Pride of America service vs other ncl ships

Is the service of the crew members on Pride of America any different to other NCL ships due to the all American crew the Pride of America has?

I sailed her a number of years ago and it sails in paradise but was a crew from H*ll.......so bad I will NEVER sail NCL again........if a company can allow such horrible service to occur under it's brand name than I never could trust them with any more of my hard earned money in the future.

If you look on the NCL board, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107

you will find this discussed to death... American workers are lazy...can't hack the long hours non-American workers work, etc, etc, etc.

CruiserBruce has it right.

Keith

Is the service of the crew members on Pride of America any different to other NCL ships due to the all American crew the Pride of America has?

I sailed her a number of years ago and it sails in paradise but was a crew from H*ll.......so bad I will NEVER sail NCL again........if a company can allow such horrible service to occur under it's brand name than I never could trust them with any more of my hard earned money in the future.

I know several people who feel the same way as grand isle joe, including a few family members. The service was so bad it put them off NCL forever.

Is the service of the crew members on Pride of America any different to other NCL ships due to the all American crew the Pride of America has?

Pride of America goes down in my history as one of my worst cruises. NCL isn't exactly known for service, but POA lowers it to whole different level. I don't recommend that ship to anyone and I'm surprised it's even still in the Hawaii business. I guess with no competition, they don't really have to maintain themselves accordingly.

I recommend a land vacation in Hawaii before taking that cruise.

I guess with no competition, they don't really have to maintain themselves accordingly.

 

That's it in a nutshell.

I would respectfully disagree with the other posters. We sailed on the Pride of America, out of Hawaii three years ago and had a great cruise. And for the record, we are not novices, having been on twenty-six cruises including six with NCL.

I suppose if folks are used to having their arses kissed, they may object to the service, but we were very pleased. Was everything perfect? Of course not, we did not care for the specialty restaurant and found that service in one of the main dining rooms was much better than the other.

Don't let the naysayers cause you not to sail the Pride of America. Give it a try for yourself.

I would respectfully disagree with the other posters. We sailed on the Pride of America, out of Hawaii three years ago and had a great cruise. And for the record, we are not novices, having been on twenty-six cruises including six with NCL.

 

I suppose if folks are used to having their arses kissed, they may object to the service, but we were very pleased. Was everything perfect? Of course not, we did not care for the specialty restaurant and found that service in one of the main dining rooms was much better than the other.

 

Don't let the naysayers cause you not to sail the Pride of America. Give it a try for yourself.

someone accusing you of being a company shill in 3..2..1...:rolleyes:

(and for the record I have not had a problem with NCL and the closest I have been to the POA is I saw it in port while on a scuba diving vacation in Hawaii a few years back. So I can't/wont comment on the level of service either way :D )

I haven't been on the Pride of America but I have been on the Pride of Hawaii and they also had all American staff. It wasn't awful by any means. Just not the service most people are used to. It was my least favourite of all the cruises I've taken but that had more to do with the Freestyle dining that I wasn't a fan of and less to do with the staff and crew.

The ports of call were obviously amazing!

someone accusing you of being a company shill in 3..2..1...:rolleyes:

And neither you nor they would be speaking from a viewpoint of knowledge!:rolleyes:

We sailed on her about 4 years ago and in my review I rated the crew/staff a C+. The cruise stops more than made up for the lower level of service. They did scare the crap out of us though on the first night. We did the muster drill and they did the series of horns for a full evacuation so we would know the sound. We sailed in Feb where the waves are high, surfers love this month. The ship was really moving up and down and DW was very nervous but we did get to sleep then around 1:30 in the morning, the evacuation horns went off, we jumped up and looked out the window and the waves were over our port window. We scrambled to grab the life vests then an all clear came over the speaker. Needless to say, we did not sleep. The following morning we asked several crew members what happened and they just played dumb and wouldn't talk about it. We loved Hawaii but I'd never sail on this ship again. :cool:

Pride of America goes down in my history as one of my worst cruises. NCL isn't exactly known for service, but POA lowers it to whole different level. I don't recommend that ship to anyone and I'm surprised it's even still in the Hawaii business. I guess with no competition, they don't really have to maintain themselves accordingly.

 

I recommend a land vacation in Hawaii before taking that cruise.

While I recognize the differences in service that exist between the POA and every other cruise ship, I also have a unique perspective on why it isn't going to change much any time soon. Without getting into the whole DSC/gratuity thing, the compensation paid to the international crew is a decent, if not actually middle-class income in most home countries. The entry level wage for the POA crew is less than you could make flipping burgers, and you have to put up with being away from home for months, and living in cramped quarters with restrictive behavioral regulations.

It's not that the ships don't have competition, because they do, from the 10-14 day West Coast cruises, which offer twice as long a cruise for the same price. Everyone complains already about the price of cruises on POA, so if they raised crew wages to attract a crew better incentivized to provide top class service, there would be howls of protest over the pricing.

