LAFFNVEGAS LIVE From the NCL Pearl Heading North Up The West Coast

[brunolvr]

Ryan Rabe is Concierge and Denis Prguda is HD (at least he was yesterday :))

 

Thanks, Monte! It's almost time for your cruise to Alaska! It sounds like you guys are going to have a great time -- hope the weather cooperates for you.:)

[swedish weave]

Lisa -- Have a good one !! If you have Denis, Tony Lockett (F&B) and Captain Lars, you have struck the mother lode of great guys. Expect a fun time !!!!

[noreddye]

Have a wonderful cruise.

[marelind]

Lisa, have a "smashing" time on the Pearl. We got off today as you got on. We were in a deck 10 owner's suite. It is indeed the suite life. Pampered for 14 days. If you have Juremar as your butler, and I think you will, say hi to him from Ken and Mary in 10004. We got home and tried to call his extension for our lunch and he didn't answer! :eek: :D

 

Can't wait to hear your experiences Live on the Pearl.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

OK Just a quick note,.... Absolute perfection!!!! so far except for the very begining of check int which I will explain later.

Sail Away at our cabin has been nice, Just wanted to report in. :)

 

Yes Juremar is our Butler and he is so great!!

 

We have reservations for Teppanyaki at 6 for the 6 of us. There already has been a lot of laughes with the 6 of us :D

I will write a full report tonight :)

[LadyFurn]

I'll bet Tom is excited about those dinner reservations:eek: Do they have steak? Have a wonderful time and thanks for visiting with us last week!

[Vicki'sMom]

I am so looking forward to reading your reports Lisa! :) How fun to follow the Pearl up the coast! ;)

 

New to NCL, but not new to cruising. We'll be on the Pearl 5/30 in a Courtyard Villa. Can't wait for the Suite Life!!! :D

[DMH15]

Lisa, I know I am going to love your reports!

 

Bon voyage!

[DAllenTCY]

Dear Lisa,

Watch out for the sake! Great to hear that you and Tom are enjoying all of the dining options. The teppanyaki is my favorite, but it's so small that you have to plan way ahead. Same for the other alternative restaurants. If you haven't booked them by the second night, you might have problems getting in. Let me know if the french style restaurant still is advertising that the salad is prepared "tableside". Last time for us it came from the kitchen. When I asked about the descrepancy, the waitress said "we don't do it any more tableside". Then I showed her on the menu......and she just shrugged her shoulders!

 

 

David

[krosmon]

Looking forward to your posts with a little jealousy. And to get such a nice suite. Say hello to everyone - hope to be with you on Yummers III.

[Chuckwick3]

We leave on the Star this coming Saturday. We are new to NCL but not new to cruising. I look forward to reading your stories and posts...enjoy your cruise!!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Saturday April 24, 2010

Good Evening From the Norwegian Pearl.

While exhausted and tired I have to say it has been a great day and Tom and I are both extremely please with our choice of being on the NCL Pearl and of having this Aft Suite.

I will start up from where I last left off, we boarded our Southwest flight from LAS to LAX. It was to be a one hour and 5 minute flight. There were not a lot of passengers on board and we were pulling away from the jetway wight at our departure time of 7:25 AM, we were up in the air in just a few minutes then the amazing part we were actually landing at 8:05 and were at the gate at 8:10. Now that is the way to get to sunny California. Of course with very few people on the plane our luggage was also off quickly. We decided to just sit and relax at LAX for about 30 minutes knowing that there was not a big rush to get to the pier since we were so early. We did head outside to catch the Super Shuttle I pre ordered that too was super easy. I guess that is why they call it Super Shuttle :D

We arrived at the San Pedro Pier 92 at about 10:10 and the last group of passengers from the previous Panama Canal voyage were disembarking but we headed over to the main doors where there was already a short line waiting to get it. Very soon the Stevedores were by to pick up our luggage. Of course aklk of this was very simliar to when we came here last November for our 2 Night Star cruise. The doors to go thru security and then to check in opoened at 10:45 and in we proceeded. Last time we were here both sides were open of which the Suite side was over on the right hand side. Unfortunately this was probably the only flawed part of the day. They had everyone go to the check in line on the left side including Suite passengers. But because we were Suite passengers they could not give us our check in papers and ship cards. Instead they checked us in and told us to just go sit and they promised to come over to get us and escort us to the Suite area when that opened up. Well unfortunately they did not do that and after about 15 minutes when it was obvious that others were checking in on the right side we went over there, of they wanted to give us a boarding number again and make us wait in line. Finally I just went to where the Suite passenger section was and sure enough that is where our cards were and we met Juremar our Butler. Once we got that figured out the rest of the day went perfectly.

