New to NCL and have a lot of questions!

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

Hello all! I've been looking at longer cruises and I found an itinerary that I like for an 11 day of the Pearl out of Miami. I know nothing when it comes to NCL and Freestyle cruising so I'm not sure if I should book it or not. Any thoughts or opinions are welcome. We are a family of 3. Our son will be 3 at the time of sailing so he should be potty trained and able to use the pools.

To start off with, can you all tell me the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to the Pearl?

Also, I am looking at booking a mini-suite (MB) and I would love to know what is in the blank area on the deck plans on deck 12 aft on the port side. If anyone would be willing to share any pictures of a mini-suite I would really appreciate that as well!

Thank you all in advance for any information you can provide!

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

I can't believe that nobody on this board can tell me about the Pearl or give me any info or pictures of a mini suite. Can anyone tell me about the NCL experience and why you like it so much?

[sdmike]

and I can't believe that after a few hours you're assuming that someone won't respond and impatiently post a critique of the people you want to help you. :)

 

I have pictures of the Jewel mini-suite, which will be the same as the Pearl except maybe different colors, in this photo gallery

 

http://public.fotki.com/ritchiefamily/san_diego_family/2012-pictures/alaska-cruise-2012/misc-ship-shots/

 

There are lots and lots of threads on how NCL is different than other lines and why the folks that DO like NCL like it so much. I'm sure someone will help search for those threads. Really, the biggest reasons are 1) Freestyle, 2) Best Entertainment, and 3) Outstanding Crew

[Sauer-kraut]

I'm thinking that white area on Deck 11 (Deck 12 is all public space) has steward lockers or something like that for their carts. It could be a staging area as well as a crew access point.

[kjquilts]

Have a little patience :) For starters here is a youtube video showing mini suite 11632. There are a number of videos featuring the NCL or Norwegian Pearl on youtube - good place to gather visual information.

 

 

I've been on the Pearl several times with balcony stateroom, mini suite and full suite. Just so you know, the mini suite is not a suite - should probably be called deluxe balcony or something. You do gain a curtain between the sofa and the main bed so if you put the little one down to nap in the big bed you can enjoy the sofa and the balcony.

 

Sorry, not sure what the blank space is. It is shown on attached drag it decks floor plan. Maybe garden cafe kitchen space? Maybe someone else knows and will answer later.

 

http://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/Main/dragit2.php?ship=Norwegian%20Pearl

[kjquilts]

Disagree with you Mike on reasons for loving NCL - mine are

1 Freestyle, 2 Outstanding Crew and 3 Best Entertainment :) :)

[ColinIllinois]

I can't believe that nobody on this board can tell me about the Pearl or give me any info or pictures of a mini suite. Can anyone tell me about the NCL experience and why you like it so much?

 

 

Take some time to read through the board and also the review section. You don't have to go back many pages to find answers to what people think of the NCL experience in existing threads.

 

Lots of great information for you to peruse.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[itravelalot]

We had an aft penthouse suite on the pearl and loved it. I love the size and that it is easy to get around.

 

Reasons I love NCL, Freestyle, Cagneys, Best Crew Ever and Itineraries.

 

My only con is the decor.. I don't like it.. too much orange and purple but it doesn't stop me cruising with them. NCL is great.:)

[bonvoyagie]

The big white area around the Garden Cafe and LaCucina is the kitchen area for both as well as the Great Outdoors Cafe. Could be quite noisy almost all of the time as the Garden Cafe is open both early and late.:)

 

The best cabins on deck 11 are forward - under the spas.

 

A mini suite is nothing more than a super sized balcony room - the bathroom does however have a tub - might come in handy for the lil tyke;).

 

As for the Pearl, she is a nice ship - I like NCL for Freestyle - no need to dress to the nines - anytime, the abilty to eat in the MDR when I want to (no preset time), A wonderful and attentive crew, nice entertainment (however I don't care too much for Second City).

 

OP - I know that you are excited about your cruise - but often it takes more than three hours to get responses.;)

 

Enjoy your time on the Pearl - and please leave her as nice as you found her:D

[Cruzface]

I learned a while back that the NCL boards are not like the CCL or RCCL boards where you get almost instantaneous responses. However, I have found the people here much more helpful and much nicer.

[flcruiser1969]

Was previously on the Pearl mini suite aft and just booked 11 day southern on her in March 2015. I love the Pearl's layout at the pool deck. Love the Great Outdoors dining. Love NCL all around for staff and freestyle. But yes.... please have some patience in getting a response. You will get answers.

