NCL Pearl Coastal Cruise, (Long) but with Pictures

[clarkg]

Thank you for your wonderful review and pictures. I have a question: is there a way that I could get a copy of the picture you took on the Bridge with Chief Officer Piotr Porosinkz?

Mandy

 

Right click on the picture, click copy picture, then paste it into some photo editing software or Microsoft Paint, then you can save it to your computer.

[clarkg]

Enjoying your review so very much.

 

We lived in Oregon just south of Astoria and it always amazes me that this is a port stop for a cruise ship. Such a quiet little town with two seasons - rainy and not quite so rainy.

 

Like you, I don't find Second City to be fun or entertaining at all. Our last cruise I wanted to leave but we were sitting so close that I felt like we would be disturbing others if we left early.

 

Dr. Scott Lewis was on the Star in Jan when we sailed and he was amazing. I wish I had volunteered but I didn't want to be a ship celebrity that trip with any crazy stuff that I did.

 

We have had a second city cast that was just hilarious, but not lately. I think the earlier groups were better than the ones that are on there now. Improve is really hard to do.

 

Loved Astoria, except for the rain.

 

I was totally amazed by Dr. Scott Lewis. Talked to some of the people he hypnotized and they said they were aware, I just don't get it.

[clarkg]

Nanaimo

 

What a friendly city.

We took our time getting off the ship this time. We were in a hurry in Victoria but found that all of the stores and museums and shops didn't even open until 10. So getting off and rushing into town at 9 did us no good.

They had a free tour bus around town to shuttle the cruise passengers to the businesses and tourist spots. The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) came out to take pictures with. The Mayor was there checking to make sure that the lines for the bus weren't too long. He didn't say that he was the Mayor, but he had the 'Look at me I'm the Mayor.' fancy gold chain around his neck. It's another thing that we don't do in the States.

 

 

 

In town we went to the Bastion. We had been there before but it had been updated, We skipped the museum this time as we had been there twice also. We watched them fire the canons at noon. For $40.00 Canadian, you can fire the guns. Someone had already reserved that honor this time though. We did think about it. We wandered around and found the old court building. It was neat looking, then we hiked down the sea walk and found a nice little park, a fishing pier and a place to watch the float planes take off and land.

 

 

 

 

When we got back to the ship, we had time to play the 'Indoor Bowl' as they call it. It was actually Bocci, An Italian lawn bowling game. You throw a white ball and the the teams take turns trying to get their black or red balls as close to it as possible and you score point depending on how close you get. They did women against the men. The women surged ahead 7 to nothing before then men were able to start scoring points. We were suppose to play to 21 until we started taking to long, then that was amended to 15 and then it was amended again to 13. It was tied 12 to 12. We had the closest ball with one more guy to play.

I said, "Drop the ball and we win the game." He looked hesitant, I said it again. "Drop the ball and we win the game." He didn't look like he was getting the concept, so I said it again, "Drop the ball and we win the game."

He didn't drop the ball, instead he threw it and it knocked our other ball out of play and the women won the game.

Or friends from Hawaii came down and were waiting for our game to get over because directly afterward was a golf putting tournament. We hadn't planned on doing this but we both thought, "Why not."

You had three chances to get the ball in the hole or you were disqualified. My friend missed, but his wife got one in and so did I. This guy named Norm came up and put three of three in. I thought, 'Well that was fun.' and was about ready to leave, when round two started. This time you had to shoot under a chair. Not even Norm was able to do this one.

The next round was rapid fire, you hit as many balls as you could for three minutes. When My friends wife got up there my friend got on the ground as was setting up the balls for her so she could shoot fast. Everyone else started doing it the way also, and My wife helped me. I got two more in. Norm only got one but was still in the lead 4-3.

The last round was shoot five balls from ten feet further away. I was able to get two more in and Norm only got one so we tied. Nobody was more surprised than me, except for, maybe Norm.

The really funny thing is, I don't golf.

They had an awesome farewell show that featured Oh What a Night, the Comedian, the Pearl Production Staff and then all of the Officers, Cabin Stewards, Waiters and all the rest came on stage and thanked us for traveling NCL, then they shot Mylar streamers out from the balcony level. They managed to go everywhere. When we got back to the stateroom I went to empty my shirt pocket and found three of the streamers in there. My wife found some, well, I won't tell you where she found some, but there were four down there. They were also all over the ship before the end of the night. Poor guys that had to clean those up.

