NCL Pride of Hawaii cruise

I am looking at taking cruise on the above. Any input, good or bad, about
the cruise style. Have never been on a "freestyle" cruise, always been on
either RCCL or Celebrity. How do they handle the formal evening etc..

Thanks

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Email no good, reply to group

JE wrote:
I am looking at taking cruise on the above. Any input, good or bad, about
the cruise style. Have never been on a "freestyle" cruise, always been on
either RCCL or Celebrity. How do they handle the formal evening etc..

Formal evenings are optional.

sue

JE,

For what it is worth, here is my review of our NCL cruise around the
Hawaiian Islands aboard the Price of Aloha. Some of the information may be
of interest to you. Likewise, include here is also a link to our Hawaii
Cruise Photo Album, for a picture is worth a thousand words. Furthermore,
don't worry. Even though allowable as part of the signature line, I will
suggest you go elsewhere to book this cruise; for this information is simply
provided for your awareness only, and not as a means to promote my agency or
services.

Thanks,
John



Review: NCL's Pride of Aloha
By John Sisker

When we originally posted a photo album link to our Hawaii Cruise aboard
Norwegian Cruise Line's (NCL) Pride of Aloha, it was suggested by some that
they would like some type of review, or evaluation, of the ship itself.
While the album did include pictures while on-board, as well as our ports
and shore excursions during the 7 days, we did not provide any personal
evaluation of how we liked or disliked the ship itself, and as to any
comments of how we felt Norwegian Cruise Line is doing in this all-American
market. This is especially pointiest since many of the comments and reviews
since the debut of this ship, for this itinerary, have been so negative. In
fact, after reading most of these reviews ourselves, we started having
second thoughts if this ship was actually a good choice. However,
understanding that such reviews are rather subjective in nature, and finding
some discrepancies in their reporting here and there, we decided to take a
change, and go forward with our original plans. After all, where else could
we get most of Hawaii in one convenient package, without sailing across the
ocean for days on end just to get there? And besides, now that we were aware
of the possibly negatives, we also knew what to expect and what to look out
for. The bottom line is, this turned out to be a most enjoyable cruise, with
the ship itself far exceeding even our expeditions. It wasn't the best ship
we have been on, nor was it the worst, and this was our 12th cruise.
However, if all we were intending to do was find fault and problems, just
looking for the worst, we surly would have found it, no matter what ship or
cruise line we would have been on. Yet, on a scale of 1 to 10, we would rate
this ship as an 8. Of course, others may disagree, especially depending when
they experienced this ship. Yet, that's our evaluation, but is indeed taking
many factors into consideration.

While some press and general information was circulated by both agents and
NCL, the Pride of Aloha was not actually a new ship when it made its
inaugural Hawaii debut. Originally built in 1999 as NCL's Norwegian Sky, it
went through a multi-million dollar remodeling and was reflagged into the
U.S. registry to assume the Pride of Aloha itinerary. The 2,002 passenger
(2,400 maximum) state-of-the-art ship began sailing as Pride of Aloha in
early June in California and culminated with an inaugural celebration and
ship christening on July 4th of 2004 in Hawaii, when she then begin
seven-day inter-island Hawaii cruises. Aboard the 77,104 GRT (Gross
Registered Ton) Ship, we experienced NCL's freedom of Freestyle Cruising,
whether you're in the mood for the casual atmosphere of a cafe or the formal
scene of a restaurant. The four Seasons and Seven Seas Dining Room offers
picturesque views, while Horizons of Italy is high-end Italian cuisine in an
intimate dining setting. LeBistro offers delicious French Mediterranean
cuisine, table-side cooking and inside and outside dining. Ciao Chow, on the
other hand, is casual Italian; a Chinese eatery offers everything from pasta
and gourmet California-style pizza to potstickers and saki. The Garden Cafe
indoor snack facility serves breakfast/luncheon buffets and snacks; food
action stations during lunch offer paella, sushi, crepes, meat and fish
carvings, and Chinese noodle soups. Great Outdoor Cafe serves
breakfast/luncheon buffets and snacks.

Likewise, the Showrooms, bars, lounges and other amenities aboard the Pride
of Aloha were diverse as well, starting with the Stardust Theatre, which
soars three decks with European opera house ambiance and full production
shows. Dazzles Lounge offers cabaret shows, dancing and also functions as a
disco. Gatsby's Champagne Bar offers fine champagnes by the glass. Havana
Club offers hand-rolled premium cigars, humidor, fine cognac served in warm
glasses, malt whiskey and relaxed seating. The Red Lion English Pub offers
darts, pints, pool, and large screen TV for sports broadcasts. The Java Cafe
offers majestic atrium views, offers specialty coffees and pastries, while
the Circus-themed Karaoke Bar include 6 private rooms. And, Spinnakers
Observation Lounge has live music and dance floor.

