When last we visited Pride of Aloha, the first of three U.S.-flagged ships Norwegian Cruise Line (tel. 800/327-7030, www.ncl.com) plans to deploy in the Hawaiian islands, it was to celebrate -- and critique -- her July 4th inaugural sailing. Today, with seven months of weekly cruises under her belt, we returned to Aloha-land for a second look, to see how things are shaking out.
Service: A Work in Progress Progresses
As reported here following the ship's initial sailing, Pride of Aloha was initially plagued with slow, inexperienced service -- a flaw that NCL officials acknowledged readily at the time. NCL president and CEO Colin Veitch called the ship's staff "a work in progress," and noted that "they have the aloha spirit and they're willing to work hard, but what they lack is experience."
Here's why: United States law requires that a ship be built, owned, and flagged in the U.S. -- and be staffed with U.S. crew -- if it is to sail itineraries composed solely of U.S. ports (something NCL desperately wanted to do in Hawaii, where any visit to a foreign port requires several days of sailing). Since the wage structure on most foreign-flagged ships doesn't compare with what Americans can earn ashore, very few Americans work aboard passenger ships, and practically none make their careers there. At her launch, therefore, Pride of Aloha's hotel and restaurant staff simply lacked institutional experience, leading to guest complaints of sloppy service, extremely long waits for dinner, and staff who often seemed confused or uninformed about the ship's operations.
And now?
Well, you know the saying about "we try harder"? Yes, the service has gotten a lot better than it was, but it still needs seasoning in certain spots -- especially in the main dining rooms and buffet (see below). On the plus side, crew members were almost uniformly friendly and helpful, and nearly every passenger with whom we spoke loved the fact that they could converse with the crew sans English-as-a-second-language issues. On the downside, some staff members were just a bit too blasé -- a tendency that will have to be addressed if NCL wants to fulfill its goal of bringing Aloha's service up to the standards of an international crew.
Overall service score: B
Big Luau Goes to Sea: Dining Aloha Style
NCL was the first cruise line to ditch traditional fixed-seating dining in favor of offering passengers choice, and lots of it. As on all NCL ships, Pride of Aloha's restaurants follow an open-seating policy, with passengers showing up for dinner whenever they like within a 5:30-10pm window, dressed however they like, and either sitting with friends or having the maitre d' choose them a table.
In July, the main complaint heard from passengers was long lines at dinnertime. So are they still there? Yep -- but only within certain window. Because Pride of Aloha stops at a different port every morning, and because passengers frequently spend all day ashore on lengthy excursions, folks tend to return tired and ready to chow down -- leading to long lines at the restaurants at opening time. At the two main restaurants (whose cuisine we found good if not stellar, but with excellent desserts), the later you dine, the less the wait and the better the service, since the staff isn't as rushed.
Those who want to skip the main restaurants entirely have the option of three extra-charge alternative restaurants, plus a casual buffet. The best of the bunch is Kahili, a long, narrow space stretched along the starboard side of Deck 5. Serving Italian cuisine in a setting of elegant burlwood paneling, cozy booths, and windowside tables for two, the restaurant is a little hard to find, located at the bottom of a stairway from Deck 6, but is worth the effort: It's easily the best and most romantic option onboard. The Royal Palm Bistro, high atop the ship, serves French/Mediterranean cuisine in a pseudo-colonial Hawaiian decor. On Deck 11, Pacific Heights serves Pan-Pacific cuisine, including local fish, steak, Asian dishes (including quality sushi), and (hmmm...) pizza, which you can get free late into the night.
The per-person charge is $15 for Kahili and the Royal Palm Bistro, $12.50 for Pacific Heights, but it's worth it. Reservations are required for dinner in all of the specialty restaurants, though you can sometimes get a table as a walk-in. Tip: It's easier to get reservations for the first couple of nights of the cruise and for Friday night, when nearly half the ship empties out to the big luau in Maui, offered as a $95 shore excursion.
As for Aloha's casual buffet, it was and remains a mess -- large but poorly organized, which leads to frequent long lines -- especially in the mornings, when a waffle bar is set up near the entrance. Luckily, there's a solution: If you arrive and find a monster crowd, just slip outside to the stern's covered Lanai Deck, where there are additional buffet lines that few passengers ever seem to find. You'll breeze through.
Overall dining score: A
Get Off the Boat!: Aloha's Shore Excursions
Since most of the islands' real attractions aren't near the port facilities, Pride of Aloha offers nearly 150 excursion options, allowing you to create a Hawaii itinerary to suit your preferences. On the downside, that means extra costs on top of your cruise fare, but what's the sense in going all the way to Hawaii if you don't see anything? Among the more interesting options are the Kilauea Lava Viewing Adventure ($99; 5 hr.), an active excursion in which participants hike several miles across newly formed lava rock to the coast, where molten lava from the Kilauea volcano flows into the sea. If you stop walking, the residual heat in the rocks can be enough to melt the soles of your sneakers.
