Bad reviews for the Pearl! Why?

[musicorn]

We cruised on the Pearl in 2011 and absolutely loved it. This year we are doing Alaska again and on the Pearl again. However, all of the reviews I see lately are really bad.

 

Has something changed? Or is this just the usual slump of negative reviews that happen at times?

[Love my butler]

People have different experiences, expectations and opinions. Go on your cruise and love it or hate it. No reason to get worked up by what other people think about a ship.

[quercus alba]

Whiners. We had a great cruise on Pearl this year.

[www3traveler]

I doubt very seriously if there very members of the staff that you would recognize now. A large number of them are now on The Breakaway, other Norwegian ships or have left the Company.

[hbooden]

People are more likely to do a review if they are mad or unhappy is what I have figured out in life:)

[sinclaj]

I don't have the eloquence that many of the lovely reviewers have, so I don't really write reviews. However, we were on the Pearl in March for the 2nd time and it was absolutely lovely.

 

I really don't understand the people who criticize the food. There are so many choices and places to eat and they do try to please you. We were more than happy with what was offered when we were on the Pearl. It makes you wonder if they all have personal chefs at home that make such wonderful meals that they are use to that kind of taste and service.

 

I think that satisfaction, other than real issues that may arise from something broken in a stateroom or something, has a lot to do with the cruiser's attitude. We realize we can't control the behaviour of other cruisers, but have found that as long as we're happy to have our vacation and treat the staff with courtesy, we have always been treated very well.

 

I imagine that most of the Pearl cruisers are like me and were very happy with their cruises, but didn't bother to write a review. Go and be happy. It's a vacation.

Judy

[roger001]

Huh?? I see many more positive reviews, actually about all the ships, than bad reviews. And then the bad things are usually just a few items that can be preference or individual taste. We've been on the Pearl twice in the past year and as always, love her.

[DevCruise]

I don't have the eloquence that many of the lovely reviewers have, so I don't really write reviews. However, we were on the Pearl in March for the 2nd time and it was absolutely lovely.

 

To the OP:

I've been on two NCL cruises so far and I'm booked on the Pearl for September. Very much looking forward to her. I've never been on a bad NCL cruise and don't expect the next one to be any different. Like the person I'm quoting above, I don't write reviews because I don't feel like my writing has the flare of the others here who do post, but like others have said above, the unhappy people tend to post reviews. Happy people tend to just go on their way.

 

I really don't understand the people who criticize the food. There are so many choices and places to eat and they do try to please you. We were more than happy with what was offered when we were on the Pearl. It makes you wonder if they all have personal chefs at home that make such wonderful meals that they are use to that kind of taste and service.

 

Nor do I. I'm convinced that most of the people who complain about the food fall into three categories:

 

1. Those who genuinely did have something wrong with their meal, but I think these are truly the minority.
   
2. Those who probably live somewhere like NYC and eat in nothing but 4 or 5 star restaurants.
   
3. People that aren't happy unless they have something to complain about.
   

All I know is that I've managed to gain 10 lbs every time I step food on a cruise ship and we eat in the MDR and the buffet. Very rarely do we eat in the speciality restaurants. fwiw, I just got off a Carnival ship and liked the food on NCL much more than the food on Carnival.

[musicorn]

Thanks for all of the replies. I am glad there is no secret that I was not aware of. We loved the Pearl and to date it is my favorite ship.

 

DevCruise we will be getting off as you board so we will try to look after her for you.

 

Thanks again everybody for your comments.

[Pappion]

I was on the Pearl for the New Years cruise and we liked it so much (even with one minor stateroom snafu) that we booked same ship/same itinerary for this December. I think people tend to write more when they are unhappy as opposed to completely satisfied.

[RNPJN]

I don't know why either , the same was with the Sun . We love both ships . The pearl is our favorite , then the Sun . Never had any of the problems others say they had crew and food were great!!!

[beachmonkey]

We have sailed on the Pearl twice (the second time was just last year) and loved her. She might be my favorite ship. Being on her a second time was like meeting an old friend.

 

I have not read the reviews you are talking about, but I agree that more people post negative stories than positive. I have never had a bad meal on NCL, the majority of the staff (95% or more) have always been friendly and professional, and the ships have been in good shape (wear and tear happens and things get fixed and/or replaced - no big deal).

 

Staffing rotates all the time on ships. It is not like the whole crew is replaced. It is done on a stepped basis in order to provide some consistency and keep a level of customer service.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[chill6x6]

Of the folks that I've talked to that don't like any NCL cruise...it comes down to Freestyle dining usually. There are some that really DON'T like it. In fact some don't like the whole cruise because there is no "traditional" fixed-time dining. Personally, i wouldn't have it any other way.

[socallisa]

I was on the Pearl this past October. I loved the ship! I wasn't thrilled with the food in the main dining room but their specialty restaurants were amazing. I just really write reviews or I would've given a positive one!