Yet, our experience and this review are not just about a cruse line generic
description of the ships features. Therefore, from now on, it is our
personal feelings, what we experienced and how we felt NCL lived up to its
intended goal, yet, all the time keeping in mind the initial negative
reviews by others. Were we disappointed in the ship, the staff, the
service, etc., all in relationship to what we were told to expect by others?
Not at all! In fact, our August 14 - 21, 2005 experience aboard the Pride of
Aloha was met with many pleasant surprises. Yet, this is not meant to imply
that everything was picture-perfect aboard, for based on our past cruise
experiences, it was obvious that NCL still had some things to work on. Yet,
our goal is simply not to find fault, but to point out what we feel were the
issues and items NCL needed to address at the time.

Now, let's look at the ship itself. One thing we really liked was that this
ship was specially designed just for Hawaii cruises. It isn't the typical
ship that just happens to include Hawaii now and then in their itinerary;
this ship, from stem to stern is Hawaii. From the settings, décor,
decorations, nomenclature, design, etc., it is Hawaii in itself. This
certainly added that extra touch for us while cruising the islands. We felt
we were suppose to be there, were all part of the glitz and glitter of
Hawaii, not just a visitor on a typical ship. Now, please don't get us
wrong, there is nothing at all wrong with any of the other cruise lines and
ships that cruise the Hawaii islands, it is just that this particular ship
gave us the feel of actually being part of Hawaii, not just cruising from
port to port.

Yet, beautiful decor or not, it's the service aboard that is really the
bottom line no matter how you look at it. Reports of the past gave NCL's
Pride of Aloha some pretty low ratings in that category, which if you think
about it, is the most important element anyway. However, during our cruise,
the service had obviously been addressed, greatly enhanced from what we
originally read in some of these reviews. But, this is not to say that some
additional improvements were still not needed. It is just that it wasn't
quite as bad as we thought we might encounter. Likewise, on previous cruises
with different cruise lines, we had better service, yet we also had worse.
Yet, for the most part, the personnel were friendly and knowledgeable
enough; it was mainly isolated to the Food and Beverage department that
really needed some attention. But, remember, it has now been some time since
our Hawaii cruise, so that in itself may have been addressed. Most of the
other issues raised in reviews of the past were not a problem or issue when
we sailed. Furthermore, we had no problem with the food or beverages itself,
and we are quite fuzzy in that category, especially since my wife Deborah is
a gourmet cook.

It is just that the service in just about all the dining rooms was extremely
slow, and not only that, the service personnel seemed to care less. I'm sure
NCL is and/or was well aware of this shortcoming, for what else is a cruise
better know for but the food. So that definitely needed some improvement.
Freestyle dining is one thing (dining where and when you want), but missing
many of the shows because of extremely slow service is another. We did
indeed give ourselves plenty of time, well, so we thought. In spit of us
expressing our concerns about this, the service and personnel were basically
very slow anyway - nothing improved. However, worst of all, was the bar
service. Bar tenders seemed to tend to those and the age group they bonded
with the most, basically ignoring us to the point where we simple ended up
ordering the dinks ourselves at the bar, and forgetting the cocktail
personnel altogether. In fact, on a few evenings, so many of the bars and
lounges had closed early, we only had the option of the two left on the ship
that were open for any type service at all. And even these two were geared
to the late night, young crowd, with very loud music, not really our style.
Actually, this was indeed the worst service we ever received from any
bar/lounge we were at on any cruise ship and with any cruise line. What we
finally did, was buy the drinks from the only open bars, then take them
ourselves into a much quieter location, actually a closed bar area. For the
most part, while the bar service may be closed, the bar location itself is
available. After two dinks, and no munchies, we went to bed anyway. Of
course, if you're in that much younger age group, well then, this may not
perceive as a problem. After all, it's all perspective.

That was it. All in all, the cruise was great and the ship pretty good. We
simply can't mean mouth a whole ship and cruise on just the bar service
alone, even though the food service could also use some improvements as
well. In this aspect, we would still recommend seeing Hawaii via the Pride
of Aloha. Why not simply take the Pride of Hawaii instead? Probably no
reason why not, but this a review of the Pride of Aloha, not the Pride of
Hawaii. Yet, we're sure by now, even these shortcoming have improved, it was
too obvious not to be. In reality, we think we would actually chose the
Pride of Aloha again, even over the newer Pride of Hawaii, for there is just
something about a bit smaller ship, and with more of the classic line look,
than the newer bog box ships.

Happy sailing,
John Sisker, SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY®
(714) 536-3850 or toll free at (800) 724-6644 & (pagoo ID: 714.536.3850)
www.shiptoshorecruise.com

Visit our detailed Hawaii cruise photo album...
http://www.ourfamilyalbums.photosite.com/Hawaii