacation(s) There is just so much to do, experience and see that a 8-10 hour stop on an island just doesn't do justice to the island.

 

After living on Oahu for almost two years my wife and I came back to Hawaii for my R&R from Vietnam. We spent the first 4 days on Kauai. One day alone was spent exploring the vast beauty of Waimeia Canyon. Another morning we spent on a tour of the Fern Grotto. Another day was just spent driving around this beautiful island. And . . . . . . . we missed so very much of the island. And that was 3 days on only one island.

 

Take your Hawaiian cruise . . . then pick one or two of the islands and go back and fully explore the beauty that is Hawaii.

[CanadianTwosome]

CanadianTwosome:

 

Thanks for a great, informative, and level-headed report! There are a lot of lessons that can be learned from some of the things that you encountered.

 

One of the things I'm curious about, is why you did not obtain any kind of confirmation via email about your helicopter tour? If you had a written document in your hand that showed you'd paid for it and were entitled to be part of it, don't you think that might have made a difference when you went to the desk to inquire?

 

Not that a little Anniversary Package compares to a Helicopter Tour!, but I made sure I had an email straight from NCL that our package was paid for and we were confirmed to have the extra amenity. That way, if nothing happens (technical/communication problems can occur) then I can show something in writing at the desk.

 

I am really sorry your trip didn't go exactly as planned, but I also commend you for your admirable resourcefulness in making the best of a bad situation!

 

Thanks for the post!

 

You're very welcome, but I think you have me confused with the OP!! :p

 

For our reservation mixup, I can't remember if I had my documentation with me... I usually print off everything and I had a package with me containing all of our reservations, registrations, directions, etc. When I went to the Purser's desk, though, I was initially just inquiring about why I hadn't received any tickets and it was only then that I discovered that they had no record of our reservation. The staff member I spoke to needed no printed confirmation from me, though; they were in the process of trying to accommodate us when I discovered we weren't able to go anyway. Our experience, though similar to the OP's, was a much more positive one. :)