Another Flamingo back in Nest from Pride of Aloha

[cheddarcheeseball]

Xzone, regarding whether everyone was on the same cruise, I have a hunch about something.

 

I think the "Flamingos" made it known to NCL that they were cruisecritic members, and like the 5 day repo cruise, may have gotten better treatment than the average joe, even though they paid the same. I've read a lot of these reviews mentioning the hotel director personally, and thanking him. I have a feeling he pays certain passengers special attention.

 

Was that the case Stacy? Did the flamingos receive any special treatment, parties, robes, "VIP atatus" etc. like a previous cruisecritic group did?

 

Also, I always like to hear how cruisers feel about this cruise compared to others. I would like to ask cruisemama especially what she thought of NCL's kids program compared to other lines, and how the food quality and buffet compared to other lines she's sailed? How about the service?

 

Thanks and keep the reviews coming, glad to see that things are finally improving on this ship, too bad previous cruisers had to suffer through the training and growing pains though...

[cheddarcheeseball]

Question for returning cruisers, Did you notice if they closed the main dining room for lunch on any days? Were there any days when the buffet was the only option for lunch, (or room service) because they decided they weren't going to open the dining rooms as they did on our cruise?

 

Just wondering if that was a temporary decsion because they were shortstaffed, or if NCL is moving in the direction of closing dining rooms on port days. Thanks.

[stacybnca]

Yes, we had VIP status. I think the only thing that did for me was give me more information. I asked a lot of tough questions. It also helped us to get to know some of the crew personally.

 

But, none of that changed my hard bed or slow service! I was there to have a great time, and I did. Most of the time we were invited to something, the flamingo group used it as an opportunity to party with each other...the crew was often on one side standing there watching us have the party!

 

Stacy

[stacybnca]

We are also Latitiudes members, and got the same treatment for that.

 

I have been on 4 cruises, all NCL, so I can't compare for you...sorry!

[ACCagent]

I would also very much like to know how differently CC members are treated. Cheddarcheeseball mentioned special treatment on the 5 day repo. I missed that if it happened. Actually I talked to Mr Deering and invited him to meet with us and gave him the time and location and he said he would join us but didn't. I assumed that it was a very hectic time or something. I'm not sure if anyone else in our little group spoke to him later on the cruise or not.

 

What exactly is their VIP list and what does it entail?

[cheddarcheeseball]

Thanks Stacy. So would you say the service was slower and food worse than other NCL cruises you've taken, or was it about the same?

[cheddarcheeseball]

Accagent,

 

I apologize, I didn't mean the 5 day repo cruise, I meant the panama canal Sky repo cruise. Cruisers on that cruise who identified themselves as cc members received cocktail parties (with free cocktails), free soda cards (when they wouldn't even sell the cards to anyone else), free meal at the fee restaurant, robes, etc. I would call that special treatment, and I would expect their reviews to have a more positive spin to them.

[TxRose]

I was on the LA-SF Repo with ACC. We had a CC meet to which the HD was invited, but as she said, he did not stop by. So no..we did NOT receive any special treatment for anything. No goodies, bathrobes, bars of soap, etc. So if any of the CCers on that trip did receive perks, it was unknown to me. I will say though, that on the STAR last summer, we did have a CC meet in which the officers attended and we did receive some treats, etc. Btw..I also did not prefer the liquid soap in the shower, so I just stopped at a drugstore in port to buy a bar. I understand why they use them though. It was just not a big deal to me.

[Cruise Mama]

Well - NCL is all we have cruised and we don't cruise often - with 6 children our vacations are mostly land based - We have relatives out of the country and so we usually vacation at "the compound". Now that the children are aging (2 adults this year) we will start doing more exciting adventurous trips!

