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| Cruise line to boost hiring |
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By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Staff Writer
NCL America, recovering
from a barrage of passenger complaints regarding service on its Pride of Aloha
cruise ship, is boosting recruitment and training for the vessel and its second
U.S.-flagged ship, which is expected to arrive in the Islands next
year.
Kritzman
"I think it would be fair to say that we probably
underestimated the magnitude of the project in the past," said Robert Kritzman,
executive vice president and managing director of Hawai'i operations for NCL
America, a subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Lines. "Up-front, we knew it was big,
but I think we did underestimate it and we are ramping up our recruitment
efforts (and) the processing of employees."
In addition to shoring up
service on the Pride of Aloha, the increased hiring efforts are focused on
preparing for the Pride of America, scheduled to begin interisland cruises in
July. NCL's third interisland ship, Pride of Hawai'i, is scheduled to arrive in
the Islands in spring 2006. All three are U.S.-flagged cruise ships and must
employ U.S. workers and follow U.S. labor laws.
NCL soon will recruit
workers in Saipan, part of Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the
Western Pacific. NCL also plans another round of hiring in American Samoa and
Guam, Kritzman said. The company, which resumed its radio advertisements
promoting the benefits of working for the company, also created a new vice
president position in charge of recruiting. It also recently filled a new human
resources development position to focus solely on recruitment programs with
schools and workforce development groups in Hawai'i and elsewhere.
NCL
recently opened a recruitment office in Guam to cover U.S. territories in the
Pacific and is looking at opening satellite offices in Seattle and another
location in the southwestern United States. It also increased its land-based
staff from about 30 to 50 people mostly in human resources positions with
plans to hire more.
Factors such as a shortage of available labor and the
unusual conditions of shipboard jobs have made hiring for the Pride of Aloha
more difficult than the company expected. Kritzman said he's confident that the
increased recruitment efforts will be successful.
"We'll do whatever it
takes," he said. "It's a very big, strategic move for us. We'll do what it takes
to make it work."
NCL employs about 1,150 workers for the Pride of Aloha,
with 820 aboard the ship at any one time. About half of the total are from
Hawai'i, with many others hailing from the Pacific Northwest.
Kritzman
said NCL will add about 100 more workers to its crew aboard the ship to give
them experience as the company gears up for the launch of Pride of
America.
"It's for training and, practically speaking, we can't hire
1,000 people in that short a period of time," he said. "So it's a matter of
training and, for lack of a better term, housing people in positions. There will
be some extra labor costs that we would not otherwise have on an ongoing
basis."
About 600 people have accepted jobs with Pride of America,
although many of them have yet to go through the required process that includes
physical exams, background checks and training, Kritzman said. About a third of
that number are expected to drop off before Pride of America is launched, he
said.
Passenger complaints about the Pride of Aloha began escalating in
August, about a month after the ship was launched. Complaints focused mainly on
cleanliness, quality of food and long waits for meals.
Kritzman has said
that part of the problem was the lack of experience among crew members, and that
at the time about 40 to 50 crew members a week had been taking their previously
scheduled monthlong vacations with newer workers filling in.
Since then,
NCL brought in a senior management team from its headquarters in Miami, expanded
its training program from one week to three, and increased its hiring. It also
temporarily allowed customers to cancel their cruises without penalty and is
working on a new policy for its $10-a-day service charge, which has been
suspended.
"What we've seen as a result of really hitting this hard with
staff and training is a tremendous improvement in customer satisfaction scores,"
Kritzman said, referring to satisfaction surveys distributed to cruise
passengers. "We've seen constant improvement since we've hit the low
point."
Average evaluations are now at or just below the "very good"
rating, the second highest of five ratings, he said.
"We'd like to see it
continue to improve, but we're satisfied with the standards (aboard the Pride of
Aloha) today," Kritzman said.
Another gauge of service aboard the Pride
of Aloha has been comments posted on the Cruise Critic Web site message boards.
The comments, which had been critical in the past, have grown more positive in
recent weeks.
California resident Laurie Reed, a veteran of more than 30
cruises, said she was expecting the worst before she began her cruise the week
of Sept. 26. But she said she was pleasantly surprised by how smooth the cruise
operations were and would definitely consider NCL for future cruises.
"My
experience was a positive one," she said via e-mail.
While she said she
ate only in the ship's cafe and not in the main dining room or specialty
restaurants, Reed said the food was good or very good most nights and the wait
was usually no longer than 10 minutes. She also praised the service aboard the
ship.
But Michigan resident Vita Harbowy, who was on the same cruise, was
disappointed and said that although she and her husband are loyal NCL cruisers,
she won't recommend the Pride of Aloha "until management brings it up to the
standards we are used to on NCL." They have been on nine cruises, six of which
were on NCL ships.
Harbowy said the staff was very friendly and
hardworking and that the cabin was kept clean. Getting on and off the ship was
smooth and quick, and they enjoyed all the shows, she said. But Harbowy also had
complaints.
"Pride of Aloha has so many new employees that it's not
efficient," she said, adding that she also grew tired of the food menus in the
main dining rooms, which changed little each night.
The state of Hawai'i
Office of Consumer Protection has received about 10 complaints about the Pride
of Aloha's service and food, which were filed in early to mid-September, said
Stephen Levins, executive director of the agency. No other complaints have come
in since, he said.
The agency is evaluating NCL's response to the
complaints "and we're in an ongoing dialogue with them at this point," Levins
said. He would not give further details.
Kritzman said the 10 complaints
should be weighed with the fact that the ship carries about 2,000 passengers a
week.
"But we acknowledge that we went through a period where we had some
service issues that we weren't happy with," he said.
From a business
standpoint, the Pride of Aloha "has been on plan so far," Kritzman said. "Our
costs are higher than we had anticipated. Our revenue numbers are probably a
little higher than our conservative plan.
"I think what we're looking at
is a lot of startup expenses," he said, noting that it has been three and a half
months since the company began operating the cruise.
"We are confident
that it will be quite profitable."
Kritzman said bookings have not been
affected by negative reviews and cancellations have been minimal and not
unusual. Bookings on the Pride of Aloha are at more than 90 percent for the rest
of the year, and it is more than 70 percent booked through the first quarter of
next year, he said
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OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Mon-Fri 7AM - 9PM (Hawaii Time)
Saturday 9 AM - 12 noon
Sunday 9 AM - 12 noon
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HAWAII ALOHA TRAVEL
377 Keahole Street D-10
Honolulu, Hawaii 96825
Call: 1-808-589-2000 1-800-843-8771
support@hawaii-aloha.com
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