Norwegian Cruise Line America
No AC on cruise from hell for 7 days - co did nothing to rectify

Incident = I recently went on a cruise aboard the Pride of Aloha from May 27 - June 3, which will now be referred to as the Disaster of Aloha. When I say this cruise was the cruise from hell, that doesnt even come close to describing my experience.

This was my first cruise and after having been referred to NCL by my partner who had previously cruised with them and had a good experience, I figured, why not? This was a 7 day cruise visiting 4 islands, which started and ended in Honolulu - Initially, I couldnt wait to go!

Before the ship even set sail, there were complaints of the air conditioning not working in several of the guests cabins - this went on for the entire cruise. My room, unfortunately turned out to be one of the 250 reportedly affected cabins.

The 5th deck, where the customer service counter resides, was constantly backed up with lines of people complaining about how their room felt like it was 100 degrees and when the ship staff was asked about what they were doing to fix the problem, all the guests were met with the same standard response, sorry and were working on it. They claimed to have no knowledge of this ever happening before and that it was a fluke.

We later found out from various members of the staff onboard, that this particuliar vessel had been having this issue for a long time, one member of the staff told us he himself had been without air in his cabin for almost 3 months! Why on Earth is this ship sailing on one cruise per week with an average of 2000 people per trip? I couldnt believe it!

The first night on the cruise ship, my room was so hot, my partner and I had to sleep on the top deck, on deck lounge chairs, covered by beach towels which was not only uncomfortable, but not a safe place for two females to sleep. Since I have asthma though, sleeping in a small, humid room with no air circulation wasnt an option. Since returning home from the trip, my asthma having aggravated has caused me to have issues with frequent attacks.

On the 5th night of our cruise, we were provided with a small table top fan and the same answer that they were working on it - that night, it was so hot in our room, my partner slept in the hallway directly outside of our room, while leaving the door ajar for me, as there was AC in the hallway and as long as we kept our door open, we got a small bit of relief - but again, not very safe to leave your door open on a cruise ship that was carrying 2000 people - for all we know, someone could have stumbled into our room in the middle of the night, knowingly or maybe unknowingly, but I was scared to take that chance so didnt get much sleep. People had to step over her to pass in the hallway.

This is how our experience was for the entire trip. The ship staff, who were rude, uninterested, unconcerned and not very sympathetic, referred people to their corporate headquarters, but when corporate was contacted, we were asked why we were calling them and referred back to the ship as they were responsible for handling these types of problems. The ship did not communicate with the passengers regarding the action plan to get the AC unit repaired, all we received were standard letters that they were sorry and were working on it, only after we had to call daily and harrass them for answers!

We were given a $400 credit, but it was to be used on board the ship! This was an insult and many passengers told them to take their credit and stick it! Why would I want to give them back the money I was owed?!

In addition to the air conditioning not working, there were always long lines for everything and anything that was on the ship, they did not allow you to serve yourself while going through the buffet lines, the food was horrible, none of the bartenders could make a drink correctly if their lives depended on it and then had the nerve to get upset if you didnt tip them, everything was overpriced, the excursions were falsely advertised, housekeeping went through the guests personal effects, and there is so much more, just not enough time in a day to put it down on paper.

My partner and I have written a letter to their corporate hadquarters in Miami, their offices in Honolulu and our travel agent demanding a full refund for the trip on the cruise from hell. We have also contacted the BBB and various consumer reporting agencies. Furthermore we plan on disputing the charges made to our credit card for the trip. If we do not get a resolution to our complete satisfaction, we will contact the attorney general in all states involved in addition to seeking legal counsel.

In closing, I will never cruise with NCL America again and would not recommend it to anyone. What was suppose to be the trip of a lifetime in paradise, turned out to be just the opposite. When I got home from my vacation, I felt as if I needed another one!

Damage Resulting = I have asthma and because there was no air conditioning, it was aggravated and I was forced to use my inhaler more than usual in addition to having to sleep in open, unprotected areas of the ship compromising my safety, in addition to having to keep my cabin door open. I did not have one night of restful sleep because I was so uncomfortable from the heat, had a hard time breathing and scared to death that someone might wander into my room uninvited.

RMN
Naperville, Illinois
U.S.A.

Company: Norwegian Cruise Line America
Country: USA
State: Florida
City: Miami
Address: 7665 Corporate Center Drive
Phone: 3054364108

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