Just back from Pride of Aloha 4/8-4/15 long review

[Cosmopolitan]

It has everything to do with it. Crew drink way too much. after their shift at the end of the night. They get drunk can't get up for work if they do they are in a foul mood and hung over. Drinking in between shifts isn't allowed at all.

 

OP posted crew "drinking on the beach" Not the Crew bar!

How do you know they drink too much?

Thankfully we have NEVER me a crew member in a "foul" mood on NCL:confused:

[honestguy]

OP posted crew "drinking on the beach" Not the Crew bar!

How do you know they drink too much?

Thankfully we have NEVER me a crew member in a "foul" mood on NCL:confused:

 

 

I know because I was there. I had that back waiter that drank too much on the beach in between lunch and dinner. I stood in the main dining room in the morning at 6:50 am waiting fro preshift, and could smell the booze on my coworkers. I watched the matrie'd trying to call cabins to wake people up that passed out from drinking the night before. I been there at boat drill when crew members showed up drunk.

 

Hey if the guest wants to get drunk great they're on vacation, but not the crew. One of the issues with services stems from the fact that the crew can't control their drinking

[Cosmopolitan]

I know because I was there. I had that back waiter that drank too much on the beach in between lunch and dinner. I stood in the main dining room in the morning at 6:50 am waiting fro preshift, and could smell the booze on my coworkers. I watched the matrie'd trying to call cabins to wake people up that passed out from drinking the night before. I been there at boat drill when crew members showed up drunk.

 

Hey if the guest wants to get drunk great they're on vacation, but not the crew. One of the issues with services stems from the fact that the crew can't control their drinking

 

Very sad:(

 

Glad I haven't met up with them!

 

Perhaps they should raise the prices at the "crew bar."

 

Drunk "anyone" is not a good sight:)

[Verystormy]

I do find it interesting that many people consider taking an hour or so to eat dinner a long time - most of the times i visit restraunts, i would expect to be there several hours, if it is a tasting menu then maybe 4.

I also find it interesting that people want to get to know the staff. The last thing i want to do on holiday is be friendly with staff - i dont want to know their names, i dont want to have long conversations with a waiter. I want them to ask what i would like and be efficient. The best housekeepers should do their job without you ever seeing them

[Another guy]

I do find it interesting that many people consider taking an hour or so to eat dinner a long time - most of the times i visit restraunts, i would expect to be there several hours, if it is a tasting menu then maybe 4.

I also find it interesting that people want to get to know the staff. The last thing i want to do on holiday is be friendly with staff - i dont want to know their names, i dont want to have long conversations with a waiter. I want them to ask what i would like and be efficient. The best housekeepers should do their job without you ever seeing them

 

It's an American thing. We always have to be somewhere or show the appearance of needing to be somewhere so many of us feel that dinner serves very little purpose beyond providing fuel for our many busy activities. You'll find very few Americans who actually see meals as a time to relax.

 

Many Americans also feel that the staff are people and should be treated as any other person on the ship. Since many of us like to meet new people and be friendly with them we also want to meet and be friendly with the staff. The best housekeepers should be personable and close friends of the family.

[suey]

I heard from a travel agent here on Saturday (at a booth they had set up) as we returned from our last cruise and we were speaking to her about doing a cruise on POA next year that she is being sold by the end of this year.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

This is very important! Crew have no business drinking in between shifts. This is a volilation of coast guard rules. .04 is the rule after work, but in between shifts its .00 This is a major problem on the NCLA ships. I said a long time ago that NCLA needs to remove the crew bar from the ship. Service would improve greatly

 

I didnt say anything about drinking. I said about talking about passengers on the beach.

[cruizinwithkids]

I heard from a travel agent here on Saturday (at a booth they had set up) as we returned from our last cruise and we were speaking to her about doing a cruise on POA next year that she is being sold by the end of this year.

 

I very much doubt the TA knew what she was talking about. I'm not saying it's not possible. I just don't feel a TA would be included in NCL's business plans.