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

Thank you all for the help and responses. I really didn't mean to offend anyone. I am used to the Carnival board which is very fast paced and you get responses within 10-30 minutes on most questions. A lot of the responses on that board are snarky so I guess I've accidentally adopted that mentality when it comes to using CC and for that I apologize again.

I've tried Google and CC searches about the Pearl and I got many different ships that came up (same class maybe?) so I wasn't sure if what I was reading was entirely accurate. I don't know a thing about the ship classes or features of any of the NCL ships. I could tell you almost anything about Carnival so I was hoping I could find the same kind of info here about NCL.

Everyone mentions Freestyle and I see it mentioned a lot in reviews that compare CCL to NCL, but I don't fully understand the concept of Freestyle cruising. Can anyone explain what the Freestyle aspect of cruising encompasses?

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

and I can't believe that after a few hours you're assuming that someone won't respond and impatiently post a critique of the people you want to help you. :)

 

I have pictures of the Jewel mini-suite, which will be the same as the Pearl except maybe different colors, in this photo gallery

 

http://public.fotki.com/ritchiefamily/san_diego_family/2012-pictures/alaska-cruise-2012/misc-ship-shots/

 

 

Have a little patience :) For starters here is a youtube video showing mini suite 11632. There are a number of videos featuring the NCL or Norwegian Pearl on youtube - good place to gather visual information.

 

 

 

Thank you both! The real reason for wanting a mini-suite is the bath tub for our little man. We would be happy with a standard balcony, but the bath tub is a must if he is traveling with us. He is absolutely terrified of the shower for some reason. I hope he grows out of it, but I would rather plan ahead in case he doesn't by the time we cruise at the end of 2014.

[Waterloomarc]

I took 6 cruises on carnival before our first NCL. I don't really see how "freestyle" is any different than Anytimr Dining on Carnival. With one glaring exception: the service time on NCL was much faster. ATD was always a painfully slow experience for us on carnival. On NCL the food was always hot and the waitstaff was almost always around. But Freestyle as some great mystic wonderful experience that people talk of - well I guess it's just lost on me.

 

That said our NCL cruise to Bermuda was our favorite yet. NCL's staff was superb and ship just had a different vibe than Carnival. I did definitely miss the teak decks though.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mysticks1]

Everyone mentions Freestyle and I see it mentioned a lot in reviews that compare CCL to NCL, but I don't fully understand the concept of Freestyle cruising. Can anyone explain what the Freestyle aspect of cruising encompasses?

 

I also have my first cruise on NCL booked now. The things I have learned about Freestyle are there are no early and late seatings for dinner. You go where you want to eat when you want to eat. I know that on the Star that we are sailing on and I believe all of the NCL ships there are two main dining rooms. The difference is one is more casual, allowing shorts, jeans for dinner. The other one allows jeans for dinner. There are no "formal" nights as on Carnival. They have "Dress Up or Not" nights for those that wish to dress for dinner. You can dress up any night if you like to. There are "extra fee" restaurants if you want to use them but most require reservations, you can book on the ship or in advance on the website ( I believe about 45 days out).

Everyone raves about the excellent service on NCL. I am really looking forward to trying the Freestyle concept. We are taking a Baltics Capitals cruise which will be cool weather so not having to pack dress clothes for dinner is great for us due to the flights involved. We can wear our jeans to dinner. :)

Someone please correct me if any of this information is incorrect.

[Cruzface]

I was skepital of freestyle dining before our Epic cruise. I loved it. We went when we wanted to eat. Period. Did we wait? A few times, but never more than 20 minutes and twice we received free drink coupons because of the wait. Awesome. Just like at home where you wait at the bar for your table. The food was excellent and the service was so good I tipped extra every night.

 

Now, if you are cruising with a large group or another family that has difficulty making decisions, it could become frustrating because there are sooo many options and there is no sense of urgency to get to dinner.

[jljcruise]

I believe all of the NCL ships there are two main dining rooms. The difference is one is more casual, allowing shorts, jeans for dinner. The other one allows jeans for dinner.

 

Sounds like you have the idea. The only caveat is that the jeans can't have holes, rips, be very low-riding, etc. We love NCL because we are not people interested in dressing up on vacation. Very casual slacks are dress-up for us (or maybe a casual skirt for me). Jeans are the norm in our family. :) We'll be on the Star in June.

