Ncl Pearl Balcony Stateroom On Deck 8 Question

[Eldemila]

Just found out we'll be in 8048 on the Pearl - does anyone know anything about this room? We were supposed to be in a BE and were given a BD instead. I think they're really the same cabins but was told one was a bit cheaper (for some reason) than the other.

 

Am I looking at the deck plan wrong?:confused: From what I see, deck 8 has the lifeboats. When I look at the pic of the Pearl, cabins to the right and left of the lifeboats appear to be windows, not balconys.:confused: I'll probably say "DUH" later on, but for now, I'm perplexed. As you can tell, I am NOT an experienced cruiser:o

 

Any idea what is behind the cabin per the deck plan?

 

Thanks!

[ute_fan]

According to the deck plans, 8048 is the last balcony cabin in that part of the ship -- forward of where the liftboats start. I'm pretty sure it's what is referred to as a "hulled" balcony, meaning there is steel framing it rather than being more open. Here's a picture of the Pearl taken in Ketchikan that will hopefully demonstrate what I mean:

 

The lifeboat is at the very left of the picture -- there's a bigger opening just above the green swirl of the hull artwork that is where the promenade deck is, and just above that are a row of smaller openings, underneath the regular balconies, and 8048 would be one of those. Next time I try a balcony, I'm probably going to book on of the hulled ones on purporse. Our only experience with a balcony was that it was too windy -- and I think this design would help cut down the wind noise.

[Eldemila]

Thanks so much, the closer picture showed it so much better and now I know there is a balcony there!!!!:o I can see the railing, and our cabin! It's the last one before the lifeboat. I'm bummed that we didn't get port side:( as requested.

 

I would have liked the open balcony I think. Doesn't a "hulled" design have less room to sit out on - the others above look so roomy and open. I guess if it is windy it's good, but if not, I'd go for the more open one, I think - but then again, never having been on a ship with a balcony, I really don't know!:confused:

 

Any idea what it is that's behind the cabin area??

 

Thanks again!!!!!!

[Mekamax]

I had a balcony like that on the Dream - only it had 3 cabin balconies in the hull part. Very nice - a lot more private in your case - no one looking around into your balcony and probably less problem with other peoples smoke or your own bothering others... If it is raining you will have a much nicer time on the balcony also as it will be a lot more blocked. We did not have any problem getting sun on the balcony as you might think. Debbie

[ute_fan]

What is behind your cabin is the elevator/stairway area. I don't know what is in the area surrounding the stairs -- possibly storage room for the room stewards cleaning materials, or the crew access area (more stairs leading down that aren't for public use). Our cabin was an inside a little further forward up that same hall (I think the number was 8027), and we weren't conscious of anything there that would be a problem. In fact, I probably looked in your cabin was we walked by!

 

The BD that you ended up with was an upgrade from the original BE. The only difference is that the BE cabins are even further forward -- next to the picture windows right above whatever it is that says "Tongass". Moving closer to the middle of the ship is considered an advantage, as it's likely to be a little smoother sailing. The distance isn't really far enough to make much difference, as far as I can tell, but that's the theory.

 

Here's the list of the your cabin amenities:

 

Cabin 8048

Private Balcony (1)

Shower (1)

Convertible Lower Beds (2)

Convertible Single Sofa Bed (1)

Oceanview Stateroom (1)

Floor to ceiling sliding glass doors (1)

Sprinklers (1)

Pier forward (1)

Sitting Area (1)

Crib (1)

Duvet (1)

Refrigerator (1)

Hair Dryer (1)

Telephone (1)

Safety Deposit Box (1)

Television (1)

Tea and Coffee Maker (1)

Internet access (1)

Balcony Square Footage (38)

Cabin Square Footage (162)

Starboard Side (1)

Midship Section (1)

 

As far as I can tell, the balcony square footage isn't any different than the ones on the deck above.

