Garden Villas on Pearl any difference between the two?

[Superduty]

I will be cruising the in a GV on the Pearl to Alaska. Are there any differences between the two? Is one preferred to the other and if so why?

 

What about starboard vs. port side for purposes of the various ports? Is one side preferred?

 

TIA

[brunolvr]

I will be cruising the in a GV on the Pearl to Alaska. Are there any differences between the two? Is one preferred to the other and if so why?

 

What about starboard vs. port side for purposes of the various ports? Is one side preferred?

 

TIA

 

Port side is preferable for Glacier Bay.

[bakerintn]

It seems to me that there is a difference in the layout of the two...I don't have personal experience, but it would be worth searching more if that would make a difference.

[njhorseman]

It seems to me that there is a difference in the layout of the two...I don't have personal experience, but it would be worth searching more if that would make a difference.

 

 

Looking at the deck plan, they appear to be identical mirror images.

[noreddye]

Looking at the deck plan, they appear to be identical mirror images.

 

I believe the difference is one cabin has a bar area set up and the other has a galley area set up.

[Bobbye]

I believe the difference is one cabin has a bar area set up and the other has a galley area set up.

 

On the Pearl they are identical. The bar and galley difference is for the Star and Dawn.

[kamala]

Port is the way to go. That's the first side of the ship to face anything in Glacier Bay, so you get the Ranger's narration while you're actually seeing things from the best view. You're going to have an absolutely awesome time. We took my Grandmother for her 80th birthday and I pretty much locked up Best Grandkid status forever!

 

You can check out pics from our September 2007 Pearl GV to Alaska at the links below...

 

Pearl Garden Villa 14500

 

Our Alaska Cruise

 

Glacier Bay

[Cruisersince87]

I will be cruising the in a GV on the Pearl to Alaska. Are there any differences between the two? Is one preferred to the other and if so why?

 

What about starboard vs. port side for purposes of the various ports? Is one side preferred?

 

TIA

I've sailed in both 14500 (19 days) and 14000 (9 days) and can tell you from personal experience that they are nearly identical. They both have bold (psycho) carpets, but the colors grow on you.

 

14500 (port side) has a warm feel, with shades of orange and red dominating the carpets, while 14000 (starboard) has cooler colors, blue and turquoise dominating the carpets.

 

The only REAL difference between the two is placement of the Cagney's kitchen pantry. It is directly below the master bedroom of 14500 and some (not all) nights you will hear clanging of pans between 10pm to 1am when they are cleaning. Irritation factor 3 out of 10, if you are bothered by that sort of intermittent noise. 14000 has the Star Bar beneath it, and noise was NEVER heard from that area.

 

I chose 14000 for my next cruise (4/19), but would easily have taken 14500 if the coastline were predominately on that side of the ship (it's not).

 

If you're worried about missing the glacier viewing: from 14000, simply walk out to the courtyard and go upstairs to the courtyard's "private deck" for port side viewing. That option is not available in the reverse, as the courtyard's private deck starboard equivalent, is a public deck area, and is not connected to the courtyard complex.

 

Enjoy yourself. Both of the Pearl's GVs are a great experience.

[marelind]

kamala, great pictures of the GV14500! Thank you!

[Superduty]

Thanks for the guidance. We were able to book the port side.

 

 

Kamala, any tips or advice for the Alaska cruise?

[noreddye]

On the Pearl they are identical. The bar and galley difference is for the Star and Dawn.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

[noreddye]

kamala, those were some of the best pictures I have seen of the GV. Thanks for sharing.

[LOWTYD]

How may people does a Garden Villa hold?

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

You can check out pics from our September 2007 Pearl GV to Alaska at the links below...

 

 

Thanks for the very BEST pictures I've seen - great details and the comments helped. We (three couples) are sailing on the Transatlantic in the GV on the Gem NEXT WEEK. We were thinking about rotating bedrooms every 5 days of our 15 day cruise so that everyone gets to experience the luxury of the huge bedroom/bathroom - but actually all the bedrooms look nice. What do you think?

