Is NCL America Past Its Rocky Start?

[hotspur]

But those who have a good experience often don't come back here to say anything at all, or if they do it's not in much detail. There's a big majority out there, IMHO, that have pleasant experiences and are quiet about it.

Here's a recent one:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=376324

[bubiesmom]

I sailed on the Pride of Aloha in January 2005, roughly 6 months after the ship began sailing its exclusive inter-island itinerary. I had such a wonderful time onboard that I have eagerly scheduled a sailing onboard the Pride of Hawaii in January 2007. Not coincidentally, my upcoming sailing is also at least 6 months after the new ship has had its inaugural cruise. This, I think, is an important factor that should not be overlooked. Given 6 months or so to iron out the kinks, I think that the POH will be able to provide me with a similar excellent experience.

 

As a devoted cruise critic member who has learned much valuable insight from these boards in the past, I payed careful attention to all the member reviews and topics about the POA before going on my cruise. Unforunately, the POA experienced some serious quality and service problems that were directly related to having an inexperienced, all-American crew. However, I ultimately decided to go on the cruise because the member reviews consistently got better and better, and the issues onboard the POA gradually lessened as my cruise neared. I also looked at some of the consistent complaints (i.e., small buffet with long lines, average food quality in main dining room, service issues with room stewards, smaller cabins) and simply decided that it was something that I could live with and that I wouldn't let it bug me. For my part, I made sure that we arrived for breakfast early, dined almost exclusively in well reviewed specialty restaurants and gave our room steward some slack. Some people might suggest that I was just lowering my expectations and that I shouldn't have to do that. I cannot disagree with that opinion; however, I prefer to view it as making an informed decision and taking precautions to avoid situations that would otherwise bug the heck out me. And it worked.

 

When all was said and done, the POA was the best cruise that I have ever had. The ship was beautiful. The staff was very good overall. The nightly entertainment was some of the best I had ever seen. The exclusive inter-island itinerary avoided the necessity of wasting time going to/from a foreign port and gave me the most island time of any cruise out there. And, as it turned out, an unintended consequence was that I absolutely fell in love with eating in specialty restaurants. So much so, that I have since sailed on NCL ships 3 times mostly because I love freestyle cruising and all the different food choices!

 

Because of the exclusive itinerary and the freestyle experience onboard the Pride of Hawaii (steakhouse, french, italian, tepanyaki, etc.), I would most certainly sail onboard NCLA over any other cruise line at this point, notwithstanding any potential service/quality issues that may still exist.

 

elephant98,

When in January are you going? My family and I will be there the 1st.

[tc in ATL]

:( First, Prior to booking our POH 6/19 cruise, I had read a lot of negative reviews on CC. I should have listened. I have been on 7+ cruises and this was by far the worst.

 

We started great. Check-in was very efficient and smooth. On board in thirty minutes. Probably the fastest check-in ever! Went to our room, it was ready for us, except for a desert that was left in the fridge.:confused: I am used to seeing our cabin steward the first day. No show. I didn't see her until early evening on day two. I don't understand that. OK, not a major issue but ....

 

We went to dinner at one of the main dinning rooms. Seated very promptly with another couple from Houston. We all had different meals, but had on common comment. The food was very tasteless and overcooked. Our waiter was very nice but seemed to be taking care of too many table. He seemed rushed all the time. (Maybe short staffed?)

 

I wish I could say that this meal was the exception for the week, it was not. We ate at most of the upscale restaurants with problems at most of them. Sat at Cagneys for twenty minutes before anyone greeted us. In the other main dining room for "Lobster" night, they over cooked the lobster!?! How does that happen? The French restaurant was OK at best.

 

We also ate at Jasmine's, the food and service was very good. Too bad we didn't try this earlier in the cruise. And the Italian restaurant was good also (no upcharge). It seemed to me that the staff in the restaurants were trying hard but were overwhelmed or just plain tired.

 

We didn't see any of the shows, so I can't review.

 

Security, it is very tight. It was easier to enter and leave the carribean islands than POH. What were they afraid of? They are also very serious about taking alcohol on board. I saw lots of people that had bottle of rum or vodka confiscated. I think they are a little bit over zealous about this.

 

I usually bring wine with me. ALL other cruise lines charge corkage at the bars or restaurants. That is normal and expected, no problem with me. BUT, not POH, they charge corkage when you board for all bottles!:mad: What if you don't open all of your bottles? Or if you consume some in your own stateroom? They don't care! Just be forwarned.

 

While it seems as though I have listed a lot of problems, it wasn't all bad. There were some staff that gave excellent service, i.e. the bar staff at the champage and martini bar.

