Norwegian Pearl Review - "The Suite Life" - Alaska, July 3-10, 2016

Warning! LONG review, but hopefully it will be helpful to those of you who read it! :o

Background info: I’m 31 and DH is 32, no kids. This was our 3rd cruise together (first on NCL together), and my 10th cruise overall (5th on NCL). I had not sailed on NCL since 2005 on the Dawn. We traveled in a group of 10 (me and DH, MIL, FIL, SIL, DH’s aunt and uncle, and their 2 married friends). I was the only one who had been to Alaska previously (this was my fourth trip!).

Embarkation: We arrived at the pier around 10:30 am on Sunday July 3 and found the Haven/Suite check in table. We had to wait a while to get escorted to the lounge due to a broken escalator. Going through security was a bit messy, as the rep had a large group of suite guests to get through. I think maybe this could have been handled better. Anyway, once in the lounge, it was very quick to check us in, get our photo taken, and get onboard the ship. We met our two concierges, Susana and Yahira (more on them below). We were then escorted directly to lunch in Cagney’s for suite guests. Lunch was delicious- I had the shrimp and scallops over risotto, and DH had the swordfish burger. Then we were on our own to find our room!

Stateroom: 10664, Category SF, Aft Penthouse Suite, Deck 10. This was a wonderful suite! It was a corner aft suite, so we only had neighbors on one side, and a crew stair on the other. It was a super quiet location; the only time there was noise was once on a day with an early docking time, for about 5 minutes, and then again on debarkation day, but that’s to be expected as the crew bustles about for the next group of guests. Otherwise, very quiet! Loved the soft hum of the engines and loved watching our wake from the balcony, it was very soothing! And of course, great views of everything. The balcony was always wet from washing down the Great Outdoors on Deck 12 (also, it’s Alaska, so definitely from rain and mist too), but we only found a few rogue coffee stirrers on the balcony once. This did not bother us at all. The room was well-appointed and the bed was super comfy! Our butler was Lazaro and our room steward was Danilo (we called him Dan). Lazaro was quick to address our needs, which we didn’t have many except for the espresso machine, which broke twice! He replaced it twice, right away, and was always friendly. Dan kept our room spotless, made the best towel animals, and was so friendly and personable. I highly recommend this room for anyone looking into an aft suite.

Concierges: Our concierges for the week were Susana (who departed on Day 6) and Yahira. Both were excellent, especially in shuffling some of our dining reservations for our group of 10, which can be difficult for larger parties. They answered all our questions about everything and escorted us for the priority debarkation/embarkation at all the ports (which was a great thing to have!).

Food: What would a cruise be without food?! The food was anywhere from good to excellent. DH and I had the Ultimate Dining Package, so we were able to try it all! Here’s where we ate:

Moderno: This was our favorite specialty restaurant; we ate here twice for dinner, once as a group of 10 and once as a couple. The food and staff were absolutely outstanding. The maitre’d, Sachin, was so funny and personable. During the day, Moderno is used for breakfast and lunch for suite guests, so we ate here often. The menu is always the same, but always delicious.

Cagney’s: We ate here as a group of 10. I had the bison steak and DH had the filet; both were excellent and cooked correctly. As with Moderno, the staff was attentive and friendly. We enjoyed the experience here.

Le Bistro: This one was just okay, at least for me. DH and I ate here as a couple. I had the lobster. I wanted to like it, but I found that it didn’t taste up to par, and the potatoes that came with it were a bit undercooked. It wasn’t bad; just not as good as the other specialty restaurants. DH liked his meal but I forget what he had. The service was good, but not as good as Moderno and Cagney’s.

Teppanyaki: DH and I ate here as a couple and we loved it! It was so fun to watch the chef make the food in front of you, and everything was absolutely delicious! I had the seafood platter, which consisted of calamari, scallops, and lobster. I forget what DH had but he loved his too (it may have been “land & sea” which is filet and shrimp). The service was great and the chef was very amusing.

