Its All Over The News In Hawaii

[travellovervic]

Sorry Chris:

 

6 months is not good enough. We are going in 2 months. Are we just guinea pigs in the meantime? Or, are we full-fared passengers expecting our money's worth? We don't want POA to ruin our Hawaiian experience.

[Traveler39]

the financial gain for Hawaii is great. but, the way that they treat their crew and management style got to go. its not worth it for Hawaii to have a failing cruise ship industry. remember i worked on the ship and i know what went on there. i have soooooo much to add that you folks don't know about yet! if i post it all the threads will get shut down!

 

SSINDY..... You can post your opinion of the condition of the poa and no one will mess with you according to rules of C.C. Be careful not to name names, etc... If you have proof then you can post facts....

[Traveler39]

Mark My words. ... 6 months and the ships problems will be all fixed....

 

 

I'll put 20 dollars on that ......

 

 

If I'm wrong .. Mail your requests for 20 dollars to...

 

 

Chris Connolly

63 Lamplight Circle

Hampton Bays, NY 11946

 

Chris.... you do mean 6 months from the start of the poa agenda in Hawaii?

[travellovervic]

Since I came home from work, I have just sent emails to the two national (Canadian) newpapers - Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail, to their travel section editors and to the local CITY TV of Toronto - to alert them of the POA stories in circulation. Hopefully, they will pick up on them.

 

Mooseman: I have read your other thread. I have not cancelled yet, but like you, I would like to monitor for the next month before deciding. Good luck.

[LakeErieLive]

I just tried to call the number 1-888-NCL-HAWII and I got one of those messages that says it is a non working number, or did I dial wrong...tried again and got the same....am I reading it right.

[ssindy]

Traveler,

 

I have relayed some of my inside info to KITV 4 news and hopfully they will look into it and expose my info on the news. Then i will coment on at a later date.

 

Let me say this:

 

from now until the Pride of America comes out. I beleive that the conditions and service will not get better. NCLA is doing mass job fairs all over the US to hire new crew for the PO America and they will intergrate them on the POA until the America is ready and this is basically the same as how the they intergrated the crew on the NCL Sky. This is supposed to benefit the people of Hawaii by hiring locals here and there are no future job fairs scheduled to hire locals.

 

Can you imagine cruising on the POA and you ask a crew member about Hawaii and they don't know one bit or they say that they never been here before. That is how it will be on the Pride of America. Then the same service and cleanliness issues will occure and we will go through this process again for every ship that NCLA comes out with in Hawaii.

 

This is just my opinion!

[dalwhitt]

SSINDY, I'm curious. Please feel free e-mail me any information that you think is important. Since I cruised on POA I've been saying that there have to be U.S. labor law violations on this ship. My E-mail address is alanwhitt@sbcglobal.net. Thanks.

[Traveler39]

I just tried to call the number 1-888-NCL-HAWII and I got one of those messages that says it is a non working number, or did I dial wrong...tried again and got the same....am I reading it right.

 

I will try the number in the morning... but that is the correct number....

[isabellmybell]

OMG:eek: I almost booked a cruise on this line for next year! Thanks a ton for the info. I'll never look into this line again!

[sydsmom]

I was on the Aug 15 cruise and I actually had a good time. My room steward did my room promptly each day and turned down each night. I found the crew members to be friendly and helpful. Kat at the Atrium Bar gave us all kinds of great tips of things to do and see ( she was from Honolulu). Even the crew members from other parts of the county had suggestions about things they had enjoyed on various islands.

Yes, there was a wait each night for dinner, but the food was good when we got it, and only one night did it take any longer than it would in any good resturaunt. I thought the Buffet was OK for lunch, too.

I saw crew knocking themselves out cleaning things. (I mean one girl was cleaning every elevator call button, the baseboards, the handrails, Wow!)

I also saw people screaming at the staff and telling them they were on the "Cruise from Hell", and this was while these very people were working their butts off trying to please these people. I watched people walk through a room that had just been cleaned and dump dirty dishes and trash and then someone else come in and complain that the staff were lazy because there was trash in the room. Unless the staff were psychic I don't know how they could have known those people were going to drop trash five minutes earlier.

Yes, I did go as a more informed traveler because of Cruise Critic. It made me more sensitive to the fact that many of these employees are being overworked.

I had a long talk with Patti the cruise director, and she said the biggest problem was that many of the employees are starting their cycle of vacation time just as the Honolulu office is finally sending them new employees. So each week they add 40-50 new employees but others go on vacation so the number of employees on the ship stays about the same. She said that by the end of Sept all the employees should be back on the ship and that problem, being understaffed, should be eliminated. If it is, then most of the complaints about the service should be resolved. Maybe Chris is right about the Six Months, but it might be fixed even sooner.:)

[mlrdking]

I hope you are right Chris. But there have been complaints on this board since the middle of July. And it seems the conditions on the ship are just getting worse not better.

