Pearl Review 2/1 - 2/8

[jhayman]

I believe we were on Pearl #2 last week. (The good one) :D Feel free to ask any questions.

This was our 4th cruise overall, we've done Carnival (Inspiration), Royal Caribbean (Enchantment of the Seas), and this was our 2nd cruise with NCL, first one was on the Dawn. It was just the wife and I on this cruise and we are in our mid 30's.

Pre-Cruise:

We flew into FLL on Southwest the day before the cruise. Planned on using the "Go shuttle" to get to our hotel in Miami for $15 each. Went to the shuttle stand and told the attendant where we wanted to go and he got on the radio and said a van was on the way. They apparently have 2 "routes" that they take to Miami. Two vans came and went over 30 minutes and after approaching the attendant again he said that he was mistaken and the van we were supposed to be getting on was not coming back? So we ended up taking one of their town cars for $70 which was annoying, but turned out fine for us as it took us straight to the hotel which was the Hilton Miami Downtown. The hotel was excellent, but do not eat in their dining room. It is way overpriced and the food is just so-so.

Embarkation Day:

Took a taxi to the port in the morning around 11am. Arrived at the port at 11:30 and walked right into the terminal to the VIP check-in for suite guests. Three days before the cruise we received a call from our travel agent that NCL was offering us an A3 Courtyard Villa so we took it for a minimal cost. We originally booked an AD penthouse but were excited to experience the courtyard and all the amenities of that area. Took about 10 minutes to check in and two groups of us from the VIP area were escorted onto the ship. We were escorted straight to our suite to drop off our carry ons shortly before noon.

Cabin:

We were in cabin 14008 which even though it is an A3 it is basically the same layout as an AB. The balcony seemed a little small for a suite, and if we didn't have access to the courtyard and sundeck it would have been a problem, but it was fine. We requested a lounger on the balcony and it was delivered shortly thereafter. The oddest thing that I found about this suite is the placement of the toilet in the 2nd bathroom. There really is no room for you to sit normally on that thing if you are 6ft or taller. Everything else was great with the suite. It has a pocket door that closes off the main living area from the master bedroom/bath and there is also a door that you can close off the second bedroom and bath from the rest of the suite. The master bath is amazing in these suites with a picture window over the tub and a large window in the shower.

The 14th floor was amazing. For those who are not familiar with the layout, the 14th floor is about mid-aft of the ship and the only way you can get to it is by using your room keycard in the elevator or to open the door in the stairwell. The courtyard villas are separated into two sides with a courtyard in the middle. There is a small pool and a hot tub in the courtyard along with various loungers, cabanas, tables, etc. There is also a sauna and two workout machines in a separate room. The courtyard has a retractable roof that was never open more than half way the whole trip which was great while at sea to cut down on wind and keep the courtyard at a comfortable temperature.

There are also stairs leading from the courtyard to the private sundeck which I guess would be considered the 15th floor. We found it practically unusable while at sea due to the wind while at sea plus it was a little chilly some days so we mostly enjoyed the courtyard when we wanted to relax. There are lots of loungers and a couple of hammocks on the sundeck, but surprisingly the hammocks were quite uncomfortable.

Other Suite Perks:

We had breakfast delivered each morning by our butler Roy. He didn't seem overly friendly, maybe a bit stand-offish, but he did everything we asked of him. We didn't use him for much else. We thought the concierge, Erika was excellent. Had no idea she was fairly new to the ship and she was able to get us dinner reservations whenever we wanted as long as we gave her a decent time frame with some flexibility, and was always available for any questions we had regarding who to talk to or where to go for everything. She took us for a bridge tour on our last sea day which I thought was amazing. It was very interesting to see everything on the bridge and have one of the officers explain the different stations and procedures that they go through. Our room steward Joseph was a joy to have around. Every time we went to or from our room it seemed like he was always around the corner saying hello as we passed by and calling us by our first names. He always had a smile on his face and seemed genuinely happy to do whatever he could to help us.

We had lunch in Cagney's, which was a great perk the whole trip. I think we had lunch there every day that we were on the ship during lunch and if we didn't like what we got we just asked for something else of the menu. The menu seemed to be a hybrid of what was being served in the main dining rooms for lunch but it was nice not to have to stray too far from the 14th floor to have lunch. It's not really served in Cagney's, but is across the hall from Cagney's and accessed through the Star Bar which is the Concierge lounge during the day for suite guests.

There is a courtyard butler who is supposed to get drinks for people in the courtyard, and serve Cagney's lunch in the courtyard, but that was a waste of time. He was basically like a delivery person for Cagney's and it was like we were getting subpar room service in the courtyard. We were never asked if we wanted to order a drink either. They need to work on this part of the courtyard experience, or just do away with it.

