This wasn't our first time on the Pearl (had been out of New Orleans to Western Caribbean last year) so we knew what to expect with the ship. Not totally updated, there are enough places to go and enjoy yourself. Favorite spots are the Topsiders bar - awesome service with the view off the back - and the martini bar near the casino. (Note to all cruises: can we cut out smoking in the casino some day? The smoke travels all over the ship and it's really disgusting.)
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Literally the fastest embarkation ever. The Port of Seattle had their act together - easy baggage drop off, very short line to check in, and right on the ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Summer Palace main dining room had unusually slow and poor service, and the food did not make up for it. I like cruise vacations so I can be served (rather than always doing the serving!), so I favor the main dining rooms. This was so bad that we stopped trying after the third day of major failures at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Unfortunately, by that time, all of the specialty restaurants were booked up for the rest of the ship (seems everybody else had the same experience!) so we ate mostly at the buffet. The kids loved it, I hated serving myself and dealing with the crowds, but the food was pretty good and there was lots of variety.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Entertainment
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
We LOVE SPLASH ACADEMY! The kids had as much of a vacation from us as anything else this week. They were very aware of what time it was at all times ("Mom, Splash Academy opens at 9. What time is it? Is it nine yet?"). The staff was great, the kids had a super fun time.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Ship tip
There's a bridge viewing area on the 11th floor, that nobody really knows about. Great to see the bridge and learn about the ship's systems and how it was built.
If you have a later flight on disembarkation day, the Port of Seattle offers "Port Valet" baggage service - no charges in excess of normal baggage fees, and they print your boarding passes and give you special luggage tags. When you put your luggage out on the last night, they take them directly to the airport. Made it easy to visit Seattle before our flight, and no check=in at the airport so we bypassed the lines!
We did the whale watching cruise excursion. TOTALLY WORTH THE MONEY. It was fantastic weather and the whales were everywhere - breeching, waiving, spouting, the whole nine yards.
Sled dogs and mining excursion was great. The town is lovely - lots of bars and shops to patronize. We were there for a long day, so there was plenty of time to take advantage of everything this little town has to offer (try the salmon vodka!).
There were four ships in port, and we were only there for a few hours, so it wasn't a great trip. Lots of stores, but they were very crowded. We didn't do an excursion because nothing seemed interesting to us, but in retrospect we probably should have since the day would have been more exciting.
If I could do it again, I would pre-book a dinner reservation at one of the fabulous restaurants in downtown Victoria. Fantastic options, but really long lines at all of them! We were there for Saturday night, 6p-midnight, so the locals were all out in force enjoying the town and the weather too.
Being a person with food allergies, I found the main dining rooms to be extremely helpful. We didn't experience extreme waits and out food was always good. It is much better now with "anytime" dining. Like the fact that you aren't sitting with a table of 8 and waiting for all those people to order and finish courses before being served your next course. We ate in the dining room when we didn't mind taking longer than the buffet.
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