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

[mooseman]

[quote name='Elainie']Hi everyone :)

I hope this summary helps some of you considering this cruise :) Until the next one
Aloha!

Elainie[/QUOTE]
We are still hanging in there for the January 2/05 POA cruise. It is encouraging to hear that people enjoyed themselves in spite of some problems. Keep the news coming!!!

I am new to CC and was wondering about protocol.

1) Who starts roll calls? I mean, can anyone? Or is it set up ahead of time who will do it.
2) How far ahead is best to start a roll call?
3) Can anyone be a CC reviewer? Or do you have to be OK'd first.

[LynnH]

[quote name='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.[/QUOTE]
Elainie wrote that she may have enjoyed her cruise a bit more because she was expecting it to be subpar. Had she gone with the notion that POA would be a grand as all of the advertisement, (As I did--though I was aware it was hyped up), she would have probably written a somewhat more negative review. My bad experience on POA wasn't because I am "hard to please" because I'm not. One of my biggest complaints is that the ship ran out of tea on the 2nd day of the cruise. They offered orange, pineapple and grapefruit juice with meals. When I asked the kitchen manager, Holly, about getting more tea at the next port, she told me they wouldn't have anymore tea until we docked back in Honolulu---back in Honolulu we were all disembarking. This was just ONE of the many, many, annoying things about the cruise. I will write a review as I get more time, (I just found CC yesterday). After settling our onboard account, the total we spent on the cruise was in excess of $5,000. That's not counting airfare or the $600+ we paid to get off the ship in Maui and stay the night at a hotel so we could get away from it all, (bad food, angry passengers, etc). I'm not normally one to complain---I've written dozens of letters of compliment at planetfeedback. But our cruise on POA truly was regrettable. I wish we had just stayed at the Ihilani Ko' Olina Resort in Honolulu the entire time. I would have LOVED, let me stress LOVED...to have been able to read the negatives before I booked our cruise!!! There weren't any...it was too new.

I have praised POA where praise was due---our room was cleaned each day and room service was decent. The pizza was good. I enjoyed our cruise director, Patti. The lava view at night was spectacular...the captain turned on the thrusters and the ship did a 360 degree turn right in front of it. The passengers oooh'ed and ahhh'ed. Disembarkation was very smooth!!

I'm happy you had a good time on your trip; that's supposed to be the outcome. Did you have a lot of shore excursions? Were you on or off of the ship for the most part? Did you see the buffet? Did you find some hidden buffet that no one knew about? Was there a pool that stayed open past 8 PM that we never saw? A lot of the passengers disembarking are disgusted and feel ripped-off. Elainie's review is one of the more positive reviews here---if I were NCL, I'd be embarrassed to see that this is one of my happier customers.

Hopefully, the cruises will get better with time. And I totally agree, NCL needs to take better care of their staff! We tipped nicely everytime we received good service.

Also, let me add--3 weeks before we even flew to Hawaii, I called NCL and ordered the $79 Romance Package and the Congratulations Package. The Congratulations package included a cake and stateroom to be decorated. I got married just hours before embarking POA and the cake was to be our "wedding cake". NCL charged my credit card when I placed the order, yet they dropped the ball and only a bottle of hot champagne was in the room. No cake, no decorations, no chocolate covered strawberries. And we boarded the ship at about 6 PM. NCL said they would give me an onboard credit for the packages, but when the $1000 onbard account bill came, they failed to do so. It was a big circle-jerk.

When we attended the Disembarkation Announcement in the Stardust Lounge the day before disembarking, our captain, Dana, was boo'ed (I felt bad for him). He tipped his cap and thanked us for cruising POA.

[Traveler39]

[quote name='LynnH']That's not counting airfare or the $600+ we paid to get off the ship in Maui and stay the night at a hotel so we could get away from it all, (bad food, angry passengers, etc).

I would have LOVED, let me stress LOVED...to have been able to read the negatives before I booked our cruise!!! There weren't any...it was too new.

I have praised POA where praise was due---our room was cleaned each day and room service was decent. The pizza was good. Disembarkation was very smooth!!


Hopefully, the cruises will get better with time. And I totally agree, NCL needs to take better care of their staff!



