Just off the Pearl with some helpful information

[gottogocruisin]

What a fabulous 5 day cruise wish it had been longer because of the ship and the staff. I was with four female friends and we had cabins on deck 11. They are mini suites and what fun we truly had. We compiled some of the things that we hoped were not on cruise critic prior to our posting.

1. We all get the 3:00 call, but we went at 12:00 and by 1:00 we were in our cabins.
   
2. Everything began immediately with the most accomodating staff.
   
3. We were in a mini suite so not too fancy, but very nice and truly more then we had on a balcony room.
   
4. For all of you who are directionally challenged the fish on the carpet all head toward the bow of the ship.
   
5. The ambiance in LeBistro is truly wonderful. Very personable staff.
   
6. Contrary to what people said on the critic we never used our over the door hanging bags to hold whatever we needed.
   
7. For the ladies the hair dryer are super.
   
8. Many people talked about needing something to cover up - sweater, etc. at dinner, but we found it not to be true. Maybe because of what was said they have adjusted the temperatures.
   
9. We had all the coffee etc. that we needed in the buffet so whatever was said before helped.
   
10. Our beds were super comfy and we didn't ask for egg crates so maybe they have also adjusted that. Thanks to whomever suggested it.
    
11. Blue Lagoon is small but totally delightful. Someone on cruise critic told us to ask for Suresh and we did. He not only helped us there, but he also was working Cagney's and we were treated royally. Thanks. Not many people know it is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
    
12. Computers in the internet cafe were VERY slow, but on the last day when I emailed my husband it was totally different.
    
13. We brought bathrobes, but not needed as they supply nice robes.
    
14. The crowd was much younger then we are - but full of fun and energy. I would say they are in their 30's and 40's. They had a blast and we in our late 60's loved watching and talking to them.
    
15. The staff gets and A+ from all of us. Everyone was so wonderful to all of us.
    
16. The spa is super and our two friends bought the package and used it so often they felt every cents was worth it. We tended to like everything the ship offered during the day.
    
17. There is a private sunning area near the climbing wall in the aft of the ship. Not too busy, but very quiet.
    
18. We felt the Summer Palace was elegently decorated much like the Titanic as someone said to us.
    
19. We do not bar hop so we thought the drinks were expensive. For a glass of wine it was $5.50+ and it is a REALLY SMALL glass, and for a good martini $10.00, but we did pay it as well as having a bar set up in the room. Guess when you get our age you tend to do what you want to do (:-
    
20. We were able to take advantage of the 2 for 1 special two nights in the specialty restaurants. That basically means you get your meal half price during those nights. Instead of $20 in Cagney's we got it for $10.
    
21. Someone on Critic said to ask for Suresh if we went in to Blue Lagoon. We did this and I can not tell you how wonderful this man was to us. He also worked Cagney's and we were at his tables 4 times. He is now on a 2 month break, but if you are going in June+ do ask for him as he is super. The assistant Maitre D is Joy Lepasana and he is also lots of fun. Ask for both.
    
22. I know so many people said jeans are not allowed, but we were sitting at a table outside Le Bistro and a young man and women entered the restaurant with jeans. Definitely NO short though as we saw people turned away and asked to put on long pants.
    
23. Speaking of dress we saw it all. Many people dressed up and many did not so go with what you are comfortable with.\

I am hoping although this is long it is helpful to many of you. I DEFINITELY would sail again with NCL.:)

[Zeno]

Lots of good tips for people! Thx

[curious834]

Thanks, I had been hoping for info on robes, they take so much room to pack. So you had 2-3 women in a mini-suite and had plenty of storage? That is good to know, I think I'll skip the shoe holder. for us. My daughtor and a couple friends had an inside cabin and they thought that would have been a great thing to have. But of course that was a different line and smaller cabin.

 

How were the pillows?

 

Kim

[gottogocruisin]

Kim the pillows were suffient for me, but my friend used two of them each night. They give you 4 pillows.

Actually we had two cabins with 4 women. Our balconies joined each other so it made it especially nice to be able to get together. They were supposed to be locked during sea days, but they weren't always which made it perfect for the 4 of us.

