First NCL, Garden Villa on Pearl - long review, sorry!

[luvavacation]

This was my first time on NCL, but I have cruised Disney 8 times and Carnival 5. I sailed with one of my adult daughters ( 7 Disney, 5 Carnival), my brother (1 Disney, 1 Royal Caribbean, 1 Carnival, 1 NCL Epic), and my 80 year old mother (1 Disney, 1 Carnival). This is the last vacation my mother will take before Alzheimer’s does its worst, so her comfort was most important. Due to this, the 3 bedroom Garden Villa on the NCL Pearl was the best set-up of all the lines I looked at.

We each had our own room (well, Dd and I shared), my mother had her own balcony, and we had the large common area to spend time together. And, since my mother does not get around well at all anymore, having the Haven pool so close to the room was very nice, too.

Overall, the cruise accomplished what I wished for, which was comfort for my mother and a change of scenery from home. She spent many hours on the balcony, watching the ocean go by.

That said, there were some disappointments, and some nice things. Now I will preface this by saying that I have sailed in a one-bedroom concierge on Disney, but never in the top level concierge room, the Roy or Walt Suite. This Garden Villa being the top category on the Pearl, and researching ahead of time as to what is and is not provided in this suite, I was prepared to be won over by NCL and start cruising NCL more than Disney. I really, really wanted to like this more!

Ok, pros –

1. The space in the Garden Villa is fantastic!

2. Having the pop in the fridge, occasionally replenished when we let the butler know it was low, was very nice.

3. The top deck of the Garden Villa was a great place to lie out and read a book when sunshine was desired!

4. The hammock on the top deck is a great touch, but unfortunately (and this is a negative) it was stained terribly with what appeared to be sticky fluids and other stuff. It was never changed out or cleaned, so we did not use it.

5. Meals in the room were a great idea!

6. Plentiful amenities.

7. The concierge, Monica Foutache, was very nice and efficient. When she asked how things were and was told of a problem, she made sure it was taken care of, even though we did not expect her to.

8. Our water server, Pedro from Peru, in the Indigo dining room. Why we had to wait until the last night at our last meal to have a pleasant server, I don’t know. I would have asked for him every night if we had met him the first time.

9. The priority tender service in Grand Cayman was great!

10. The fruit basket was a lovely touch, and we did eat most of the fruit. It was not replenished, however.

11. Great assortment of bathroom amenities!

12. The buffet had a nice assortment of Indian food, which I like because I prefer spicy food.

13. Some of the crew were as pleasant and friendly as the ones I have seen on Disney. There were more pleasant crewmembers on the Pearl than on most of my Carnival cruises.

14. The bag of laundry special was a great help, and upon return, that clothing was folded better than I have ever folded my laundry!

15. Teppanyaki, our only pay restaurant that we did, was fantastic!

16. Every bit of fruit I ate was perfectly ripe and delicious! I think I ate an orchard of fruit every day!

Cons –

1. The butler. All that stuff you all wrote about the butler does, and the ideas on things to request, such as chocolate covered strawberries instead of the yucky canapés? Never done, though I did tell the butler what we liked when we first met him, and that we did not like canapés. One night, we did have 2 chocolate strawberries. Two, for a family of 4. And the horrid canapés 3 times on our 5 day cruise, even after I said that we did not care for them.

2. I ordered 3 bottles of alcohol from shoreside concierge, and could not decide on the other 3 (6 come with the room). I was told to let the butler know when we boarded. Upon boarding, there was one bottle of rum, and nothing else. I mentioned to the butler that I had decided on the other items, and they showed up on the night of day 2. Also, those mixers and blender that I read here could be delivered? Night 3. Of the 5 night cruise. With no ice.

3. The flower arrangement that is supposed to be a nice touch in the room was dead. I watered it, thinking in might perk up, and found cigarette butts in it. Perhaps it was left over from the previous occupants? We were told on day 3 that there had been 2 weeks of music charters, and a party on the night before we boarded until 3 a.m. in our room. That did explain so much.

4. Called our butler for in room dining, it took 1.5 hour to arrive. It was cold.

5. The hot tub did not work until the night of our 2nd day. It had a hair clog, we were told.

6. The steamroom was also broken. Finally, on the last night, the butler said someone would look at it. We told him the first 3 days that it was broken, but by the last night, we weren’t going to use it.

7. The pillows I ordered from shoreside concierge were not in our room. I did not realize this until we went to bed. I asked the butler the next day if I could get our pillows. He said they were all out, no pillows left to order. I mentioned that I had ordered them from shoreside concierge. He said he hadn’t looked at those orders yet. Ok, not was I was expecting. Oddly enough, the pillows were there that night.

