The sweet suite life on the Pearl to Alaska – no Mickey Mouse operation

[indimini]

This is my review of our cruise to Alaska on the Norwegian Pearl, August 10-17th. Some quick background information – traveling was our family DW (46) DH (44 me), DD (16) DS (10). This was our third cruise, the other two were with Disney Cruise Line. One of those 7 days Western Caribbean on the Magic and the other a 4 day cruise to Nassau. My comparisons are therefore limited only to what we experienced on DCL.

We stayed in an AB Penthouse suite on the Pearl – Room 11530. For an Alaskan cruise, this was a great room location as it was aft of the fitness center on deck 12. I’d heard some others in the forward penthouses mention that they could hear the free weights as they were being dropped by people up in the center. Our room was below the ping pong tables so there was some noise but given the cool, wet weather, it wasn’t really an issue at all.

 

I booked the penthouse suite early, due in part, to the NCL agent mentioning the cost wasn’t really much more than our original arrangements of two adjoining balcony mini-suites. The advantages of the AB vs. two cabins were well worth the additional cost. We immediately noticed the little differences upon arriving at the Seattle pier. Upon passing security (which completely ignored the two bottles of wine in our carry on, thank you very much) we were escorted up to the private check-in area and waiting room. Having arrived early, we were the second family to arrive. All processing, photos, etc were handled quickly and cheerfully by the staff. They had an area with coffee, tea, water and juice plus some cookies set up while we waited. At this time, we also met our concierge, Carlos, who would prove to be very professional and helpful throughout the week. We made our dinner reservations for Sunday and Monday night while we waited to board the ship.

 

Once boarding began we were “escorted” on board. The young lady who was assigned to lead our family and two others to Cagney’s apparently was not familiar with the ship layout. She led us around deck thirteen looking for Cagney’s, taking us first to Spinnakers and then turning around to head midship to the Star Bar lounge. Here, a bit more confusion ensued as the wait staff was not ready for lunch guests. It gave us time to hang out in the lounge – we could hardly believe our trip that we’d been planning for 16 months had finally arrived. Within 20 minutes, we were seated for lunch. All those who’ve posted that Cagney’s is a great benefit of the suites were not doing this perk justice. In fact, we found as a family that this benefit alone was worth the cost of the suite. The times I had gone to the Garden Buffet and seen the crowds, the search for tables, and the hectic feel of the buffet made me truly appreciate the serenity of the table service at Cagney’s.

 

After lunch, we wandered down to our room. They weren’t officially “open” yet but we were told we could check out the room but not leave our bags yet. When we got to the room, one of our cabin stewards said he was finished in our room and we were welcome to make ourselves at home. The AB is a fantastic space! Just having several rooms that are separated by real doors (not curtains) made this a very livable space for our family. I will say that the photos I’d seen of the room made it look bigger in some areas than it really is. For example, the shower was wonderful, but the space from the shower wall to the glass wall behind it wasn’t quite as deep as I’d imagined. Also, I found myself constantly elbowing the phone in the master toilet area. (I’m honestly not sure why they have a phone there anyway.) Overall, the room was everything we could have hoped for. Especially nice was the coffee maker, which also provided hot water. We made daily use of the coffee and tea – it was such a treat not having to head out of the room to get our morning caffeine fix.

 

The bottle of sparkling wine was chilled and waiting in our room, however we did have to ask Randy, our butler, for the robes. I don’t think they forgot, but were still catching up on turning the ship around. We’d heard at the cruise critic M&G that the week before our cruise there were some 2,900 guests and our cruise was 2,860 give or take. The fact that they are able to get so many people on and off the ship is actually pretty amazing, and surely one or two small items can get lost in the shuffle. Sunday night was also our first night of the daily suite treats – we had the fruit bowl delivered. Each night thereafter, they provide a card where you can check off what you want delivered and at what time (5:00 or 10:00). The first night I have to admit we pretty much asked for one of everything and Randy brought it all without any hesitation. We soon all settled on the chocolate covered strawberries as the treat of choice.

 

Over the course of the cruise, we went to Le Bistro twice, La Cucina and had food delivered to the room from Lotus Garden. Going to Cagney’s for breakfast and lunch, we felt no need to pay extra for dinner there. They offered a very nice steak and egg breakfast option and there was usually a 10 oz steak option on the lunch menu so we had more than enough beef. Speaking of beef, the tenderloin au poive at Le Bistro was fantastic, especially with the béarnaise sauce. I highly recommend it as a cheaper alternative if you are looking for a great steak dinner one night. Having Randy, the butler, deliver dinner from Lotus Garden was a great treat for the family. It was fun to have Chinese “takeout” while sailing in Alaska.

 

Overall, we found the food to be very good, with the occasional dish that didn’t work for us personally. The range of food offered however was far superior to what we experienced on DCL. Combined with the freestyle concept and the benefits of butler service and/or concierge service to get the desired reservation, dining time on the ship was truly a memorable experience. On DCL, they have one specialty restaurant, Palo’s, which is adult only. We liked that our entire family was able to eat at the specialty restaurants on the Pearl.

 

It took the kids a few days to find things on the ship they enjoyed. We signed up for the kids/teen club but the children never went. Our son established a “routine” hanging out in Bliss lounge bowling many times until 9:00. Once Bliss became an adult venue, he would head up to Star Bar and drink Shirley Temples. The bartender, Putu, really made him feel at home. We only took in a few of the shows on board. My wife attended the Geisha dance performance and said it was good, but not great. We all saw Sharkbait and enjoyed their show. Compared to what we were used to on the DCL ships, the show offerings on NCL were not all that compelling. Also, there were far fewer small shows (e.g. game shows) than on the Disney ships. For us, that was fine. Knowing Disney is first and foremost an entertainment company that got into the cruise business, we expected more on DCL. Our entertainment on NCL centered more on the range of dining experiences. It was also just a great ship to relax on and forget about daily life for a week.

 

For our excursions, we did Harv and Marv in Juneau, the train/gold dredge in Skagway and lumberjack show in Ketchikan. Of the three, Harv and Marv was by far the best. Anybody considering H&M please be advised that they are taking reservations two years in advance so you can’t book too early. What an amazing outing we had. At first, we saw a couple of solitary whales that didn’t even show their flukes before diving. I thought at that time, oh well, at least I can say I saw a whale. Marv (Jay) pressed on however, and soon we were one of six boats watching what must have been 10-12 Humpbacks bubble feeding. We saw them feed no fewer than 5 times. Truly a once in a lifetime, awe inspiring experience. As for Harv and Marv, the personal attention we received was as good as we’d read on these boards. It really is a family operation – we were picked up by Jay’s father-in-law. During our drive out to the boat, he stopped to pick up some donuts for his granddaughter, Jayleen, who was on part of the excursion. We also were one of the last families who were able to reserve the delivery of home-made cookies delivered to our boat by Jay’s son Jason. What a wonderful family they were.

 

Skagway’s train ride was nice, if a bit slow to depart as they had so many people to get onto the trains. The ride up the mountain had limited visibility due to heavy cloud cover, but the return trip down the mountain was spectacular with breaks in the clouds and some bright sunshine. The gold dredge was entertaining if a bit short overall.

 

The lumberjack show in Ketchikan was very entertaining – it was the activity requested by our son and he had a great time. The town itself felt a bit too touristy, it reminded us of Grand Cayman Island but without the sun and sand. Our stay in Ketchikan was brief too so there wasn’t much time to do more away from the city.

 

We considered our last stop, Victoria, not so much of a destination as a legal requirement. My wife, daughter and I took advantage of an empty ship and had a great dinner at Lotus Garden and Sushi bar. A few martinis from the bar added to the dinner experience. Our son actually went ashore with a family he befriended on the ship.

 

Overall, the cruise was a fantastic experience. Talking with other people on the ship it was apparent that the suite perks really change the nature of the cruise. I hope my comments on the cruise help others get a feel for the benefits of suite level cruising. Please feel free to ask any questions.

[brunolvr]

Great review and glad to hear you and your family had a good time. You didn't mention Glacier Bay at all. How was your weather there? Did you see any calvings of Margerie Glacier?

 

I agree that the "suite life" is the only way to go! The VIP embarkation and disembarkation and breakfast and lunch at Cagney's are just a few of the many perks we enjoy.

 

I hope you're able to post some pictures of your cruise. Would love to see them! Welcome home!:)

[AuntieBarb]

Wonderful review! Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

[terrymtex01]

What a great review. I hated when I got to the end of it.. LOL

 

We will be on the Pearl in a little over two months and CAN NOT WAiT. It will be our fourth NCL cruise but first time on the Pearl.

 

On our Nov cruise last year we literally lost count on how many whale we saw. Our cruise this last May we got to sit and watch a glacier "calve" on one of the excursions. Both of those are things I wanted to see before I leave this world. One of the other things on my list is the whales bubble feeding. I can't wait until some day I get to mark that one off of my list. It must have been an amazing sight to see.

 

Thank you for posting a wonderful review.

[indimini]

Thanks for the nice comments. I can't believe I failed to mention Glacier Bay! In a word, it was breathtaking. There's just no way you can apprecdiate the magnitude and grandeur of the glaciers from photos. We did see some calving; I even got a nice sequence of photos from the largest one. The other unique visuals included a waterfall coming from one of the glaciers above sea level and another below sea level where you could see the water bubbling up from beneath the water.

[NCL DancerMom]

Thanks for the great review. We were on the Pearl in July, and are going back for Thanksgiving.

Be sure and post your review on the Member Review Boards (to counter that nasty review by scaaty...)!

[Cruizer_J]

Thanks for the nice review. Good to see the favorable comparison to Disney. Glad that you enjoyed.

 

Your comments about Victoria reminded me that we made a similar choice when we sailed the Star, as we had a nice, leisurely dinner while in port.