Pearl's PC Cruise

[roger001]

It was great. This was our second PC cruise and 4th Pearl cruise. Fantastic. We took the hotel shuttle to the San Pedro pier arriving about 10:45. Porter waiting had our shuttle luggage off and running almost before I could give him a tip. Terminal was processing incoming guests already. Moved so quick, I hardly stopped moving. All done in about ten minutes. Assigned boarding group numbers and sat. Ship begin boarding around 11:30. The Freestyle Daily said rooms would be available as soon as we boarded, keeping in mind that the room stewards would be putting on finishing touches. Went up to the pool deck, grabbed some grilled food, an Alaskan Brewery IPA, people watched, and let the vacation begin.

 

For the entire trip the weather was fantastic for this time of year. The crew...all of them...were absolutely wonderful. We met some old friends (crew from past cruises) and made many new ones. I could name name after name that we came to know and love. I wrote nine Style (Hero) cards and could have done many more. As someone said about the Jewel today, and this applies to the Pearl also, how can those wonderful people stay so wonderful making our vacation so delightful for all that time, always so smiling, friendly, and genuinely desiring to help us in any way they can. Boy, do I love them. NCL...you are so fortunate to have this wonderful group of employees.

 

We ate in Le Bistro twice with our Platinum bennies. Was great. Boy, do I like the mushroom soup...and everything else. Vine (our server), we love you! We saw Vine at many other locations on the ship also, including debarkation. I had to get her and my wife to finally quite hugging so other passengers could get by. We ate in the buffet a lot. It was great. Did I like every thing...well, no...but that's what great about a buffet. If you can't find something you like, you have a problem...my opinion. Ate in the MDRs several nights. Food good and service fine. Ate breakfast at the Great Outdoors some. Ummmmm...custom omelets, pastries, rolls, juice, etc....oh...I miss it so.

 

Usually had an adult beverage of two in the Spinnaker early evening. Super crew up there. Karla, Winston, Christopher and all...we miss you. Screw driver or Bloody Mary, house vodka, $5.25 and all the snack things you can eat. Then sometimes would stop down in Malting's, deck 6, for maybe one or two more. Made and Super T, we miss you. You want to see a crazy bartender in action, go get "Super T" to be your bartender. Just don't attempt the Jalapeño Margareta though.

 

Saw several of our past room attendants. Both took time out of their busy schedules and came by our room to visit. So good to see them again. Wife on FB with them already.

 

Oh, on numerous occasions, both while in the dining rooms and up in the Spinnaker, ship's officers from various departments came by, asked question, requested opinions, and spend as long as you wished listening to whatever thoughts you might have. One day we had gourmet candies and a nice note from the ship thanking us for taking time to talk to the ship officers. Nice touch.

 

Saw a couple of the shows. We normally don't go to many. Never do we miss the Four Seasons tribute though. New cast this time and maybe even better than ever. We kept running into one of the cast, Steve, both on the ship and on shore. We both swore we were not stalking each other. A nice guy. Saw the afternoon crew show. If you ever want to see "silly"...and I mean good "silly", don't miss a production of Fountains. Each ship usually does it once.

 

Port stops were just fine. We had been to them before, and since my wife is about to get knee replacement, we stuck around close to the ship, just shopping and visiting locally. All were just fine with very, very nice people.

 

The PC was fantastic, and I had seen it before. A wonderful experience. Do read A Path Between the Seas first though.

 

We were in a mini suite which we really like, especially for a 14 day cruise. Between that and the Platinum bennies, wow...great. We did the behind the scenes ship tour, first time. Super interesting.

 

Trip insurance. I saw three occasions of passengers having to be removed to a waiting ambulance during this cruise, all three in foreign ports. In fact, we had to stop twice in the PC locks and have gangways attached to remove ill passengers. Trip insurance...don't leave home without it.

 

Debarkation. We were in no hurry, which was good by the time we tried to leave the ship around 9 am. Turns out, all the escalators in the customs building quit working. All the ship's passengers then had to be taken down the building levels about 6 persons at a time on an elevator. This is just one of those very unexpected events that can mess up an early flight time so easily.

 

As you can tell, I love the Pearl, I love her crew, I love NCL. And actually, I pretty much feel that way about all the other ships we have sailed on with NCL. So yea, I'm probably a cheerleader for that. However, this is the way I see it. Already have two more NCL cruises booked.

[Suitcasefull]

Thanks for the post! We did the Miami to LA transit in April on the Pearl and loved it. Were also in a mini-suite and Wadi did a fantastic job for us. You're correct, Vine is the best! That lady has more charm and joy than most and she's a real asset to NCL. Hope they appreciate her! Is Alex still matre'd in "the other" MDR? LOL (I actually preferred it, mostly because of him!) We only saw one person being taken off on a stretcher but you're right about trip insurance and we don't leave without it! Too many possibilities for things to happen and would prefer to "waste" that money and not have anything go wrong! Your post made me wish we had another Pearl trip lined up but that's not the case. Maybe in '14. Thanks for bringing up memories!

[jdvmd]

Glad you had a great time! Thanks for reporting!

[palmyrafan]

We are doing the PC next April on the Jewel. We sail from NY to LA, 17 days. We are really looking forward to it.

 

Interesting that you say the ship had to stop 3 times in the locks to disembark passengers that were ill. Guess you have to be very careful about what you eat while in port.

 

Thank you for posting such a great revew. DH and I agree with you about the Pearl She is our favorite ship.

[roger001]

We are doing the PC next April on the Jewel. We sail from NY to LA, 17 days. We are really looking forward to it.

 

Interesting that you say the ship had to stop 3 times in the locks to disembark passengers that were ill. Guess you have to be very careful about what you eat while in port.

