Pride of Aloha

[Joan & Ed]

Thanks to all who replied to our question;)

[cruiser jen]

We just came back on sunday and again they waved the $10 service charge (or whatever they call it). A lot of people had questions about tipping and they tried to answer them, but their response was tip if you want, don't tip if you don't want. I don't find this particularly fair to the crew, but hopefully they are getting compensated.

[KeiEdy]

I was on the POA sailing of 1/9/05. I'm working on a review. The cruise was better than I expected (after reading all of the reviews). The $10 a day resort fee was waived. We tipped our cabin steward, Sharon, at the end of the cruise. She was very appreciative. When we ate in the sit down restaurants we tipped the waiter after the meal. Again they were very appreciative. We did have a problem with the one excursion we booked. When we received the tickets it was not for the time we reserved.

[jkrislc]

Whats the status of the "Resort Fee"? Has it been re-introduced?

It was suspended on the 1/2-1/9 cruise. A letter was received upon check-in.

[Joan & Ed]

Am anxious to read your review

 

Joan & Ed

[swtpnkflutterby]

Joan and Ed

 

My husband and i just returned from the POA, jan 9th.... we had the most WONDERFUL time!!! the ship was clean, food was good, with american help, well, expect what your kids would do if they were working. They are just not outgoing like other ships we have been on. although, we had not one complaint! Dining rooms were very slow. Dont let us sway your decision...JUST GO... i cant wait to go again, maybe on one of the other NCL ships next time to try them out too, because we used our NCL points to go on this cruise, we went free, except flight, and would do the same itenerary... it was PERFECT! not ONE complaint from us. listen to those that praise the cruise. the others may just be unhappy with what ever they do and cant be pleased..

[swtpnkflutterby]

to all who cruises the Pride...

 

my husband and i talked to the people at the registration desk on tipping.. what they told us is this. "Everyone makes american wages and tip as you would like". I hope this clears things up a bit for others... it has been confusing at times, being unaware of what goes on before you board the ship. I hope this helps! :)

[jim_houston]

Hi All,

Not sure if I will be on the same cruise, but my wife and I, along with both sets of parents are all headed to Honolulu on 31JAN for a week, then we cruise on Sunday, 6FEB. I am new to this board, but I do own and manage several web sites, so I will be taking lots of digital photos and videos and I'll make them available, perhaps while we are underway. I have a Verizon WWAN card in my laptop, and if I can connect to the Internet while we are underway, I will consider posting daily reports and a photo or two. I can't promise that will work out, but I will try, and even if I can't get online with my laptop during our cruise, I'll post a report when I get back.

We get back on Sunday, Feb 13, and we're headed to the Pro Bowl that same day, and home the next. We are very excited, and we are thankful to those of you that have posted your experiences on this web site. I've read them all over the past couple of months and found them to be very informative.

Thanks again!

More to follow.....

Jim Houston

Charleston, SC

jim.houston@att.net

[scg6281]

Hey Jim-

 

Your going to have a blast! Thats a nice long vacation. I live in Charleston also. I got a really good friend (Erin) that is dancing on the POA with the Jean ANn Ryan Company, she has been on there since dec. 12th. I you get a chance to speak with any of them after the shows, please tell her that Clint said hey.... we dont get to talk much at all. Cant wait to see some of your pics.

 

Clint

[bfoot34]

What are the dress requirements in the different dining rooms? This is my first "freestyle" encounter!

 

Free style dining is informal all the time. :)

[bfoot34]

I continue to read terrible reviews about this ship and the staff.

Our trip 2/20 - any redeeming quotes?:eek:

 

Forget the bad reviews. The POA is running just fine. The crew is very friendly and helpful. I was on the NCL Dream last Spring and was concerned because the Dream was not a dream at all. However, the POA is a totally different story. Go, have a great time. It was a lot of fun when we were on the 12/26/04 cruise on the POA.

 

Remember to bring your own bar soap. That was the only negative I have about the cruise. Liquid soap just doesn't do it in the shower.

[TWA4Ever]

Free style dining is informal all the time. :)

 

Actually, it is not. Freestyle is just that - free style. You may dress in any manner your choose any evening - which means you may also dress formally every night. So ... freestyle is not informal all of the time.

[cjnalley]

Just back from the Jan 16 sailing of the POA. Go and have a great time. The ship was clean. The food was so-so in the dining room. The buffets were good. The omelet and waffle station were my favorite for breakfast. Finding a place to sit was difficult on the pool deck. The crew are young America's but go out of their way to be helpful. The $10 a day per person has been waived until July. Review to come later. 90 % of our cruise was positive. CJ

[Ocean Spirit]

Just got off the POA on Sunday. No service fee.

You tip as you go. It seemed strange at first but it was no problem.

It really makes sense to do it this way because you eat at different places nightly unlike the regular cruise where you have the same waiter nightly.

Best advice, ask early in the cruise for some names of experienced waiters or sit at the larger tables. The problems with service seemed to do a lot with the system the ship uses rather than the waiter/asst. waiter. Of course just like everywhere, there are some waiters better than others.

 

We got to dinner early but still had problems getting to the shows. (you have to go early to get a good seat at the shows.) We finally started to have dinner and then go back after the show for dessert.

 

We had a wonderful time and would do the cruise again.

[Dani2]

cjnalley

 

You mentioned the $10 pp per day "service fee" has been suspended until July. Is that for sure? Did they post it in the daily newsletter or something? We are sailing in May on POA and I'm hoping we get in under the wire, too.

 

Thanks for telling us about this.

 

Dani