 

While this cruise may appeal to some, for the money and the service and ammenities recieved I would not do it again. POH has a long way to go to meet or exceed my expectations. I hope they are able to iron out their problems. Hawaii on the other hand .....:)

[tomluvsaida]

I've read manny reviews both positive and negative. What I've concluded is that POH is going through some growing pains much as did POA and POAm. The reviews got better with time. I also looked at the details of the most negative reviews. When these people talked to "a person" on the crew even they were pleased with them calling them polite and professional. Also no one anywhere has had even one negative comment on the Hawaian Islands themselves!

Now here is where I part company with those that prefer the "traditional" cruse. I'm going on my honeymoon so it is my new bide I want to spend time with where I want and when I want. For me the idea of being told when to eat, where to eat and with whom to eat with would totally piss me off no matter how good the food and service is! :mad: Oh ya, and being told I have to dress up for the meal everytime too!!! To me THAT would be a trip from hell! I would rather have free stlye:D with the quality of McDonalds and have the freedom to chose when, where and with whom I want to eat than be told.....I guess you got the point.

[tomluvsaida]

I just had a thought which I think only an NCL executive can answer but I thought I'd give it a try here.

Are NCL crews paid the same as NCLA crews? If they are not because NCLA has to get American sized wages, does the parent company try to compensate by having fewer staff on NCLA than on NCL ships?

[mikedw]

NCL America crews are members of the Seafarers International Union which is one of if not the biggest maritime union in the US. There pay and benefits are more then what the crews on the international ships get. Although those crews are still paid well in relation to what they would earn in there home country.

[tomluvsaida]

NCL America crews are members of the Seafarers International Union which is one of if not the biggest maritime union in the US. There pay and benefits are more then what the crews on the international ships get. Although those crews are still paid well in relation to what they would earn in there home country.

 

Thanks for that quick information! It is what i thought. I just wonder if you or anyone else has an answer to the second part of that question. Since the American crews cost a lot more does NCL try to compensate for the high wages by hiring fewer of them than the foriegn crews? If this is the case some simple arithmatic can explain a lot!

[agzx]

i just returned from the pride of hawaii.

NCL has some major issues including, but not limited to--

freestyle cruiseing- we just don't like it, and i don't personally know anyone who does.

 

service- the workers appear to be overworked and not all that happy.

 

food- buffet little variety and best food disappears fast.

food was not very tasty and food was wasted.

 

NCL may have trouble competing.

In review, NCL has not turned the corner IMO.

[mikedw]

I will be honest, I've never taken a NCL cruise, but it seems like a lot of people must like Freestyle Cruising or they wouldn't keep it. Even Princess is trying a form of Freestyle Cruising on there ships. I'm a TA and I did read an article somewhere recently, don't remember where unfortunately but when it comes to dining they're trying to be more like a land resort with lots of choices. I do have a percentage of people who spend several times what a week cruise would cost to go to an all inclusive and one of the reasons they say they don't want to try a cruise is because of the traditional dining. Also when you figure less then 5 percent of the population of this country has ever cruised, there's a very large percentage of people who don't know one way or the other.

 

Take care,

 

Michael

[hotspur]

freestyle cruiseing- we just don't like it, and i don't personally know anyone who does.

You might try reading the NCL board, where there are innumerable people who wouldn't cruise without freestyle. Traditional dining--also known as cattle-herding--will die a natural death over time, I'm happy to say.

[excitedofharpenden]

You might try reading the NCL board, where there are innumerable people who wouldn't cruise without freestyle. Traditional dining--also known as cattle-herding--will die a natural death over time, I'm happy to say.

Traditional diner here and I have never felt like cattle being herded.:confused: As long as people enjoy traditional dining (and there are many of them) then there will always be a place for it. I've never done freestyle dining and don't want to at this time. That's not to say I'd be happy for it to die. There are styles for everyone out there. It's good to have a choice.

