Pride of Aloha 6-16

[2Ports]

Literally everyone you talked to?

 

Yes - my experience also.

 

Everyone.

 

I even tried pretending to like the food etc. - boy did I get an earful! One guy was ready to get off the ship then and there - and he had just gotten on the day before at Maui! Thought he'd been on all week the way he talked.

[Zeno]

Oh? You can proove this? A passenger brought onboard? Not a crew member? Isn't that a possibility?

 

The poster said PEOPLE not passengers. She did not specify whether the PEOPLE were passengers or crew.

 

I'll put on the rose-colored glasses and enjoy the water that tastes like lemonade.

 

I REALLY hate to have to say this but this sounds awfully familiar. I hope not but I would not be surprised.

[newmexicoNita]

The poster said PEOPLE not passengers. She did not specify whether the PEOPLE were passengers or crew.

 

 

 

I REALLY hate to have to say this but this sounds awfully familiar. I hope not but I would not be surprised.

you know I almost always agree with you and I do this time, but I think we are talking to the blank wall. For me it's time to let this thread die.....NMNta

[rescue/fire]

Geez, only two hours for dinner on the Aloha....that's an improvement......lol (it usually took us three.)

 

I agree the cabin misrepresentation is Orbitz fault and not NCL. But I do question why it would take until Tuesday for them to find you a better cabin. If the ship sails on Saturday, wouldn't they know ON Saturday evening if they had any cabins open?? Why wait until Tuesday unless they were expecting people to get off in the first port. Sounds to me as if they were just trying to get you to drop the issue and sounds even more so when they didn't call you back either way. C'mon NCL....give a YES or NO answer, not misleading.....

 

I'm sorry to hear the buffet has gone downhill, it was one of the saving graces on our cruise.

 

There is no excuse for the Stewards not doing their job. You should have kept pursuing that issue and gone to the head of housekeeping or even the hotel manager.

 

Unfortunately what you witnessed with the elderly couple is commonplace with the American young people of today. They have a terrible problem of making fun of elderly or handicapped (especially speech impaired). If I had been there and witnessed that, I would have called those hosts out on the issue and embarrassed them or at least called their supervisor about it. Keeping quiet does nothing to teach them.

 

I guess the American crew issue is not getting any better. It is a shame and could put NCL in a real bind. I was speaking to a Maitre'd on the Dawn this past week who had had some American workers put on his ship when they were training them before the Aloha or America and he told some interesting stories about it. He had to keep correcting this one young American because he kept asking patrons: "Yo, you wanna some more water?" (Yo????) He also said he had to keep his eyes on them constantly or they would sit down or even disappear for several minutes. He also said that the Americans were notoriously late for their shifts.

 

I also was speaking to another cruiser who had been on the POAm last year and said many of the same things we keep hearing about the American crew and the lack of service. He fears that NCL will not be able to keep enough business to keep three ships filled with passengers unless service improves. He and I both agree that service with American crew will never be as good as the International crews and NCL may be forced to do one of two things: 1.) Reflag the vessels to allow International crews. That of course would mean the end of Hawaii only cruises. 2.) Get the US government to amend the Jones Act to allow the ships to operate with non US crews.

The American ships are also costing more to operate since NCL has to pay US minimum wage and overtime and that eventually will come into play as well as people will find that it might be better to take longer RCL or Princess cruises from the mainland to Hawaii (or even the Norweigan Wind/Sun to Fanning) in order to get better service. When does the higher cost and poor service outwiegh the 7 day Hawaii only cruising for people??

