The Good, Not So Good and Ugly On My Pearl May 3 - 8 Cruise

[NLH Arizona]

The good

• Was in an aft penthouse, it was great.
  
• Room steward was exceptional.
  
• Butler was great.
  
• Cagney’s was fantastic.
  
• Teppanyaki was fantastic.
  
• Meet and greet was really good; got to meet some really nice folks (the Captain came and actually went around the whole room shaking everyone’s hands).
  
• Hotel Director announced that he wanted to have a recap the last sea day, where cruise critic individuals could voice any concerns, etc….first time I have ever heard of this. Unfortunately, I didn’t go, but will if he offers it on my November cruise on the Pearl.
  
• Hostess for Cagney’s for breakfast and lunch was terrific.
  
• All the staff was very personable; couldn't walk down a corridor without a hello, how are you today or how was your day.
  
• All the casino staff was very friendly and fun.
  

The not so good

• Even though I have said that NCL’s buffet was great in the past, this time the food was lukewarm to cold.
  
• Same goes for Blue Lagoon; I ordered the chicken wings and mashed potatoes and neither were hot (wings not spicy hot or temperature hot).
  

The bad

• No, nothing with NCL. It was some of the passengers that had no manners. People pushing to get into an elevator without letting others out. One gang of four or five teen or pre-teen boys did this all the time; they thought it was funny. Few others, but won’t go into their lack of manners. Thankfully, it was only a very few rude passengers; the majority were just great.
  

[dexddd]

The good

• Was in an aft penthouse, it was great.
  
• Room steward was exceptional.
  
• Butler was great.
  
• Cagney’s was fantastic.
  
• Teppanyaki was fantastic.
  
• Meet and greet was really good; got to meet some really nice folks (the Captain came and actually went around the whole room shaking everyone’s hands).
  
• Hotel Director announced that he wanted to have a recap the last sea day, where cruise critic individuals could voice any concerns, etc….first time I have ever heard of this. Unfortunately, I didn’t go, but will if he offers it on my November cruise on the Pearl.
  
• Hostess for Cagney’s for breakfast and lunch was terrific.
  
• All the staff was very personable; couldn't walk down a corridor without a hello, how are you today or how was your day.
  
• All the casino staff was very friendly and fun.
  

The not so good

• Even though I have said that NCL’s buffet was great in the past, this time the food was lukewarm to cold.
  
• Same goes for Blue Lagoon; I ordered the chicken wings and mashed potatoes and neither were hot (wings not spicy hot or temperature hot).
  

The bad

• No, nothing with NCL. It was some of the passengers that had no manners. People pushing to get into an elevator without letting others out. One gang of four or five teen or pre-teen boys did this all the time; they thought it was funny. Few others, but won’t go into their lack of manners. Thankfully, it was only a very few rude passengers; the majority were just great.
  

 

Those were some nice gestures by the captain and the HD. When we had our M&G on BA in March, Prem did a quick introduction of his staff (no one else actually talked and no captain) and they were out of there under 10 minutes. Was a waste of time compared to all the other M&Gs we've been on.

[AF-1]

Do you have any pics of your aft penthouse? I booked one on Jade; assume they are pretty similar. Thanks. Glad you had a good time; I may have taken cold food back to the person running the buffet and let them know.

[biker@sea]

WoW I like that recap idea on the last sea day .

 

I think that I will inquire about a recap too at our next M & G .

[NLH Arizona]

Do you have any pics of your aft penthouse? I booked one on Jade; assume they are pretty similar. Thanks. Glad you had a good time; I may have taken cold food back to the person running the buffet and let them know.

Sorry didn't take any pictures.

[NLH Arizona]

Those were some nice gestures by the captain and the HD. When we had our M&G on BA in March, Prem did a quick introduction of his staff (no one else actually talked and no captain) and they were out of there under 10 minutes. Was a waste of time compared to all the other M&Gs we've been on.