[cruiser82]

We were able to take advantage of the 2 for 1 special two nights in the specialty restaurants. That basically means you get your meal half price during those nights. Instead of $20 in Cagney's we got it for $10.

 

Thank you for those great tips and I'm glad you enjoyed the cruise. I've never been able to take advantage of the 2 for 1 nights in the specialty restaurants; are they advertised in the freestyle daily or did you have to ask about them to know when they would occur?

[margord]

Great tips, thanks.

 

Marilee

[polecat01]

We are planning a cruise on the Pearl, so your tips were very helpful.

 

I am interested in your reply to cruiser82's question about the 2 for 1.

 

Also, you made the comment "The spa is super and our two friends bought the package'. I wasn't aware there was a package. Can you share with us how much the package costs and what you get?

 

Thanks again for your tips - that's what makes these boards so valuable to me!

[CruiseGuy12345]

We are planning a cruise on the Pearl, so your tips were very helpful.

 

I am interested in your reply to cruiser82's question about the 2 for 1.

 

Also, you made the comment "The spa is super and our two friends bought the package'. I wasn't aware there was a package. Can you share with us how much the package costs and what you get?

 

Thanks again for your tips - that's what makes these boards so valuable to me!

 

I was on the same cruise so I'll answer:

 

The 2 for 1 specials are listed in the daily which you get the evening before. They are good for 5:30-6:30pm which was too early for us, but if you like to eat early it's a great deal.

 

The spa package is $50 for the 5-day and $90 for the 9-day and well worth it. There are separate mens and womens areas as well as a common area in the middle. The separate areas have 2 personal hot tubs, steam room, sauna, plunge pool, showers and lockers. The coed area has the big thallasotherapy pool with different kinds of bubbles and massagers and these great fountains that shoot jets of water down onto your back. There are also 7 thermal lounges that are very relaxing, and a regular hot tub. They have juices and water in all the areas. When you go in you give them your card and get a locker key and bathrobe. Lock your stuff up or leave it in your room because I heard someone had $300 stolen there.

 

I don't know if gottogocruisin ate at Mambo's but that was one of my favorites and there is no cover. Great tex-mex.

 

Everything she wrote was very true. I though the beds and pillows were very comfortable.

[gottogocruisin]

Thanks Cruiseguy12345 for answering those questions. Another tip for the women is the hair dryer is great so no need to bring one. :)

[TanyaAri]

Cruiseguy and I are following each other around today! :)

 

The pillows, in my opinion were way too soft. I like firm pillows, and these were down. The robes were nice, but I did have to ask for them (even in a penthouse, I guess they forgot to put them back in, not a big deal)

 

Cagney's is only open to concierge level and above, and the greatest breakfast ever! Try the different eggs benedict and OJ!

 

On our last night, we ate at Mambos, and we saw them ask a guy to leave because he was wearing shorts. He made an issue out of it, but they were right. Rules are rules. Hey, I was wearing jeans, and that's what he changed into. Not necessary to make a scene.

 

Also, I had read that juice was not included after breakfast, but the machines in the Garden Cafe had OJ, Apple Juice, water, iced tea and coffee all day long.

[curious834]

Pillows are one of those personal preference things, I hate a firm pillow. I only use a soft down. I usually pack mine, but am starting to think I could actually skip it this trip. :-)

[CruiseGuy12345]

Cruiseguy and I are following each other around today! :)

 

The pillows, in my opinion were way too soft. I like firm pillows, and these were down. The robes were nice, but I did have to ask for them (even in a penthouse, I guess they forgot to put them back in, not a big deal)

 

Cagney's is only open to concierge level and above, and the greatest breakfast ever! Try the different eggs benedict and OJ!

 

On our last night, we ate at Mambos, and we saw them ask a guy to leave because he was wearing shorts. He made an issue out of it, but they were right. Rules are rules. Hey, I was wearing jeans, and that's what he changed into. Not necessary to make a scene.

 

Also, I had read that juice was not included after breakfast, but the machines in the Garden Cafe had OJ, Apple Juice, water, iced tea and coffee all day long.

 

Ari, were you wearing a NY Yankee cap on the ship? I couldn't stop to talk to him but I saw a guy calling a 3 year old Ben. Wondered if it was you. Really wish I didn't miss the M&G.

