Just back -- Pride of Aloha 03/11/07

[PDAZ]

Just back from the Pride of Aloha! Ship review here; port reviews to follow under Ports of Call. This wasn’t the best cruise I’ve been on, but the itinerary can’t be beat, and this was a trade-off I was willing to make. Thanks to the folks on this board, I knew in advance what to expect so I went in with low expectations and I wasn’t disappointed. I don’t think that the service is bad per se; they’re just very understaffed and unorganized. The latter is surprising since most cruise ships are run so well. There will always be snafus, but this ship had an awful lot of them! That said, we did have a fabulous time!

 

Four of us on this cruise in two outside cabins deck four -- my parents (67 and 77) who are novice cruisers and my daughter (22) and I who have sailed around a bit (see below). We booked through Crucon – cruise, airfare and transfers for under $1000 a person from Phoenix – nice deal! In hindsight, I should have paid a bit more and booked a direct flight – the layover in LA was a bit much.

 

Both embarkation and debarkation were a breeze. There were NCL personnel at the airport at the gate to point you in the right direction (at the gate? I didn’t think this was allowed anymore!). We had to wait for the shuttle bus, but it was only five or ten minutes, and the ride to the port wasn’t much longer. There was a line at the port but it moved very quickly. I had read here previously that we received leis on board, but this wasn’t the case on our cruise – maybe they’ve cut back? There was a lady selling leis at the bottom of the escalator to the ship – I would have purchased a few had I known that we weren’t getting them onboard.

 

Note to NCLA: Why not sell leis and flowers onboard? Flowers were available at the port in Hilo, but the cruise was nearly half over by then!

 

We boarded at one pm and were told that rooms wouldn’t be ready until two so we headed up to the buffet on deck 11. This was the worst experience of the cruise and the area where NCLA really needs to focus attention. The buffet area is small compared to other cruise lines and seats were limited. They must have recently had a virus outbreak because all of the food areas were wrapped in plastic and we weren’t allowed to touch anything. There weren’t any signs telling you not to touch anything; nor did anyone walk up the line telling you so. You found out when you made the mistake of reaching for silverware or condiments and were snapped at! Honest! I had basic training flashbacks! “YOU AREN’T ALLOWED TO TOUCH ANYTHING; WE HAVE TO HAND EVERYTHING TO YOU”. The funny thing was that the staff would basically ignore you until you reached for something – they didn’t ask if you needed anything. The plastic was removed towards the end of the cruise, but I had learned my lesson – I asked before I touched anything J

 

Now before you all jump on me – Yes, I do appreciate the cruise line doing everything possible to keep us healthy. That’s not the point I’m making. I’m fine with the plastic and all – I just think that they could have communicated it better, and they should never bark at passengers. Training issue – that’s all.

 

The food at the buffet was pretty good, we thought, but we only ate there once. I popped in to grab a breakfast tray a few times, and I didn’t have any complaints about the food.

 

We stopped by the room at two and our bags were already there – a first for us on a cruise! The rooms were clean and decent sized. The bathroom was a bit musty but it looked clean. The shower was very small – I wondered how some of the larger passengers could manage in it. It had a vinyl curtain, but it was weighted nicely – it didn’t blow into you when you showered. Liquid soap, shampoo/conditioner and lotion were in the bathroom. Didn’t try the shampoo/conditioner. The soap was ok, but I heard some others complaining about it. I thought the lotion was ok, but I mainly used suntan lotion on this cruise. The hair dryer was in the desk – it wasn’t the wall-mounted dryer we usually have on other cruises. It was fairly strong – glad I didn’t pack my own.

 

We ate the first night in the Italian restaurant – a $10 surcharge per person, but it was half price if you had dinner at 6:30 or earlier (which we did). We thought the food and service were wonderful! My dad especially liked the carpaccio. The pasta tasted homemade (although when we asked the waiter, he said he doubted it -- they would do whatever was cheaper!). My only complaint – no vegetarian entrée. Still there were sufficient appetizer and side dish options to make a vegetarian meal so I was ok. The tables in this restaurant are raised so that everyone gets a window view – this would be a great place for a romantic dinner! Incidentally, we purchased a bottle of chianti and only managed to drink half of it. They gave us the option of taking the bottle with us or leaving it with them and we could ask for it at our next meal (didn’t matter which dining room). We opted to take it with us, and we were even given wine glasses!