 

Phil

[calimn]

Count us in as one who had a very good cruise on Pride of America on Feb 11 2006. Only 2nd time cruising and 1st time to Hawaii, so that may have made a difference. We loved the iternary - but were glad we had 6 nights in Maui to relax afterwards. The price could not be beat - we had 2 rooms. We only ate twice in the main resturants - other times at specialty. They were good not outstanding - but for the price (compared to the land part of our trip) we had our expectations set right. We liked the freestyle dining (evening though we booked the restaurants the first night). I prefer not dressing up all the time and not sharing a table - it gave us great family time vs socializing time. We also had no cleaning or staff problems. We would do it again (maybe on POH)

[nokidding]

As a first time cruiser, I really didn't know what to expect from Pride of Hawaii when we sailed it in July 2006. Here are my experiences both positive and negative: Embarkation took about two hours before we were able to enter our cabin. Here's what we found in the cabin: toilet unflushed, sand in one of the beds, minibar items missing and dirty, safe locked, and a set of towels missing. We did what you would do, spoke to one of the women at reception. No apology given just that it would be taken care of. We decided to eat dinner with our friends. Two hours later, nothing was done to the cabin. We found our room steward in the hallway and he took care of most of the issues. At the end, the minibar was still not replenished. So we did what you would do, asked to speak to the Manager Joe Boyle. He promised to compensate us by the end of the voyage. Guess what? We're still waiting. If management doesn't exhibit honesty and integrity, there's not much I can tell you to feel better about choosing POH. The lines to the reception desk for complaints went on and on.

 

There are positives. The ship is beautiful. The cabins though small look excellent. The food in the better dining rooms are excellent as is the service. Main dining room food is just okay and service is very spotty. The bars are great. Fitness area is terrific. Entertainment rates a C.

 

To recap: Ship great. Service lacking in the extreme. Management totally unresponsive.

[Nerell]

We travelled on the Pride of AMERICA 24JUN 06. The best aspect would be the itinerary, the only thing that drove us crazy was having to disembark and how time flew by too quickly. We would definite take this cruise again. In fact we were in Hawaii for 2 weeks total and should have done this sailing back to back and made it 14nights. AUSTRALIA

[BruceMuzz]

If you look at the history of American Flag ships in Hawaii, the future of NCLA does not look good. American Hawaii Cruises struggled for years, never got their act together, and finally failed.

 

Aloha Pacific Cruises did the same thing, but went bankrupt much faster.

 

Both of those companies started off much better than NCL America did, with far fewer costs and regulations than exist today.

 

Why would anyone expect NCL to do a better job than their predecessors?

[sunshine 229]

If you look at the history of American Flag ships in Hawaii, the future of NCLA does not look good. American Hawaii Cruises struggled for years, never got their act together, and finally failed.

 

Aloha Pacific Cruises did the same thing, but went bankrupt much faster.

 

Both of those companies started off much better than NCL America did, with far fewer costs and regulations than exist today.

 

Why would anyone expect NCL to do a better job than their predecessors?

 

Before the whole enterprise started, I would have said that NCL appeared to have more experience running a successful main stream cruiseline and that might help them avoid some of the pitfalls that the other companies who tried this had made. However, having watched through the long list of service and staffing problems that dogged the launch of the first NCLA ship, I had to write off that idea.

 

At this point, the only thing that I think might save NCLA from the same fate as the other American Flagged Hawaii cruiselines, that you mentioned, is the possibility that together with their parent company ( Star cruises and the Genting Group) they have deeper pockets which will allow them to operate at a loss for a longer time than any of the other companies that tried this.

 

Possibly, they will eventually get it right and figure out what it takes to keep these ships properly staffed and to keep service at a level comparable to other cruises. If they get to this stage then, I think, they may be able to charge a premium for these ships because of the unique itinerary. Charging more for these cruises might then allow them to cover the higher cost of the US staff and still make a profit.

 

Still, as long as so many cruisers are returning with comments of the type " great islands, disappointing ship", I don't think this will happen.

[indyjim1969]

We had a great time on the July 29th cruise, ship looked good, staff was decent to good, and the Islands were incredible.

 

This forum really helped prepare us for the pro's and con's and what to do and what not to do, and we never sweated the small stuff.

 

Thanks to all who take the time to give hints and suggestions! :)

[Jana]

Thanks for that quick information! It is what i thought. I just wonder if you or anyone else has an answer to the second part of that question. Since the American crews cost a lot more does NCL try to compensate for the high wages by hiring fewer of them than the foriegn crews? If this is the case some simple arithmatic can explain a lot!

 

Hi,

 

Nope. Not at all. The company is working 'round the clock to have fully-staffed ships. In fact, they need more staff than foreign-flagged ships because the American workers get time off.

 

Pride of Aloha was a real challenge. By spring of this year, things were much better. I was on Pride of America in March and it was fabulous. I didn't compare the experience to other cruises because it was... not like other cruises and I knew it wasn't meant to be.

 

Pride of Hawaii is a huge ship and the staffing challenges continue. Now there are three big ships that must be staffed with willing American sailors, and the wait for a union card is tremendously long. The training is extensive too. NCL-A started out advertising in Hawaii and on the west coast... now the company also advertises in the heartland for staff.

