A Few thoughts about PO America

[rockymo]

We've just returned from P.O. America. This was our first NCL cruise. We have been on 9 other cruises, mostly various Princess trips. The America is a beautiful ship, but we were NOT impressed with the freestyle dining. The very idea that all those people will be coming and going at different times was bound to cause problems. We don't blame the servers they were all apologetic but our attempts to eat in the dining room were always 2-21/2 hours for a three course meal. We were prepared for a slack in service but with very few exceptions found the people very helpful and eager to please. Every bar and restaurant was shorthanded though. On the whole the food quality was not as high as Princess, but if you want to see the most of Hawaii in 7 days this is the only was to go. I wouldn't let any of the negative things about this dissuade me from going if I wanted to see Hawaii, but if I were planning another cruise for the amenities it would not be this one.

[hello]

Rockymo, thank you for your comments!

[whale-watcher]

We are also princess cruisers and have booked the P of AM for next winter...the itinerary is wonderful, especially for first time Hawaii visitors, and because we don't need to cruise back and forth from the west coast, we can upgrade to nicer cabins and still have time and money left over to enjoy a few days at a resort before our cruise...

We are looking foreward to trying freestyle, otherwise, the room service option might be nice as well.

[Don Haynes]

Lately the reviews have been getting better. Unfortunately the dining rooms times still requires attention. The ships are mostly ini mint condition, beautiful ships, and as noted the itinerary can not be beat, a day ashore every day.

 

Since so many feel safe and go ashore in Hawaii, with or without a tour, there aren't many of the on board activities of other cruises.

 

Please be aware that the internatonal crewed ships provide much better service. Don't let a slow service NCLA ship keep you from trying a NCL ship.

[megessey]

Did you ever eat dinner in the Buffet? Or did you have room service for dinner on any of the nights? If so how was the quality/wait time/experience?

 

We're going to try to avoid long dinner sessions on our upcoming cruise. I am just too ADHD for a dinner over 2 hours! Once or twice I can deal, but not every night.

 

But like you, we're doing this cruise for the Hawaii experience. I'm keeping my expectations low on food quality, but still concerned about having to wait and/or having long sitting sessions.

 

And my motto is: if the food ain't great, I don't gain weight! :D

[Dragon1681]

Finished my cruise on 2/3/7 and for the most part enjoyed myself. When I first got into my cabin the safe was locked, called down and told them. After many calls and a few personal visits it still took two days to get someone to open it for me. Glasses for my sink where dirty from the begining and vent over shower was so clogged from dust that clumps of it would fall off into the shower. Was cleaned as soon as I bought it to my attendents attention but shouldn't it have been clean from the begining. Missed two ports due to heavy wind but that can't be helped. Only complaint about the missed ports was I missed one excersion and 2 weeks after I am home, I am still fighting with ncl to get credited. Islands where beautiful. Think this was the best itenary of the 3 cruises I have been on. Dinners where all very long and wait staff friendly. Not sure if I am just to picky or what but on my past two cruises with Royal Caribbean they made me feel special, did not feel that way with ncl.

 

Tom L

[Phoenix cruiser]

We are actually "stepping down" to NCL after 2 recent cruises on Oceania, since they don't do Hawaii. We have cruised NCL once before on NCL on one of the longer Hawaii itineraries. The first night we experienced long lines at dinner and a long wait. We quickly learned that we could judge the times when crowds were largest and avoid them, and after that we usually walked right in to the main dining room and were attended to right away.

[KeystoneCruiser]

Thank you Phoenix Cruiser, Dragon 1681 & Rockymo! Those are the kinds of things that are good to put in believable reviews on this board. You each gave negatives, but you explained why they were negative in your eyes and doesn't sound like you have "axes to grind"

 

I have always said that people need to hear the good and the bad and then use all of that information to determine what is best for them and ways to avoid those problems. These kinds of comments help!

