Just returned from the Pearl - July 2013 Review 1st part.

[wordsjustfly]

Happy Monday CC Friends -

 

I returned yesterday after a week on the Pearl as she sailed to Alaska. I thought I'd check in and give you a review regarding the cruise. I am breaking this up into a few sections since it's so incredibly long.

Let's start with FIVE STARS:

 

We aren't first time NCL cruisers, and we've been to Alaska before. Just not on the Pearl. We traveled with many members of our family - some had been to Alaska, some had not. No one had been on the Pearl.

 

It was lovely and I mean lovely to see the familiar faces of some of the staff on the Pearl that were on the Star a few years ago -- and they remembered us. (Which is a good thing and maybe a bad thing. I wracked my brain to remember if we complained or not ;) in in our previous cruise)

 

Patrick Berido was our Concierge on the Star and had since transferred to the Pearl. It was a delight to not only see him but he remembered both my husband, son as well as myself, greeted us warmly and seemed very happy to see us. This time around we decided to stay on the same deck ***(11 Stateroom 11600) as some of our family and didn't reserve a suite -- we had a mini suite instead with a balcony (more on that later in the negative star section) which for the most part was good. We were so surprised when Patrick knocked on our stateroom door and shared with us not only would he be our concierge but he would be caring for our entire family as well. He didn't have to do this --none of us were suite passengers but he did. He's just an incredible human being.

 

Cagney's - AWESOME! Never a disappointment - we had dinner there twice. Always delivered -- theAssistant Maitre D’ Sameer and his staff was just fabulous. The food was excellent -- steaks were fork tender and melted in your mouth. It was clearly worth the 30 bucks a head cover charge.

 

The Spinnaker Lounge (I hope I spelled that correctly) - one of the best places I discovered upon the Pearl. I'd go up there as much as possible to read and nap. Bingo wasn't my thing -- but I sure loved the sleigh type bed chairs they had. It was a great vantage point to watch the ship set sail or sail into a port. Loved it.

 

Glacier Bay. This was worth the entire trip. I don't think I could take enough photos of the Glaciers, the water or the wildlife.

 

The spa -- the hairdresser Mr. Fantastic knows how to give a great hair cut and was extremely sweet.

The Great Outdoors Cafe - best place to have breakfast on the ship.

 

Embarkation from Seattle -- went off without a hitch. Easy peasy. No hassle.

 

Disembarkation from Seattle - went off without a hitch. Easy peasy. No hassle.

 

Jim the piano player on the Pearl -- hands down talented and hysterical. Not the best singer in the world but who cares he could sure tickle those ivories and we never got tired of him saying "Here's another song from the Broadway musical 'CATS' - " made us laugh every time. You could find us in that lounge most nights.

 

The jokes the Captain made from time to time. The officers on this cruise were really funny and some nights some of them could be found in the cigar bar when off duty. They were always up for conversation and very personable.

 

The secret little coffee machine right in an alcove right outside of Great Outdoors Cafe area. Best coffee on the ship if you don't feel like paying for espresso or latte's on deck 7. Besides the guy who manned the espresso bar was a tad cranky most of the time.

 

Again the spa -- the Jacuzzi, the plunge pool and heated stones to lay on were just delicious.

 

Our cabin steward Edwin -- a sweet heart, lovely, we never wanted for a thing and I made sure to tip him above and beyond the 12 bucks per person that many people gripe about. He earned that and more and I made sure he got extra cash from us.

 

The viewing area to view the bridge on deck 11. What a treat. The curtains were almost always open and it was really great to watch the officers do their job. We didn't even make them nervous:)

 

Our safety speech - I know, I know -- once you have seen one you have seen them all right? This one this cruise was hysterical. The commentary again from the Captain and the safety officer was great, funny, and informative. (the life preserver is so easy to put on even a caveman can do it!) We also got to meet a lot of our deck neighbors which was nice.

 

There were tons of deck chairs everywhere. I always read that there is never enough deck chairs but there were and it was great great great.

 

The drinks were great -- I even had to ask them to ease up on the pours because they were strong. They looked at me like I was nuts but they were very cool about making sure my drinks weren't overly "medicated" ha ha. :D

 

Last but not least the Pearl was on top of it cleanliness wise. They were very proactive with washing hands, antibacterial gel and spray on germicide. I know we get sick of hearing "Washy Washy, Happy Happy Smiley Smiley" but it does prevent "Pukey Pukey and Poopie Poopie"

 

Oh and the sushi on board is amazing for those of you who dig sushi. The other restaurants and dining rooms I will talk about in another post.