After the Captain left the meet and greet, the Hotel Director introduced his staff and then asked if there were any questions. There were no questions, so they left and we all stayed (sans officers) for an hour talking.

[OCruisers]

The bad

• No, nothing with NCL. It was some of the passengers that had no manners. People pushing to get into an elevator without letting others out. One gang of four or five teen or pre-teen boys did this all the time; they thought it was funny. Few others, but won’t go into their lack of manners. Thankfully, it was only a very few rude passengers; the majority were just great.
  

 

Glad you pointed out the pax base really can be a factor in the enjoyment of a cruise.

LuLu

[BSR]

I was on the same sailing as NLH Arizona and we had a great cruise. Can't complain about anything. We attended the recap on the last sea and it was very interesting to listen to the comments that were made. It was the first time we heard of this too.

 

NHL Arizona: Thanks again for the bottle of wine.:)

[Traveller20074]

what was your itinerary?

 

(not sure what NLH is):confused:

Edited May 10, 2014 by Traveller20074

[Chudley]

The good

• Was in an aft penthouse, it was great.
  
• Room steward was exceptional.
  
• Butler was great.
  
• Cagney’s was fantastic.
  
• Teppanyaki was fantastic.
  
• Meet and greet was really good; got to meet some really nice folks (the Captain came and actually went around the whole room shaking everyone’s hands).
  
• Hotel Director announced that he wanted to have a recap the last sea day, where cruise critic individuals could voice any concerns, etc….first time I have ever heard of this. Unfortunately, I didn’t go, but will if he offers it on my November cruise on the Pearl.
  
• Hostess for Cagney’s for breakfast and lunch was terrific.
  
• All the staff was very personable; couldn't walk down a corridor without a hello, how are you today or how was your day.
  
• All the casino staff was very friendly and fun.
  

The not so good

• Even though I have said that NCL’s buffet was great in the past, this time the food was lukewarm to cold.
  
• Same goes for Blue Lagoon; I ordered the chicken wings and mashed potatoes and neither were hot (wings not spicy hot or temperature hot).
  

The bad

• No, nothing with NCL. It was some of the passengers that had no manners. People pushing to get into an elevator without letting others out. One gang of four or five teen or pre-teen boys did this all the time; they thought it was funny. Few others, but won’t go into their lack of manners. Thankfully, it was only a very few rude passengers; the majority were just great.
  

My sister and I were also on this cruise (Hi Becky!) and I agree with the good and the not so good. The bad however was way worse for us. After returning to the ship in Victoria, I went to the buffet to eat. Within an hr to an hr and a half I was violently ill. After lying in bed for a few hours after exhibiting all the signs of food poisoning I finally called the infirmary. The guy named Robbie was great and had me come right down. There was a crew member down there with the same thing going on, Robbie said we had A.G.E. with another person there with a rash. They gave me some pills and an injection for the nausea. I was in the surgery room and immediately started vomiting violently again. I made it back up to our cabin, which for the rest of the cruise we were confined to....so much for the rest of my spa pass. The infirmary called once that night to see how I was which I appreciated. I vomited for a straight 10 hours, most of the time just managing to lie on the cool bathroom floor. The next morning the infirmary called again to see how I was and to let us know that customer service would be calling us about removing us from the ship, away from the other pax but it would be about 2 hours. Our plans were to get a taxi to the skytrain and take it to Surrey, where my husband would pick us up and take us home.

Now here is where I get a little upset with NCL. I have been in business for many years. If I had a situation like this one with a client as sick as I was, I would handled it so entirely different. My customer service would have picked us up, taken us off the ship and then taken us directly to a taxi, if not straight to the skytrain or even Surrey. NCL's customer service never even bothered to call the cabin. After 2 hours I called them to see when we could get off the ship and how they wanted us to do it so we wouldn't infect any one one the way. The lady just said we could get off right now, by ourselves and just depart from deck 7. Not even a "have a nice day". I felt so freaking miserable and so nauseated but we dragged our bags off the ship and then had to stand in line for almost 2 hours for a freaking taxi. I was doing everything I could not to be sick again because I was afraid Canada wouldn't let me in. We finally made out way to the skytrain, then to Surrey...probably infecting people all the way. That was on Thursday. Less than 24 hours later, my husband became ill. He's been sicker than a dog since yesterday. Apparently, after speaking to my DRs office, we will be contagious for a while. Tomorrow is Mother's day, my sons are having a Mother's Day BBQ for me, we can't go :(.