Other Dining:

Garden Cafe - Great selection, we only ate there once and I would say it was probably the best buffet we've had on a ship, but we aren't big buffet people. There's something there for everyone, and the crepe station was fabulous. Unfortunately I discovered this too late in the cruise to enjoy it as much as I would have liked.

Indigo - Had dinner here the first night and weren't really overly impressed. The food and service was good, but didn't really care for the atmosphere. Walked right in without reservations.

Cagney's - Dinner was good, not our favorite but we enjoyed it. Seems overpriced compared to the other specialty restaurants to us.

Le Bistro - Dined here twice, definitely our favorite. We didn't have anything we didn't like here other than one desert which was 3 small custard-like deserts on a plate, don't remember what it was called, but it was bland and kind of chewy. Escargot was excellent.

La Cucina - Dined here twice, probably our second favorite. The main courses here are great, but their pastas need some help. We tried the pasta the first time and it was very bland and not what we expected to be served in a restaurant, so we stayed away from the plain pasta the rest of the time and just chose items from the main entree selections. I think they have the largest selection on the menu here of any of the restaurants, so not ordering the pasta wasn’t' a big deal. Our second visit here on the last night of the cruise was very slow for some reason. It seemed like a bunch of tables got sat at the same time so maybe that was it but it took almost 2 hours for dinner the second night. The oddest thing about this restaurant is the placement of it between the garden cafe and the great outdoors. It's kind of annoying to have to walk through the garden cafe to get to a specialty restaurant.

Chocoholic Buffet - This was a madhouse. It was setup in the front of the garden cafe and the concierge met all the suite guests in front of La Cucina for an early entry into the buffet but as soon as we all started walking in, everyone else saw us and just started running for the buffet. Not a big deal, as there was plenty for everyone, but it was a madhouse for the first 15 minutes or so. It was the first one of these that we had been to and it wasn't really what we expected. It was more of just the serving lines setup with plates of desert everywhere. We expected some kind of chocolate display or something. Not a bad thing, just different from what we thought.

Ports:

Roatan - We did the Coral Cay Beach and Snorkel excursion and we thought it was a waste of money. The beach was beautiful, but the whole time we were there they had a guy walking around singing over a loudspeaker to very loud music which was very annoying. We went to the beach to relax, not feel like we were at a concert. Also when it comes lunch time the only option is to pay an extra $20 for the shrimp fest meal. There are no other dining options for snacks or anything here that we saw. There were sand fleas also so if you do this excursion be sure to bring the bug spray and apply it before you set foot on the beach.

Belize - Did the Lamanai Mayan Ruins excursion. This was amazing! It was an all day trip. 1 hour by bus to where you board a river boat for a 45 minute boat ride up the river to the ruins. Be forewarned if you do this tour I would advise bringing a jacket if it is at all cool out. On the way back you go full speed in the boat back to the dock and it is an open air boat. It is very windy and we both wished we had brought jackets. The lunch provided once we got to the ruins was surprisingly good. It was just your standard island fare, beans and rice, chicken, chips and salsa, etc. The ruins are amazing; you have to see them at least once. We loved this tour.

Cozumel - We booked the day at Nachi Cocum Beach Club on our own through their website. It was an all inclusive food & drink package and it was great. We loved this place. The beach was beautiful; the service was fast, all in all a great day on the beach. We would definitely return here next time we are in Cozumel.

Key West - We were hoping to go to Key West instead of GSC and got our wish. We don't care much for GSC and were planning to stay on the ship for that day, but we love Key West and went out and explored the town, shopped, and had lunch at Willie T's. Great Mahi fingers there. Then we had some of the best Key Lime pie we've ever had at Kermit's. Nice relaxing day.

Entertainment:

Second City was hilarious! We saw them for their show in the theater and then for their improv show later on in the spinnaker lounge. These were the only shows we attended.

Casino:

Compared to the Dawn the casino is a bit larger, but it seemed like there was a lot of wasted space in the back with the high limit tables that I never saw anyone playing at. The low limit tables were packed every night with people standing around waiting to sit down (blackjack especially). Seemed like they had a lot of the same kind of slots which is probably for the slot tournaments, but there weren't many people playing those at night. Everyone seemed to be having a good time though.

Debarkation:

Quick and painless. We were off the ship in 15 minutes. Did the self debarkation and took an NCL bus back to FLL airport for $25 a piece. As a side note, FLL airport is a madhouse on Sunday around noon with all the cruise passengers so if you have an early flight make sure you get there earlier than you think you need to.