Cathy

[kamala]

Happy to share! I sort of wish I hadn't included all the towel animals because I think those are great little surprises for new cruisers. But I guess if you wanted complete surprise, you wouldn't be running around on cruise critic anyway.

 

The GV holds six people. One Master bedroom with king size bed and two other bedrooms in the suite with queen-size beds (and their own key-coded rooms, room numbers, and doorbells). The other two rooms would be high-end balcony rooms in their own right.

 

We did not rotate rooms (I paid the bill, I get the big bed!), but I think that would be fair if you had 3 couples splitting evenly. The difference in the rooms is significant enough that 1/3 cost for one couple to get the master for an entire week is patently unfair.

 

On Cruiser87's note about noise. He spent much more time in the port GV than we did, but I did not notice any noise from below. In fairness though, I travelled with 3 loud New Yorkers, which was definitely not helped by the 6 bottles of free booze. But having been raised in NY 3 blocks from the El, I don't register noise all that well.

 

Alaska recommendations... In Juneau, we loved the helicopter ride to the glacier fields, amazing experience. If we didn't have some older folks, we would have gone on the multi-hour walk (other friends of ours have been on the longer hikes and rave about them). We sent the old folks on the White Pass Railway and Gardens Trip in Skagway (so we could have some alone time and apparently violate the sensibilities of a few passengers on the Star, sorry). They raved about the trip and we'll do it next time we're on an Alaskan cruise. In Ketchikan, we saw the Great American Lumberjack Show. You know it's going to be a bit cheesy/kitschy going in, but an outstanding demonstration of impressive skills. Pretty low-key for the end of the cruise.

 

Victoria. I live in Seattle and end up there for conferences once every other year. Not really my kind of town. I preferred to stay on the ship and relax, don't really remember what everyone else did.

 

Other tips, some Alaska specific, some not... Bring layers as other folks have recommended. You will experience a wide variety of temps, particularly if you're doing anything particularly active. Take advantage of all the GV's benefits including the concierge and butler (Denny is awesome, hope he's still there). We wanted for nothing, ate in specialty restaurants at the times we preferred (even when we made reservations same day). The line-skipping benefit may be the entire reason we decided to go on another cruise (Alaska GV was our first, not a good way to start if you ever want to cruise more economically).

 

Stare ruefully out the GV's main living room window overlooking the pool deck and wonder about all the wonderful views you would have if you booked it for a Caribbean cruise (this tip only for other dirty-minded folk).

 

Bring binoculars. There's a couple of pairs in the GV, but for minimal investment you can have much better optics and the things you will see in Alaska are well worth it.

 

Let your butler know if you want to be hot tubbing late at night. I was surprised to find the hot tub empty when I went out at 2 AM, but they empty and clean it every night in the wee hours.

 

And let me know if there are any other questions I can answer!

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

Kamala,

Thanks for the info. Since we will also have 6 adults in the GV, I'm wondering if you used the butler more than the concierge - and a general idea of how you tipped each of them (if that's not too personal). I'm guessing you were on a 7 day and we will be 15 days, so we will take that into consideration.

 

Thanks and CAN'T WAIT - I can almost smell the ocean!

Cathy

[AdoptAtty]

The difference in the rooms is significant enough that 1/3 cost for one couple to get the master for an entire week is patently unfair.

 

written like a true lawyer... your photo caption gave it away anyway ;) The photos, by the way, were great. Leaving on the Star 14500 May 2nd and my family has NO idea. I'm surprising them! :eek: It is about to kill me not to tell!

 

I'm hopeful the desk does not get used as much as you apparently used it, but good to know I'll have my lap top and ready to roll if needed.

 

 

Let your butler know if you want to be hot tubbing late at night. I was surprised to find the hot tub empty when I went out at 2 AM, but they empty and clean it every night in the wee hours

 

I've done a lot of reading on here and no one mentioned that! Thanks!

 

I'm taking my 84 year old (retired lawyer) father, who is quite spunky for 84... but any tips on entertaining the older folks in Alaska appreciated.

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

 

I'm taking my 84 year old (retired lawyer) father, who is quite spunky for 84... but any tips on entertaining the older folks in Alaska appreciated.