 

Our children used the Kids club at their discretion - just like the way Mommy and Daddy use the facilities on the ship - if we want to do the arts and crafts, art auction, trivia games, dances, sing-a-longs, shows, movies, pool hot tubs, shops --- we do. And they check out what is on the "menu" for kids activities and choose which to do and which not to do.Sometimes they want to play basketball, shuffleboard, ping-pong, cards, or hang with us. They also had walkie-talkies so that they could communicate to pick them up if they were done in the club (never happened) We had the luxury of being on the repo cruise though and so we had all those glorious sea days. The current itinerary means that the sea "nights" will leave kids club for evenings (7 to 10 - when generally our kids were a little tired from the excursions) or to pay for port play (something that doesn't make sense to me - why take the kids on the cruise if they aren't going ashore with you)

 

As far as "perks"

 

We did receive a cocktail party with the captain (embarkation and last night of the cruise) - pre-arranged for the CC members. The concierge was notified (by one of our group) with the names and cabin numbers of the members that were on board. All the ships officers were there - attentive to our expectations, and to our critique of the cruise. I considered that we were looked at as "secret shoppers" - we gave a useful review (both positive and negative)

 

We also had a latitudes party (so did all identified latitudes members)

 

As far as being treated "special" because we were flamingos - I don't think we were treated any "better" than any other cruiser -

 

I do admit we had a better outlook than many of the others on the ship because we had been in contact for up to a year - we had weathered the storm (POA "sinking") - were determined to have a good time ----- and best of all we had each other!!!

 

I think we could have been set out to sea in one of the tenders and Jane and her family would have caught us a big Marlin to eat, Ed, Meg, Deb, Tina, and Nancy would have kept us entertained!!! We would survive!

 

It truly is what you make of it!!!

[livermorenancy]

The CC treatment we received was just as Tammy stated. There were no free soda cards, no free robes, bars of soap (brought mine from home but since we were in an Owner's Suite we did have the tiny bars at the sink.), etc. Mr. Deering and several officers were probably able to attend our Cruise Critic party and the one on the Sky canal crossing because they were longer cruises. Just a guess. They were truly interested in our critiques- whether positive or negative. Having known someone in an Owner's Suite right before my cruise, I was able to get in contact with the concierge ahead of time to set up a Cruise Critic party. Again-we all had met on this board throughout the year and were determined to have the time of our lives. Your attitude going into the cruise really makes the difference.

[gardencat]

Just my opinion but I think the Flamongos had a great time because they are a fun group, they already knew each other a little and had made up their minds to roll with the punches and enjoy themselves no matter what. Maybe it also helped that they had heard some bad reviews before they left. While that might have seemed like a bad thing at the time it prepared them for the worst. When anything turned out better that expected it came as a pleasant surprise! Mostly though I credit their attitude and applaude them for it. Once you are booked and committed to a cruise you may as well make the best of it and not waste your whole vacation complaining.

 

Despite the overall positive tone of the reviews however I did note several things that would cause me to think twice if I were considering booking on this cruise (which of course I am not) .

I got the definite impression that the spa services left a lot to be desired, some people may like gravy and some may not, but after reading several comments I still came away with the feeling that the buffet dinning experience was not the highlight of anyone's cruise, service in the dinning room may be improving but is still slow and not quite up to the standard some of us might expect. I especially liked the story about one kid in the dinning room getting lemonade when he asked and another being told there was no lemonade on the ship!

I think the Flamingos had a great time cause they are great funloving people. They probably would have had fun in the London Underground while bombs rainned down above. But, from what I am hearing this ship may be improving but still has a long way to go.

[cruisecrasy]

Thanks for replies - eased my mind somewhat..and as so many have said, relax, take a deep breath and plan on havin' a good time. May not improve anything but bad things don't seem so bad and at least u do feel better.. Happy cruisin' which is the main idea right? :-)!

[cheddarcheeseball]

Gardencat,

 

I think you've given an excellent assessment of the situation. Heck, we had a great time on our cruise too, the ports were fantastic, I didn't have to cook (although I did have to make my own bed ;), the kids had fun etc., but still, quality-wise, it was the worse cruise I've ever experienced, with the worst kids program, food and service by far of any line i've ever sailed. I knew cruisemama had never sailed another line, I could tell. Typically people who haven't had a really superior cruise experience are perfectly satisfied with NCL. It's just an observation I've made that seems to hold true.

 

Didn't "ruin" my vacation, but for future reference, NCL will always be a last resort. I also empathize completely with xzone. Maybe he/she is just used to better?

[cnmiranda]

Yes, NCL has a strangle hold on Hawaii. There's no choice and they are playing into that by charging for half of their dining venues while on board. People may book one time to try the ship but if it really is that terrible no one will return? I don't know, Hawaii's travel is back to pre 9/11 leves do we'll just have to see.

