First cruise was in August 1985 in AHC's SS INDEPENDENCE. A fantastic trip that enabled me to convince my wife that she would not get sea sick and would not be bored. This is well before NCL re-flagged the former NORWEGIAN SKY and brought her back as the MS PRIDE OF ALOHA. We have now completed 21 cruises and will take the 22nd next September for 14 days in Alaska and terminating at our home, San Diego. Unfortunately, our last cruise in the PRIDE OF ALOHA was a complete disaster. We had up-graded to an Owner's Suite that turned out to be the best part of the trip. This "criuise" was nothing more then a modified ferry boat trip with overnight stays in Kuai and Maui. That would normally be welcomed until we learned that the dining rooms had minimimal staffing (we waited almost an hour to place our order) and there was absolutely no on-board entertainment. To make matters worse, the "All-American" crew consisted mostly of recent high school graduates who, more often then not, demonstrated a complete lack of concern for passengers and had yet to learn the meaning of the word "service." I addressed my concerns to the Hotel Manager and later in writing to NCL's CEO as well as NCL AMERICA management. My comments resulted in receipt of "Standard Letter #9" and $400.00 on-board credit for a future cruise. The on-board credits were returned to NCL and we have now decided to spend our vacation dollars with RCCL.
NCL, like other cruise lines, are cutting service to the point that we were advised that "Baked Alaska is no longer served since it has been determined to be a serious fire hazard." Depending on the quality of our Alaskan cruise next year with RCCL, we have probably reached the point that we will cruise only with CELEBRITY and/or HAL in future years.
I would not recommend NCL America for anyone, but a first-time visitor to Hawaii.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post.
Dick
San Diego, CA.