 

My BIL wore shorts to Summer Palace one night because he saw people in Indigo the night before wearing shorts. I personally don't understand why anyone has to wear shorts since I never would in any nice restaurant, but he felt the urge. They told him he had to go change and he made a fuss because he saw other people the night before. They said that some people didn't get their luggage and only had shorts and they had a list of cabin numbers. He gave his cabin number and they said he really couldn't wear shorts, but at that point he was sitting down and you couldn't tell he was wearing shorts anyway so they let him stay. My advice: don't wear shorts to dinner or just go to the buffet. Jeans seem to be allowed now and I wore them on 2 nights.

 

Another piece of advice I just thought of: if you like capuccino, espresso or lattes, there is a machine that makes them in the back of the Garden Cafe just before you go outside in the back of the ship. It's free and very good! Also, these coffee drinks are free at dinner - on other cruises I've had to pay for them.

[gr82cu2]

We were also on this cruise. Somehow I missed that there was any kind of meet and greet. Oh well, next time maybe.

 

I'll add a couple more observations.

 

We had a balcony cabin and our pillows were hard as a rock. I asked for a softer pillow but never received one. Maybe the mini-suites and higher have a down pillow but we did not. We also did not have robes but didn't feel the need for one so no big deal.

 

The hair dryer did the job but that dude is heavy!! Do your arm exercises before you go, LOL. The lighting at the vanity is not good for putting on makeup I didn't think.

 

We had more than enough storage space in the closet and shelves provided. I did take my over the door shoe organizer for all the little stuff and was glad I did. There was no drawer space in the balcony cabin. I hung the shoe organizer over the closet door and it worked out just great as it was directly across from the bathroom.

 

All of the specialty restaurants were 2 for 1 except at the Sushi Bar, Teppanyaki, the Le Bistro tasting menu and A La Carte items at Cagney's between 5:30 and 6:30 except the first full sea day which was 2 for 1 price between 5:30 and 10:30. That was lobster night in the main dining rooms so I suspect they were trying to fill the specialty restaurants. We took advantage of it in Le Bistro on the first night and felt like it was a fantastic deal. We also tipped the waiters an additional $5 per person in the cover charge restaurants. They really do take good care of you there.

 

We had breakfast, lunch and dinner in Summer Palace and enjoyed it very much. At dinner it was packed and very noisy though. We found Indigo to be a more enjoyable atmosphere at dinner. The food was quite good at both places. We thought the cafe was average but ok if you were in a hurry. The only dining complaints we had were if you ordered anything to drink other than water it was hard to get them to refill your drink. I thought the iced tea was excellent on the ship as well as the coffee. I usually never drink coffee other than first thing in the morning but I got to craving their coffee. It was that good!! If I had known the iced tea was so good I would have skipped the soda card. Also, the ship had a distinct lack of cookies. My husband is the cookie monster and after the first day we could never find any cookies. Not a complaint, just an observation, LOL.

 

Try the martini tasting if you have a chance. It's $15 and a great time. You get 4 different martinis. They aren't full glasses but more than enough to decide if you like a certain flavor and you get a little buzz. The bartender told us they make different ones each day. They also have a margarita tasting. Get to the bar about 15 minutes early to be sure you get a seat at the bar.

[CruiseGuy12345]

gr82cu2, the M&G info was posted on the "roll call" for this cruise. I didn't make it, however.

 

We had an inside cabin and the pillows were down and very comfortable - 2 soft ones and 2 harder ones. We had 3-4 drawers and 5-6 shelves for clothes, as well as a decent closet.

 

The closet had a light in the back of it (I didn't find it but our neighbors pointed it out) and it works well as a night light, which is imperative for an inside cabin!

 

We had sushi the first night and it was worth the extra $15. The problem was that we weren't hungry enough and ordered too much of it, so some was left over (bad sushi ettiquette!) But it was very good quality, contrary to some of the posts I had read about it. We went the first night to make sure it was fresh.

[Spork]

My husband is also a cookie monster and you are definitely right, they didn't have a lot of them. One day he was on a mission and went to the back of the garden cafe, behind the kids section - I guess that's the great outdoors buffet section and he found wonderful cookies!

