Disappointing service change at passengers' expense
Pride of America Cruise Review to Hawaii
7 Night Hawaii (Honolulu Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 08, 2018
Ship: Pride of America
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 7080
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
Except for 2 disappointing cancellations by NCL, the cruise on Pride of America mostly lived up to our expectations. NCL’s goodwill gesture of a $100 non-refundable per cabin credit in no way equated to the elimination of sailing Kauai’s Na Pali Coast. The week long Hawaiian cruise was marketed and sold to include sailing that Na Pali coast. NCL did not honor that contract for asserted reasons of a lifeboat maintenance matter. Maintenance evidently not critical enough to address until 9 days after passenger notification. Unfortunate for us passengers, the maintenance was scheduled at our expense without an acceptable reimbursement for change of service. In summary, NCL sold the cruise as advertised, then altered the cruise for a NCL matter and placated passengers with a $100 non-refundable credit. A credit that could only be used for unplanned extra onboard purchases; a credit that does not cost NCL a full $100. What a great deal for NCL; reduce service, save 3 ½ hours of fuel, and increase onboard purchases. Moreover, the mandatory 20% gratuities for the additional onboard purchases could not be applied against the credit. Irritating. The fine print likely states NCL has the authority to change any aspect of the cruise at their discretion. Must have been an inconvenience to NCL to schedule maintenance while the ship is docked in Honolulu for 12 hours. Bottom line - - Passengers were deprived of a portion of the Hawaiian cruise as NCL profited from the altered cruise. If you don’t consider the altered sailing route and high cost of adult beverages, we enjoyed our cruise on Pride of America. The cruise was well organized, though did not provide full value as sold. All cruise staff were friendly. We felt safe throughout the cruise. The food was very good as was the majority of the entertainment. Our cabin steward kept our cabin very tidy. All ship windows were disgustingly filthy. The second disappointment was the cancellation of a NCL excursion due to unexpected maintenance of the operator’s equipment. However, when contacting the vendor, they did not state to have an equipment issue. So, I assume NCL cancelled the excursion because they did not have enough passengers to make the excursion profitable. Lastly, NCL’s alcoholic beverage program / policy discourages us from considering future cruises. We are not heavy alcoholic beverage drinkers. Nor, can we come anywhere close to justifying the purchase of one of NCL’s alcoholic beverage packages. NCL needs to reduce the price of individual alcoholic beverages or ease the restriction for alcohol brought onboard by passengers. From our recent cruise experience, our group has no immediate intention of considering another cruiseEmbarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Beware of service change without reimbursement. NCL’s goodwill gesture of a $100 non-refundable per cabin credit in no way equated to the elimination of sailing Kauai’s Na Pali Coast. The week long Hawaiian cruise was marketed and sold to include sailing that Na Pali coast. NCL did not honor that contract for asserted reasons of a lifeboat maintenance matter. Maintenance evidently not critical enough to address until 9 days after passenger notification. Unfortunate for us passengers, the maintenance was scheduled at our expense without an acceptable reimbursement for change of service. In summary, NCL sold the cruise as advertised, then altered the cruise for a NCL matter and placated passengers with a $100 non-refundable credit. A credit that could only be used for unplanned extra onboard purchases; a credit that does not cost NCL a full $100. What a great deal for NCL; reduce service, save 3 ½ hours of fuel, and increase onboard purchases. Moreover, the mandatory 20% gratuities for the additional onboard purchases could not be applied against the credit. Irritating. The fine print likely states NCL has the authority to change any aspect of the cruise at their discretion. Must have been an inconvenience to NCL to schedule maintenance while the ship is docked in Honolulu for 12 hours. Bottom line - - Passengers were deprived of a portion of the Hawaiian cruise as NCL profited from the altered cruise.