When we attended the Disembarkation Announcement in the Stardust Lounge the day before disembarking, our captain, Dana, was boo'ed (I felt bad for him). He tipped his cap and thanked us for cruising POA.[/QUOTE]

This was a nice review and I just enter a few of the comments that we all need to see and read.... I look forward to your complete review... Please be aware that a few poster's now on C.C. do not want to see any comments that they do not agree with for some reason... Your views and opinions are welcomed by the vast majority... Future passengers need to be warned of the conditions of the poa that the majority of the returning passengers have posted...

I can not imagine passengers on a cruise ship booing the Captain... That would indicate a lot of un happy folks.... Please do not boo the Captain... He may be the only Professional on your ship and he does his job 100% plus... The management of ncl needs to get on the stage to face the passengers.... Talk with ncl management... Call or write to ncl!

[travellovervic]

We are now seriously considering switching to NCL Wind Oct 23, an 11-day sailing instead of POA Oct 24. We will first have to change the air so that we could arrive a day earlier. My DW thinks it is better for us to spend 4 days at sea than running into (potential) food problems and service issues on POA. However, I just checked to find the WIND sailing sold out. So much for that alternative! I guess we just go as planned, knowing its shortcomings.

[RandomUsername723]

The claims of only enjoying the cruise because the reviewer was expecting something subpar are rubbish if you ask me. We were expecting a great cruise, and there were setbacks that we didn't completely expect, but we allow ourselves to have a good time- we don't sit at the bar buying drinks from the $50pp shipboard credit NCL America gave us as an apology and talk about what a "horror story" our vacation is. Sure, you can't expect everything from a cruise on Pride of Aloha, but nothing is perfect and so long as you can focus on the positive and enjoy yourselves you will have a great time under the circumstances that we experienced on our cruise.

[LynnH]

I think you just successfully talked yourself into a circle.

Glad you had fun and "made the most of it". You're a real trooper.

How'd you get the $50pp shipboard credit? Did you have to do some complaining?

[RandomUsername723]

Talked myself into a circle? If me being redundant is what you mean, I understand completely.

Thanks for complimenting me on having fun and making the most of it, but to say I have some kind of amazing endurance is a bit over the top, wouldn't you think? Then again we all have our opinions.

I didn't have to do any complaining to get shipboard credit. I did give compliments to the CD in person, but everyone on the ship got shipboard credit. They were very nasty to the Purser and I assume NCL wanted to show they are aware of and admit to at least some of the things that went wrong and that they were truely sorry for that. I'm sure they also wanted to shut people up, but trust me as far as the people that you could hear across the room go- it didn't do all that much good as far as that goes. I actually think the 20% off a future cruise and the 50% off the service charge was enough, but regardless we did get more. A little off topic, but if it's worth anything, I tipped everyone that gave us great service to make up for the service charge cut, and I don't remember anyone that didn't give great service. Sometimes (by no means always!) it was slower than at other times, but they were always friendly and apologized for the wait. Trust me, some people did complain to get EVEN MORE than everyone else. I've heard of quite a few people who forced their way into 4 nights or so of free meals at Royal Palm Bistro, The Kahili Resturaunt, and The Pacific Rim Resturaunt for free- on the 2nd day of the cruise!

[mbisson]

[quote name='LynnH'] My bad experience on POA wasn't because I am "hard to please" because I'm not. One of my biggest complaints is that the ship ran out of tea on the 2nd day of the cruise. .[/QUOTE]

Honest, this isn't an attack but we all have different priorities. If the tea were that important to me, I probably would've bought some myself at the next port and brought my own stash back onto the ship. No, you shouldn't have to do that but it sure beats fretting over something that you could do yourself.

-Monte

[LynnH]

[quote name='mbisson']Honest, this isn't an attack but we all have different priorities. If the tea were that important to me, I probably would've bought some myself at the next port and brought my own stash back onto the ship. No, you shouldn't have to do that but it sure beats fretting over something that you could do yourself.