 

I'm sorry, but with reports like these still coming in about the service aboard these ships, something has to be done. I would like to see the American flagged program saved but I don't think it can be done un;ess some changes are made by the US government.

not all young people make fun of older people and thoese who are disabled. you should not stereotype that about all young people, their are some older people who make fun of older people and thoses of whom are disabled.

i am in my early 20's, i run with a rescue squad where i help and take care of people who are older and disabled! and my no means would i ever make fun of these people nor eiather would my crew who by the way are in their late teens to early 20's! and yes we are all Americans! i am quite offened of ur remark! so please keep in mind that we are all not like thoese girls on ur ship. thank you

signed a nice caring girl who cares about older and disabled people who is a young American

[maurick]

not all young people make fun of older people and thoese who are disabled. you should not stereotype that about all young people, their are some older people who make fun of older people and thoses of whom are disabled.

i am in my early 20's, i run with a rescue squad where i help and take care of people who are older and disabled! and my no means would i ever make fun of these people nor eiather would my crew who by the way are in their late teens to early 20's! and yes we are all Americans! i am quite offened of ur remark! so please keep in mind that we are all not like thoese girls on ur ship. thank you

signed a nice caring girl who cares about older and disabled people who is a young American

 

You are so right! There is good and bad in all age groups! rescue/gire..Your parents must be so proud of you. Thank for taking care of jpeople in your community.

[maurick]

I mean rescue/fire..sorry

[davidvc04]

you know I almost always agree with you and I do this time, but I think we are talking to the blank wall. For me it's time to let this thread die.....NMNta

 

You say that, but you keep coming back for more! :D

 

Yes, he wrote people. I can show you the letters, which is what I had in mind (we call that "conflation"--my gaffe), from NCLA that state "sometimes passengers bring a 'bug' onboard." What they're saying is, "It's not us, it's you."

 

Blank wall? Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?

 

And how many people have to post on here with the same story before you give it some credence?

 

People (at least some people) on here seem to have two primary claims. First, they've been on NCLA ships before, and they haven't been like that. Therefore, your cruise couldn't have been like that.

 

Think of this way. Take your favorite chain restaurant. You go there and love it for a long time. But one night, you get bad service and the food isn't as good. You learn that the chef and the manager are new. Things aren't the same anymore.

 

Just because you've had positive experiences on a cruise line's ships doesn't mean that that cruiseline will always bat 100%.

 

The second claim is, NCLA did all they could. Why wouldn't they? They need to for their own sake. Same counter as above. They slip up, they get bad management, things are handled poorly. It's not in a fast food chain's best interest to have contaminated beef rolling out of one franchise, but it happened. It wasn't in their best interest to learn that the manager at the store didn't keep the cooler at the right temperature. But it happened. Moreover, I believe that if you had seen what we had seen (and what has been reported here and verified several times over now about the ship's conditions and service), you would, or at least should, give the claims at a minimum some level of credence. The ship reacted to a crisis with extreme cleaning measures instead of preventing one with extreme cleaning measures when they knew that the illness was already onboard. As a few have noted, they could have docked for a week, cleaned top to bottom, let the crew heal, and resumed business and saved themselves and their passengers a lot of trouble.

 

Then people start looking for holes to poke: "Well, it can't be everybody. You couldn't have talked to everybody." To this rhetorical parsing of words, we can tighten up our speech since people are demanding precision and say "Everyone with whom I spoke or "large groups of people complaining" and so on. Which is what you hear from several different sources now.

 

The strangest thing has been some of the selective reading. It's like the president says "We will not deal with those who say, 'I am an enemy to America.'" Then a slimy PAC rolls out and says, "President states he is an enemy to America." Taking comments out of context, we know better than that.

 

Myself, I hope the thread won't die. Personally, I'd like to see the different offended parties tell their stories about dealing with NCLA after the fact. I know I will be doing so once we hear word. The more we pool our resources, share our stories, and discuss what has and hasn't worked in redressing the issue with NCLA, the better our chances at seeing some effect.

[JunPOA]

You say that, but you keep coming back for more! :D

 

Yes, he wrote people. I can show you the letters, which is what I had in mind (we call that "conflation"--my gaffe), from NCLA that state "sometimes passengers bring a 'bug' onboard." What they're saying is, "It's not us, it's you."

 

Blank wall? Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?

 

And how many people have to post on here with the same story before you give it some credence?

 

People (at least some people) on here seem to have two primary claims. First, they've been on NCLA ships before, and they haven't been like that. Therefore, your cruise couldn't have been like that.

 

Think of this way. Take your favorite chain restaurant. You go there and love it for a long time. But one night, you get bad service and the food isn't as good. You learn that the chef and the manager are new. Things aren't the same anymore.

