PoAm Review of 6-20-2004 Sailing (long and boring to many, I am sure)

[Markandrews]

This review is based on my personal experience of the June 20 escape to Hawaii cruise. Hawaii was great but I will not share my thoughts of the islands as so much is written about them already.

 

Boarding:

Fastest ever. We arrived at 12 and were on the ship in 20 minutes. I could not get my documents ready quick enough for the check in staff.

 

The POA:

The ship was decorated very nicely. I sailed on the ship as the Sky and the interior was nothing special. As the POA the ship really has character. Public rooms that seemed outstanding to me were the Plantation Club and the Observation lounge, (don’t know that rooms new name). The carpets were really different and not bland like on so many ships. Some public rooms had not been redecorated but nothing looked worn or tired.

The Cabins were completely redone and all categories that I saw looked really nice.

 

The Entertainment:

Hats off to Patty and her 3 cruise staff members. As has been mentioned elsewhere there was no Assistant C/D. This meant that Patty had to do all social functions including Bingo. I have seen a lot of really good C/D’s but nothing compared to Patty. After the 4 sea days it was obvious that Patty was tired but she never slowed down. I don’t think that anyone expected Patty to be everywhere all the time except Patty. She was also a great singer and we enjoyed listening to her one evening. Interestingly, cruise staff helped load passengers on the tenders.

 

There were numerous activities on all four-sea days. You really had to study the freestyle daily and pick from many good choices. I wanted to just lay by the pool and read but the great activities never allowed for that.

 

The Jean Ann Ryan Company did their usual fine job entertaining us on three different evenings. The shows were of the same high quality that NCL regulars have come to expect. As an added note the JAR performers were exceptionally friendly when you saw them around the ship. This has not always been my experience on other cruises.

 

Charles Nahale played nightly in the Plantation club. He was very talented and a hell of a nice guy. We went to hear him play as often as we could.

 

The only entertainment that was not enjoyable to me was Sonny Rose. He was like a Las Vegas performer past his prime.

 

Food and lots of it:

 

There has been much said about dining onboard the POA. We never waited in line for a table at either of the main dining rooms, (we always made a reservation). Each night that we dined at one of the main restaurants we told our servers we like to be finished in an hour. We were always out in one hour or less. The food was always prepared as ordered and the soups were the best we had ever had onboard a ship. The main entrees were of the same standard as the rest of the NCL fleet. The deserts were exceptional and I always had at least 2, occasionally 3.

 

The specialty restaurants were very nice and the food and service a step above the main dining rooms. Le Bistro was unchanged from the Sky and Pacific Heights was totally new and much better then the restaurant it replaced. We never had a chance to eat at the other additional charge venue.

 

We ate all of our Breakfast and lunches in the buffet. As in restaurants onshore the buffet food was never great but usually acceptable. We did find the same great soups and desserts at the buffet that we experienced in the main dining rooms. There were also some of the best pastries I have ever eaten at the breakfast buffet. The scrambled eggs were awful and undercooked as is often the case at a Marriott or Hilton. There was never a line if you used the buffet on the aft of deck 11. Occasionally lines did form at the inside buffets. The buffet on the POA was much better then the Wind and as good as HAL, RCI and other NCL ships.

 

Short Staffed:

 

For whatever reason, it was obvious that the ship was understaffed. That being said, the crew that was onboard was very professional. I never saw a “Spring Break” atmosphere. I never heard anything about crewmembers sleeping together and there was not an ounce of American laziness to be found. These were some of the hardest working men/women that I had ever seen aboard a ship. I would put them up against an international crew any day. As we made our stops in Hawaii new crewmembers appeared by the dozens. You would see cabin stewards being trained, new faces at the bars and most importantly at the restaurants. I would say that a full crew was onboard for the 7-4 sailing.

 

What was the best:

 

The transformation from Sky to POA was a huge success. No it is not a new ship but it felt like one in most aspects.

 

Fewer loud announcements then most cruises.

 

The Caribbean just can’t compare with the beauty of Hawaii.

 

Patty was without a doubt a tireless C/D who wants the POA to work very badly. NCL should make note of what they have in her.

 

Matt from Shore excursions/future sales was very knowledgeable and always they’re to help.

 

Our butlers Ryan and Chris offered 5 star service and constantly anticipated our wants and needs. Always attitude free.

 

The crewmembers really were outgoing and friendly.

 

Our cabin steward Michael was great.

 

What was not the best:

 

The captain did not seem to be a real people person. He felt dry and Icy at the latitudes party and all other social functions.

 

Al the Concierge was not as personable and helpful as we have experienced on other NCL ships.

 

The Internet center billing was questionable and the connection speed was very slow.

 

The art auctioneer came off like a televangelist. I trusted him about as much as I would Jim Baker.

 

The $10 resort fee is always going to be questioned by experienced cruisers. It really should be added in to the cruise fare.

 

A lot of our fellow cruisers were constantly complaining about things as trivial as the type of muffins served at breakfast. Some paid as little as 1000. per person for 12 nights. Where else could they have gotten all we received for 83.33 per day?

 

Summing it up:

Because of the previous postings we had read on CC we went with extremely low expectations. The POA crew gave us the vacation of a lifetime!!

 

I really enjoyed spending time with the CC members we met throughout the trip.

[Jeconk]

Mark,

 

I too was on the June 20 repo cruise and I agree with much that you had to say. There were a couple of things that we experienced differently than you and I am writing a detailed review of our trip and will post it in a couple of days...after this jet lag wears off!!

 

Three short things that I do want to note right away:

1.) I second your opinion of Patty, the cruise director...what a fantastic job she did! Your opinion of the Captain is exactly the same as mine, I thought maybe I just had a different opinion of what ship captains should be!

 

2.) Like Mark said, several of the complaints that I heard were of the petty nature..."the toast is on a different side of the buffet than yesterday", "this buffet line has Cream of Wheat, but the other has grits." I will address this area in more detail in my review.

 

3.)Finally, in response to what we were all talking about before the cruise: the "lazy workers." This statement could not be farther from the truth. Yes, they were shorthanded and yes there are still workers on the ship who want off and/or aren't pulling their weight. But for the most part, the crew was some of the hardest workers I have seen. They were friendly and tried their best to make sure you had a good cruise. I spoke with many crew members during the voyage and I found them to speak very frankly about their situation and what has transpired. I talked to people who loved their jobs, and I talked to those who hated their jobs and I talked to people who were still undecided. The biggest problem in this area is NOT the crew, it is the NCL management (not the ship management, but corporate). The crew is doing the best they can with the situation they have been put in by NCL. I heard more than once that NCL keeps regniging on promises and keeps changing the terms/rules of contracts. NCL also does all kinds of cuts to trim corners on the expenses of the ship (even in the middle of trips!). Add to that outright lies by NCL to crew members and now you know why you have an unhappy crew. I will expand upon this more in my review and give examples of what the crew told me to back this statement up. But I wanted to make sure that everyone knows that the problems experienced ARE NOT THE FAULT OF A LAZY CREW!!

 

I enjoyed my cruise, but yes there were some problems I want to point out, but Mark did sum up the cruise nicely.

[ACCagent]

It's so nice to hear the nice words about the crew. I'm anxious to hear what they told you about the problems. I have a son on board and know he is working very hard and long hours. I'm proud of the ones that have stuck through a difficult beginning and hope that NCLA also appreciates them. I saw only hard working young men and women on the LA-SF trip in June. It's nice to know others saw the same thing.

[Another ship trip]

Thanks guys for your review. I concur 100% about the hardworking crew. They were always personable and always working hard. When short staffed, they often were doing the work of more than one person. I agree with you about Patty too. She was tireless and energetic and funny. I am sure she was wearing out at times but it did not show. I enjoyed the several parties that we attended and disagree at the coldness of the captain. We girls had the opportunity to ask him several questions and he answered with no reserve. In fact, after many NCL cruises, he is the first one I have been fully able to understand! I agree with what you said regarding Sonny Rose but didn't want to to say that. I didn't feel that the food measured up quite as nicely as you did in some areas, but it could have been a difference in what we chose. I still think it was an absolutely fantastic vacation and we tended to even bond with some crew members that we frequently saw. 12 days gives you more of an opportunity to connect I suppose, verses just a 7 day trip. I heard more complaints about the wait in the dining room than anything else during the week. Waits for a table don't bother me much. I live in Houston and on any weekend a 20-60 minute wait is not uncommon at good restaurants. My favorite steak house does NOT take ressies and waits can be as long as 3 hours ( for real-I've waited that long twice-but it's the best steak on the planet!). They serve drinks and hor'derves and even provide movie listings so that you can see a movie and come back! So the wait doesn't usually bother me. I can see how it would be more irritating when kids are waiting though. My suggestion is to go early if you don't like to have a wait. Anyway, great post Mark and it was not at all boring, but objective and I agree with most everything you said.