We were soon escorted on board the ship to go to Cagney's for lunch. I immediately noticed how similiar everything felt to the Star. Much like the way it is that once you have been on a HAL shio you know your way around. I will say that I truly miss the Champagne Welcome Embarkation. We were fortunately enought to meet in the elevator Silver Girl from our CC Roll Call and the famously well know on all the ships Mr. Happy. What a wonder gentleman he is, Tom an I each got a little happy face key change from him.

Cagney's is very much like I remember it on the Star and the Embarkation lunch menu for the Suite passengers is great. While Tom had the Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail and the New York Steak that he is was really good. I had the Crab Cakes and Sea Scallops. OMG was that one of the best meals I have had in a long time. To highlight the great meal we each had a glass of champagne then finished it off with dessert.

After lunch we headed to the Garden Cafe, No not to get another meal but to find our friends Frank and Michelle aka CC FCorey and Brad and Nick Brad is IntheWASide and ride this second cannot remember nick's handle. We found them quickly and shortly after having a few good laughes they announced that the cabins were ready. We had a bit of a cabin crawl between the three cabins. Nick and Brad have a Forward Deck 11 Mini Suite, Frank an Michelle have an after Balcony and we have the Romance Suite on deck 10 aft which is now being called the Satan Suite because of the cabin number. Of course the last cabin we came to was ours. Now Imust say the pictures I had seen of our cabin I thought the decorating was a bit 70's College Dorm Style but in person it does not look nearly as bad, that or maybe it starts to grow on you.

The size of the cabin is very similar to that of the Corner aft Suites on the HAL Vista Class but layed out a bit differently. I really like the bathrooms much better on NCL, while a bit smaller bathroom than a HAL Suite it is nicely arranged. Since our luggage had not yet arrived we Frank and Michelle and Tom and I decided to go take a walk around the ship and go see the Spa. We immdiately loved the Spa and Frank and Michelle and myself purchased passes for the week. I look forward to checking it our tomorrow morning.

OK I normally do not do this in my writing but I am so tired I cannot keep my eyes open, we have been up since 4 AM and of course did not get much sleep so I think I am going to sign off for tonight.

I promise to finished telling you about our first day tomorrow and trust me is it all very good, especially Teppanyaki.

Signing off from the Free Stylin Norwegian Pearl.

[CaptData]

Thank you for this first report.

[debnjoe1438]

I look forward to the reading. Have you ever thought of writing a book:rolleyes:

[glendaleazcruiser]

Hi Lisa,

 

I’m looking so forward to reading your reports. We will be taking the same cruise, in the same cabin as you next year for our first suite experience. Have a great time.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

OK Let’s see where did I leave off,…..

After the Spa Tour we did some more exploring of the ship and yes there are definitely some differences from the Star and those differences are actually very nice improvements. I thought the shops lay out was very nice but unfortunately did not find the merchandise they offer that great. They even had all their Alaska clothing out which I expected but NCL’s clothing line is…. Well how can I put it…Cheap looking and the t-shirts that say large look like petite small. I know that was the case when we were on the Star. I like purchase Logo wear but I need it to fit to appreciate it ;) I need it to fit to appreciate it. So now why I did not check out all the shops, I still need to go check out the one in the Atrium area that has cosmetics I am going to state that of the three cruise lines PCL, NCL and HAL Princess wins hands down. They own and operate their own shops and they had have items to sell that appeal to everyone with great prices and excellent quality. NCL is operated by Dufrey and Columbian Emeralds and while they may do better in the European market I think they missed the boat totally on what Americans and Canadians would purchase. Then there is HALwhich is operated by a company that has most of the Cruise Lines shops which can be hit or miss with items but at least the sizing of clothing usually always fits.Well, At least I know I will be saving a lot of money this way because Tom could not find anything either and always likes to buy a shirt. Although I am sure he will keep looking.

We also checked out the Bliss Lounge, Oh MY……:eek: We had some laughes in their and I played model laying down lounging. Now I am not sure if Frank is going to black mail me with these photos.

It was then time for Life Boat aka Must Drill, it seems all the cruise lines are loosening up the requirements for this.Last time on the Star it was the same as our last HAL in that we were outside on the deck in our Life Boat section wearing our Life Vests which was just like HAL except it seemed a bit longer. HAL no longer requires you bring your Life Vest and neither does NCL. Our Life Boat section was actually in the Summer Palace. Excpet for getting everyone there it was extremely quick and painless.

