Review: NCL Pearl, 7 Day Western Caribbean, November 4-11, 2012

[geekonacruise]

I apologize in advance, this review is not as well organized nor written as I would have liked. Not long before our cruise, my Father passed away suddenly, and I am personally in the process of moving - too many memories in his house. I wanted to get this review posted for cruisers leaving on the Pearl soon, however.

 

Also, I am not as good with names this time as in past reviews. I lost my glasses on first day in spa (someone may have picked them up and probably did not realize it until they got home) and had trouble reading names. Lesson: bring a spare pair and store them separately! My apologies to the many crew I met and had very positive interactions with but could not read/record your names.

 

To the Cruise Critic members on this cruise: I was not able to interact with as many of you as I had planned to because of these circumstances. I missed the meet and greet as well. My apologies.

 

Spa pass well worth it on this ship, heated loungers were nice, along with a great view of the bow and forward areas from the saunas. Spa was seldom crowded. Refreshing drinks kept well stocked, and staff were helpful. They also did their best to try to help me track down my glasses, which I much appreciated :-)

 

New menu in La Cucina, lobster fettuccini, peperonconi (sp?) pizza = excellent. This seems to be an underutilized restaurant on all the ships I have sailed on. Please try it, the service and food impressed our party, especially with the new menu!

 

This was my non-Jean Ann Ryan entertainment cruise. I was impressed with the quality of the nightly shows in the Stardust Theatre. Great job with the broadway dancing/singing numbers, with great audience participation. Julie did a great job announcing upcoming events on stage.

 

Michael Sommerville was our cruise comedian. Fun shows in Spinnaker. Managed to make family-friendly comedy FUN :)

 

The digital Photography system used in the Epic was not on the Pearl, leading to sometimes busy queues in the photography area looking for physical prints, but the staff were friendly and helpful. Many opportunities existed for families and friends to have professional portraits and photos taken, often with stunning backgrounds. Early arrival at specialty restaurants (5:30pm) usually meant no photographer was around, however, if you are looking for a pre-early show dinner plus a memorable photo of dinner. Later times were not a problem.

 

Special note: the last sea day (a "Dress Up (or not)" day) of the cruise featured an exceptional photographer with a simple white background and white floor. For people that spent the time, and were willing to remove their footwear and socks to be on the backdrop / floor, the portraits came out stunning. They were my family's best photos of the cruise. People-watchers in the atrium found the process fun to watch as fancy shoes came off and the photographer took a great deal of time with all participants setting up poses. Well worth it in my opinion!

 

Oh What a Night - Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons tribute, fantastic performance, pacing, comedy in and between numbers, and interacting with the audience during and after the performance. Kind to allow a large amount of guests to get pictures and autographs. Web site = ohwhatanighttribute.com

 

The Second City - main theatre and Spinnaker Lounge performances involved the audience, incredibly funny skits! My friend and I were the subject of their closing skit and many people on the cruise commented on it afterwards. Many laughs.

 

Our cabins were mini-suites 11612 and 11610 with adjoining doors that Victor promptly unlocked. Overall nice cabins but noisy above until about 1am from La Cucina kitchen and Garden Cafe kitchen. Not a big deal really. Our balcony was in very good condition with no corrosion and very clean glass. We could have brought lounge chairs up with plenty of room, but we were fine with the chairs provided. Victor did a superb job keeping our cabin neat and showed us the bountiful storage. It was easy staying organized. I really like the bathroom layout of the Pearl mini-suites.

 

We were fortunate to get a Cabana on Great Stirrup Cay before they sold out. I was really impressed with the experience. It was restful, the food and bar service was excellent and not pushy (the cheese selection and shrimp cocktails we ordered were well presented and tasted great!). I really needed a chance to get my balance back during this cruise since Dad's passing, and having a picturesque beach experience and a bit of quiet when I wanted it helped a lot. Well worth the price. Hurricane Sandy damaged Great Stirrup Cay so not all services were available on the island, and the far side of the beach had significant erosion and rock movement. The changes NCL is making to Great Stirrup Cay are very promising, though, and I am very glad our cruise was able to stop there. The previous two cruises were not able to due to Hurricane Sandy's effects.

 

The Norwegian Pearl entered service in 2006. Well appointed with many pieces of art, speciality restaurants especially have many very nice pieces. A couple loose deck plates under the carpeting at the midship stairwells were quickly fixed along with a water leak forward in the area underneath the spa. I heard comments that maintenance quickly handled the leak and the cleanup of impacted cabins. We had no maintenance issues ourselves. I observed crew painting and applying fresh varnish in several areas of the ship, with well-posted placards to prevent accidental hand-painting :)

 

Last sea day German celebration In Great Outdoors (aft outdoor buffet) was well attended, excellent food, and provided an opportunity for guests to interact with the chefs and learn from them.

