Recent Pearl to Alaska cruisers

Would love to hear from anyone who has cruised on the Pearl to Alaska so far this year.:confused: How was the Pearl?

Haven't really seen any reviews or remarks from those who were on the first 3 cruises of the season.

I'm anxious to hear this, as well.

Would love to hear from anyone who has cruised on the Pearl to Alaska so far this year.:confused: How was the Pearl?

Haven't really seen any reviews or remarks from those who were on the first 3 cruises of the season.

Our cruise was ok, good but not great. First night in Indigo a waiter was very rude so we simply got up and left. Went to Summer Palace and had our surf and turf. Boy did that create a firestorm. Instead of complaining we thought it best to just find a new restaurant. The head maitre d' and a couple of assistants were apologetic etc.

The entertainment was below average. Oh what a night was the only show we thought was good. Second city was so bad we walked out. Just not funny. Chip Romero, the magician, was average at best. Not much glitz, just tired old jokes and magic. Taken as a whole, the worst entertainment we have encountered on any NCL cruise.

The casino is nice and new. The staff very pleasant. Not too smoky, but it wasn't a packed house which I think kept the smoke down. Slots were tight, but that is normal.

The spa was great as always. We spend many hours a day in the spa.

Room steward was good, but not great. Very nice guy, but made some mistakes here and there. This is unusual because we almost always have an exceptional room steward.

Service in all restaurants tended to be slow, including the specialty restaurants. I think they are simply understaffed and undertrained.

Patrick the concierge was outstanding. He always is.

The weather was incredible for late May in Alaska.

Prem the HD is a nice guy but seems to be a bean counter at heart. Just got the vibe from talking to him a few times that corporate profit was more important than customer satisfaction.

The buffet is nice and I am not a buffet person. I do wonder why cookies are getting to be so hard to find. Just a couple years ago you could get them almost anytime in the buffet, now only during a limited time if you find any at all. I guess they cost too much to make?

Harold and some of the restaurant staff do a singing/dancing show around the ship some days. It was entertaining and has to make you smile. Ask him for his schedule if you want to catch it.

We would rate the cruise a B.

Our cruise was ok, good but not great. First night in Indigo a waiter was very rude so we simply got up and left. Went to Summer Palace and had our surf and turf. Boy did that create a firestorm. Instead of complaining we thought it best to just find a new restaurant. The head maitre d' and a couple of assistants were apologetic etc.

 

The entertainment was below average. Oh what a night was the only show we thought was good. Second city was so bad we walked out. Just not funny. Chip Romero, the magician, was average at best. Not much glitz, just tired old jokes and magic. Taken as a whole, the worst entertainment we have encountered on any NCL cruise.

 

The casino is nice and new. The staff very pleasant. Not too smoky, but it wasn't a packed house which I think kept the smoke down. Slots were tight, but that is normal.

 

The spa was great as always. We spend many hours a day in the spa.

 

Room steward was good, but not great. Very nice guy, but made some mistakes here and there. This is unusual because we almost always have an exceptional room steward.

 

Service in all restaurants tended to be slow, including the specialty restaurants. I think they are simply understaffed and undertrained.

 

Patrick the concierge was outstanding. He always is.

 

The weather was incredible for late May in Alaska.

 

Prem the HD is a nice guy but seems to be a bean counter at heart. Just got the vibe from talking to him a few times that corporate profit was more important than customer satisfaction.

 

The buffet is nice and I am not a buffet person. I do wonder why cookies are getting to be so hard to find. Just a couple years ago you could get them almost anytime in the buffet, now only during a limited time if you find any at all. I guess they cost too much to make?

 

Harold and some of the restaurant staff do a singing/dancing show around the ship some days. It was entertaining and has to make you smile. Ask him for his schedule if you want to catch it.

 

We would rate the cruise a B.

