Beautiful Ship and caring staff
Norwegian Pearl Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
7 Night Alaska & Glacier Bay (Seattle Roundtrip)
Sail date: August 18, 2013
Ship: Norwegian Pearl
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9090
Traveled as: Family (young children)
Reviewed: 10 years ago
Review summary
The ship is in great shape and the restaurants are worth taking pictures of. The food however did not meet my expectations. Having cruised on other lines I was very disappointed. I will first comment on the Garden Cafe, a main restaurant. As a additional critic my son (12 yrs old) agreed the hamburger and hotdog buns tasted stale, the bake chicken was tasteless, the fish choices were over cooked. The dishes that were prepared to please the various ethic groups were overheard complaining too. The dessert choices were unremarkable in appearance or taste. The salad bar just had - something missing. After some bad meal choices I decided to try the Summertime restaurant. The dining hall was beautiful and the staff was somewhat attentive. I ordered the a shrimp and steak dinner and my son ordered the N.Y. strip steak. The order came quickly to the table. The shrimp were slightly warm and tasteless. The steak was not med. as ordered, instead well done, dry and lacking any grill flavor. Most of all it was the toughest steak I have ever tried to eat. My son's steak was also supposed to be med. and was instead - well done. His steak was so tough I had to cut it for him. In the middle their was a large gristle and fat. I was going to send the meals back however I didn't the other choices on the menu and was afraid a a repeat performance. I managed to return Garden Cafe for soup. My steward seemed to be around all the time and made up for the shortcomings of dining.Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Book early, get midship, the elevators and stairs put you in the middle of everything.