Cruise Line: Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)
Cruise Ship: Pride of America
Cruise Destination: Hawaii
Cruise Dates: August 13 - August 20,2005
Guest Contributor: dr dt
This was our 11th cruise, first with NCL, and we expected a first class cruise. We were in for many suprises. NCL arranged airport transportation but they were difficult to find once we arrived. They were very disorganized and mixed people going on the Norweigen Wind and the Pride of America.
The adventure had begun. Embarkation at the pier was good and fairly fast. Luggage delivery to your stateroom was a different story. The first of four bags arrived within three hours, the next two 4 hours later, and the last one arrived three hours later.
Balcony Cabin: Tiny is an over-statement.
Room service - expect your room to be made up once late in the day and turned down sometime between 10 and midnight. If you retire early you'll need to call Housekeeping BUT you can only reach them by dialing the Reception Desk. It seemed like there was one cabin steward per 40 staterooms so don't expect much especially if you've cruised before, prepare to be disappointed.
Bathroom - One of the flourescent bulbs was burned out and you needed to wait 3-5 minutes for the flickering to stop before you went inside. The bathroom drain in shower clogged. 4th day mechanical problems no one could flush toilets for 4-5 hours. 6th day there was a power outage during the night so no hot water in morning.
Elevators: Like the cabins, small and usually crowded so expect to use the stairs alot.
Ship overall: Made in the old style, cramped and retro - no comparison to modern Grand class ships.
Freestyle dining - Great if you don't mind spending 2-3 hours for a meal with long waiting for food and drinks. Hot food is usually cold or lukewarm. Food rating: poor. The waiters and servers are all rushing but they are seriously understaffed.
Optional restaurants - Nice to have a guaranteed seat but again service was very slow. Food rating: below average.
Entertainment: After 9pm it's only the Mardi Gras room with 60-80's music or one of the smaller smoking lounges. Overall rating: Poor
Activities on board - limited
Spa: Excellent.
Excursions: All excursions were great, food was excellent and the crew went out of their way to make sure everyone was having a great time.
Speakers inside cabins not working so you had to open cabin door to hear them.
Transportation from pier to Airport: There are no carts or porters inside the terminal so you have to move your own bags outside to the buses (but security won't let you back in the same door for your other bags).
At the Airport: No one tells you you must go through Agricultural inspection, then ticket counter, then x-ray inspection while moving through crowds, with your baggage.
Flights home (arranged by NCL): Wife and I were given two different seats (not even close together) on a full flight.
Overall: NCL needs to understand service by sailing on other cruise lines and offer "freestyle dining" as an option to regular early or late seating. General comments from everyone we talked to on this cruise was the same: they were disappointed and complaining about service and waiting a long time for everything.
If you want to see Hawaii and have a great time try Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Holland or Pleasant Hawaiian or SunTrips but do not cruise with NCL.
Cruise Ship: Pride of America
Cruise Destination: Hawaii
Cruise Dates: August 13 - August 20,2005
Guest Contributor: dr dt
This was our 11th cruise, first with NCL, and we expected a first class cruise. We were in for many suprises. NCL arranged airport transportation but they were difficult to find once we arrived. They were very disorganized and mixed people going on the Norweigen Wind and the Pride of America.
The adventure had begun. Embarkation at the pier was good and fairly fast. Luggage delivery to your stateroom was a different story. The first of four bags arrived within three hours, the next two 4 hours later, and the last one arrived three hours later.
Balcony Cabin: Tiny is an over-statement.
Room service - expect your room to be made up once late in the day and turned down sometime between 10 and midnight. If you retire early you'll need to call Housekeeping BUT you can only reach them by dialing the Reception Desk. It seemed like there was one cabin steward per 40 staterooms so don't expect much especially if you've cruised before, prepare to be disappointed.
Bathroom - One of the flourescent bulbs was burned out and you needed to wait 3-5 minutes for the flickering to stop before you went inside. The bathroom drain in shower clogged. 4th day mechanical problems no one could flush toilets for 4-5 hours. 6th day there was a power outage during the night so no hot water in morning.
Elevators: Like the cabins, small and usually crowded so expect to use the stairs alot.
Ship overall: Made in the old style, cramped and retro - no comparison to modern Grand class ships.
Freestyle dining - Great if you don't mind spending 2-3 hours for a meal with long waiting for food and drinks. Hot food is usually cold or lukewarm. Food rating: poor. The waiters and servers are all rushing but they are seriously understaffed.
Optional restaurants - Nice to have a guaranteed seat but again service was very slow. Food rating: below average.
Entertainment: After 9pm it's only the Mardi Gras room with 60-80's music or one of the smaller smoking lounges. Overall rating: Poor
Activities on board - limited
Spa: Excellent.
Excursions: All excursions were great, food was excellent and the crew went out of their way to make sure everyone was having a great time.
Speakers inside cabins not working so you had to open cabin door to hear them.
Transportation from pier to Airport: There are no carts or porters inside the terminal so you have to move your own bags outside to the buses (but security won't let you back in the same door for your other bags).
At the Airport: No one tells you you must go through Agricultural inspection, then ticket counter, then x-ray inspection while moving through crowds, with your baggage.
Flights home (arranged by NCL): Wife and I were given two different seats (not even close together) on a full flight.
Overall: NCL needs to understand service by sailing on other cruise lines and offer "freestyle dining" as an option to regular early or late seating. General comments from everyone we talked to on this cruise was the same: they were disappointed and complaining about service and waiting a long time for everything.
If you want to see Hawaii and have a great time try Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Holland or Pleasant Hawaiian or SunTrips but do not cruise with NCL.
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