Pride of Aloha just returned from her first cruise, and I have already read about all the mistakes and complaints people have. Some I wonder if they will ever be fixed.

Problems such as...
Ship not being ready-
Rude and lazy crew members-
Bad Food-
Tipping-

I have read in various reviews about how the American crew members are rude, and argue and show up late for the job. How could NCL over look this?

So my question is this...
How long do you think they will keep going?

[IMG]Click here[/IMG] for a photo of the hull. Note the decal/paint already comming off!

And here is a link to some more pictures I found on the internet by Rowtyd.
Here

[ 06-14-2004: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]

Difficultys rans from an techisian who suddenly became a steward and that sort of strange events.
Have something to do also with the trade unions and American law.

Who cane explain that to me HELP.

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Originally posted by RANGERVR6178:
Problems such as...

Rude and lazy crew members-

I have read in various reviews about how the American crew members are rude, and argue and show up late for the job...

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Only in America

[ 06-14-2004: Message edited by: BermudaBoy ]

[ 06-14-2004: Message edited by: Commodore ]

In fact, I would say that at decent hotels and restaurants (anything above fast food or Motel 6) in the US you will receive excellent service, probably better then the same standard in Europe and other parts of the world. In restaurants especially, as remember that American wait staff work almost exclusively for tips. This pretty much guarantees great service, and if not it will be addressed rather quickly. There is really no room in America for poor service at anything above a fast food restaurant. If that is the case, then the business will not be successful or last very long.

I think it's too early to tell how the American service crew will adjust to life at sea. This is something that American's are not used to, nor have we really seen it since American Hawaii Cruises and United States Lines with the PATRIOT. One thing is for certain, if NCL America doesn't treat the US crew members with respect, decent wages and fair work rules .... there will probably be a huge turnover which could spell trouble. There are just too many places to get a service level job in the US without worrying about being on a cruise ship.

Time will tell.

[ 06-14-2004: Message edited by: RICHARD CHUDY ]

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Originally posted by Commodore:
I am sailing on Pride of Aloha, and the thing that ticks me off about this is that the person who took those pictures was one of those a******s that goes around looking for problems. And it's to early to tell yet. It may be true sometimes, but I will NOT trust a reviewer that can't compliment anything and searches for problems with a magnifying glass. Besides, she just came from a refurbishment that had to be done quickly.

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This is, and tradtionally has been, a significant problem. In the '60s there was still another dustup with France, over what causes I do not remember.

I knew of two people who were forbidden to take "France" as transportation, and diverted to "Big U." Their comments were that the service was pretty bad on Big U, particularly when compared to "France." There was one instance when, as I was told, all deck chairs and cushions were stowed at 1600.."union rules" they were told. Dining room service was sullen and uninspired, and room-steward service was poor. They also spoke of "rude" service staff.

Years later, letters to the editors of travel magazines reported the same attitudes on Patriot. It is a recurring problem, and NCL must address it now.

It is not universal. Reports from passengers on American Cruise Line's ships which stop here in St. Michaels are universal in praise of the young, enthusiastic American crews. I have heard the same from passengers on Nantucket Clipper.

But, I repeat, NCL has a potential problem here which must be seen to ASAPbefore too many people talk to too many other people.

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Originally posted by Cambodge:
Not so fast, not so fast.

Years later, letters to the editors of travel magazines reported the same attitudes on Patriot. It is a recurring problem, and NCL must address it now.

But, I repeat, NCL has a potential problem here which must be seen to ASAPbefore too many people talk to too many other people.

"

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That is the time period to which I was refering.

How strange that with service at US hotels and restaurants is some of the best anywhere..

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Originally posted by kroozlover:
Commodore, I totally agree with you. These people were looking for problems. All maiden voyages have their issues, some worse than others. The problems will iron themselves out but I don't expect crew to treat me like a king. I give respect and thus I receive respect. It is a two way street.
I have seen this before and I will see it again. I don't mind the people with negative comments posting but it is a shame that the ones with something good to say don't post. It is the way the world is. But God Bless America and I am proud we have a US based ship. Give it some time and I am sure it will come around. I always belive the glass is half full and I always put a smile on my face.!!!

