Pride vs. All Other Ships

[sjmbruce]

The only NCL cruise I have ever been on is the Pride in Hawaii. I loved the itinerary,  I loved Hawaii, but I didn't like the Pride. The service wasn't great and everything took a long time. I lost weight that week because I wasn't a fan of the few choices that were available.  

I've read that the Pride is a different experience than the rest of the fleet.  We're going with NCL again for the itinerary.  

How different is the Pride from other NCL ships?

[ggTexasGal]

1 hour ago, sjmbruce said:

The only NCL cruise I have ever been on is the Pride in Hawaii. I loved the itinerary,  I loved Hawaii, but I didn't like the Pride. The service wasn't great and everything took a long time. I lost weight that week because I wasn't a fan of the few choices that were available.  

I've read that the Pride is a different experience than the rest of the fleet.  We're going with NCL again for the itinerary.  

How different is the Pride from other NCL ships?

The experience is quite likely to be very different.  Hawaii dictates that the majority of the workers be US citizens on the Pride!  The differences are reflected in attitudes and service performance by the crew on other NCL ships.  I think you be much happier on your future cruise with NCL.

[SoloAlaska]

Ok so NCL food is very bland. Service however is acceptable in MDR and better in specialty dinning plus the bar service I found was fabulous. I haven’t cruised Pride and honestly probably never will. I like the international crews on other ships. Learn how to say thank you in the languages of the crew is always fun and very well received.

[destar]

The Pride of America is not a great first impression of NCL. That was our 2nd NCL cruise and we noticed the poor service. It's the only ship registered in the US, so the crew is mainly from US, It's an obvious problem, but I can't pin point it.

[CaptainBazz]

Definitely try another NCL cruise...you will have a great experience...the international staff on the other ships are so much fun.

[dexddd]

We sailed POA in 2006 when they had three ships in the area.  It was bad.  Swore it off.  Reviews got better over the years.  

 

Sailed again March 2016, one month prior to OP.  Booked as it was unique post drydock trip SFO to Hawaii.  Other than a few things not done, it felt like any other NCL ship, very good.  Food and service like any other ship in fleet.  Big improvement from 2006.

 

Since restart though, reports about some venues not open and staffing.  

[WillCruiseForMoney]

Have cruised on the Pride of America 4 times, in 2009, 2017, 2019, and 2022 and had great service and staff experiences all 4 times.  In 2022 a couple of the Specialty restaurants were not open due to dining staff shortages, but did not seem to impact service in any restauants that were open.

 

If not for the high cost would happily crusie POA every year.

 

Have had good to excellant service on every NCL cruise we have been on.  For contrast,  we have tried Princess a couple of times and found staff and service to be underwhelming.