So can a RCL cruiser enjoy the Pearl-A review

[dfishner]

We just came off the Pearl this morning on our 7 day cruise aboard the Pearl and here is my review of her.

 

A little background we live in Ft lauderdale would consider RCL our cruise line of choice so trying NCL was a very different experience for us and would say that it was a very positive experience overall.

 

Embarkation= from curb to ship in 20 minutes flat, this was very fast and smooth.

 

We were booked in a mini suite in the aft suite 11656. Mini suite compared to a Junior suite on RCL the mini suite on the Pearl was quite a bit smaller I would compare it to a balcony cabin on RCL with a bathtub added in. The mini suite was very well layed out and I really liked the coffee maker in the mini suite something that RCL does not do a real plus for us. I also thought the mini suite bathroom was very well layed out plenty of room.. The closet on the other hand was very difficult to get into it is located on the side of the bed so it was difficult to open. The draws located next to the bathroom were great and there was plenty of space.. We were right below the great outdoors and never heard anything the entire cruise.

 

The ship itself is darn nice and easy to navigate and elevators are very fast. The spinaker lounge in the front of the ship was awesome and had great views from there. I wish the Atrium was larger instead of two stories but was very colorful and a great place to people watch. Bar Central located on the 6th deck I felt it needed to be broken up a bit instead of having the bars in all one location you never really felt you were in a lounge but just a wide open space with some bars. The star bar is an enclosed lounge and very upscale we really like that lounge quite a bit.

 

We never dined for dinner in either of the main dining room or buffet we did purchase the dinner package which included 5 restaurants for $60. Cagneys, lotus garden, Mambos, La canchina and Le Bistro. The package does not inclued Teppinanki. What was great about the package is you could book all your reservations when you booked the package which we did and you also save some money with the coupon book. We really liked the speciality restaurants. There is also a Sushi bar in Lotus Garden that is very good we tried it twice once for dinner and once for lunch. I would have to say that was our favorite, followed by Le Bistro, La Canchina, Cagneys, Mambos and the lotus garden.

 

NCL has great happy hours throughout the week with either 2-1 mixed drinks or 2-1 martinis which took place in the star bar. Again RCL does not do this so thought this was an added value and a big plus for NCL.

 

Entertainment- Just one word....Sharkbait..they were outstanding. I thought the shows were fine and we enjoyed them all.

 

The weakest part of the whole cruise were the port of calls but for us we were on this cruise to explore the ship and the ports of calls were not as important to us. We did two excruisions one with some of our roll call members in St thomas which was fun, and we did another in Tortola which was a ship sponsor tour of the North side and Prusser landing which was great.

 

My thoughts on NCL is they offer a great value cruise vacations, The Pearl is a great ship they lends itself to a wide demographics we saw young to old and most everyone we met on the cruise seemed to really like it. I found myself liking the Pearl more and more as the week wore on and you could do as much or as little as you like. One thing I have to add on deck 11 forward you can view the inside of the bridge which was awesome.

 

Would we do another cruise on NCL the anwer is yes. There are just to many pros not to. We had a great cruise on NCL and in looking at comparing NCL against RCL. There are things we like about both lines and some of the small touches NCL does like the variety of Speciality Restaurants, Coffee maker in the room, happy hours every day, seeing the bridge, layout of the bathroom in the cabin were some of the differences we saw on NCL that RCL does not offer. I think if the Itineray were better this would of been a perfect cruise.

 

I would be happy to anwser any question

[biker@sea]

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise. Thank you for your well written review.:)

[Host Kewlguy]

We also enjoy both cruise lines. Wouldn't hesitate to cruise either one in the future. The deciding factor for us is always price and itinerary.

[k4btzs]

Thank you for sharing your review with us. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip.

[Sooners]

Great review, so happy you enjoyed the Pearl! We also sail on RCI and have nothing bad to say about either cruise line but the Pearl is my favorite ship, so far!