Summer Palace (MDR): We went here for lunch one day as a smaller group and for dinner one evening as a group of 10. Lunch service was SLOW. Like, glacial pace. I think we were in there for 2 hours! The food was good for lunch and the servers were friendly enough though. For dinner, the food was very good, and the service was a little faster but nothing to write home about. DH and I have sailed with Royal Caribbean twice in the past few years, and they have NCL beat on the MDR for sure. Maybe it’s because NCL is “freestyle” and Royal still has somewhat of a “formal” approach to MDR dining. No idea, but we weren’t super impressed by it.

Garden Cafe/Great Outdoors: We got breakfast, lunch, and dinner here a few times throughout the trip. It’s your basic buffet food, what can I say? They had alot of choices, and it was mostly good. The one day they had a Bavarian buffet with some tasty sausages and pretzels. Seating was a bit hard to come by once or twice, but it didn’t take too long to find a table. But let’s just say I did enjoy having private dining in Moderno as a suite guest!

Bars: We had drinks at several of the bars with our Ultimate Beverage Package. The drinks were good and they had a nice selection. We never had a problem using the UBP; the bartender just takes your card and hands it back to you, no receipt or anything. Service was extremely slow at one of the outdoor bars on embarkation day, and the lines were really long; I don’t recall that happening on Royal Caribbean.

Entertainment: We saw a few of the shows, but since Alaska is port intensive, we did miss some, and didn’t do any trivia (which we love). We saw both the regular comedy show and the late night adult comedy show with Tim Kaminski; he is absolutely hilarious. We saw him around the ship frequently and he would talk and engage with us. What a nice guy! We also saw him at the comedian vs. piano player (named Jim) cake decorating bake-off (I forget the exact name). That was hysterical too. We saw the duo acrobatics show which was fantastic, as well as Legends in Concert with “Tina Turner,” “Madonna,” and “Elvis.” This was also their farewell show. The cruise director, Drew, seemed to be a nice guy and seemed to enjoy his job and interacting with guests. Overall, we enjoyed the entertainment even though we didn’t get to see much of it.

Crew and Staff: The crew and staff of the Norwegian Pearl are among the best. While the captain was a bit long-winded (a running joke onboard the ship), he was pretty good about keeping us updated on what was going on as far as weather, the seas, etc. We also had a medical emergency 2 hours into the cruise (and it happened 2 doors down from us!) and he let us know we had to make a detour to Port Angeles to drop off the passenger so he/she could get to a hospital. The housekeeping staff (who ALWAYS said hi to you in the halls) and specialty restaurant staff were superb. The MDR staff was good. We visited the CruiseNext desk a couple times and Andrew was very quick to answer all of our questions and take our future cruise deposits! :rolleyes: We didn’t see any crew members that were “bad”; even the “okay” ones were friendly enough. Great crew for a great ship!

Atmosphere and Ship: With a Royal Caribbean megaship experience (Oasis of the Seas) still somewhat fresh in my mind, I will say that I greatly prefer this size ship to a megaship as far as atmosphere. It just feels a bit more personal. Now, the “freestyle” experience on NCL, compared with what we experienced in 2013 on the Serenade of the Seas, is something to get used to. On the Serenade, we were used to dining near the same people and having the same waiters every night, and even seeing some of the same people around the ship. Because of NCL’s freestyle experience, you don’t really get this (but I suppose you can if you want to, like in the MDR). I guess I am a more traditionalist cruiser, but going to different dining venues was still nice. In any case, we liked the feel of the ship and would definitely cruise on her again. The Pearl and its venues are nicely appointed, and the “vibe” is one that we enjoyed and felt at ease with. She does need some updating and is going into drydock next year I believe, so I’d like to see what they do to her! However, we never once felt like she was in bad shape. She’s a beautiful ship inside and out!

Other: I was a gold latitudes member (I’m platinum now after this cruise! :D) so DH and I were invited to a Latitudes cocktail party. This was fun although we didn’t win anything. We were also invited to a VIP cocktail party for suite guests, as well as a Cruise Critic meet & greet. I was VERY impressed with the CC one. We all met in Le Bistro, and many of the senior staff including the captain were there to greet us. Then, we had a “wrap up” CC meet at the end of the cruise in Bliss Lounge, where again, the senior staff attended and asked us for our feedback on the cruise. I felt that it was a big deal for the senior staff to take time out of their busy schedules to meet with us TWICE on this cruise. They were receptive to our feedback and really seemed to care about what we had to say.