8. The portable phones that come with the room did not work. Or maybe they did, we just couldn’t figure them out. There was no paper explaining how to work them, or what number to push to dial rooms or the butler, nothing. And no paper on what the TV offered movie wise (because my mom liked sitting on the balcony, watching the TV from there, so it would have been nice to know what was available when). Channel 21 that is supposed to show the TV guide never showed anything. Monica, the concierge, ended up walking us through the room to show us how to work things, such as the automatic blinds and such, and where the controls were for everything. She also printed out a movie list, as we did not have one, and the butler never brought one. Apparently, NCL no longer offers a TV or Movie guide in order to save paper.

9. The butler comes in the room without knocking or ringing the doorbell, even though we asked him to not walk in. He had quite a sight when he walked in on me in my underwear, looking for my hair comb!:eek: After that, he at least rang the bell, but then came right on in. Maybe those more accustomed to butlers than I are used to just being walked in on? I found it odd!

10. The officers. I am a happy, smiling person, and I will talk with anyone. I smile at the people I pass in the hallway, and if they smile back, all the better. On the Pearl, I did not have one officer smile back at me, and few even made eye contact. The regular crew seemed much more welcoming to guests than the officers. Perhaps the officers were just too busy to smile at their guests. :confused: Even the guys washing the deck smiled, but not the officers.

11. The language issue is a problem. For that crew that is in direct contact with guests, it would help if they understood English a bit better and spoke a bit more clearly. English is not my native language, either, and I do speak 3 other languages, but Filipino and Thai are not amongst those. I cannot learn every language of the crew, but I do expect a vessel that caters to English speaking guests to have passable-English speaking crew. Our room steward and butler were very, very hard to understand, and I do not believe they understood our Midwest accents either (which is, no accent, no matter what my Southern friends say ;) ).

12. You can no longer order any food from the specialty restaurants, even if it just a bowl of French Onion soup, without being charged the fee. At least, this is what the butler said.

13. I do not care for Freestyle dining. I really, really like getting to know my servers, and I really don’t like paying for food to get a choice of foods that I like. I do not eat red meat or pork, love fish, but had a terrible time finding a variety. I don’t even mind bland food, as I have no problem bringing along my own bottle of Chipotle Tabasco, but the variety in the non-pay restaurants was not to my liking. That’s a personal thing, though, I know.

14. The limo that is supposed to come with the Garden Villa for departure? No one told us anything about how to get to it, and our concierge left us at the exit of the ship, before the long gangway off the ship, as someone else pulled her away before I could catch up to her (mom walks slowly, and I can’t let her fall) to ask where to go. No one else knew anything about where to pick up our transportation, and when I finally told the guy at the outside information booth that we were supposed to have transportation, he called for someone that knew where the limo was, and he called it over to the pick-up section at the port. Took almost one hour for us to have our transportation, which was included in the Garden Villa, show up to take us the airport. This is not a perk that I will use again.

I am sorry this is so long, but sometimes I see people asking about the comparisons and expectations of certain aspects of NCL, so I thought I would share. I really, really wanted to like my experience in the Garden Villa more than my other concierge experiences, because I had read ahead of time and had expectations of how things were done. I expected things to be done better, or at least the same, as my Disney cruises, because after all, I was staying in the top category on NCL. Now I know. I will not rule out NCL, heck I still go on Carnival if the ports suit me, and the Garden Villa set-up is a great aspect of NCL, but I did not feel that, overall, it lived up to what was expected. But perhaps my butler was just overtired after 2 weeks of party cruises, and having 14 other rooms to take care of, so he was stretched too thin. I don’t blame him, if anything; NCL should hire another butler to relieve the load a bit. For truth be told, when you pay big money to stay in the top suite, you expect that extra stuff that is supposed to come with it. If the crew is too worn out to take care of things, then hire more crew, and maybe even remind them to force that smile, so we paying guests actually have the illusion of feeling welcomed.

[coocooforshoes]

Thanks for your review. I am sorry you did not get what you deserved.:(

[steph1964]

Thanks so much for your review! We stayed in a GV on the Dawn in August and, thankfully, had a much better overall experience than you did. When you stay in the most expensive suite on the ship, you certainly should expect a certain level of service, and it definitely does not seem like you did. Shame on NCL! With the hope that future GV cruisers will read these posts, let me share my similarities and differences with your GV experience.