 

The bathrooms in the mini suites are really nice sized as well.

 

Last but not least the Bliss Lounge (the one with the bowling alley) looks like something right out of a Gothic vampire novel! Great bed seats and chairs!

 

PS *** Our cabin was right beneath the Garden Cafe -- every night between 10 PM and 2 AM we heard every bang, clang, and anything heavy they would roll across the floor. That really sucked. Next time I will be smarter about researching cabins and what's above your head.

[brunolvr]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review. I'm so glad to hear you had a good time on the Pearl. I'm sure looking forward to our cruise in less than 7 weeks now!:D

 

Do you know if Patrick will still be the Concierge in mid-September?

[Sherrica]

Looking forward to your next chapter! Thanks so much for sharing!

[Love my butler]

 

Do you know if Patrick will still be the Concierge in mid-September?

 

Patrick is leaving for vacation on September 7th.

[wordsjustfly]

This is part two of my review of the Norwegian Pearl - we went to Alaska July 21-28th.

 

You can find part one here

 

Three - Four Stars

 

The ship itself got four stars from us. It was laid out quite nice and it only took us a few days to get the "lay of the land" The Spinnaker (sp) Lounge was one of our favorite places to just hang out, read, talk, or do nothing. Sometimes we snoozed up there.

 

Indigo dining-room - Loved the staff, there's a dining room supervisor who looks like a thin Jay-z. We teased him about looking like the hip hop singer and he loved it. The food was good, it didn't change much which kind of sucked -- but it was good none the less.

 

The Chocoholic Buffet - This was sinfully amazing, but I wish it wasn't so late at night and I wish it was some place else other than the Garden Cafe. Just my preference. The Garden Cafe reminded me of a hospital cafeteria that needed more seating. Unless you arrived really early in the morning or late at night it was almost impossible to get seating. (that's for another rant at another time)

 

The bars - they were all pretty good. Were the drinks expensive, well sure but what do you expect this is a floating hotel. You aren't going to get a bargain anywhere in a resort it's not how they make money.

Medical Center -- They were good, they helped one of our family members who was feeling a little seasick. They fixed her right up and the nurse was very kind.

 

Most of the entertainment was pretty good, talented and funny. While I am not a huge show goer -- the ones I did see were good.

 

The pools and hot tubs were good this trip as well. The weather cooperated and we actually could use them and there were enough towels and pool chairs this time as well.

 

Our balcony -- thankfully we were not near anyone who smoked so it was enjoyable. No offense to those of you who smoke -- but I am allergic to cigarette smoke and it makes me literally sick. The last cruise our next door neighbors smoked and it always ended up over near us and if our door was open in our cabin. It was a problem. This time it was good.

 

Coffee Bar - Java something. The espresso and latte's were good, reasonably priced. Cheaper than Starbuuuuxxx. But I am telling you the coffee up on deck 12 near the Great Outdoor Cafe - even better and it's free.

 

The Cigar bar was kind of cool - although I don't smoke cigars I poked my head in before they began lighting up and I thought if I was a cigar smoker I'd like to hang out there. Although I did hear that they don't cell cigars until they are out in international waters which in my opinion is kind of stupid. But because I am not a Cigar Aficionado nor a smoker I have absolutely no idea what the hell I am talking about:eek:

 

The bowling alley rocked - I only wish they had more than 2 lanes.

 

The rock climbing looked fun -- I was too much of a big fat chicken to climb.

 

The ability to walk 2.75 laps and it was a mile really made me happy. I always fooled myself after I ate something. It wasn't like I needed to walk 6 times around the ship. So we'd eat (no matter if it was snack or a meal) and then we'd walk 2.75 laps. I think the average amount walked was 38 miles and that was verified with the Nike wrist band thingy my husband wore that tracked steps.