 

Thank you for posting such a great review. DH and I agree with you about the Pearl She is our favorite ship.

 

I don't think it would be food poisoning issues. That would just be treated on the ship. The PC cruises tend to have some older guests, some not in very good physical condition, and just an element of population more prone toward a serious medical condition. The first stretcher transfer was what appeared to be a fully casted leg condition. The other two were persons with oxygen and getting serious attention by the medical staff. So far, I've never had any problem with food I've eaten off the ship...although I don't venture far from the tourist areas if eating off ship.

[www3traveler]

Roger,

Sounds like a busy time for The Pearl's medical staff. Did you happen to hear what the fee was for the Crossing?? I thought they said on the Crossing that The Pearl had set a record. What two cruises have you booked?? I have a Transatlantic Crossing booked on the Star next April and I am going to book The Getaway's Inaugural Crossing in January of 2014.

Mandy

[Suitcasefull]

In April Pearl PC transit paid something like $525,000 which was supposedly a record then.

Haven't heard what the return transit cost. Depends on number of passengers among other factors.

[Kruizin'Kath]

Thanks for the review! Looking forward to our April PC cruise! Any suggestions for excursions?

[roger001]

Roger,

Sounds like a busy time for The Pearl's medical staff. Did you happen to hear what the fee was for the Crossing?? I thought they said on the Crossing that The Pearl had set a record. What two cruises have you booked?? I have a Transatlantic Crossing booked on the Star next April and I am going to book The Getaway's Inaugural Crossing in January of 2014.

Mandy

 

While listening to the PC passage narrator, he was talking about costs for various ships. I didn't hear him mention the exact figure for this passage but he did say something like, "a ship like this is around a half million". On our previous crossing, the narrator said the Pearl did at one time hold the price record, but that a container ship had recently (at that tiime) beaten that. For the moment, we have booked the Dawn to Bermuda and the Jewel out of New Orleans on another Carribean, and purchased another future cruise credit while on this cruise. We need therapy.

[roger001]

Thanks for the review! Looking forward to our April PC cruise! Any suggestions for excursions?

 

No...not really. As mentioned, we stayed pretty close to the ship this time because of my wife's knee issue. In Cartagena, a tour to the "old town" is nice. It is interesting and very pretty...and old, inside walls. We did a horse drawn carriage tour there previous trip. Many water events in Cabo if you like that. However, Cabo is an easy stroll outside the dock area and you can safely wander the town. In PV, Wal Mart and Sam's is right across the street. There are numbers of vans also waiting that will give 2 - 3 hour PV tours,. through old downtown and down the coast a bit. Also, the city bus runs right outside the dock area and will take you downtown and back cheap. At Puerto Chiapas (I think) the town is about 30 minutes from the dock. A constant flow of shuttle busses are available to take you there for $10 each round trip. They have a beautiful port area and a nice shopping mall...and very nice persons. Huatulco and Puntarenus have nice beaches and shopping right off the dock. But the tours...don't know.

[IndyColts84]

Regarding the price for the transit, the day after Cartagena the Panama Canal DVD was playing on the stateroom TV on channel 34 all day. My wife and I had the opportunity to watch the whole thing and as I recall, Pedro said we did not break the Pearl record but the transit was $480,000 with all taxes and fees.

 

Pedro did not mention how they arrived at this figure but when on a cruise ship, the transit fee is based either by passengers or the amount of berths. NCL lists the Pearl at 2394 passengers and 1099 crew for a total of 3493. If it is figured by passengers (crew included) that is approx. $138 per person. As for berths, estimating double occupancy for both passenger and crew that number would just be double the passenger/crew per person figure...or $276 per berth.

 

That might be more information than you were looking for and I may be completely wrong about everything...still a cruise newbie! However, I do know that it was $480,000 for the transit. If that is how much it cost to sail the "World's Greatest Shortcut" I cannot imagine what it would have cost to sail all the way around South America! Though for the right price, my wife and I would love to find out!

[roger001]

Regarding the price for the transit, the day after Cartagena the Panama Canal DVD was playing on the stateroom TV on channel 34 all day. My wife and I had the opportunity to watch the whole thing and as I recall, Pedro said we did not break the Pearl record but the transit was $480,000 with all taxes and fees.

 

Pedro did not mention how they arrived at this figure but when on a cruise ship, the transit fee is based either by passengers or the amount of berths. NCL lists the Pearl at 2394 passengers and 1099 crew for a total of 3493. If it is figured by passengers (crew included) that is approx. $138 per person. As for berths, estimating double occupancy for both passenger and crew that number would just be double the passenger/crew per person figure...or $276 per berth.

 

That might be more information than you were looking for and I may be completely wrong about everything...still a cruise newbie! However, I do know that it was $480,000 for the transit. If that is how much it cost to sail the "World's Greatest Shortcut" I cannot imagine what it would have cost to sail all the way around South America! Though for the right price, my wife and I would love to find out!

 

Good info. I got on the internet after our previous PC cruise and Googled PC fees. As you point out, it's pretty complex. I do believe I remember on the previous cruise our passage being stated as $475K. So $480K for this one is still in that ballpark. I wish Panama well, and although construction of the new locks are indeed making progress, a 2014 opening looks pretty optimistic to me.

[kapoho2]

roger001...thanks for the review. Our turn will come next October, so we are enjoying any information we can find.

[Suitcasefull]

Thanks for the review! Looking forward to our April PC cruise! Any suggestions for excursions?

 

Not sure what ports you have. We booked a tour with Dora in Cartagena, Greenway in Costa Rica and Marcos Lopez in Huatulco (fabulous guy--best ever!--found him on CC recommendations). All three accomodated our special requests. Did ship excursion in PuertaChiapas and liked it. If you want, I can provide contact info for any of those. E-mail is suitcasefull at hotmail.