-Monte[/QUOTE]

Well, I was scared if I got off of the boat, I wouldn't get back on. Seriously though, if you had really read my post thoroughly, you'd have seen where I explained there were MANY problems...that was just ONE of them. And yes, tea is NOT a big deal---it's the principle of the matter. It's something the cruise ship promised to offer and they failed at it. It just shows how bad the management is. They can't even order supplies properly. Grapefruit juice with dinner just doesn't mesh well, and they seemed to have tons of that onboard. Also, how exactly does one "stash" tea in a stateroom? And in order to have tea with meals, should I drag the tea along? Water sufficed.

I'm glad you would have handled it differently---and thanks for not "attacking" my actions, (did you?). I'm also sure you'd have complained about having no A/C for two nights as well, but at the point in the trip I figured it wasn't even worth the bother.

[mbisson]

I did read your review thoroughly. The tea issue was what you pointed out as one of your "biggest" complaints, so that was what I pointed to.

If you couldn't "stash" tea in your stateroom, you might want to consider smaller boxes. And I do work with a lady who carries some of her favorite brand of tea with her everywhere she goes.

Don't be so defensive. When someone states what they would've done in a situation, why go into attack mode?

-Monte

[shelbell77]

Just wanted to say thanks for your honest review! I'm scheduled to go Nov 21 with a friend who was just traveling in Hawaii on business last week. She called me from there in a panic because the problems apparently have been ALL over the news in Hawaii...so the people she was working with there were worried about us going on the ship!

I have a little bit more hope based on your review and some of the other positive ones out there that things will be better by Nov 21!

I keep reminding myself that I'm more vocal when I'm UNHAPPY with something than when I am happy..... I think a lot of the happy cruisers just aren't sharing their stories because it doesn't occur to them.

And special thanks for your tips on reservations for dinner! That was one of my friends biggest concerns, but I think with reservations it shouldn't be much of an issue!

[Traveler39]

[quote name='Traveler39'] Please be aware that a few poster's on C.C. do not want to see any comments that they do not agree with for some reason... Your views and opinions are welcomed by the vast majority... Future passengers need to be warned of the conditions of the poa that the majority of the returning passengers have posted...

The management of ncl needs to get on the stage to face the passengers.... Talk with ncl management... Call or write to ncl![/QUOTE]


LynnH.... As I said before you have posted a good honest review of your concerns and problems that you noted on the POA while you were a passenger recently....... Keep up the on going information that may help the future cruisers of the poa.....

You have now met some of the nit-pickers and disbelievers that the poa could have problems.... Ignore them.... They have no interest in helping the future cruisers of the poa.... Some of them are not even booked on the ship... Go Figure!

I am booked on the poa and have been for over a year.... You had better believe that I have a vested interest and hope every day to read of improvements on this ship....

[Host CMLA]

[quote name='LynnH']And yes, tea is NOT a big deal---it's the principle of the matter. It's something the cruise ship promised to offer and they failed at it. It just shows how bad the management is. They can't even order supplies properly. [/QUOTE] Putting aside all of the other problems with this ship, I have to defend this one a little. Supplies are ordered based on trends of past use. But there's no way of knowing for sure what the usage of supplies will be once people are on the ship. I've done several repositioning cruises and on all of them we've run out of one thing or another because who knew Bud Light would be so popular or how many people would want corn flakes? There's been no mention of a constant shortage of tea or anything else. Unfortunately, there were a lot of tea drinkers on your trip. That being said, I'm not saying there aren't problems on the POA.

[LynnH]

I could understand running out 48 hours before the END of the cruise, but not 48 hours into the cruise. If only HALF of the tea was drank each day, they still didn't have enough for more than 4 days. The ship is practically empty during the day because most people are on shore. When you're limited to coffee and grapefruit juice with your meal on a cruise, it just isn't right. I wasn't the only one annoyed by the lack of tea---everyone was upset about it. Even the people who were enjoying themselves and had little bad things to say about the cruise. If you asked them how they were doing and their thoughts about the cruise, they'd state something like, [I]"oh, we're having a pretty good time. We can't believe they've already run out of tea. And my husband is a diabetic--he can't just have juice all the time." [/I] Stuff like that. But like I said, the water sufficed. Just irks me because I didn't pay $4-5K for water. Unless you were on the ship WITH ME, and STOOD IN MY SHOES, what can you really say about it? Hypothetically, you'd have gotten off the ship, bought some tea, stashed it in your matchbox-sized room and at each meal you'd get a cup of hot water...open a teabag and allow the teabag to seep for 5-10 minutes while people rushed about around you. You'd then get ANOTHER cup, fill it with ice and pour the hot tea over the ice. Yeah, let's forget that you're ON A CRUISE...and this is something that NCL promises to offer you.

