Quick Review of Pride Of America Feb 3, 2007 cruise

[cacj]

We returned on Sat, 2/10 and have to report that the cruise was just great!

 

We had an aft cabin on the 9 deck....cozy, almost cramped because of the 2 bunk beds overhead, but manageable and comfortable for DH and me.

 

The staff in almost all cases were just terrific! We had few issues with staff and any were minor.

 

Generally, the crew were friendly, positive, and professional.

 

The restaurants are well run, with the specialty ones, as expected, the best.

 

We loved the buffet area in Aloha...well organized and the space works!

 

The Liberty and Skyline main dining were well staffed and we enjoyed all meals there with the exception of one lunch.

 

The Jefferson Bistro is very good, worth the extra $$. And Lazy J is also wonderful.

 

We didn't go to the Japanese or Pink's...so cannot give quick info on it.

 

The pools, shows, activities...well attended, with lots of activities ...if you get bored on this cruise, you are working at being bored!

 

If you have questions, we will try to answer!:)

[hello]

Did they have the 2 for 1 specials at the specialty restaurants?

 

Thank you for your comments -- we can't wait to go!

[Bettyboop66]

Thanks for the quick review. I will be on the PofAm in May ans love reading about "my" ship. Did you happen to go to a luau? If so which one. I know that this topic has been discussed on the boards but I'm still having a hard time deciding which one. Thanks.

Betty

[maja651]

Thanks for the review! I have a question regarding the reservations for the specialty restaurants. Were you able to make reservations for the week all at once, or did they limit them to 2 nights, as they seem to now be doing on the Pearl?

 

Michelle

[JuneauWhatIMean]

I'm with you, Betty, also sailing in May and can't get enough info to satisfy the hunger. :D For instance: Is it expensive to get clothes ironed?

 

Thanks for the positive review, cacj!

[IScubaSlo]

I was on the same cruise along with another couple. We had 2 rooms on deck 9 also, we had the aft stern out the back of the ship. Thought we were going first class for a change.........wrong!!!!!!!

 

We boarded at about 1pm but did not go to our rooms till about 2:30 because we did not want to rush anybody...........

 

Heres what we found: Our room, there was a wastebasket full of dirty "SANITARY NAPKINS" in bathroom, shower was never cleaned, shower curtain was black on botton from mold. Sliding glass door had what looked like milk shake all over it....... Medicine cabinent in bath had old toothpaste, and lotion all over the shelves. Balcony had dirty towel, dishes, clothes hangers, and the table had crumbs and coffee stains still on it.

 

All the counters and cabinets had a nice coating of dust........

 

Ours beds were not put together and when they came and put them together, you should of seen the stains on the mattresses.........also you dont get a bedspread.......you get a duvet covered with a sheet. Ours had stains all over it. Really gross......

 

A steward came in wiped down bath (but never cleaned the soap dishes)

and took out the dirty sanitary napkins and also removed dishes etc from balcony...... thats it.......nothing else.

 

I got off the ship and went to one of the shops at pier and bought Clorox cleaner and wiped down the whole room........and balcony.

 

Our bed was never turned down for first three days......which is not a big deal.

 

Friends room: Dirty wash clothes in bath..........the toilet was never cleaned, still had skid marks all over toilet, etc........

 

When our friends questioned the person who came in to clean their bathroom

and make their bed, about why nothing was cleaned, he took them out on their balcony and pointed to the "Island Princess" ship and told them that if they wanted good service thats the ship they should be on...........

 

Dont get me wrong......everyone was polite......but they always blamed somebody else for the problems.......

 

Food was edible......thats all I can say. Not much of a selection for dinner.

 

In the morning at the outside deck off the Aloha cafe where we went to eat breakfast every morning was filthy........there was never anybody there to clean the dishes off the tables........everybody ended up taking their own dishes up to a large counter by the coffee machines so other people would have a place to sit and eat. They never opened that bar or that area for anything other than coffee, cereal, donuts, cookies, etc........

 

By 2:30pm the bar at pool aft was closed, also the Aloha buffet closed at that time. We questioned several staff members and they told us a lot of things were closed because they did not have the staff to work it all.

