Another great Pearl report--Alaska w/a 6yo

[bensmom1]

This is posted in the reviews section as well, but a little hard to read as I use a lot of double-dahses (--) and they were all deleted. Anyway . . . this is from our 8/16-8/23 cruise.

 

This was our third cruise, second with our son (now 6)--both previous cruises were on Carnival. We chose the Pearl for the round-trip from Seattle, what we'd read about the ship, freestyle dining, and the itinerary (especially Glacier Bay). We were not disappointed!

 

The ship is beautifully designed, spotless, and well maintained. We loved our cabin--mini-suite w/balcony on deck 11--plenty of space for the three of us with our son on the fold-out couch. As everyone says, the balcony was great for a quiet spot to enjoy the scenery, especially for Alaska. The ship was full, but it never felt overwhelmingly crowded. Even the buffet at its busiest was OK--we could always find a table somewhere (try the outside buffet area, or in La Cucina). Service was almost universally excellent (unless you asked for water, as opposed to a $ drink, in a bar or at a show--good luck with that!)

 

The food, overall, was very good. The buffet had a huge selection; some of it was good, some of it was just so-so. We loved all of the specialty restaurants we tried--Cagneys, Teppanyaki, and La Cucina. We ate in the Summer Palace dining room for dinner the first night, and the food was pretty good, but service was pretty slow. We also ate in Indigo one night; it was OK. We loved the freestyle approach, and had no trouble getting reservations in the specialty restaurants.

 

The kids club was good--it didn't seem as big or elaborate as the one on our last Carnival cruise (Conquest), and at times it did seem pretty crowded, but our son had a lot of fun every time he went there. He also loved the huge Nintendo screen in the atrium, and got to play 2-3 times (get there early to sign up!) Everyone played the Wii Sports Resort games, which were brand new at the time.

 

There were lots of entertainment choices--we enjoyed everything from bowling and 70's rock trivia in Bliss, to the Alaskan folk music group, to the show band. For shows, we saw the comedian, Second City comedy group (both pretty good), Garden of the Geisha (the aerial acrobatics were beautiful), and Shark Bait--as everyone has said, they were fantastic. We also went to their juggling workshop, late night game shows, and Q&A re: circus life; all a lot of fun.

 

The itinerary was perfect and we were very happy with our shore excursions (see below) and our time in Seattle the day before the cruise. Glacier Bay was, of course, spectacular (and we had a lot of extra time in front of Marjorie Glacier because of a medevac event). We really enjoyed the ranger who spoke on Glacier Bay afternoon. They also had two other rangers visit the kids club, which was nice.

 

Juneau: We were very happy with our tour--Mendenhall Glacier and the Gold Creek salmon bake. We had a short bus trip to the glacier, where we explored on our own. We had about an hour & 15 minutes--probably could have used another 15-20 minutes, as we didn't see the movie in the visitors center. The salmon bake was surprisingly good--a nice setting, not crowded, good food, live guitar music, a campfire to roast marshmallows, and a short, pretty walk to the creek & waterfall, where we saw salmon running.

 

Skagway: We were not really bowled over with Skagway itself--a small, quaint town, which seems to be all about shopping. I know there were a couple of museums & historical sites of interest in town, but we didn't find those. BUT we loved the Whitepass Railroad--what an experience! We did have short delays leaving town on the way up, and coming back into town on the way back, but it was worth it for the incredible sights. Our 6-year-old really enjoyed it, too--I had thought he might get a little bored, but he didn't. It was pretty exhilerating to stand outside on the balcony while the train was hurtling downhill on the way back! The young guides/narrators were very nice and entertaining. One girl, a native of Skagway, told us some great stories about growing up there.

 

Ketchikan was a nice town for walking around--Creek Street, seeing the salmon running in the river, totem poles, etc. We saw the lumberjack show and really enjoyed it. I knew it would be "touristy" and it was, but our son really got into cheering for "our team," and it was a close-up view and just an hour long, leaving time for other things.

 

We opted to stay on the ship in Victoria, as I knew our son wouldn't get much out of the Buchhart Gardens or high tea at the hotel, etc. It looked like a beautiful town, and we just enjoyed the harbor views from the ship.

 

 

Overall, it was a great value and a great trip for a family with kids!

[rxlowry]

Glad you had a great time! We are taking our 7 year old next year to Alaska so glad to hear the 6 year old enjoyed it.

Did Glen Crimson do the 70s rock trivia? We sailed with him twice on the Majesty and really enjoyed him.

[toothy26]

I will be going next summer, can't wait.

Were any of your excursions through the ship or did you do them on your own?

[LadyShiva]

Thank you very much for your review. :) DH is wanting to do an Alaskan cruise, and I kept wondering what our young daughter would do while we ooh and ahh! *grin*

[Tink35]

Thanks so much for your review! We're taking our 8 & 6 yr. old boys this Saturday. We also are arriving a day early in Seattle. Any good sightseeing advice for the kids?? Thanks!!:)

[LADYKADY]

Hey Tink.....

 

You may already know, but there is a GREAT childrens museum right near the Space Needle.

 

http://www.thechildrensmuseum.org/

[LADYKADY]

Well Im a jerk....I just looked again and they are closed for Bumper shoot Sep 5th through the 7th. =(

 

 

Sorry!

[bensmom1]

I will be going next summer, can't wait.

Were any of your excursions through the ship or did you do them on your own?

 

Hi--yes, we booked them all through NCL on their website, and I'm glad we did, just for simplicity and knowing we'd get what we wanted. I saw many postings advising to book-your-own, and I'm sure that works for most excursions--BUT the Whitepass Railroad was very full w/passengers booked through the ships; I'm not sure we could have gotten walk-up seats; and the lumberjack show in Ketchikan was full--I saw people being turned away both at the pier and at the show itself. Maybe it just depends on the week.

 

Tink35--re: Seattle, we stayed at the Waterfront Marriott and loved it--we just walked across the street for embarkation. We walked to Pike Place (not that far)--our son enjoyed the shops (there's a fun science fiction shop in the lower level, cheese-making store, the fish-throwing place, etc.) We also walked to the Space Needle--worth the wait in line to see that. If we'd had more time, we would have visited more of the stuff around the Space Needle (including a planetarium and a laser show) and the aquarium, a very short walk from the Marriott. We walked to dinner at one of the fish places in the waterfront market by the aquarium, which also has an arcade and indoor carousel, and had a lunch across the street at Anthony's Pier 66--all very kid-friendly. And, we were there during Hempfest, which made for great people-watching! :)