You know what else bugs me? NCL hasn't even called to see how I am. That's pretty shabby customer service in my opinion.

 

PS I'd love to know how many others were ill on the ship. I know we weren't the only ones.

Edited May 11, 2014 by Chudley

[BSR]

My sister and I were also on this cruise (Hi Becky!) and I agree with the good and the not so good. The bad however was way worse for us. After returning to the ship in Victoria, I went to the buffet to eat. Within an hr to an hr and a half I was violently ill. After lying in bed for a few hours after exhibiting all the signs of food poisoning I finally called the infirmary. The guy named Robbie was great and had me come right down. There was a crew member down there with the same thing going on, Robbie said we had A.G.E. with another person there with a rash. They gave me some pills and an injection for the nausea. I was in the surgery room and immediately started vomiting violently again. I made it back up to our cabin, which for the rest of the cruise we were confined to....so much for the rest of my spa pass. The infirmary called once that night to see how I was which I appreciated. I vomited for a straight 10 hours, most of the time just managing to lie on the cool bathroom floor. The next morning the infirmary called again to see how I was and to let us know that customer service would be calling us about removing us from the ship, away from the other pax but it would be about 2 hours. Our plans were to get a taxi to the skytrain and take it to Surrey, where my husband would pick us up and take us home.

Now here is where I get a little upset with NCL. I have been in business for many years. If I had a situation like this one with a client as sick as I was, I would handled it so entirely different. My customer service would have picked us up, taken us off the ship and then taken us directly to a taxi, if not straight to the skytrain or even Surrey. NCL's customer service never even bothered to call the cabin. After 2 hours I called them to see when we could get off the ship and how they wanted us to do it so we wouldn't infect any one one the way. The lady just said we could get off right now, by ourselves and just depart from deck 7. Not even a "have a nice day". I felt so freaking miserable and so nauseated but we dragged our bags off the ship and then had to stand in line for almost 2 hours for a freaking taxi. I was doing everything I could not to be sick again because I was afraid Canada wouldn't let me in. We finally made out way to the skytrain, then to Surrey...probably infecting people all the way. That was on Thursday. Less than 24 hours later, my husband became ill. He's been sicker than a dog since yesterday. Apparently, after speaking to my DRs office, we will be contagious for a while. Tomorrow is Mother's day, my sons are having a Mother's Day BBQ for me, we can't go :(.

You know what else bugs me? NCL hasn't even called to see how I am. That's pretty shabby customer service in my opinion.

 

PS I'd love to know how many others were ill on the ship. I know we weren't the only ones.

 

Carol,

So sorry to hear that you got sick. I was hoping to run into you and your sister on the last night to say goodbye. I been sick many times on a cruise, but just with a cold, sore throat, runny nose, etc. Nothing like you experienced. Hope you feel better soon.

[SissasMomE]

My sister and I were also on this cruise (Hi Becky!) and I agree with the good and the not so good. The bad however was way worse for us. After returning to the ship in Victoria, I went to the buffet to eat. Within an hr to an hr and a half I was violently ill. After lying in bed for a few hours after exhibiting all the signs of food poisoning I finally called the infirmary. The guy named Robbie was great and had me come right down. There was a crew member down there with the same thing going on, Robbie said we had A.G.E. with another person there with a rash. They gave me some pills and an injection for the nausea. I was in the surgery room and immediately started vomiting violently again. I made it back up to our cabin, which for the rest of the cruise we were confined to....so much for the rest of my spa pass. The infirmary called once that night to see how I was which I appreciated. I vomited for a straight 10 hours, most of the time just managing to lie on the cool bathroom floor. The next morning the infirmary called again to see how I was and to let us know that customer service would be calling us about removing us from the ship, away from the other pax but it would be about 2 hours. Our plans were to get a taxi to the skytrain and take it to Surrey, where my husband would pick us up and take us home.

