Just back from a 9 day cruise on the Pearl, not that impressed

[pmcrr]

We were in the penthouse in the front of the ship . our Balcony was non accessable while under way as the bulkhead door had to be closed. It would have been nice to know that before we booked,thanks for telling us ahead of time NCL. The decor is well in some parts of the ship its nice then in other parts its really cheap looking. Like the casino, It looked like it was designed by Burger King with an un limited budget. Not very classy or elegant. However do check out the origanal Van Gough hanging on the wall behind the reception desk. Value 30 million, That was something to see. The food was very good overall. The french bistro was ok but the veal chop and the rack of lamb were ordered med. and were well done. Cagneys Steak house had perfect steaks but the Lobester was over cooked. Tepanyaka, like a Benny Hanna grill, cook table side with like 8 per table, The chef was new ,and missed most of his tricks, which actually made it funny to watch. The food was fair as the shrimp. scallops, and Lobster were all overcooked. the steak was perfect. The show lounge seats were like that of a movie theater and were kinda small not very comfortable. Seating thruout the ship was most pleasant except for the show lounge. The Bliss lounge looked like a Bordello. the only thing missing were the hookers, Beds, private rooms, heavy colors and fabric, along with loud music and 4 bowling lanes made this a fun spot for the young set. We went, been there done that. The freestyle cruise dining Idea is setting the bar for other lines to follow. Much nicer than the regement of two seatings. I cant speak for the excursions as my wife went on them. She did say that the beach snorkel trip was very nice. All in all we had a wonderful experience. The NCL Pearl is nice 70% of the time, 25% not so nice and 5% down right un-excuseable. I score the pearl 88, B+.

[Ella2]

Hmmm, you give it a B+ but you're "not that impressed"? :confused: I think you are a tough teacher! A B+ in my book is pretty darn near perfect. ;)

 

Just teasing a bit, my point is your review is mostly GOOD, but your thread title makes it sound like you mostly had a NOT SO GOOD time. You may want to reconsider the title of your post.

 

Glad you had mostly a GOOD time! :)

[Guest Anorak33]

Got to agree about the colour scheme in the casino, those big dobs of primary colours just make it look terrible, still we never gamble anyway so for the 30 seconds it takes me to walk through the casino why should I care.

We were on the ship's first cruise and it was pretty good, we certainly didn't want to get off, food was generally good for us and we liked the ship immensely.

Seems weird abut the balcony being inaccessible, never heard of that before. NCL should certainly make that clear to everyone before they confirm the booking.

When I read the title of your post I thought Oh No another first poster complaining, but you actually have 3 previous posts and you weren't complaining too much on reading your full post. There definitely often seems to be a correlation between the number of posts and the criticism however.

Don't think you are a teacher like a previous poster suggested, with all respect your spelling and grammar isn't that good. I could only give you a C.

[megessey]

We were in the penthouse in the front of the ship . our Balcony was non accessable while under way as the bulkhead door had to be closed.

 

I don't understand this -- Can you explain this a little more? We were thinking of staying in a penthouse on the Pearl for a 5-day cruise.

[CrusinAgain]

For sailaway on the Caribbean Princess, we stood on top of the bridge which was in front of some suites that had their balconies in front and on the side. I certainly can understand why their balcony was unusable once the ship was moving....the wind was very rough in the front of the ship and certainly not a relaxing place to be once undergoing. I learned then I never wanted a room with a balcony in the very front.

[cruizinwithkids]

We were in the penthouse in the front of the ship . our Balcony was non accessable while under way as the bulkhead door had to be closed.

 

We were on the Dawn in November out of NY in a room like that. It was definately very, very, very windy in the front but we were able to access the balcony and in fact did a few times.

 

We watched a bunch of dolphins on the way down and I was out on the balcony sailing into NY.

 

By not accessible were you not allowed to use it or just didn't like to which would be understandable as it is not a nice relaxing experience. As I said it was fun for us and we loved it.

[greenie]

We were in an OS on the Dawn and the only time the bulkhead door was kept locked was when we were in high seas.

 

 

But yes, even when it wasn't locked, it's very windy out there when under way. However, we knew that going in from the CC boards. Still well worth the price as far as we were concerned!

[heelfan94]

I don't understand this -- Can you explain this a little more? We were thinking of staying in a penthouse on the Pearl for a 5-day cruise.