 

At dinner one night my husband ordered a drink and our waiter took his card to charge the drink, but never gave it back. When my husband asked for it the waiter explained that he had given it to someone else by mistake, and he tried to give us the other guys card........unfricken believable.......my husband refused.... so the waiter told us to come back in 10 minutes and he would have it........well we waited 45 minutes to give the guy a chance.......quess what? ......he still didnt have it. At 11:10pm.....I was asleep.....our waiter called and said he had new cards for us and brought them to room. Next morning I decided I would check at reception to see if anything was charged to our card, and guess what......yep.....there sure was...Well, reception said they would take charges off, no problem.....Well guess what? When we got our bill on the morning of disembarkation, they were still on our bill. So, I had to go wait in that god awful line for an hour to get it taken off.

 

Yesterday I decided to check my credit card online......now mind you I havent been on that ship for 3 days, but NCLA has three more charges on my credit card.....now explain to me how thats happening......

 

Right now I'm very frustrated.

 

I have been on 5 other NCL ships and never had service like this. This ship is only 1 year and 4 months old, but it looks older. You never see anybody out cleaning....

 

The intinery is great........but thats all I can say............

 

I had read all the bad reviews for over a year on this board and I went in with an open mind, but I never thought it would be as dirty as it was.

Now I know why so many people get sick on cruise ships...........

[IScubaSlo]

By the way I also had my "CRUISE CRITIC MEMBER" magnet on my door. I thought that would help, but it didnt.......

 

Also, I am not a picky person. I'm not a rude person........I always treat everybody with respect. I dont look down on anybody because of their job or class.... I'm just an everyday working person. I'm in my early fifties.

I'm very easy to get along with.......I even helped the kid make my bed. I cleaned up my room everyday so the steward would have more time to clean bathroom etc.......but nothing helped.........

[DanL]

ISCUBASLO Did you try talking to the ship hotel manager about your issues? I would have done that initially.

We will be on POA in 10 days.

[WestCoast Canadian]

We were also on the Pride of America Feb 3rd to 10th and had an absolutely fabulous time. Our cabin (Cat G - 7566) was clean and ready for us and never had any issues with housekeeping. We also ate at the Aloha Cafe every morning on the back of the ship and found everything to be in order.

 

Lazy J's and the bistro were my favorites; the dinning room food was nothing to write home about but good (not great) none the less. The Cadillac diner had a great brownie desert... YUM!

 

You can no longer make restaurant reservations for the week; it's now no more that 24 hours in advance. We didn't mind as it gave us the opportunity to do some of the restaurants twice when we had not planned on it.

 

I found this cruise to be more casual than other ships and that's what I expected after reading some reviews. We did not let anything get to us.

 

The 'not so newly wed' game was a blast; my husband and I were picked to participate and even won.

 

I'm not sure how much it is to get something ironed as I did not use the service. I did however get a linen skirt steamed at one of the shops for free; I asked and they happily accommodated me.

[CaliforniaLiving]

I was on the Pride of America in August 2006. I guess it's timing. - I am not sure when Pride of Hawaii set sail but you must be feeling the after shock of losing 1/3 of the PoAm staff to the new ship.

 

I admit that the food service left something to be desired, But the food was always good.

 

We always had a nice cleam room - turned down at night- extra towels whenever we asked for them, etc...

 

We also had some billing problems -- I somehow had a drink charge from the crew bar on my bill (The lady at the desk said that was a first - since we all know passengers NEVER go to crews quarters-- right!!!!)

 

If there was a problem everybody seemed to point to somebody else - The ol' " It's not my job" - excuse ---We had a couple of issues but when we spoke to the proper person, they fixed our issues and even comped us a dinner at the Lazy J on our last night.

 

I truely believe the service issues are due to the fact that this is an NCLA ship and that means that over 75% of the crew is American.

 

- IScubaSlo, If I has had your problems I don't believe I would ever cruise with NCL again. If I were you I would contact them now and explain all your problems (Maybe even suggest they give you a BIG discount and future cruise if they wish to retain you as a client) --Also contact your bank to not release the funds for these extra charges until and unless the ship shows proof. --

 

Speaking of cruise ships charging after your off a cruise - here's one to chew on ---

 

My sister and I went on a Princess cruise August of 2004 - Several months ago she had a $4,0000 credit from Princess show up on her Debit card--- then few weeks ago she had a $4,000. debit- Her bank is currently refusing to release the funds until the cruise line can justify this!!--- I tell her she will need to give it back -- she says she knows and she will eventually, but they are going to have to work for it because we had lots of problems with overcharges on this ship 2 1/2 years ago--- She may even try and negotiate a deal on a new cruise ---- Sisters!! gotta love 'em!!

