Elainie's Pride of Aloha review - Aug 15th Sailing

[sydsmom]

We were on the Aug 15 cruise, (HI fellow Pineapples!) and I completely agree with this review. We were only 4 people but we ate in the dining room every night and yes, we went and got in line early but we never waited and the food was really good. My nephews liked the chowder particularly and he tried the specials every night and said the fish the first night was the best he had ever had.

[katorric]

Hi Elaine - I leave next Sunday and believe I will really like this cruise. I'm not real picky although I do like good food:o

I believe someone posted the daily paper from the ship and if I remember correctly most great activities like the hula are done in the afternoon? Is this correct?

What did you think of the pool area?

Mahalo;)

[mrskmlewis]

Great Review! I would like to hear more about the shuttles at each port what kind of options do you have besides the tours threw NCL???

[Traveler39]

Do you folks that have cruised the POA recently believe that the ship and the cruise experience is OK? OK being .......that most passengers would enjoy being on the ship and eating in the main dining rooms and buffet.....Rooms are clean and kept clean during the cruise...

 

Do you feel that NCL has made the necessary improvements to make the poa a cruise ship that can deliver the normal cruise experience?

[RandomUsername723]

Here goes my 4th post on the same subject....

 

I sailed on the August 22nd sailing and I do believe the ship was ever so slightly better than "OK". The main drawback was that the ship was understaffed, but the ship was clean, entertainment & activities were nice, the crew was friendly and provided good service, and the food was good.

 

The problems caused by a lack of staff were mainly limited to 2 nights of the cruise at the main dining rooms. The wait was horrendous, but both before and after those nights the wait to get it wasn't bad at all. As I've said the food was good, but the menu changed only slightly each night, maybe 3 entrees and 2 desserts would differ from night to night. Everything else was available on the menu throughout the whole cruise. Apparently more crew members were actually boarded DURING the cruise and I would believe it with the dramatic reduction in waiting to be seated! The dining rooms were closed for Lunch, maybe except for one day so you always end up eating lunch at the Hukilau Cafe. The food wasn't bad but of course it's a self serve affair with crew members basically only giving you plates and trays and cleaning up. For that reason I won't complain about the lines there, since it only moves as fast as you and the people in front of you do! Needless to say, on the same 2 days that the dining rooms were experiencing long waits so was the buffet that also soon cleared up. Crossings was open for breakfast.

 

I expect that you'll get a really nasty set of passengers. Luckily we met a good sized group of reasonable people, allowing us to remain sane while other passengers spread lies to news agencies on their cell phones, ran into the Purser's area shouting praise for other cruise lines to the pursers and people in line, complained, created petitions for frivilous lawsuits, and acted rude to anyone that was either a crew member or someone that made it clear they didn't agree. I hope I never see any of them again, and thankfully I probobly won't. To put it short, the actions of the "bad apples" were like something out of a sitcom!

 

If you want me to get into detail, I'll probobly write my own review anyway to give people a better idea. I'm going to tell the simple truth, I won't glorify or tarnish either side any more than they deserve to be. Hopefully I will contribute some good none- Pride of Aloha posts at Cruise Critic down the road. Anyway, here's to yet another seemingly very truthful review. :)

[jkrislc]

Here goes my 4th post on the same subject....

 

I look forward to your review. Another person posted a review and indicated they were horrified by the behavior of other passengers. It seems that you were either prepared, easy going, or a little bit of both. Until I read this post, I wasn't sure how to guage your responses as your other posts appeared to have emotional undertones to me (e.g., others lied, NCL should sue for liable, etc.), but now I see where you're coming from. Perhaps I just read to much into your other posts, although I would recommend removing the "self censored" from you posts.

 

Thanks again for your contribution.

[RandomUsername723]

Yeah I hope I don't give you the wrong idea or anything. I'll have to change the spelling for "liable" or "Libel" or however the spell it- don't use that one often as you can tell. :rolleyes: I was both prepared and what some people might consider easy going. Not to say I wasn't furious at the behavior of other passengers. Not to sound like I'm full of myself but I'm a reasonable person and I hate when I give people the wrong idea's by getting "over-emotional" in my posts. I will make a review, hopefully I'll remember all the points I wish to discuss. But expect to see a very rational, honest review. I will neither make it sound fabulous, and I won't make it sound abhorrent- because it wasn't! The problem is I calls 'em as I see's 'em and having been on the sailing that fueled news reports, I can say that it was not remotely as bad as described.

