NCL Pride of America - Negative Reviews

We have signed up for the Pride of America (Hawaii) in February and in doing
research have found essentially nothing but bad reviews. Common gripes
include: small cabins (and even smaller bathrooms), medium to poor meals
with service lasting up to 3 hours, combative experiences in signing up for
freestyle dining (you must sign up by 7am the first cruising day or risk
being "shut out" of some restaurants), sloppy cabin service, crew "attitude"
problems, ship propulsion problems, sewage problems, itinerary changes and
on and on. Anyone out there care to agree or disagree with these
assessments. We are considering canceling.

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 15:30:22 -0400, mwm wrote:

We have signed up for the Pride of America (Hawaii) in February and in doing
research have found essentially nothing but bad reviews. Common gripes
include: small cabins (and even smaller bathrooms), medium to poor meals
with service lasting up to 3 hours, combative experiences in signing up for
freestyle dining (you must sign up by 7am the first cruising day or risk
being "shut out" of some restaurants), sloppy cabin service, crew "attitude"
problems, ship propulsion problems, sewage problems, itinerary changes and
on and on. Anyone out there care to agree or disagree with these
assessments. We are considering canceling.

Considering?
--
"Indecision is the key to flexibility however it is weighted by the
incapacity to deal with reality" -CC

mwm wrote:

We have signed up for the Pride of America (Hawaii) in February and in doing
research have found essentially nothing but bad reviews. Common gripes
include: small cabins (and even smaller bathrooms), medium to poor meals
with service lasting up to 3 hours, combative experiences in signing up for
freestyle dining (you must sign up by 7am the first cruising day or risk
being "shut out" of some restaurants), sloppy cabin service, crew "attitude"
problems, ship propulsion problems, sewage problems, itinerary changes and
on and on. Anyone out there care to agree or disagree with these
assessments. We are considering canceling.


A lot of the stuff you have mentioned is common to a lot of ships.

We have just decided to pass on the opportunity to fly to Hawaii, get on the
Norwegian Wind, and "cruise the Hawaiian Islands." According to the
itinerary we just received, four of the twelve days are spent in going to,
from, and on Fanning Island in the Gilberts. That's a lot of just looking at
water going by.

Bob Gardner

"mwm" wrote in message
...
We have signed up for the Pride of America (Hawaii) in February and in
doing research have found essentially nothing but bad reviews. Common
gripes include: small cabins (and even smaller bathrooms), medium to poor
meals with service lasting up to 3 hours, combative experiences in signing
up for freestyle dining (you must sign up by 7am the first cruising day or
risk being "shut out" of some restaurants), sloppy cabin service, crew
"attitude" problems, ship propulsion problems, sewage problems, itinerary
changes and on and on. Anyone out there care to agree or disagree with
these assessments. We are considering canceling.

mrtravel wrote:
mwm wrote:

We have signed up for the Pride of America (Hawaii) in February and in doing
research have found essentially nothing but bad reviews. Common gripes
include: small cabins (and even smaller bathrooms), medium to poor meals
with service lasting up to 3 hours, combative experiences in signing up for
freestyle dining (you must sign up by 7am the first cruising day or risk
being "shut out" of some restaurants), sloppy cabin service, crew "attitude"
problems, ship propulsion problems, sewage problems, itinerary changes and
on and on. Anyone out there care to agree or disagree with these
assessments. We are considering canceling.


A lot of the stuff you have mentioned is common to a lot of ships.

I would not say "A lot of the stuff is common to a lot of ships"

There are problems on some ships and lines from time to time. However,
my wife and I have been on a number of cruises. We have had many
wonderful cruises. Sometimes things beyond the control of the crew, or
the cruise line happen.

We were on on ship where the captian had a heart attack and died. The
crew did get a bit depressed about that. They cancelled some of the
shows during the cruise after that. This was a small Ukrainian flagged
ship, and the Capt. had been in charge for a number of years. The crew
was really close knit like a family.

This was really the only time I found a crew's attitude to be a bit
down. This one was understandable. Most of the crews have been
upbeat, and really happy to be on the ships.

We have sailed during the huricane season out of Ft. Lauderdale, and
San Jaun, PR., and sailed Canada during a North Easter. We have sailed
Alaska, and Mexico.

My wife did a transatlantic crossing once, and a Hawaii cruise.

In all this time, we have missed one port due to bad weather - that was
NCL's Private Island due to rough seas. They could not launch the
tenders.

Now, I have heard stories about the "Freestyle Dining", and "Open
Seating" dining that you have to make your reservations early on the
first day. We have only sailed on one ship that had this type of
dining, and that was the LCGC on the Star Princess. We had a large
enough table they made a standing reservation for us every night at the
same time. So I am unable to comment on the open seating dinning.

I have not found any ship to really be in very bad shape. Some had
needed a little work. One needed some work on some new carpets, and
new glass around the elevator. However, it was scheduled for drydock
the week after we were on it. It was still clean, it just needed some
fixing up.

I haven't run across a dirty ship. I think if one was really dirty,
they would have problems with the CDC.


I have also read bad reviews of NCL's Hawaii cruises. If it were me, I
would consider one of the other cruise lines that stop at Fanning
Island. However, I think they are a bit longer then 7 days.

roland

Bob Gardner wrote:

We have just decided to pass on the opportunity to fly to Hawaii, get on the
Norwegian Wind, and "cruise the Hawaiian Islands." According to the
itinerary we just received, four of the twelve days are spent in going to,
from, and on Fanning Island in the Gilberts. That's a lot of just looking at
water going by.