[jkrislc]

In six cruises, I've never had the ship run out of anything. Of course, they may have, but it wasn't something I apparently was asking for. I tend to believe there is a management issue with NCL on this point. Last year when returning home from Alaska, another passenger who was on the NCL ship out of Seattle commented that they ran out of butter the second day out and it was never replensihed, cream shortly thereafter. While it's possible they had dairy fanatics onboard, I really doubt it. Further, would it be all that hard for the ship to acquire some tea or other supplies at one of the other islands? While I know they probably have a preferred provider in Honolulu, it does seem ridiculous that they'd run out of something 1/4 the way through a cruise. Further, how much room does tea take to store? It's not all that perishable; it's not like it's going to go to waste.

[Host CMLA]

[quote name='LynnH'] Unless you were on the ship WITH ME, and STOOD IN MY SHOES, what can you really say about it?[/quote] No need to be snippy with me. I can really say a lot about it. I was telling you about my experience. I was on the NCL Dream in 2002 17 day Transatlantic out of Miami and on the 3rd day they ran out of Bud Light. The bartender said to me, "who knew everyone would want a Bud Light?" [QUOTE] Hypothetically, you'd have gotten off the ship, bought some tea, stashed it in your matchbox-sized room and at each meal you'd get a cup of hot water...open a teabag and allow the teabag to seep for 5-10 minutes while people rushed about around you. You'd then get ANOTHER cup, fill it with ice and pour the hot tea over the ice. Yeah, let's forget that you're ON A CRUISE...and this is something that NCL promises to offer you.[/QUOTE] Not hypothetically, in reality, I would have done without the tea as I have done in other situations when they ran out of stuff. And can you please show me in the brochure where NCL promises to give you iced tea? I don't think I've ever seen that. The brochure also talks about beautiful sunsets from my balcony but if it rains I don't blame NCL.

[NitaBcruising]

[size=3][color=indigo]Good for you, Cecelia![/color][/size]

[size=3][color=#4b0082]I know, I'm not taking this cruise, so should shut up, I guess! :rolleyes: But, I have sailed NCL, and will again on the Wind, Hawaii, in April. I've read bad reports about the Wind, but still went on her last Oct. It was fine! Not my best cruise or ship, but a good price, good itinerary, and was enjoyable! So, will go on the Wind again! Even though I've again read a couple of bad comments about her in Hawaii! I just like the itinerary, and will go with the flow, make the most of my vacation! Like I always do! [/color][/size]
[size=3][color=#4b0082][/color][/size]
[size=3][color=#4b0082]Anyway, after reading the good and the bad about the POA, I just felt like commenting! And remember, I do know I wasn't there, but you'd never find me screaming and complaining out loud! How uncouth. :eek: [/color][/size]

[mbisson]

LynnH
I'm sorry that you took the shortage of tea so seriously. I wasn't aware (until you pointed it out) that all 2000 people on the ship were angry that they ALL ran out of tea (but this does make me think I know why they might've run out).

But if I had been on the cruise, and it were that important to me, YES, I would've bought some tea and stashed it in my tiny room and brought a bag to dinner. But no matter what, running out of tea would not have been "one of my biggest" problems with the cruise (unless of course the cruise were nearly perfect).

But again, I do agree with you they shouldn't have run out of tea (on day 2), but ya gotta get over it and enjoy life.

-Monte

[bankofdad]

Just a side note, those of us THAT ARE YET TO CRUISE, and undersand that the POA is not the ordinary cruise experience, we really appreciate input FROM PAST CRUISERS. We really need your input. I promise to do the favor upon our return!

[Traveler39]

[quote name='bankofdad']Please lay off LynnH about the tea. She was simply making a note about the common things that you would expect from a good cruise.

Otherwise, can't you please ask other questions of her that will help you prepare for your trip? After all, she is a past cruiser trying to give her input, which hopefully will help us future cruisers.