 

Two Stars - One Star - and things that really ticked me off

 

Here is my rant about our stateroom. This is absolutely my fault because I am all about accepting responsibility for the decisions I make. And this time I didn't research this ship and I didn't think to look what was above or below us. All I was concerned about was having something centrally located so the group we went with could meet easily. Our cabin was located right under the Garden Cafe and every evening from about 10:00 PM - 2:00 AM we hear every bump, bang, and clang of pots and pans. There was something big and heavy that was drug across the floor nightly. There was also this grinding sound that sounded like a shudder of something horrible and that we were told was some sort of food separator? Anyhow the lesson we learned was -- research who is below you and who is above you -- or you will not get a good nights sleep.

 

My next rant is the price of water:

$87.09 ya'll.

no I am not kidding. 24 bottles of water + tax + the 15% GRATUITY!? Really!? to walk a case of water in an elevator to our room? My kid could have lugged the water up to our room.:mad:

 

While this is highway robbery I found the water on this ship to be delicious and I could have drank THAT water for FREE. Another well learned lesson.

 

The Drink Package Price and RULES

 

Understand the policy and rules clearly before you buy. One of our family members likes to drink a lot. They are married. So one drinks and would make use of the package and the other not so much. One of them bought the drink package and felt it was a good deal until they were out at the bar drinking. One ordered a martini with no problem. When the other ordered a drink they were told that BOTH parties in the same cabin had to purchase the drink package plan. A manager was called and it was sorted out but this happened three times and so they decided to create their own work around. They would go to one bar and buy a drink. Then they would go to another bar and buy another drink - problem solved. It was a hassle but they worked it out.

 

Same for the soda card - if one gets it for a cabin they want everyone in a cabin to get it. I call BS. Not everyone drinks soda. There has to be a better way. Issue a bracelet or something.

 

While I loved the spa....

 

I had my hair cut and styled and a manicure at the spa. The staff was lovely. They used a product on my face because I have a ruddy complexion. It really evened out the coloring of my face. And so they set the box up at the counter and when I checked out they wanted to know if I wanted to buy it since it make my face look so great. (And yes it looked pretty great.) I was all set to buy it until they said "Oh just 179.00" for this itty bitty pot of gold. I said no thank you and they must have went back and forth with me for a good two minutes! (Oh you are worth it, look how much better your face looks -- want to talk to the Spa doctor she will tell you). Uh - no thanks.

 

There seemed to be a lot of grumbling amongst the staff this time. The shiny smiles that almost always are seen weren't there. I understand you can't be "on" 24-7 and these folks have a hard job. I don't think I could work 7 days a week like that. I think my job is hard and I work about 70 hours a week but I do have one day a week off.

The odd and funny

 

Do not - I repeat do not leave your sliding glass balcony door open or you will receive a seagull in your cabin. They smell food and are food beggars. :p Thankfully the one that tried to break and enter only got his little face in before I shooed him out. But he was pretty darn aggressive.

 

Robert Mondavi reserve wine -- 98.00 for an entire bottle. Spendy yes, good heck yes. 1/2 bottle 35.00. We ended up buying two half bottles and paying 70.00 which made one whole bottle. We saved 28 clams.

 

The captains Rolex Watch joke -- have you heard it? If not let me know, it's a hoot.

 

The announcement that anyone breaking the rules could be immediately put off the ship. They announced this on one of our sea days. We got kind of excited and wondered if the Pearl had a plank and would actually make someone walk it!!!

 

The staff needs to understand that just because we Americans have round eyes and we are white some of us do understand enough Tagalog to get by - just saying. I understand that some cruisers are jerks who need to have their ears boxed but they need to be really careful what they say in front of passengers even in their own language. I learned that hard lesson years ago when I got married. That's another story for another time :eek:

 

Some bars didn't charge for ginger ale this time if you told them you were ill.

 

Okay that's it from me -- Hawaii is our next cruise. That won't happen until next year.

 

Take care!

 

And remember -- before you book know where your room is and more importantly know how is above, below and next to you!

[Demonyte]

This is part two of my review of the Norwegian Pearl - we went to Alaska July 21-28th.

 

You can find part one here

 

Please post all the parts as replies to the thread you originally started. If you post multiple parts in different threads, it clutters the board a lot and makes the following of both review and possible comments really difficult for new readers.

 

Also, the moderators here will probably do that for you (combine these two threads) and send you an email for being naughty. ;)

 

Thanks! :)

[brunolvr]

Is there going to be a Part 3? Tell us about your excursions and Glacier Bay!