We had a great time on this cruise and will definitely be booking again. Even though there were some bumps and minor disappointments along the way we didn't let them get to us and the good far outweighed any bad experiences. If something happened we just tried to make the best of it because we felt everyone we encountered genuinely wanted us to have a good time. Even the tour operators seemed to have this same concern. We feel like NCL is the "laid back" version of the mass market lines and we try to keep that same attitude during our cruise. The hard part is going to be booking a suite level lower than a courtyard villa for our next cruise. If only they weren't twice as expensive as the regular suites :(

[mactrio]

Great review, thanks!

[mbisson]

I believe we were on Pearl #2 last week. (The good one) :D

 

 

That's a relief. I was almost afraid to look at your review ;)

And you had an A3? With Erica working your room? That makes it even better

[jhayman]

That's a relief. I was almost afraid to look at your review ;)

And you had an A3? With Erica working your room? That makes it even better

 

That's why I was so shocked by the other complaints. I was in the same room category, same floor, same concierge, same ship and same week and had a completely different experience. :confused:

[*Wink*]

Really enjoyed reading your review, J. I was thinking how great it'd be to get a CV one day. You really sold it. Thank goodness there's still time to buy a power ball ticket. ;)

 

We love Nachi Cocum too. Can't wait to go to Cozumel again!

[luv that cruise]

jhayman - we will be first time cruisers on NCL. Having been in an A3 do you think NCL will be able to put a roll-away bed in the living area? They say yes, but I want to hear it from people who have actually stayed there. There are 5 of us including a teenage son and daughter who will not tolerate sleeping in the same room.

[jhayman]

jhayman - we will be first time cruisers on NCL. Having been in an A3 do you think NCL will be able to put a roll-away bed in the living area? They say yes, but I want to hear it from people who have actually stayed there. There are 5 of us including a teenage son and daughter who will not tolerate sleeping in the same room.

 

There would be room for a rollaway in the living area. I think the sofa in the living area pulls out into a bed also. We didn't pull it out but it looked like it had the little thing that you pull to make it into a bed. I think you'll be fine. Might have to move some furniture around, but I don't see a problem. The extra bedroom has a bed that comes down from the wall as well as the sofa/loveseat that pulls out to a bed as well so you could probably fit 3 people in there if you had to.

 

You'll love the suite and the courtyard!!

[terrymtex01]

Great review.. thanks for taking the time to post it. I wonder if the butler you had, Roy, was the same butler we had our first time on the Star. He was the best butler we have ever had. Second time on the Star, which was like six months after we were on there the first time, Roy was serving only the GV's on the Pearl, but came up to us and said hello, welcomed us back, etc. I wonder if he has transfered to the Pearl now.

 

I have a funny story about the high limit area of the Pearl casino. First, I do agree it's a big waste of space. The could put a few more machines over there that were at least maybe 1, 5 and 10 dollar or something. On our cruise this past Oct, to my knowledge there was only one person in the high limit slot area. It was a lady and she went over and sat down at the $25.00 machine, put in her money and on her second spin won $40K. It was funny because the casino couldn't even pay her until the next day. On the Sun I sat down at what I thought was a quarter machine but it turned out to be a $25.00 machine. I cashed out the $100.00 I stuck in there, but now I'm thinking I might should have stuck with it.. LOL

[jhayman]

Great review.. thanks for taking the time to post it. I wonder if the butler you had, Roy, was the same butler we had our first time on the Star. He was the best butler we have ever had. Second time on the Star, which was like six months after we were on there the first time, Roy was serving only the GV's on the Pearl, but came up to us and said hello, welcomed us back, etc. I wonder if he has transfered to the Pearl now.

 

I have a funny story about the high limit area of the Pearl casino. First, I do agree it's a big waste of space. The could put a few more machines over there that were at least maybe 1, 5 and 10 dollar or something. On our cruise this past Oct, to my knowledge there was only one person in the high limit slot area. It was a lady and she went over and sat down at the $25.00 machine, put in her money and on her second spin won $40K. It was funny because the casino couldn't even pay her until the next day. On the Sun I sat down at what I thought was a quarter machine but it turned out to be a $25.00 machine. I cashed out the $100.00 I stuck in there, but now I'm thinking I might should have stuck with it.. LOL

 

It could have been the same Roy. The Roy we had on the Pearl was bald, and kind of short. I didn't catch what country he was from.

