HollyN25 Cruise Review on Norwegian Pearl on Jul 09, 2017

Norwegian Pearl Cruise Review

HollyN25

Contributor Level: Third Mate

50 Days Till Next Cruise

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 65

Overall rating:

5 out of 5

Sail date: July 09, 2017

Ship: Norwegian Pearl

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

We just got back from our Alaskan cruise on the Pearl (July 9-16, 2017), and had an awesome time! I’ll try to stay somewhat orderly here by going with categories. CHECK-IN: We had set up our check-in time for 11:30-12:00. We’d gotten this trip through a casino program, but nobody told us our check-in could be expedited. We were almost to the front of the line when an NCL rep went through the crowd calling for casino bookings, so then we were taken to another desk for “quicker” check-in. Unfortunately, the computers chose to go down right around then, plus the people in front of us had a time-consuming issue, so people behind us in the original line got done faster. Knowing from the start about the expedited option would have been awesome but it wasn’t a big deal; just something to remember for next time. Our luggage didn’t come until after the mandatory emergency drill (it started at 3:15), but we knew that was a possibility, and were prepared with what little we needed in our shoulder bags. CABIN: We had a port-side balcony on Deck 8, number 8546, and LOVED the location! It was considered mid-ship, so we felt very little motion, but it was right by the front elevators and stairs, so we were really close to everything on the front or middle of the ship. The room itself was exactly what we expected based on photos, which wasn’t super large, but had quite a bit of useful shelf and drawer space. Our large suitcases fit underneath the bed without a problem. As far as the bathroom goes, we knew it would be small but didn’t really anticipate how restrictive it would be—the toilet area is really not adequate for somebody very large (there’s little room for basic movement in there). I’m not sure what another option would be, other than to pay a lot more for a suite, but now you have the info. We were pleasantly surprised to have USB ports on each of our bedside wall lamps, so we were each able to plug our phones in near us every night. We also brought a couple of power strips for other electricity needs, and had two outlets in the room to use with those. FOOD: We made it a point to try as many eating locations as possible, which included Indigo (main dining room), Summer Palace (other main dining room), Topsiders (outdoor bar & grill), Great Outdoors (outdoor bar & grill), Garden Café (main buffet), O’Sheehan’s (indoor bar & grill), and three specialty restaurants (Teppanyaki, Cagney’s, and Moderno). We’d read some negative comments ahead of time about the food, but maybe we’re just not that picky because we loved pretty much all of it! Here are more details: (1) Topsiders and Great Outdoors have the same burger-type offerings; one is at the front of the ship and one at the back. TIP: Great Outdoors has much less wind since it’s in the back (helpful for an Alaskan cruise), but Topsiders is near the swimming pools (helpful for a warmer location). (2) Indigo and Summer Palace had the same main dining room menus, but changed each day, and we liked the atmosphere in each of those. One night in Indigo, my husband asked the waitress which was better between the grouper and lamb, and she said they were both good and he was welcome to try both, so he did (both WERE good!). (3) The Garden Café is like a lot of large buffets; some good food and some just so-so, but everyone should be able to find SOMETHING there that they like. I loved the custom-made omelets for breakfast, but the line could get a bit backed up. It was also really handy to go in there just to grab a small snack, like bread or fruit, between meals. (4) We only ate at O’Sheehan’s once, very late at night, and were actually not happy with the nachos, as we like a LOT of toppings, and they came with just drizzles of cheese and a few other items. We’d heard good things about the burgers in there, but didn’t have a chance to try them. (5) We really enjoyed the specialty restaurants we tried (had a “free” upgrade to three nights, which meant we had to pay $12 each—total, not per restaurant). At Teppanyaki, I had the classic chicken and my husband had a beef and scallops combo (he subbed scallops for the shrimp listed on the combo menu). Both came with miso soup, salad, fried rice, vegetables, and dessert. The food was very good, and the chefs were very entertaining. At Cagney’s, I had the lobster tail (YUMMY!!!) and my husband had the 32-oz. tomahawk steak (HUGE and YUMMY!). And Moderno works like Fogo de Chao (a chain of Brazilian Steakhouses), where you have a little sign that you turn to green when you want them to bring meat, and red when you want them to stop. The food was excellent there, which I expected. The service wasn’t quite as quick as Fogo de Chao, but if I wasn’t comparing it to Fogo I wouldn’t have thought anything was wrong with it. BARS/BEVERAGES: We frequented the Spinnaker Lounge and Bliss the most; Spinnaker had a lot of the entertainment and game shows, and we enjoyed watching karaoke in Bliss. We also hung out a bit at the atrium bar (it says Java Bar but has alcoholic drinks and soda also). If it had been a warmer location we probably would have utilized the outdoor bars more. We didn’t try the martini bar, sake bar, mojito bar, or any other “specialty” bars like that. We’re pretty basic; mainly beer and a few tropical drinks. We enjoyed everything we tried, and the bartenders were friendly and fun. We had a “free” upgrade to the Unlimited Beverage Package (UBP), which meant we had to pay $99 each to cover taxes and gratuities. It was easy to get our money’s worth throughout the week, as each beer was around $7 each, and some of the other drinks we had would have been $11-14 each. We did have to pay sales tax on each drink while sitting on the ship in Seattle, but it was minimal. The UBP also included soda, which was Pepsi products, and I believe the no-charge drinks included juice, tea, regular coffee (the specialty coffee drinks cost money), and tap water. Speaking of water, I had seen bunches of complaints about the fact that we can’t bring our own bottled water on board, and they sell it at kind of a premium. I drank their NON-bottled water constantly throughout the trip, and it was great! Cold (with ice), refreshing, and no weird taste or after-effects. NOTE: While the ship is docked in Victoria, there is a law that only allows them to have one bar open per level, so if you notice some of the ship bars closed there, that’s why. They juggled them around a bit, having certain ones open earlier, and others open later. INTERNET: Due to my husband’s line of work (real estate), he needed periodic internet access, so we purchased one unlimited internet package ($210 for the week), and shared it (we couldn’t be on at the same time, which was fine). We had heard it wouldn’t be perfect, and that proved to be correct. The first couple of days it was okay, but when we were getting closer to our first stop at Juneau (i.e. in the mountains), it stopped working quite a bit, was spotty each day in the mountains, and didn’t work at all our entire last day (from leaving Ketchikan Friday night to getting into Victoria Saturday evening). Of course, we were there to enjoy the scenery anyway, but their prices are high for something that only works part of the time. I mainly cared about social media, so I hope NCL will get that type of package soon (I’ve heard that they’re testing it on some ships). As for cell phone service, we have Verizon and they don’t have a good Norwegian cruise phone package, so we just went into airplane mode as soon as Verizon was no longer available leaving Seattle, and turned on the ship’s wi-fi, which is how we accessed the paid internet, plus the iConcierge app. As we got closer (usually within an hour or so) of each port, we were able to go out of airplane mode and connect with Verizon in most areas. Skagway was the only issue; it showed 5 bars but really didn’t work much, and didn’t work at all when we got up into the mountains on the train (which wasn’t a big deal to us). Our Verizon plan includes Canada and Mexico, so we didn’t have to do anything different in Victoria except make sure our roaming was ON for Voice, Data, and International CDMA. We did use the iConcierge app (it only works when you’re on the ship’s wi-fi), which was great except during all the times when the wi-fi wasn’t working. NOTE: The app says you’ll be able to communicate with people on the ship, but you can only do that if you pay $9.99 per person (for the whole week). We did that, and considered it worth it; when the wi-fi was working we texted and called each other through the app for updates on where we were and what was going on. ENTERTAINMENT: We had read some negative reviews about the on-board entertainment, but we disagree with those! We watched and/or participated in the following: Welcome Aboard Show (singing, dancing, comedy); karaoke; various music by Lace (loved him!!); Four Strings Trio; This is Alaska presentation; Deal or No Deal; Comedy of Tim Kaminski (including adult version); Not so Newlywed Game Show; General Knowledge Morning Trivia; Magic & Comedy of Jeff