[themnms]

great review!! Thanks so much

[auntierobin]

Not all cabins under the buffet are bad, you were on the port side, under the kitchen. If you stay in a mini on the starboard side and are under the buffet, you hear next to nothing, because the floor above you is carpeted.

[Love my butler]

I have a couple points of inquiry. First you say drinks are expensive and are ok with that since it is a floating hotel. Then you come unglued with the price of bottled water. Water, alcohol, soda. All are beverages that 'floating hotels' overcharge for to make a profit.

 

You seem to indicate that all adults in one cabin did not have to purchase the UBP but all people in a cabin did have to purchase a soda card? This doesn't sound right and goes against everything I have ever experienced or read about regarding those two beverage packages.

[wordsjustfly]

I have a couple points of inquiry. First you say drinks are expensive and are ok with that since it is a floating hotel. Then you come unglued with the price of bottled water. Water, alcohol, soda. All are beverages that 'floating hotels' overcharge for to make a profit.

 

You seem to indicate that all adults in one cabin did not have to purchase the UBP but all people in a cabin did have to purchase a soda card? This doesn't sound right and goes against everything I have ever experienced or read about regarding those two beverage packages.

 

I think it's fair to say that each individual has things that irritate them when they travel. Having to pay $87.09 for a case of water irritated me. Maybe you wouldn't irritate you but it did me. It's something we won't do again ;) We learned a lot on this cruise.

 

In regards to the UBP- One adult purchased it the other adult did not purchase it. However they made both children actually teenagers purchase a soda card each. Right or wrong that's what happened.

 

The travel industry is run by humans nothing's perfect.

 

My review of our cruise was just sharing what we like and what we didn't:)

 

Have a nice day.

[triptolemus]

As an aside, if one of two adults in a cabin managed to purchase the UBP while the other did not... that would most certainly be an anomaly. I wonder how that might have happened...

[Love my butler]

I think it's fair to say that each individual has things that irritate them when they travel. Having to pay $87.09 for a case of water irritated me. Maybe you wouldn't irritate you but it did me. It's something we won't do again ;) We learned a lot on this cruise.

 

In regards to the UBP- One adult purchased it the other adult did not purchase it. However they made both children actually teenagers purchase a soda card each. Right or wrong that's what happened.

 

The travel industry is run by humans nothing's perfect.

 

My review of our cruise was just sharing what we like and what we didn't:)

 

Have a nice day.

 

Oh, it would irritate me but you seemed to be ok with overpriced beverages. Seemed like a contradiction to me. I have no idea how your family member was able to purchase just one UBP with two adults in the room. My understanding is that is not possible. Same with the soda card. We have purchased just one for a room many times, never been required to have everyone buy it. I think you might have been hoodwinked.

[Demonyte]

I have no idea how your family member was able to purchase just one UBP with two adults in the room. My understanding is that is not possible. Same with the soda card. We have purchased just one for a room many times, never been required to have everyone buy it. I think you might have been hoodwinked.

 

When adult(s) purchase UBP, all under 21 pax in the same folio must purchase the soda card - nothing weird about that. Makes me wonder if there is something not said out loud with one adult being able to "escape" from the mandatory UBP.. :rolleyes:

[Love my butler]

When adult(s) purchase UBP, all under 21 pax in the same folio must purchase the soda card - nothing weird about that.

 

Cool, but that is not what she said:

 

"Same for the soda card - if one gets it for a cabin they want everyone in a cabin to get it. I call BS. Not everyone drinks soda. There has to be a better way. Issue a bracelet or something."

[Demonyte]

Cool, but that is not what she said:

 

"Same for the soda card - if one gets it for a cabin they want everyone in a cabin to get it. I call BS. Not everyone drinks soda. There has to be a better way. Issue a bracelet or something."

 

Yep, that's true. I just referred to the message you quoted earlier - didn't notice that paragraph in the earlier post.

[wordsjustfly]

Thanks for your feedback. I don't know how they were able to purchase one UBP card either but they did. And each and every time my sister-in-law would order a drink on her drink card and my brother-in-law would order beer they ( ship bar folks ) would inquire why they both didn't have a UBP card. She would explain that she spoke to management they allowed her to do it because her husband wasn't much of a drinker and she was the only one who would have benefitted from it. It literally got to be a running joke for us and an irritation for her. To the point that she would order a drink from one bar and then he would walk to another bar and order a beer and the problem was solved. The soda cards I have no idea about that. There was just some grumbling about that as well.