So glad to finally see a review about Alaska on the Pearl. I was happy to see that Patrick is the concierge. He was our concierge on the Mexican Riveria cruise in Feb 2011 and was great and so helpful.

Quick question since I'm trying to schedule our meals. Did the Pearl have the "best of all" lunch? That's where all the specialty restaurants put out dishes to try. Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

 

The entertainment was below average. Oh what a night was the only show we thought was good. Second city was so bad we walked out. Just not funny. Chip Romero, the magician, was average at best. Not much glitz, just tired old jokes and magic. Taken as a whole, the worst entertainment we have encountered on any NCL cruise.

What people find entertaining is definitely a matter of taste. On our May 13th cruise, my wife and I enjoyed the Second City crew so much we went to four shows. On the other hand, we found the Oh What a Night group to be second rate lounge singers, so it's clearly just up to each individuals taste.

There was a really entertaining latin band, I think they were called Avalon that we really enjoyed, and there was an older piano player/crooner who played in bar city most nights that we enjoyed.

I enjoyed the food more than my wife did, I found it pretty easy to figure out what they would and wouldn't do well after the first couple meals and ordered or chose accordingly.

The destination itself was beautiful. We would have liked to have seen more wildlife, but it was enjoyable even without an overabundance of animal sightings.

 

Quick question since I'm trying to schedule our meals. Did the Pearl have the "best of all" lunch? That's where all the specialty restaurants put out dishes to try. Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

No. Also, Patrick is leaving the Pearl for vacation on September 8th.

We were on the Pearl to Alaska May 19 -26. Good experience overall. The weather was great and we enjoyed the scenery. This was our forth cruise on NCL and I would say this was not up to the standards we experienced and expected. I will be providing a full write-up this weekend.

In summary, beautiful and well maintained ship. The food overall was good to great in the MDR and Buffet. Our issue in the buffet is the lack of seating. I know food is subjective but the Moderno was a disappointment. Very few of the staff seemed comfortable with the guests and they just seemed like robots doing a job (very different than what we experienced in the past). Entertainment was good with What a night group being the best. Officers were MIA with the exception of the head chef.

Ask any questions you might have and will try to answer them if I can.

We were on the Pearl to Alaska May 19 -26. Good experience overall. The weather was great and we enjoyed the scenery. This was our forth cruise on NCL and I would say this was not up to the standards we experienced and expected. I will be providing a full write-up this weekend.

 

In summary, beautiful and well maintained ship. The food overall was good to great in the MDR and Buffet. Our issue in the buffet is the lack of seating. I know food is subjective but the Moderno was a disappointment. Very few of the staff seemed comfortable with the guests and they just seemed like robots doing a job (very different than what we experienced in the past). Entertainment was good with What a night group being the best. Officers were MIA with the exception of the head chef.

 

Ask any questions you might have and will try to answer them if I can.

Thanks for the feedback.

What night was "lobster" night? Did they have a chocolate buffet?

Also, did they have a "latitudes" get-together?

What do you mean that "officers were MIA"?

We have had 9 wonderful cruises on NCL and our expectations are that this one will also be great! :)

I'm pretty sure lobster night is the first night.. and yes they do have a latitude party..

Glad you posted this question! I am leaving in about a month for my cruise on the pearl. Right now there is one review on cruise critic and it is pretty awful. Mostly complaining about food, but still makes me a bit nervous!

Did anyone do the spa pass? How much was it and did they sell out?

Did they have a brunch at le bistro? On the Gem the day we were at sea Le Bistro hd a beautiful jazz brunch.

Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback.

What night was "lobster" night? Did they have a chocolate buffet?

Also, did they have a "latitudes" get-together?

What do you mean that "officers were MIA"?

We have had 9 wonderful cruises on NCL and our expectations are that this one will also be great! :)

Lobster night was the first night (Sunday). The lobster they served was way better than what we used to get and it was done perfectly. I would say 90% of the food in the MDR was great to excellent. You will always find something you like. Chocolate buffet was Friday night at 10:00 PM. Not bad and was not as crowded as I would've expected.

