Norweigan Pearl 10 day Alaska Review

Just returned from our 10 day Alaska cruise aboard the Norweigan Pearl. Alaska is spectactular! Flew from West Palm Beach to Vancouver the day before and stayed at the Metropolitan Hotel right in the middle of downtown. (4 blocks from Cananda Place, across street from Pacific Mall). Beautiful hotel. Had a room with a wall of windows. Vancouver is a very easy to walk town and enjoyed wandering around downtown.

The Pearl was docked at Ballentine Pier (in a rough neighborhood)so had to taxi to port. Embarkation was quick and easy. Our cabin (5103 - inside) was on a quiet hallway. The kitchen from the Indigo dining room was overhead but we generally didnt hear much noise. On entering our room was our first complaint. The vanity desk was covered in something sticky (showed it had not been cleaned between cruises) and the room service menu book was sticky as well. After a trip to the Guest Services desk someone finally showed up to clean it. The cabin is definately smaller than thoses inside ones on other ships (Princess/Carnival) we had been on. The bathroom had pros and cons...loved the shower with doors, not enough counter space and the toilet was on an angle. Had to sit sideways all cruise. Room steward did a good job but failed to introduce himself and never addressed us by our names.

Food was very bland and uninteresting in both dining rooms and buffet. It was almost like it was on purpose to force you to pay for their speciality resturants (which we never used). The one night they did have lobster it was on the buffet and they were so small you got about one bite! My husband and I agreed that the best meal that was served was at breakfast.

Entertainment was ok what I saw of it. Was really disappointed that on sea days. Not much to do except play in casino. Some folks did attempt the pools and hot tubs but since we are from the south it was a bit to chilly for us.

Ports (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Icy Strait,Sitka and Victoria BC) were great. In Icy Strait dont take shuttle (10.00) to town. There is nothing there except a eagles nest with babies to young to see. Ketchikan was a beautiful little town. Very walkable....tried reindeer saugage there and loved it. In Juneau took a tour (got right outside ship) of the city, to Mendahall Glacier and to Alaskan Brewing Co. $32.00 alot cheaper than ship charges. In Skagway did the White Pass railway. This is a must. Well worth the money. Sitka is a very pretty fishing town and very walkable. Victoria was a favorite port. The city is so clean and crisp. Flowers were in bloom everywhere. After all the cruise food went to McDonalds there and had the best burger I have ever had from any McDonalds!

Disembarkation on the Pearl was actually a breeze. I give them kudos for this process.

Spent a day in Seattle before taking a red eye home. Went to Pikes Place Market and watched them toss the fish around.

Would be happy to answer any questions

Overall our cruise was great. Alaska was a bucket list for us and I am so glad we got to check it off our list.

Thanks for sharing about your trip.

Thank you for your review. How about the shows on the ship? What other activities did you do on the ship? I will be cruising to AK (June 14th) on the Jewel.

Favorite show was the crew talent show. Ren who is the Washy washy guy was really good and the Four Fountains was funny. I forgot to mention that the weather was spectactular. Only rained a little while we were in Juneau. Rest of days in 50's/60's.

Thanks for the review, I appreciate you taking the time to do this.

Thank you so much for posting your review. I always love hearing about others' adventures in AK.

I will say that unlike you, we loved the town of Hoonah. We were dropped off there after our whale watching tour, and took time to walk around the town and neighborhoods. We always find it interesting to see how people live in other parts of our country. Obviously we all have different interests. For us, Hoonah was a pleasure to explore. We ended up walking back to Icy Strait Point after we were done strolling around Hoonah.

thank you for the review - I was on the Pearl in 12 and had a wonderful time in AK. Did not get to see IPS or Sitka. I have also had one messy cabin on the Pride of America - when I complained to Hskp they gave us a free drink while they cleaned the cabin again. Our room steward doted on us for the rest of the cruise. I also try to avoid the first cruise of the season as often times there are crew changes and people are still trying to get used to the ship and the trip.

I am glad that you enjoyed AK.

Thank you so much for your review. I was so excited to read my first Alaska review for 2014!! I will be on the Rhapsody of the Seas for my first Alaska cruise in a little over 30 days. After reading it I am now even more excited!! Thanks for taking the time to tell us all about it. THANKS!

Do you remember the name of the tour operator you used in Juneau? How long was the tour and did you have enough time to really enjoy Mendahall Glacier and Alaskan Brewing Co? If you could elaborate on that I would be very interested as it sounds like something we may do when we're there.

Glad you had a wonderful Alaskan cruise.