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Then you get the youngsters who are earning a bit during the evenings while at college.. "How are you this evening? My name is XXXX, & I'm your server tonight. Have you been here before? Can I help you with the menu.." Argh........ it's so 'cheesy', one wants to run for the door

Good or bad is subjective, it depends on what one is used to. I hate the overly bosom pal attitude. Whereas some would deem the waiter/ress [I hate the term server too, sounds so demeaning] rude/abrupt without the gushing

The staff on POA I assume can come from neither of those 2 sections of society, unless there are many from overseas who have become US citizens, got green cards? Being at sea it's not possible for it to be an evening or part time job. There is also not the added attraction for staff wanting to see the world on a ship. They're going to be sailing their home waters continually. NCL need to address the matter promptly and not let people get away with it.. but what happens when there are no staff left in Hawaii.

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Originally posted by PamM:
Yes, in my limited experience, compared to most in here, of US restaurants/hotels the majority of the staff are from overseas. Infact I don't think I have had a room maid who wasn't; many can hardly speak a word of English.

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I eat out almost every night, and certainly the majority of my waiters and waitresses are not from overseas. It certainly depends on the restaurant you are eating in, and in what city that may be. In Miami, NY, and LA of course you are going to have more of an immigrant population working, and those cities just happen to be big cruise ports as well. I still wouldn't go as far to say the majority of waiters/waitresses are from overseas though. The restaurant business in the US if very lucrative. Waiters at the best restaurants can easily make over $100K a year, and these are highly sought after jobs. The service can be second to none from my experience.

The way things are in the US really doesn't seem so different then other large Western cities I have visited. Take London for instance. The majority of the wait staff I experienced seemed to be Middle Eastern, Pakistani, or East Indian for the most part.

As for the maids, well this is one of the lowest paid industries in the US. It attracts a 99.9% minority workforce, and whether right or wrong that is the way it is. Usually Hispanic or African-American background. Of course these people are still American's (regardless if they appear to be from overseas) or hold a green card at the very least in order to retain a job in the US, and for the most part they do a very fine job (I also stay at a LOT of hotels over the course of a year).

We Americans do not have an exclusive on bad service ... on land or at sea. But, what many Americans do suffer from is the idea that everyone, everywhere should do things the way WE do it and, if it's not to OUR liking, well, it's poo-poo.

As far as the photos taken by Rowtyd, all I can say is that I wonder if they did anything else but walk around the ship looking for things that were wrong. Apparently, they forgot to have a good time. I will say that some of the things in the photos are stupid, simple things that could have been fixed in five minutes.

By the way, I HATE those plastic deck tiles ... they just look like crap. NCL is notorious for using those things. If they don't want to spring for teak, they should just use that faux-teak covering that is used on many ships today.

Russ

[ 06-15-2004: Message edited by: linerguy ]

It does appear that the ship needs some 'finishing off'. (Funny, I would have removed the 'tape' myself from the elevator rather than take photo's of it!)

There is NO excuse for rude staff, but it is a little early to completelt trash NCL’s new operation. Most ‘new’ cruise lines experience staff problems and quality problems etc. Even the QM2 did.

Apparently, the secret to success of staffing a ‘newbuild’ is to transfer 30% of experienced staff from your existing fleet, to the new vessel, to support the ‘rookies’ many of who might have never worked on a ship before. Cunard were unable to do this, simply because they had such a small fleet, and it took a while to get them ‘up to speed’. NCL were also probably unable to do this, because most of their staff on other ships are probably non-Americans?

I think we should commend NCL for this innovating project. Lets not knock it before it even takes off, after all it will hopefully pay for the renovation of the SS United States.

(In general, I think ‘American Service’ is the best in the world. We are only starting to slowly catch up here in the UK, by adopting American methods).

[ 06-15-2004: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]