 

Just because you've had positive experiences on a cruise line's ships doesn't mean that that cruiseline will always bat 100%.

 

The second claim is, NCLA did all they could. Why wouldn't they? They need to for their own sake. Same counter as above. They slip up, they get bad management, things are handled poorly. It's not in a fast food chain's best interest to have contaminated beef rolling out of one franchise, but it happened. It wasn't in their best interest to learn that the manager at the store didn't keep the cooler at the right temperature. But it happened. Moreover, I believe that if you had seen what we had seen (and what has been reported here and verified several times over now about the ship's conditions and service), you would, or at least should, give the claims at a minimum some level of credence. The ship reacted to a crisis with extreme cleaning measures instead of preventing one with extreme cleaning measures when they knew that the illness was already onboard. As a few have noted, they could have docked for a week, cleaned top to bottom, let the crew heal, and resumed business and saved themselves and their passengers a lot of trouble.

 

Then people start looking for holes to poke: "Well, it can't be everybody. You couldn't have talked to everybody." To this rhetorical parsing of words, we can tighten up our speech since people are demanding precision and say "Everyone with whom I spoke or "large groups of people complaining" and so on. Which is what you hear from several different sources now.

 

The strangest thing has been some of the selective reading. It's like the president says "We will not deal with those who say, 'I am an enemy to America.'" Then a slimy PAC rolls out and says, "President states he is an enemy to America." Taking comments out of context, we know better than that.

 

Myself, I hope the thread won't die. Personally, I'd like to see the different offended parties tell their stories about dealing with NCLA after the fact. I know I will be doing so once we hear word. The more we pool our resources, share our stories, and discuss what has and hasn't worked in redressing the issue with NCLA, the better our chances at seeing some effect.

Bravo David. Sorry have been quiet the past few days this week. My Mom was admited 911 to the hospital this week so I was attending to her needs, consequently I have been unable to support and validate Aloha adversely afffected pax. of JUNE 2006.

 

Preview of the coming attractions - I placed formal written FAX request to FDA Friday for ALL related Aloha FDA Inspection docs that I am entitled to. Although the public will not have automatic webaccess to this information posted on any FDA or any government website - pax who filed formal complaints are entitled to FDA's response and findings from their on-board ship inspection. Guess some folks on this thread are maybe from Missouri - the "Show me State". OK :cool: - I'll show you. Upon my reciept of FDA's response and Inspection findings - I am happy to scan it and post it (likely it will have to go in the uimages sections), so I will post a link.

 

Also - per my phone call (yes two managers actually held a conference call with me) with FDA College Park, Maryland Headquarters last week - the NOrwalk infection incidence rate among all individuals on-board for period JUNE 11-18 was "15.14%" !:eek: Do you really think I made these numbers up folks ?

 

I am with David - for the public's rotection - advocates like us shall continuw to keep this thread alive and well.

 

Regards,

Concerned Public Health Nurse

[davidvc04]

Preview of the coming attractions - I placed formal written FAX request to FDA Friday for ALL related Aloha FDA Inspection docs that I am entitled to. Although the public will not have automatic webaccess to this information posted on any FDA or any government website - pax who filed formal complaints are entitled to FDA's response and findings from their on-board ship inspection. Guess some folks on this thread are maybe from Missouri - the "Show me State". OK :cool: - I'll show you. Upon my reciept of FDA's response and Inspection findings - I am happy to scan it and post it (likely it will have to go in the uimages sections), so I will post a link.

Thanks a ton. I wrote Ms. Gardener and asked about filing a formal complaint but heard nothing back. Does the complaint you mention have to filed with FDA or with NCLA? How did you go about initiating the complaint?

 

As the FDA Inspector (who inspected the ship - she was there people !) stated to me, the ship "did too little too late" .

That's been my point all along. It's good to hear it validated from an official source.

 

Also - per my phone call (yes two managers actually held a conference call with me) with FDA College Park, Maryland Headquarters last week - the NOrwalk infection incidence rate among all individuals on-board for period JUNE 11-18 was "15.14%" !:eek:

Wow, so if the ship was at capacity, then that's around 450 people, though I'd guess their crew wasn't at full numbers--so many were being replaced at the end of our trip...