 

Am I really okay about overpriced beverages? Hell no. But I understand that that's how they make their money. Cruise ships charge for everything so do all resorts. I was just doubly irritated at the price of freaking water. Which I'm not going to order again on a ship. And the cruise lines are not the only ones that overcharge for this kind of stuff. Every resort, amusement park ( ie Disney) Overcharges for bottled water. It's highway robbery in my opinion. It's just damn water.

 

And it's okay that I contradicted myself sometimes I'm just one big fat contradiction;)

 

Again thanks for the feedback.

 

 

 

Oh, it would irritate me but you seemed to be ok with overpriced beverages. Seemed like a contradiction to me. I have no idea how your family member was able to purchase just one UBP with two adults in the room. My understanding is that is not possible. Same with the soda card. We have purchased just one for a room many times, never been required to have everyone buy it. I think you might have been hoodwinked.

[wordsjustfly]

When adult(s) purchase UBP, all under 21 pax in the same folio must purchase the soda card - nothing weird about that. Makes me wonder if there is something not said out loud with one adult being able to "escape" from the mandatory UBP.. :rolleyes:

 

I'm playing devils advocate here-

 

If one adult for instance purchases UBP card and let's say the other adults in the same state room are alcoholics and don't drink alcohol at all why would they be required to purchase a UPB card?

 

Same with soda. If you have a kid who's a soda drinker And your other kids are not why does your whole entire stateroom have to comply or I guess penalized.

 

In our family we are not soda drinkers. We primarily drink red wine and we have the occasional nightcap of either grappa or some sort of Scotch. On something special like a cruise I will order some fun drink with an umbrella in it and ask them to ease up on the alcohol. So ordering any sort of UPB card soda card is something we've never done or would do.

 

On another subject which I found interesting- ( it's been over three years since our last cruise) - The Lotus-garden which is the sushi place aboard the Pearl gives you the ability to buy sushi à la carte. Personally I love that. However we heard a lot of grumbling about that as well - If we pay a cover charge we should be able to order as much sushi as we want etc...

 

Things were very different this cruise a lot has changed- Not necessarily in a bad way but they changed.

 

We did sit next to a family with an entire table of teenagers who wanted to know if they could order three and four entrées:) The look on the servers faces was priceless. I bet they have a whole lot opinions about Americans.

[wordsjustfly]

The first time we cruised to Alaska on Norwegian Cruise line we had a different itinerary and didn't go to Glacier Bay. We were supposed to see a different glacier And we could not because there was too much ice and we ended up having to go back- safety being the trump card of course.

 

This time we chose Glacier Bay because we'd heard about Glacier Bay National Park and how beautiful it was. Wow- I'm so glad we did.

 

Our state room had a balcony so we took advantage of being on our balcony as we went to the park.

 

If I had to sum up Glacier Bay in one word it would be stunning.

 

I took so many photos some of which I think we will blow up and frame. We saw much wildlife- Whales, Orcas, otters, seals, bald eagles -- And I think we saw some walruses. No bears this time :)

 

One of the most exciting things of course was seeing the glacier calve. The sound is like a huge loud thunderous crack of thunder! The guide referred to it as white thunder. It was amazing. Later I went to read about the glaciers and learned that the ice goes for a great distance that what you see of course is just the front. I can't imagine what that would be like if the whole thing decided to crack open that would be like a huge sort of avalanche. And the ship probably would be a sitting duck right?

 

Anyhow it was just spectacular.

 

There was a lot more picture taking on this cruise then past cruises that I've been on. We felt like we were asked to have our picture taken by a crew member to buy later a lot. I think we actually said no thank you a couple times.

 

The only thing I didn't remark about was the gambling aboard ship. My husband won 180 bucks I think? I'm not much of a gambler I just sometimes watch him. Some of the guests were complaining that the machines were tight.

 

There was also a common theme of there's not a lot to do on the ship. For me I was fine because I read a lot, walked a lot, I napped, I went to the spa, I met and talked to a lot of people etc. etc. So for me it was good. All the kids brought their magic cards and played a lot of magic. And of course in our group as a whole there was a lot of drinking going on. The ship had a rock climbing wall and a bowling alley and they showed old movies during the day.

