This is my second cruise with NCL. First was the Getaway and now the Pearl. The Getaway was more organized and had a spunky environment, the downside was some of staff members made you feel like you were an inconvience especially Guest Services. The Pearl lacked detailed communication and less lively environment but awesome waiters and room steward. The ship captain was always updating us about the ports and the unexpected delay. I enjoyed both cruises but there is a difference.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Checking in was great - person greeting us at the baggage area, lead us down to check-in our bags and catch transportation to the ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Buffets etc were fine, the Cagney Steak house served really tough steaks (Med and Med/well which should have been pink and some pink) they're were thoroughly cooked. I took two bites and was done, the manager noticed and I told him that I was fine, I didn't want to wait for another steak, my reservation was at 9 pm so it was late and I was getting tired. I'm pretty sure they would cook another steak if you're not happy.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Although I didn't participate in the pools (crowded), rock-climbing, or fitness centers there was a lot of people enjoying them.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The waiters and room steward were awesome. Made us laugh and have a good time.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was always maintained - no complaints there!
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Our room was kept in prime condition, our steward was awesome!
Ship tip
Announcements are not heard in the room and the TV channels really don't provide a schedule or update information like the NCL Getaway. There is one channel they has some information on it but not much to help you on the ship. You would have to carry to daily pamplet around to see what's happening. We missed out on a lot of activities.
Transportation into town is a long wait but walking to town is a couple of miles uphill. The signs were confusing at first of how to get on the the main road to walk to town. Next time I'll wait for the bus! ha
Unfortunately we were held up for hours for disembarkation. We were doing a 0730 walk off to meet our flight at 1020 but didn't get off the ship until 0900, its a 20-30 minute bus trip to the airport, and the baggage check-in lines were long. We definitely missed our flight and was reschedule and got back in the evening instead. No fault of the ship but they could have announced much earlier of what was going on instead of standing for 1.5 hours.
Would have been good to get more information about the reasons for taking that much time for a walk off! In the Epic it took me no more than a half hour to get off
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