 

BTW, hope your Mom's doing okay.

[pegatha]

I'm normally a reader of these threads and don't post much but am compelled to post to this one.

 

I wonder how postings would have been if a cruise had been cancelled to rid the ship of the virus. Would you have been happier to completely change your vacation plans at the last minute - find another ship to sail as others had to do earlier in the year? I suspect a lot of people do not have that luxury. I don't dispute any claims of dissatisfaction with the POAL as we had a few disappointments of our own on our cruise. It wasn't as bad as we had feared but it certainly wasn't a great "cruise" experience. I do believe that the limited staff situation (compounded by staff illness) probably contributed to the lack or slowness of efforts being taken to contain the virus. Does that make it right, no but I think it does complicate things.

 

I did sail on the POAL in late 2004 and know of the staff shortage situation as it appears to have been, and is, a problem since day one. Sounds like the food is hit or miss as was our experience too. Fortunately my sailing did not have any virus issues. NCLA does have issues with the Hawaii cruises that have not been resolved in almost 2 years - at least on the POAL.

[Cruzin4aBruzin]

To the poster above I say, yes, I would have gladly rescheduled my vacation had I been informed ahead of time of the situation.

 

On a different note, I did write my letters to both Orbitz and NCLA. I never received anything back from NCLA--surprise. I did, however, receive a prompt letter back from Orbitz. They said something to the effect of being very surprised at the incidents on the ship and said that they themselves are conducting an investigation of NCLA. They said without a doubt that I would be receiving another letter from them within 30 days about their findings. I'm happy someone is concerned about this at Orbitz.

 

Lastly, what is this mention about the FDA? I would gladly be willing to send them a letter as well if someone could provide me an address etc. I too am happy this thread has not died as this issue with NCLA can not keep going as is. Something must be done. Thanks to all for your responces.

[JunPOA]

David & Cruizin41bruizin:

Here is the contact for reporting a complain to the Federal FDA.

Also, Brian - in case you missed it there was also extensive active thread within the past 2 weeks on the follling thread link.:rolleyes:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=364358&page=3

Yesterday , as past pax. just off the Aloha June 16th, I spoke via phone with the (public service) Federal Government FDA Inspector in Honolulu, HI who was on the Aloha last week conducting the outbreak inspection. The point of Contact is : Gardner, Janice K janice.gardner@fda.hhs.gov

Phone#: 1-808-522-8011 EXT. 102

She is extremely approachable and welcoms consumer sanitation related complaints & concerns related to the NCLA Pride of Aloha "affected" sailings. She related that the agency will be keeping a more than usual watchful eye on this particular ship. Perhaps Jan is a good person to speak to about your concern. I would not place a high degree of confidence or credibility on what NCL/NCLA tells you, that is

be cautious.:confused: Please be persistent in your attempts to file your complaint with the FDA - persistance pays.

 

David - thank you for your kind words of concern for my Mom - the clinicians think it is mini-strokes or TIAs - early warn sign of a stroke. She is regaining some strength and hopefully we intervened eraly enough to prevent a massive stroke.

 

Sorry for delay in reply , I actually DID reply earlier with contact info - but for some reason my post failed to transmit, vs. mystery, vs ??I understand sometimes this happens - and it was not the poof fairy, if so i do not know why?

Take Care

[davidvc04]

Yes, I copied the info you posted earlier about contacting the FDA inspector. I've emailed her but not heard back. I'll do so again.

 

I appreciate your tenacity in pursuing this. That contact information and learning that you can get a report after filing a complaint are pretty critical. We're waiting to hear what happens through our travel agency and will post results, but I'm going to continue with the FDA contact.

 

David

[RuUp2It?]

