Pride of America Arrives, One Year Late

Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America was abuzz with activity on Friday afternoon in New York after its arrival from the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Germany. Although delivered about a year late, due to swamping in the shipyard itself during a storm while under construction, our feeling is that the ship is well worth the wait.

At one end of the ship were the inaugural festivities including Hawaiian dancers and the christening by US Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, and at the other end workers feverishly put the finishing touches on the outdoor stage to be used by the Live with Regis and Kelly show all this week. We asked one of the production crew what the rain plan would be, and he said, "seriously, umbrellas." Might be worth tuning in and checking it out.

Cruise-a-holics will remember that the first US-flagged vessel, Pride of Aloha, delivered disastrous onboard customer service when it was first introduced last year, due to difficulties in hiring and training the entirely new American crew members. So, frankly, the travel industry has been taking a wait-and-see attitude on this new ship. We're delighted to report that NCL had clearly learned from its past mistakes, with friendly and efficient service already up to a solid standard onboard Pride of America. We sought out several front-line crew members who had sailed from the beginning on both ships, and they agreed that there is no comparison.

One unique Pride of America feature designed for group corporate cruises is the spectacular in-the-round auditorium, suitable for large on-board meetings. The ship's US registry lends tax deductibility advantages for business meetings held onboard, and NCL clearly means to capitalize on this market.

Another emphasis found on both Pride ships is Norwegian's Hawaii Golf program, whose hub is the onboard pro shop. Golfers can pre-book Hawaii's top courses and have NCL take care of everything -- from club cleaning and storage or club rentals, to transfers to and from the golf courses, and of course arrangement of tee times compatible with the ship's schedule. Reduced-rate packages are available for those who want to maximize their time on the links.

If you're interested in seeing more of the ship, our Pride of America Photo Gallery is available and chock-full of images from the inaugural weekend.

After completing its introductory cruises around the continental US, the ship will begin its Hawaii cruises in July.