[gardencat]

Who is Sonny Rose?

[TxRose]

Gardencat...he is a singer in the Blue Hawaii Lounge. We must be one of the few who enjoyed him.

[gardencat]

Thanks Tx Rose

Now that you've told me, I see it was in the original review but somehow I missed it.

Entertainment is relly subjective so I like to hear lots of opinions.

I remember staying at an old resort hotel in the Rocky Mountains once. They had a show in the evening and I went with my 2 sons. The main attraction was a 'singing cowboy' type act. The cowboy sang some songs (a couple his wife joined in on) told some stories and did some rope tricks. Well ,to be kind ,his voice had seen better days and most of his rope tricks took two or three attempts to get right(one he never managed to pull off at all). His stories were interesting but were more about everyday life, no shoot-outs or car chases and no big punchlines! Not exactly a stellar performance but we were on vacation and had paid very little, maybe $5.00 each to see the show, and I enjoyed it for what it was. I was afraid though that my sons, raised on slick video games and TV shows, would be unimpressed.

As we were leaving, my older son told me how much he had enjoyed the show. He felt he had had real contact with someone who knew and had experienced a little history and was sharing it with us. The fact that the rope trips didn't work he explained as " Well I guess he's getting old, he could probably do them better when he was younger."

 

I'm sure a reviewer would probably have given the show a pretty low rating but to this day, that show is one of our cherished memories of the trip.

[TheNightDawg]

Thanks for the review Todd! Wish I could have been there comparing highs and lows with you.

 

Sounds like you had a great time....and you can't ask for more than that in a cruise vacation!

 

Frank

[stacybnca]

Don't underestimate yourself! You are never boring and you know it! I enjoyed meeting you and hanging out! We need to get together again someday for that picture for your mom! HAHA!

 

Stacy

[Jeconk]

GardenCat: remember the joke line we were running with in the threads before the cruise? (Sheep) Well I found it quite amusing on the cruise that they served lamb at least three nights for dinner and at least twice for lunch............

[gardencat]

Jeconk

 

Guess the idea of sending the sheep to cabins to help the passengers 'sleep' didn't catch on so they had to think of another use for them:eek:

 

(btw I liked the old eek! e-motion with the moving eyes much better than the new one. The old one really looked surprised/scared, the new one just looks deranged!)

I'm looking forward to reading your full review when it is up.

[smeyer418]

I just saw some of the recent member reviews, Jeconk's isn't posted yet but I must say some of the poor reviews seem petty.

 

i.e. boarding was supposed to start at 2:30 and didn't start until 3.

 

we waited three hours to Board-this may be a legitmate complaint at times. We waited four hours to board the Dawn once... it was late because of a sick passenger who had to evacuated...

 

 

the entertainment was good but some of the costumes were skimpy(this had a one of six rating).

 

The crew worked like dogs(don't they always?)

 

look for yourself.

 

BTW if everything is great on the ship, shouldn't you give the home office at least a nod of credit?

 

I know I will be accused of being an apologist for NCL. Make up your own minds(in my last posting on the NCL Crown cruise, I did wonder why the ship was scheduled to leave Bermuda so early).

 

Interesting review above btw...

[gardencat]

Hey Smeyer

 

No apologist accusation for you from me. :)

I have no problem with people who stand up for what they believe NCL is doing right. My objections have always been to people who decide to defend NCL by attacking those who post negative comments. Statements like " If you had asked politely I'm sure your problem would have been solved' (implying that the original poster must have been rude).

Or in the case of the poor person who started 'the cancelled bus thread' a while ago. Do you remember that one? She IMHO posted a very mild complaint about the fact that shortly before her cruise NCL cancelled the bus to the pier whuch she had contracted for, leaving her to scramble to find alternate transport. She asked if anyone had had a similar experience. Within hours she had recieved responses which told her basically that she must be a fool (not those exact words but that tone) if she couldn't find alternate transportation, what was her problem? and one that mocked her by saying that people in the NCL office must be plotting to ruin her vacation in particular. The people who posted those comments are who I would refer to as NCL apologists.