 

Why are these boards so slow? Same posters (myself included of course). Other boards are busy all day? Thoughts?

[Cruise Mama]

Gardencat,

...... we had a great time on our cruise too,........ but still, quality-wise, it was the worse cruise I've ever experienced ...... Typically people who haven't had a really superior cruise experience are perfectly satisfied with NCL. It's just an observation I've made that seems to hold true.

 

Didn't "ruin" my vacation, but for future reference, NCL will always be a last resort.

 

Cheddarcheeseball - What cruise line would you consider to provide a "superior cruise experience"? And what made you choose NCL? Was the Sky Panama repo your 1st with NCL? Do you only cruise? How many? Your favorite itinerary?

 

Just curious - I appreciate input from other sources!

I still say a vacation whether cruise or land - is what you make of it.

Thanks :)

[JaneW]

Have been trying to stay awake today, which is a good thing since I am at work! Took a break to catch up on these posts. Will write my full review, but just a comment now.

We are experienced cruisers- 14 family cruise vacations including the med, Baltics, Alaska, New England, Mexico,British Isles on Princess, HAL, RCCL, Celebrity, Carnival. This was our first NCL trip since our honeymoon on the Skyward 18 years ago.We booked the Pride of America for the itinerary, and with no problems changed to equivalent rooms on the POA. (Balcony and inside deck 10) We knew that because it would be the 3rd cruise there would be no way that the cruising experience would be as top notch as say the Constellation last year.In my opinion anyone cruising on POA for at least the next 6-9 months should be doing it for the itinerary and because it fits with your vacation plans, and realize that it will not compare equally in all aspects with other lines and perhaps other NCL ships. That said, every cruise we've ever been on has been a lesson in human nature. Someone always finds something to complain about- just sit by the pursers desk for awhile. It will be easier for those kind of people to find things to complain about on POA, at least for awhile. However, we had a great time and so can you if you have the right attitude and expectations. In fact, some things, such as embarkation, disembarkation, Cruise Director (Patti) and staff were as good or much better than other ships. We did our excursions on our own, but many people complemented the shore excursion staff. The tender in Kona was simple and we were able to easily be one of the first people off the ship at each port with no hassle. The Hawaii culture program was great and we all enjoyed the crafts, hula, and lectures.The most noticable difference to me, besides the inexperienced but very friendly staff was the food choices and availability both in and outside the dining room. No soft serve ice cream 24/7 like Carnival, in fact Sprinkles was hardly ever open. No afternoon tea, or cookies/finger sandwiches out in the afternoon. No place to get food after dinner, especially noticable on the overnights- returned to ship about 10:30pm and would have loved a snack. Can remember coming back after a long day to a wonderful buffet on Grand Princess. No food out at the night deck parties. This was the only cruise I can remember without at least one midnight buffet. The food in the dining room was good, but not alot of choices. There was chicken available every night, but no steak like other lines. I still managed to gain the same weight I gained on previous cruises!
My kids rated the ship part of the trip about a 6 or 7, the overall trip a 10. They took points off for lousy pizza, tripping over the pull out bed to get to the bathroom, no midnight buffet (which per a few waiters is not scheduled to be restored- no signature chocoholic buffets with NCLA), no food available except room service after dinner, and a shirley temple made with coke. They are tough graders- certainly none of these were super important. They gave points for good food at dinner,good BBQ, good CD and staff, good entertainment, great itinerary and liked captain sailing close to the lava flow and the Napali coast. They enjoyed hanging around with their new friends and are probably home still sleeping recovering from so much fun!

I'll also add I do not think anything extra we received for being cc members influenced my opinion or changed our experience other than having an opportunity to meet each other.So often it is the people you meet and the places you visit that make lasting memories and on this cruise that could not have been topped.