They did have a latitude get together and I think it was Thursday at 6:00PM. Drinks and light snacks were served. They said there were 600 latitude on board but only about 100 showed up.

Officers were not a visible as we used to see on other NCL ships. Our last cruise on the star (March 2012) you could not take a turn on the ship without stumbling into an officer asking you how your cruise is and what they can do to make it better.

I just listed some of the items that should be addressed otherwise we had a great cruise and I am in the process of planning for our next one. Go on board with a good attitude and you will have a terrific vacation.

We will be on the Pearl in August. Would any of the recent returnees have copies of the dailies you'd be willing to share? Thanks!

Did they have a chocolate buffet?

What do you mean that "officers were MIA"?

Chocolate buffet was Friday, day six, Ketchikan. Garden cafe at 10 pm.

We rarely saw the officers walking about like we ALWAYS see on the Star. The exception was Messiah Ritzinger, the executive chef. He has a big handle bar mustache and we saw him quite often.

Did anyone do the spa pass? How much was it and did they sell out?

Did they have a brunch at le bistro?

Spa pass is $119 for the week. Spa was not crowded so I don't think they sold out.

No brunch at Le Bistro.

Spa pass is $119 for the week. Spa was not crowded so I don't think they sold out.

 

No brunch at Le Bistro.

On the Jewel last summer the spa was $149. I thought it was just an Alaska thing. Maybe it's because it was cold and rainy on my trip and they knew it was going to be. ;)

On the Jewel last summer the spa was $149. I thought it was just an Alaska thing. Maybe it's because it was cold and rainy on my trip and they knew it was going to be. ;)

We cruised the Jewel twice last summer to Alaska. The pass was $146 each time. I wish I knew why the price was so high. I was very glad to see the Pearl dropped the price back down to $119.

We sailed the Pearl in 2009 and had a typical NCL experience - wonderful. I hope for the same when we sail her again in September; on the same cruise as the OP! :)

We sailed on the Pearl July of 2009. Absolutely loved it and have been hooked on cruising ever sense.

So glad to finally see a review about Alaska on the Pearl. I was happy to see that Patrick is the concierge. He was our concierge on the Mexican Riveria cruise in Feb 2011 and was great and so helpful.

 

Quick question since I'm trying to schedule our meals. Did the Pearl have the "best of all" lunch? That's where all the specialty restaurants put out dishes to try. Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

I would like to know about the Best of All lunch as well. Can anybody who has sailed recently remember this. When we cruised in 2011 in was on at 11-30am on the first sea day.

We cruised the Jewel twice last summer to Alaska. The pass was $146 each time. I wish I knew why the price was so high. I was very glad to see the Pearl dropped the price back down to $119.

My wife wasn't going to pay the $146 (I had it wrong at $149), but my MIL insisted that she join her. IMO, that's getting a bit high. The Jewel has a nice spa, but not a GREAT spa.

Just returned from Alaska on the Pearl May19-26. First of all, Alaska was amazing and no cruise line can mess that up:) our weather was outstanding! wildlife sightings terrific, we saw orcas in Juneau, eagles everywhere, dall's porpoises in Ketchikan and while leaving Seattle, humpbacks in Ketchikan, bears in Skagway, mountain goats and sea otters and seals and eagles in glacier bay all wonderful ports! Seals in victoria too:)

