Ally

Now this is what I do not get.

NCLA have made a real effort to get some superb ships, for Hawai'i. They are run without the usual international crews due to legislation regarding US registered ships. All the other lines have not gone down this road, and to be honest I can see why they haven't.

You have spectacular ships and, what seems to be the norm, a sullen and miserable crew on each of the ships. These ships are sposed to show what is good about the US and its ships/crews....aren't they?

They are paid the same as the international crews...and here lies the root of the problem.

The international crews on all other cruise ships, not just NCL, are the happiest bunch of people you could ever wish to meet. Most will bend over backwards to please, they greet you with a smile and a 'hello'.

The international crews come from countries where financial means are alot lower than that of the US, so what the US crews class as low wages, the international crews class as good to brilliant wages.

The US crews are biting off their noses to spite their faces. If they put the effort into the job that the international crews do, and smile and have a better attitude and lose the chip off the shoulder, passengers would be happier and therefore those tips would be higher.

I honestly do not know why the US crews are acting like they do. Perhaps they are too materialistic, I do not know. But surely if they acted in a more positive way, they would reap better rewards.

Its a real shame, cos the ships that are part of NCLA are superb vessels and a credit to both NCLA and the US cruise industry. Its just a pity the crews can't pull their acts together, cos if anything, its the crews and their attitudes that will bring down NCLA. Just as it has in the past with other US flagged/crewed ships.

This is not the way NCLA needs to be portrayed and there is only so much that the cruise buying public will put up with before they go elsewhere. Those crews need to buck their ideas up and showcase the US worker in as positive light as NCLA have by putting new ships onto those itineraries.

The crews are letting themselves down, NCLA down and above all they are painting a none too pleasant picture of US workers as a whole.

So why do you think there is such a huge problem with the US flagged/crewed ships?

How can this problem be sent packing?

Would it be better if the NCLA vessels were reflagged in Bermuda or elsewhere and international crews placed onto them?

How does this sort of attitude problem shown my US crews make you, as American's, feel?

Ally

I am not an American but to be perfectly honest, if I was and I saw/experienced the sort of attitude that is being well documented by people who have travelled on these ships, I would be ashamed.

Ashamed because I would hate to have anyone portray my countrymen/women as sullen and miserable and unhelpful. Passengers on those ships may not have had contact with US workers before and the way the crews are acting, and have acted since the start of NCLA, has been attrocious.

As sad as it may seem, I honestly think it would be the best thing to have the company merged into NCL and the crews/ships redesignated as international. It would not stop Hawai'i cruises, other lines with international registrations/crews do Hawai'i cruises perfectly fine.

As an idea, NCLA was a good one. The theory, as so often happens, did not live up to practice. Many cruise lines have tried and failed in having this US registration/crew. Perhaps its time now for NCL/Star Cruises to call it a day on the idea. There latest liner, Pride of Hawai'i, has had rave reviews for the ship and absolutely awful reviews for the crew...same goes for Pride of America and Pride of Aloha. That, to me at least, is a criminal shame.