Just off the Pearl - SMASHING

Wow!!! I don't know where to begin. ANOTHER fantastic cruise on NCL. From embarkation to disembarkation our every need was met and our every expectation was exceeded. :D We took this reposition cruise from Miami, thru the Panama Canal, to Los Angeles. The ship went on to Alaska.

I traveled with my group of 8, that became 10, that sometimes swelled to 12, 14 and 20 at times...and a great time was had by all. (Well by MOST, you know there is always gonna be somebody with something. ;) )

The ship was spotless in every corner. I've been on a few NCL ships, but this one was meticulous. Even the outside of the ship was cared for...as in each port we'd see guys out there painting any little scratch.

Getting on the ship was a breeze in Miami. They key really being come as early as you can. The lines are shorter and things move quickly. As the day passes and more people arrive, it will require a bit of a wait, but not a long one. Once on board we were met with champagne!! Suite and above folks have a private checkin, and Latitudes members can process quickly as well. Be sure to PRE REGISTER online and that will save you some time at the counter.

Making dinner reservations are very easy. You can book the day you are in and the next night without any trouble. If you have a balcony or suite, you can book the following day as well. We were a large group and had no trouble getting in anywhere we wanted. Sometimes we had to juggle our times here and there, but the crew bends over backwards to accomodate you. I can't say enough about the food. We did the Garden Cafe, Blue Lagoon and the Indigo for breakfast (free) and some lunches (free) but most dinners we dined at the specialty restaurants. WELL worth the added fee. Don't let those fees scare you off, it's TOTALLY worth it.

Things you MUST eat:

BBQ Pork Ribs, Dirty Noodles, Lamb Medallions - Lotus Garden Restaurant

Escargo, and anything on the menu - Le Bistro

Lobster, monster shrimp cocktail - Cagney's

Chocolate Buffet - Watch your FreeStyle Daily

FREE Cappuchino - hiding in a nook between the Garden Cafe and the Great Outdoor Bar

Prime Rib/Lobster Night - Summer Palace and Indigo (you'll have to ask around and pry to find out what night in advance that is...and it's FREE)

The spa prices are pricey as always. But watch your Freestyle Daily for specials. Also physically GO to the spa and talk to the spa crew. They will work special combo deals for you that are listed on the menu of services. ;) I made an appointment for a massage and mini facial off the Freestyle Daily special and negotiated a free Eye Treatment while at the desk. Best Spa Deals: the 10/20/30 plan - 10% off first treatment, 20% of 2nd, 30% off third...combine those with bartering at the counter for a freebie. The other thing I would HIGHLY reccommend is the Spa Pass. You pay a flat rate (was $250 per couple for the 14 day cruise) and you have access to the mineral baths, hydrotherapy pools, sauna, steam room, stone therapy lounges, cold plunge and the private locker area for the entire cruise. You also have access to the very restful lounge area that sits at the very FRONT of the ship with full glass panoramic views out the bow.

The entertainment is always a great value as it's FREE!! Jean Ann Ryan Company always out-does themselves. Make sure you see ALL their performances. Don't miss the Crew Show. I could take or leave the 2nd City Group, but some of my people enjoyed it. SharkBait Duo was outstanding! For something unique to do, sign up for the Murder Mystery Dinner held at the Summer Palace Restaurant. It was much more fun than expected and a nice change of pace. The Bliss Ultra Lounge is amazing, be sure to see it. Not to mention you can go bowling ($5 per person, per game). Rock Wall climbing is free. Simon was our cruise director and he was everywhere all the time and always accessible. Simply a SMASHING guy!

Watch your Freestyle Daily for specials in the Duty Free Shop. Great deals on liquor on certain days, plus free tastings! Be sure to say hello to DAVID, the shopping consultant and tell him the BEADBABE says hello! Always, always, ALWAYS mention you are a Latitudes member and get an additional 10-20% off anything you purchase in the shopping area. Just cuz it says Latitudes on your card, doesn't mean you'll get the discount. So ASK for it.

Best Food Server - JENNIFER in Cagneys

Best Drink Server - CLARENCE the Chocolate Cowboy

Best Room Stewards - LEO and TEO on Deck 11

Best Officer - Denis Prguda, Hotel Director

Be sure to tell them the BEADBABE says hello :cool:

Despite the fact that we missed Acapulco and Cabo due to the Swine Flu outbreak, our Captain took us to San Diego instead and added a sea day....the entire crew bent over backwards to keep us fed, entertained and happy.