Ports: We chose this itinerary because of Glacier Bay and overall really enjoyed the ports. Here’s the breakdown:

Seattle: We stayed one night in Seattle on both ends of the cruise. Before going to the pier on Sunday, we walked over to the Space Needle from our hotel. Then off to the pier! It was convenient to get to from the hotel with an UberXL. The day we returned, we dropped our bags off at the hotel (same one as before) and took the monorail downtown. We went to Pike Place Market and Pike Brewing Company, and then headed up to Kerry Park for some photos. For dinner, we went to Elliott’s Oyster House on the waterfront for delicious seafood and good times!

Juneau: The time in port was from 2-10 pm, and our party of 10 had booked the Mendenhall Glacier & Whale Quest excursion through NCL. Unfortunately, this left no time to explore town, which we would have liked. However, the excursion was great. We had enough time at Mendenhall to make the hike to Nugget Falls, although it was slightly rushed. Our bus driver, Terry from Idaho, was friendly and funny. Then we headed over to Auke Bay for whale watching with Allen Marine Tours. We saw plenty of humpback whales and some sea lions, and a few eagles.

Skagway: We booked the Yukon Rail & Bus with Dogcart Experience through Chilkoot Charters for our party of 10. We chose this instead of the similar NCL one only because it was cheaper and included the dogcart ride. We got off the ship and walked around town a bit before our 10 am departure. Our tour guide, Bruce, was excellent and very informative. He safely drove us up into British Columbia and into the Yukon, where we stopped at several locations including Caribou Crossing for a dog cart ride. They gave us a decent barbecue lunch there, too. On the way back, we saw a black bear on the side of the road, and Bruce pulled over for us to see it and take photos, even though we were running late to get to the train. In Fraser, BC, the White Pass Railroad train was waiting for us, and we took it back down through the mountains to Skagway. This was an excellent excursion and I would highly recommend it to anyone. After departing the train, we went to the Skagway Brewing Company (DH really liked the beer here), and shopped in town. Some of the shops were closed by 7 pm, but many remained open. We really enjoyed our time in this port, but I definitely recommend an excursion here; the town is small and you’re docked for about 13 hours, so there’s plenty of time to kill.

Glacier Bay: There are no words to describe this beautiful place. I had been here before in 1999 and 2003. Unfortunately, the glaciers aren’t in such good shape; there isn’t nearly as much ice as there once had been. But it still looks like you’re on another planet. We saw some wildlife, including sea otters, sea lions, and mountain goats. The ship stopped at Grand Pacific Glacier and Margerie Glacier, as well as John Hopkins Glacier and Lamplugh Glacier. The ship does a couple 360 degree rotations so that everyone can see. The National Park rangers came onboard and did commentary over the loudspeakers in public areas, and over the tv in the staterooms. It was very informative. The weather was absolutely fantastic; at one point in the afternoon sun, DH put on shorts and a t-shirt! (which may be sad, if you think about it, because of climate change). But in the morning, it was cold and we were wearing coats and gloves. It was a great day and we were very lucky weather-wise!

Ketchikan: I’ll admit that I was disappointed in the NCL excursions (and non-NCL excursions) in this port. DH and I chose the Nature Walk, Totems, & Eagle Center excursion in the hopes of possibly seeing bears. The bus took us to the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary where we did a guided walk through the Tongass National Forest, the second largest rainforest in the world. We saw a TON of eagles there, but no other wildlife. It was a very pretty area though and we learned alot from our guide, Chris. Then we saw totem pole making, although this was very underwhelming because the native gentleman was just getting started on one, so he was only measuring at the time. Then we walked into the raptor center, where they rehabilitate eagles. After this, we had time in the gift shop, and then it was back to the port. We ate “breakfast” at Crab Cracker in Ketchikan, which consisted of fish (halibut) & chips and Alaskan beer. Then we walked around and shopped for a couple hours before getting back onboard.