My husband and I sailed on the POH in early june, actually when our ship sailed it was her second trip around the islands. anyway, our butler told us, and this is just "hear say" but he told us since the POH is the newest ship that they pulled most of the well qualified and more experienced people to work on this ship. We had excellent service, with the exception of the concierge which was a totle JOKE!!!! His name was Eric, and three words for you if you go on the poh and get this joker DO IT YOURSELF cause he will not do it! ok, anyway, Im wondering if this may be the problem with everyone having problems with the POA? huh... i have read nothing but bad things about this ship, o well, just wanted to throw that out there, not that anyone could do anything about it......

[Cruzin4aBruzin]

Thank you junPOA. I will contact her as well.

[aamechs2]

on the POAl June 2-9. As I said before, I can see where there were some issues with the service because they were definitely shorthanded but not to the degree a few people are claiming. We had wonderful dinners, each one took 1 hr 45 min, I know becuase I timed them. And we ate mostly around 7:30 pm which is "rush" hour. (Except at one of the specialty restaurants which took 2 hours, again at ruish hour) The food was the same as the other 2 cruises we have been on, actually my hubby rated the quality better than Princess and Carnival, I liked Princess a smidge better.

The ship was clean, we never saw vomit or any other bodily fluids anywhere, including the public bathrooms we used. Some of the people we talked to complained about the food but others we talked to were having a good time. We know for a fact that the cabin next to us had sick kids and yet they were in the dining room twice that we saw and also out at the pool. If people won't cooperate, I am not sure what NCLA can do. (We have the same problem at work now that my company only pays you for 1/2 the day if you call in sick, there is documented evidence that more people are getting sick from people coming to work and spreading their germs) We saw lots of cleaning going on all the time. We talked to quite a few workers and they said that part of the crew shortage was because if one worker in a cabin of 3 was in any way under the weather, NCLA quarantined the whole cabin for 3 days. This was strictly enforced, unlike with the passengers.

All in all, we had a wonderful time. The islands were beautiful and we loved the long port times. I feel sorry for the people who got sick but I honestly feel it was probably the fault of their fellow passengers more than anything else. BTW, a friend of mine went on the cruise the week before and also had a wonderful time. We have talked and he felt the food was good, ship clean, etc.

I did think the tendering could have been handled better, and we also had Eric as conceirage and he was invisible. we also had one butler who was wonderful and one who wasn't. Yes we were in a nice room but that doesn't change the quality of the food, cleanliness etc. All 3 cruises that I have been on had negative reviews but on all, we had a wonderful time. If NCLA had canceled the cruise, I am willing to bet that there would be even more negative reviews about that! I do think people have a tendancy to write bad stuff more than good. Last year we were car shopping and I got on the internet to read opinions, by the time I got done, there were NO good cars out there, including Toyota and Honda according to what I read. I am not discounting anyones opinion, I am just saying that there were 2000+ passengers on that ship and only a few bad reviews....

[davidvc04]

The ship was clean, we never saw vomit or any other bodily fluids anywhere, including the public bathrooms we used.

8th deck, outside lift #5. Blech! Bathroom adjacent to Blue Hawaii. Double blech!

 

If people won't cooperate, I am not sure what NCLA can do. (We have the same problem at work now that my company only pays you for 1/2 the day if you call in sick, there is documented evidence that more people are getting sick from people coming to work and spreading their germs)

Yeah, that does tick you off. People get selfish and disobey quarantine. For my two ill party members, they were too sick to leave the cabin, so that solved that problem for us. :rolleyes:

 

If NCLA had canceled the cruise, I am willing to bet that there would be even more negative reviews about that!

Probably true, and if that had happened, I'd have no other cause to be upset. Knowing what did happen, at least for us, I'd rather have never gotten on that ship.

 

Glad you had a good time, though. I enjoyed the little bit of Kona and Maui I got to see, although we couldn't do any excursions. And I loved the vegetation on the islands. The trees were the most exotic I'd ever seen. I'm all into my gardening and plants, so that alone was a big treat.

[J&k]

My husband and I just went on the pride of Aloha June 2nd-9th. We had so much fun! We had awesome service and food! We met very nice people from all over the world. I would recommend this cruise.

[newmexicoNita]

My husband and I just went on the pride of Aloha June 2nd-9th. We had so much fun! We had awesome service and food! We met very nice people from all over the world. I would recommend this cruise.