[sdmike]

Anytime dining on CCL was a bit of a mess on our Paradise cruise (not sure if typical). Since only a section of one dining room was allocated to ATD, the lines and wait were very long.

 

With NCL, freestyle is really about the ship conforming to what YOU want to do, and when you want to do it. Very much like being in a bustling downtown area of a city. No set dining times (although you can make reservations), lots of restaurants to choose from, no strict dress requirements, and a variety of shows you can see. While there are "production shows", there are also a lot of things you can see and do. On the Epic, for example, you could come and go as you like at the dueling piano bar and the jazz club, just like you would on land. It's all about not being controlled by the logistics of the ship, but rather the ship being configured to allow flexibility.

[Mysticks1]

Sounds like you have the idea. The only caveat is that the jeans can't have holes, rips, be very low-riding, etc. We love NCL because we are not people interested in dressing up on vacation. Very casual slacks are dress-up for us (or maybe a casual skirt for me). Jeans are the norm in our family. :) We'll be on the Star in June.

 

Thats exactly how we are. I am really looking forward to not having to dress up for dinner. I am too old for the holey, ripped or low rider jeans so I didn't think about putting that. :D

On our cruise to the Med on Celebrity we had an Aqua Class cabin booked which put us in their "fancy" restaurant Blu. We ate there twice and then switched to the Buffet at night ( it was really good). I was so tired after touring that I just couldn't dress up. I expect this cruise to be the same way with the 6 port days.

[kjquilts]

Here is link from Norwegian website for their dining guide. It lists the restaurants (and price if not included in cruise fare) for each of the ships.

 

http://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/DiningGuide_01252013.pdf

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

I'm starting to get the idea when it comes to Freestyle now. It sounds like it may be easier for us when we are sailing with our son.

I've very familiar with anytime dining on Carnival because that's what we've always used. We've had great food and service twice, but on the last ship the food was meh and the service left a lot to be desired almost every night we chose to eat in the MDR. On the last night, we finally got an amazing service team. If we had been seated with them at the beginning, I'm sure dinner would have been one of the highlights of our cruise instead of something that we saw that needed improvement.

If we would choose to eat at one of the higher end specialty dining venues, is there a dress code that must be followed or is it OK for us to wear jeans, sandals and a comfy shirt?

[Anginette]

That would be fine anywhere except Le Bistro.

[kjquilts]

I'm starting to get the idea when it comes to Freestyle now. It sounds like it may be easier for us when we are sailing with our son.

 

I've very familiar with anytime dining on Carnival because that's what we've always used. We've had great food and service twice, but on the last ship the food was meh and the service left a lot to be desired almost every night we chose to eat in the MDR. On the last night, we finally got an amazing service team. If we had been seated with them at the beginning, I'm sure dinner would have been one of the highlights of our cruise instead of something that we saw that needed improvement.

 

If we would choose to eat at one of the higher end specialty dining venues, is there a dress code that must be followed or is it OK for us to wear jeans, sandals and a comfy shirt?

 

"What Should I Pack?

When it comes to what to wear, you can go resort casual or get decked-out and look your best - it’s your call. That’s the freedom of Freestyle Cruising. We even have special “Dress-Up or Not Night.” It’s the perfect opportunity to get your portrait taken with your family, that special someone or even with the ship’s Captain.

Dress cruise casual anytime during the day, in the buffet and in most specialty restaurants. For women, it includes summer and casual dresses, skirts, regular or capri pants, shorts, jeans and tops. Khakis, jeans, shorts and casual shirts are fine for men. Swimwear is acceptable at the buffet and outdoor restaurant, but a shirt or a cover-up and footwear are required. Cruise casual is also allowed day and night on embarkation day.

Wear smart casual if you are eating dinner in the aft main dining room (our more formal dining room) and in Le Bistro on cruises longer than five days. For women, it includes slacks or jeans, dresses, skirts and tops. For men, it’s jeans or slacks with a collared shirt and closed-toed shoes. We want you to be comfortable, but tank tops for men, flip flops, baseball caps, visors and jeans that are overly faded, with holes or tears and worn below the hips are not permitted in main dining rooms or specialty restaurants."

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

Thank you! It took me forever to master the Carnival website so navigating other sites (NCL, RCCL, DCL) has proved to be a challenge. :eek: I'm not used to information being where it should be and ship specific in a lot of cases. The simplicity is killing me! :)

[delily]

Is the theater on the deck below the white space? It could just be that that room below the white space has a two floor high ceiling. It's not likely to be open floor or space you can use.