Victoria, BC: I think this stop is included only to hit a foreign port before coming back to the US, which is a law. It’s a late docking at 6 pm. DH and I chose the Ocean Wildlife & Orca Exploration excursion. The tour operator, Orca Spirit Adventures, met us right at the dock and walked us over to the whale watching boat. Victoria is known for its resident and transient pods of orcas. Well, we saw no orcas, however, we DID see 15-20 humpback whales, and many of them were lunge feeding. Their mouths were coming out of the water. It was incredible! We got very close to them, and there were so many that they basically surrounded our boat. The staff of Orca Spirit were awesome, they were so knowledgeable (I think they are all marine biologists) and friendly. They also got very excited by what we were seeing, just the same as their passengers. We really enjoyed this excursion. By the time we got back, we had a few minutes to peruse the gift shop at the port before boarding.

Debarkation: We did the express walk-off, but since we were suite guests, we met our concierge on Deck 7 and she escorted us off privately. So I can’t really comment on the regular process!

Overall: This cruise was absolutely fantastic. I think our entire party of 10 enjoyed it greatly. I would sail on the Pearl again in a heartbeat, and in the same stateroom, and on the same itinerary. There are some points that NCL should fix (like the MDR), but otherwise I will give this cruise a 9/10. Thank you, NCL!

Let me know if you have questions, comments, or would like to see photos of anything! I took 3900+ photos! :eek:

Loved your detailed review. Thanks!

Thanks for your review. I love 10664 and and the crew; the Pearl is my favorite ship. Glad that you had a great time.

Outstanding report, thanks!

Great review. So detailed that I felt like I was on the ship with you guys. lol

It is interesting to hear other's opinions about a cruise you were on. We never really encountered a long wait in the MDR. It may have been because we tend to eat very early.

Hearing about your Train/Dogsled excursion I wish we had booked that instead of the Train roundtrip. The train ride was amazing but since it is an out and back instead of a loop you don't really get to see much more on the return trip.

As you know we also did the Whale watch in Juneau, but it sounds like the one in Victoria was better. We chose to walk around the city which if I had do again I would have at least done a horse drawn carriage ride next time.

Again great review and nice hearing from you. Tell your DH my family says hello.

Great review - thanks for taking the time to post. It was very detailed. We are sailing next August in aft cabin 10168.

Where did you stay pre and post cruise?

Thanks.

Who was your butler?

We had Suzana the week before and and she was great. I wonder if it was Yahira that we saw a few times as well? Maybe training with Suzana left before she left? Did you know if Suzana was going on vacation or to another ship? One of the crew left ours on day 6 to go to the Sun.

Great review - thanks for taking the time to post. It was very detailed. We are sailing next August in aft cabin 10168.

 

Where did you stay pre and post cruise?

 

Thanks.

You will love the aft cabins! We stayed at the Quality Inn & Suites Seattle Center, near the Space Needle. We tend to stay at the Choice Hotels line of hotels because of the prices, free breakfast, locations, etc. Some are much better than others. We'd probably give this one a 3/5, but again, it was just a place to sleep for us.

We had Suzana the week before and and she was great. I wonder if it was Yahira that we saw a few times as well? Maybe training with Suzana left before she left? Did you know if Suzana was going on vacation or to another ship? One of the crew left ours on day 6 to go to the Sun.

You know, we asked Yahira but now I honestly forget! I want to say she was going on vacation but I could be wrong. Both were great. Susana took care of most of our reservation changes since they happened in the beginning of the cruise. Yahira escorted us everywhere. I think there was also an assistant concierge, but I forget her name. A few other crew members were rotating off this cruise, including the cruise director (Drew) and the captain (Stephan).

Great review. So detailed that I felt like I was on the ship with you guys. lol

 

It is interesting to hear other's opinions about a cruise you were on. We never really encountered a long wait in the MDR. It may have been because we tend to eat very early.

 

Hearing about your Train/Dogsled excursion I wish we had booked that instead of the Train roundtrip. The train ride was amazing but since it is an out and back instead of a loop you don't really get to see much more on the return trip.