[weary traveler]

some of my fondest memories are actually of the staff i've encountered over my many cruises.. i can still remember Sabu my cabin steward from my first cruise on the Carnival Festivale back in 83.. i've always taken pictures and tried to stay in touch with them.. and no one should go into a hawaiian cruise with the attitude "the ship isnt my vacation, the islands are" that's bull.. on any cruise, I go to sample the ship, the crew, my fellow passengers and the intinery.. there's always good and always bad....i honestly wish there was a section thread here for pics and comments on the crew members.. we always ask people on here to say hello to or seek a particular crew member for good service aboard.. we should recognize them individually. as for the POA? the jury's still out, perhaps shifted the POH over to Europe might make the job market a little more selective over there and weed out some of the attitudes i certainly hope so.. i was booked for the first 10-11 nighter this year on the POA in september, but cancelled, mostly based on what i've read here and there, hoping things will get better in time. I had a fantastic time on the Legend of the Seas on a hawaii repo years back.. there's no need to sacrifice your cruise enjoyment just to see paradise.. you can really have them both.. just my opinion..

 

Weary Traveler

[ohioNCLcruiser]

I heard from a travel agent here on Saturday (at a booth they had set up) as we returned from our last cruise and we were speaking to her about doing a cruise on POA next year that she is being sold by the end of this year.

 

Maybe she was getting mixed up with the pohawaii?

[sandypail]

I sailed Pride of America in Nov. Maybe I've been spoiled by the service on Celebrity. I can't begin to list all the things wrong with NCL, but the young crew is probably the cause of all the complaints.

I read all the NCL reviews before I sailed. I chose to believe that a cruise could never be bad. WRONG!

I want to blame NCL for not properly training it's crew, but I think no matter how much training the crew receives it's not going to help. These kids just don't care. They probably thought they were signing up for a paid vacation.

The morning we were leaving at 3:30 for a sunrise tour, there were large groups of crew members returing to the ship, after an obvious night of heavy parying. I over heard tales of their partying several times on the ship. You didn't have to be eavesdropping to hear about it. Believe me I don't care about how late, how long, or how hard they party as long as it doesn't effect me. That just wasn't the case. There were far too many crew members sleepwalking through their shifts.

As far as having the $10.00 a day charge removed... good luck. I tried. After a long debate at customer service, The "Gentleman" there just wore me down.I turned down his first offer of removing $25.00 dollars, we finally settled on 1/2.

The food was hit and miss. The Little Italy can be compared to Olive Garden, without the service. The Lazy J Steakhouse food and service was very good. Just beware on top of the $20.00 surcharge, if you want surf & turf there is an additional charge. Skip the Cadallac Diner. The food was terrible and service was worse. Only if NCL told me a won a free cruise would I sail with them again.

[Dale&Joan]

i am going on this cruise ship on may 6th, it will be my 30th cruise , i really dont care for n cl myself but great ports of call in hawaii. we were on the jewel last year we went to itlay the service was also really bad! and thats a new ship!food was the worst out of any other cruise line i ever was on!i always tip my waiters but this cruise was so bad last year this was the first time in 30 cruises i did not tip.i heard pride of aloha you have to tip because its a american ship? so the workers dont care,is that true?:D i hope they will claen up there act in the next 3 weeks!

Hi. We are going on the same cruise also. I heard reports things were a lot better on the POA recently and they supposedly resolved a lot of the problems. This report was shocking. I am going to tell my wife in advance, no matter what happens we will get by and have a great time. Attitude is most it it. Things do happen and it is how you respond to it that matters. I would complain also.

[The Continental]

I'm Bunie2's husband and there was one more gripe we had about POA.

The cruise director and his staff were awful. There were no shows on the cruise, just a couple of lame comics. No native shows, nothing. On our first cruise the cruise director (at that time...not the same guy now) did a very nice job. This time there was nothing interesting going on in the theater at night. Actually, a couple of nights there was nothing at all in the theater. The worst of all was one night when they had a "cruise staff talent show". The finale of this "performance" was the cruise staff dressed in bed sheets made into togas. They went out on stage and for about 10 - 15 minutes, spit water on each other. This "performance" reminded me of something some high school kids might throw together to amuse themselves. It was really pathetic. This cruise ship was pretty fun 2 years ago. Now it's kinda sad. It's like they only had a couple of hundred dollars to spend on entertainment. Hawaii was great as always, but the POA has become something of a dud. If you have cruised RCCL or Celebrity you will be very disappointed.