 

Finale show, fun recap of previous week's shows, including Norwegian Pearl Production Company broadway singing and dancing, juggling (Mark Angelo & Marlo), crew talent singing. End of the show brought a large number of the Pearl's crew onstage, including the officers in dress uniform, representatives from all major departments. Many cheers them, and especially when the "Happy Happy Washy Washy!" team came on stage (they ensured we always had clean hands entering the dinner venues, with smiles. The stage filled with these crew with their incredible positive attitudes, quality of service, and compassion for their guests. I saw many tear-filled eyes at this finale, definitely including myself.

 

We heard that the NCL Pearl has #1 staff in the NCL fleet in 2012. I completely agree. I did not run across a single crew member that looked unhappy to be there, and I interacted with a LOT of crew on this cruise. That alone, completely ignorant of the itinerary and ship features, would have resulted in an outstanding vacation experience. Many passengers expressed this as well. I really enjoyed the crew on the Dawn and Epic but the Pearl's "positive vibe" was incredibly strong.

 

My cruise heroes, I encourage future cruisers to seek them out:

 

Victor - Steward - always made sure we knew where events were on ship, cabins immaculate, quick to handle our requests, and tolerated our weird schedules

Alain Magnier - F&B director, handled asking Captain Hammerin to sign our Norwegian Pearl models and was kind to talk to at Cabana #7

Julie Valeriote - Cruise Director, Oh What a Night pictures, always kept us up to date on what interested us on ship, answered questions kindly, took time to talk even with her incredibly busy schedule. Orchestrated outstanding entertainment for us. I'm sure she saw the tears in my eyes as I passed her upon leaving the ship.

Captain Gunnar Hammerin - model signatures, fun sense of humor, showed incredible confidence in his crew

Alina Manya - always made sure we were happy in Summer Palace breakfasts, Cagney's at night, suggested New England cruise in fall, Alaska on Norwegian Pearl in June for best weather

Heidi - La Cucina 11/4/2012 - incredibly fun, and suggested trying the new menu (outstanding!), and let us stay after the restaurant closed (I had no idea of the time, my apologies and thanks!)

Jessica - Le Bistro 11/7/2012 5:30 PM - let us sample several dishes - I now have a couple new favorites.

Maria - Cagney's 11/8/2012 5:30 PM - thanks for suggesting a great wine paring and showing your great sense of humor!

Aileen / Neysi - La Cucina 11/9/2012 5:30 PM, huge fun to talk with both, outstanding service

Samuel Ponte - Maitre D, Summer Palace, La Cucina, told us about chocoholic buffet (amazingly enough, I missed it on the Freestyle Daily) and always ensured we had an excellent breakfast experience in Summer Palace

The Second City - fun to talk with when we ran into them in the Garden Cafe, and thank you for involving us in your final skit of the cruise!

Dominic Samuels - thanks for the booking help and compassion with my family emergency.

 

I posted Freestyle Dailies from our cruise for personal use only for reference. Please respect Norwegian Cruise Line's rights. They are available at:

https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B35QxyiAF6lgekhLeGZLWkoxYWc/edit?pli=1

 

Now, after I move, the next task will be to plan our next cruise. Cheers to you all and happy cruising on NCL!

[OceanDreams]

Sorry for your loss and thank you for taking the time out of your very busy life to post your review.

OceanDreams

[fayfam]

My condolences for the sad loss of your Dad.

 

Thank you for your detailed review of the Pearl. We loved her when we sailed the West Coast last year & would go back on her again in a heartbeat. I can't wait for NCL to send a ship to Australia for us to enjoy.

 

Kerry :)

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the review of your cruise. Sorry about the loss of your Dad.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[waverley7]

"Sorry for your loss"

 

Thanks for the great review! I am sailing on her in January and nice to read about the staff onboard....it really does make a difference in the holiday when you have an awesome crew onboard.

 

Looking forward to it more now!! Thanks! :D

[ladybiker4life]

Sorry for your loss of you Dad.

 

Good luck with your move.

 

Thanks for the review.

[Georgiagolfer]

Thanks for the review. DW and I are on Pearl in 1 year (1st NCL cruise) and glad to read a review of her.

[Beachlover1964]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Thank you for taking the time to post the review. My DD11 will be on the Pearl in March 2013 and the information will be very helpful.

[quercus alba]

Thanks for the review. If you're still around the board, could you say more about the noise from above in those cabins? We have those same 2 in March.

 

Thanks.

[geekonacruise]

Thanks for the review. If you're still around the board, could you say more about the noise from above in those cabins? We have those same 2 in March.

 

Thanks.

 

You could hear bumps and carts being moved around late at night and early in the morning. They even could be heard over the ocean sounds with the balcony doors open. It settled down by the time we were ready for sleep, but sometimes was started up before my whole party was ready to head out to the rest of the ship for the day. It probably would bother light sleepers, but after the first night we ignored it.

 

Have a super cruise, and Happy New Year!

[mypleasure]

Dominic Samuels - thanks for the booking help and compassion with my family emergency.

 

So sorry to hear of your loss. I am pleased that Dominic helped you. He is a truly smashing guy.

[jdvmd]

Thank you for sharing!

[Cupcrazy]

Thank you for sharing your story. Sorry to hear about your fathers passing.