Norwegian Cruise Lines America
Pride of Aloha Cruise Review
Hawaii

Gordon Marks
Age: 73
Occupation: Retired
Number of Cruises: 5
Sailing Date: June 5th, 2006

Pros: Beautiful ship well appointed, embarkation and debarkation was very smooth and well thought out. Itinerary was great as were the shore tours that we took.

Cabin steward was a gem took good care of us and and kept the cabin clean and well stocked with clean towels each day. He was one of the few crew members who seemed to know why he was there. There were crew members who said to us they hated their jobs and wished they could be somewhere else so service reflected their attitudes. Sometimes we wished we could have chosen a different cruise line for this cruise.

Cons: Where do I start: We boarded at noon and didn't get our luggage until 7pm. Made a reservation for dinner in Cagney's for 6pm when we arrived for dinner they could not find a record of it, so after a bit of insistence we were seated. The food and service was excellent. The next day we went to the main dining room to eat, and it was a total disappointment. The service was very poor and the menu was lacking in choices, it made you feel it was that way to push dinning in a room with a cover charge. We ate mostly in the buffet as the food and service was better there, the only problem was if you did not drink coffee or ice tea with your meal your only choice was water; no juice or lemonade was available. The ice cream machine was out of order most of the time.

If you wanted a snack or some desert after 9:30pm when the buffet closes, forget it -  there is no late night buffet as on other cruise lines. The only place open is the Blue Lagoon which has a very limited menu and the service is poor. We went there and were seated promptly, but waited for 30 minutes for a waiter, so we left. There was only three couples in the place. The only way to get food late in the evening is to call room service.... I was told this by other passengers. we never used room service so have no comment in this area. We were not alone in our disappointment with the quality of service and food choices. Many of the passengers we spoke to all had the same comments of disappointment as we did. This was our first and last Free Style Cruise that we will ever take. There is no incentive for the crew to provide you with the service you have come to expect to receive after having been on a regular cruise, although they (the cruise line) still pushes and charges you for gratuities on your final statement.

We will never sail on a NCL ship as long as it is a Free Style Cruise.

Bottom line is, did we have a good time? You bet we did, we went to see the islands in all their glory an beauty and that's just what we did. Would we go again? Sure, why not? Maybe on another cruise line. There were some problems but why let them spoil your fun....and it was fun.

 

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