[roudy1]

Thanks Elaine. My husband and I are cruising 9/12/04 and were offered a full refund. However, decided to go anyway as we both desperately need a vacation. Your reviews help a lot. We are not hard to please and will make the best of our vacation. We have a pre-package 4 days before. I am new and green at message boards, so will do my best to report back after our cruise. After all we are really going to see the islands.

 

Roudy 1

Carnival Estacy 9/03

[John Tee]

Well Random ... maybe things are finally looking up for POA finally. Sounds like they really started to make an improvement halfway through your cruise. I will be interesting to see what the next set coming off the boat this weekend has to say if we get some reviews here.

 

I hope things look good to them too!

[LouChamp]

Hi Sydsmom and Elaine!!! (and to those yet to sail) My review is posted in the community section. I think the ship is improving if ever so slightly and I would not cancel but rather go with a chilled mindset and enjoy the beauty of Hawaii. I will say that the staff was very nice and hardworking. We had a great room steward so the only real issue was the dining which we overcame by eating in the specialty retsaurants and a Luau. I respect the opinions of those who don't want to spend the extra money as did my wife but I figured it only added a small amount to the total cost of the trip so I went with it. The two days we ate in the "free" restaurants for dinner were not the easiest of experiences and we did avoid teh buffet. Thus, our issue was only the dining. If you have a bad room steward (which we did not), then your concerns and unhappiness were compunded so that is why so many I think had really bad trips. Also, if you did not read Cruise Critic you had no way of knowing what to expect which many on our trip were caught unexpected and therefor ereally shocked and angry. There were a few really miserable people aboard but we ignored them since some people are miserable in their on bed while asleep!!! But all in all it was a great vacation with great memories and new found friends from Cruise Critic. I wish you all the best and a safe smooth vacation!!!!

[jealdaka]

We really had a great time. Even though there were a few negatives, I consider it to have been a good cruise. I wouldn't have missed for anything. I do believe grumpy guests may be your biggest negative. Ignore them and just go have fun!

[jkrislc]

We really had a great time. Even though there were a few negatives, I consider it to have been a good cruise. I wouldn't have missed for anything. I do believe grumpy guests may be your biggest negative. Ignore them and just go have fun!

 

Although I personally believe that no vacation can be perfect (it seems as if something even minor goes wrong), I'd like to ask you whether you'd go again now that you experienced the POA. Would you say you got your monies worth? Would you recommend it to others? If so, would you send them now or tell them to wait a few week, months, etc?

 

Just curious.

[LouChamp]

That is a difficult question to answer. We still went knowing the problems and had a wonderful time as I have already said. Therefore, I would still go.

Now, having already been to Hawaii, I would wait awhile before I went again. I normally never travel on the same ship twice although I have in a few instances. I would not sail on teh Aloha again because I have done so already however I would sail on the America andteh Hawaii. When??? Don't know because there are a few other trips to do first. We have a Caribbean trip becaus eI have never been on the Voyager Class before. After that, maybe but I have not planned that far out yet. So that is why it is a tough one. If you do go, you will have a good time as long as you have the right attitude!

[jealdaka]

I'm very much like Lou in that there are so many ships and places to go. I've only done the same ship twice but have done sister ships. Other than that reason I would surely go again and would tell my friends to do the same. The only ships I would really hesitate to go on again are Ecstacy and Fascination. This trip ranked pretty high with me and we've been on some very nice ones.

[RandomUsername723]

Would I go again? Let me split that up into multiple question & answers to be fair.

 

Q-Would I go on the same cruise again?

A- No, the airfare to Hawaii is too expensive and the flight is too long, plus Hawaii doesn't offer as much as you'd think. Plus I am yet another who likes to see as many ships as possible. I've only done the same ship once, not counting T/A promotions- and the Misses chose it for the route- so she could see St Thomas. :rolleyes:

 

Q- Would I choose NCL America again?