I would love some elaboration on this, too. And can you give us a penthouse number? I've been looking at a 9 day on the Pearl in December and a heads up would be great. :)

[OceanDreaming2]

I have to disagree with all the negative comments the OP stated. While the steel door is closed at night, it is not locked and you can go out anytime you wish. You are asked to keep your drapes drawn so the lights do not affect the ship's observation crew. We used the penthouse balcony everyday while we were underway and never had a problem. It was windy, yes, but where wasn't it? When you are moving along at 25 knots, it's going to be windy at the front of the ship.

 

We loved being in a penthouse - we have another cruise scheduled for May and looked into upgrading to the same cabin. However, we just wanted to rent the suite for a week, not buy the whole ship! We will probably upgrade to a mini-suite (butler and concierge services), and will try for an aft rather than forward.

 

As for meals, most were excellent. We ate at LeBistro twice, Cagney's nearly everyday for breakfast and a few lunches and one dinner, LaCucina (our CC gathering of 60+ sailors), the two main dining rooms, Mambos, Tappenyaki, Blue Lagoon, and Garden Cafe. It's hard to prepare lobster and keep it from becoming overdone. Our chef at Tappenyaki was new and did overcook the seafood. But, like I said, overall the food was great. Chocolate buffet was a little over the top. I'd had so much chocolate by then, it all tasted the same.

 

Overall, we rated this cruise at AAA+++!!! Can't wait til May 20 so we can enjoy her again!

[star7228]

Keep in mind too that it seems the OP is referencing the AC category penthouses...which have a forward balcony (I think some owner's suites do too, but they also have a side balcony).

 

If you're considering a penthouse, go for the AD...we love it with the aft balcony...no wind, use it anytime, beautiful views, butler service...etc etc. :)

 

Plus, there have been many discussions on this board about the issue of wind or not always being able to use your forward balcony. It's one of the many benefits of checking out Cruise Critic before sailing!

[LateCruiser]

I agree with OceanDreaming2. (Hi Mary ;) ). We had 9502 on the Jewel last year and it was windy, but so was our side balconey last week. I loved the AC category penthouse, just can't afford the 2d mortgage on the house everytime we want one :eek: .

[LateCruiser]

I agree with OceanDreaming2. (Hi Mary ;) ). We had 9502 on the Jewel last year and it was windy, but so was our side balcony last week. I loved the AC category penthouse, just can't afford the 2d mortgage on the house everytime we want one :eek: .

[Welove2cruise2]

To reiterate what a few others said here, just because the bulkhead door is closed does NOT mean you can't go on your balcony! We had an AC penthouse on the Dawn in '05. We asked our butler if we were allowed to open the bulkhead door whenever we wanted and he said that we could. He told us when the cabin stewards come in to make up or turn down the cabin, they will close the door (that's their job), but we were free to open it up. And yes, the bulkhead door was closed whenever the stewards came in to service the suite. Yes, it was windy on those "at sea" days, but once we were in the islands, sailing from one port to the other, that forward balcony was wonderful! We spent every morning and evening out there. BTW, we were not told to keep our drapes closed or the lights off at night -- maybe because we were on deck 9, and there were other cabins above us?

[brunolvr]

I have to disagree with all the negative comments the OP stated. While the steel door is closed at night, it is not locked and you can go out anytime you wish. You are asked to keep your drapes drawn so the lights do not affect the ship's observation crew. We used the penthouse balcony everyday while we were underway and never had a problem. It was windy, yes, but where wasn't it? When you are moving along at 25 knots, it's going to be windy at the front of the ship.

 

We loved being in a penthouse - we have another cruise scheduled for May and looked into upgrading to the same cabin. However, we just wanted to rent the suite for a week, not buy the whole ship! We will probably upgrade to a mini-suite (butler and concierge services), and will try for an aft rather than forward.

 

As for meals, most were excellent. We ate at LeBistro twice, Cagney's nearly everyday for breakfast and a few lunches and one dinner, LaCucina (our CC gathering of 60+ sailors), the two main dining rooms, Mambos, Tappenyaki, Blue Lagoon, and Garden Cafe. It's hard to prepare lobster and keep it from becoming overdone. Our chef at Tappenyaki was new and did overcook the seafood. But, like I said, overall the food was great. Chocolate buffet was a little over the top. I'd had so much chocolate by then, it all tasted the same.