[Big Al B.]

Aren't there too many digits dialed if you call 1-888-NCL-HAWII? That could be the problem.

[jander]

There is a disgruntled employee active in the post. I hate to see this board used, to satisfy someones resentment. I could tell you this, I could tell you that, ya ya ya, who cares what you put up with as an employee, you were not forced to work there, you had the choice to leave.

[travellovervic]

Thank you, sydsmom for the encouraging words. We need perspective. Otherwise, our concerns can just snowball into fear of the worst. With all due respect to our host, I do not like the whole discussion deteriorate into a mudslinging against NCLA either.

 

May I raise a more philosophical and moral question then? Would the whole issue of understaffing be related to the fact that other internationally flagged cruise ships hired cheap "slave" labor from the poorer countries of the world and this American flagged ship cannot do the same? I have been on 7 other cruises, and every now and then, it bothers me that the wonderful people who served us on those cruises practically work for nothing but our tips, 24/7 without much of a break. Would our averaged North American workers take such a job? Now POA's problems with staffing make me wonder out loud about the same question. Obviously, if the cruise line can hire as many cheap labor for nothing and ask the passengers to tip them, there is no shortage of staff. In this case, they cannot because of US labor laws. Now, these workers are being overworked and there are not enough of them to keep the show going. Whereas, the international crew from poorer parts of the world in the majority of the ships are happy just to make the kind of money not possible in their own countries. They can come work for 6 - 8 years and go home relatively well off. But the American labor have a very different expectation and standard of living. Perhaps ssindy can enlighten us on this point? Thanks.

[ssindy]

Travelloveric,

 

you are right, all the other international cruise ships do pay their crew very low wages and all the service position do rely on passenger tips. But, on the POA which falls under the US Labor Laws all crew wether service position or non service crew are paid hourly, 40 regular weekly hours and anything over 40 is considered overtime. so, many crew do work 70+ hours a week on the POA. Also the contracts on the POA is 4 months versus on an international ship its 10 months or more.

[jkrislc]

When I contacted my TA about concerns regarding the POA, he sent me an industry publication citing Colin Veitch who is citing that all of the problems will be fixed in a few weeks, perhaps as few as six. However, My final payment date is fast approaching, and it falls before this six week mark--assuming that's even a realistic mark. NCLA was also claiming that latest slew of bad reviews came from the two charters whose passengers spent more time on the ship than normal, which over-taxed the ship's services and that things will be better when people are spending more time in port rather than on the ship.

Sounds like a reasonable explanation, but also has a bit too much PR spin for my liking. I guess all we can do is cancel or take a wait and see attitude, which is hard since I tend to book my cruises a year plus out.

[Host CMLA]

[quote name='isabellmybell']I almost booked a cruise on this line for next year! Thanks a ton for the info. I'll never look into this line again![/QUOTE] NCL has many other ships going to many places. I'm not sure I'd swear off a whole line because of one ship and one itinerary. I think you're going to miss a lot of the good that NCL has to offer if you make a decision based on the POA.

[GMCOLT]

I have recently had the chance to speak with NCL officers re POA. NCL is taking this issue very seriously. The Captain I spoke with said it can take months to get things running smoothly with a new crew.
Look at the QM2, that vessel has received a number of negative reviews concerning service issues. Now, who would think that could happen on a Cunard vessel?
I have met a number of NCL crew ( including Americans) that have served with NCL for 7, 19, 13 and 20 years. This does not happen if they were a horrible employer. posters have stated they have had positive encounters with assorted crew members. Therefore, there is hope for things to work with an all US crew. Does this help someone with a cruise scheduled next month, probably not.
I have read enough reviews that indicate things are headed in the right direction.
I was on the NCL majesty last week. One person said the buffet was terrible, yet our faimly of 12 was happy. I read here, one poster said the POA was dirty, while one said it was not.
As consumers we have the right to expect to get what we pay for. Therefore, I am not putting anyone down who had a experience that did not meet expectations.
There is no harm in letting NCL lnow what we expect for our vacation experience. However, it is important to be objective and balance our own experiences and expectations.

[dalwhitt]

GM Colt, bad reviews outweigh the good by about 10 to 2 on POA. That should tell you something. For ANY other ship, the ratio is the opposite. Please show me one ship that has reviews to that negative ratio. NCL should lower the price on POA until they know how to get it right.