 

I believe they will achieve their objective. I believe, all things considered, that the product is a success. I know how anxious the company is to make it work, and I think that they are taking the steps necessary to do just that.

 

Jana

[BruceMuzz]

tomluvsaida,

 

NCLA does have fewer American Crew onboard their ships than they have foreign crew on their international ships. But the reason may surprise you. When they converted the international ships for the American Crew, they realized that the Americans would not go for the 3,4,5, and even 6 crew living in one tiny cabin like they do on most cruise ships. So they arranged to house only 2 American crew per cabin on the NCLA ships. But space and revenue considerations would not allow them to construct additional crew cabins to accommodate more crew. There just isn't any more space to put additional crew - even if they want to. The numbers just don't work out.

 

Norwegian Sky originally carried about 1150 International Crew. When I was last onboard her as Pride of Aloha, they could carry a maximum of about 900 American Crew - and they couldn't even manage to keep that many.

[Jana]

That might well be true for Pride of Aloha, which wasn't custom-built for the Hawaii market, but I know that the room stewards I had on PoAm and PoH were definitely in rooms with more than two. Maybe they were built slightly larger?

[flyingpirate]

In speaking with the crew on PoAm and PoH, they said they were 3 and 4 to a cabin.

 

In the intro employee video on the NCL(A) website, there is a shot of the crew cabin on the PoA and it does show 4 bunks.

 

Jana - your Generations piece is great! Thanks. :D

[mandha]

We just returned from a cruise on the Pride of Hawaii (Aug. 7) and were not pleased with the service compared to our other cruise experiences.

 

The crew is very friendly, sometimes overly friendly. One waitress insisted on constantly calling my wife "honey" at dinner. It took all my restraint not chook her. The food is not up to cruise standards either. I tried the Tapas Bar restaurant which turned out to be poor quality Tex Mex food. Other guests I spoke to had similar opinons about the restaurants.

 

The crew are not professional cruise ship employees. From talking with them many are out on a lark to see what working on a cruise ship is like or just travelling for fun. In six months they plan to move on. This may explain the poor service.

 

I definitely would not sail on NCL America again and would suggest to my friend that they spend the extra time and cruise on one of the other cruise lines from the main land.

[mikedw]

Just keep in mind that except for the Deck and Engineering officers, there really are no professional cruise ship employees in the US. For the most part, you're going to get the fresh out of school or military people who want to try something different for awhile with a few middle aged and retired types thrown in. I've been in customer service type jobs for over 10 years now and myself included, I think we're all overly friendly, just how Americans are. People who feel that those serving them are beneath them will hate the service. Personally I enjoy chatting with servers and getting to know about them.

 

Michael

[Warbird]

We just returned from a cruise on the Pride of Hawaii (Aug. 7) and were not pleased with the service compared to our other cruise experiences.

 

I can't speak for the POH, but I just got off the POA Aug. 6. Service on the POA was good. Our cabin steward did a good job, wait staff busted their butts in the dining rooms, even in the buffet area I felt the crew were doing a good job clearing off the tables.

 

The only downside if there is one was if you show up to eat in a dining room around 7:00 PM there is going to be a wait. I have experienced this on other NCL and Princess ships. I fail to understand why people get so upset with that, but they do. I witnessed people throwing hissy fits because they had to wait. It's not rocket science that once a dining room fills up there is going to be a wait for the first batch of diners to eat their meals and move on.

 

On the positive side, I believe NCL is well aware that there is a learning curve that they have to go through and once the staffing stabilizes the issues will become to a lessor degree minimal. When that time comes and I firmly believe it will, NCLA will be able to compete in the Hawaian market and give the land based hotels real competition for the experience that they have to offer.:D

 

John

[mississauga]

If you look at the history of American Flag ships in Hawaii, the future of NCLA does not look good. American Hawaii Cruises struggled for years, never got their act together, and finally failed.

 

Aloha Pacific Cruises did the same thing, but went bankrupt much faster.

 

Both of those companies started off much better than NCL America did, with far fewer costs and regulations than exist today.

 

Why would anyone expect NCL to do a better job than their predecessors?

 

Sorry, I'm not up to speed on the history of American Hawaii Cruises but I thought they were doing ok. I was on the m.s. Patroit in April of 2001 and at that time we heard that they had 2 new ships on order and were looking forward to a bright future. I assumed that why they went under was because of 9/11.....no one wanted to fly to Hawaii after 9/11? Were they going under regardless of 9/11? We had a wonderful cruise. Food was excellent, service was good to excellent and the entertainment was superb....best we have had on any cruiseline.