Dissatisfied and disappointed
Norwegian Pearl Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 34
7 Night Alaska Glacier Bay (Seattle Roundtrip)
Sail date: May 13, 2018
Ship: Norwegian Pearl
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9542
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
We really didn't like the cruise. Even though the cabin, food, and excursions were good, this cruise did not meet our expectations as Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. The photograph department was horrible. We had to go through the pictures on a computer to find ours. As of today, May 30, we still have not received 3 pictures we have paid for. We believe Norwegian owes us money or the pictures should be free. The cost was expensive considering the pictures are coming through your email. Not enough photographers taking pictures. The "free styling" cruising isn't as good as we thought. This really isn't a good set up. You don't meet people as you do on other cruises when assigned to dinner. We would not recommend the Republic Parking lot across from the Seattle port. They make you park on level 3 and go to up level 5. No carts or porters to help. This is hard on some people. We returned to our car on May 20 to find it had been broken into. We found a note from the Port of Seattle Police Dept. We had items stolen, glass all over the car and no one bothered to help us. My husband went to talk to the man about the incident, he didn't care at all. We called the police and he helped us a lot. He found someone to sweep out the glass, tried to find someone to fix our window and a hotel for us. We were supposed to start home but had to stay another night in Seattle to get our window fixed on Monday. It is obvious that the parking lot management does not care about its customers. We should have at the least, been given a refund for the week or money for our hotel. Neither has been done. We were told by the person that fixed our window that smash and grab is common in Seattle. We have no desire to go on another Norwegian cruise or return to Seattle. We did a survey we received from Norwegian but have not heard from them. Obviously they don't care about their customers, either. Even though our overall rating is a 3.8, we do not believe this is low enough from what we experienced.Embarkation
This was our first (and last) cruise on Norwegian. We had a time to check in and it took much longer than expected. After we checked in, we needed assistance to get to the boat. We did ask a person who was giving directions and he acted as though we were bothering him. The process Norwegian has for checking in, isn't efficient. We did sign up for three excursions. Two of the three were fine. The first was not as easy. We arrived early and told to get on the bus. After they realized there were too many people, we were told to get off the bus and wait for the next tour. This was unacceptable as they should have checked each ticket before loading the bus. We have cruised on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. Their embarkments are much easier and faster.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food was very good. The service was also. The waiters made sure our drinks were filled, service was good and the food was to our liking. The Japanese restaurant was a lot of fun and the food was great. The steakhouse and French restaurants were very good. The buffet had a lot of variety.
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
There was a singer were listening to that was as not as good as others we have heard. The casino was ok until the smoking started. The area was too small for smoking. If smoking is allowed, non-smoking should be separate or better exhaust system. We were also told different times. We would call, get a time, go to the casino to find out it would open later.
Service and Staff
The waiters were friendly and made sure everything was good. Our steward, Mr. G. was great. He made sure we were comfortable and took good care of us. We enjoyed the animals he made and left in our room.
Ship Quality
We liked them spraying our hands before we ate. Having the hand sanitizers around the ship and some spraying your hands, is a great idea. The layout was somewhat different. The atrium seemed small.
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Don't always believe what you read, it's hype. The excursions are good but they hype about the clothing necessary and gear needed.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
We did the whale watching excursion. It was well worth the price. It was exciting!! The scenery was great. We had great weather, captain, narrator and "Chip" the naturalist. We were lucky enough to see a pod of Orca's. The only problem, we didn't have enough time to go into the town. The Gray Line bus driver, Matthew, gave us a mini tour to and from the boat.
The port was nice, clean and everyone was friendly. A lot of nice shops. We did the train ride. The train ride was great as was the narration. The scenery was out-of-this-world!! We saw more than we thought we would.
The port was a nice area. There were a lot of shops. The people were friendly. Prices not bad. The area to sit in and the town were clean. As a suggestion, another ship that was in port, had a polar bear (dressed up) for their passengers. This was a great idea. We did not do an excursion at this port.
The port was nice and clean. We did the horse drawn trolly ride. It was great. The narrator "Hannah" and her assistant were both very good. The narration was very informative. We learned a lot about B.C. It was beautiful. As a suggestion, maybe the RCMP should have a member of the mounted police stationed at the docks as the ships come in. They are a true symbol of Canada. This would be great pr.