[39august]

Can you get a better, larger view of the bridge than the Peek-Boo-Bridges on the Voyager class ships? I believe those are also on deck 11 forward on RCI's ships. I am interested in some of the itineraries that NCL is doing. Maybe we'll try the Gem/Pearl class ships.

[F5Loar]

We've done both too and both offer so many different things to do it's just a pleasure to be able to do both. Hard to beat the Pearl's bowling at sea but then where else would find ice skating at sea but RCI. While both have great lido buffets it's hard to beat the Pearl's 24 hour Blue Laggon or does just walking up anytime to the 24 hour deli/pizza stand on RCL beat it?

[dfishner]

Can you get a better, larger view of the bridge than the Peek-Boo-Bridges on the Voyager class ships? I believe those are also on deck 11 forward on RCI's ships. I am interested in some of the itineraries that NCL is doing. Maybe we'll try the Gem/Pearl class ships.

It is much more then a peek a boo window there are two or three very large glass panes and it is almost like being on the bridge with the crew. We stopped by there 3 or 4 times especially when leaving ports.

[dfishner]

We've done both too and both offer so many different things to do it's just a pleasure to be able to do both. Hard to beat the Pearl's bowling at sea but then where else would find ice skating at sea but RCI. While both have great lido buffets it's hard to beat the Pearl's 24 hour Blue Laggon or does just walking up anytime to the 24 hour deli/pizza stand on RCL beat it?

Yes I forgot about the Blue Lagoon, we had some mid afternoon snacks there and it was very good. We also like the Cafe Promenade on Royal the pizza and those small sandwiches are great.

 

Both lines have so much to offer. I had read so much negative stuff about NCL on other cruise sites and have to admit it caused me not to book them for a long time but am glad we did take the plunge and now I am scratching my head and wondering if I was on the same cruise line that I read so many complaints about. I could only guess that Freestyle is not for everyone but we really liked the flexiblility of it. I did not miss having the same wait staff everynight, going to a different dining room each night was a whole new experience each evening. It was no big deal that the wait staff knew I drank iced tea or not.

 

This was the first cruise we did not go to the MDR room for dinner but stayed with the Speciality restaurants and I did not miss the MDR which made our cruise even better. We are also looking forward to our Oasis cruise for the same reason.

[signora]

Thank you for your review--leaving on the Pearl in 6 days and getting pretty excited. We too are RCI fans but NCL has it's own unique flavor--took the Dawn last year and loved it. But we've booked Adventure for next year because we love the itinerary. Would have gone for the Epic but we're not crazy about the itinerary this time around. Yes, various factors come into play. If we stick with the Adventure I'll sure miss the coffee pot! (might bring my own...)

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

We sailed RCL almost exclusively for 17 years starting in an outside stateroom with a window and working our way all the way up to the Royal Suite. Then we had a really large group sailing in 2008 and tried NCL. The difference between concierge service on NCL vs. the concierge lounge on RCL is absolutely no contest - NCL wins hands down. Also, we cut our luggage in half with NCL, not having to pack so many formal clothes. We enjoy anytime dining more than anywhere dining, but both are offered on NCL. The specialty restaurants are great - about the quality ALL the cruise lines used to offer in the main dining room. And if part of your cruise is gambling, the Casinos at Sea program with NCL can offer huge rewards.

 

We are happy with both companies, but NCL has been our choice for the last two years, on the Star to the Mexican Riviera, on the Gem on the April Transatlantic (cruising past the Statue of Liberty on a sunny, spring day was a great start to a fabulous itinerary!) and February we are on the Jade for Greece, Cairo, Turkey and the Epic in July.

 

We will go back to RCL if they have an itinerary or ship we can't resist.

[debshomespun]

Our choice cruise line is also RC, but we have enjoyed our 2 cruises on NCL. They have a few nice touches like you have mentioned. I especially love the Blue Lagoon. their food is scrumptious! The 2 for 1 deals on drinks are also great to have.

