Just off the Pearl

[hmk012]

Let me start by saying we had a wonderful time. We had a group of 18 adults and really enjoyed ourselves. This is my 4th cruise with NCL. I love their laid back feel of cruising and that's why we keep coming back. With that said, the past few cruises with them (3 of which have been in this past year) we've noticed a few things that have led us to try another cruise line.

This is my 2nd cruise on the Pearl. I love the size of the ship. We were on the Getaway over the summer and the spaces didn't seem to fit the amount of people. I realize the pool area always is busy, but we didn't like the children's area, there wasn't enough room for parents to lounge on chairs and watch their children (ours are 9 and 15). Enough about the Getaway, let's get back to the Pearl.

We loved the open feel of the pool area. Lots of chair space up top and below (we weren't cruising with kids this time). The restaurant sizes also seemed to fit the ship, unlike the Getaway in our option. It was easy for us to make a reservation once on board for 18 of us. We got into Cagneys the 2nd night with no problem. The staff was very friendly, we never ran into a rude staff member. The food was great, actually it was better than our summer cruise on the Getaway! We only eat at Speciality Restaurants on NCL. We like the different food choices and recommend paying extra for the dining plan. Great Stirrup Cay was wonderful, it was our first time there! Didn't feel too crowded, maybe because we were on a smaller ship. The tender was easy to use.

Our downfall with NCL....service! Over the summer and our recent cruise when we've had questions or issues, the service just wasn't there. Instead of trying to help us, we felt like we (as the customer) were the issue and they were annoyed with our questions we needed answered. That's really disappointing as a consumer. We weren't the only ones in our group that felt like this. We would have to chase people down to get our questions answered and sometimes that meant following up with them half to the day. One couple in our group got charged an extra $20 in tips at Cagneys one night. NCL took the word over the server over them and they refused to reverse the charge. The couple was shocked by this and it left a bad taste in their mouth (this was their 1st cruise). The wait staff we had were great! Unfortunately, they had too many table to wait on. At Cagney's with a table of 18 our waiter had 15 other tables to wait on BY HIMSELF! He was did his best, but we could see other tables were very unhappy with him. We found this at most restaurants, the wait staff had too many tables and not enough help. This was the 1st time we've noticed this.

Although most of the ship was clean, the Stardusk theater needed major cleaning. There was trash near the stage that looked like it had been there for months, it was pretty nasty. It was all over the place by the stage and multiple people in our party noticed. We did say something to the crew, but the next night it was still there.

Like I said, overall it was a great cruise, but most people in our group agreed next time we will try another cruise line. We still love NCL and I'm sure we will be back at some point. Until then, happy sailing everyone!!!

[cliffd64]

Let me start by saying we had a wonderful time. We had a group of 18 adults and really enjoyed ourselves. This is my 4th cruise with NCL. I love their laid back feel of cruising and that's why we keep coming back. With that said, the past few cruises with them (3 of which have been in this past year) we've noticed a few things that have led us to try another cruise line.

This is my 2nd cruise on the Pearl. I love the size of the ship. We were on the Getaway over the summer and the spaces didn't seem to fit the amount of people. I realize the pool area always is busy, but we didn't like the children's area, there wasn't enough room for parents to lounge on chairs and watch their children (ours are 9 and 15). Enough about the Getaway, let's get back to the Pearl.

We loved the open feel of the pool area. Lots of chair space up top and below (we weren't cruising with kids this time). The restaurant sizes also seemed to fit the ship, unlike the Getaway in our option. It was easy for us to make a reservation once on board for 18 of us. We got into Cagneys the 2nd night with no problem. The staff was very friendly, we never ran into a rude staff member. The food was great, actually it was better than our summer cruise on the Getaway! We only eat at Speciality Restaurants on NCL. We like the different food choices and recommend paying extra for the dining plan. Great Stirrup Cay was wonderful, it was our first time there! Didn't feel too crowded, maybe because we were on a smaller ship. The tender was easy to use.

Our downfall with NCL....service! Over the summer and our recent cruise when we've had questions or issues, the service just wasn't there. Instead of trying to help us, we felt like we (as the customer) were the issue and they were annoyed with our questions we needed answered. That's really disappointing as a consumer. We weren't the only ones in our group that felt like this. We would have to chase people down to get our questions answered and sometimes that meant following up with them half to the day. One couple in our group got charged an extra $20 in tips at Cagneys one night. NCL took the word over the server over them and they refused to reverse the charge. The couple was shocked by this and it left a bad taste in their mouth (this was their 1st cruise). The wait staff we had were great! Unfortunately, they had too many table to wait on. At Cagney's with a table of 18 our waiter had 15 other tables to wait on BY HIMSELF! He was did his best, but we could see other tables were very unhappy with him. We found this at most restaurants, the wait staff had too many tables and not enough help. This was the 1st time we've noticed this.

Although most of the ship was clean, the Stardusk theater needed major cleaning. There was trash near the stage that looked like it had been there for months, it was pretty nasty. It was all over the place by the stage and multiple people in our party noticed. We did say something to the crew, but the next night it was still there.

Like I said, overall it was a great cruise, but most people in our group agreed next time we will try another cruise line. We still love NCL and I'm sure we will be back at some point. Until then, happy sailing everyone!!!

 

Sorry you had service issues... One question: did you bring any of these issues up to the Hotel Director or the Assistant Hotel Director? How about the Cagneys restaurant manager? When you have issues of this type, if they are brought to the attention of the people in charge at the time they occur, they will try their utmost to achieve your satisfaction. I would tend to be a bit disappointed as well if the service in Cagney's was sub-par considering you are paying extra for that service in the first place. I have not personally experienced such service issues but if I had, I would have been inclined to speak with the Hotel Director and/or the Cagney's restaurant manager to make them aware of the problems. They are quite good at fixing the issues and making amends for poor service.