Of course, this is quiet a bit different than the Pride Of America,
which would not go to Fanning Island or have sea days. The P of A is an
American flagged ship and doesn't need to go to the Fanning Island, in
order to have a foreign port as required for non US ships like the Wind.

Bob Gardner wrote:
We have just decided to pass on the opportunity to fly to Hawaii, get on the
Norwegian Wind, and "cruise the Hawaiian Islands." According to the
itinerary we just received, four of the twelve days are spent in going to,
from, and on Fanning Island in the Gilberts. That's a lot of just looking at
water going by.

Bob Gardner


We found Fanning Island to be a wonderful experience. The true South
Pacific in
a totally unspoiled state. Having been there, I would kick myself if I
had missed it,
knowing now what I didn't know then. Plus, the time at sea going from
Hawaii to
Fanning and returning provided a welcome break from the constant
"another day,
another port of call" (even in Hawaii) life of most cruisers.

Sorry you decided not to go. You'll never know what you missed.



"mwm" wrote in message
...

We have signed up for the Pride of America (Hawaii) in February and in
doing research have found essentially nothing but bad reviews. Common
gripes include: small cabins (and even smaller bathrooms), medium to poor
meals with service lasting up to 3 hours, combative experiences in signing
up for freestyle dining (you must sign up by 7am the first cruising day or
risk being "shut out" of some restaurants), sloppy cabin service, crew
"attitude" problems, ship propulsion problems, sewage problems, itinerary
changes and on and on. Anyone out there care to agree or disagree with
these assessments. We are considering canceling.

Roland,
I wasn't aware any other cruiselines went to Fanning Island. What other
ships go to Fanning Island?
Bill
--
visit my Caribbean Princess website
http://www.cruisingthecaribbeanprincess.com

"piperut" wrote in message
ups.com...
mrtravel wrote:
mwm wrote:

We have signed up for the Pride of America (Hawaii) in February and in
doing
research have found essentially nothing but bad reviews. Common gripes
include: small cabins (and even smaller bathrooms), medium to poor
meals
with service lasting up to 3 hours, combative experiences in signing up
for
freestyle dining (you must sign up by 7am the first cruising day or
risk
being "shut out" of some restaurants), sloppy cabin service, crew
"attitude"
problems, ship propulsion problems, sewage problems, itinerary changes
and
on and on. Anyone out there care to agree or disagree with these
assessments. We are considering canceling.


A lot of the stuff you have mentioned is common to a lot of ships.

I would not say "A lot of the stuff is common to a lot of ships"

There are problems on some ships and lines from time to time. However,
my wife and I have been on a number of cruises. We have had many
wonderful cruises. Sometimes things beyond the control of the crew, or
the cruise line happen.

We were on on ship where the captian had a heart attack and died. The
crew did get a bit depressed about that. They cancelled some of the
shows during the cruise after that. This was a small Ukrainian flagged
ship, and the Capt. had been in charge for a number of years. The crew
was really close knit like a family.

This was really the only time I found a crew's attitude to be a bit
down. This one was understandable. Most of the crews have been
upbeat, and really happy to be on the ships.

We have sailed during the huricane season out of Ft. Lauderdale, and
San Jaun, PR., and sailed Canada during a North Easter. We have sailed
Alaska, and Mexico.

My wife did a transatlantic crossing once, and a Hawaii cruise.

In all this time, we have missed one port due to bad weather - that was
NCL's Private Island due to rough seas. They could not launch the
tenders.

Now, I have heard stories about the "Freestyle Dining", and "Open
Seating" dining that you have to make your reservations early on the
first day. We have only sailed on one ship that had this type of
dining, and that was the LCGC on the Star Princess. We had a large
enough table they made a standing reservation for us every night at the
same time. So I am unable to comment on the open seating dinning.

I have not found any ship to really be in very bad shape. Some had
needed a little work. One needed some work on some new carpets, and
new glass around the elevator. However, it was scheduled for drydock
the week after we were on it. It was still clean, it just needed some
fixing up.

I haven't run across a dirty ship. I think if one was really dirty,
they would have problems with the CDC.


I have also read bad reviews of NCL's Hawaii cruises. If it were me, I
would consider one of the other cruise lines that stop at Fanning
Island. However, I think they are a bit longer then 7 days.

roland

William Coleman wrote:

Roland,
I wasn't aware any other cruiselines went to Fanning Island. What other
ships go to Fanning Island?
Bill

If the ship is not US flagged and does Hawaii, it must go to a foreign
country. They sometimes cruise from the US to Ensenada, Mexico to
Hawaii. Or for shorter distance cruising, they might start in Hawaii,
end in Hawaii, but make a trip to Fanning Island since it is the closest
international destination they can go to. I suspect that Fanning was a
very nice isolated place to visit before this started.

mrtravel wrote:
William Coleman wrote:

Roland,
I wasn't aware any other cruiselines went to Fanning Island. What
other ships go to Fanning Island?
Bill


If the ship is not US flagged and does Hawaii, it must go to a foreign
country. They sometimes cruise from the US to Ensenada, Mexico to
Hawaii. Or for shorter distance cruising, they might start in Hawaii,
end in Hawaii, but make a trip to Fanning Island since it is the closest
international destination they can go to. I suspect that Fanning was a
very nice isolated place to visit before this started.

It still is a very nice, and very isolated place. But a fascinating one
at that. And it has one of the most beautiful lagoon beaches I
have ever seen.