I can't say enough about this ship...the whole experience was awesome. If you want to know anything specific, I'm happy to answer questions! :D

...for the insights. We take the same cruise next year. Can we hope that the Pearl will be even better by that time?? Thanks again.

Had they made the switch form Coke to Pepsi yet?

When I saw "Smashing" I knew you had to be on a ship with Simon. He is the best!. Glad you had a great time. Can't wait until our trip in Septembe on the Pearl. This will be our second sailing on the Pearl.

Since the Murder Mystery dinner is in the Summer Palace, does that mean it's no extra charge? Roughly how many people? How far in advance did you sign up?

We sail on the Pearl next Sunday. Thanks for a great positive review. Your energy upped my excitement!

Thanks for the review - and the spa tips. I am pretty close to booking a 7 day Eastern Carib on the Pearl - and I keep getting good vibes.

...for the insights. We take the same cruise next year. Can we hope that the Pearl will be even better by that time?? Thanks again.

I can't imagine but maybe! :D You will have a great time. I'm thinking of doing that one myself. Same trip, just in reverse. Maybe will see you there!

If you are looking for a great excursion in Cartagena and Puerto Quetzal...here are my reviews on the two I just took.

Puerto Quetzal:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=19465908&postcount=7

Cartagena:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=19465908&postcount=7

Had they made the switch form Coke to Pepsi yet?

No sadly...still Pepsi :(

When I saw "Smashing" I knew you had to be on a ship with Simon. He is the best!. Glad you had a great time. Can't wait until our trip in Septembe on the Pearl. This will be our second sailing on the Pearl.

He is the best. We had an amazing time. We had to miss two ports due to the swine flu scare...and he worked overtime x10, as did his staff, to keep us busy and having fun.

Since the Murder Mystery dinner is in the Summer Palace, does that mean it's no extra charge? Roughly how many people? How far in advance did you sign up?

 

We sail on the Pearl next Sunday. Thanks for a great positive review. Your energy upped my excitement!

Do sign up, you won't regret it. There is NO charge for the Murder Mystery Dinner. Watch your Freestyle Daily, they will post when the signups will be open. Simply go to the signup desk and put your name, number in your party and your cabin number down. They will give you a note to remind you. In a nutshell, the night of the Murder Mystery, you'll meet in the Stardust Theater with everyone else and get instructions. Then you go on to the Summer Place to have dinner and play out the game. It really was fun. They hold it in the Summer Palace so they can handle as many as would like to join in. I'm guessing we had nearly 150 people? Each table of 6 hosts a game. So you will play the whole game with the 6 you are sitting with. You can come with a group of 6 or group together with others also playing. A very fun night and a nice change of pace.

You'll have a great cruise!!!:D

Thanks for the review - and the spa tips. I am pretty close to booking a 7 day Eastern Carib on the Pearl - and I keep getting good vibes.

Chuck

My spa pass was $250 for a couple, but it was a 14 day cruise. I understand they are less for cruises that are 7 and 9 days. For sure take the spa tour on the first day, and check it all out. There are specials for first day sign ups too.:D

Thanks for the review! We will be doing that cruise backwards. Actually we are doing a back to back.

Vancouver BC to LA 5 day, then 14 day LA to Miami through the Panama canal. Any tips you can think of?

Great review glad you enjoyed your cruise. I think the Pearl will be the next ship we try. We are going on the Star to Mexico in October and I would like to book the Pearl next year for Alaska. It sounds like a beautiful ship.

Question about the Murder Mystery Dinner...can teens play? My daughter is 16 and would love to be a part of the "show".

Thanks for writing the review. Some day...some day I will get the time off for a trip like that! Maybe I just need to take my boss with me...

coka

Nice review, thanks for posting 2 weeks from today I will be getting on the Pearl.

Glad you had a "smashing" time on the Pearl. Have you seen the CNBC show featuring the ship (and Simon?) You'd love it! You can see Tony Lockett, the wonderful F & B Dir. on the Pearl, too.

You mention Jennifer in Cagney's as being your favorite server. We were on the Pearl a couple of years ago (3x) and there was a lovely gal whom we had first met on the Dawn named Jennifer. Very put together and so wonderful. She was apparently trained as a nurse in the Philippines.

Could it be the same person? We were wondering which ship she was currently on.