 

That's funny about the lady who won the 40k at the $25 machine. I'm sure they were loving that! I've tried some of those $25 slots in LV and I don't have the heart for it. You do max bet and you're up to at least $75 a pull. Yikes! I always feel sorry for the dealers at the tables in the high limit area because they are almost always just sitting there staring off into space waiting for someone to sit down. They had a $25 BJ table which I could understand, but then they had a $100 one also. Both were empty every time I walked by. Seemed like a waste of space when the rest of the place was packed...

[loudon]

JHayman: Do you happen to remember seeing whole wheat/whole grain pancakes, waffles, etc. at breakfast or whole wheat bread at dinner and for sandwiches? Thanks.

[jhayman]

JHayman: Do you happen to remember seeing whole wheat/whole grain pancakes, waffles, etc. at breakfast or whole wheat bread at dinner and for sandwiches? Thanks.

 

I don't remember for sure, but I do think I saw wheat bread on the breakfast room service menu. I don't remember seeing any whole wheat or whole grain pancakes or waffles. Sorry I'm not more help on this...

[MadBrewer]

Great Review Jhayman.

 

I can't see myself affording this sort of luxury for a few years yet but I loved reading what you get for this suite type. (However we are doing a BC on the Jade this year and have done the Jade before and the Jewel Before also but I digress..). So my question is this, when I was on the Jewel I thought I noticed an 'upper' entrance to the Stardust Theatre that wasn't the main one and wondered if you villa types got a gauranteed seat for the shows aswell? I didn't look for this on the Jade but when I read your review I did wonder whether this is something of the Jewel Class ships of just a door/entrance that I never saw? (It was a couple of years back)

 

I only ask as I am completely nosey. But if I ever do a penthouse or villa that would be one 'touch' i'd like!

[jhayman]

Great Review Jhayman.

 

I can't see myself affording this sort of luxury for a few years yet but I loved reading what you get for this suite type. (However we are doing a BC on the Jade this year and have done the Jade before and the Jewel Before also but I digress..). So my question is this, when I was on the Jewel I thought I noticed an 'upper' entrance to the Stardust Theatre that wasn't the main one and wondered if you villa types got a gauranteed seat for the shows aswell? I didn't look for this on the Jade but when I read your review I did wonder whether this is something of the Jewel Class ships of just a door/entrance that I never saw? (It was a couple of years back)

 

I only ask as I am completely nosey. But if I ever do a penthouse or villa that would be one 'touch' i'd like!

 

There are reserved seats in the theater for courtyard villa guests, in the balcony on the far left side. They really aren't any better than what you could get just walking in and sitting down below, but you do have reserved seats if the place is full. There wasn't a seperate entrance or anything, you just go through upper entrance.

[flgirl]

Thanks for the review. I'll be on the Pearl this Sunday on the same itinerary as you. We will be staying in an Owners Suite and my ILs just got an upsell from an AE near us, to the A3. We stayed in that room last year on a different floor and loved it a lot. I liked the separate bedroom for the kids. This time we had to buy the owners suite + an adjoining balcony cabin for the kids. I don't think our kids would have gotten too much from the courtyard area as they love the waterslide, but we still have access to it if we need to.

 

What did you think of the concierge? Last year we had Alex on the Jewel and I don't think anyone could top him in professionalism and efficiency!

[tiggerfan616]

Nice review Jhayman, it seems like you had the same experience on the Pearl we had the week prior. I was starting to wonder if I dreamt my cruise with all the problems everyone else had on your sailing

[cruzinaway]

Thanks for posting the review! Sounds like you had a wonderful time. So happy to hear good things about NCL and the Pearl again.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share with us!

 

Happy cruising.

[jhayman]

Thanks for the review. I'll be on the Pearl this Sunday on the same itinerary as you. We will be staying in an Owners Suite and my ILs just got an upsell from an AE near us, to the A3. We stayed in that room last year on a different floor and loved it a lot. I liked the separate bedroom for the kids. This time we had to buy the owners suite + an adjoining balcony cabin for the kids. I don't think our kids would have gotten too much from the courtyard area as they love the waterslide, but we still have access to it if we need to.

 

What did you think of the concierge? Last year we had Alex on the Jewel and I don't think anyone could top him in professionalism and efficiency!

 

We really liked the concierge, Erika. We've only had one other concierge (Anca on the Dawn last year), and Erika was better than her and did more for us. You guys will have a blast regardless though. Make sure you go to the tour of the bridge if you've never been. We thought that was very interesting.

 

Sounds like lots of upsells are happening from the lower suites to the A3's. They must be having trouble filling them at the prices they are trying to charge. But congrats to your IL's on the upsell !

[SweetpeaOne]

Very nice review. Thanks for sharing.