Pride of Aloha Virtual Cruise by Cruise Critic

[Traveler39]

I am enjoying the reviews of the ship by cruise critic staff... I hope they will be objective and not slanted to help ncl with their public image .... Most of us know all about the ship and its history..... The reports on the car rentals and distances to and from the ship when ashore would be helpful... Is the POA docked near any walking distance shopping opportunities? Thanks...

[coaster]

The objectivity is something I am curious about also. Is NCL picking up the tab for part or all of this cruise?

[Xzone940]

NCLs public image has a lot to be desired. Yes, I was a little strong calling my cruise on POA The CRUISE FROM HELL but whae you spend over $5,000.00 for a two (2) week vacation you should be able to expect a whole lot more than was given. Granted, the Captain did do a wonderful job manuvering the ship out of nasty weather and that 180 degree turn to view the lava flow was the best I've ever seen. But the things that were wrong with the cruise were not anything that the captain could anything about. Everything that was wrong with the repositioning cruise of POA was a problem with management.

My wife and I along with our friends who traveled with us did have a good time, but not because of anything NCL did. We got comped a couple of meals in the pay restaurants. Only because I raised a little hell. I think that even made me a little angrier because the food in those restaurants was the quality of every meal I was ever served on every cruise I was on.

I hope, that in time, NCL will get it together and cruisers will get what they paid for.

AHHHHH, I feel a little better now.;) Ray

[LauraS]

Oh my!

 

 

If you folks KNEW Carolyn Spencer Brown like I do, you'd realize that no one tells her what to write.

 

She calls them as she sees them, and at times is brutally honest (have you read the virtual?????)

 

Truth folks, I can literally HEAR Carolyn's voice in just about every sentence.

 

Laura

[WeR3Angels]

WIFI is mentioned in the virtual cruise article - what is that?

 

TIA

 

Barb wer3angels@aol.com

[LauraS]

WIFI is mentioned in the virtual cruise article - what is that?

 

TIA

 

Barb wer3angels@aol.com

WiFi is a way of transmitting information in wave form that is reasonably fast and is often used for notebooks....wireless access.

 

Laura

[ptngr]

Is it me or are the day for this Virtual Cruise all messed up? For example, the 1st (bottommost) title says "Day 1: Tuesday, Embarkation/Honolulu" but I think embarkation day was July 4th, which of course was sunday. Plus some of the port in the titles are also wrong! They spent 2 days in Kauai, so the 3rd day (actually tuesday, but labeled as thursday) isn't Hilo, but the 2nd Kauai day. The 4th day (wednesday, labeled friday) they're in Hilo, as the detailed description shows, and not Kona, as the title shows. I'm familiar with the itinerary so I'm only a little bit confused!

[WeR3Angels]

Thought it was just me

[Traveler39]

Well Laura, can you help us with the days and ports? Can you answer who is paying for this cruise , virtual reality cruise, for Carolyn to report on? As someone once said " the worst cruise that they had ever been on was good" or something like that... What we have on ncl's POA is different expectations... Some folks are just happy to be on a cruise on any ship anywhere.... Others want and expect to be on a cruise ship that provides all of the little things that we have come to expect from cruise ships... Like a laundrymat/selfservice or a decent buffet inside the ship and with quality food like I have found on all of my other cruises... (This is my first cruise on ncl)... It will all come out soon but all we ask for now is the truth... Not another NCL PR Spin. Thanks...

[Traveler39]

Where is the review... why no answers to questions? this is like dealing with ncl....

[rustybucket]

I have reservations for next year on the POA, so I am interested in this thread. From the first, I was confused about the days that were mentioned, and now I am confused because there has been no followup. Hope someone will either get this thread straightened out, or will finish it.

Rusty Bucket

[elephant98]

I've really enjoyed reading the virtual cruise reports. However, there hasn't been an update for the last two days. Any idea when the rest of the report will be coming? I'm anxiously awaiting it.

[LauraS]

There is a delay in posting, as it takes time for Carolyn to write her days musings, and send them back to the office in NJ, where someone proofs and uploads to the website.

 

Carolyn was on last week's Pride of Aloha sailing, and the day by day ports are correct...you are just reading them a day later.

 

Also, the folks in the office don't work weekends :), so hence the two day delay.

[ptngr]

Laura, I very much appreciate everybody's effort in putting up the Virtual Cruise and have to say it is extremely helpful. I totally understand the delay, but the day and the port title are not correct. It seems that the person who posts the reviews put down the day it was posted rather than the date the Carolyn was writing about. For example, the last entry that was just posted today said "Day 5: Monday, Kahului (Maui)". Well, if you read that entry, she was writing about Kona, which was indeed visited on day 5 of the cruise. But the 5th day of the cruise was thursday, not monday. And obviously since she's writing about visitng Kona, the Kahului (Maui) label is wrong. All the entry labels are similarly off starting from the first day. (The embarkation day is Sunday July 4th., not a Tuesday.)

 

I think there will be a whole lot of confused people if these titles are not corrected. (My parents are already confusing excursions from one port with another and tried to book something which didn't exist!)

 

Thank you in advance for looking into this.