Now here is where I get a little upset with NCL. I have been in business for many years. If I had a situation like this one with a client as sick as I was, I would handled it so entirely different. My customer service would have picked us up, taken us off the ship and then taken us directly to a taxi, if not straight to the skytrain or even Surrey. NCL's customer service never even bothered to call the cabin. After 2 hours I called them to see when we could get off the ship and how they wanted us to do it so we wouldn't infect any one one the way. The lady just said we could get off right now, by ourselves and just depart from deck 7. Not even a "have a nice day". I felt so freaking miserable and so nauseated but we dragged our bags off the ship and then had to stand in line for almost 2 hours for a freaking taxi. I was doing everything I could not to be sick again because I was afraid Canada wouldn't let me in. We finally made out way to the skytrain, then to Surrey...probably infecting people all the way. That was on Thursday. Less than 24 hours later, my husband became ill. He's been sicker than a dog since yesterday. Apparently, after speaking to my DRs office, we will be contagious for a while. Tomorrow is Mother's day, my sons are having a Mother's Day BBQ for me, we can't go :(.

You know what else bugs me? NCL hasn't even called to see how I am. That's pretty shabby customer service in my opinion.

 

PS I'd love to know how many others were ill on the ship. I know we weren't the only ones.

 

Well, it wasn't food poisoning ... that's not contagious. What is A.G.E.? They should have helped you off the ship. That was horrible on their part.

[nkwoman]

Chudley- I hope you have contacted NCL about your experience. They were (in my opinion) negligent. I am sorry you and your husband were sick. Their treatment of you has been awful.

[Linda the Book Lover]

The review summed up our experience on the Pearl. It was the best "ship experience" we ever had. This is not to say we did not have a great time on other ships but the Pearl and the staff gave exceptional service. I talk about our cruise over and over again.

 

Sorry Chudley that you had your cruise end with illness.

[NLH Arizona]

I was on the same sailing as NLH Arizona and we had a great cruise. Can't complain about anything. We attended the recap on the last sea and it was very interesting to listen to the comments that were made. It was the first time we heard of this too.

 

NHL Arizona: Thanks again for the bottle of wine.:)

My pleasure. Hope we get to cruise together again some time!

[NLH Arizona]

what was your itinerary?

 

(not sure what NLH is):confused:

NLH is me. We embarked in Los Angeles, stopped in San Francisco, stopped in Victoria and disembarked in Vancouver. It was a 5 day cruise.

Edited May 11, 2014 by NLH Arizona

[AweighToSea]

Well, it wasn't food poisoning ... that's not contagious. What is A.G.E.? They should have helped you off the ship. That was horrible on their part.

 

Sorry straying even further off topic. acute gastroenteritis (AGE). Not likely they were the only ones but might not have been enough to meet reporting threshold.

I agree, it would have been awful trying to travel in that shape plus thinking of the possible spreading on public transportation as they mentioned. Not good situation all around.

[AweighToSea]

To OP, thanks the brief review and most was good and the mostly not was not the Pearl. Looking forward to our first NCL cruise this Fall

[newmexicoNita]

The good

• Was in an aft penthouse, it was great.
  
• Room steward was exceptional.
  
• Butler was great.
  
• Cagney’s was fantastic.
  
• Teppanyaki was fantastic.
  
• Meet and greet was really good; got to meet some really nice folks (the Captain came and actually went around the whole room shaking everyone’s hands).
  
