Pearl : bad reviews

[LouCap]

We sailed on the Pearl this past January and loved it. The staff was very nice, especially in La Cucina and the Lotus Garden. The Garden Cafe is INSANE though, so crowded in fact that we only ate there once. IMO, it's really only good for breakfast anyway, but we found a little secret place for that too. Right above the main atrium is the Blue Lagoon food court, which is really just a 24 hour restaurant. They have a decent menu for breakfast and it's quiet and not at all the madhouse the Garden Cafe was every day.

[jimswims]

Not only is it a great buffet but the set up is better than any I have seen.

 

Nita

 

I was on the Pearl in August and I really agree with this :D! I am hoping that the Gem is set up the same way. It really was the best buffet we have experienced in terms of food and set up in 15 cruises.

[TD & SD]

:)I am so excited to be on the Pearl in December. I have seen pics of the buffet and comparing it to other NCL cruises it looks set up totally different so I cant wait to enjoy it.

Thanks for the "Blue Laggon" tibit, we will try that too.:D

[swanny727]

We sailed the Jewel but, had a suite so Cagneys was our breakfast/lunch place. We are sailing the Pearl in Nov (hoping for another upsell) and I am curious about the buffet. The one time we ate at the buffet, on the Jewel, Yes it was a Madhouse. In the past, on other cruiselines without the Freestyle Dining, an option was to eat in the Dining Room and have the same selection as the buffet - but ordered from a menu and served by the staff. Is this possible on the Pearl - or on any Freestyle NCL ship?

[rikatine]

I am sailing on the Pearl, first cruise with NCL out of 7. I have read some bad reviews of the ship and the staff.

Someone please give me some good feedback.

I heard the staff is rude and not very friendly to the Garden Cafe way too crowded.

We leave Oct. 17th.

Thanks

 

Thanks for posting. We are with you on the Oct 17th cruise. Every time I come to the boards, I feel like there is not that much about the Pearl, so I am enjoying all the positive feedback.

 

Saw your post about the Meet and Greet, hope you will be joining us!

[klingoncruiser]

Better to try it yourself and decide. There are plenty of trolls and stuffed shirts out there.

[Danjpi]

JUST got off the Pearl on Sunday and had a GREAT time, so hope that comforts you. Ship is gorgeous, clean, and welcoming and we had no complaints with the staff (save our waiter and host at Cagney's who tried to foist snow crab off as king crab - beware! "That's what we call king crab" and "that fits our corporate definition of king crab" were their feeble attempts to convince us that it's okay to charge for one product and deliver a different, inferior one...). Everyone else was very friendly and helpful and fun - and I have to admit that last night at dinner, we saw a bottle of hand sanitizer by the register and turned to eat other and said, "Happy happy washy washy" with a HUGE laugh (which earned us some odd looks from other diners, but I digress).

 

Yeah, the Garden Cafe can be a zoo and the food is nothing to get too worked up about (one way or the other), but food is not the reason we cruise. We LOVED La Cucina and had a nice meal in Mambo's too (and they start with a free mini margarita!). Lunch in the Palace MDR was okay - same menu every day but it's VERY pretty and nice to avoid the feedbag herd upstairs now and then.

 

The wings in the late night cafe were AWFUL, FYI. We were SPOILED by the AMAZING wings at the Longboard Bar on the Sky. THOSE were AMAZING. The Pearl's wings were horrible, TINY, and dry. Nasty. We ate one each and sent them back. GROSS.

 

The Pearl is really, really lovely and the Alaskan cruise is, hands-down, my favorite to date. Have fun and have an open mind and you'll be fine.

[Giantfan13]

We were on the Pearl a couple of weeks ago,. and agree she is a great ship. What we did not like,and maybe we are a bit different from the last poster, WAS the new menu on this ship. Since we eat in the MDR for most meal because the buffet on this ship IS like a zoo at feeding time, we were very disappointed in the 'new' menu that was offered. The menu has been severely cut back to basically three choices for dinner and the exact same menu everyday for lunch. Dining for us, is a big part of the crusie experience and this new change was not for the best. The food was good, but the selection was so limited, that it looked like they are trying to drive you to the pay restaurants or to the buffet. That was my one and only complaint about this ship, and it is really not the ship itself, but NCL.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[Ms belp]

Alaska was so beautiful! I loved the ship but she was frankly secondary to the destination.

[homeless mom]

We found the Pearl staff very friendly and most helpful on our first cruise two years ago. In fact, after nine days we didn't want to go home!! The only suggestion I have is definitely reserve your speciality restaurants prior to leaving home as reservations book quickly once on the boat. Also, we purchased passes to the thermal pool area in the spa which we were able to relax after a long day! You should be fine with entertainment. The year we went Simon was our cruise director and he was wonderful:) We leave on the EPIC / October 16th so we'll have to compare again. Have a safe and enjoyable cruise.

[love2vacation]

The only suggestion I have is definitely reserve your speciality restaurants prior to leaving home as reservations book quickly once on the boat. .

 

How close to departure can reservations be booked?

[Barb Nahoumi]

My friend and I sailed aboard the pearl one year ago for the Panama Canal cruise. Nice ship, great crew. We were sad to see the 14 days end.

 

Barb

[mafig]

We found the Pearl staff very friendly and most helpful on our first cruise two years ago. In fact, after nine days we didn't want to go home!! The only suggestion I have is definitely reserve your speciality restaurants prior to leaving home as reservations book quickly once on the boat.

 

 

I didn't think you could reserve specialty restaurants beforehand on Pearl. Has this changed?

:)