 

If your father isn't up to something active, there's a tour in Skagway that is old cars with gold rush days costumes and saloons that they might enjoy. Juneau, I would definitely take him whale watching, if he is interested. Amazing to see the wild life.

[kamala]

My grandmother just turned 80 and gets short of breath walking more than a few blocks. She was fine and loved the short helicopter/glacier tour (20 mins on the glacier), the White Pass Railway, whale watching, and the lumberjack show. The towns are fairly flat and accessible, just a little damp in September.

[kamala]

Yeah, my attorneyness can be fairly obvious. It may not have been as much work as the desk looked like because I keep a sloppy desk (cluttered desk, cluttered mind; empty desk, empty mind). Also, everyone with me (including the Mrs) requires much more sleep than I do, so not bad to have an option other than the casino or tv to keep me entertained in the wee hours and knock down a few billables.

 

For a seven-day cruise and recognizing that my relatives are moderate to high-demand and do have a relatively high obtrusive factor, I tipped Denny (butler) $400 with $100 up-front and Karen (concierge) $150. If you like mixed drinks, your butler is key to keeping you in free cranberry juice, cream, or what have you. Karen was very proactive in hitting Cagney's during breakfast and lunch to check in on her suites/villas passengers and remind you that you might want something before you even thought you might want it.

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

For a seven-day cruise and recognizing that my relatives are moderate to high-demand and do have a relatively high obtrusive factor, I tipped Denny (butler) $400 with $100 up-front and Karen (concierge) $150. If you like mixed drinks, your butler is key to keeping you in free cranberry juice, cream, or what have you. Karen was very proactive in hitting Cagney's during breakfast and lunch to check in on her suites/villas passengers and remind you that you might want something before you even thought you might want it.

 

Thanks very much for the input - that's about what I would have estimated. We did the GV on the Star for Nov and even though there were only 6 in our cabin, we had 14 other family members hanging out a lot! The concierge was our best friend and very accommodating and the butler was a little absent (thinking about his wedding I think) but did a great job. We felt like royalty!

[AdoptAtty]

If your father isn't up to something active, there's a tour in Skagway that is old cars with gold rush days costumes and saloons that they might enjoy. Juneau, I would definitely take him whale watching, if he is interested. Amazing to see the wild life.

 

We are doing flightseeing in Ketchikan and Whale Watching in Juneau... now old cars might be something Dad would like, IF they are special... Dad's two hobbies were planes and antique cars... he gave up his pilots license and sold the plane, but still has 3 antique cars and just sold one. Can you tell me more about the Skagway thing?

 

Kamala, I like the whole cluttered mind, cluttered desk thing... I guess at least I can say my mind is not empty!!

[kamala]

I'm glad someone likes the cluttered desk thing. My wife would much prefer I clean my crap up rather than providing faux philosophy on the matter. :D

 

She complains less since we booked for her birthday/our anniversary in the Mediterranean next January.

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

We are doing flightseeing in Ketchikan and Whale Watching in Juneau... now old cars might be something Dad would like, IF they are special... Dad's two hobbies were planes and antique cars... he gave up his pilots license and sold the plane, but still has 3 antique cars and just sold one. Can you tell me more about the Skagway thing?

 

Kamala, I like the whole cluttered mind, cluttered desk thing... I guess at least I can say my mind is not empty!!

 

We haven't actually done the excursion, but have seen them out and about during our 6 cruises to Alaska! I believe they are old model T convertibles, or something along those lines. You ride around in the car and see the highlights of Skagway - that would be the Red Onion Saloon and one main street. The real beauty in Skagway is getting out into the wilderness. One excursion we flew over the glaciers in a very small airplane (with a pilot who looked about 14) and then landed in Haines and transferred to rubber boats and floated down the Eagle preserve. It was great! I searched online and found http://www.skagwayclassiccars.com and they have the following cars listed.

 

1939 Cadillac 60 Special

1946 Cadillac 75 Series

1951 Cadillac Limousine

1963 Cadillac Limousine

1993 Lincoln Stretch Limousine

[AdoptAtty]

Thank you!