Cruise Line: Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)
Cruise Ship: Pride of America
Cruise Destination: Hawaii
Cruise Dates: September 17 - September 24, 2005
Guest Contributor: Kevin
kjsandoval@scottnkev.com
One of the first things I learned when I started cruising is to never sail on a ship that is new because the crew hasn`t had enough time to figure everything out. After reading some negative reviews and newspaper articles about the ship, I was a little reluctant to book this cruise.
This was our first voyage with NCL, and it will certainly not be the last.
First of all, the ship is absolutely gorgeous. It's very new, but the designers chose to model if after the classic luxury liners of days gone by. Stunning. The pictures of it that I`ve seen on the Internet do not do it justice at all.
Second, "Freestyle Cruising" is awesome. Not only can you eat when and where you please, but a table for two was easily accommodated every time we asked for one. The specialty restaurants are especially worth visiting. I will admit however that the room service menu is very limited.
One of the other things we enjoyed about this cruise was that the room attendant was not in our face every time we were in our cabin (which by the way was lovely.) She was attentive, but respected our privacy more than our experiences with other cruise lines.
As far as the crew is concerned, I would cautiously admit that some of them seem to enjoy their jobs more than others. However the latter was hardly the norm.
This young, friendly, (sometimes sassy) American crew treated us better than any cruise we have been on, and we`ve been on a lot. I don`t think there was a single time we walked past a crew member who didn`t offer a genuine smile and say hello to us. It`s very clear that these folks are working hard to make this all come together, and it came together pretty darn well for us. Unfortunately we did witness a few passengers being extremely rude to crew members for the stupidest reasons. In those instances, the crew handled the situation very professionally. I really can`t say enough about my respect for these nice folks.
Our cruise began 9/17/2005. As far as the bottom line goes, we have already booked another cruise on this beautiful ship in 6 months. That should tell you everything you need to know about our experience.
Cruise Ship: Pride of America
Cruise Destination: Hawaii
Cruise Dates: September 17 - September 24, 2005
Guest Contributor: Kevin
kjsandoval@scottnkev.com
One of the first things I learned when I started cruising is to never sail on a ship that is new because the crew hasn`t had enough time to figure everything out. After reading some negative reviews and newspaper articles about the ship, I was a little reluctant to book this cruise.
This was our first voyage with NCL, and it will certainly not be the last.
First of all, the ship is absolutely gorgeous. It's very new, but the designers chose to model if after the classic luxury liners of days gone by. Stunning. The pictures of it that I`ve seen on the Internet do not do it justice at all.
Second, "Freestyle Cruising" is awesome. Not only can you eat when and where you please, but a table for two was easily accommodated every time we asked for one. The specialty restaurants are especially worth visiting. I will admit however that the room service menu is very limited.
One of the other things we enjoyed about this cruise was that the room attendant was not in our face every time we were in our cabin (which by the way was lovely.) She was attentive, but respected our privacy more than our experiences with other cruise lines.
As far as the crew is concerned, I would cautiously admit that some of them seem to enjoy their jobs more than others. However the latter was hardly the norm.
This young, friendly, (sometimes sassy) American crew treated us better than any cruise we have been on, and we`ve been on a lot. I don`t think there was a single time we walked past a crew member who didn`t offer a genuine smile and say hello to us. It`s very clear that these folks are working hard to make this all come together, and it came together pretty darn well for us. Unfortunately we did witness a few passengers being extremely rude to crew members for the stupidest reasons. In those instances, the crew handled the situation very professionally. I really can`t say enough about my respect for these nice folks.
Our cruise began 9/17/2005. As far as the bottom line goes, we have already booked another cruise on this beautiful ship in 6 months. That should tell you everything you need to know about our experience.