For golfers, NCL offers a comprehensive program of golf excursions with play available several courses each day, including Puakea, Poipu Bay, Princeville, and Kauai Lagoons (Kauai); Volcano Golf & Country Club, Mauna Lani Resort, Hapuna, and Big Island Country Club (Hawaii); and Makena, Elleair Maui, Wailea, and The Dunes at Maui Lani (Maui). Excursions run from $95 to $245 per person, or you can opt for an $850 package that includes play at Poipu Bay, Kauai Lagoons, Hapuna, Wailea, and The Dunes At Maui Lani. On board, a pro shop stocks all your needs.
Overall shore excursions score: A+
Stay on the Boat!: Onboard Activities & Entertainment
It's a given on most ships that what you experience on board will have little relation to the destination you're visiting. Not so aboard Aloha, where most entertainment and decor reflect island culture, from the reproductions of classic 1950s Matson Line cruise ads that line public areas to the surfboards hanging from the ceiling in the Longboard sports bar to the Kumu Cultural Center, a large space featuring displays on island history and culture, split evenly between traditional arts and mid-20th-century travel memorabilia.
Hands-on experience of Hawaiian culture is to be had in the popular daily hula classes and at crafts sessions in which passengers can make leis and string kukui nuts into necklaces. In the ship's various lounges, entertainment leans strikingly toward Hawaiian songs, and even when more traditional pool-deck entertainment is on tap -- renditions of Jimmy Buffet tunes, for instance, or Celine Dion's Titanic hit -- it's likely to be delivered in a laid-back way by two guys with guitars and aloha shirts, strumming like they have nowhere else to be.
As a consequence of the ship's heavy orientation toward shore excursions, though, and since passengers often return from those excursions with little energy, nightlife aboard Aloha is on the quiet side. One night a week is devoted to Polynesian music and dance, with uniformly good production shows and house bands rounding out the schedule. (Tip: Because so many folks dine early and head for bed, the late show is typically 50% less crowded than the early show, which is frequently standing room only.)
Note that because of Hawaiian law, Pride of Aloha has no casino aboard, nor any kind of gambling -- though if you head to the card room you might find a secret game of Texas Hold 'Em in progress. The password is "swordfish."
Overall activities score: B
Overall entertainment score: A+
Take a Deep Breath and Hold: The Cabin Situation
Can we say "small"? Can we say "no storage space"? All true, but to be fair, it isn't all NCL's fault.
See, the hull of Norwegian Sky (as Pride of Aloha was known until last July) was built on an uncompleted hull purchased from Costa Cruises. This mixed parentage led to some peculiar design issues, chief among them cabin size. Yes, Pride of Aloha's cabins are pretty, with wood-grain walls and carpets, upholstery, and bedspreads done in vibrant, Hawaiian-accented pinks, blues, oranges, purples, and greens, but spacious they're not. The vast majority of standard outsides and insides are almost 40 square feet smaller than Carnival's standard cabins. Bathrooms are compact, with tubular shower stalls and slivers of shelving. All have a small sitting area, a minifridge (not stocked), a hair dryer, TVs, and a desk and chair, as well as coffee- and tea-making equipment. All cabins have only a two-panel closet and a small bureau with four slim drawers, so be prepared to use your suitcase to store whatever else doesn't fit.
Cabins with balconies are particularly attractive during the run between Kona and Hilo, letting you watch the lava flowing from Kilauea Volcano without changing out of your pajamas. The captain turns the ship 360 degrees at the optimum viewing point, so cabins on both sides get a view.
Overall cabin score: B.
The Final Word
Overall Experience: We give it an "A." All in all, Pride of Aloha has corrected the most egregious problems noted on our initial sailing, and is shaping up to be the kind of quality mainstream Hawaii experience NCL had in mind. And, as the line is still the only one legally able to offer all-Hawaii cruises without leaving the state's waters for a foreign port (a requirement for foreign-flagged ships), chances are better than good that this'll be the line you sail if you want to sail Hawaii.
Pride of Aloha departs every Sunday from Honolulu's Aloha Tower complex, a convenient jumping-off point for walking tours around the historic downtown and just a short taxi ride to nearly everything else. Seven-night cruises currently start around $899 per person. This summer Aloha will be joined by the new Pride of America, and the following year by Pride of Hawai'i, completing NCL's Hawaii trifecta.
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