Not real proud of the Pride of America

[Fabian52]

We cruised on the Pride of America about 3 years ago. We had great service and with a smile. We were a bit leary because it was an all american crew and had never encountered that. However I must say that we had a great cruise and it was wonderful seeing all the Hawaiian Islands from the cruise ship.

We had an easy embarkation (were the first ones on the ship) and because we carried our own bags off the ship very easy disembarkation.

We really like NCL because of its free style cruising and were laid back.

I would love if they would go to Australia or New Zealand. But because they don't we booked Celebrity for that cruise this November.

We had booked all of our exursions on-line a few months before our cruise and as soon as we got to our cabin all the tickets were there waiting for us in our cabin.

The only disappointment was on our last island they cancelled the downhill bicycle tour in Maui because not enough people had booked the cruise. Instead we did the "Road to Hana" tour which was very nice was very bumpy road but got alot of good pictures.

The food was very good and we had good service in the dining rooms also.

The Chochlate buffet was an added bonus which was held in the afternoon instead at midnight.

Just my opinion, but we really like NCL. :)

[gooch47]

Then why comment on the Easy Fly Program?

 

It was another example of something being delivered to the wrong cabin. And just the opposite of what happened the first day. The pastor got our tour tickets, we got the pastor's Easy Fly info.

 

This was our sixth trip to Hawaii. It was the second for the "Guests of Honor" for their 50th and they wanted to cruise. We've done two land tours of Hawaii, two all-island cruises, and two quicky visits on a cruise to/from somewhere else.

 

 

As for the missing documentation on the reservations, blame my hubby. He was promised a confirmation and when it didn't show up he kind of shrugged it off. Never again.

[FLbeachbaby]

Boy, this is really not helping me make up my mind about POA. I've got one booked but I keep getting closer to going with the land option and I really like NCL. Keep the opinions coming because it helps to have a well-rounded assessment;somewhere in the middle of it was the worst-it was the best. Of course no one ever flames the cheerleaders now do they?

[newmexicoNita]

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.

Tipping up front may have worked for you, but it certainly isn't necessary. I don't tip my waiter up front, why could I tip the cabin steward? We have had great service from our stewards on almost every cruise and never even thought of tipping up front. We do give them extra at the end of the cruise.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

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.

Bribe is exactly the word my hubby just used when I asked him the question. In fact he called it buying them off and bribing which his view: that is an insult to them. It is saying we don't think you will give us good service any other way. I will say, we have gotten better service in the specialty dining rooms but not bad in the main ones. our only cruise where we felt the service was really below par was Princess earlier this year: it was bad in the specialty dining room as well.

 

Nita

[gooch47]

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. Lisa

 

The cabin dial was a nice touch, too. Much better than door hangers.

 

The issues with the steward weren't so great that they even made us want to mention them to her, much less the pursers' desk. We aren't complainers. Same with the food. The food wasn't inedible, just not to the standards you expect on a cruise ship.

[cruizinwithkids]

OP was disappointed in HER cruise and that is her right. I sailed on the Pride of Aloha which consistently got worse reviews than the Pride of America. This response is intended for FLbeachbaby. This is how I read reviews prior to my cruise.

 

 

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.

 

Yes, I know this. It has frequently been reported.

 

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.

 

I will make my reservations on line and be sure to have my documentation.

 

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.

 

I honestly knew ahead of time that I didn't care about the food. I can ALWAYS find something that suits me. I went to Ireland one time and the hotel had a buffet. Every night I had lasagna and mashed potatoes.

 

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.

 

Again while planning our Hawaii cruise I knew shows would not be a biggy. I was always one of the first people off the ship. We often rented a car and I would pick up the car then return to pick up the rest of the family. After a day of sightseeing (or whatever) we would return to the ship and usually eat at the buffet and have a drink for sailaway. It really was a lifetime dream of mine to go Hawaii and I wanted to be outside enjoying the Hawaiian air, not inside at a show.

 

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.

 

Again I am not criticizing OP. Her cruise was disappointing. If I were reading this for my education this is my take. There are seven nights to eat dinner. The first night was already covered as being disappointing. One night dinner was at the Cadillac Grill diner. That leaves 5 nights. George was exceptional. OP tired to get him each night, but wasn't always successful. So how many dinners with spotty service were there? 2 or 3? Again, not acceptable, but would not ruin my cruise?

 

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?

 

The Freestyle Daily was obviously not clear. OP doesn't mention if they had long waits to eat or what the subsequent issues pertaining to the unclear communications may have been.

 

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.

 

Obviously the cabin stewardess was not great. This would annoy me. I wouldn't care SO much if there were wet towels/floor mat as long as I had a dry towel after I got out of the shower. The bed sheet issue, well I cannot tell a lie. I drive my husband nuts because I don't make the bed. I think it's a waste of time, you're just going to mess it up again. This doesn't mean that when I'm paying for such I service I don't want or expect it. Just trying to explain why it's not going to ruin my cruise. I don't need the bar explained to me. I probably would have gone to reception to get a phone button label if I couldn't get the room steward to bring one.

 

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.

 

I researched Hawaii to DEATH. Everything was planned ahead of time. I had revealed books, I had cruise critic and I had ohioNCLcruiser. I had some excursions booked through NCL, I had others booked through independent providers and I had cars rented.

 

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.

 

I think this story is just too weird to be a recurring issue. I am not questioning the facts. I'm just saying it doesn't have to be something I need to take into consideration when planning my cruise.

 

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.