After Life Boat Drill we headed up to our cabin, to my amzament it was not that hard to grab an elevator, not like on HAL and Princess. Which BTW reminds me the age demographics is very mixed with equal parts young, Senior and those of us inbetween. I do really like that.

Once back in our cabin we unpacked although my suit case had not yet arrived so Tom got a head start. Now the interesting thing is the Walk Thru Closet, No not Walk in but Walk thru you can open the closet fro either side. That did make it easy for hanging things up when you are both unpacking.

We hosted a little Sail Away Party In our cabin for the 6 of us which was Fun with lots of laughes. It was almost 6 when the phone rang that the Teppanyaki was not having a 6 PM seating but they could accommodate us at 7:00 PM so we said that was fine. So we sat around talking a bit longer than at almost 7 ran down to the Lotus Garden area. The 6 of us had our own Table and we actually had a fantastic time. The food was wonderful, we all had Shrimp Michelle had the Shrimp and Scallops and the rest had the Filet with Shrimp. I think we all agreed that was the nperfect start to the great 7 days. The food was so good and I know that none of us walked away hungry. I really think it is so worth the $25.00 per person.

We then headed off to the show which was the “NEW Welcome Aboard Show” This is kind of a tid bit of the upcoming acts with a bit of Talk Show thrown in. Very entertaining. Just from the tidbits it is again obvious that NCL is so above HAL and Princess in entertainments. It is kind of like going to a Cirque show like “O” in Vegas and saying Oh MY!!!! Very very talented. But then I have been saying for years that HAL should get rid of Stilletto or spend more money to get better talent. I will say that there was a dance last night that I swear use to work for HAL and I saw her on the Oosterdam a few times.

After the show (late show) we all were tired from our long day and called it a night.

Ahhhh yes, I can now tell you a bit about this morning.

We slept wonderfully last night, definitely nice beds in the Suites and there is nothing better than sleeping on the ship especially in the aft. Now the only problem was that middle of the night wake up when you have to go to the bathroom and you are half asleep. On HAL in our favorite corner aft or even the S Suites I basically knew how many steps to the bathroom and where to step up into it. OK I really had to get my head together to figure this one out lol so I am thinking NCL but the problem is from the last time in November the Toilet was on the other side in the bathroom. But never fear I figured it out before it was too late ;)

This morning is absolutely amazing, we both slept in till about 8 and opened up the slider to our balcony wake view and it is warm, I mean really warm and if I did not know better I would swear we were heading to Mexico .This has got to be the most perfect ever aft cabin. There is no wind back there, the sun is shining and the sound of the wake sounds like you are sitting on the beach. I am sitting here in my P.J’s sipping great coffee from the coffee maker that is a bit like my Keurig with the slider wide open, writing here at the table getting down right warm from the sun on my back. I think my ankle has already gotten sun burnt. I have to admit this is about has perfect as it can get. OK it did take me a couple of tries with the coffee maker, the first cup I made ended up being tea which Tom drank but the second cup I made was coffee but I had to stop it so it would not over flow. :D

Tom has headed off with book in hand and was going to go have breakfast in Cagneys I wanted to finish this and then head to the Spa. Although I really would enjoy one more cup of coffee and just sit and enjoy the absolute wonder wake balcony.

I will admit here I am going to be very bad, we have a HUGE Roll Call and while I have not been extremely active I have posted frequently but the Meet and Greet is at 11:00 today. It is just a very bad time for me, it breaks up the day in a bad way, If it would have been much later in the afternoon I would have gone but with wanting to go to the Spa Thermal Suite and after that needing to come back and get showered up and ready for the day it just does not work. So unfortunately I will not make it. I do think that Brad and Nick were going to try to go so they can say “Hi” for Tom and I. But hey I am on NCL and like it says in the Free Style Daily……OK, we know this looks like a schedule (gasp!) But, remember, your free to Whatever!!! I like that, and that is what I am going to do J

Well, let me get this posted, grab my Swim Suit because I hear the Thermal Suite calling me.

Signing off from the Free Styling NCL Pearl. :)

[Candy]

Ooohh... Methinks this cruise is All About Lisa! We need cabin photos!

 

 

[IrishColleen53]

My dad is not doing well at all. I would like to go back to Iowa next week but I'm not sure how I could access your frequent flyer miles. Please let me know, Thanks, Colleen

[TTown Traveller]

Have fun! We just disembarked as you were waiting to embark. Awesome ship! Be sure to say hi to Guillermo at the Sky High from Dennis and Carla. I'm looking forward to hearing about your adventures as several of our CC friends were doing a B2B and staying on with you for the Pacific Coastal.

