Serious question. And, no, I'm not a troll.

[tammymacb]

Due to some scheduling issues, our family vacation has been set. We only have one week that will work with DDs school. I've looked at several cruise lines and almost everyone is doing a Western itenerary. I don't want to go Western.

 

The most appealing cruise happening that week is on the Pearl. Now, I've sailed most of the big lines, CCL, DCL, X, RCL, NCL....and the one NCL cruise I did, I hated. Now, granted, it was a much older ( now retired ) ship, and the weather was horrible ( certainly not NCL's fault ) but I'm having a hard time commiting to sailing NCL again.

 

We'll be a family of 4, DH and I ( 40s ) and two teens.

 

Will we enjoy the Pearl? How is the teen areas?

 

I'd love some current info to help me decide if I want to give NCL another chance.

 

Thanks!

[Mooder]

Well, I love NCL and the Pearl is one of my favorite ships so obviously I would think you'll enjoy it. It would help if we knew what you didn't like about your first NCL cruise. The weather can make a huge difference - I waited 12 years between my first and second cruises, largely becasue of the horrible weather on my first. And the Pearl is a very new, beautiful ship. So, those two things promise to be different. If you tell us what else you disliked, then maybe we can tell you if those things are still the case.

[Sooners]

My wife and I are in our 40's with a teen girl and son. We have been on RCI, Disney and NCL. My kids have loved every ship they have been on. If you are open to freestyle dining, then I think you would love the Pearl. We are getting ready for our 4rth trip on her!

[flowerchild]

I think you will enjoy the casualness of an NCL cruise...Freestyle dining works well with families...I hated fighting with my DD, trying to get all of us ready in time for a set dinner time on our last cruise together...with Freestyle, you can eat when YOU are ready.

 

There are pros and cons to each cruiseline, and Freestyle is definitely a pro...

[newmexicoNita]

Due to some scheduling issues, our family vacation has been set. We only have one week that will work with DDs school. I've looked at several cruise lines and almost everyone is doing a Western itenerary. I don't want to go Western.

 

The most appealing cruise happening that week is on the Pearl. Now, I've sailed most of the big lines, CCL, DCL, X, RCL, NCL....and the one NCL cruise I did, I hated. Now, granted, it was a much older ( now retired ) ship, and the weather was horrible ( certainly not NCL's fault ) but I'm having a hard time commiting to sailing NCL again.

 

We'll be a family of 4, DH and I ( 40s ) and two teens.

 

Will we enjoy the Pearl? How is the teen areas?

 

I'd love some current info to help me decide if I want to give NCL another chance.

 

Thanks!

No one can guarantee you any line is right but the Pearl has a great reputation. You ask about the teen area, like most ships the teens often will go to the first night get together and then pretty much find each just to hang out. Sometimes at the arcade, maybe the bowling alley, or wherever.. I can't speak from personal experience, but I have talked to families on lots of NCL cruises and the teens seem to always have a good time. If you are looking for a lot of organized activities for them, then you and they might be disappointed.

It is hard for me to understand someone liking Carnival and not NCL, but again we are all different. One neat thing about Freestyle and teens, the kids do not have to eat with you, they can choose to go to the dining room at a different time. That depends on your preferance. I will add, Disney and NCL are totally different types of cruise experiences. I would think the teens might feel Disney is a bit too young for them thus liking it then and now could be different. Cabins on Carnival and Disney are bigger than on NCL, cabins on RCI and X are similar in size, depending on the class you cruised. Older RCI ships have very small cabins.

 

I hope this helps a little. I will only add one more thing, to enjoy any cruise you have to put past experiences out of your mind and expect the best..No comaring one line to the other, as each has strong and weak points.

 

Nita

[terrymtex01]

OP.. as far as NCL ships, granted we have only been on four of them, but for us the Pearl is the nicest of them all. I guess maybe because she is newer than the other three we have been on. You will have a blast with your kids bowling at sea. It is unreal the laughs you will have trying to bowl with the ship going up and down with the waves.

 

I understand what you mean when you talk about NCL being the one cruise you did not like.. for me, its Carnival. And, the Carnival cruise we were on was in the middle of a hurricane. Am I willing to give Carnival another try? Probably, if everything lined up and it was the best deal for what we were looking at. I hated the Carnival cruise we took, but a bad cruise is better than no cruise. 8-)

[CT Cruiser10]

OP.. as far as NCL ships, granted we have only been on four of them, but for us the Pearl is the nicest of them all. I guess maybe because she is newer than the other three we have been on. You will have a blast with your kids bowling at sea. It is unreal the laughs you will have trying to bowl with the ship going up and down with the waves.

