Two loyal Royal cruisers sail on NCL POA

[beachnative]

We are very loyal Royal Caribbean cruisers who have just returned from the Pride of America sailing around Hawaii. :)

 

We were concerned about sailing on this ship because of many negative reviews. We should have ignored those postings!

 

From the moment we entered the terminal we were impressed with the way we were being handled. Check in was very easy and there were even representatives from the ship's crew greeting people as they waited to board. Once on the ship we were surprised to see how clean and well maintained the ship is.

 

The most outstanding feature of the voyage was the crew. We were very impressed by their outgoing spirit, happy disposition, and willingness to help.

 

Customer service was excellent!!!:)

 

We were most surprised by the enforcement of the dress code when specified for various venues.

 

Thank you NCL for providing such a wonderful way to see the islands. Although we will continue being Royal fans, we will return to the Pride of America (and ignore those negative reviews) :)

[crusinmama06]

Welcome to the NCL side from a RCI cruiser :D

 

I had heard so much before our cruise what I would not like about our NCL cruise (from RCI cruisers) that I was pleasantly surprise to have LOVED the Gem so much. ;)

 

Our next one is back on a NCL ship as I will have no problem going back and forth between the two cruise lines. They both have what I want for my family cruises. :) I am glad you had a great cruise onboard POA!

[Karter]

After 60+ cruises on RCCL, Carnival and Princess we have decided to try the NCL Star for out first NCL cruise. Hopefully we will have the same experience you did and have another cruise line to choose from in the future.

[ctnecruisers]

Thanks for the information. We are booked on her in June and have wondered about all the negative stuff. This will be our first time on NCL. We can't wait. I am glad you had a good cruise.

[Cubechick]

We are very loyal Royal Caribbean cruisers who have just returned from the Pride of America sailing around Hawaii. :)

 

We were concerned about sailing on this ship because of many negative reviews. We should have ignored those postings!

 

From the moment we entered the terminal we were impressed with the way we were being handled. Check in was very easy and there were even representatives from the ship's crew greeting people as they waited to board. Once on the ship we were surprised to see how clean and well maintained the ship is.

 

The most outstanding feature of the voyage was the crew. We were very impressed by their outgoing spirit, happy disposition, and willingness to help.

 

Customer service was excellent!!!:)

 

We were most surprised by the enforcement of the dress code when specified for various venues.

 

Thank you NCL for providing such a wonderful way to see the islands. Although we will continue being Royal fans, we will return to the Pride of America (and ignore those negative reviews) :)

 

Thank you for sharing your experience. What you posted captured our experience exactly. The crew on the America is fantastic and made a already wonderful vacation (hello, it was Hawaii after all!) even better. It ended up being my favorite cruise to date.

 

Our cruise was so great that we're busy planning our next trip despite how long it takes to fly to the islands!

:D

[Bars7816]

Speaking of negative reviews. One night on cruise critic, I found myself on a Celebrity thread from 2009. Appeared to be the same two or three posters having a running conversation about how horrific NCL is. I have never heard such blatant snobbery in my whole life!

 

One point that made me laugh out loud was that they couldn't leave the suites area unless absolutely necessary on NCL. They declared that although NCL suites life is a Nordstrom experience, if they left the area, it all became Sears and J C Penney! :D

[Susie51]

I am glad you liked your NCL experience. I have cruised with RCI seven times - Royal Caribbean 5x and Celebrity 2x and liked the experiences very much. Likewise, I have cruised with NCL 7x. There is something outstanding with each cruiseline. Thank you for reporting your good experience.

[puddles99]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, we're currently considering a December 2012 cruise on POA to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. It's so good to read first hand experiences!

 

Were there any specific excursions or experiences that you'd highly recommend?

[beachnative]

to Puddles99:

 

The Road to Hana using Valley Isle Tours (Maui); so much to see

 

Haleakala at Dawn (Maui); unbelievably beautiful

 

The Smith Family Luau (Kauai); it was traditional and authentic

 

Air Ventures flight (Kauai); an hour long flight on an airplane that provided each passenger a window

 

(We took over 1,300 pictures on this trip!!!!

 

We plan to return soon because we heard other passengers describing their excursions and realized that one can not see it all in a single visit.

 

I forgot to mention that the Na Pali coast sail-by was a major highlight. The ship timed it perfectly. By the time we got to the end of the coast it was a few minutes before sunset. The ship turned to starboard and everyone that had been on deck viewing the coast was treated to a perfect sunset. POA really has their act together.

 

Buy a bottle of Tedeschi Vineyard's (Maui's Winery) "Maui Splash". Wow, wow, wow; I've never been his with such a powerful, beautiful fragrance upon popping a cork!!!!

 

Beware of the ship's "happy hours" (said jokingly; ;)).....we ran up the biggest on board account that we have ever had and loved every minute of it.

[Sherrica]

I'm glad you had a great time! I hope our experience will be as good next month!

[newmexicoNita]

We are very loyal Royal Caribbean cruisers who have just returned from the Pride of America sailing around Hawaii. :)

 

We were concerned about sailing on this ship because of many negative reviews. We should have ignored those postings!

 

From the moment we entered the terminal we were impressed with the way we were being handled. Check in was very easy and there were even representatives from the ship's crew greeting people as they waited to board. Once on the ship we were surprised to see how clean and well maintained the ship is.

 

The most outstanding feature of the voyage was the crew. We were very impressed by their outgoing spirit, happy disposition, and willingness to help.

 

Customer service was excellent!!!:)

 

We were most surprised by the enforcement of the dress code when specified for various venues.

 

Thank you NCL for providing such a wonderful way to see the islands. Although we will continue being Royal fans, we will return to the Pride of America (and ignore those negative reviews) :)

 

thanks for sharing the "other side" with us. I feel about Princess, the way you do about NCL. We just returned, had a great Princess cruise and though there were things we didn't like about Princess, we would sail them again in a heartbeat, but that doesn't mean we will not keep our loyalty to NCL.