Oh yes and people who fall back on the 'Well a 2 hour wait on hold is pretty common for most companies these days".

[Zeno]

Hey Smeyer

 

No apologist accusation for you from me. :)

I have no problem with people who stand up for what they believe NCL is doing right. My objections have always been to people who decide to defend NCL by attacking those who post negative comments. Statements like " If you had asked politely I'm sure your problem would have been solved' (implying that the original poster must have been rude).

Or in the case of the poor person who started 'the cancelled bus thread' a while ago. Do you remember that one? She IMHO posted a very mild complaint about the fact that shortly before her cruise NCL cancelled the bus to the pier whuch she had contracted for, leaving her to scramble to find alternate transport. She asked if anyone had had a similar experience. Within hours she had recieved responses which told her basically that she must be a fool (not those exact words but that tone) if she couldn't find alternate transportation, what was her problem? and one that mocked her by saying that people in the NCL office must be plotting to ruin her vacation in particular. The people who posted those comments are who I would refer to as NCL apologists.

Oh yes and people who fall back on the 'Well a 2 hour wait on hold is pretty common for most companies these days".

 

Interestingly enough I have a problem with people who belittle those cruisers who have ENJOYED their NCL cruises. On several occasions I have seen those who enjoyed their NCL cruise described as "hicks" and illiterates, who are incapable of differentiating between between good and bad service due to their unsophisticated and uncultured background (in contrast of course to the poster's superior social and intellectual background - which we get to hear about ad-nauseum). Also I have seen comments on this board to the effect that anyone enjoying an NCL cruise must be on drugs. Oh and lest we forget my personal favorite - NCL "bribes" certain people (with a free cocktail and a soda card) to report back favorably on their cruises. (Personally I cannot imagine that a free cocktail and a soda card would change a "bad" cruise to a "good" cruise.)

[gardencat]

Hi Zeno,

 

 

I don't know if your previous post was referring to what I said about soda cards our to some other posts. I think the first person to use the term 'bribe' was Cecelia,when she asked on the Panama canal Sky thread:

 

"you think they were being bribed?"

 

 

I will recopy here what I did say re-the soda cards given to CC members on the Panama Sky cruise:

 

 

"I don't think NCL looked at all the CC members cruise history and booked cruises before deciding to give you the free soda cards.

I think someone at that original CC meeting just figured that since you were all CC members and you know the soda program is usually available and ,as CC members there was a good chance you would be posting your impressions of this cruise, it would be of more benefit to NCL to give a few passengers (you) the cards and have you come back and post positive reviews of your NCL experience rather than to annoy you by denying you the use of that program.

However, they were quite willing to deny the program to other passengers who were likely less knowledgable and less vocal.

Whether or not you consider that 'bribery' is up to you.

 

I do think that most of you,at least subconsciously, did feel a bit uncomfortable about it. If not, why would Donnabres make up the story about 'travel agent perks' instead of just telling other passengers the truth and why did Carolmacey find that "trying to use our glasses drew attention and too many questions so we used the sticker on our ID cards instead."

This is just my opinion and I am looking back at the situation after the fact. I'm not saying that you are horrible people for accepting the cards I'm just saying that, looking at it from outside, it seems kind of hard on the regular passengers and not quite fair on NCL's part."

 

That is what I said then and I stand by it.

If that means that I am one of those people you have a problem with I guess I'll just have to live with that.

[bh2359]

Hi All. It was mentioned in post #1 that "Patty" was the Cruise Director on the POA. Although I saw her a couple of times on the old Norway, I've been out of touch with her since that time and did not know which ship she was on.

 

I know Patty. She and I both hail from Lubbock, Texas (Hometown of Buddy Holly). Yes, she is a good singer. In Lubbock, when the play "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story" made its run, Patty portrayed Vi Petty, wife of Buddy's manager and did a great job. She also sang in many other musicals held in Lubbock.

 

Patty has a philosophy "If it has to be done, do it", and according to this post, that is exactly what she does.

 

I've been reading a lot of negative posts about the POA but if Patty H. is the Cruise Director, I'm sure that that portion of your cruise will not receive any negative comments.

 

If you sail on that ship and meet her, ask her about Bill G., "The Buddy Holly guy" in Lubbock, Texas. Yeah, that's what she calls me! Make sure you say hello to her from me too.

 

Glad to see some positive reports on the POA. I'm sure everything will begin to get better as time allows.