jenniferandwhatnot

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this review! I have been following along in spurts as work becomes too tedious.

Great photos!

Hooray! I see you on our meet and greet sheet. Did you see the one by Vegaschic? It never got finished but it was amazing, even if it was pre-drydock. I’ve only ever been on the breakaway so I am interested to see how I do on a smaller ship!

 

 

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Oooooooh I'm going to look up that review. I have 75 days to kill. :D

Yay! I'm on this cruise with you. Nice that you're doing a live, I won't be buying the internet package. Another thing I've found that there isn't a whole lot of reviews of the Pearl. I've seen a few, one was good, one had photos that were now unavailable due to hosting stuff, and the others were olllllllllld, before the drydock.

Thanks for the great review!

Thanks for the review - uggggggh I need an ice cream sandwich NOW! :)

Loving the pics!

Chef's Table looked amazing! I passed last time we were on Carnival and am questioning my decision!

Really found your blog very interesting, we are doing the same cruise in February and wondered if you could answer a few questions? We are a group of 8 and one is a very bad sailor (his first cruise!) was sea sickness a problem on your voyage? Did you take the drinks and specialty restaurant packages, if so did you think it was worthwhile and did you have a problem getting your glass refilled particularly with wine at dinner time? Thanks very much. Looking forward to the rest of your blog.

Just jumping in regarding your seasick sailor - I am very prone to seasickness and I swear by the prescription Scopolamine patch. I would have been sick without it for a couple days. It gave me dry mouth but I'd take that over seasickness any day.

Oceania (the mid tier cruise line in the NCL group) does a nice tea. Here is a link to some pictures from a recent cruise:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=54867023&postcount=115

Thank you for linking the photos! Love the white-gloved service.

Also, that Christmas tree in one of the photos makes me a little sad that the holidays are over for now.

So we were happy to notice one of NCL packages included afternoon tea served in your cabin. OMG we laughed when it came. It was a selection of tea bags, hot water and the same kind of cookies they serve you at Great Outdoors [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] Nothing more. No finger sandwiches. No scones with jam and clotted cream. Not even brewed tea [emoji23] Just hot water, tea bags (mind you the selection was extensive [emoji16]) and cookies. Must have been some sweetener or sugar too. If I find a pic of it I will post later but not sure if we took pics of it as well...it looked quite nothing to take a pics.

 

 

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Aww, good to know it was laughable. I was going to look into that package, but I suppose I can just head up to the buffet. Would love to see pics if you can find them. :)

Love the Panama Canal certificate! Definitely a nice touch.

I almost have my guy talked into a Panama Canal cruise for 2019. We are based in LA, so would only need to pay airfare one way. I've almost got him convinced. :D

Princess. like most of the lines with British heritage, serve a very nice afternoon tea. The ultimate, is having tea in Cunard's Queen Mary 2.... http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-review-tea.html

That is exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for! Cunard seems very fancy.

For the ones who has taken ncl in the past, ncl used to have an afternoon tea on the SS Norway ( we cruised it twice). I thought i remembered it was provided, and after googling for it, found this:

 

English high tea is served in the afternoons in Club Internationale on the International Deck.

 

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I really find all things ship fascinating - Google tells me that the SS Norway had a terrible boiler explosion that eventually led to it being scrapped in India.

On the smaller ships, there is usually scones with jam and cream

 

On the Jewel they were available in the Great Outdoors each afternoon.

Nice. My next ship will be the Pearl.

Difference is the wine tasting cost $$

Oh, I suppose it wouldn't be covered in the UBP :loudcry:

The ones on Princess are very nice indeed and I did attend eons ago both times we sailed Princess. Carnival was a "hot mess" on one of my cruises. They ran out of items and then said, "oh my we are sorry the baker did not make enough". The water was not hot for brewing teas no matter which variety. Yep, I did bring all of this to the notice of the head person in the dining room at the time and customer relations. They send my DD and I a slew of desserts to our cabin. I chalked it up to a "Carnival 4-day don't expect much experience" and moved on. It would be nice to have this offered on NCL but they do have a wine tasting. ;)

I mean... I'm also a fan of wine and wouldn't mind an afternoon wine time. ;p

A purchase of the Romance Package has a day you decide for tea time in your cabin

Good to know, I will look into this. Thanks!

Nothing on NCL like they do on Princess which is a great pity. Afternoon Tea on a sea day on Princess we always look forward to.

I'm actually reading through a Live review on Princess right now, and so far I'm impressed.

Nope, not that I know of ... on NCL ... something like this, in case the butler did something up in Haven

https://www.dropbox.com/s/y66cfuf57pctv35/MDR%20-%20High%20Tea.jpg?dl=0

 

Done it @CCL several years ago in the MDR - it is a scaled down, modified one ... nothing like the real Afternoon Tea, properly served with a 3-tier cake plate/stand.

Wow, that looks nice.

No Haven for us unless we try to go for an upgrade!

Not on any NCL ship I've ever been on, unless I've missed it, which is always a possibility! :)

Yeah, I've never seen anyone mention it around here. Thanks!

Title says it all. Carnival had an afternoon tea in the MDR on sea days, just wondering if NCL has something similar?

:D

Great review! I love the photos of the canal crossing! I'm always especially interested in photo reviews that aren't of the newer, really huge ships.

I am tempted to buy a magnetic whiteboard for our next cruise!

So happy to see more about the Pearl!

I know that she recently went into dry dock. How is the condition of the ship? Are the updates apparent or does it feel a bit aged?

A trip of a lifetime :)