Did you have a Meet & Greet?

Thanks for the review! We will be doing that cruise backwards. Actually we are doing a back to back.

Vancouver BC to LA 5 day, then 14 day LA to Miami through the Panama canal. Any tips you can think of?

Lots of tips!! :D Can you tell me what in general you are looking for tips for?

Best place to watch the canal is in the Spa. HUGE picture window that looks over the front of the ship.

Take some suction cup type hooks to affix to the walls of your cabin. Was great to have a few of those to hang things on. Another good thing to bring along is a power strip...can't have too many outlets.

Clothing optional sun deck on the "Free Style Sun Deck" wayyyyy up top. :cool:

BEST TIP: Read our thread for the canal cruise we just took. You'll get some GREAT insights. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=779903

Enjoy!

BeadBabe:D

Great review glad you enjoyed your cruise. I think the Pearl will be the next ship we try. We are going on the Star to Mexico in October and I would like to book the Pearl next year for Alaska. It sounds like a beautiful ship.

Rsohn...we are doing the Pearl for Alaska next year too!! Hope to meet you at the M&G! :D

Question about the Murder Mystery Dinner...can teens play? My daughter is 16 and would love to be a part of the "show".

Terrier...we had a few teens playing. So of course she can. It's set up quite cute. You pick the 6 people you want to play with. If your group is less than six, then you just find some buddies and merge groups. Each person in your group will assume a character in the plot. You'll get a guide to tell you about yourself, the clues you can give about yourself, and then SECRETS about some of the others that you have to reveal during the dinner! Each person has to figure out who the killer is. Of course one of you is the killer! :D

Your daughter will enjoy it!

Warmly

BeadBabe

Thanks for writing the review. Some day...some day I will get the time off for a trip like that! Maybe I just need to take my boss with me...

 

coka

Do it! They are running great last minute cruise deals right now on NCL! :cool:

Warmly

BeadBabe :D

Nice review, thanks for posting 2 weeks from today I will be getting on the Pearl.

Most welcome...you'll have a great time!!! Find Clarence the "Chocolate Cowboy" (drink server)....tell him Toni said "hi" and to take good care of you.

Warmly

BeadBabe :D

Glad you had a "smashing" time on the Pearl. Have you seen the CNBC show featuring the ship (and Simon?) You'd love it! You can see Tony Lockett' date=' the wonderful F & B Dir. on the Pearl, too.

 

You mention Jennifer in Cagney's as being your favorite server. We were on the Pearl a couple of years ago (3x) and there was a lovely gal whom we had first met on the Dawn named Jennifer. Very put together and so wonderful. She was apparently trained as a nurse in the Philippines.

 

Could it be the same person? We were wondering which ship she was currently on.

 

Did you have a Meet & Greet?[/quote']

 

Barb..

 

Yes I saw the show and it was great. Simon and the Captain had dualing "smashing" monologues on the speakers each day. It was hysterical. The Hotel Director is now Denis Prguda. Michael (who was on the show) is no longer on the ship. But Denis is outstanding and a wonderful man.

 

Don't know if your Jennifer is our Jennifer, but she was amazing. She remembered what we drank, asked about the excursions we were on (having remembered where we said we were going) and knew us all by name each time she saw us.

 

We did have a M&G and it was attended by about 36 of us. It was great! We made some instant friends that we ended up running around with on the cruise. Many of the Officers and key crew personel came and introduced themselves and answered questions. The Group Events Coordinator even passed around a sign up sheet just for our CruiseCritic group so that on the last day, we could all have a tour of the Garden Villa's and Courtyard Suites!! Now this is pending that those guests have departed. It was exciting to see how the other half lived! :D

 

Here is a link to our thread...might give you some ideas.:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=779903

 

Warmly,

BeadBabe:D

Terrier...we had a few teens playing. So of course she can. It's set up quite cute. You pick the 6 people you want to play with. If your group is less than six, then you just find some buddies and merge groups. Each person in your group will assume a character in the plot. You'll get a guide to tell you about yourself, the clues you can give about yourself, and then SECRETS about some of the others that you have to reveal during the dinner! Each person has to figure out who the killer is. Of course one of you is the killer! :D

 

Your daughter will enjoy it!

 

Warmly

BeadBabe

Any prizes for the first person to figure it out?

Any prizes for the first person to figure it out?

No prizes :cool:

Other than you get to gloat that you figured it out! :D