NCL's Pride Of America

NCL has a lot to be proud about. The Pride of America is the largest American flagged ship to have ever been built. It received one week on day time live TV from the Reggis and Kelly Show. It has made numerous stops already on the east of the US to show off the ship to agents and the media and now heads to the west coast. Worldwide was pleased to be asked to do lunch and an one night inaugural on the ship last week in Miami.

While doing a one nighter, especially for the trade, is hardly going to give you a real feeling of the ship you can get some pretty good views of service and the hardware. Starting with the hardware the Pride is a bold ship designed for it's intended purpose of cruising year round in Hawaii. The ship is themed top to bottom in Americana. Each of her ten bars are uniquely different ranging from the subtle Napa Wine Bar to the brightly colored Mardi Gras Cabaret Lounge to the basic Gold Rush Saloon. All the public rooms are striking different and generally brightly colored.

Other public rooms include a great area for meetings including a very well a/v equipped auditorium for general sessions and there are also numerous smaller break-out rooms. This complex, including it's own seemingly private bar, is located on the very top deck of the ship and well out of the way of normal traffic. The main swimming pool deck area on the other hand seemed quite small for this size ship. Also missing is a casino due to State and Federal regulations.

The 8 restaurants on the Pride range from the Cadillac Diner to East Meets West Japanese/Chinese fare with Italian, French, a Steakhouse and typical cruise fare in between. Each room is unique again in its décor some great and some so so. It's really never fair to comment too much about service on a brand new ship doing functions such as this. We did notice that the crew didn't seem prepared to handle large numbers of people all coming at once which is of course NOT what Freestyle dining is all about. FreeStyle dining lets passengers chose the dining room, some with surcharges, when they dine and with whom they want. Great for FITS but can present problems for incentives. I would suggest you call us for details.

NCL always has done great suites on their ships and the Pride is no exception. All of the cabins and suites again use bright colors throughout. The standard outside balcony cabins are smallish in comparison to other contemporary ships of today. Bathrooms and closet space will be a push for seven nights.

Currently NCL has a lock on the 7 night Hawaii market and judging from pricing we are seeing are doing quite well in the market. The Pride also offers certain tax benefits, just like hotels but even better in some ways, for meetings in particular. If you want to see the islands and not have to pack and unpack this might be your answer.
 

Contributed by Steve Bloss.  The views expressed in this report are solely those of the author and not necessarily those or WWTCA.  July 2005

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