[Traveler39]

[quote name='GMCOLT'], there is hope for things to work with an all US crew. Does this help someone with a cruise scheduled next month, probably not.
I have read enough reviews that indicate things are headed in the right direction.

As consumers we have the right to expect to get what we pay for. Therefore, I am not putting anyone down who had a experience that did not meet expectations.

There is no harm in letting NCL lnow what we expect for our vacation experience. However, it is important to be objective and balance our own experiences and expectations.[/QUOTE]

GMCOLT.... a good perspective and well written... The next 4 weeks will be the test that ncl management must past... A lot is written about the under staffing of the crew... That is now accepted as a fact... NCL management must take full blame for not understanding the unique problems that sailing Hawaii under an America Flag would bring... It was historical data available to any cruise company...

[Guest nhrich]

[quote name='dpohlman']I just tried to call the number 1-888-NCL-HAWII and I got one of those messages that says it is a non working number, or did I dial wrong...tried again and got the same....am I reading it right.[/QUOTE]
It's 1-888-NCL-HAWAII (or, in reality, 1-888-NCL-HAWA).

Rich
Carefree Vacations

[buchie614]

I was on one of the charters that Mr. Vetich is referring to, and we did not spend a lot of time on that ship, in fact, no one did because there was no onboard activities to keep you busy, ncl knew when they booked these charters how many people would be on board and for how many days, and for him to place the blame on the charters, rather than take the heat, does not imo speak well of him. NCL keep saying, in time, we will have things together, that is bull, I have been on maiden voyage before, and there was no problems, no complaints. We paid top money for a second rate cruise, and to top it off, ncl is now trying to shift the blame onto someone else. Now all pro ncl'ers can have a field day off this post.

[jkrislc]

[quote name='dalwhitt']GM Colt, bad reviews outweigh the good by about 10 to 2 on POA. That should tell you something. For ANY other ship, the ratio is the opposite. Please show me one ship that has reviews to that negative ratio. NCL should lower the price on POA until they know how to get it right.[/QUOTE]

While I agree with you, dalwhitt, and think there are serious issues with the POA that need to be resolved, keep in mind that people are more likely to complain than praise. During one of my college classes, the professor cited a study that people are five times more likely to complain than to praise, which is exactly what you're citing above. However, with that said, many of the reviews are coming from CCers who I have grown to trust based on previous posts over the years.

I do believe that NCL has been largely ignoring--or at least being very slow to respond--to the issues on the POA. While this initial slow response has troubled me, I believe that all of these ongoing complaints have reached a critical mass, which NCL can no longer ignore especially with all the news coverage about the problems over the last few days. If NCL really wants to make a bold move, they should do what Carnival did a few years ago with their vacation guarantee. If you don't like the cruise at any time, you can disembark at the next port and get the remainder of your cruise fare refunded to you. This would at least build some confidence in those passengers like myself who are on the fence about cancelling.

[newmexicoNita]

[quote name='jander']There is a disgruntled employee active in the post. I hate to see this board used, to satisfy someones resentment. I could tell you this, I could tell you that, ya ya ya, who cares what you put up with as an employee, you were not forced to work there, you had the choice to leave.[/QUOTE]


I don't know if you are sure of your remarks about a disgruntled employee but I do believe you. I also believe NCLA is trying to salvage this ship and itienerary by doing as much as they can. Another thread referred to the problems being solved in about 6 weeks. This came from reliable sources. Would I book POA right now? Nope, would I refuse to book any ship on this line because of one bad apple? Nope! Give it time, will it ever measure up to say, the Dawn or Star or Sun? Perhaps not, but I am getting a bit tired of hearing the same stories over and over. The point has been made: the experiences are not good, now, unless there are new experiences different from the past 6 or 7 sailings can we get onto another subject? PLEASE!

NMNIta

[Traveler39]

[quote name='buchie614']I was on one of the charters that Mr. Vetich is referring to, and we did not spend a lot of time on that ship, in fact, no one did because there was no onboard activities to keep you busy, ncl knew when they booked these charters how many people would be on board and for how many days, and for him to place the blame on the charters, rather than take the heat, does not imo speak well of him. NCL keep saying, in time, we will have things together, that is bull, I have been on maiden voyage before, and there was no problems, no complaints. We paid top money for a second rate cruise, and to top it off, ncl is now trying to shift the blame onto someone else. Now all pro ncl'ers can have a field day off this post.[/QUOTE]


Your comments and opinions are right on the mark... The CEO of NCL does little in press releases except to blame others... When he takes the responsibility that he is paid to take... then he will earn some respect... We may even believe him if he would try to listen to the truth in these reports of poor food service and poor food quality in the buffet, etc... and respond to these reports honestly....