It's not that the ships don't have competition, because they do, from the 10-14 day West Coast cruises, which offer twice as long a cruise for the same price. Everyone complains already about the price of cruises on POA, so if they raised crew wages to attract a crew better incentivized to provide top class service, there would be howls of protest over the pricing.

I get what you're saying, but I don't think the part time 10-14 day cruises to/from the mainland are in direct competition with POA.

I do agree with the other part though and it makes sense. There isn't a whole lot of incentive for Americans to work under those conditions, so I can see how it would be difficult to keep a good staff. It shows too.

I do agree with the other part though and it makes sense. There isn't a whole lot of incentive for Americans to work under those conditions, so I can see how it would be difficult to keep a good staff. It shows too.

I don't think the question is why do they have trouble getting (and keeping) good staff, but why do they continue to do business knowing they are offering only mediocre service with their available staff. Most other hospitality businesses would be out of business if they charged that level of cost for that level of service......at least, if they had competitors.

I get what you're saying, but I don't think the part time 10-14 day cruises to/from the mainland are in direct competition with POA.

 

I do agree with the other part though and it makes sense. There isn't a whole lot of incentive for Americans to work under those conditions, so I can see how it would be difficult to keep a good staff. It shows too.

While there is a slightly different demographic for the longer West Coast cruises, they are in direct competition with the POA. The reason that NCL removed 2 ships from the US flag Hawaii trade, and lost $170 million in 2007, was competition from the foreign flag West Coast cruises that kept cabin prices so low that NCL had to lower their prices below the break even point just to try to fill the ships.

I don't think the question is why do they have trouble getting (and keeping) good staff, but why do they continue to do business knowing they are offering only mediocre service with their available staff. Most other hospitality businesses would be out of business if they charged that level of cost for that level of service......at least, if they had competitors.

Again, I believe that NCL is trying to incrementally increase fares for POA, and raising crew wages commensurately (they do have a collective bargaining agreement with wage increases), rather than a massive increase in fares that would jeopardize the entire model. As the wages go up, the crew quality will go up.

..................I don't think that you can equate higher wages with better quality service.......with an American crew?...........I can't even get my McDonalds order correct some mornings........IMO NCL should re-think the idea of sailing POA exclusively within the Hawaiian Islands.....the cancer has spread too deep.....

..................I don't think that you can equate higher wages with better quality service.......with an American crew?...........I can't even get my McDonalds order correct some mornings........IMO NCL should re-think the idea of sailing POA exclusively within the Hawaiian Islands.....the cancer has spread too deep.....

So, you are saying that US citizens are incapable of providing better quality service? At no restaurant, hotel, or resort in the US do you find the quality of service you find on international crewed cruise ships?

I'm not saying that higher wages will make the same people provide better service, but higher wages will allow recruitment and retention of better motivated crew.

I see that a lot of posts on this subject are from folks who sailed on the PoA a number of years ago. While they may have experienced poor service back then, we were on the PoA this past March and found absolutely no problems with the service at all. We are primarily HAL cruisers, which of course is known for its exceptional service, So, we had a good standard by which to compare the service we received. Again, we had no problems with the service on the PoA. In fact in many ways they were among some of the friendliest staff we have had.

But don't all thetipsfix this service:confused::confused:

But don't all thetipsfix this service:confused::confused:

I don't call them tips, but auto-gratuities or DSC. And just like the international crew, the DSC is figured into the total compensation package the crew signs on for in their employment contract. So, just like the international crew, who don't see the DSC as an incentive for better performance (regardless of NCL's thoughts on the matter), both the international crew and the US crew see the DSC as part of their wage. And that total compensation, of wage and DSC, as per the collective bargaining agreement for the US crew, is still below what fast food staff receive, particularly in Hawaii, where the cost of living is high.

I'm not saying that higher wages will make the same people provide better service, but higher wages will allow recruitment and retention of better motivated crew.

Yes -- paying unmotivated and uninterested crew members more money will not result in better service, but it will allow hiring new crew members who already have the requisite attitude (who might have otherwise chosen to work somewhere else).

I'm on Pride of America right now. There is nothing wrong with the service by the American crew members. What type of service exactly are you complaining about? I had an excellent massage. Waiters are friendly and bring food as its prepared. Drinks are delivered promptly. Room is cleaned daily.

What type of service do you feel is lacking?

Yes -- paying unmotivated and uninterested crew members more money will not result in better service, but it will allow hiring new crew members who already have the requisite attitude (who might have otherwise chosen to work somewhere else).

I'm offended by the statements that the American crew or anyone else working on the ship were/are unmotivated or uninterested. Working on a cruise ship is voluntary and a consensual relationship between employer and employee.

Everyone I saw was working hard to serve food, make drinks, entertain, clear the buffet dishes and keep the ship clean as well as assist the guests.

I'm still wondering where these anti-american comments are coming from?