We bought the spa package for $117 per person for the cruise. Got it on the first day. We paid for our cruise in cash, so had to go to the spa after boarding and setting up account to purchase, but you can buy them on the red carpet as you board if you have set up a credit card account. We only used ours on two days, but felt the price well worth the benefits. The more expensive packages include the scrubs which we did not feel we needed. We loved the spa! The steam bath is so relaxing! The single hot tubs are hot and bubbly and relaxing! The heated loungers more comfy than my pull out sofa in the cabin and I actually fell asleep on one. Beautiful view too. Lots of warm towels. I didn't like the pool as much as I thought I would and found the sound of the showers in the pool as well as the spray they created to be rather jarring when trying to relax in the jetted sitting area, but a lot of people really liked them. Reality check...hard to get the loungers and almost impossible to get them together for a group. We shared one with one person on the lounger while the other was in the pool and then switched out. The women's side is a little less crowded, but they definitely need to get rid of the regular lounge chairs and put in more heated ones as they are really great. I am not sure they sold out?? but i am glad we got ours, there is not a lot to do on the ship and our cabin was small for three so having a pretty view and comfy lounger to read on was well worth the price.

Chocolate buffet was on Friday night beginning on 10. I was pleasantly surprised with this. Lots of variety and some of it really yummy. The line was long but moved quickly. Finding a seat is a BIG problem with this buffet at any time. But we had lots of fun desserts to try --- seemed harder to get water or milk or coffee to wash it down than to get the actual desserts. We finally just took our plates back to our room and munched--that was frowned on by the way, but by that point in the cruise after seat searching for days, I really was not worried about it anymore. If they don't want people to leave the dining areas with food, then they need to provide better seating options. But the buffet was fun, and good, and the crew sang and danced and made it a cute evening. One of the best things on this cruise and should not be missed.

Entertainment was the worst of any cruise I have ever been on. The Oh What a Night guys were ok. The broadway singing night ...ehhh..guys ok girls really bad...one night was just the crew talent show, sadly pretty bad. My daughter age 20 found the comedy acts corny but ok. We sailed on the Allure last summer and the entertainment there was spectacular. The pearl just can't compete on any level with that. There were also some lounge singers in the crystal atrium that pulled in a crowd the first night, but once people realized it was going to be the same singers every night and that seats were again going to be hard to come by...this experience dwindled as well. Bowling is fun just to watch the ball react to the moving ship though, we laughed hysterically as that, but lots of problems resetting the pins and returning the balls, the lanes didn't seem to work very well. Went to one trivia game, the young lady leading it was very hard to understand, but the questions were challenging and showing photos on the big screen was different than any other trivia on ships I have experienced before.

Main Dining Room is ok. Service is poor when compared with pay restaurants. Hard to get a mixed drink in the dining room and crew seemed put off when asked for one. Breakfast service was incredibly slow, but food there was really good and a lot better than the buffet choices. I would rate the few meals I ate in the main dining room summer palace as better quality than RCCL Allure, but the service much poorer. The buffet food on both ships was terrible, but the Allure has the spa buffet which is small and much better choices than either boats main buffet line. Some stand out buffet items on Pearl for me were the abundance of fresh and ripe fruit, the corn pancakes served at lunch with fried chicken, the chicken was awful, but the pancake was great and I went back for more, the cobbler and hot desserts were all pretty good and sometimes better than the MDR dessert choices. The hand dipped ice cream was decent too. SEATING was a REAL problem. Older people or kids are going to have trouble navigating this environment and wheelchair seating is almost non existant and not respected by the other guests or crew as it really isn't kept for wheelchair guests. Cagney's is really nice and the steaks are very good service there was awesome. When we couldn't finish our dessert, we asked for a carry out, they sent two completely fresh desserts back to our room through room service for us to enjoy later. This restaurant was really worth paying extra. Moderno was good too. Well the service, buffet, and side dishes were good, the meat was not. The filet itself was very good, but most the other meat choices were dried out and bland and we did not enjoy them at all. The fried bananas were stand outs though and the little bread balls smeared with cheese from the buffet were awesome. La Cacina--skip it, yuck. Room service on the balcony in Glacier Bay is an experience not to be missed. We ordered pastries, fruit, yogurt, juice, coffee and hot chocolate to start our day. Then, had lunch delivered from Blue Lagoon (no they weren't too happy, but yes, they will do it). Got to stay on our balcony watching critters and ice all day, beautiful. Only bad thing was I had tried to order the special hot chocolate drinks, totally my fault that I didn't get them. You have to call them in, they don't work like room service. Read the fine print on that one.