[TULA]

We are getting ready to take this cruise Feb 24th,2007 . It will be my husbands 1st cruise and I really want it to be a good one. We are 1 year away from retirement and love to travel and I want to take more cruises. I have been a bit concerned about the negative remarks about the NCL Pride of America ship and service. I was glad to hear your good review. WE have scheduled a few excursions already, the parasail and glass bottom boat in Kona, the Volcano Nat Park in Hilo, the lulu of course (how was that by the way, if you went?), we have booked the Wailua River & paradise Gardens in Kauai. When we get back we will have a good part of the day before we have to catch our flight home so we have a rental car and plan to drive to visit the uss Arizona and up to the north shore to the Polynesian Culture Center. Is there any other Must do? We also would just like to lay around on a beach without having to pay for that, are their any nice beaches with in walking distance from the dock at any port, to just hang out on? Any tips you can give us would be appreciated. Thanks

[janmschal]

We are going on Pride of America 3/24/97 and this will be our first ncl cruise. Reading all the mixed reviews im getting worried. We will be celebrating 30 years and i wanted something really special. We have cruised carnival 6 times and always loved them. It took a lot of convincing to get him on the 12 hr flight. Would love to hear more about must see for each island. I am thinking about renting a car on most islands.:confused:

[DanL]

TULA, we are on same cruise. Check out the Roll calls & the Hawaii board.

[cacj]

Really sorry you had such terrible service in your first days, ISuba....we were neighbors, and I am sorry we didn't notice your magnet, would have been nice to meet.

 

There were issues for you, I am truly sorry, but we didn't have those issues.

 

We used the door signal (a wheel that you turn on the right side of the threshold) to indicate our need for turn-down, or for making up the room.

 

We sought out our steward and introduced ourselves to the staff we did find.

 

We also found the duvet not a very appealing item for our tastes, however, we asked for a separate top sheet to use, and that worked out just fine....the duvet was clean as were the sheets, and on Tuesday they provided fresh linens for the bed.

 

As for the reservations for the specialty, you can only make res for day of or day before...and it was quite busy at the phone/desk all day long. Some folks found it entirely disappointing. We always got what we wanted...but we called early.

 

The 2 for 1 was offered twice that I noticed during the week, but I am sure it was more frequent, but it was only on special items, not all.

 

We are not big drinkers, so I cannot advise about the bars too well.

 

 

TULA, I didn't hear good things about the glass bottom boat excursion in Kona...you might want to rethink that one, or do more investigating. As for the beach near a port, head to Marriott off the Nahwiliwili port in Kauai...it is a short walk, and you will enjoy the day there. No problems with using that beach at all.

 

We don't enjoy ship excursions ourselves, and prefer to explore on our own...we rented cars on 3 islands. We saw Volcanoes (an easy drive from Hilo, and had time to spare). We rented on Maui, and though we returned the car before the end of the first day, you can keep it for the overnight and do some thorough exploring. We visited Iao, and were happy with that, because we have been to Maui before. When we got to Kauai we spent time at the Marriott beach and also had a car to explore the Princeville area, visiting the Lighthouse.

 

On Kauai, you can visit Princeville...there are falls at Wailua and Opeakaa...Waimea Canyon is driveable and very enjoyable. Two different directions though. Just past Princeville is Hanalei Bay, and further north is the famous beach of South Pacific movie, Kee Beach.

 

At Hilo, the best is Volcanoes and a little further, Black Sand beach....but only in good weather, if there is rain, skip BSB.

 

The Kona port, great for shopping, or go to Keahou beach, there are shuttles for about $10 pp at port from what I heard.

 

In Maui, aside from Iao, there are just some great beaches all along the area, and in Hawaii, if you find beach access, you are entitled to visit the beach. It is simple to do.

 

Kihei is a popular spot with folks, as is Kaanapali.

 

As for luaus, on this trip we passed, as we have dones many luaus in previous years. If I were to do a luau, I would probably pick the luau in Kilohana Plantation in Kauai....as my memory of the dancers on that island are very pleasant.

 

As for the food on the ship, sorry....but we had no complaints in most instances...except for one lunch, which when you think how many meals we did enjoy, that is a low percentage.

 

ISuba, I do wish you well in a pursuit with the CS department, because if I had the start to our trip that you had, you can be sure we would be asking for some explanation, and some sort of compensation.