Aloha to all our new friends,
Jane

[cheddarcheeseball]

Cruisemama,

I'm happy to answer your questions, I'm an avid traveler (in fact, researching and planning trips is almost an avocation for me). I take all kinds of trips, but I think for a wide range of age groups, cruising is the best. The Sky was my first cruise with NCL, and it was at the height of their "transition" phase, so naturally, service was really bad. I'm just trying to figure out if my experience was atypical due to the training aspect. I only cruise with my kids and their cousins, so also naturally, a good kids program is a priority on our cruises. While my children enjoyed the cruise on the Sky, it was because they were able to meet other kids who also didn't like the kids programs to hang around with. On our cruise, the age groups weren't segragated, therefore you had 12 year olds in with 6 year olds on NCL, which just doesn't work. On other cruises (RCCL, Celebrity, Disney) the kids programs were just phenomenol and it was all we could do to drag the kids out of them. On this cruise, they didn't want to attend and had to amuse themselves while onboard, which they did with the other kids who were less than enthused with the kids crew.

I'm in agreement with Jane. The food was superior and the service was FAR superior on other lines. One thing NCL did do well was entertainment. I thought most of the shows were excellent. I also like the idea of Freestyle dining, but with the novice crew we had, it didn't work. I like not dressing up or having a set dinner time, but I like it less than receiving cold food, what I ordered, and being given water and a menu within 30 minutes of being seated. Granted, my experience was probably the worst because of the staff changeover.

Now, if you compare any cruise, including NCL to say an all-inclusive, which we've also done with the kids, I would say a cruise is better in terms of service, food, entertainment and kids programs. THen again, all-inclusives allow you to be at the beach all the time, which is sometimes just what we're looking for.

I've been on 6 cruises. I don't only cruise. I've been to the Hawaiian islands 3 times, and been to all the islands except Lanai. I love Hawaii, esp. the big island (Hawaii) and Hana in Maui. I don't know that I'd even want to do Hawaii as a cruise as the water isn't as nice as the caribbean, but the land, well, it's just awesome, and I wouldn't want to waste anytime out to sea. We island hopped by interisland flights. Short and sweet, and the resorts in Hawaii are amazing. We stayed at the Hyatt and Intercontinental (don't think it's still there) and Westin in Maui, the Westin Kauai, Mauna Lani Point on the big island, and the Sheraton Moana surfrider in Oahu. Now I hear that the resorts are bigger and better, like the Grand Wailea. With some of the worlds nicest resorts, Hawaii is one place that I would prefer doing as a land-based trip. It isn't cheap though, anyway you slice it.

My favorite cruise itinerary is Southern caribbean and Bermuda, my least favorite is Western caribbean. I've been literally all over the world, and wouldn't do Europe as a cruise, the food is too good ;)! I've also taken a cruise (ha! tugboat really) down the Amazon river to Ariau Towers Jungle hotel. Now THAT is a cool family trip! Your kids will hug monkeys and fish for pirahnna.

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise, Hawaii is a beautiful place no matter how you see it, and with kids, cruising is a great way to go. I hope that one day you cruise another line, then you will understand what I mean when I say a "superior cruise experience". I'm not talking luxury, just other mass market lines (Celebrity, RCCL, etc.) that seem to be better managed and more customer service oriented. You will see a difference.

[Jeconk]

I want to respond to the comment about the Flamingos getting better treatment. Although I did "lurk" on their roll call thread and did participate a couple of times, I did not become an official "flamingo." Not because I didn't like them, but because my family really just wanted a relaxing vacation to ourselves. We never had door signs on our doors (btw, I loved Cruise Mama's door!) and I never let anyone, even the other flamingos, know who I was. I had a pretty good cruise! Yes, there were problems that I will expand upon in my review. I don't think they got any special treatment because of who they were. Besides, there is no way that the staff in the restaurants and other places would know who they were, except when they wore flamingo shirts/outifts. Most staff wouldn't remember your name unless you had several interatctions with them. I worked with a girl at the reception desk on a billing problem for three days and although she took a special interest in getting my problem solved (she did a great job!), she never recognized me until I told her my name each day. It was a big ship and remembering one or two people out of 1800 is not that easy.

