Would not do again
Norwegian Pearl Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
10 Night Alaska Glacier Bay (Vancouver To Seattle)
Sail date: May 08, 2014
Ship: Norwegian Pearl
Cabin type: Suite
Cabin number: 11534
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 10 years ago
Review summary
My husband and I travel extensively, including cruising. We found the scenery of Alaska great, but the ports of call were not worth visiting. The ship was disappointing to say the least. While we upgraded to a mini suite we found it was no more than a veranda state room. How disappointing. For example, "freestyle dining" made planning the evening difficult. We did not like having different servers at every meal as we did not receive personal attention as we have had on other cruises. This is where I did not like the mandatory daily "tipping" since we would not have tipped well for the service we did not really receive. (However we did give extra money to our room steward for his personalized attention).On initial researching this ship, it was not clear that it was not really a smoke free environment. Unfortunately, we could not use our balcony because there were smokers on either side of our balcony, nor could we go and enjoy a night at the casino. The entertainment was very good , though 45 minutes is short. The quality of the food was average to to say the least , and the menu was not varied. Compared to other cruises this was the worst cruise we have ever had. Our luggage was broken beyond repair and the customer service was unacceptable. When we called about the luggage, we were on hold for over an hour on two separate occasions. There were more venues in which you had to pay a surcharge for....meaning, there really were only 2 restaurants that were "free" besides the buffet. We could write a lot more , but the bottom line is we would not sail NCL again. However, we have beautiful pictures of Alaska.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Bring your own water and soda. I wonder why you can't get a CocaCola on board?? Be be prepared to pay extra if you want better than cafeteria style food.
Ports of call
Vancouver (Ballantyne Pier), Canada
Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska