Need input from Past NCL Pearl Cruisers

[cjm61]

I am contemplating booking a cruise on the Pearl. I have not truly sailed on NCL since the days of the MS Sunward II. I did do a brief cruise on the Dawn when she was new, but I was not impressed. I am taking my sister who is really a laid back, jeans and snickers type of girl. She's a great travel companion when I need a destressing vacation. Freestyle seems to fit her personality, and I myself would like to give NCL another try. I am a hardcore Carnival, RCCL and Princess cruiser, so please, give me some input here about the Pearl. I really do want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly so I can make an educated decision without booking blindly. Thanks to anyone who posts a helpful reply.

[Luckyroot]

Just got off the Pearl 2 days ago (boohoo) and it's a beautiful ship. Of course everyone's opinion is just that..........their opinion, but in general we had a very good time.

 

Laid back? You bet. We saw a guy in a tux seated at the same table with someone in jeans. As long as you don't care what the other guy is wearing (which I don't) you'll love freestyle dining.

 

I love the idea of eating where you want / when you want. There are so many dining options. Don't really like the nickel & diming aspect, but I think all cruiselines are moving in that direction. We only ate in a pay restaurant one night..........and that was only because I REALLY wanted to try the hibachi place, Teppanyaki.

 

Some people complained about the dinner reservation process. We had no problems. Called to try and make reservations for La Cucina on Wednesday and we were told they were completely booked up for that night and the following night (last night of the cruise), but I happened to stop by at 5:30 on Wednesday, and asked if they had anything for walk up customers. We were told we could be seated at 9pm and had a wonderful dinner, best of the cruise. SO if you can be flexible, you can pretty much dine where ever you want. (although I suspect this might be different if you are sailing with a large group).

 

Only went to one of the Jean Ann Ryan shows and we walked out half way thru. But Second City was one of the funniest shows I've ever seen.

 

There were plenty of things to do.......or nothing to do if you wanted that. Pool area seemed crowded (we only were on the pool deck when passing thru to the spa or buffet). Speaking of the spa, I bought the week's pass for $75 and it was worth every penny. Quietest spot on the entire ship and totally relaxing (especially those heated loungers!)

 

You don't have the advantage of having the same server each night, who gets to know your likes and dislikes, but we were on Princess in October with traditional late dining, and our servers for the week never DID get to know our preferences, so we didn't really miss that either. We found all the employees to be friendly and courteous. Anyone we passed in the hallways always said hello, asked how our day was etc.

 

Hope it works out for you, it does sound like your sister would best enjoy freestyle cruising. I hope you do too.

[cmdchiefthom]

De-stress??????;) The Pearl is practically stress free. Eat whenever, and wherever you want, no real problem in choosing what you wear, plenty to keep, or not keep you busy. It's really laid back. Last April, on the 9 night itinerary, we didn't eat one single time in the main dining rooms. Sometimes just dropping by the Blue Lagoon for Won Ton soup, fried rice, or just a burger and fries was enough, or reservations at Cagney's for steak seemed just right. I also love the 9 night itinerary, although I do wish that NCL would bring back Dominica instead of Samana. We love the experience so much, we're doing it again in April!;)

[cjm61]

Thank you both Luckyroot and cmdchiefthom. I really appreciate your input. I am the type of guy that does like to see people appropriately dressed for dinner, but I want to try to be open minded and experience what so many seem to love about Freestyle. I think I can get passed my "traditional" way of cruising since by doing so, may open up a whole new world I have yet to explore. With the introduction of Freestyle 2 coming, it appears Freestyle is getting a bit of a facelift and makes it a little more appealing to people like me. :o Responses like the both of yours are truly helpful and I do thank you both for taking the time to respond.

[marcopaulo]

Me and my husband went on the Pearl in Feb 07 and are going again March 30, 2008. The ship is beautiful. The thing with Norwegian is you definitely do not get the service other cruise lines provide. This has not stopped us for travelling NCL, but the service is not up to par. There were several nights that our room was not turned down. I would be understanding of this if we did not give the cabin steward more than enough time to get it done, but that is not the case. This has happened on the Pearl, Sun and Spirit to us. We never had a problem making reservations to specialty restaurants. I know a lot of people love the Second City show, but we walked out 1/2 way through both times, just not our type of humor. If you are a hard core RCCL and Princess cruiser, sorry to say, I think you'll be disappointed. When I get off a RCCL cruise or Princess I have a different feeling than getting off NCL. As I said I do continue to crusie NCL, and since I'm on vacation, I have a good time and take the good with the bid.

[marcopaulo]

Me and my husband went on the Pearl in Feb 07 and are going again March 30, 2008. The ship is beautiful. The thing with Norwegian is you definitely do not get the service other cruise lines provide. This has not stopped us for travelling NCL, but the service is not up to par. There were several nights that our room was not turned down. I would be understanding of this if we did not give the cabin steward more than enough time to get it done, but that is not the case. This has happened on the Pearl, Sun and Spirit to us. We never had a problem making reservations to specialty restaurants. I know a lot of people love the Second City show, but we walked out 1/2 way through both times, just not our type of humor. If you are a hard core RCCL and Princess cruiser, sorry to say, I think you'll be disappointed. When I get off a RCCL cruise or Princess I have a different feeling than getting off NCL. As I said I do continue to crusie NCL, and since I'm on vacation, I have a good time and take the good with the bad.

[ute_fan]

On the other hand, we've NEVER had service trouble with our room stewards on NCL. When we sailed the Pearl last May, our cabins were straightened up every morning when we were at breakfast, and turn-down service occurred every evening. 5 out of the 7 nights we had towel animals.

 

We have had rare occassions where the service has been slow in the main dining rooms, mainly when we're eating with a group of 8 or more. We do tend to choose one main dining room to eat in, and if we find a server we like, we request to be seated in their area each evening. They can't always honor the request, but will do what they can. The servers appear to really enjoy the opportunity to have "return guests", and go out of their way to provide extra-special service.

 

We had no trouble making reservations on the Pearl, but we normally choose to eat in the maining dining rooms. We made friends with another family of 3 on the ship, and they were able to add us to their reservation in La Cucina without any difficulty. Another day, we walked up to the reservations desk at 4 PM and were able to get reservations for Mambo's the following day at 6.

 

 

For us, freestyle has always worked great. I do understand, however, that some people prefer traditional cruising. The friends who introduced us to cruising and invited us to go with them the first time we cruised have switched to Princess as they prefer traditional dining. It's one of those situations where there isn't a "right or wrong", just a matter of personal preference.

[Beachbum1944]

We just got off the Pearl 1/11/-1/20. We always had our cabin cleaned up and turned down every day. Never had a problem with reservations. Food was very good and service was good in all venues. Pay restaurants twice. If you want to ge dressed up, no problem. If not, no problem also. I think freestyle is the way to go. For more info, check out our trip report. It's in our signature

[cjm61]

Thanks for the continued responses.

 

Beachbum...read your review. What can I say? It was really very informative and I find it very helpful.

 

As for the cabin service, I have read in several reviews, the same problem. The common thread here is people are stating your Cabin Category has alot to do with it. It seems from the reviews, that if you have a better category, you get better service. I do not know this to be fact. Only repeating what I have been reading.

 

All in all, I have to say that I am starting to feel a little more at ease thanks to you all. ;) Your input and opinions are very much appreciated.

 

Just waiting to hear if my sister's vacation request has been approved. I already have the airline tickets on hold. We're looking at the March 2nd sailing, so it really is coming up quite fast.

 

Thanks to all so far...

Christopher

[ute_fan]

One added bit of information: our very nicely kept clean and turned down cabin was an inside cabin on deck 8. We've completed 5 NCL cruises and have honestly never had an issue with cabin service.

[lovesublime]

On the other hand, we've NEVER had service trouble with our room stewards on NCL. When we sailed the Pearl last May, our cabins were straightened up every morning when we were at breakfast, and turn-down service occurred every evening. 5 out of the 7 nights we had towel animals.

 

We have had rare occassions where the service has been slow in the main dining rooms, mainly when we're eating with a group of 8 or more. We do tend to choose one main dining room to eat in, and if we find a server we like, we request to be seated in their area each evening. They can't always honor the request, but will do what they can. The servers appear to really enjoy the opportunity to have "return guests", and go out of their way to provide extra-special service.

 

We had no trouble making reservations on the Pearl, but we normally choose to eat in the maining dining rooms. We made friends with another family of 3 on the ship, and they were able to add us to their reservation in La Cucina without any difficulty. Another day, we walked up to the reservations desk at 4 PM and were able to get reservations for Mambo's the following day at 6.

 

 

For us, freestyle has always worked great. I do understand, however, that some people prefer traditional cruising. The friends who introduced us to cruising and invited us to go with them the first time we cruised have switched to Princess as they prefer traditional dining. It's one of those situations where there isn't a "right or wrong", just a matter of personal preference.

 

We were on this exact same sailing as ute fan. The Pearl is a beautiful, clean ship. We loved our cruise. We also had no trouble with reservations at the specialty restaurants. La Cucina was one our best meals. I'm still raving over the linguine carbonara. Our meal at Cagney's was also quite delicious. I think we ate twice at Summer Palace and the food was good, but service was kind of slow a couple of times. To us, the servers were overwhelmed so it was no big deal.

 

We chose not to observe the "dress up or not" nights. I will say that on one of the casual nights we opted to wear jeans to Summer Palace and we felt uncomfortable and out of place. I guess we should have went up to the buffet.

 

We had no trouble with our room. Our room was serviced twice a day and it was kept very clean. The bathroom was also very clean. We could actually tell when the toliet had been cleaned.

 

Ashamed to say, but we ordered room service nearly every evening (late night) and found it to be quite good. Delivery was punctual and the food was good. My husband and son ordered the pizzas and sandwiches while I ordered a bowl of the noodle soup. The pizzas were hot and freshly baked. The noodle soup was delicious and hot.

 

I would also say that service throughout the ship was very good to excellent. No complaints there.

 

As far as entertainment, it was okay. It helped quell the boredom in the evenings and gave us something to do. I know a lot of people loved the Second City show and I agree that the "family" oriented one was funny. They also had the adult version in the Spinnaker Lounge a couple of evenings. We attended one but had to leave after about 10 minutes. It was so raunchy that even my open minded self couldn't take it. We did enjoy the in room movies each evening and I think we watched a movie every night. They have a loop of maybe 15 movies and they play continously.

 

As for the pool area-can't really say. We were on the Alaskan itinerary and there just isn't a lot of swimming and hot tubbing going on. The pools were heated though.

 

I think freestyle will really work out for your sister. It really turned us back on to cruising after a bad experience on RCI years ago.

 

Here's my review http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=29823

[cjm61]

Lovesublime,

 

Thanks for the link over to your review. I really enjoyed reading it and find the information very helpful. This is turning out to be an enjoyable learning experience for me. I'm glad you mentioned La Cucina. We're half Italian, so we really enjoy our Italian food. I love Carbonara! I'm also looking forward to trying Cagney's. Beside Italian food, I'm a steakhouse lover. As for your point on jeans, which I'm glad you brought up, I too hate feeling out of place for dinner at night, I can definitely relate. I am a jeans person when not at work, but I myself do not like to wear them to dinner. I'll opt for my Khaki's and a nice collared button down shirt. Thanks for the tip.

[lovesublime]

Lovesublime,

 

Thanks for the link over to your review. I really enjoyed reading it and find the information very helpful. This is turning out to be an enjoyable learning experience for me. I'm glad you mentioned La Cucina. We're half Italian, so we really enjoy our Italian food. I love Carbonara! I'm also looking forward to trying Cagney's. Beside Italian food, I'm a steakhouse lover. As for your point on jeans, which I'm glad you brought up, I too hate feeling out of place for dinner at night, I can definitely relate. I am a jeans person when not at work, but I myself do not like to wear them to dinner. I'll opt for my Khaki's and a nice collared button down shirt. Thanks for the tip.

 

You're welcome. The jeans thing was funny. They actually allow jeans in the main dining rooms. We had just returned from an excursion and it was about 7 pm. We quickly read the menu posted at Summer Palace and saw they were serving prime rib which sounded good to us. After we were seated we noted how we didn't see even one person in jeans. Kind of weird.

 

If you decide to try Cagney's and Le Bistro, they don't allow jeans, shorts or warm up suits. I do wonder how well they enforce that- while dining at Cagney's we spotted a large table of seniors all who were wearing warmup suits. The khakis and button down shirt will work at any restaurant.

 

Freestyle works nicely if you're willing to put in a little effort to make those dinner reservations which for us wasn't a big deal. It's one of the things I keep reading complaints about here. Couldn't get reservations, were turned away, too much planning etc. We just didn't have any problems. If you decide to go, have fun!

[Checkmate1955]

We were on the Pearl when she did the Panama Canal last Fall... Our third straight cruise on NCL.... The ship and the service was fine and the food good... I only had two experiences that bother me when you consider how hard NCL pushes "Free Style" 1.. No Bermuda shorts for men after 5 p.m. in any restaurant except the buffet... In other words if you walk up to any of the many choices of freestyle dining in Bermuda shorts you will be turned away... I am referring to Men in Bermuda shorts... Women can wear clam diggers or short pants above the knee but men can not wear Bermuda shorts... I can understand this say after 6 p.m. but at 5 p.m. if you have arrived from off ship in Bermuda shorts you will be required to go change...That is a small point of everything not being freestyle... I am sure there will be those that were allowed to eat after 5 p.m. in Bermuda shorts but I tried twice and was turned away... The restaurant was Tex Mex serving hamburgers and nachos with the other items on the menu...

 

The second odd item was I was smoking a cigar in the approved smoking area at the pool and was ask to move to another area of the deck because a woman sitting 6 tables away at about 30 feet complained (My wife and I were the only ones in our immediate area and the complainer was the only one anywere near us in the non smoking area)... I was told that she had the right to have me move and that I did not have the right to smoke a cigar even in the approved smoking area..... I moved... 10 feet away near another two men who were also smoking cigars and all was well...

 

so much for freestyle as it may apply to smoking and Bermuda shorts..:)

[ute_fan]

lovesublime --

 

Hi again! We enjoyed meeting you guys last year on the Pearl. Do you have another cruise planned?

 

One clarification to the dress policy -- which may change again with freestyle 2.0, is that shortly after we sailed they changed the jeans policy slightly. Jeans are no longer allowed in the Summer Palace, but they are in Indigo.

[lovesublime]

lovesublime --

 

Hi again! We enjoyed meeting you guys last year on the Pearl. Do you have another cruise planned?

 

One clarification to the dress policy -- which may change again with freestyle 2.0, is that shortly after we sailed they changed the jeans policy slightly. Jeans are no longer allowed in the Summer Palace, but they are in Indigo.

 

Hi ute fan! Yes, we have another Alaska cruise booked for this June. It's on Carnival though. When we returned from our cruise on the Pearl my sister and her family flipped when they saw our pics. They begged us to please take another cruise with them. They all left it up to me to chose the ship and itinerary. I had a hard time with that because I wanted to stick with NCL. In the end we just decided to not do a repeat or anything close to our cruise on the Pearl. It didn't matter to them since it's their first time. We're doing southbound from Whittier with a stop in Sitka. We're very excited!

 

How about you? Any upcoming cruises in the works? BTW, thanks for clarifying the jeans policy in the Summer Palace. I didn't know they changed that.

[slotaddict]

We were on the pearl in October and definately will sail her again. she is a perfectly beautiful ship. we were in room 10040, service was good, no complaints. No problems with reservations for dinner. I think you will enjoy your cruise, no worries, have a great time. Ok, the ugly, Samana, its a dump, go on an excursion off the ship or stay on the ship. the town simply isn;t worth it.

[Birdnutty]

We have been on the Pearl three times in a year, and can tell you from experience that each cruise is different. Twice we were on Deck 8, outside cabins, once on deck 9 inside. One was a 5 day cruise, one a 4 day one a 9 day. The 9 day (deck 9) clearly had the superior service. We saw our stewards several times a day, and they were on top of things always. Considering that they have 34 or more cabins to service each day, I’m amazed at what we got. Towel animals most nights. A nicety, but not essential (as opposed to the chocolates, which ARE essential) Our main steward, Furmin, has been doing this for 17 years, Perhaps that makes a difference – he’s old-school and vastly experienced. His helper, Wilfred, was a love. He memorized our names the first time he met us, and whenever he saw one of us alone, he’d ask where the other was, inquired of our day, was always ready with a smile and always addressed us by name. They were, by far, our favorite cabin stewards in all our cruises (17+). On the 4 day, service was the worst. It was a repo cruise from Vancouver to LA, they had just changed crews, many of them didn't seem to know exactly what they were doing, we never saw our stewards, but Dining room service was still good. Maybe service has something to do with the length of the cruise?

 

We ate at the buffet or Summer Palace most of the times, once in Indigo whose décor did not thrill us. I hate to take too long to eat – I have things I want to do, and sitting still too long makes me crazy. So each night when we ate in the dining room, in Mambos or Indigo, we merely asked politely to be served quickly, as we had something (a show, a meeting, whatever) to attend. Those waiters busted their tails to get us out fast. Average time for all 4 courses was an hour, shortest was 45 minutes. You just have to ask. Otherwise, they allow the guests to relax and enjoy the “dining experience” rather than just eating. Don’t expect them to read your mind.

 

I guess my biggest complaint was that the air handlers in the casino are woefully underpowered. I would have spent much more time and money there if I hadn't had to breathe someone else's smoke. I actually started feeling sick a few times. Too bad, too. I like to gamble, but not on my health.

 

Other than that, the Pearl is a beautiful ship, the staff is great and the prices are usually very reasonable. Hard to beat a cruise vacation.

[coka]

CJM61, I am going on the same sailing you are thinking of booking. I think it is perfect for both you and your sister because NCL freestyle represents both of your personalities, dining tastes and dress desires. You have enough information from the above posters to know what to expect. Although I have not sailed the Pearl yet (hence the reason for booking and who can beat the great last minute pricing), I have always had my cabin turned down/made up and never had any problem with reservations or waits in all 18 NCL cruises. I have sailed NCL insides, oceanviews, balconies and penthouses...the treatment from staff is always 100% top-notch.

 

I have also sailed the other lines you mentioned and in my opinion, the freestyle, staff, itineraries, price and entertainment are what makes NCL ahead of them. Therefore, I do not know first-hand if the Pearl is different from my previous experiences, but I am excited to find out!

 

Your-neighbor-across-the-lake,

Coka

[cjm61]

Thanks all. This is great info and very helpful. We are actually expanding our group of 2 to 3. I myself (Christopher), my younger sister (Monica) and now possibly our yougest sister (Veronica). Just waiting on the youngest to get her vacation request approved. We range from 42 to 46. We get along well. Now my big dilema is do I book a BA/BB on deck 10. Great location! Or go for the minisutie AF on deck 11? (Not happy about this location as deck 12is all public space. Leary of noise overhead.)

[caspmorn]

I stayed in 11102 on Pearl two weeks ago. There was virtually no noise from the Garden Cafe, directly above. I have heard that every 3 days the AF cabins facing aft hear cleaning of the "Great Outdoors" in the wee hours. I would pick AF (Minisuite) again in a heartbeat.

[cjm61]

I stayed in 11102 on Pearl two weeks ago. There was virtually no noise from the Garden Cafe, directly above. I have heard that every 3 days the AF cabins facing aft hear cleaning of the "Great Outdoors" in the wee hours. I would pick AF (Minisuite) again in a heartbeat.

 

Thanks Caspmorn. Are there any perks that go along with booking an AF versus a BA or BB? Priority Embarkation, Debarkation, etc..?

[lovesublime]

Thanks Caspmorn. Are there any perks that go along with booking an AF versus a BA or BB? Priority Embarkation, Debarkation, etc..?

 

We had AF mini suite 11002 deck 11 all the way forward. There are no special perks as far as I know. We did have a little vase of flowers and they filled the fruit bowl up everyday. We also had robes in the closet, but I think every cabin gets those. Oh, we also got free Evian water. If there are any other benefits then we were unaware and missed out. I think the biggest benefit of the mini suite is the size of the cabin-not huge, but large enough, we were very comfortable. BTW, several weeks before our sailing we were offered an upsell to an AE penthouse for $600 pp. There were three of us and I turned it down. I thought $600 was just too much. When I read on this forum of people getting upselled to the courtyard villa or owners suite for $50 pp, I am starting to think they are just making it up.

[cjm61]

Thanks everyone for your input. I just finished doing the booking. I opted out of the minisuite. 2 became available on Deck 11 and the fear of any noise from the public deck above was enough to make us move down to a BA on Deck 10. We're booked for the March 2nd sailing and thanks to you all, we're really starting to get excited.;)

[weeza]

lovesublime,

 

Did you feel alot of motion in your cabin? I'm considering booking a mini suite, but the only ones that are availabe, are all the way forward on deck 11. My DD and I got a little seasick the first couple of days on are 1st cruise and we were on deck 7 in the middle of the ship. Once we got our sea legs it was fine. Just a little concerned. I asked this question previously, and someone said that they didn't feel any motion hardly at all. What do you think?

 

Thanks in advance.