 

P.S.

They have a very nice nightclub. But most of the time it was subverted for the use of activities that should have been conducted on the pool deck or in the theater. The DJ never started playing club music till 12 a.m or later. Then they would close around 1:30 a.m.

[mikedw]

I think the lack of entertainment is due to the fact most people go to bed early because of the long days in ports. I tell all my clients that this is not a party ship like in the Caribbean, the focus in on Hawaii, the cruise is secondary. I've had a couple clients not enjoy it and I've had several experienced cruisers say that it was the best cruise ever. Planning to go next year myself, although if I get a good agent rate that they offer, I'll eat bologna sandwiches and be happy all week:)LOL

 

Michael

[crazycanuk]

Okay, I have to throw my 2 cents in here. My hubby and I cruised on the POA last October for our 25th anniversary, I liked the itineary of NCL's Hawaiian islands and this was the ONLY reason I booked this cruise. This was our 3rd NCL cruise and it was our last. I found the staff to be fine but, NCL has cheaped out on so many things since our first cruise with them that they have lost my business.

CCanuk

[sk84fungirl]

Hmmm, you know....

 

There are approx 2K passengers on this ship? What percentage of them are cruise critic members? And the what percentage of CC members post a TR?

 

I am heading on my trip and will have a great time. It's unfortunate when anyone has an unpleasant experience. I know that others have had similiar experiences on other cruise lines. How frequent? I have no clue.

 

But go for yourself, and form your own opinion. I know I will!

 

Aloha!

[The Continental]

Keep in mind folks that NCL monitors this forum. I was told this by an employee working the reception desk on POA during our last cruise on 4/8. It may be that some of the "positive" reviews are coming from them.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

Keep in mind folks that NCL monitors this forum. I was told this by an employee working the reception desk on POA during our last cruise on 4/8. It may be that some of the "positive" reviews are coming from them.

 

please :rolleyes:

[PDAZ]

Keep in mind folks that NCL monitors this forum. I was told this by an employee working the reception desk on POA during our last cruise on 4/8. It may be that some of the "positive" reviews are coming from them.

 

It's the opposite... The negative reviews tend to come from people with very few prior posts... I suspect they work for RCCL ;)

[sunshine 229]

It's the opposite... The negative reviews tend to come from people with very few prior posts... I suspect they work for RCCL ;)

 

Keep in mind folks that NCL monitors this forum. I was told this by an employee working the reception desk on POA during our last cruise on 4/8. It may be that some of the "positive" reviews are coming from them.

 

 

Both of those things are possible. It's hard to be sure of the background of any posters on an internet board so it's best to take everything with a grain of salt and just filter it all into the big equation.

[RSWBADGER]

Keep in mind folks that NCL monitors this forum. I was told this by an employee working the reception desk on POA during our last cruise on 4/8. It may be that some of the "positive" reviews are coming from them.

 

Who are you? If you read these threads enough it's the "Newbies" like yourself who are most likely to be fake posters. Get Real.

[willydoit]

RSWBADGER,,,why don't you get real, he already stated that he was the OP's husband, what more ID does he have to provide??

[Host CMLA]

Keep in mind folks that NCL monitors this forum. It may be that some of the "positive" reviews are coming from them.

No, that's not it. I read each and every review released onto the Cruise Critic site. I read it; spell check it; check for inconsistencies; verify e mail addresses. Fake reviews are easy to spot.

 

Your bad experience doesn't mean everyone will have a bad experience. :)

[Bunie2]

I did not mean to get all this started. I just wanted to point out the experience I had on POAL and it's faults we had encountered.

For the record The Continental is my husband. He had joined after we got back from the cruise to add somethings he felt should have been said.

If we have offended anyone that was not our intention. I will not be posting anymore regarding POAL.

[Linerguy]

Bunie2:

 

You go right ahead and post whatever you want about POAL,...your comments were and are certainly welcome. Some folks simply don't want to hear that their precious NCL's NCLA division is failing miserably.

 

-Russ