Hobson; Music & Humor with Jim Badger; Meet the Alaska Rangers (Glacier Bay); Angels – Jeremie & Eleonore (aerial acrobats); White Hot Party; Legends in Concert; Bingo; Cake Making Demo with Tim & Jim (comedians); 1969 Celebration; Farewell Variety Show; 80’s Music Video Farewell Party; and The Quest Game Show. For the most part we enjoyed ALL of them, but here’s a little more info on a few: (1) Tim Kaminski had us crying from laughing so hard during the Welcome Aboard Show, but then his main show the next night was so similar that we weren’t laughing as hard. He also definitely has an overinflated ego; when he walked out for his adult show and people didn’t clap/cheer loudly enough, he told Jasper (cruise director) that if it didn’t get better he wouldn’t do his show, and walked back off to try it again. He seemed to forget that HE was there to entertain US; not for us to just feed his ego. (2) We got a little of the same egotistical sense from Jim Badger, but he was still funny in some ways (I don’t think we watched him long enough to get his full humor effect), and was very talented musically. (3) We LOVED Jeff Hobson (magician and comedian), as well as Jeremie and Eleonore (aerial acrobats)!!! However, some of Jeff’s material is a bit “mature,” not with profanity but with subject matter (which was clearly stated in the Freestyle Daily for that day) so if you have kids that you wouldn’t let see a PG13 movie, you might not bring them to his show. (4) In Glacier Bay, if you choose not to get up super early and meet the rangers in the Spinnaker Lounge, you’ll get the same information over the PA system a bit later in the morning. TIP: If you don’t want to be pulled up on stage during any of the shows, sit in the balcony of the Stardust Theater; it still has great views and minimizes the embarrassment risk. If you do want a chance at participating, then sit down near the front. PORTS/EXCURSIONS: (1) Juneau – We did the Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching Tour here, and the whole thing was AWESOME!!! At Mendenhall Glacier I walked the mile each way to Nugget Falls and for a closer view of the glacier. It was an easy walk, mainly paved and not too hilly. My husband stayed back at the Visitor Center, where he learned a lot and got some really good pics of the glacier, because he was up higher than me and at a better angle. We were both happy with what we’d done there. And our whale watching was AMAZING!!! We were fortunate enough to see a pod of 6-8 orcas (apparently quite rare), and watch them for about a half-hour, and then rode out further to watch a pod of about 10-12 humpbacks for about an hour. We saw bubble net feeding, breaching, blowing, diving, etc. The commentator was knowledgeable and fun, and we learned a LOT! We were with Allen Marine, which is a fairly large boat, and we didn’t feel sick at all. Because it’s larger we weren’t allowed to purposely get as close to the whales as some of the smaller boats, but some of the whales came closer to us! They had some free snacks, plus other options for purchase, and had restrooms. TIP: I recommend sitting up on top because you’re probably going to want to go up there for viewing anyway. NOTE: This excursion takes about 5 hours, so doesn’t leave much time to explore the rest of Juneau. We decided not to chance it with only about an hour left until all-aboard, and just went back to the ship afterward. It was still well worth it to us, but I would have also loved time to see a bit of the town. (2) Skagway – We had decided ahead of time to NOT use our whole day here on excursions, so we just did the basic 3.5-hour White Pass Railway up and back. There are several versions of the train ride; some that include a bus ride further into Yukon Territory for a full 8-hour tour, and some that add on shorter things. I’m sure all are good! We LOVED the train ride, and consider it a MUST for anyone going there, especially for the first time. Our commentator was excellent, the scenery was AMAZING, and we saw two bears; one on our way up and one on our way back! Everyone had said to sit on the left side going up (the right-hand side is closer to the mountain), and they were correct (get in line early for this!). You’ll switch sides going back down (the seats flip over to face the other way), but it travels down much more quickly than it did going up. You are also able to stand between the cars and take photos, which I did going up. We chose a back seat in our car for easier access to windows and outside, which then had us in the front on our way back. There are no snacks on this train ride, so make sure to eat ahead of time and/or bring snacks. There is free bottled water for everyone. Before