 

The NCL ships are a little bright in colors, but great ships none the less. We were on the pearl for a 9 night for our first NCL cruise, and went for the itinerary. We found the ship to be very nice. We again chose NCL Dawn for their 14 night repo. Itinerary was great! We also enjoy the anytime dining. We now do the my time dining on RC. It's nice to choose when you want to eat.

[jpkrp]

Do you have any Pics of your cabin? We will be in that same cabin in April. Please either post or send to jpkrp@comcast.net

[dvan68]

Embarkation= from curb to ship in 20 minutes flat, this was very fast and smooth.

 

 

What time did you arrive at the port? What time were you able to get into your cabins?

 

Thank you so much!

[dfishner]

What time did you arrive at the port? What time were you able to get into your cabins?

 

Thank you so much!

 

We came to the port about 11:15 and we were allowed in our cabin about 2 PM it gave us time to enjoy lunch and tour the ship.

[dfishner]

Do you have any Pics of your cabin? We will be in that same cabin in April. Please either post or send to jpkrp@comcast.net

 

We did not take any pictures of the cabin but I would say it was around 185 sq ft of cabin space. the balcony was a decent size with 3 chairs and a table. When you enter the cabin you come into a small hallway with the bathroom on your left and next to that is a set of draws that are built in I found those to have a large amount of space. After that you are in the bedroom and the closet is right next to the bed on the right side. We found that difficult to open and one of the doors kept knocking into the bed when you opened it.

 

There is a curtain that can seperate the bedroom from the small living room area which has a couch that was hard as a rock. there is a small table then a nice size desk unit with two chairs, small flat screen tv under the TV there is the coffee maker with cups, saucers, sugar, creamer. underneath the coffee maker are 4 small drawers the unit continues with a cabinet that has the safe, ice bucket and water glasses and underneath that is the mini bar. The unit that all these items I descibed are on is a nice size, very well layed out It might sound like it is huge but it isn't after that is the balcony. I saw one of the balcony cabins and thought they were small this was a decent size cabin. Except for the closet I thought the cabin was very well layed out with plenty of space. Hope this helps.

[nikita]

LOVE your review as we have never sailed with NCL and are doing so on the Pearl this coming Sat. (have sailed with Carnival, Princess, and RCL). Can you tell me how many dress up or not nights there were on your cruise? I have had different answers to this question and would like to know what to pack. I know it could be different for us since we are sailing during New Years so expecting that night to be a dressier night but would like to know the norm. Thanks!

[dfishner]

LOVE your review as we have never sailed with NCL and are doing so on the Pearl this coming Sat. (have sailed with Carnival, Princess, and RCL). Can you tell me how many dress up or not nights there were on your cruise? I have had different answers to this question and would like to know what to pack. I know it could be different for us since we are sailing during New Years so expecting that night to be a dressier night but would like to know the norm. Thanks!

 

There were two nights that I recall from the dailies we did not bring any dress up clothes for our cruise and did not see to many people in them. New Years eve would be an occasion I bet you would see more people dress up then not. Their policy on dress is casual which we liked "Dress up or not night" which is their formal evening made packing for us easy no formal clothes.

[signora]

HI Nikita: we are on the same cruise with you! Last year we did the same itinerary, also New Year's, with the Dawn. There are no strict formal nights--you never HAVE to dress up, but 'informally' there are two formal nights as with most cruises, including New Year's. That night a lot of people did dress up, but some didn't! Not many tuxes, but my husband will be wearing one of them. I am bringing two nice cocktail dresses and one long gown which I may or may not wear. There's a huge party on the pool deck New Year's which is a lot of fun. We are looking forward to a tour to El Limon in Samana and otherwise will be taking taxis to beaches in St. Thomas and Tortola. Ask me any other questions you'd like and have a great cruise!

