Alaska on Norwegian Pearl

[Gaprofitt]

Hi All,

 

We are considering taking Norwegian Pearl in May or June roundtrip out of Seattle because we like the price and route. We have cruise before to Alaska on Princess, we have also sailed on Carnival, RCCL and Celebrity. What can we expect from Norwegian, we are not picky. Some areas of interest below.

 

How are the staterooms?

Entertainment?

Buffet, free meals, not a fan of paying for food on a cruise. What is offered at the buffet typically, what type of drinks, water, tea, lemonade, etc?

Outside viewing decks, love the secret decks on princess ships.

 

We believe any cruise is a good cruise, just looking for a comparison mainly to see how it compares to princess.

 

Thanks,

[Gohogs34]

We were on the Pearl, our first ever cruise and it was great for us. The CC board has great tips for this ship. We ate ate the buffet mainly for breakfast. Tip #1. get a seat first before preparing your plate. Sometimes hard to find a seat. We ate dinners mainly at Indigo. Tip #2. get there about 15 minutes before they open, line is forming and will fill up by 6:00pm. The best inside viewing is in the spinnaker lounge. Tip #3. get there early in the morning, before coffee and get a seat, have someone go get coffee. When you visit the Glacier bay. Tip #4. get up EARLY and go outside to the very front of the ship for great viewing. People was setting up the lawn chairs and the staff removed them because the area will fill up. Tip #5. there are stairs from the outside front area of the boat that will lead up to a small platform viewing are above all, get there for great picture taking. When we docked at ports, Tip #6. we exited out of deck 5. Tip #7. use the elevators on each end of the ship, they are less crowded than the middle one. Tip #7. leaving Seattle, we got on the ship @ 11:30 , alot of people go to the buffet, we went to summer palace for nice set down lunch and was the only ones there for about 20 minutes, great for taking photos and seat selection which was all the way to the back. Too us all the food was just OK. As you know food is very subjective! I did not go hungry. Tip #8. Blue lagoon, chicken wings are great with window viewing.

Entertainment to us was fun. We are in our mid 40's and Sharkbait was Great as well as David Naster. We were not really into the "O what a night" but ALOT were and maybe their style. The "not so new newlywed game" was very funny. Tip # 9 all these shows will fill up quick, for good seating arrive at least 45 minutes early. We were in an inside room and worked for us. The staff and service were great! They asked all the time if we needed anything let them know. I will end now with saying, enjoy ALASKA, do everything you can afford to do and want to do, that is why we are going back so soon, the wife, being our first cruise was focused on sea sick before we left and was not willing to do the BIG excursions, so here we come again to make up that, float plane ride, whale watching, zipline, ect.Have fun planning, we do!!

[reefgirl]

My husband and I have only done two cruises, once with RCCL and last year on the Pearl. Can't answer your question about the buffet or MDR, because we never ate in either. We only ate in the pay restaurants and we thought the food was very good. We were in a suite so we were able to eat at Cagney's for breakfast and lunch, which was also really good. The entertainment is usually ranked pretty highly on this board. I can't offer an opinion on that, though, because we didn't go to any shows. I guess I'm not really helping the OP much so far. Anyway, we had a fabulous time and are booked again for next June on the Pearl.

[InternetAgeTraveler]

We did the Pearl at end of May 2010. It was great... It was actually our second trip on the Pearl, the previous in August. I think you will find a lot of answers to our questions in my review

 

NCL Pearl Review for May 2010

 

plus pictures of both cruises here...

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roseoftexas/collections/72157601829385443/

 

 

Some quick answers

• Staterooms, a bit small but functional.
  
• Entertainment, pretty good especially Shark Bait
  
• Buffet, pretty good, a variety of foods but doesn't change much day to day. MDR, okay but pretty repetitive. There are a couple of reasonable priced specialty ones, Mambos we really liked. The Teppanyaki at $25 is what you might pay elsewhere but it is really a lot of fun and the food is really good.
  