It is so nice to see a report that indicates things are getting better. NMNita

[davidvc04]

JunPOA, did you file a complaint through Ms. Gardener or someone else? I'm going to have to call as email seems ineffectual.

[JunPOA]

JunPOA, did you file a complaint through Ms. Gardener or someone else? I'm going to have to call as email seems ineffectual.

Ms. Gardener took my complaint. But I beleive she handled it becasue she took my report of public health "missed oportuninites" simultaneously, thankful for the feedback as she said my observations (of missed oppotunities during the ~14% NLV outbreak) would assist in dveleoping new policy for new guidelines on sanitation procedures overall as well as specific recommendations to NCLA Aloha.

 

I will do a search on the Boards - cuz I beleive I had done an earlier post mentioning a Herbert Cox @ FDA San Fransisco, CA who was accepting the formal complaints to FDA. Let me research that and get back to you. BTW, this guy did calll me back to follow-up but Jan Gardner had already taken the complaint.

 

Here's the BAD news - which unfortunately may take either an act of _od or media intervention initiated on my part. Because FDA is so low staffed - the gal in SF, CA FDA Freedom of Information Act office, she is the one who would provide me with a copy of my complaint and FDA dispostion, and the Aloha Inspection Report. She (Ms. Imora of FDA) stated it would take THREE YEARS to get a copy due to a back of requests - that I was would just be added to next in line.

 

Can you beleive that ?:eek: More bureaucratic BS. Seems to me whenever info is needed the press seems to be able to get their hands on it faster than private citizens via the Freedom of Information Act.

 

BTW - Have had no feedback yet from NCLA Customer Service or Latitudes yet in response to my TA's correspondence to them. He did tell me from the gecko I probbaly would not hear anything for at least 2 months. On the positive side and to give credit to my awesome Conciearge Robb Milner - I just received in the mail yesterday my original 3 pages of notes/letter I used to guide my discussion with the Hotel Director Ian Napier during our cruise, as requested he also mailed a copy to my TA. Robb did a SUPER job despite that week being his first week on the Aloha. I beleive he had been tranferred from the P of America. He was all about follow-up and follow through and that's what customer service is all about.;)

 

Have e-mailed back and forth a few times with Robb (Concierage) and have alerted him to the "talk" on this forum regarding all the NCLA Prides - I am certain he is taking this back to his superiors.

Take Care

[davidvc04]

I just heard back from the Honolulu office of the FDA about lodging a complaint. The woman in charge of the complaints filed about the Aloha is Joyce Mayekawa (or at least in charge of inputting the data). She was very approachable, pleasant, and professional and can be reached at 808-522-8011, ext. 100. She didn't know about obtaining copies of the reports you mentioned, JunPOA, but has indicated that I will receive a follow-up call. I will continue following up on this.

 

There must be ways to expedite the FOIA office. Hopefully, we'll be able to use a bit of networking to see if that can happen.

[davidvc04]

Okay, learned of another name. The info from the Honolulu office is forwarded to Charla Tate in San Diego. I Googled for her phone number but if you can't find it, let me know and I'll post it.

[davidvc04]

Oops, Ms. Tate's office is in San Francisco, not San Diego.

[JunPOA]

Oops, Ms. Tate's office is in San Francisco, not San Diego.

 

Thanks David.

For any other NLV Outbreak affected passengers on late MAY 2006 - late JUNE 2006 NCLA Aloha sailings who filed a complain report with FDA and want to follow-up, the FDA contact in SF, California Regional Office of FDA is:

Charla Tate

Charla.Tate@cfsan.fda.gov

Tele. # 510-337-6741

 

UPDATE:

Have made contact with US Congressman (D) Maryland Elijah Cumming's Office (he is currently proposing the new Fed. legislation regarding cruise ship passenger safety Iposted earlier ) alerting him to the situation of lack of transparency for consumers to obtain surveillance data from the FDA (for US flagged ships) , and the unreasonable delay in obtaining Federal FOI Act documents from the FDA regarding our Complaint and the Ship Inspection during the Outbreak. I will keep the board informed of any new information to this regard.:)