 

I will say we didn't hear the cruise director as much on this cruise as we have on past cruises - But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

Because we had already been on many excursions on our first cruise to Alaska we chose not to do excursions this time. We just walked around each port. Met the shopkeepers, looked at their wares and just walked around. In fact in two ports I chose not to go ashore and I stayed and went to the spa. I spent a lot of time up in the Spinnaker lounge reading or napping. This particular cruise I want to say was a Kosher cruise ( I was told there are two kosher cruises each year to Alaska on this articulate ship) and so there were a lot of observant Jewish people on the cruise and I had many lovely and fascinating conversations with these folks. One of my favorite things is to learn about new cultures and so it was really a great learning opportunity for me.

 

Ketchikan however will always be my favorite port.

 

Skagway is my least favorite port.

 

Our family however was disappointed because they had hoped to get a passport stamp from Canada. In Victoria no one even see our passports:) ha ha! But they did as we returned to Seattle.

 

That's about it.

 

For those of you who are preparing to go to Alaska the first time enjoy yourselves it's a trip of a lifetime:)

 

The next time I think I want to do something really outside of my comfort zone which would be to go halibut fishing or zip lining. But that's something saved for another time:)

[jdvmd]

So your sister-in-law had the UBP only because her husband would not be partaking as much yet they ordered drinks at the same time and when it became a "hassle," went to separate bars to order drinks?

Sorry, I am confused.

Are you saying they both were drinking off of the same card/one package or one used the card and the other signed for/paid for their drink separately and this is where the hassle was?

[Linda the Book Lover]

Sorry the kids missed the passport stamping. We took an independent trip in Skagway which took us to Canada and there was a a place to have our passports stamped.

 

The DH and I took a couple of bottles of water aboard and purchased a few bottles in each port. I agree the ship's water is fine and we drank that as well.

 

I agree Alaska is a wonderful trip and so differ from our usual vacations. Now I am tossing and turning (happily) as we think about a cruise for 2015. Sign...2014 is our land vacation year.

[tymike]

I'm playing devils advocate here-

 

If one adult for instance purchases UBP card and let's say the other adults in the same state room are alcoholics and don't drink alcohol at all why would they be required to purchase a UPB card?

 

Same with soda. If you have a kid who's a soda drinker And your other kids are not why does your whole entire stateroom have to comply or I guess penalized.

 

In our family we are not soda drinkers. We primarily drink red wine and we have the occasional nightcap of either grappa or some sort of Scotch. On something special like a cruise I will order some fun drink with an umbrella in it and ask them to ease up on the alcohol. So ordering any sort of UPB card soda card is something we've never done or would do.

 

On another subject which I found interesting- ( it's been over three years since our last cruise) - The Lotus-garden which is the sushi place aboard the Pearl gives you the ability to buy sushi à la carte. Personally I love that. However we heard a lot of grumbling about that as well - If we pay a cover charge we should be able to order as much sushi as we want etc...

 

Things were very different this cruise a lot has changed- Not necessarily in a bad way but they changed.

 

We did sit next to a family with an entire table of teenagers who wanted to know if they could order three and four entrées:) The look on the servers faces was priceless. I bet they have a whole lot opinions about Americans.

 

I totally agree that the UBP and the soda package should not be required by everyone in any shared cabin, but that seems to be the rule on NCL.

 

I am in wonderment as to how you and your husband only had one UBP in the same cabin!

 

My understanding is that everyone 'of age' in any given cabin has to buy the soda or alcohol package if anyone else in the same cabin buys any package. If one person under 21 orders the soda package, then everyone else under 21 is required to do so..same with the UBP if over 21 in the same cabin.

 

Have I missed something??

 

Thanks!:)

[tymike]

Yes..I missed something...

 

It wasn't you or your husband who used the UBP.

 

Sorry...:o

 

But my question still stands.

 

Isn't NCL's rule that if one person in a cabin purchases a beverage package then everyone else in the same age division has to order it too?

[Demonyte]

But my question still stands.

 

Isn't NCL's rule that if one person in a cabin purchases a beverage package then everyone else in the same age division has to order it too?

 

Yes, and that's what seemed to cause confusion with the bar staff as they didn't.