NCL Pearl

[jcastro1202]

Hi Everyone!

 

I just booked myself, my husband and my 4 kids on the NCL Pearl sailing out of New Orleans on 11/26/17 for 9 nights. I'm excited! I'm also a bit nervous as I'm booking this as a surprise family cruise and plan on keeping this a secret up until the end...I hope I can anyway! :confused:

 

This will be the first time that I take my family on a smaller older ship as most of the ones that we've sailed on have been megaships. Can anyone tell me what to expect? Is the ship too small? Are there enough activities to keep the kids busy? The itinerary is very port intensive but I still want to enjoy the ship. Any feedback you guys can give me is appreciated!

[Cubechick]

I personally love the size of the Pearl. Plenty big, with plenty to do. She is a favorite of ours.

 

We sailed her last year and she is in great shape.

[Jules**]

The Pearl is wonderful....just enough deck space, eating venues, etc without being too big. Not crass or tacky either......it's juuuuust right. :)

[Lido_Deck]

Hi Everyone!

 

I just booked myself, my husband and my 4 kids on the NCL Pearl sailing out of New Orleans on 11/26/17 for 9 nights. I'm excited! I'm also a bit nervous as I'm booking this as a surprise family cruise and plan on keeping this a secret up until the end...I hope I can anyway! :confused:

 

This will be the first time that I take my family on a smaller older ship as most of the ones that we've sailed on have been megaships. Can anyone tell me what to expect? Is the ship too small? Are there enough activities to keep the kids busy? The itinerary is very port intensive but I still want to enjoy the ship. Any feedback you guys can give me is appreciated!

 

I've cruised on 40+ ships on six different cruise lines. The Pearl is a great, great ship.

 

My Top 4 Ships...

 

1. NCL Gem

2. NCL Pearl

3. RC Navigator of the Seas

4. Celebrity Millennium

 

The Garden Café and the Great Outdoors alone puts newer larger ships to shame.

[Kaptivate]

And the pearl is being refurbished early next year.

 

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[goldenrod]

It's a tub and you'll hate it and the crew have been known to throw kids overboard! LOL Just kidden its great and you'll love it! Garrenteed

 

 

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[atomax]

I don't have kids, so when we were on the Pearl in April, I wasn't focused on kid activities/facilities. Here's what I recall:

 

There is a rock climbing wall and sports area in the back of the ship, along with the Great Outdoors one deck below (with the self-serve soft serve ice cream machine - always a favorite). There are two pools, neither one is adult or kid only. They showed movies on the giant screen in the Atrium late at night.

 

Overall, we loved the size of the Pearl. There was plenty of room for everyone on the ship, so it never felt too crowded. The crew was wonderful; hopefully many of them will be on the ship when you're onboard.

[spidybabe]

Loved the Pearl -but we were also without children. We did notice no slides into pool - that may disappoint some

Safe sailing

 

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[jpcdds6]

The Jewel class ships are the best ships NCL has ever designed. I think it's funny when people consider a vessel that is almost 100,000 tons as being small.

[Tarheel_Cruiser]

I think it's funny when people consider a vessel that is almost 100,000 tons as being small.

 

Relatively speaking ... it is. ;)

[Heather1972]

Hi Everyone!

 

I just booked myself, my husband and my 4 kids on the NCL Pearl sailing out of New Orleans on 11/26/17 for 9 nights. I'm excited! I'm also a bit nervous as I'm booking this as a surprise family cruise and plan on keeping this a secret up until the end...I hope I can anyway! :confused:

 

This will be the first time that I take my family on a smaller older ship as most of the ones that we've sailed on have been megaships. Can anyone tell me what to expect? Is the ship too small? Are there enough activities to keep the kids busy? The itinerary is very port intensive but I still want to enjoy the ship. Any feedback you guys can give me is appreciated!

 

We sailed on the pearl in August of this year. The only old parts of the ship that I noticed were the carpet in the cabins and the paint on the balconies. The rest of the ship looked new. But I think the ship is being refurbished next year, so those things should be addressed.

 

One complaint that I had was the sofa bed in the balcony room. Once it's made into a bed, you literally have to crawl across it to get out to the balcony. That was a major bummer.

 

There are plenty of activities to keep the kids busy in the kids club. My son was literally begging to go to the kids' club everyday. I don't think the ship is too small. However, it may not have all the bells and whistles that kids want.

[jpcdds6]

Relatively speaking ... it is. ;)

 

When I was a kid my parents took the whole family on a cruise. The ship was called the Ocean Monarch and we sailed to Bermuda and Nassau out of New York. In January! That ship was 14,000 tons. THATS what I consider small.

[jimsig]

Did the Pearl in Alaska this past summer w our then 6yo DD and she loved it. Not sure of your kids ages but the kids club was great and she loved going. As a PP said there are no water slides as the Pearl does music charters in the winter and they need the space. We had the 2BR family suite and loved the ship.

 

If you want to read my trip report it's in my signature below.

[jimsig]

Also check out this thread Pearl Tips and Secrets