[oops _ don;t know what I did to sent the previous partly completed
post.]
I just got back (off the ship Monday morning) from a week-long cruise
on the Pride of Hawaii. It was an Atlantis charter, so some of the
regular ship's procedures did not apply. Some comments, and
comparisons with the last ship I sailed on, the Celebrity Infinity,
follow.
I'll give it an overall grade of a B+. I'd give the Infinity the same
grade, but it had different strengths and weaknesses. I would travel
on either one again, given an attractive price and itinerary.
Price: Atlantis books the entire ship and adds various services, so
the prices I paid aren't relevent to a general comparison, but a quick
look on Travelocity shows that PoH rooms are generally less expensive
than Infinity rooms, sometimes by a substantial amount. PoH is
definitely the better bargain of the two at the moment, but of course
that can change (NCLA doesn't want to continue losing money, for one
thing).
Staterooms: I was in a Mini Suite on the Pride of Hawaii and a
Concierge Class on the Infinity. The PoH stateroom was larger and
better laid out, and in particular had a larger and better bathroom.
The sliding glass door worked really well - it was probably the best
one I've seen anywhere (and yes, and I'm thinking of home remodeling).
Stateroom Service: Service on the two ships was definitely different.
The attendants on the Infinity were omnipresent - anytime I went out
in the hall, there was probably one present asking if I needed
anything. Room staff on the PoH was practically invisible for the
first couple of days. But everything got done - the sheets and towels
were changed, dirty glasses were removed, everything was clean. I
heard that some people had service problems, but I didn't have any.
The pillows were definitely not as comfortable on the PoH. Beds on
the two ships were equally comfortable, or to put it another way,
slightly uncomfortable in different ways.
Ship layout: The Infinity is the hands-down winner. The PoH has a
confusing layout - corridors end suddenly, it's not easy to tell how
to get from one part of the ship to another, it's not symmetrical. The
Infinity felt more nautical, and it was easier to learn my way around.
The PoH also did not have good signage. Rooms were not clearly
marked, or were marked from only one direction.
Maintenance: The PoH felt new and shiny. The Infinity had a number
of worn down edges. The PoH is a much newer ship, but the Infinity
felt like a bit too much maintenance had been deferred.
Pool area: The one on the PoH was probably better, but the area around
the pool (covered area with chairs) was better on the Infinity. I'd
prefer the Infinity for a cool water trip (which is good, because my
Infinity trip was to Alaska).
Spa treatments: The PoH was the hands-down winner. Not even close.
They had many rooms, lots of equipment of various types, competent and
enthusiastic staff, and a variety of treatment options. The locker
room area was really nice. Also, they didn't try to oversell their
overpriced products. They were expensive, so but was the spa on the
Infinity.
Warm water pool: The Infinity had the large enclosed
"thalassotherapy" pool, much larger and better than the relaxation
area pool on the PoH. On the other hand, the PoH pool was always open
when I expected it to be. The Infinity had problems keeping posted
hours (in the restaurants as well as the pool).
Accupuncture: On the PoH, accupuncture is offered through the spa,
but is a separate department on the Infinity. There were two
accupuncturists in the Infinity, one on the PoH. I didn't try
accupuncture on the PoH - it was twice as expensive as on the
Infinity.
Food: This is a hard call. The Infinity had, basically, a main
dining room, two buffets, and one specialty restaurant. The PoH had
two main dining rooms, a buffet, and 10 or so specialty restaurants.
I tried most of the PoH specialty restaurants.
Papa's (Italian) was the weakest. The food was good but nothing
special, and the courses arrived out of order.
Jasmine Garden (Japanese) was actually four restaurants. There was a
regular Japanese restaurant (more Asian than Japanese, I guess) with a
few tables set up for shabu shabu, and there was also a made-to-order
sushi bar, and a teppanyaki room. I didn't try the sushi bar, but
everything else was well prepared and served. If I were to take a
long sea voyage on the PoH, Jasmine Garden is where I would eat most
often. The teppanyaki was not as flashy as the flying-knives routine
you see in the Benihana's commercials, but knife-tossing is probably
not a good idea at sea. I was not overwhelmed by the shabu shabu, but
the ingredients seemed fresh and of high quality, and the service was
excellent,so perhaps I just don't like shabu shabu.
Cagney's is the steak restaurant. The side dishes were very good, but
the steaks were not the best I've every had (they were far from the
worst).
Le Bistro, the french restaurant, was closest to the specialty dining
room on the Infinity. Service, again, was excellent. The steak was
better than in Cagney's. I wanted to go back and try the rack of
lamb, but was unable to get reservations.
A wide variety of food was available in the buffet, but it usually
lacked labels, and meats were sometimes dry. Breads in all the
restaurants seemed less than fresh. Iced tea was strong, which is how
I like it. Coffee was OK but not great.
Service in all restaurants was in the
"Hi-I'm-Sam-and-I'll-be-your-waiter-tonight" style, not the more
formal style on the Infinity. I don't have a problem with that, but
some people do. If treating the staff as human isn't your thing, you
might not like any of the NCLA ships.
Entertainment: I thought the shows were a bit too much by rote, the
leads insufficiently idiosyncratic. They didn't make any mistakes,
but they struck me as flat. Other people liked them, though.
One thing they did right, though - the Broadway production used music
from relatively recent shows like Hairspray, not decades-old shows
like Les Miserables.
Ship Newsletter: The PoH did a better job. They used correct spelling
and grammar, and made only one factual mistake that I noticed. The
Infinity newsletter was full of errors of various kinds. The Infinity
did, however, publish a daily world news summary in several languages.
Current plans call for the PoH to continue service in Hawaii until
early February (last departure date near the end of January). It will
then be refurbished in some way and repositioned to Europe starting in
April. Staff will be given the option of staying with the ship, but
will switch to "international" (i.e., lower) salaries after the first
month.
Perhaps they will have really good prices on the repositioning voyage.
If so, perhaps I will be on it.
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