[LouChamp]

Thank you for the reviews. EVen though the postings might be off kilter they are still welcomed and I will figure out the basic summary in order to get a picture of teh week and the cruise experience. Thanks again!

[zimmerjulie]

I have been enjoying the virtual cruise report by Carolyn! The kayaking description was great! She can really give a flavor of the experience.

I AM a bit curious about the restaurant descriptions on day 5, though,
[QUOTE]Tonight we dined at Pacific Heights, the ship's Asian-influenced restaurant. On Norwegian Sun and Norwegian Star it's called Chow Ciou and is a combo Asian/Italian.[/QUOTE]I have sailed on the Sun and the Star, and have found no restaurant called Chow Ciou on either ship. On the Star and the Sun, the Asian Fusion restaurant is the "Ginza" with an East Meets West section on the Sun, and it is not an Asian/Italian combo on either ship. The Italian restaurant is the il Adagio on the Sun and La Trattoria on the Star.

Although the day/port confusion does not bother me much, as my interest is purely hobbyist at this point (I am not anticipating an upcoming Hawaii cruise), I can understand how some inaccuracies can cause unneccessary confusion. Perhaps there can be some wrap-up comments that can clear things up a bit. I know the intent of this endeavor is to BRING information and insights to cruisers, so I am sure you will do your best.

I don't mean to nitpick and I HAVE really enjoyed the day by day account!!!! Looking forward to the next exciting installment!:D

[LauraS]

[quote name='ptngr']Laura, I very much appreciate everybody's effort in putting up the Virtual Cruise and have to say it is extremely helpful. I totally understand the delay, but the day and the port title are [b]not [/b]correct. It seems that the person who posts the reviews put down the day it was posted rather than the date the Carolyn was writing about. For example, the last entry that was just posted today said "Day 5: Monday, Kahului (Maui)". Well, if you read that entry, she was writing about Kona, which was indeed visited on day 5 of the cruise. But the 5th day of the cruise was thursday, not monday. And obviously since she's writing about visitng Kona, the Kahului (Maui) label is wrong. All the entry labels are similarly off starting from the first day. (The embarkation day is Sunday July 4th., not a Tuesday.)

I think there will be a whole lot of confused people if these titles are not corrected. (My parents are already confusing excursions from one port with another and tried to book something which didn't exist!)

Thank you in advance for looking into this.[/QUOTE]

Hi there!

I've asked the assoc editor to look into the above. I'll get back to you!

Laura

[LauraS]

Regarding the question about days and port visitations, one of the ports was actually visited for a day and half, and the headers following were off. We've gone ahead and fixed the headers -- Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for the heads up on this one...we appreciate the help!

Laura

[ptngr]

Thank you Laura.

[Guest Cruise Critic Editor]

Appreciate your pointing out my error on Chow Ciao! You were right, that combo Italian-Asian eatery was formerly on Norwegian Sky (which of course is now Pride of America). We did make the change where it was mentioned....

Thanks all for reading the virtual -- we really do appreciate the constructive comments and critiques!

Carolyn Spencer Brown
Editor
Cruise Critic

[gardencat]

Carolyn,
Thanks for your 'virtual cruise' I have been enjoying it, I particularily liked your description of the sea kayaking and how you classified it as 'a bit too arduous to be lots of fun'.
I do have one question that I hope you might be able to answer if it is not too cheeky. Could you give us an estimate of how much extra you spent on food on this vacation?
One of the advantages of a cruise to me is that I know upfront how much my basics are going to cost me. I don't demand gourmet food but I'm on vacation and I do like to have nice food. If you ate on shore or in the special restaurants, in order to avoid the food or wait times in the standard eating venues, how much extra do you think that added to the overall cost of the cruise?

[elephant98]

I have really enjoyed reading the virtual cruise as well. But . . . and I know that I may be asking for too much . . . is it possible for you to post a little more information about the activities available on the ship (day or night), the quality of the ship's various venues, as well as any follow-up, post cruise reports you may have heard about the problems encountered by persons on the cruise and how to avoid them? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading the accounts of the shore excursions, but I'm quite interested to read as much well-balanced critique about the ship as possible.

I'm particularly interested to hear if any measures have been undertaken to address problems with POA's lunch offerings, i.e., the set-up and quality of the buffet. Not that the beauty of Hawaii wasn't the main attraction, but I have to say that it was quite a stinging indictment of POA's lunch offerings when the cruise critic editor goes to great lengths to avoid being on the very ship that she is there to critique.

Thanks again for taking the time to review the cruise. It sounded wonderful!

[NDK100]

I have been looking for photos and thought others might be as well...I found this link to some nice pictures

[url="http://164.109.173.139/pal.htm"]http://164.109.173.139/pal.htm[/url]

INcludes photos of the cabins.....

[Guest alexMD]

I think someone else asked it above and I don't know if it was answered:

1) Does Cruise Critic's reviewer pay his/her own way, or does NCL foot the bill?

2) Does Cruise Critic's reviewer travel anonymously, or is she known to be a reviewer by NCL?


Just curious.

[romy]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=indigo]Good question Alex, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for an answer:rolleyes: .[/color][/size][/font]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#4b0082]Happy Sailing!!![/color][/size][/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#4b0082]Romy[/color][/size][/font]