[cwistyred]

I have to agree with everyone here that I don't really understand the negative reviews that I read about NCL in general. We just did the Jade in April. We had not previously sailed on NCL and I was really surprised and happy about how much we enjoyed the entire experience. Nothing to complain about at all. Great food, lot's of variety. Happy crew. Clean. Plenty of seating. And best of all was the balcony cabin. But when I came back I started reading more reviews on other ships in the line, as we are considering a future cruise, I can't believe the things people complain about. There are blistering reviews just deriding the food as slop and garbage. I find this incomprehensible. Like a few of you have said, who are these people? Are they royalty? Is everyone a millionaire and used to having champagne and caviar with every meal? I don't get it. Buy a yacht and don't sail with the peasants if you hate being around the common folk and our quaint foods.

Oh well, you can't please everyone, my hope is that people take all reviews with a grain of salt, both good and bad, as opinions are personal and only reality to the person writing them.

[david_sobe]

I had to go check to see what the OP was talking about. The Pearl has a 77% approval rating on CC and is NCL's second highest rated ship. One more percent and it would be NCL's HIGHEST rated ship. When do 77% of people ever agree on anything.

 

One recent one star rating but the vast majority of reviews are positive!

[Redheel Girl]

The Pearl is a great Ship. I will be on the Sept 8th Alaska for my second trip on her. She is about my favorite. I have been on Cruises that some of my Roll Call Cruisers have written the worst Review and I wondered what Ship could they have been on. It was a great cruise and everything including the MDR food was great. Believe me I don't eat this well at Home. Just relax and enjoy She is a beautiful Ship.

[musicorn]

I had to go check to see what the OP was talking about. The Pearl has a 77% approval rating on CC and is NCL's second highest rated ship. One more percent and it would be NCL's HIGHEST rated ship. When do 77% of people ever agree on anything.

 

One recent one star rating but the vast majority of reviews are positive!

 

Yes it does but the latest 3 or 4 reviews are very low and not good. That is why I wondering if something had changed recently. They mention bad food (subjective), unfriendly crew (not our experience at all) and no good entertainment (also not our experience).

 

I wasn't bagging out NCL here just wondering if there had been changes that I was not aware of being over the other side of the world.

[DevCruise]

Thanks for all of the replies. I am glad there is no secret that I was not aware of. We loved the Pearl and to date it is my favorite ship.

 

DevCruise we will be getting off as you board so we will try to look after her for you.

 

Much appreciated....maybe we'll pass by each other....:)

[snorkelgirlca]

I was on the west coast repo cruise in may and read the seven reviews tonight and through that five were negative IMHO. I thought that maybe I was on a different Pearl than those cruisers because I enjoyed the ship so much that I signed up for 27 days in October 2014. So I will eventually get around to writing my own review but will tell you of the three NCL ships I was on (Epic 10/11, Star 11/12 and now the Pearl) overall I would rate the Pearl far superior in all aspects ( evenin food and number of grumpy old people (- much less) than the other two

. Princess it isn't which again IMHO overall produces a better product ( which I will go into detail in my review ) mainly because of lack of in room tv entertainment on NCL in general ( no hockey during playoffs! Even in the so called sports bar) along with no MUTS on NCL. Yes, there was a loooong check in process out of LA terminal, and no indoor pool which would have been nice given the weather. On this particular cruise one needed to understand that this is not a " wow" look at that cool port sort of trip and it was not NCL's fault that Astoria's tours got cancelled because of lack of people signing up or that NCL got sent to dock the Pearl in Vancouver to the Balcoyne (spelling?) port cause there were four cruise ships docked in Vancouver on 5/12 which lead to some mass confusion at Canada place. I knew that cause (duh) I read the cruise docs so I knew when the ship landed that I had to get a taxi to go to Canada place which was were my hotel was at.

 

So I think at lot will depend on your expectations when you board. My week on Pearl itself was a wonderful week to me cause i wanted to relax and not do much of anything planned. if you expect it to serve five star restaurant food you will be disappointed. It ain't the " fairmont" like some poster said but it isn't hojo's either.

 

Marsha

[musicorn]

I was on the west coast repo cruise in may and read the seven reviews tonight and through that five were negative IMHO. I thought that maybe I was on a different Pearl than those cruisers because I enjoyed the ship so much that I signed up for 27 days in October 2014. So I will eventually get around to writing my own review but will tell you of the three NCL ships I was on (Epic 10/11, Star 11/12 and now the Pearl) overall I would rate the Pearl far superior in all aspects ( evenin food and number of grumpy old people (- much less) than the other two

. Princess it isn't which again IMHO overall produces a better product ( which I will go into detail in my review ) mainly because of lack of in room tv entertainment on NCL in general ( no hockey during playoffs! Even in the so called sports bar) along with no MUTS on NCL. Yes, there was a loooong check in process out of LA terminal, and no indoor pool which would have been nice given the weather. On this particular cruise one needed to understand that this is not a " wow" look at that cool port sort of trip and it was not NCL's fault that Astoria's tours got cancelled because of lack of people signing up or that NCL got sent to dock the Pearl in Vancouver to the Balcoyne (spelling?) port cause there were four cruise ships docked in Vancouver on 5/12 which lead to some mass confusion at Canada place. I knew that cause (duh) I read the cruise docs so I knew when the ship landed that I had to get a taxi to go to Canada place which was were my hotel was at.