 

Our rooms weren’t turned down when we returned, so we assumed that we wouldn’t be having turn down service this cruise. No big deal – like I said we were there for the itinerary. But by the next morning, we still hadn’t seen any of the housekeeping staff, nor met our steward so we were expecting the worst! However, when we returned on the second night, our room was turned down with chocolates on the pillow, and the next morning, I met our steward, Benearl, and he took wonderful care of us for the rest of the trip. We had towel animals on a couple of days, and when we retired early (which happened a lot on this cruise with the port-intensive schedule), he would knock on the door to see if we needed towels and to drop off chocolates. Anyone who gives me chocolates is on my good side J.

 

I believe the second night was prime rib/lobster night (I’m already a bit fuzzy on the days). We opted to eat in the Palace dining room – one of the free, main dining rooms. We arrived about 6:30 and were handed a buzzer like you get at Red Lobster. We were told the wait would be no more than 45 minutes, but it ended up being 50! We volunteered to sit with others at every meal in the main dining rooms, but we were always directed to a table for four. This dining room is the most convenient being located on deck five, midship, right next to the shore excursion and reception desks. We all enjoyed the meal. My dad said the prime rib was excellent and my step mom said the lobster was the most tender she had ever had. But service was an issue. The prime rib came without horseradish, and the server had to go back to the kitchen to get it (and was gone for several minutes). Maybe it’s an Arizona thing, but isn’t horseradish the usual condiment for prime rib? It would have made more sense to have it available on the servers’ counters so they didn’t have to run back to the kitchen. We also had a long wait between the appetizers and the entrees – this was a recurring issue during meals – we seemed to always have a ten to fifteen minute wait somewhere between courses. So if you’re planning on seeing a show, make sure you allow at least two hours for your meal – service is slow!

 

My parents did opt to see the review shows, and they gave them good marks. My daughter and I are piano bar fans, and although there were several baby grands on board, we only saw one being played once, and it was in Captain Cook’s bar, which is unfortunately next to Captain Cook’s cigar bar, with only a partial divider between the two. So unless you’re willing to suffer cigar smoke, the piano bar is out. We did see guitarists a couple of evenings, but we didn’t stay long enough to provide a review. Actually, we did have piano accompaniment one evening at dinner. We were surprised at how poorly the pianist played until we realized it was a passenger who was apparently practicing chords (misses more than hits) before she was escorted back to her table by a staff member. Maybe that was her attempt to get better service!

 

We ate at the French restaurant on the third night. We had a 7:30 reservation but didn’t get seated until 8. The restaurant is lovely; they appropriately played French music – a very nice evening. The food was good, but we thought it was the weakest of the specialty restaurants. The French onion soup was disappointing; the beef filets were a bit overdone… my daughter did rave about the duck though. This was the most expensive of the restaurants -- $15 surcharge per person – we didn’t think it was worth it. The service was fantastic however

 

The fourth night was volcano night. We had a 7:30 reservation at the Asian restaurant and as the volcano sighting was to be at 10 pm, we figured we’d be out in time. We were seated right at 7:30, and again – great service for $10 surcharge per person. The food was fantastic – this was my Dad and my favorite of the restaurants. We had an amusing sake incident. My step mom and I have only had sake once, my Dad and daughter not at all, so we certainly aren’t connoisseurs, but after sampling the sake and having an in-depth analysis of its taste and aroma, we flagged down the server and told her that we thought it was water. Turns out we were right – the manager came over to apologize and told us that they had run out of that brand, so they used the display bottle – not realizing that it was filled with water! So they replaced the bottle with a different brand and gave us our sushi for free.

 

We left the restaurant at 9:30 and saw people heading out on deck, so we went along and what a sight! The volcano is amazing – beyond words! We were on the promenade (deck six I think) – not too terribly crowded and we had a great view. The view is on the starboard side at first; we went through to the other side when the ship was turned and then back again when it returned to starboard. Make sure you’re still watching when the lava flow is lined up (which for us was after the ship started moving again) – it’s truly amazing! We stayed on deck for an hour – completely mesmerized!

 

We ate in the Crossings restaurant – the other free dining room on the fifth and sixth nights. They had duck on one of those nights, which my daughter said wasn’t as good as the duck in the French restaurant. I think both nights were Asian/Pacific food, but my memory is a bit fuzzy. I don’t remember any complaints on the food – just on the service – it wasn’t bad, just very slow!

