Chrissi
Age: n/a
Occupation:Teacher
Number of Cruises: 9
Cruise Line: Norwegian
Ship: Pride of America
Sailing Date: August 26th, 2006
Itinerary: Hawaii
NCL America
Pride of America Cruise Review
Hawaii
Chrissi
Number of cruises: 9
Sail date: August 26tht, 2006
Oh, it's hard to find a place to start this review. The Hawaiian islands are
beautiful and this was my third trip. See them soon, but see them from a hotel.
This cruise was horrendous in almost every way. We arrived on board to a dirty
bathroom. I actually cleaned it myself with the brush that was in the bathroom.
Good thing I am a mom and not easily grossed out. The room was tidy, but no
extras, like ice or water or sodas were available to purchase. Not ideal for
tired and hungry travelers.
Our first clue that this was not like other cruises was our trip to get our soda
cards issued. We went to the closest bar and waited 10 minutes to be glanced at
by the bartender. Then he told us he would do our soda cards when everyone was
waited on. 15 minutes later, he tells us that he has no idea where the stickers
are. He sends us to another bar that definitely has them. Of course, we waited
10 minutes here only to have it close for the evacuation drill. The unhelpful
bartender tells us that we need to get receipts from the Reception Desk anyway.
Long and pointless drill. Basically they were just fulfilling a requirement, but
they did it sooo slowly that people were really getting angry.
The rest of the night was spent trying to get our soda cards and having dinner
at the buffet. The buffet opened right on time, but the main ingredient was
missing: FOOD!!! The only thing on the buffet for like 20 minutes was a tray of
overdone flank steak. I walked around looking for anything. I finally ended up
with a bowl of soup and some pasta. Nothing was on the buffet for about 25
minutes and then it ran out almost immediately. The crew acted as if we dropped
by unexpectedly for dinner!! The same was true every single day for breakfast. I
waited every morning for hash browns and got them only once! The omelet man did
two omelets at a time and the line was frequently longer than 20 minutes. I
never waited in that line...Occasionally there was fresh pineapple on the fruit
bar, but most of the fruit was canned. I don't even serve canned fruit at home!
I never did see a macadamia nut on board.
I turned 40 on this cruise on our second night on board. We tried to get into
dinner at the dining room and were told we needed reservations. We tried every
restaurant on board and the earliest we could eat was 9pm. With 2 young kids
dressed and ready to eat at 6pm, this wasn't great news.
My mom was so upset that she was near tears. We had planned this cruise for a
long time. We finally did get seated for dinner on my birthday in the main
(free) dining room. The menu was fair, but I really didn't like anything on it.
I had the lobster, which was good, but which I didn't really want! The manager
of the steakhouse took pity on us and got us reservations at the steak house the
following night because many were booked into a luau. There were 6 other tables
served the whole time we were there (1 1/2 hours). Why was this restaurant not
taking reservations??? It should have been full. This was true of every
restaurant we ate at. Huge waits, but the dining rooms were half empty. I was
stunned.
We managed to eat in two specialty restaurants. The Lazy J steakhouse and the
tepanyaki restaurant at 9pm, my 8-year old fell asleep at the table before she
got her food). The food at the steakhouse was excellent as was the server. I
read a bad review of the steak, but mine was tender and really good. Luck of the
draw perhaps! The teppanyaki was also very good, though there isn't much fancy
cooking. I could have done what our chef did! The service here was good as well!
I also received good service from the hostess of the Cadillac Diner. Aside from
the few people I have listed here, the staff and crew were rude, unhelpful and
downright clueless. At one point I asked an officer if there was going to be
silverware brought out soon (I walked the dining room twice to find some; food
was now cold). He went to get some and brought out ONE SET!! There were like 6
more people waiting by that time!
Had a delicious breakfast at the diner one morning, but the waitress was so
rude, I could not believe it. When I asked for coffee, she actually rolled her
eyes at me! I was toying with the idea of getting it myself I had waited so
long.
One afternoon, the buffet had closed and I wanted something to snack on because
dinner wasn't until 9 that night! I went to the grill and there was a huge line
to place an order with a really obnoxious crew member! There had been fruit at
one point, but not when I got in line. The choices were all heavy and greasy and
I am not exaggerating when I say I waited 20 minutes for a mediocre
cheeseburger. The obnoxious staff member actually wrote down the time I ordered
and I was served 14 minutes after I ordered, five minutes in line to order. He
actually had the audacity to say "Better than at McDonald's" when he handed me
my plate. I was irate to say the least. This cruise was not a budget cruise!! I
expected common courtesy at least!
The entertainment on the cruise was laughable. There were a few good acts, but
after 10 pm, there was nothing to do at all. It was awful! We were bored stiff
on ship nights.
There was one show put on by the crew that culminated in them all spitting water
at each other. My 3 daughters attended this show. My 20 year old was disgusted
and offended. My 8 and 10 year old thought it was funny. Who are these shows
directed at? Yuck!
The cruise director, Shona Blair, could not have had less charisma if she was
trying. She had a really annoying voice quality and was absolutely uninteresting
and unfunny. This did not keep her from telling joke after stupid joke! If I
heard her say "I have to be totally honest..." one more time during a show, I
was gonnna scream!! It was tedious being around her voice!
The child centers were well run, it seemed and my kids had a lot of fun there.
However, there were huge chunks of time when the kids wanted an activity other
than the pool and they were closed! I was really disappointed that the kids were
bored a lot while on board.
The pools were small and there were not nearly enough deck chairs. In addition
there were never any towels available. By the last day of the cruise there was
someone handing out towels, one per passenger. And I couldn't get my kids'
towels for them. They had to be present to claim their own towels. It was
ridiculous! Can't they just wash them and re-circulate them?
I didn't use the spa because frankly, I have a wonderful spa at home where they
are really great to me. I knew I would get crummy service on this ship so I
didn't even try.
I also didn't use the photographer because I just wasn't spending another dime
with this company!
My first attempt to use my soda card was almost funny. I came up to one side of
the bar with my pasta and soup and asked for a soda. I was told to walk to the
other side of the bar (all of three feet away). I did and was then given a 6 oz
cup of soda. It was literally three swallows of soda. Then I waited in line for
another one!! It was almost funny, like I said.
The bottom line really is: if you can cancel this cruise, do it!! You will be
disappointed! If it's too late to cancel, book your reservations for dining as
soon as you board the ship. You will be staying in the equivalent of a lousy
hotel so just book yourself a rental car and book your excursions through the
provider and not the cruise line. Enjoy the beauty of the islands and spend as
little time on board as possible. But, if you can cancel, do it!
I wouldn't take another NCL cruise if they gave it to me. It was the pits!