 

This would be a concern if I was planning a cruise a year or two out. If I was looking to take this trip in the next couple of months I wouldn't worry about it.

 

 

The point of my post is to show how I read reviews and how I use them to make my decisions. OP's Hawaii cruise did not live up her expectations. Mine exceeded my expectations.

 

I loved the crew on our cruise BUT I don't think they provide the same level of professionalism as other crew members. I went to New Orleans a long time ago and had breakfast at Brennan's. The waiters were all men in their 50's. That was their profession. The level of service was exceptional. For the most part the crew members on the Pride of America are not making a profession of this job. The level of service is not the same as the international ships where the job is their profession and in fact viewed as a prestigious job in many homelands.

[beachchick]

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.

 

We agree for the most part. My DH used to work in Hawaii several weeks a year, and we far prefer land trips (with as many days as we can possibly afford). However, for some people this cruise is the "best" way to visit Hawaii. Some want a taste of the different islands so that they can decide which they want to come back and explore in depth. Others figure that they're only going to get to Hawaii once in their lives, so they want to experience a little bit of everything. Still others simply prefer cruising.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our PoH cruise, but once was enough for us. It is back to land-based trips for our future visits.

 

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.

 

I can't speak for all ships or all cruises, but that was not the case on our PoH cruise. We had a post-cruise stay in Waikiki, so we dawdled and relaxed (in our first ever suite) until just about last "all ashore" call at about 11:00. While many pax were already off the ship, there were at least 400 to 500 still onboard enjoying the leisurely option of getting up, having breakfast, taking a stroll, relaxing on the balcony, having a shower, or whatever--right up until they had to basically be "thrown" off the ship (kicking and screaming inside, I'm sure).

 

Plus, even if they start turnaround at 7:30 am when the first early birds are off the ship, it's not just cabins that are involved. There is quite a bit to do, even for the stewards, that is not simply cabin changeover. As well, I'd rather that they do take a bit of extra time on each cabin and do a good job, rather than rushing through and perhaps being sloppy. If we're going to be in a cabin for a week, I'd like to know that it's actually been cleaned and replenished before I go there, instead of one of us having to call for towels or for vacuuming or for some other cleaning thing that didn't get done because they were rushing to make sure no one had to wait a bit of extra time to get to their cabin.

 

Of course, this is (as always) JMHO. All your other points (bad and good) and issues seem spot on to me. We could not agree more about the production shows. On PoH, we left after 10 minutes of one and less than that for the other. (OTOH, we are musicians and theater people, so I admit we're darn nit-picky about that sort of thing. Still, compared to other cruise lines we've been on, PoH had the worst production shows by far.)

 

I hope your next cruise is much better. Do go back and visit Hawaii for a land trip if you can.

 

beachchick

[gooch47]

As I said above, this was our sixth visit to Hawaii. We have taken two extensive land tours in the past.

 

We are cabin/balcony potatoes, too. I love sitting on the balcony and just enjoying where we are. But our relatives insisted on the shows.

 

A dinner can be disappointing with either a combination of bad service/good food or good service/bad food. George served us, I think, three nights. So that left four with bad service. But we didn't have a single dinner with both great service and great food. And we had lunch, not dinner, in the Cadillac Diner.

 

The issue with the reservations notice in the Daily wasn't that it caused us any problems. My DH was just a little ticked off when he called for a reservation and was told they didn't take them for tables for four. The Daily could have made that clearer. We felt it was sloppy.

 

If you take out the part about it being our former pastor, the issue was still that tickets and/or information was delivered to the wrong cabins. That is once again, sloppy.

[beachchick]

As I said above, this was our sixth visit to Hawaii. We have taken two extensive land tours in the past.

 

Oops. Thought I'd read all the posts, but I must have missed that. I looked back and there it was staring right at me. Sounds like you love Hawaii as much as we do.

 

We are cabin/balcony potatoes, too. I love sitting on the balcony and just enjoying where we are. But our relatives insisted on the shows.

 

We too spend lots of time on our balconies. It would have been nice if at least the production shows had been good.

 

A dinner can be disappointing with either a combination of bad service/good food or good service/bad food. George served us, I think, three nights. So that left four with bad service. But we didn't have a single dinner with both great service and great food. And we had lunch, not dinner, in the Cadillac Diner.

 

That stinks. It's not as if eating is the be-all and end-all of cruising, but good food and service do help enhance the overall experience and are not too much to ask.

 

The issue with the reservations notice in the Daily wasn't that it caused us any problems. My DH was just a little ticked off when he called for a reservation and was told they didn't take them for tables for four. The Daily could have made that clearer. We felt it was sloppy.

 

If you take out the part about it being our former pastor, the issue was still that tickets and/or information was delivered to the wrong cabins. That is once again, sloppy.

 

Exactly. I think it's actually a bit more than sloppy that important tickets and information were delivered to the wrong cabins on more than one occassion.

 

It might be nice if they added a little note on the dailies. Something like "reservations for the main dining room accepted for parties of X or more." After all the little glitches and problems you'd already had, I can see how your DH might have been a bit annoyed.

 

In any case, I hope that your next cruise is more enjoyable.

 

beachchick

[NCL_Cruiser]

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.

 

Please keep in mind that most flights from Honolulu depart in the evening, so many guest really don't have a reason to leave as early as you'd normally expect on other cruises.

[Cruizer_J]

Exactly. I think it's actually a bit more than sloppy that important tickets and information were delivered to the wrong cabins on more than one occassion.

Totally agree. They need to make the extra effort to get those things right.