• Decks, the upper decks have wind screens that get in the way although there a few places to see.
  

[Budget Queen]

I have sailed the Pearl, I disagree with the above outside forward viewing??? In my opinion, the Pearl has some of the crappiest forward viewing of Alaska crusieships. :) It is all high plexiglass, the forward sides are filled with navigational equiptment, and most of the forward upper deck is plexiglass enclosed. The ONLY spot for me is the mid ship side open decks.

 

Just be well aware of and informed about the port times, and how you wish to fill them and the route.

[Giantfan13]

We sailed the Pearl to Alaska late last August. While the Pearl is a great ship, the main knock we had on this cruise were the times in port. The itinerary is one of the worst I have ever seen for any type of cruise. You get to Juneau late and leave even later. You get to Ketchikan extremely early and leave too early to really do anything exciting. You get to Victoria in the evening so no day time activities are available.

Now we have already been to these ports on a previous crusie, so doing 'everything' wasn't our main thing and we just took what was available and went with it. But for a first time cruiser to Alaska, I would say this itinerary is just very bad/

 

We never ate in the buffet, preferring to eat in the MDR for most meals. We are vegetarians and there was always something to eat for us,and it was good. At that time, last year, the Pearl was doing something new and had a very limited menu in the MDR for dinners,. and the exact same menu EVERY day for lunch. After a few days, and being a vegetarian, sort of limited what we were able to try and eat. We never went hungry, and, like you said, any cruise is a good crusie. We always enjoy our cruises, even though some can be better than others.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[Budget Queen]

We sailed the Pearl to Alaska late last August. While the Pearl is a great ship, the main knock we had on this cruise were the times in port. The itinerary is one of the worst I have ever seen for any type of cruise. You get to Juneau late and leave even later. You get to Ketchikan extremely early and leave too early to really do anything exciting. You get to Victoria in the evening so no day time activities are available.

Now we have already been to these ports on a previous crusie, so doing 'everything' wasn't our main thing and we just took what was available and went with it. But for a first time cruiser to Alaska, I would say this itinerary is just very bad/

 

SIZE]

 

Actually, in my opinion, plenty of ships, have what you describe as a "lacking" itinereary. The Pearl isn't the only one. :) This is an excellent point, to always look at several factors in a cruise selection= I always recommend several, including- Ports, time in ports, glacier, route, price.

[DOUGLASH]

Was on Pearl last year in the Carribean and was not overwhelmed. In my opinion, unless the variety of specialty restaurants ae important (most of which entail a surcharge), I feel the ship is just ok and offers no advantages over the other cruiselines as far as facilities, food, entertainment. I have done the NCL Sun and Carnival Spirit in prior trips to Alaska as the prices could not be beat. This time I will be taking the Diamond Princess southbound from Anchorage. It appears that Princess and HAL get the highest reviews by Alaska cruisers and that itiniraries that include either or both Glacier bay and Hubbard Glacier are the best .

[Gaprofitt]

I have sailed the Pearl, I disagree with the above outside forward viewing??? In my opinion, the Pearl has some of the crappiest forward viewing of Alaska crusieships. :) It is all high plexiglass, the forward sides are filled with navigational equiptment, and most of the forward upper deck is plexiglass enclosed. The ONLY spot for me is the mid ship side open decks.

 

Just be well aware of and informed about the port times, and how you wish to fill them and the route.

 

How far up do the side open decks go, all the way around the ship? What rooms are close to these decks?

[Budget Queen]

How far up do the side open decks go, all the way around the ship? What rooms are close to these decks?

 

I am only referring to deck 7, not the open decks, which have high plexi glass all the way around forward and sides.

 

Deck 7 is a fully open viewing, meaning no plexi glass, just a regular rail. The viewing sight lines are sides and back, NO forward. I go between both sides, cutting through the ship. Takes seconds to do, and allows me, my expansive viewing.