[Eldemila]

Thanks MEKA, for the reassurance - sounds like it may be a better balcony. I would definitely not be sitting out there if someone next to us was out on their balcony puffing away - I hate the smell of cig smoke!

 

On that (disgusting) note - what's the Pearl like when it comes to smoking on the ship??? I asked for a non-smoking room - are they all non-smoking or if not, are requests honored?? How's the restaurants - again, I don't want to be around it. Luckily here in Miami, you can't smoke in any of the restaurants - smokers don't take offense, just my personal feelings.

 

UTE - Thanks for letting me know what was there-may be a peaceful cabin??? I didn't know that it was better to be midship than forward, so I guess that's a plus. Is there that much difference on not being on the port side?? Thanks for posting the ammenities, I actually found them after my first post by doing a search on the net.

 

Has anyone gone to the Thane Ore House for the salmon bake? Was thinking about doing the MHG and then the ore house - ends up being cheaper than doing it on the ship.

 

Also, does anyone know which of the rail companies NCL uses in Skagway? We want to do a train ride but was hoping to possibly find a way to do it on our own and save some money. We were thinking about opting for the 5 1/2 hour one - thought about doing the one with the suspension bridge but heard it's a real trap and not to bother. Any thoughts????

 

Last, I had seen someone a good list of things to pack and now I can't find the post - not sure which site it was on, but it mentioned a lot of great things, like a night light, ground coffee, extension cord, etc. Does anyone recognize this list, or have one they can recommend??

 

Thanks for the help in all areas - most appreciated! Now I'll be happy if I can find something to wear on this ship - it's not going to be an easy task, esp. when it comes to winter wear!!!!

 

D

[Don Haynes]

NCL's smoking policy changed for the better recently. Any cabin can be smoked in, but they use ionizers to clean the smoke up between cruises. You won't notice any smoke, and if you do they will clean up again.

 

Smoking is allowed inside the ship in their cabins, balconies, in the smoking room/cibar room, and the casino and its bar. Outside smoking is allowed either to port or starboard, on one side.

 

As for the cabins, most of the cabins are similar per type: inside, porthole and window, and balcony besides the suites. They are just on different floors.

 

There is only one railroad in Skagway, the White Pass Railroad. Its a long ride on a train. You may enjoy a bus ride and gold mining better.

[ute_fan]

The train ride has wonderful scenery and is fun -- if you like trains. We did the longest train ride available -- bus to Carcross and then the train back to Skagway. It was a long excursion, and I don't know that I'd go on it multiple times, but we were very glad to have done it once. If you're just doing the shortest train ride, there is very little cost difference between booking through the ship and booking directly with the White Pass railroad. We've also done the car rental and driven to Emerald Lake, and I'd probably be more likely to do that one again, since you have more options for structuring your trip to suit your own interests.

 

I haven't done a salmon bake anywhere, so no opinion on that. We have been to Mendenhall Glacier and would highly recommend seeing it. My preference for Juneau is whale watching, but that doesn't suit everyone's interests.

 

As far as smoking goes, we sailed before the smoking policy changed and still didn't notice a lot of smoke. I'm hoping that the new policy will help to cut down on the smoke, but it's likely to make the casino unbearable for those of us who don't like smoke. We've never had any trouble at all with our cabins being smoky. They really do a great job on neutralizing the smokie smell. My DD has asthma, and it's never even bothered her, which is unusual.

[DrJJ]

We were on the Pearl to Alaska last week. We rented a car in Skagway from Avis and drove to Emerald Lake, a bit past Carcross. The road parallels the train route, was an easy drive, and had some of the best scenery I have ever seen.

 

We made many stops, among them the suspension bridge, which I felt was a very worthwhile stop.

 

We had a great time in general on the Pearl, a beautiful ship with a very attentive crew.

 

We had a balcony cabin on deck 10, port side forward. We are not smokers. Unfortunately there were very heavy smokers in the cabins forward and aft of us who smoked heavily on their balconies. This made the balcony somewhat difficult to use in port, because of the heavy second hand smoke.