the train ride (scheduled for 12:30), we went to the Red Onion Saloon and Brothel, and had lunch there, plus did the 20-minute brothel tour for $10. The tour was fun and informational, but don’t do it if you’re easily offended (it is a brothel, after all). Also the waitresses in there dress the part, and are very flirty, especially with the men, but don’t take that personally; it’s just part of the job. After the train ride, we just walked around and did a bit of souvenir shopping. It’s a super cute and historical town. I wish I’d taken the time to go to the museum in the morning, and would definitely try to do that if I went back. (3) Ketchikan – We did the Ride the Ducks tour, and were so disappointed with it! I've been on a Duck tour in another town that was awesome, so I really talked this up to my husband as being a great way to see a lot in a short amount of time for not too much money. Well, it was definitely short; we finished early so literally spent 20-25 minutes sitting on the vehicle in a parking lot while the driver tried to kill time by telling us about a recipe that can supposedly cure Type 2 diabetes (great, but not related to the tour), and then asking for questions. When the questions died down, he kept saying, "Are you sure there aren't any more questions?" Our driver was named "Captain Rosere" or "Captain Rogere" or something like that, and he had a young lady assistant to do the commentary. She was really sweet and definitely tried hard, but her delivery was a bit lacking due to inexperience. However, if that had been the only issue I would have been okay with it; everyone has to start somewhere. We did get to see quite a few eagles and seals while we were in the water, which was cool, but rather than sit in the parking lot and talk after we got out of the water he could have driven us out further in the water, like to a little island that we could only see from a distance. Also, he had several small plaques with "fun" sayings on them at the front of the bus, and one of them had profanity (started with the word “bull”) on it. I'm not a prude, but if I'd had young kids with me, I would NOT have been okay with that, on this supposedly family-friendly tour. When we went back to the ship and got off the Duck, he asked me how I liked the trip. I said, "I didn't appreciate sitting in a parking lot for over 20 minutes of it," and he answered with, "Well, there were a lot of questions." There weren't, and even if there had been, his assistant could have handled those while he drove. Bottom line: I'm not sure if it was just this driver, or all the Duck tours in Ketchikan, but this has soured me for future potential Duck tours. However, we did enjoy the rest of Ketchikan! We definitely found the best shopping there, in both variety and price. In addition to the downtown stores, I walked 1.2 miles each way to a Starbucks, because our daughter collects the location mugs from there, and along the way saw a LOT more bald eagles! They were just hanging out on buildings and in trees, and flying around, so that was really nice. I wished I’d taken the time to go to Totem Bight Park to see the large collection of Totem Poles, but by the time I was done with the Duck tour and the Starbucks walk, I really didn’t have time. Everyone else we talked to who had done other excursions seemed to really enjoy them. (4) Victoria – We didn’t have a lot of time here, and it was all in the evening, so we decided to keep it low-key and not schedule anything. We took a cab downtown ($10 each way), and got some pics of the Empress Hotel and the Parliament Building, plus a lot of beautiful flowers and the water. We’d asked the cab driver for suggestions on local bars in which we might get some poutine (French fries with cheese curds & gravy), and he suggested a bar called “The Local,” down on the waterfront. It was just a couple of blocks from downtown, and totally served our needs; decent food, comfortable hangout, and friendly people. NCL CUSTOMER SERVICE: For the most part, our service was top-notch all around. Everyone was cheerful and helpful, whether officially waiting on us or just seeing us in the hallways. We didn’t really see our steward much, because we weren’t in our room while he was, but when we did meet him he was very nice, and we were happy with our cabin’s care. We only had two customer service issues: (1) My husband had won a decent amount of money in the casino (yay!), so instead of carrying the cash around, he chose the option of having it put on his account, and he’d get whatever was left at the end of the trip put into his bank account. Well, within a day of that, he suddenly couldn’t use his debit card, and the ship froze his onboard