Somewhat of a let down!
Pride of America Cruise Review to Hawaii
7 Night Hawaii (Honolulu Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 12, 2015
Ship: Pride of America
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 8177
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 8 years ago
Review summary
My husband and I embarked on the Pride of America with high expectations to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary. We boarded without incident and had lunch before our room was ready. It was in the Aloha dining area which served buffet style. We were very impressed with the variety of food offered from fresh fruit, salads, meats, sides and desserts. When we got to our assigned stateroom, we were pleasantly surprised. We were assigned a handicapped room which was much larger than what we expected. It was nicely decorated with a very comfortable bed. It was great. So was Mattie our room steward. He was helpful and kept our room clean and neat.
I can't say enough about the crew. Each and everyone of them went above and beyond our expectations. The bartenders, servers and assistant servers were always pleasant and eager to please.
In addition, the evening entertainment was wonderful. We saw a tribute to the Beatles, Oh What a Night performing Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons songs, some Motown and Michael Jackson songs. We also saw the "Not So Newlywed Game," which was tons of fun. There was a talented magician, a variety show and other kinds of entertainment.
On the downside, there weren't enough activities to get to mingle with others. There weren't fun games to get everyone involved. In addition, the food was rather bland. We ate plenty of fresh fruit,salads, sides and desserts because the rest of the food offered was very bland. My husband had a filet served with unseasoned gravy. Who does that? It was overcooked and tough. I had red snapper one evening and had to send it back to the kitchen--it was overcooked and tough to cut with a butter knife. Instead I ordered salmon which was also overcooked. We encountered many occasions when our meals were overcooked and very, very bland which included eggs, burgers, pork, fish, etc.
Moveover, NCL consistently charges almost 50% more for the same shore excursions as Roberts Hawaii a company that has been around for quite a few years and has a high rating based on customer reviews.
Bottom Line
#1 NCL needs to hire a new chef that knows how to flavor food and cutdown on overcooked food.
#2 NCL should have some games and fun activities for adults in the evening in order to get to meet other people.
#3 NCL should stop overcharging their guests for show excursions.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Each and every bar on the Pride of America had the nicest bartenders, especially Kevin. A server named Randy was also very helpful and pleasant. The best food offered was in the Skylight and Liberty dining rooms. For breakfast--go to the Skylight dining room. Aloha has the best desserts.
Ports of call
Traveler Photos
7 Comments
JusMe 8 years ago
If food did not matter then a lot of people would not complain about it. Old time experienced cruisers know what cruise food used to be. The new cruisers have no idea how good things were so they can not understand people complaining as they never knew any better.
If food was not an issue then ships would not have the Specialty dining and would just serve at the Lido or McDonald's for all meals. The premium Cruise lines are known for having good food. The entry level lines like NCL, RCI and Carnival are not known for the food they serve (but we all know of Carnival's Chocolate Melting Cake.....yum yum)
When paying for a cruise and getting bad food. it is not being to picky, it is having standards and expecting to get what you paid for.
noname111 8 years ago
Thank you for posting your review.
NCL is a lower end cruise line (some may disagree w/me on that point). We found that food quality in the MDR was consistently below expectations and as JusMe notes, we book dining packages and go to the specialty restaurants.
Also, concur with fish dish overcook issue. Again, specialty restaurants have a lower incidence of this because it is plated and delivered in less of a production line manner.
Kennicott 8 years ago
Makes sense to me:
From Dictionary.com-----
"unseasoned":"(of food) not flavored with seasoning: a tasteless, unseasoned meal."
"About the most unappetizing thing I can think of is lumpy mashed potato, or mashed potato that is heavy and unseasoned." ----A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband Louise Bennett Weaver
"Seasoning": "1. salt or an herb, spice, or the like, for heightening or improving the flavor of food."
Regarding overcooking fish--- "Fish will overcook in a mere couple of minutes under the lamps." Man, that is the truth. All it takes to get halibut cooked just about right is to put it in a water tight bag and run it through a dishwasher cycle.
JusMe 8 years ago
CrusinTim 8 years ago
I would just like to mention that the fact of the food being overcooked may not be the fault of the Chef. When the orders come in, they are filled and placed under a heat lamp to keep them warm until the waiter or waitress has a full tray to bring out to the dining room. The problem here is that as the food stays under the heat lamp, it will continue to cook. Fish will overcook in a mere couple of minutes under the lamps. Just try to remember that your servers are servicing more than one table so that may be another reason the food stays under the lamps longer.