• Hotel Director announced that he wanted to have a recap the last sea day, where cruise critic individuals could voice any concerns, etc….first time I have ever heard of this. Unfortunately, I didn’t go, but will if he offers it on my November cruise on the Pearl.
  
• Hostess for Cagney’s for breakfast and lunch was terrific.
  
• All the staff was very personable; couldn't walk down a corridor without a hello, how are you today or how was your day.
  
• All the casino staff was very friendly and fun.
  

The not so good

• Even though I have said that NCL’s buffet was great in the past, this time the food was lukewarm to cold.
  
• Same goes for Blue Lagoon; I ordered the chicken wings and mashed potatoes and neither were hot (wings not spicy hot or temperature hot).
  

The bad

• No, nothing with NCL. It was some of the passengers that had no manners. People pushing to get into an elevator without letting others out. One gang of four or five teen or pre-teen boys did this all the time; they thought it was funny. Few others, but won’t go into their lack of manners. Thankfully, it was only a very few rude passengers; the majority were just great.
  

 

some people are just plain rude and yes, we saw them on our cruise as well, loud, pushy, and just not very happy or didn't appear to be. That is a shame.

[Cubechick]

WoW I like that recap idea on the last sea day .

 

I think that I will inquire about a recap too at our next M & G .

 

They do this routinely on the Pride of America. It really shows they care about our opinions (the Captain was even there).

[SissasMomE]

Sorry straying even further off topic. acute gastroenteritis (AGE). Not likely they were the only ones but might not have been enough to meet reporting threshold.

I agree, it would have been awful trying to travel in that shape plus thinking of the possible spreading on public transportation as they mentioned. Not good situation all around.

 

Thanks for answering. Geez, that's terrible :(

[david_sobe]

Well, it wasn't food poisoning ... that's not contagious. What is A.G.E.? They should have helped you off the ship. That was horrible on their part.

I think it is a form of norovirus.

One reason buffets scare me. Too many hands, too many people that don't wash hands, food sitting for tool long all equals problems IMHO.

[Okmyx]

The good

• Was in an aft penthouse, it was great.
  
• Room steward was exceptional.
  
• Butler was great.
  
• Cagney’s was fantastic.
  
• Teppanyaki was fantastic.
  
• Meet and greet was really good; got to meet some really nice folks (the Captain came and actually went around the whole room shaking everyone’s hands).
  
• Hotel Director announced that he wanted to have a recap the last sea day, where cruise critic individuals could voice any concerns, etc….first time I have ever heard of this. Unfortunately, I didn’t go, but will if he offers it on my November cruise on the Pearl.
  
• Hostess for Cagney’s for breakfast and lunch was terrific.
  
• All the staff was very personable; couldn't walk down a corridor without a hello, how are you today or how was your day.
  
• All the casino staff was very friendly and fun.
  

The not so good

• Even though I have said that NCL’s buffet was great in the past, this time the food was lukewarm to cold.
  
• Same goes for Blue Lagoon; I ordered the chicken wings and mashed potatoes and neither were hot (wings not spicy hot or temperature hot).
  

The bad

• No, nothing with NCL. It was some of the passengers that had no manners. People pushing to get into an elevator without letting others out. One gang of four or five teen or pre-teen boys did this all the time; they thought it was funny. Few others, but won’t go into their lack of manners. Thankfully, it was only a very few rude passengers; the majority were just great.
  

 

 

It's almost as if you were on a different ship than I!

 

We had the ultimate dining package and ate at Cagneys, Le Bistro, Teppanyaki, and Moderno. I read these forums for info on the restaurants prior to the cruise and in general people think they're great. Well, they're not. Good service and atmosphere are only part of a great dining experience. The quality of the food was good, but not great by any objective definition. This isn't to say we didn't enjoy our meals, but this was not a culinary experience by any means and I think many reviews are completely oblivious to that. I may contribute to the threads about the specialty restaurants with more info about this. Blue Lagoon was horrible - we ate there once, and I ordered the chicken sandwich...the chicken was 1/5 the size of the packaged hamburger bun and a few mm thick, I didn't even try eating it after cutting it and finding it tough as wood - went directly to the buffet after that for something edible.