account. It took almost two hours of working with Guest Services and his bank to get it straightened out, and it turned out that the ship had DEBITED his account rather than credited it, which put him over his daily debit card limit. To make it worse, the ship personnel never admitted that’s what they’d done; he had to figure that out from what the bank told him. The guest services personnel just suddenly “fixed it.” (2) Since we had booked the Ride the Duck tour through the ship and were unhappy with it, I went to the excursion desk on NCL when I got back to complain, and all the representative kept saying was, "But did he take you everywhere the brochure said he would?" I said, "Yes, but if he finished 25 minutes early, then he clearly didn't spend enough time at each place." She said all she could do was take down my comments, so I said that was fine and that I'd also make sure to leave those comments and her name on every website possible, so others would know not to waste their time and money on this excursion. She then said she could give us 10% back ($5 each). I said "Thanks, I'll take it, but I'm still going to leave my reviews; I'll just leave your name out of them now." She said that was fine. In a nutshell, I thought she did a poor job of handling it. It would have been smart for her to offer 50% back (total $50 between two people) to show us that our time and money are as valuable to NCL as they are to us, and avoid the negative report. WEATHER/CLOTHING: The weather for this cruise can be REALLY unpredictable, so everyone is correct when they say layers, layers, layers. And by that, I recommend that wearing one short-sleeved lightweight shirt, then a warmer layer (sweater or sweatshirt), and then a weather protection layer (windbreaker, etc.). We did this with jeans every day, and were able to get comfortable pretty easily. We ended up being really lucky; never had to break out the ponchos or umbrella. It was drizzly when we first got into Juneau and while touring the Mendenhall Glacier, but then it stopped and was just cloudy the rest of the day. Skagway started out cloudy and then got sunny. Glacier Bay started out drizzly and REALLY foggy, but cleared up right when we needed it to for the views, and even got a bit sunny late in the day. Ketchikan (where it apparently rains about 352 out of 365 days a year) was rainy on our way into the port, then changed to cloudy when we got off the ship, and then sunny and warm later in the day. Our temps were mainly in the 50’s throughout the trip, except when we were leaving Seattle (80+ there). Oh, and our weather app had showed rain every day in every port, which didn’t happen for us, so don’t stress too much over the forecast. Also, some of the ship’s indoor bars and restaurants can be cool, so long sleeves or sweaters are useful there. GENERAL: Just a couple of other general tips/notes: (1) Definitely bring at least one power strip, due to the low amount of outlets in the room. (2) Watch your door signs. They can be changed by anyone from “Welcome” to “Do Not Disturb,” or “Make Up Room,” etc. We never turned ours on our own but one afternoon it got changed to “Do Not Disturb,” so our steward didn’t come by that night to turn down the bed or leave the next day’s Dailies. (3) My phone is my camera, and I was a bit stressed ahead of time on how to make sure I didn’t lose it, especially on the whale watching tour and train ride. I researched a bit, and wound up getting a “Gear Beast Universal Smartphone Lanyard” (Google it). It was AWESOME, and the $10 spent was well worth the peace of mind it offered! It’s made out of rubber, and stretches over the four corners of the phone without obstructing the camera lens, plus has a thing on the back that will hold room keycards, debit cards and/or a little cash. It can hang around your neck, or you can double it up for a wrist strap, and you can also unhook the part on the phone from the strap to hook it onto a belt loop or bag. It works on all sizes of smartphones, and worked fine over my Otterbox case. You can find those on Amazon or directly through Gear Beast. I felt so much better even when just taken pics from our balcony, having my phone attached to me. (4) In general, we had a BLAST on this cruise, and are already planning our next one! This was my husband’s first cruise (I’d done one Carnival cruise), and he is totally hooked now. Honestly, if somebody can’t find food and/or entertainment they like on this cruise, then they aren’t trying very hard or they’re just flat-out picky and probably don’t enjoy life much anyway. Bon voyage!!

HollyN25 Cruise Review on Norwegian Pearl on Jul 09, 2017

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