[nikita]

HI Nikita: we are on the same cruise with you! Last year we did the same itinerary, also New Year's, with the Dawn. There are no strict formal nights--you never HAVE to dress up, but 'informally' there are two formal nights as with most cruises, including New Year's. That night a lot of people did dress up, but some didn't! Not many tuxes, but my husband will be wearing one of them. I am bringing two nice cocktail dresses and one long gown which I may or may not wear. There's a huge party on the pool deck New Year's which is a lot of fun. We are looking forward to a tour to El Limon in Samana and otherwise will be taking taxis to beaches in St. Thomas and Tortola. Ask me any other questions you'd like and have a great cruise!

 

Great information - just what I wanted to know. Thank you. I like to dress up so want to do so but do not want to be the only one walking around in formal wear. Its a given that we will dress up on New Years but do you think that if I brought a long dress for the other "formal" night I would feel awkward? Thanks again!

[dcdiva]

Thanks for a really helpful review. We too are RCI regulars but are trying out NCL in a few weeks. Sailed NCL once before, but Anytime Dining was brand new and the kinks were definitely NOT worked out. So am I curious to see how the program really works.

 

We won't bring any truly "formal" clothes this trip, but do prefer to dress up a bit for dinner. I am wondering if I will feel out of place in dress in the evenings.

[Stevie17]

I've only sailed on one RC cruise, and I loved it. We love NCL for the expansive dining options, and they typically will alway be our first choice. However, I would cruise RC again in a second for the right ship, intinerary and cost.

 

I also thought that RC's childrens' program was far superior to both NCL and Carnival.

[dfishner]

Thanks for a really helpful review. We too are RCI regulars but are trying out NCL in a few weeks. Sailed NCL once before, but Anytime Dining was brand new and the kinks were definitely NOT worked out. So am I curious to see how the program really works.

 

We won't bring any truly "formal" clothes this trip, but do prefer to dress up a bit for dinner. I am wondering if I will feel out of place in dress in the evenings.

 

I really do not believe you will feel out of place, I did see people dressed up men in jackets and ties and women in nice cocktail dresses. Most people I saw at dinner were dressed nicely.

 

One thing I did see was a couple who went into Le Bistro the woman was dressed nicely and the man with her was in shorts and they turned them away.

[snorklinbarb]

dfishner,

 

Your review was very refreshing. Nice to read someone's first impression of NCL especially when they are regulars elsewhere.

 

I've been on the Pearl 3x and loved it! You could try the Gem which is almost the same except for decor and a couple of public spaces.

 

The Pearl has some good Alaska itins and the Gem will be sailing out of Venice next summer.

 

Could you tell us more about the 'coupon book' you refer to? Is that something to do with buying the spec. restaurant pkg.?

 

With the Lotus Garden coupon, were you able to have sushi?

 

Again, thanks for the fun review.:)

[dfishner]

dfishner' date='

 

Your review was very refreshing. Nice to read someone's first impression of NCL especially when they are regulars elsewhere.

 

I've been on the Pearl 3x and loved it! You could try the Gem which is almost the same except for decor and a couple of public spaces.

 

The Pearl has some good Alaska itins and the Gem will be sailing out of Venice next summer.

 

Could you tell us more about the 'coupon book' you refer to? Is that something to do with buying the spec. restaurant pkg.?

 

With the Lotus Garden coupon, were you able to have sushi?

 

Again, thanks for the fun review.:)[/quote']

 

Barb, the coupon book is the spec restaurant package where you can purchase a 3-5 day book for the speciality restaurants. I did not try the sushi with the book we did do it another night but I do believe you could use it the only place you could not was in the Teppanaki. I thought the sushi was the best I ever had on any cruise line. We had it for dinner one evening and then for lunch.

 

We are not interested in the Epic but any chance I could go on a jewel class ship I would do it again. Thanks for the kind words. We really liked the Pearl quite a bit. I believe I even talked some nay sayers into trying it after I told them what a great cruise we had. Heck whats not to like.