Highly recommend the train in Skagway and the Misty Fijord boat in Ketchikan both were excellent. The whale watching in Juneau was good too, but felt a little like stalking wildlife instead of just watching it. Not ideal.

I did keep my dailies, but not menus if you have specific questions.

I loved Alaska I give it amazing reviews....I sorta liked the Pearl, it was just ok in comparison to other ships I have been able to enjoy.

Just returned from Alaska on the Pearl May19-26. First of all, Alaska was amazing and no cruise line can mess that up:) our weather was outstanding! wildlife sightings terrific, we saw orcas in Juneau, eagles everywhere, dall's porpoises in Ketchikan and while leaving Seattle, humpbacks in Ketchikan, bears in Skagway, mountain goats and sea otters and seals and eagles in glacier bay all wonderful ports! Seals in victoria too:)

 

We bought the spa package for $117 per person for the cruise. Got it on the first day. We paid for our cruise in cash, so had to go to the spa after boarding and setting up account to purchase, but you can buy them on the red carpet as you board if you have set up a credit card account. We only used ours on two days, but felt the price well worth the benefits. The more expensive packages include the scrubs which we did not feel we needed. We loved the spa! The steam bath is so relaxing! The single hot tubs are hot and bubbly and relaxing! The heated loungers more comfy than my pull out sofa in the cabin and I actually fell asleep on one. Beautiful view too. Lots of warm towels. I didn't like the pool as much as I thought I would and found the sound of the showers in the pool as well as the spray they created to be rather jarring when trying to relax in the jetted sitting area, but a lot of people really liked them. Reality check...hard to get the loungers and almost impossible to get them together for a group. We shared one with one person on the lounger while the other was in the pool and then switched out. The women's side is a little less crowded, but they definitely need to get rid of the regular lounge chairs and put in more heated ones as they are really great. I am not sure they sold out?? but i am glad we got ours, there is not a lot to do on the ship and our cabin was small for three so having a pretty view and comfy lounger to read on was well worth the price.

 

Chocolate buffet was on Friday night beginning on 10. I was pleasantly surprised with this. Lots of variety and some of it really yummy. The line was long but moved quickly. Finding a seat is a BIG problem with this buffet at any time. But we had lots of fun desserts to try --- seemed harder to get water or milk or coffee to wash it down than to get the actual desserts. We finally just took our plates back to our room and munched--that was frowned on by the way, but by that point in the cruise after seat searching for days, I really was not worried about it anymore. If they don't want people to leave the dining areas with food, then they need to provide better seating options. But the buffet was fun, and good, and the crew sang and danced and made it a cute evening. One of the best things on this cruise and should not be missed.

 

Entertainment was the worst of any cruise I have ever been on. The Oh What a Night guys were ok. The broadway singing night ...ehhh..guys ok girls really bad...one night was just the crew talent show, sadly pretty bad. My daughter age 20 found the comedy acts corny but ok. We sailed on the Allure last summer and the entertainment there was spectacular. The pearl just can't compete on any level with that. There were also some lounge singers in the crystal atrium that pulled in a crowd the first night, but once people realized it was going to be the same singers every night and that seats were again going to be hard to come by...this experience dwindled as well. Bowling is fun just to watch the ball react to the moving ship though, we laughed hysterically as that, but lots of problems resetting the pins and returning the balls, the lanes didn't seem to work very well. Went to one trivia game, the young lady leading it was very hard to understand, but the questions were challenging and showing photos on the big screen was different than any other trivia on ships I have experienced before.