 

First of all, I agree with all of your "pros". Our GV did not have a hammock, but the outdoor space was fantastic and well cared for.

 

And now, for the "cons"..

 

1. The butler. All that stuff you all wrote about the butler does, and the ideas on things to request, such as chocolate covered strawberries instead of the yucky canapés? Never done, though I did tell the butler what we liked when we first met him, and that we did not like canapés. One night, we did have 2 chocolate strawberries. Two, for a family of 4. And the horrid canapés 3 times on our 5 day cruise, even after I said that we did not care for them.

 

Our Butler, Roel, was marvelous! We, too, told him we did not like the canapes and prefer cheese and crackers instead. Every afternoon, he brought us a tray of cheese and crackers, mini sandwiches, fresh cut fruit, and on several occasions (without asking) a plate full of chocolate covered strawberries or a plate of truffles/chocolates.

 

2. I ordered 3 bottles of alcohol from shoreside concierge, and could not decide on the other 3 (6 come with the room). I was told to let the butler know when we boarded. Upon boarding, there was one bottle of rum, and nothing else. I mentioned to the butler that I had decided on the other items, and they showed up on the night of day 2. Also, those mixers and blender that I read here could be delivered? Night 3. Of the 5 night cruise. With no ice.

 

Whenever we asked for a bottle of anything- liquor, juice, mixers, etc it was delivered by evening. Ice was always kept filled.

 

. The flower arrangement that is supposed to be a nice touch in the room was dead. I watered it, thinking in might perk up, and found cigarette butts in it. Perhaps it was left over from the previous occupants? We were told on day 3 that there had been 2 weeks of music charters, and a party on the night before we boarded until 3 a.m. in our room. That did explain so much.

 

Our flower arrangement was in great shape, and I think it was even changed mid-cruise. Cigarette butts in yours!!!! Inexcusable!!

 

4. Called our butler for in room dining, it took 1.5 hour to arrive. It was cold.

 

We had 2 dinners delivered to our patio. Both were done in a timely fashion and the food was hot!

 

Our hot tub worked great (and the kids used it everyday!). The steam room did not work on maybe Day 4, but was fixed by the next day. Pillows we "ordered" when we got to the suite on Day 1, and were in our rooms by the evening. The phones were confusing, but we were instructed on Day 1 how to use them and everything else in the suite. Our butler did just walk in without knocking, but that did not bother us. We had no language issues with the crew on the Dawn.

 

12. You can no longer order any food from the specialty restaurants, even if it just a bowl of French Onion soup, without being charged the fee. At least, this is what the butler said.

 

We were told the same! Very dissapointing since it seems that in the past this was common practice. Also gone now is the replenishing bowls of M&Ms or gummy bears that GV occupants used to ask for.

 

We didn't use the limo, so I can't comment on that perk.

 

Again, I am sorry your experience was not what it should have been. Hopefully NCL will read this and take note of your butler and the sub-standard care you received. I'm glad you still enjoyed the cruise, though, and have wonderful memories of the time spent with your mother.

[TracieABD]

That was really sad to hear. I hate that one person (in your case, your butler) could make or break a cruise.

 

Have you sent your list of concerns to NCL?

[HMK8273]

To the OP - sorry to hear about your experience in the GV on the Pearl.

 

The fact that the Pearl is the ship of choice for charters is no excuse for other regularly scheduled vacations to not receive the level of service that comes with a cruise vacation. You paid just as much as the next person - in theory - so you should get the entire package, not 75% of it because the crew is tired from a party the night before. That's not an excuse in my mind. I won't sail on the Pearl for exactly this reason - booked 2 cruises on the Pearl that were either cancelled or the ship swapped because of charters - so the Pearl is off my wish list for traveling because it is a pain in the butt to plan a cruise and then find out NCL chartered it - NCL do a better job about this in terms of planning because your handling of this sucks!!

 

We sailed in the GV on the Jewel last December and no cruise is 100% perfect. Not saying that NCL is intentionally letting things happen, but NCL can only work towards fixing things/making them right if they know about it. You shouldn't have to make noise to get things fixed but once you do, NCL steps up - either speaking to the butler, or the concierge or even the hotel director - go up the chain of command. You aren't asking for anything beyond the ordinary. The staff of the ship are there to provide you with a vacation - so speak up and don't be ashamed. I think we as cruises sometimes tend to feel that staff have so much to do and we can let things slide - sorry - treat me just like I should be based on the product you sell and paid for, and treat me the same as the person next door getting the same services as myself.

