Anyone been on the Pride of Aloha recently? How was it?

Question

There are many reports that either people really liked it or people hated but nothing really in between. Im going for my birthday in Dec and hope it's good!

Answer 1

I have not been on the Pride of Aloha but it is a Norwegian Cruise line ship and I have been on many NCL cruises.  Have one booked right now.

Its hard to judge what people really mean when they say they didn't like a cruise; some people are very sensitive to certain issues that do not bother other people.  NCL advertises its "freestyle" cruising as being different from the other cruise lines but it is only different with respect to how you have dinner. On other cruise lines (except Princess which has  a similar policy it calls "Personal Choice" cruising) you must select a time to go to dinner, either 6:00 PM or 8:00 PM.  ON NCL you just go to dinner when you want.

I think what a lot of people complain about on NCL is that they are required to pay a gratuity of $10 a day per person but each day they have a different table and waiter for dinner and they are concerned that they are not really tipping good service.  Then some complain that there is a drop off in service because the wait staff does not have the "gratuity" incentive to provide good service.  People like me who prefer the traditional dinner seatings other lines still have a just don't like not having the same waiter and table each day.  And then there are the complaints, again from people like me, who don't like to have to stand in line to wait for a table in the main dining room.  We have had to do that a few times on NCL cruises, and didn't like it.

Finally, when you go on an NCL ship you will find that they promote all of their "alternative" restaurants.  These optional dining restaurants can cost $10 to $20 a person for dinner each night.  This is not what you want after paying for a cruise which is supposed to be all inclusive. The optional restaurants are very nice, including French, Chinese/Sushi, Tex-Mex, Italian, and steak house restaurants. But who wants to go pay to eat on a cruise ship where all the meals are supposed to be included. We always skipped the optional restaurants and just got to the main dining early. That worked fine, except on "at sea" days when everyone wanted to go eat early.  We later found that we could reserve a time in the main dining room, but we still got a different table and waiter for dinner each night

Other than the freestyle stuff I have found that I like NCL's ships and service in the cabin.  Like I said before, they are the same as everyone else except for the dinner meal.  So just plan to have a good time and block out any bad experiences if they occur so that they do not ruin your birthday celebration.

Answer 2

Never have, but I hear its really, REALLY great, some of my friends have been on it and thats what they say :)

( I live in hawaii )

I hope you have fun!!!

-Cloud

Answer 3

just plan on having a good time and make it a good time. You will be fine.

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