 

I understand what you mean when you talk about NCL being the one cruise you did not like.. for me, its Carnival. And, the Carnival cruise we were on was in the middle of a hurricane. Am I willing to give Carnival another try? Probably, if everything lined up and it was the best deal for what we were looking at. I hated the Carnival cruise we took, but a bad cruise is better than no cruise. 8-)

 

How is the bowling alley configured? Does it go from front to back of the ship, or from side to side? If it goes from side to side, then you could use the ships motion on the waves to develop a hook shot that you never knew you had.

 

I've been on 3 cruises, each on a different line (Carnival, RCCL, NCL). I had a great time on the Carnival cruise, but not as much on the other 2. It is mostly due to me allowing the weather to set the tone for the cruise. I don't think that I saw a single cloud while on the Carnival cruise (Western Caribbean in March). I never saw the sun on the RCCL cruise (Eastern Caribbean in March; different year). A hurricane out at sea prevented me from enjoying the beach on my NCL cruise (Bahamas-Floriday in September). I'm sailing the Spirit to Bermuda in August and have already decided to just enjoy the cruise regardless of the weather.

[Fishbait17]

You ask about the teen area, like most ships the teens often will go to the first night get together and then pretty much find each just to hang out. Nita

 

On the Pearl, the teens ended up in the Spinnaker lounger every night until the wee hours (both cruises). My daughters loved the Pearl when they were teens - once we had four teens with us...

 

Another thing to consider is whether you like to dress casual or dress up. My daughters LOVE to dress up, and we (the parents) do not. That's where Freestyle really worked out for us - the girls would put on their dancing dresses and high heels, hubby and I donned khakis and we all went to dinner together and nobody felt out of place. After dinner we would go our separate ways. And, as someone stated, the girls also enjoyed having dinner alone or with some new friends a couple of times.. But if you really like formal nights and assigned seating and tablemates, NCL is probably not for you.

 

The last thing I would like to recommend is that you look at an AB suite for your family. If it is within your budget, it is WELL worth it with teens. They will have their own (very small) bedroom and bathroom, and you will all share a living room dining room combo and is usually comparable in price to two staterooms. NCL suites beat any on the business - the service and attention are outstanding.

 

Robin

[LJH1]

due to some scheduling issues, our family vacation has been set. We only have one week that will work with dds school. I've looked at several cruise lines and almost everyone is doing a western itenerary. I don't want to go western.

 

The most appealing cruise happening that week is on the pearl. Now, i've sailed most of the big lines, ccl, dcl, x, rcl, ncl....and the one ncl cruise i did, i hated. Now, granted, it was a much older ( now retired ) ship, and the weather was horrible ( certainly not ncl's fault ) but i'm having a hard time commiting to sailing ncl again.

 

We'll be a family of 4, dh and i ( 40s ) and two teens.

 

Will we enjoy the pearl? How is the teen areas?

 

I'd love some current info to help me decide if i want to give ncl another chance.

 

Thanks!

 

simple don't go ncl

[MrLee]

simple don't go ncl

 

Gee, that's really helpful! :rolleyes:

[BIG_Steve]

How long ago did you sail NCL, and what exactly didn't you like? (Besides the weather.)

[tammymacb]

How long ago did you sail NCL, and what exactly didn't you like? (Besides the weather.)

 

It's been a long while. I honestly can't remember the year. I can tell you I sailed the Majesty, and it was about to finish it's run with NCL. Very old ship, very few kids ( my children have cruised with us every time- we do cruises a "family trip" ) and a whole lot of "Mooooooom, I'm bored..." I spent much of the week reading and looking forward to Grand Cayman as we were meeting some friends there to dive. There was a problem with the ships thrusters ( ? ) and we got into every port late and very late into GC and missed the opportunity for the dive...I remember the room was basically the size of the bed...The game room was about the size of half a cabin.....

 

I could go on, but I'm not here to bash NCL, just to find out what's changed and decide if I should try again.

 

Thanks!

[michigan tim]

We've sailed NCL, RCL, CCL, Costa and Princess. Our 3 NCL cruises were great, and all on different class ships (Sky, Dawn, Pearl)!

[dalgirl]

I say go for it. We have always enjoyed the Pearl - it is a beautiful ship and your kids will most likely like the idea of freestyle. Our cruise during spring break last year had a lot of teens on board and they all seemed to be having a great time. If that is the only line you can cruise, then give NCL another chance. Your expectations can only go up:)

[peg013]

The Magesty is nothing like the Pearl. I would expect you to be pleasantly surprised if you decide on the Pearl.

[Vyhanek]

Yes then definately give NCL another try. The Pearl is a really nice ship! I think if my only experience was with the Majesty I would feel the same way! Yuck, yuck and yuck. You can research the Pearl and see all the latest features I think you would have a hard time finding a better ship on any fleet.

 

Now if you said you really couldn't stand the food or you couldn't stand how long it takes to eat dinner in the main dining room or if you said you absolutely hate waiting for a table in the main dining room then I would say don't come back to NCL. These aren't your issues.

 

Your kids won't be any more bored on the Pearl than they would on any other cruise line. The daytime activities are nearly identical.