 

Overall, we rated this cruise at AAA+++!!! Can't wait til May 20 so we can enjoy her again!

OceanDreaming, you mentioned

"We will probably upgrade to a mini-suite (butler and concierge services), and will try for an aft rather than forward."

The mini-suite gets concierge service but no butler. AE Penthouses and above have butlers.

[snorklinbarb]

We were in the penthouse in the front of the ship . our Balcony was non accessable while under way as the bulkhead door had to be closed. It would have been nice to know that before we booked,thanks for telling us ahead of time NCL. The decor is well in some parts of the ship its nice then in other parts its really cheap looking. Like the casino, It looked like it was designed by Burger King with an un limited budget. Not very classy or elegant. However do check out the origanal Van Gough hanging on the wall behind the reception desk. Value 30 million, That was something to see. The food was very good overall. The french bistro was ok but the veal chop and the rack of lamb were ordered med. and were well done. Cagneys Steak house had perfect steaks but the Lobester was over cooked. Tepanyaka, like a Benny Hanna grill, cook table side with like 8 per table, The chef was new ,and missed most of his tricks, which actually made it funny to watch. The food was fair as the shrimp. scallops, and Lobster were all overcooked. the steak was perfect. The show lounge seats were like that of a movie theater and were kinda small not very comfortable. Seating thruout the ship was most pleasant except for the show lounge. The Bliss lounge looked like a Bordello. the only thing missing were the hookers, Beds, private rooms, heavy colors and fabric, along with loud music and 4 bowling lanes made this a fun spot for the young set. We went, been there done that. The freestyle cruise dining Idea is setting the bar for other lines to follow. Much nicer than the regement of two seatings. I cant speak for the excursions as my wife went on them. She did say that the beach snorkel trip was very nice. All in all we had a wonderful experience. The NCL Pearl is nice 70% of the time, 25% not so nice and 5% down right un-excuseable. I score the pearl 88, B+.

 

Wish you had joined our Groundhogs CC group - bowling, excursions, horse racing game, dinner for 76 in La Cucina - maybe your B+ experience could have become an "A".:D

[foursum]

We're on the Pearl in the fall and hope one of the Feb 2 cruiers will be able to post Freestyle dailys.

 

Thanks in advance.

[OceanDreaming2]

Yes, I realized that after I posted and it was too late to make any edits. But having a concierge is a good thing!

 

I wish we could afford another penthouse, but like LateCruiser said (Hi Gus!) we don't want to take out a second mortgage for another cruise. If the upsell fairy does call (fingers and toes are crossed) maybe they'll offer a AE penthouse, but *any* penthouse will do!

[newmexicoNita]

I think the heading (title) is a little misleading. A B+ to me indicates a pretty good time, not one that would be listed as not very impressed. NMNita

[CrusinAgain]

I keep meaning to ask how are the beds on the Pearl? I know with Princess you have to ask for egg crate toppers but on Carnival, they are devine! How about the Pearl?

[johnql]

All in all we had a wonderful experience.

And still "not that impressed"? Man, you're tough.

[OceanDreaming2]

We had a very comfortable mattress and devine down/feather pillows in the AC penthouse! The only "complaint" I would have is the comforter is too darn hot. You can ask housekeeping to add a top sheet in addition to the comforter. Wish I'd done that 'cuz I need to cover up with something!

[JudyOh]

We felt the comforter was too heavy and my husband felt it was too hot, our steward took it away and brought in a sheet and blanket. Worked out much better. We did the same thing on RCI Freedom in November.

[ce2000]

I have been on 5 cruises, my best cruise I would rate an A, my least desireable cruise a B-, the other three I would rate a B+. I was very satisfied with the B+ and above, and a B- cruise is pretty good, beats an A+ day at work.

[LateCruiser]

I have been on 5 cruises, my best cruise I would rate an A, my least desireable cruise a B-, the other three I would rate a B+. I was very satisfied with the B+ and above, and a B- cruise is pretty good, beats an A+ day at work.

 

Or, to borrow from a popular fishing axiom, "A bad day cruising beats a good day working any day".:D

[Guest Anorak33]

In his first post on CC the original poster said:

" We sail on the Jewel on 2-1-07. "

Now he claims to have been on the Pearl during what looks like probably the same week???????