 

I will add, that the worst part of the housekeeping was that they do not think on their feet, they are inexperienced, from what I can gather....they don't pay attention to when a cabin becomes vacant and organize the "approach" to cleaning or turn-down. On previous cruises, the team always kept an eye out, when you left your cabin, they moved to your cabin...this way, early out, early cleaned....this crew did not have that sort of imagination. One day we left our cabin at 7:30 a.m., back at 2:10 and the cabin had not been cleaned yet...that was annoying, but we lived with it.

[whale-watcher]

thanks for all the helpful pointers cacj...I have saved your advice and I'm sure it will come in handy on our cruise (just booked for 12/29 of this year!!)

[cacj]

whalewatcher, have a wonderful New Year's on board! Woo-oo!

[Big Blue]

My wife and I were also on this cruise celebrating our 25th anniversary and we absolutely had a blast! We arrived at 2:00pm and check in was as quick as any cruise I have been on. 10 minutes tops and you are on the ship. We were on deck 4 category K and when we arrived at our room it was clean as a whistle. We proceeded up to deck 11 and ate at the Aloha Cafe and it was very tasty with a fairly wide selection. We never ate at the outside portion of the Aloha Cafe but I can say that the inside was clean and the crew would pick up your dishes very shortly after you were done with them. We had no problems getting a table in the Aloha Cafe and we found the staff to be polite. This cruise is so port intensive we didn't spend as much time on the ship as we have on other cruises. I can say my cabin was always clean our bed was turned down every night although we didn't see our attendant but a couple of times. My wife requested an extra pillow Sunday morning and when we returned from Hilo she had an extra pillow. I was charged for one of the stateroom bottles of water but I brought it to our attendant's attention and she apologized and fixed the error. No big deal. We got reservations at the Lazy J Saturday night for half price and it was delicious. We never really had time to do any of the other specialty restaurants as we were always in port doing other things. If you want reservations though you need to make them early or you won't get in. Read your dailies and pay attention to when the different restaurants are open for lunch or any other meal for that matter. I didn't always do that. Eat at Cadillac it is wonderful. The buffalo wings are delicious and they are hot! We are planning on going back late in 2008 and taking our children with us. If you ask me if everything was perfect,then no it wasn't. It wasn't like a Carribbean cruise and the service is not the same in the Dining Rooms, but the crew was working hard and though they made a few mistakes they were apologetic and energetic to make things right. I have no complaints.

[whale-watcher]

Glad to read another positive review...thanks for taking the time to post. With such a busy itinerary, I'm hoping we have enough energy left at the end of the day to try out all the different dining venues. This is our first time on NCL (unless you count my DW's cruise on the Norway back in the 80's), and we are really looking forward to the whole ''freestyle" thing!

[Big Blue]

No problem whale watcher...it is a great itinerary. We rented cars everyday and did what we wanted...just be sure to make those reservations early the day of or the day before you want to eat at a particular restaurant. It was also my first NCL cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The only bad thing is going home. We left Honolulu and it was 80 degrees and of course the first thing you get on the plane is the weather at your destination. We flew into Cincinnati and it was 8 degrees. So I guess it was back to reality. If you have any questions I will answer them as best I can.

[jdpcruiser]

We will be sailing on Pride of America on 2-24-07. I see some other folks on this board will also be on that sailing. We'd LOVE to chat with you, and maybe even meet on-board.

 

We've only cruised once, on the Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas. The ship was palatial and absolutely beautiful, all very elegant, the dining exquisite, and the service impeccable. I'm guessing from reading the reviews, even the good ones, that we can't expect that on this ship. That's okay, so long as we know what to expect.

 

It sounds like Pride of America is the Holiday Inn to Royal Caribbean's Ritz Carlton. Am I right in that assessment?

 

Thank all of you who've experienced Pride of America for your comments and recommendations. And those of you who will be on this cruise, please feel free to contact us!

[jdpcruiser]

Hi Cacj!

 

I'm sure glad you posted such a good report about Pride of America. I've read a lot of bad reviews (along with some good ones) and it had me kind of worried. I'm trying not to let me expectations be too high, but either way I know I'll enjoy it.

 

Do you know if they have on-board wireless internet access? I'm not sure how that works, I mean as to billing, etc. We're considering buying a laptop with wireless access, and it would be great if we could use it on the cruise.

 

Thanks for your help & advice and again, for the great review!

 

-Don

[megessey]

 

It sounds like Pride of America is the Holiday Inn to Royal Caribbean's Ritz Carlton. Am I right in that assessment?

 

 

I'm guessing its more like the PofAM is a Days Inn and RCL is a Hilton or Hyatt...... the Seabourn or Crystal would be a Ritz Carlton IMO