 

So I think at lot will depend on your expectations when you board. My week on Pearl itself was a wonderful week to me cause i wanted to relax and not do much of anything planned. if you expect it to serve five star restaurant food you will be disappointed. It ain't the " fairmont" like some poster said but it isn't hojo's either.

 

Marsha

 

Thank you so much Masha. Most of the bad reviews I read were on the cruise you were on. I am glad you at least had a great time.

 

Our first cruise on the Pearl was one where we thought we are going to Alaska so it will be about the scenery and looking for wildlife rather than the more party island type of cruises. We loved it and enjoyed the many areas where we could sit beside a window and watch Alaska drift by. We found the food to be good give or take a few meals here and there. We found the crew excellent, especially with my daughter who uses a wheelchair. The entertainment was great too.

 

I think you are right in that people need to think about the cruise they have booked and target their expectations to that.

 

Thanks again. :D

[snorkelgirlca]

Thank you so much Masha. Most of the bad reviews I read were on the cruise you were on. I am glad you at least had a great time.

 

Our first cruise on the Pearl was one where we thought we are going to Alaska so it will be about the scenery and looking for wildlife rather than the more party island type of cruises. We loved it and enjoyed the many areas where we could sit beside a window and watch Alaska drift by. We found the food to be good give or take a few meals here and there. We found the crew excellent, especially with my daughter who uses a wheelchair. The entertainment was great too.

 

I think you are right in that people need to think about the cruise they have booked and target their expectations to that.

 

Thanks again. :D

 

You are welcomed. I was in Alaska years ago on princess which was my Mother's for her 80 th birthday. Was that my first choice to go? Not really but not having cruised before and it being her "wish" trip, I went thinking this was going to be boring. Was I surprised and pleased.

Yeah, there are some nights that I too had the buzzer for dinner, and the casino at seas messed up on my comped dinners but overall I think the Pearl overall was in the top three of the 13 cruises I have been on since my first cruise to Alaska. I just laughed about the irony of visiting Canada during hockey playoffs and not being able to see one hockey game anywhere on the ship and having to wait until I got off the ship to find out that my Ducks got eliminated. Could I have let that ruined the entire week? Maybe if I was the sort of person looking for a reason to complain. I was told before I went that the Pearl was overall a good cruise for the cost and that a repo cruise was a good way to see how much one would like a particular ship when the "port factor" was taken out of the equation.

 

So go and enjoy the week. I think the crew goes beyond what other lines provide overall in service

 

M

[bonvoyagie]

I was on the Pearl last June on my third AK cruise (4th NCL cruise) we had a wonderful time. The food in the MDR was good, service was spotty but not bad - it did get better as the week went on. We were in a suite so we were able to eat breakfast and lunch at Cagney's which was a nice perk.

 

As always AK trumps the ship - I think that the entertainment was varied enough that there was something for everyone. We are not fans of Second City so we opted to not attend their shows. We did enjoy the Frankie Vallie tribute group and the juggler along with the Broadway musical numbers.

 

I don't expect to like everything - but I do appreciate NCL for having a wide variety of activities and shows that do appeal to a wide audience. It would be nice if the television programming was better - but then I don't go on a cruise to sit in the room and watch TV :D.

 

I do remember our first two AK cruises back in 02 and 03 on the Sky - in 02 it was our 25th wedding anniversary and our very first cruise - we were upgraded to a suite at the last minute and were spoiled rotten. I do remember that back then the service in the MDR was better and that the food was also better - that year the NCL master chef was a former White House Chef and we were treated to presidential plates.

 

Oh well even AK changed a lot in 10 years so had NCL :( But in my book the Pearl was the best ship I have ever been on, but then I cruise for the destination - not the ship.

[ShannonSC2]

We were on the Pearl for the last cruise before they went into dry dock. The staff was so friendly and upbeat. We had the best time & it was a relaxing week.

 

We did hear some people complaining about little stuff but you will hear that just walking into Wal-Mart! :p

[Cruisevirgin1965]

This July will be my third time on the Pearl and 5th NCL cruise in the past 2 and 1/2yrs. The Pearl is my favourite ship and I am planning on loving our cruise this July as I have all the others. I, too agree that if you are looking for a problem you will definitely find a problem. Negative people seem to bring negative experiences upon themselves. That being said, after being an avid cc reader I have noticed that at the beginning of a new cruise season i.e. the Pearl in Alaska this year, that there are more negative reviews written at that time. I assume new crew is on and it may take a few cruises for all the kinks to be ironed out. Regardless I KNOW that we will have a fabulous time on the Pearl this July.