 

Overall, we had a great time on this cruise. We didn’t miss any ports, we had good weather other than some showers in Hilo. We had great whale sightings from the deck (especially along the Napali coast). The ship wasn’t as clean as others we’ve sailed on, and the service was slow, but we knew this going in. As long as you know what to expect and keep it in perspective, you’ll have a great time too!

[harleyglide]

If thats all the problems you had we could live with that:D :)

[hello]

PDAZ, thank you for the great review!!

[alpal1993]

Thanks for your review.We will be on our cruise June 3,counting the days.Look forward to reading your review on the Hawaii board.

[BeachBumMama]

Sounds like you had a grand time, welcome back.:)

And sounds like a few lessons in customer service when it comes to the buffet and not touching anything could certainly be a simple thing to fix. If they told them to at least 'SMILE' when they talked to passengers it could go a long way.:D

I've never understood people who choose to work in an environment that involves dealing with people, and it would seem they don't like people.:rolleyes: Even if a companies only requirement would be to 'SMILE' when they are dealing with a customer/passenger/whatever, some people would still have a hard time with it.

 

Again, welcome back!

[ROCruiser]

Thanks for the review. I will try to remember not to touch anything!:eek:

[tadjr]

Was on the cruise before you, but havent had time to sit and write a review. Some quick notes. They offered leis to the ladies on our cruise the first night at the sail away barbeque.

About halfway into our cruise they started roping off the buffet area and waiting on us. The next to the last day the wrap appeared on the buffet after a passenger took a spoon from the serving area and threw it at a staff member because they didnt want to be waited on and do it themselves. One of the officers told us this one morning. She said there was "something going around Hawaii" and since we were getting on/off the ship they wanted to nip it in the bud. Didnt hear of anyone getting sick on our cruise. It just felt kind of strange though. After being on ships that actually have people wait on you ALL the time (X), it felt kind of like we were being punished that they HAD to wait on you and didnt really feel special like they WANTED to. I know a lot of it was because they were short staff and I hear this (among the crew) several times.

Our cruise experience was similar to yours and will try to post another review shortly.

[PDAZ]

Ah! We didn't go to the sail away party -- maybe they handed out leis on our cruise after all.

 

And you've answered my question on the plastic wrap. I wondered why it disappeared half way through the cruise -- I guess they decided that the risk had passed. I do appreciate them taking precautions -- I just think they could have handled the situation better. It figures that it was a passenger! For all the complaints I've heard about the staff on ships, it's usually other passengers that get me grumpy!

[cruizinwithkids]

For all the complaints I've heard about the staff on ships, it's usually other passengers that get me grumpy!

 

You mean like the passenger referred to by tadjr who threw a spoon at a staff person?

 

Beach Bum Mama made a legitimate comment about people working in an environment where they have to deal with people, but they don't like people. As I think about it, maybe they liked people UNTIL they had to start dealing with the.:D

 

I'm an accountant so I can sit at my desk and deal with numbers - not people.

[PDAZ]

A fellow bean-counter or as my last controller called us, "the anti-social brigade" :D

 

There are always a few crew members who seem to be in the wrong profession, but most are wonderful. But on every cruise I've taken, I've encountered some of the most horrible passengers who complain about everything. I met a couple on this cruise who were bitter about having to wait for the shuttle to take them to the ship -- maybe a ten to fifteen minute wait? We're waiting for the shuttle also, looking forward to our vacation, and we have to listen to them rant and rave about nothing! Geez!

[electricron]

Thanks for the review. I will try to remember not to touch anything!:eek:

 

It's safe to touch about anything on the ship, even when the "flu" is rampant. The key is not to place your "contaminated" hands near your mouth or face, or placed untensils in your mouth after handling them with "contaminated" hands. Always wash you hands well before doing so, and you'll survive the worse "flu" outbreaks easily.

[cruizinwithkids]

It's safe to touch about anything on the ship, even when the "flu" is rampant. The key is not to place your "contaminated" hands near your mouth or face, or placed untensils in your mouth after handling them with "contaminated" hands. Always wash you hands well before doing so, and you'll survive the worse "flu" outbreaks easily.

 

And that is so true anywhere. Just last week while visiting my brother, my daughters face swelled up from touching furniture then her face. My brother's family has a cat. I knew my daughters eyes would be bad, I didn't realize she could "catch cat" through skin contact.

[seahorse]

Thank you for your review. Very positive even with "glitches". I really enjoyed the incident with the Sake:D I can`t stop chuckling:D

[whenzuc]

both reviews are helpful and appreciated.