[Another ship trip]

Thanks Jeconk,
You are right. We were a vocal group and as you know, we had 40 pages of text and over 2500 posts on the Flamingo thread before we left. I only joined the group in the last 5-6 weeks before leaving anyway as was the case with about half of us. This was a very vocal group and the operative word here, being group. As a group, if we had been very unhappy, I think the ship would have heard about it too because we were well over 50 people. But actually the exact opposite happened. I think we were the happiest "group" on board. We were fun-loving and enjoyed each other's company. We had our own parties. We had a "Rob your Neighbor" game on our last night where we each brought a tacky souvenir and stole each other's souvenir. I had a cool gift and mine got stolen pretty fast. But it was fun and Nancy and John in the Owner's suite hosted several get togethers in her room where we all gathered. They knew we were a vocal group before we arrived because it was quite evident by our couple of thousand posts. Once the news happened that many were being offered the deals to cancel their cruise, alot of people really got nervous. People were anxious to hear how our experiences were as many have this cruise booked for later this summer and fall. We were the guinea pigs so to speak. When we got the post that "500 crew quit" that also alarmed many people including us going on this cruise. There was the cancellation of the Travel Agent cruise and there was even conjecture that this crossing might be cancelled. I think most of us knew that barring some disaster, that would not happen, but nevertheless, there was so much rumor at that point that everyone was very concerned. Finally NCL even made a formal statement to quell the rumors and help settle peoples' minds. The Flamingos, a group name self-given months before by some of the founding members, were the group that cruise critic knew would certainly respond with how their experiences were. I believe that the POA was aware of that as well and wanted us to know that they were aware of us and wanted our cruise to be a good one--but they wanted ALL PASSENGERS to have a good cruise. Yes, one of our group gifted Patty with the Flamingo on the last day of the cruise and it was because we thought she did a great job and we had fun. We have been objective in the areas we see that could use improvement, but I do not believe that you will find a single one in our group who would say that they did not thoroughly enjoy their trip. We appreciated the cruise critic party and the opportunity to ask questions. It confirmed that they do listen and pay attention to this board.

[Cruise Mama]

cheddarcheeseball - thanks for your response! That is what I love about this site - we are able to gain so much from sharing!

JECONK - you saw my door - so were we neighbors? PLEASE tell me - did we talk?

[Jeconk]

Cruise Mama: we were not neighbors although on the same floor. I don't believe we ever talked since your doors were always closed when I went by. When I toured the ship the first day, I walked every deck and saw your door, as well as the rest of the Flamingos. I also walked the decks each morning for exercise. I usually walked around Decks 8, 9 and 10 since they were the easiest to navigate, didn't have doors to open and close and generally free of a lot of people at 6:30 - 7:30 a.m. Sometimes the outside walking area on Deck 6 smelled due to the engines or waste removal from below and Deck 12 was sometimes too breezy at that time of the morning so I stuck to the interior decks.

[marilynbn]

Just wanted to let fellow flamingos know that I have posted a couple of trip pix on the site. I would love to post here also but I don't know how???
Marilyn

[Another ship trip]

Hey Marilyn! Boy my internal clock is still out of whack. Well, I did it. I booked the Norwegian Sea for Thanksgiving since it leaves from Houston (LaPorte) and is easy for us to get to and also because Charles can scuba dive to his heart's content. We will take Charlie this time and Charles' mom. I booked a cat CC since this is an old ship. Reviews are mixed but one thing is certain. Most cabins are very small but the appears to be plenty of storage based on many reviews I have read. Any Flamingos who wish to join me, come on! This one is definitely older than the POA though and will be more intimate at only 42.000 tons. I have been on about 5 ships this size or smaller so I am okay with the size. Anyone with pics of this cabin? Supposedly about 176 sq. feet vs. the 110-126 sq. feet of about 90% of cabins. I don't know how MIL will fare in a 110 though!

[cheddarcheeseball]

OK, I just have to ask, Why Flamingos? Are most of you from Florida?

[livermorenancy]

Cheddarcheeseball-no one in the group was from Florida. We did meet up with 2 great buddies on the bds. and on our cruise and 1 lives in Florida. Many months ago when we agreed that a Cruise Critic sign was needed for our doors so we could quickly find each other, Laura had an adorable pink flamingo rubber stamp wearing a lei and straw hat and well....the rest is history. It was amazing how many tacky flamingo items we were able to find before the cruise and some "not so tacky". Thank goodness Laura didn't have a pig stamp wearing a lei!

Marilyn-I'll go to the family site and check your pix. I hope all is getting better for you and your family. My thoughts and hugs go out to you and family.

Jeconk-Now I'm wondering if you were one the people I passed in the halls too and said hi?????Humm...