A- Definitley if they had a good, nicely priced non- Hawaii route at the right time. Maybe a Pride of Hawaii repositioning cruise...2006 is almost definitley reserved for a Norwegian cruise anyway, but whether it will be on that, the Norwegian Spirit, or some other "suprise" candidate I don't know at this time. :) If only Pride of America hadn't had that accident, I really enjoyed Pride of Aloha but I really wanted to see her. :(

[jkrislc]

Thanks RandomUser, jealdaka, and LouChamp. Your answers help a lot. I'd answer the same way regarding nearly every ship and route I've sailed. I'm into trying other ships, other lines, and other itineraries as well. I've only done the same ship twice, about to be a third time, because it is a cheap weekend getaway and I've been able to introduce family and friends to cruising at a price that is much less than a weekend in Vegas and without the drive.

Your answers are reassuring as none of you said, "Absolutely not!" Others have asked the question, but I haven't seen an answer previously. The three of you are making me reconsider cancelling, but I'll admit I still have some reservations (no pun intended).

[LouChamp]

I was happy to help. I have said before that these boards have really assisted us in making the best of our POA vacation. Passengers who did not read CC were very surprised and dissapointed. Those that did ( and they really were a great bunch) were informed, polite, mannered and it made for a wonderful time. I am pretty sure that many of teh problems we encountered will be corrected by the time you sail in January. NCL has too much money involved and their reputation to do otherwise.
I wish you and your family all the best!

[jkrislc]

[quote name='LouChamp'] am pretty sure that many of teh problems we encountered will be corrected by the time you sail in January. NCL has too much money involved and their reputation to do otherwise.
I wish you and your family all the best![/QUOTE]

Thanks LouChamp. While I agree that NCL/NCLA has too much invested to allow for this venture to fail, I wish the problems were easier to fix. Training is easy; recruiting and maintain an adequately sized staff is another. However, I think things will only get worse when they have two or three US flagged ships, so I'm guessing now may be the best time to cruise.

It's almost getting to the point that they may have to consider reverting to a year-round school schedule. Perhaps nine weeks on and three weeks off for the crew. Maybe then they could retain more of them.

[jealdaka]

I think I would like to re-answer in a bit different manner. If I knew what I know now about POA and I had not yet sailed, I would definately go. Does that make my thoughts a bit clearer?

[tricruisers]

Thankyou for the balanced review. We are booked for November and have to make our finale payment next week. We are going to still go because we want to see Hawaii. We will go hoping for the best but knowing it may not be the same as past cruises. Thanks for the review.

[raider23]

Hi,
Just read your post that you will be sailing in November. My wife & I will be on the 11/14 sailing.
Gary:cool:

[jkrislc]

[quote name='jealdaka']I think I would like to re-answer in a bit different manner. If I knew what I know now about POA and I had not yet sailed, I would definately go. Does that make my thoughts a bit clearer?[/QUOTE]

Crystal clear!

[Elainie]

Hi my fellow Pineapples...glad you enjoyed my Hula! :)

As I read other posts, its seems most are encountering the same issues. To answer a couple of questions I noticed:

Activities: Yes, mostly in the afternoons...Hula was generally at 3 or 3:30, followed by arts and crafts. Sports trivia was at 4:15pm-ish.

Shuttles: I didnt pay terribly close attention, but for the most part, there are free shuttles available, and those you had to pay for were minimal in price (like $5) They would take you to shopping areas, only one location took you to a local beach (It may have been in Kona or Maui)

I feel like we got our money's worth...but I had a big family together, and who knows if we'll ever be able to do a trip like that all together again, so it enhanced the experience :) Again, if you are generally an upbeat person and it takes alot to get you rowled up, you shouldnt have a problem....

Keep watching the posts, again, being well informed really makes a difference!! :)

-Elaine

[LynnH]

It's pretty bad when you have to be "warned" first about a rotten cruise in order to enjoy it more. NCL should be ashamed.

I enjoyed the BBQs they had by the pool...the guys on my cruise worked their tails off sweating in the sun cooking the BBQ. Try to get something hot off the pit though because the flies will swarm. Also, the banana daiquiris from the bar were very good!

[RandomUsername723]

The only thing NCL should be ashamed of is the wages they pay the crew that caused some of them to walk off. I refused to believe any warnings and such and I still had a nice time so I don't know where you're coming from.