Thank you,[/QUOTE]


It appears to me that some of our C.C. posters believe that the Boston Tea Party was about Tea.... Trying seeing the complete picture of the problems of the POA and stop nip-picking....OK!

[Traveler39]

[quote name='bankofdad']Just a side note, those of us THAT ARE YET TO CRUISE, and undersand that the POA is not the ordinary cruise experience, we really appreciate input FROM PAST CRUISERS. We really need your input. I promise to do the favor upon our return![/QUOTE]


Ditto

[RandomUsername723]

Ah, but let's not forget that people are most likely to come and review if they're pissed off and want to ruin the cruise line that they didn't like. I would've never joined and considered writing a review here if it wasn't for all the complaints I heard on my cruise that I felt were unjustified. I want to see S/S United States back in service- sometime soon, and I don't want to say any unjustified failures in the industry either! In addition to losing a rather decent new cruise choice, it might also affect NCL with the loss of all that capital and other money put into NCLA. Fewer new ships and other budget cuts! I dread that thought too.

I've heard from people who have sailed even other cruise lines with foreign flagged ships on cruises to Hawaii and they've said that Hawaii attracts to many complainers. Even if they're complaints [b][i]were[/i][/b] completely understandable and unanimous there were some incredibly petty, tasteless and stupid actions. One guy wearing a Nascar cap came into the Atrium by the Purser's lobby on the last night of the cruise and said something to the effect of "Go on the Fun Ships! What kind of ship is this- the ship from Hell?! Everything that can possibly go wrong has gone wrong! Go on the Fun Ships! Carnival!" Standing right next to him as he slowly walked away I felt like not only supporting NCLA but approaching him about his behavior. The purser's eventually got back at him- first with sarcastic comments, and then by calling security as he slowly made his way out. :D What a group- hope I never see them again, thank God there were some reasonable people! :rolleyes:

[dalwhitt]

LynnH, continue to be upset about the tea. That is your right. No one should try to tell you how to feel, that's why we're human beings, not robots. It wouldn't have upset me, but I'm me, you're you. And you shouldn't have to get off a cruise ship to pick up something that the cruise line supplies. If they had no tea to begin with and never did, that would be one thing. But if they stock something, you should be able to get it every ... day ... of ... the ... cruise. Period. That's what I'm use to on a cruise ... and I will continue to feel that way. And you should as well.

[jkrislc]

Perhaps I'm missing something here, but Lynn simply used the tea incident as one example of the things that went wrong. Also, keep in mind that this happened on the second day out, I believe, which shows a lack of foresight, ordering, planning, etc. on NCL's part. While them running out of tea wouldn't ruin my vacation and I doubt it ruined Lynn's, it speaks to the larger problems that others have addressed regarding the POA.

[LynnH]

[quote name='dalwhitt']LynnH, continue to be upset about the tea. That is your right. No one should try to tell you how to feel, that's why we're human beings, not robots. It wouldn't have upset me, but I'm me, you're you. And you shouldn't have to get off a cruise ship to pick up something that the cruise line supplies. If they had no tea to begin with and never did, that would be one thing. But if they stock something, you should be able to get it every ... day ... of ... the ... cruise. Period. That's what I'm use to on a cruise ... and I will continue to feel that way. And you should as well.[/QUOTE]



Dalwhitt and BankofDad, Thanks for your posts.


For the others, I don't have the literature from NCL right now with me, but I am certain they mention that coffee and tea are provided with the cruise. And I know it doesn't seem like a big deal. And it SURE doesn't seem like much to complain about as you sit at your computer right now. But if you were THERE, you'd have understood. I was out on the pool deck most days in the hot sun...I'd get thirsty, wander into the Hukilau Cafe and see coffee and grapefruit juice...nothing else. Most of the time there wasn't any ice at any of the three ice dispensers. Everyone was walking around trying to find something to drink---we were forced to buy something from the bar. It's one of those things where [color=red][b][u]YOU HAD TO BE THERE![/u][/b][/color][color=black] :rolleyes: [/color]
[color=black][/color]
[color=black]It amazes me that there are people here who actually take the time to post to a past cruiser what they should and should not complain about. I wasn't the only one upset about it, seems everyone we spoke with had something to say about it.[/color]