 

I will make two points for other cruisers:

1.) The Pride of America, Pride of Hawaii and Pride of Aloha are part of NCL-America, which is a sub company under NCL. They are "technically" two seperate companies. As Don says, I too found the service on the NCL-A ships to be sub par to NCL international ships.

 

Of course, the only reason that the "Pride" ships can do the 7 day itineraries without going to a foreign port (the reason most ships include the sail from the coast), is that they are American flagged and as such must have a majority of Americans in their crews.

 

2.) I have always found, even on the Pride of Aloha, that if you go to dinner between 5:30 and 6:15, you never have to wait for a table and service tends to be a little quicker.

[rockymo]

Yes, our two experiences in the dining room, we arrived between 5:30 and 6:15 each time, were seated immediately, but with a 3 course meal (1st course, entree and dessert) we were there 2 and 21/2 hours. That is way too long. The staff were very nice each time and apologized, but it is out of their hands when that food will come. We went to the buffet quite a few times and had the same special that was being touted in the dining room but it took less that half the time to eat! Ex: Prime rib night in the buffet we got ours sliced right in front of our eyes. We had the continental room service breakfast almost every morning and it was prompt or slightly before the time asked for each day whether we ordered from the card to hang on the door or ordered on the interactive tv set up. We did not try any of the specialty restaurants.

[cbcloud]

I agree with all the above...just returned from the POAm 10 Feb cruise, and overall, it was wonderful. The thing than could use the most improvement is the dining room operation. The "Freestyle option" should work, if certain inefficiencies in procedures were corrected. I don't think the fault is in the serving staff...they were trying, and their service was good, but SLOOOOW was the order of the day in getting the food. The dining rooms are beautifully decorated, and the atmosphere was cordial, but the times we did eat there got stressful because we were rushed to finish to get to the evening entertainment in the theater.

 

Would I cruise again with NCL...certainly..! As a poster on another thread put it, "I don't cruise to dine," but go for the ocean experience, the itinerary, and best of all, the price. Our party of 3 commented on the dining operation on the critique sheets they hand out at the end of the cruise. Hopefully, if enough cruisers do that, and if the critiques are read and referred to the proper level of administration, these things will be corrected.

[wmbjr]

cbcloud,

 

I just wanted to thank you for posting hte pictures of your trip to hawaii on the pride of America. We are travelling on June 9 and have begun looking at all the many options for tours etc. Do you have any recommendations for best times to eat to avoid the crowds or are we best off eating buffet style most nights? We have a 16 yo and a 6 yo. One is impossible to fill up and the other one get ornery if she has to wait too long to eat. Also, did you try any of the specialty dining rooms while on your cruise?

 

Thanks for any information.

 

WB

[cbcloud]

cbcloud,

 

I just wanted to thank you for posting hte pictures of your trip to hawaii on the pride of America. We are travelling on June 9 and have begun looking at all the many options for tours etc. Do you have any recommendations for best times to eat to avoid the crowds or are we best off eating buffet style most nights? We have a 16 yo and a 6 yo. One is impossible to fill up and the other one get ornery if she has to wait too long to eat. Also, did you try any of the specialty dining rooms while on your cruise?

 

Thanks for any information.

 

WB

Glad you enjoyed the pictures... About dining... preferences/requirements are very subjective, and your family desires may be different from my party (3 adults). We did not eat in any of the specialty restaurants (tried a couple of evenings to get reservations-none available, so just gave up). We usually tried to eat in the main restaurants (skyline and liberty) as soon as they opened and usually had no wait, or 5 minutes at most. And we ate in the Aloha Cafe (buffet restaurant) a couple of evenings, which had the same items as the menus in the main restaurants, and dined MUCH quicker. There seemed to be less crowds in the Aloha in the evenings than there were in the mornings for breakfast.

 

If you did not wish to see the entertainment in the theater after dinner, a leisurely meal in the main restaurants would be fine. You may have to try various options to find the one right for your party. Good luck...you're going to have a great cruise regardless of any dining inconveniences...