 

We have sailed in suites many times and sometimes I feel like we train the butlers as much as NCL does. Having a relatively new butler serving you could be one of the most frustrating aspects of sailing in a suite. Happened to us a few times but it all worked out in the end. You are only on board for so many days so the quicker things are straightened out, the more enjoyable the rest of your cruise can be.

 

Bottom line - enjoy your cruise and make sure you get what you are supposed to by speaking up. NCL wants to know when they aren't serving people because posts like this make it look like NCL isn't doing their job.

[luvavacation]

Ok, what on earth happened to my original post? I typed it all out with spaces between the paragraphs, and I just noticed that there are now no spaces and it is all jumbled up? Sorry, I know it makes it hard to read, so I really appreciate that you all tried to understand what I wrote in spite of the bad formatting!

 

Yes, I am writing a letter to NCL to let them know of our experience. I haven't finished it yet due to catching up on things from the week I was gone, but it will be sent this week. I am not expecting a personal answer, but perhaps someone, somewhere, will make some changes, like perhaps hiring one more butler so one butler doesn't service 14 cabins? And perhaps not walking in unannounced, because though my husband still thinks I am hot after 25 years, I highly doubt anyone else wants to see me on display! :eek:

 

From now on, unless I need to have the layout of the Garden Villa, I won't cruise NCL in concierge/butler level. The price was only a bit less than what I pay on DCL for concierge, and I felt the value for what I receive on DCL was more "worth it". Not to say I won't ever cruise NCL, for the ports are certainly more varied than Disney's, but I just can't justify the cost for what I received. Just my humble opinion, of course, and I hope others sailing the Garden Villa on the Pearl have a much better experience than we did! :)

[dispachcops]

Who was the cruise director and were they a good one?

 

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[bguppies]

Wow, thank you for that eye opening review of the Garden Villa.

 

I know my parents have been saving for years, to get the Garden Villa on the Dawn in April for their 50th wedding anniversary.

 

If the concierge or butler is as bad as your butler, I will waste no time going over their heads to get the service corrected.

 

People shouldn't pay that much for a suite (especially the most expensive) and not get quality service.

 

Sorry your overall service and experience was so poor.

 

Bill

[SuiteCruiser]

It sounds like the majority of your issues were with your butler. In future, it is important that you talk to the Hotel Director onboard to get things fixed. It could have resulted in a much better cruise for you and also would help out the people coming in behind you as well.

 

I just spent 13 nights in the GV on the Star and have never been so pampered and cared for in my life. Our butler was great as was our room steward. That is the way it's supposed to be.

 

So sorry you had a bad experience.

[sunshine nana]

I am very sorry you had such a bad butler and indifferent concierge after paying so much money. We had a worthless butler and concierge for our first NCL suite, but we had gotten a very cheap upsell to the aft penthouse because the stock market crashed in fall of 2008 and many people canceled. We loved the extra room, the parties (one in the empty Villa!) and most of all Cagneys for breakfast and lunch. We had to fight for everything else and it wasn't worth it except we did get the concierge to get us a good table for the MDR. All of our excursions etc. were done ahead by us.We just threw out the snacks, never used the phone or coffee maker because the butler didn't know how they worked. We were never told of the chocolate buffet. When we embarked, the person who was to escort us to our cabin didn't know where it was. We did. We were never escorted to anything and when we ran into the concierge, she didn't know us! Needless to say, we tipped the steward extra, but the concierge and butler got very little.

For our second NCL suite, we also had a nice upsell and a little bit better butler, but the concierge took the higher end suite passengers onboard and never came back. We had to board with the general crowd. This concierge was very rude when DH asked her one question and lied to us by telling us we could not self-disembark. We still had a great cruise and again enjoyed Cagneys, but the hostess never recognized us and we had to show our cards every day for 7 days!

We decided that we would pay some extra for an aft suite, but never pay a lot for any NCL suite as the service is just not there!

[DMH15]

I am so sorry to hear of your valid complaints. I can relate because I had a butler on the Sun 14 night cruise who was terrible. Two other suite couples who were very reasonable people also had issues. One was in Owner's Suite, the top suite on the Sun. Our wonderful concierge, Karin G. tried to help, but circumstances fell even beyond her.

 

We had Monica on our last cruise as concierge. Loved her. Our butler, Teresa was incredible.

 

So sorry, in the GV, I would expect service above all.

 

I cruise with my mom who will be 80 in 9 months. So I can understand you wanting this to be so special for her. I hope the positives made it so for her.

 

 

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