[RambleRocket]

When I was researching different cruise lines, people told me to stay away from NCL. I heard bad things about the food, entertainment, staff etc. I booked an AB suite (despite their warnings) and it was the best cruise to date. I really enjoyed NCL and I did not experience any of the bad stuff people told me about. Sometimes, you just have to experience it for yourself. NCL had the itinerary that worked for us, dates that worked for us, and the cabin type we wanted. Plus, the price was good and we got OBC :) It may be worth giving them another try. You may be pleasantly surprised! :D

[amistad]

Several years ago after a few cruises on CCL we booked a cruise on the Holiday, at the time we did not realize it was tiny, old and smelly, to top things off my wallet got stollen, our cabin got flooded and I guess you get the picture. We called it the cruise from Hell. I thought I would never sail Carnival again, but we did. To make a long story short we have never had a bad cruise since, and we have been on over 25 cruises so give it a try, I think the Majesty was probably NCL's tiny, old and smelly ship.

[endymion6942]

Since 2005 (after Katrina) My family and I have been on 7 cruises. The 8th will be the Epic in June and the 9th will be the Pearl in December.

As a family we have been on Celebrity, Royal, Princess and NCL.

The two teenage sons (currently 13 and 17 ) love NCL. They hate Princess and are O.K. with Royal.

The bottom line is that we have found that the NCL cruise are the best for my family.

The Pearl is a Jewel class ship and I think that this class of ship id fantastic for families.

If you do book the Pearl, I don't think you will be sorry.

[Don Haynes]

You will enjoy NCL's newer ships. The Majesty was an old, small ship with some of the smallest cabins at sea. All of NCL ships today have balconies and several dining establishments to choose from, plus bigger and better children facilities. I don't think its fair to compare a Vega or a Nova to an Impala...

[HuggyBee]

Sailed the Pearl to Alaska last August. Definitely a nice ship, but the buffet area was total chaos and the MDR was not as good as Carnival. Also had a bad experience at Cagney's. We found the ship to be very crowded. I'm not sure if a Caribbean itinerary would make a difference since there is more time in port than on an Alaskan cruise.

[flashdog_1]

You haven't told us what week you must cruise. Is it during hurricane season, or again in March?

 

We cannot predict the weather many months in advance, but there is a website (or maybe more than one) where you can read historical weather for that city (temperatures, precipitation). Google "historical weather+Miami" or other ports on the way to get an idea.

 

One of the reasons prices are good in September is because it is hurricane season. But prices are also good in January when no hurricanes can be found in the Caribbean, so there are other factors that drive prices (like Christmas is over and people are tired and have spent all their money?).

[tutuwahineLV]

How is the bowling alley configured? Does it go from front to back of the ship, or from side to side? If it goes from side to side, then you could use the ships motion on the waves to develop a hook shot that you never knew you had.

 

front to back...depending on the seas...the alley may be much closer (or farther) from you release of the ball than you anticipate...lol:eek: . heard quit a few 'lofting' the ball...I certainly would think twice about a room below those lanes...heheheheh

[Azure Moon]

My husband and I loved the Pearl!

 

We usually see very young children, very few if any older children to teens on our cruises, but we did see a few older kids on the Pearl. They seemed to be having as good of a time as the adults on the ship. They were playing basketball and shuffleboard, and the large chess set out on deck, and early on during the White Hot Party.

 

The Pearl has a Wii in the atrium area (don't know if, or when, this was used, but would be surprised if it wasn't as some point during the cruise), the bowling alley, and a sit-on/ride video game/machine where you're "driving" in the Bliss Lounge (hubby and I tried that out - it was kind of fun to do once).

 

I like the size of the Jewel class and Dawn class ships of NCL...big enough people are spread out pretty good. Lots of great public rooms, nice areas outside. Nice pool and slide. Awesome buffet!

 

I think you'd be very pleased with the Pearl.

[njhorseman]

It's been a long while. I honestly can't remember the year. I can tell you I sailed the Majesty, and it was about to finish it's run with NCL. Very old ship, very few kids ( my children have cruised with us every time- we do cruises a "family trip" ) and a whole lot of "Mooooooom, I'm bored..." I spent much of the week reading and looking forward to Grand Cayman as we were meeting some friends there to dive. There was a problem with the ships thrusters ( ? ) and we got into every port late and very late into GC and missed the opportunity for the dive...I remember the room was basically the size of the bed...The game room was about the size of half a cabin.....

 

I could go on, but I'm not here to bash NCL, just to find out what's changed and decide if I should try again.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Can't argue that the Majesty was a smaller, older ship...although not really very old...I think she is only about 18 years old now and owned by Louis Cruise Lines...but I'm having trouble with your statement that it was a long while ago and the ship was about to end its run with NCL. The Majesty was still cruising for NCL in October 2009...about 6 months ago.