 

We did take advantage of the 2 for 1's at 5:30 and we enjoyed Cagney's. The chocolate dessert is excellent there!! My husband liked their cheesecake too.

 

We had an inside cabin for the first time since this was cruise number 3 since July and we were fine with it. The bathroom is small and we didn't get bathrobes but not having a window didn't bother me as much as I thought it might.

Elizabeth

[CruiseGuy12345]

I just remembered there was a German/Austrian buffet on the first sea day at 10:45am in the Great Outdoors. They had an oompa band playing and had different types of sausage, sauerkraut, schpetzl, kenoedel, beef stew and other authentic food. I really enjoyed that! Then the food was still available for the lunch buffet.

 

Did anyone make it to the chocolate buffet? We got there just as they were taking it down and weren't very impressed, but maybe we missed all the good stuff. :(

[cruiser82]

CruiseGuy12345, thanks for posting the information about the 2 for 1 dinners. And TanyaAri I agree with you about the pillows- I love firm pillows and I had about three of those pillows piled up and it was still too soft for me!

[sue402001]

Thanks for the information about the Pearl gottagocruisin. Just reading about her makes me wish my cruise was tomorrow!

[gottogocruisin]

I am reading all of the info from my cruise members and I guess it is because I am over 65, but I could care less about most of the stuff that bothers others. If you REALLY love your pillow, bring it with you. The chocolote buffet was interesting and not super, but it is OK.

I try to have my cup half full most of the time and prefer to look at everything as something I can take away with me. Did I love everything, no, but I did make what i didn't like to my advantage - absolutely.

 

Just remember that you never know how many more you will be on and enjoy every minute of every day. We absolutely loved the Pearl and hope to go to Europe in a couple of years on the same cruise line. I think that speaks volumns for the NCL line.

[rafab1]

Kim, I was also on the (beautiful) Pearl which docked back in Miami this past Friday.

 

We had a mini-suite and there are actually five pillows in the room -- one is tucked inside of the pull-out sofa coach, which pleased my pillow stealing husband to no end!

 

Cannot say enough about the Spinnaker Lounge--either reading and laptopping by day, or dancing and champagne drinking by night. Just fabulous.

 

My husband made new friends bowling in the Bliss Ultra Lounge, and made more friends at the Champagne Bar.

 

We even shed a few ounces at the wonderful gym on Thursday and Friday -- a very large array of cardio machines -- we were truly surpised.

 

Have a wonderful time!

[krystall]

For all of you who are directionally challenged the fish on the carpet all head toward the bow of the ship.

ROFLMAO!!! :D

You're talkin' about me!

I couldn't get my bearings to save my life.

Too funny.

Thanks

[gr82cu2]

Well now I wished I would have asked again for a softer pillow!! When they didn't bring one after I asked I assumed they were all the same. Normally I always travel with my own pillow but didn't this time to save space. I thought I had read somewhere that the Pearl had down pillows but when we got there and didn't get one I thought perhaps I had confused that with our upcoming cruise on the Crown Princess. I wasn't really complaining about it gottogocruisin, just letting others know. Waking up every morning with a stiff neck wasn't fun.

 

We did go to the chocolate buffet but we were still so full from the dinner we had that night at Cagney's that we couldn't eat anything.

 

I never saw the great outdoors section of the buffet. I wonder how we missed that?

 

As we were waiting to disembark on Friday my son asked if we had noticed there was a light in the closet. We had not seen it but I always travel with a little night light that I plugged into the shaver outlet in the bathroom. It worked out fine.

 

We also absolutely loved this cruise and wouldn't hesitate for one second cruising again with NCL.

[zimmerjulie]

Thanks for the tips on the Pearl. She'll be heading our way in a couple of months!

[sazzle99]

Great tips and reviews - thank you. We are on the Pearl next Feb on the 9 day Southern Caribbean - it seems soooo far away but I'm loving reading all the great reviews

[TanyaAri]

Ari, were you wearing a NY Yankee cap on the ship? I couldn't stop to talk to him but I saw a guy calling a 3 year old Ben. Wondered if it was you. Really wish I didn't miss the M&G.

 

That's me! Seems like the whole ship knew us as Ben's parents!! :D