[clarkg]

Vancouver

It's always sad when a cruise comes to an end, but such is always the case. We spent the night parked in the middle of the inside passage just outside of Vancouver, and we just sat there all night. The moon was full during the night and gorgeous. In the morning I got up again, way before the allotted hour and sat in the library. I had gotten videos of us going under the Bay Bride and the Golden Gate. I wanted to complete the collection and get one of us going under Lions Gate Bridge.

 

 

I did a crossword puzzle until I noticed that he ship was starting to move and then went up on deck. There were several people from Vancouver on deck waiting to get the first glimpse of home. They were concerned also because they knew it was high tide and wondered if the ship was going to fit. Not a problem.

We came in and docked at Canada Place.

 

 

We were in no hurry to get off the ship and had a nice and slow breakfast. Customs were their usual slow selves as is typical for Vancouver. When we got through the line we decided to take a cab instead of lugging our suitcases onto the sky train. Best $11.00 I ever spent. We checked our bags and then went back to the waterfront and took a water bus over to North Vancouver Lonsdale Quay. Looked around there for a while then headed over to Vancouver.

 

 

 

Vancouver had just had a marathon. Which was interesting because I have never in my life seen so many healthy looking people limping around town. The metals the people had didn't say Vancouver Marathon on them but Boston Marathon. I guess it was a qualifier for the Boston Marathon later on.

We ate lunch at fast food places in a food court and then made our way back to the train station for the ride home.

 

[bobhsv]

Thankyou for a fabulous review and even better pics. We are doing the same ports soon, northbound. I will have to be careful not to yell out "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi ,Oi":D A very, very common phrase downunder, which began at sporting events, and now is an unofficial anthem just about anywhere aussies are gathered. I am totally surprised you had not heard it before. I will behave/refrain on our cruises in the States, and not yell this out:D Again, great review.

Jen

[clarkg]

Thankyou for a fabulous review and even better pics. We are doing the same ports soon, northbound. I will have to be careful not to yell out "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi ,Oi":D A very, very common phrase downunder, which began at sporting events, and now is an unofficial anthem just about anywhere aussies are gathered. I am totally surprised you had not heard it before. I will behave/refrain on our cruises in the States, and not yell this out:D Again, great review.

Jen

 

Thank you!

Nope, never heard that before. I guess I need to get out more often. I don't see any reason to refrain, how else are you going to educate us Yanks?

[deladypilot]

Thank you for a wonderful review and great pictures. I have wanted to do this cruise (or the reverse) for a while now. It has intriqued me even more now.

[clarkg]

Thank you for a wonderful review and great pictures. I have wanted to do this cruise (or the reverse) for a while now. It has intriqued me even more now.

 

Thank you!

[repeater]

Great review! Pictures are huge, but surprisingly clear. OP's writing style makes it seem like I was right there with them!

 

We stayed on the Queen Mary, too, and took this same cruise. I recommend a suite, because an inside cabin on a stationary ship is just a small, windowless hotel room. The suite was nice enough, bearing in mind it's old. More of a historic feel than a modern 5 star place, but I liked it. And really, the price was about the same as Holiday Inn, only with bragging rights.

 

One thing that I noticed on NCL this time is the uptick in service. The apathy is gone, replaced by eye contact and a greeting from just about every crew and staff member. The captain got on the ship the same day we did, so the staff was edgy about him, not sure who he was yet, but by the end of the week, they all seemed more comfortable. He, too, was able to joke the last night, after seeming downright crusty the first day. Apparently, he was mildly offended when the cruise director called him a Norwegian--- Swedes are like that-- and he got back at the Cruise Director at the final show.

[valleyvillage]

Thank you for the wonderful vicarious cruise! It was so fun to enjoy it right along with you. I even felt a little sad when it was over.

Much gratitude for your generosity of spirit.

[clarkg]

Thank you for the wonderful vicarious cruise! It was so fun to enjoy it right along with you. I even felt a little sad when it was over.

Much gratitude for your generosity of spirit.

 

Thank you very much.

 

It was harder than I thought that it would be. I was thinking about two hours of writing and throw in a couple of pictures. Two days and a lot of writing later, I finally finished the review.