 

Main Dining Room is ok. Service is poor when compared with pay restaurants. Hard to get a mixed drink in the dining room and crew seemed put off when asked for one. Breakfast service was incredibly slow, but food there was really good and a lot better than the buffet choices. I would rate the few meals I ate in the main dining room summer palace as better quality than RCCL Allure, but the service much poorer. The buffet food on both ships was terrible, but the Allure has the spa buffet which is small and much better choices than either boats main buffet line. Some stand out buffet items on Pearl for me were the abundance of fresh and ripe fruit, the corn pancakes served at lunch with fried chicken, the chicken was awful, but the pancake was great and I went back for more, the cobbler and hot desserts were all pretty good and sometimes better than the MDR dessert choices. The hand dipped ice cream was decent too. SEATING was a REAL problem. Older people or kids are going to have trouble navigating this environment and wheelchair seating is almost non existant and not respected by the other guests or crew as it really isn't kept for wheelchair guests. Cagney's is really nice and the steaks are very good service there was awesome. When we couldn't finish our dessert, we asked for a carry out, they sent two completely fresh desserts back to our room through room service for us to enjoy later. This restaurant was really worth paying extra. Moderno was good too. Well the service, buffet, and side dishes were good, the meat was not. The filet itself was very good, but most the other meat choices were dried out and bland and we did not enjoy them at all. The fried bananas were stand outs though and the little bread balls smeared with cheese from the buffet were awesome. La Cacina--skip it, yuck. Room service on the balcony in Glacier Bay is an experience not to be missed. We ordered pastries, fruit, yogurt, juice, coffee and hot chocolate to start our day. Then, had lunch delivered from Blue Lagoon (no they weren't too happy, but yes, they will do it). Got to stay on our balcony watching critters and ice all day, beautiful. Only bad thing was I had tried to order the special hot chocolate drinks, totally my fault that I didn't get them. You have to call them in, they don't work like room service. Read the fine print on that one.

 

Highly recommend the train in Skagway and the Misty Fijord boat in Ketchikan both were excellent. The whale watching in Juneau was good too, but felt a little like stalking wildlife instead of just watching it. Not ideal.

 

I did keep my dailies, but not menus if you have specific questions.

 

I loved Alaska I give it amazing reviews....I sorta liked the Pearl, it was just ok in comparison to other ships I have been able to enjoy.

Thanks for your review and sharing your cruise with us. Glad to hear you had great weather -- did you get to see any calving in Glacier Bay? I love the sound of "white thunder"!:) Oh, did they have a sail-away BBQ when you left Seattle?

Sorry you weren't that impressed with the Pearl -- we've been on her 3 times to Alaska and hope our 4th time in September will be just as great as our first 3 times.

Any chance you'll scan your dailies and post them?:confused:

Thank you for your review! Were you in just a regular balcony room? If so, what are all of the options you have for room service (you mentioned Blue Lagoon, but that's not usually an option?)

A few questions:

-The spa packages - what do they include? What are the "scrubs" and how much does that package cost? Do you know the age limits in the spa? Do you recall the daily price if you don't get a package?

-What is done for sailaway?

-Do you happen to recall any kids dining choices in the PAY restaurants? I'm wondering if kids can order off the adult menu but at half price or if they have their own "specialty" menu. I do know that kids have the option of choosing from a free menu also.

-Lobster night? If so, which night?

-If you can possibly post/email any dailies, that would be great! I know it's a lot of work though!

Thank you again!

Thanks everyone for their feedback. Hopefully more Pearl cruisers will post their reviews/pictures as more return back home.

Looks like a beautiful sail-away from Seattle this afternoon!:)

Hi, Sandy! I've been watching this thread, even though we're not cruising on Pearl till May 2014 -- and we won't be in a haven suite this time; we're trying one of the SE's, right below the Bridge! :D Our good friends booked the suite right next to us!

Wishing you & Terry a wonderful cruise! I hope you will do a review so I can read about your experience! (I have every confidence it will be as awesome as it was in May 2010!) ;)