Just off the 7-25 POA

[Traveler39]

Thanks for the posting and replies ... Palmist....... I would love to see a couple of positive reviews to balance what we are hearing.... It is really scary now with the poa....

[Jeconk]

[font=Courier New]Very true Traveler 39. But I think we are on a two week haitus for reviews. Both the August 1 and August 8 cruises are, from what I understand, charters. In other words, the whole ship is rented out to some group. I haven't seen anyone on these boards talking about those cruises and so I doubt we will see reviews. Even if we do, I will admit now that I will be skeptical. I would think that NCL would do everything it possibly can to make sure its fully chartered cruises go well.[/font]

[gardencat]

Jeconk
I think 'dalwhitt' is on one of those cruises and has promised us a review when he gets back. I hope I'm not mixing this up but I'm pretty sure that is what he said.

[Jeconk]

Garden Cat: I think Dalwitt is on the Aug. 15 cruise.

[dalwhitt]

Yes, gardencat. I will be on the Aug. 8 cruise with two other couples. One couple is already in Hawaii (Maui right now) and is trying to reach friends on the ship to find out how things are going. If I get an update before Wednesday night I will let you know. We will be on Kauai Thursday to Sunday and I will have my laptop, so whatever info I get I will post it here. And I plan on going to some Internet cafes (if I'm not too busy) on the cruise to posting as well. Being in the predicament I am right now, I understand how important it is to get information out to the diehards here at Cruise Critics. And I PROMISE to post a review. We get to Kauai at about 9:30 p.m. ET, and then have to drive to a timeshare. I will post whenever I have information. Also, Buchie614 will be on this cruise.

[gardencat]

dalwhitt
Thanks,
I'll be looking forward to whatever information you can post. Just don't worry so much about posting that it interfers with enjoying your vacation as much as possible. I hope you have a great time on Kauai, I've never been to that island but maybe, some day in the future.:)

[Palmist]

[quote name='Traveler39']Thanks for the posting and replies ... Palmist....... I would love to see a couple of positive reviews to balance what we are hearing.... It is really scary now with the poa....[/QUOTE]

My DH and I have been on 9 cruises previous to POA and 5 with NCL. Never have we experienced service on any other ship as poor as what we had last week. I am sorry if I'm upsetting the people scheduled to cruise on POA in the near future but I am just relating my experiences from last week's cruise.

Now for the positives:
The Hawaiian itinerary was fantastic; there is no better way to visit 3 of the islands in a week.
The ship stayed on schedule and made all ports exactly on time with no problems.
The embarkation and debarkation were the smoothest and fastest we have ever experienced.
The entertainment was always excellent. We saw all 3 production shows and they should not be missed (provided you can get through dinner in time to see them).
We ate in all three cover charge restaurants; the food and service were good.
The decor of the ship is colorful and pleasant.

[dalwhitt]

Palmist, don't apologize for posting the truth. I would much rather find out that things aren't going well BEFORE I get to Hawaii. Nothing worse than getting super excited about something and then having to experience the letdown. I enjoyed reading your insight. I've already warned my wife as to what to expect. Without post such as yours we would be doomed. Thanks.

And Gardencat, don't worry, I'm planning on having a great time. But I will find some time to post.

[Another ship trip]

I spoke to an acquaintance regarding business today and she and her family are on the POA right now. I asked her about dining room service and guess what? Still slow! She asked ME why it was so slow and I told her about my prior cruise and the postings here. She had no idea what the problems were though. Of course it is only Tuesday of their trip. I must say that 50 percent refund of the resort fee would and should be retroactive. That would translate to 120.00 for the repo cruise for two people. Hmmmm. Seems that they are trying to make amends but it isn't exactly fair to all who sailed before. That right there will raise ire with some.

[dalwhitt]

OK, here is the early update directly from the ship ... not from me, but from others on the ship.

Not much has changed.

It is easy to get into specialty restaurants because no one wants to pay the surcharge. The main dining rooms are empty early on, but there are still the same problems with long waits and understaffing later on.

One of the good things is that since this is a charter, there are advocates onboard dealing with NCL for the little guy like us. Still too early to tell if it makes a difference.

NCL realizes that it is important to get these two weeks right because a specialty group this size (4,000) can really put the bad word out on them and help put a dagger into this venture. In other words, this group has a lot of clout and NCL knows it. They may not post on Cruise Critic but they post on other boards which, frankly, have a wider audience.

The staff seems energized by the presence of folks bent on having a good time. They also are aware that this group has the ship for two weeks and they are bending over backwards to get things right since they are stuck with us. Unfortunately, it appears that new staff have NOT arrived for this sailing, so there are still only 700 staffers on board.

Of course, the complaining will get worse once people wake up ... literally. Many on this cruise flew in the same day of the cruise ... a bad move those of us who have been to Hawaii are well aware of.

One other good thing ... we don't have to worry about NCL shutting down the entertainment early. We've brought our own ... and activities as well. That should ease the pain of an inferior cruise.

That's all I have for now. Wish I had more. I'l be able to do a better job once I get on the ship on Sunday. Unfortunately, I won't be posting while on the ship. I'm sticking to my word not to spend money on POA.

[sbcs5390]

Who is chartering the ship?

-Brian

[buchie614]

Dalwhitt: See you and wife in Hawaii. cc posters, I to will give my honest opinion.
when I return, I to am not spending any $$ on ship, other than the speciality resturants, if our group decides to eat there, so no info will be forthcoming until I return. The back to back cruises are being chartered by a travel agent out of calif, and I believe this is her 10th year in doing the charter, not all thru ncl but other cruise lines as well. We are looking to have a great time because of the charter, and a lot of things as dalwhitt mentioned will be different.

[dalwhitt]

All packed and ready to go. We leave at 6 a.m. ET out of Connecticut, connecting in Chicago for an 8:55 a.m. CT flight. It's nine hours from there, with the flight long enough to get two "gormet" airline meals. I've got my CDs, and my laptop to play DVDs ... and a good book ... so the time should go fast, right? LOL

P.S. I want to thank all who have posted on this board and others, enough to give me insight as to what to expect on this cruise. We may piss each other off on occasion, but I love this community ... even you Celilia.

[Host CMLA]

[quote name='dalwhitt']I want to thank all who have posted on this board and others, enough to give me insight as to what to expect on this cruise. We may piss each other off on occasion, but I love this community ... even you Celilia.[/QUOTE]I'm touched. ;) Seriously, I hope you enjoy your cruise. I look forward to reading your review when you return.

[ptngr]

dalwhitt,

I guess you probably left, but hopefully you'll see this (or someone else) when you get back. I just got back from the 7/25 cruise (with a couple days in Honolulu post)

The ship is chartered, I guess that might explain why she was in Honolulu on monday night (That's 8/2)! We were all seriously confused to drive by and see it there. Hopeing that the 8/1 wasn't canceled or had some serious medical emergency or something. Didn't see anything about it in the newspapers either. Did your friend mentioned the change in itinerary? What about your cruise? Did it follow the standard itin or a modified one?

[buchie614]

I am on next week, the ship overnights, that is why it was there. it will depart on mon. at 11:59 pm.
Dalwhitt: 9 hrs, hugokid would be fit to be tied by the time he got off, he is complaining abt. the 5.5 hrs as it is, of course i told him it was about 3.5, wonder who told him different?