 

As you know we also did the Whale watch in Juneau, but it sounds like the one in Victoria was better. We chose to walk around the city which if I had do again I would have at least done a horse drawn carriage ride next time.

 

Again great review and nice hearing from you. Tell your DH my family says hello.

It's possible that our larger party slowed down our service at the MDR as well. Who knows!

The whale watch in Victoria was great, although I wish we would have seen orcas. But I've never seen so many humpbacks in one place! In Juneau, we saw 8-10 humpbacks traveling together (not sure if you were on one of those boats) which was also not too common to see.

I've done the White Pass Railroad roundtrip twice. This was a nice change to take the bus up and the train back. We definitely saw and experienced more. I highly recommend it for the next time you go to Alaska. ;)

It was great meeting you guys! :D Hello from us as well!

Thanks for sharing your review with us.

Thanks for the review.

Terrific review.

Keith

Can you put a link to pictures? Great review I went a year ago this week and had the cabin next to you.

You will love the aft cabins! We stayed at the Quality Inn & Suites Seattle Center, near the Space Needle. We tend to stay at the Choice Hotels line of hotels because of the prices, free breakfast, locations, etc. Some are much better than others. We'd probably give this one a 3/5, but again, it was just a place to sleep for us.

Thanks! Aft is the only way to go!

You know, we asked Yahira but now I honestly forget! I want to say she was going on vacation but I could be wrong. Both were great. Susana took care of most of our reservation changes since they happened in the beginning of the cruise. Yahira escorted us everywhere. I think there was also an assistant concierge, but I forget her name. A few other crew members were rotating off this cruise, including the cruise director (Drew) and the captain (Stephan).

Thanks. We were never introduced to the other girl but saw her a few times and she even escorted us off the ship in Juneau. Suzana escorted us off the other times.

Excellent review! Thank you so much for sharing :)

DW and I leave on the Pearl tomorrow (July 24th) and we are super excited. We've lived in Seattle for over 25 years and are finally going to Alaska! Been to the Caribbean 6 times already ;)

Going with 2 other couples so should be a great time!

Thanks for the info on the MDR... there are 7 of us so hopefully the wait isn't too long in the MDR every evening...I am planning to on the first night talk to the maitre'd and see if we can get the same table since we will have a 1.5 year old with us...and that may expedite seating us nightly.

For embarkation day, going to see if we can avoid Garden Cafe buffet since everyone goes there and maybe instead opt for The Great Outdoors with beautiful views outside looking at Seattle, it's going to be a gorgeous day!

Thanks for the review. Glad you were pleasantly surprised. We're sailing on Sept. 11th. I can't wait. This is my 6th NCL cruise and we'll be staying in the owner's suite. Just curious....who is the cruise director?? Did you enjoy him/her and also the assistant cruise director? We usually attend the shows in the Spinnaker and that's mostly the assistant who hosts those shows.

Thanks for the review. Glad you were pleasantly surprised. We're sailing on Sept. 11th. I can't wait. This is my 6th NCL cruise and we'll be staying in the owner's suite. Just curious....who is the cruise director?? Did you enjoy him/her and also the assistant cruise director? We usually attend the shows in the Spinnaker and that's mostly the assistant who hosts those shows.

Our cruise director was Drew, and he was great, but I believe he rotated off after our cruise...someone who went after me would have to confirm!

Thanks so much for your great review!

DD and I will be on the Pearl the last week of September.

We also booked the Orca watching experience (Victoria) through the ship....glad to hear you had a good time.

Thank you for this excellent review! We have booked a short 5-nighter from Sydney in November 2017 - our first on NCL!

Whoops! Just realised it's the Jewel we are booked on! [emoji23][emoji23]

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Thanks for your review.

I know this thread is a couple of years old but am still hoping you can still help me out. Do suite guests get a “private” area to view the glacier? Someone had mentioned to me that they do but I haven’t found mention of that anywhere else. We have the 2-bedroom suite booked so we have a balcony so not a big deal either way - just curious.

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Are you in the Haven? I am pretty sure there is a private sun deck that Haven guests can use, but I have no idea if it is open to all suite guests or not.