Gee, haven't even unpacked yet and already wish I was back on board!

Happy sailing.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Sunday April 25, 2010

OMG I really do not know where to begin. Other than our 30 Year Anniversary Cruise on the Oosterdam in 2007 this by far has been one of the best days ever on a cruise.

This morning shortly after finishing my post I checked our little mail box outside the door right before I left for the Spa and to my amazement we were invited to Dine with the Captain this evening. OK we are avid cruisers and have been on HAL 161 days but never ever have we been invited to dine with the Captain. Dinner with the Captain was to be at 7:30 in Le Bistro and off course I called in and excepted the Invitation and this evening was also the evening of the VIP Reception Cocktail Party at 6:00 PM in Bliss. We were told by Ryan our Concierge that our friends were also invited.

I headed off to the Spa extremely excited about what the day would bring. The Spa was the first true surpise. While we had been thru the tour, actually using it was total bliss!!!! There are so many things I love about this Spa Thermal Suite, it is totally amazing. When we were on the Crown Princess we had done the Spa Tour but in reality in using it found it was not all what it appeared to be, while the Pearl's Spa was above and beyond. After a great morning in the Thermal Suite, I took a shower and got presentable and Tom and I headed up to Cagney's for lunch.

The lunch menu was the same as Embarkation day but I had wanted to try to the Ahi Tuna Sandwich which was amazing and of course a little Macadamia Nut Ice Cream with French Press Coffee. After lunch we walked around the ship a bit and then headed back to the cabin where I finshed a book I had started befor I left home.

The VIP Cocktail Party was nice and afterwards was the Dinner with the Captain. What a great group of 10 people, the conversation was Non Stop and probably one of the Best Dinners I have had in a very long. Time, Tom shared the Rib Eye dinner for two with the Shore Excursions Manager Yen, while I had the Lobster. All was absolutely wonderful with lots of great conversation and plenty of wine flowing.

We actually finished at about 10:30 we had conidered going up to Spinnackers for the 80's Dance Party tonight but since we plan to get up at about 5:30 so we can see us sailing to San Francisco under the Golden Gate Bridge we decided to call it a night since I also wanted to write this up.

NOTICE**** If you see any grammer or spelling errors in tonight's writing you must blame it on the wine :D

OK, I had a feeling this would happen after having read so many reviews on the NCL Boards we are now totally HUGE Fans of NCL. I just cannot believe it took us this many years to realize what else was out there. Both Tom and I feel so bad for all the years we said that we would never sail on NCL. The Suite Life is so far above and beyond what HAL offers there is just no comparison. Even if we had not been invited to Dine with the Captain. You have to experience this to understand how impressive this is and unless you can experience it and have a comparison to another cruise line you just will not understand..

OK I hope any and all of the above makes sense because all the many glasses of wine is starting to gof the brain and eyes so I am going to sign off for the night.

Signing off from the Most Fantastic day At Sea Free Stylin on the Pearl.

[Sooners]

Hi Lisa, what a great review so far. Looking forward to reading the rest. We leave Saturday on the Pearl so this is a great treat.

[Candy]

Lisa! Traitor! I'm SO glad you're liking the Pearl... my doctors sail NCL frequently and love it, so maybe you can convince this diehard HAL cruiser to try something new this summer!

 

[watchdiva]

Lisa - thanks for your great postings so far! Both NCL and HAL offer great products (we've sailed 2x in S suites on HAL) but no one can beat NCL with their suite perks. The Pearl is a great ship (we've sailed her 2x so far and our son has been on her 2x also) with a great crew.

 

Candy - I know you from the HAL boards and that you're a die-hard HAL fan but do encourage you to try cruising on NCL (preferably in a suite if you can). You may just be surprised enough to have another option for cruising:).

[debshomespun]

Lisa--So glad you are enjoying the Pearl. The "Bliss Lounge" is very unique! We will be on the Pearl in October for our 2nd time. She is a real beauty. Do they have the spinach dip and tomato basil soup in the Blue Lagoon on the Pearl? Those were my favorites while on the Dawn last year. Sounds like you are having a fantastic time on the Pearl, Enjoy the rest of the week! :D

[Candy]

...snip... Candy - I know you from the HAL boards and that you're a die-hard HAL fan but do encourage you to try cruising on NCL (preferably in a suite if you can). You may just be surprised enough to have another option for cruising:).

 

Our only experience on NCL was the Norway, and that's certainly no comparison to HAL. I trust Lisa's judgement... she doesn't sail on just anything! I'm gonna jump online and check it out. We're looking for a July/August and October/November. Next up: Maasdam in March (if it sticks).