 

I did enjoy breakfast in the MDR and thought it vastly superior to the buffet. And in reading the posts below, I'm glad I only ate in the buffet for one meal and a few snacks. Sorry to hear others became ill...I know the happy happy sanitizer staff did their best to get everyone to use it when entering the buffet. As for being sanitary on the ship, I felt like I washed my hands constantly, every time after greeting people, touching the stair rails, etc. During one evening I actually watched a casino floor manager wash his hands in three seconds and without soap...asked him about it and he said he was going to use the sanitizer and head downship so it didn't matter...I got his name and reported him, I was so astounded at such ignorance.

 

We saw very few children on the ship and only a handful of teens. No issues whatsoever with elevators, noise (and my cabin was directly next to the aft elevators), or issues with children (and two of the few children we saw on the ship were at our table at Teppanyaki and handled themselves quite well). And in all but one occasion with an elevator (a port morning) everyone I saw was courteous and helpful with the elevators. Perhaps you might be exaggerating the issue?

 

We paid $20 each for the Second City murder mystery and lunch at Le Bistro. It was slightly entertaining (and would have been much more so if I had a few drinks, but just ice tea for me!) but I can't recommend it. The actors were enthusiastic but not up to professional standards in quality.

 

The M&G was very nice. We especially enjoyed the tour of the bridge offered to us during that meeting and the Chief Officer gave us a 1+ hour tour and was very friendly. It's as if he didn't want it to end. He let people sit in the main (Captain's?) chair and take pictures and more. We saw a few dolphins while on the bridge and there was one report of a whale, but I didn't see it.

 

The cruise critic meeting on Wed at 2pm with the crew soliciting feedback was informative. There were about 15 of us and most of the questions focused on ways to improve the cruise experience for those on the ship for an extended period. If this meeting produces results then it is worthwhile, and I hope NCL considers them.

 

My cabin was wonderful. I had 10642, which is a disabled balcony cabin and noticeably wider than a standard balcony. They offered it me when I booked a guarantee balcony just about 12 days prior to departure. I'll upload some pictures if anyone wants. It has a small couch facing the bed and plenty of space to walk (designed for a wheelchair) with a large bathroom, and of course a large balcony with three chairs (two regular blue chairs and one wicker, along with a small table) - it's also raised to permit easy wheelchair access and a top rail to grab hold of. I wouldn't hesitate to take this cabin again in future if offered.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad

Edited May 11, 2014 by Okmyx

[NLH Arizona]

It's almost as if you were on a different ship than I!

 

/quote]

Well, it is just called a differing in opinions! I found the food in Cagney's and Teppanyaki to be fantastic, you didn't, neither of us is right or wrong or our opinions less or more objective than the other, just a difference of opinion. If we all like the same things and had the same opinions, what a really dull world this would be!

[Okmyx]

It's almost as if you were on a different ship than I!

Well, it is just called a differing in opinions! I found the food in Cagney's and Teppanyaki to be fantastic, you didn't, neither of us is right or wrong or our opinions less or more objective than the other, just a difference of opinion. If we all like the same things and had the same opinions, what a really dull world this would be!

 

 

Absolutely. But I challenge anyone to go to a highly regarded steakhouse in any major city and consider the food worse than at Cagneys. What makes Cagneys and the other specialty restaurants different is that they are on a ship...not the food quality. FWIW, the best item we tasted at Cagneys was the hamburger slider appetizer, that was quite nice. The steaks were just ho hum. As for Teppanyaki, any Benihana restaurant is much better, and they aren't even the best Teppanyaki restaurants. I suppose if you aren't in a major city with options these ship restaurants would seem good.

 

 

Sent from my iPad

Edited May 11, 2014 by Okmyx