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Norwegian Pearl Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 33

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Pearl

7 Night Alaska & Glacier Bay (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 22, 2011

Ship: Norwegian Pearl

Cabin type: Suite

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 13 years ago

Review summary

Took a cruise to Alaska on the Pearl in late May. Nice clean ship. Ports were all easily accessible and we thoroughly enjoyed all the excursions. Overall the cruise itinerary was great and enjoyed the varied ports of Juneau, Skagway, Ketchican and Victoria. Would like to have had more time in Glaicer Bay (was only about 2-3 hours really up close to the glaciers. Short stop in Victoria from 6-11pm. Would have been nice to be able to see for longer. Also was highly annoyed by the Conservationalist or Park ranger talking for large parts of the time in Glacier Bay. Her voice was blaring throughout the ship and I thought it really detracted for the ambiance and attempt to enjoy the scenery.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Nice varied selection of food. Ate in the cafe, other free venues and 2 of the specialty dining. All were great!.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

5 out of 5
The Aqua kids club had a great staff and our child loved going. They had many activites both for the kids only and for families that made it fun to share with kids and also allowed for quality time away from kids as well. Cant say enough good things about the program. Chose Norwegian because it was one of the few cruise lines that allowed 2 year olds in the kid program and and so happy with the experience.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Very clean. Impressed.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Our mini suite was spacious and especially nice to share with our child as it had a nice divider curtain that enabled us to put her to sleep and close that part off. Unfortunately the TV was on that same side and small so couldn't enjoy TV when child sleeping. Nice spacious bathroom with separate sliding door for toilet. Great dark curtains kept out the early Alaska sunrise.

Ports of call

Victoria, British Columbia

3 out of 5
Short stay but beautiful city a short walk (20-30 min from pier).

Skagway, Alaska

5 out of 5
Don't Miss: White Pass train ride was great! A little long for little kids (approx 3 hours, luckily ours crashed for a nap).

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5
Evening whale watching. Great food and saw many whales up close. Nice comfortable boat with open deck up top to enjoy the air and take photos.

Ketchikan, Alaska

5 out of 5
Don't Miss: Zipline course was fantastic. Beautiful rainforest in Alaska? Totally surprised.

Pros: Clean ship. Great selection of food. Wait staff not too pushy with selling drinks, as on other cruise lines. FANTASTIC kids club. Our child loved it and the staff was great with kids!

Cons: Narrative over entire ship PA during few hours in Glacier Bay. May have been informative for some but made it difficult to just relax and enoy the scenery and solitude of the day. (Not sure if this is the case on all cruises?)

Recommends Norwegian Pearl? Yes!

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