mrmartyawe2416 Cruise Review on Norwegian Pearl on Mar 06, 2019

Norwegian Pearl Cruise Review

mrmartyawe2416

Contributor Level: Purser

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 10

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Sail date: March 06, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Pearl

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Just got off the ship this morning from a 4 day cruise out of Tampa. The only destination/port we we supposed to visit was Great Stirrup Cay. Unfortunately, the seas were too rough for tendering to that little slice of paradise in the Bahamas. We were rerouted to Freeport. This review will not deduct points because of Mother Nature. Boarding the Ship was easy. It was quite organized, and from the time we arrived until the time we boarded was less then a half hour. By Noon, we had Fruity, Frozen drinks in our hand. 5 stars. We did not eat at any “specialty “ restaurant, but utilized the main dining rooms and an occasional buffet. Overall, the food was good, and plentiful. Obviously, it seemed fresher and tastier in the Main Dinning Rooms. The Dining rooms were very spacious, beautifully decorated and the wait staff was amazing. 4 stars. The lines to get drinks at the various bars were never too long, and almost always, you were served within 10 minutes. They had waitstaff out on the pool decks, however, there was not enough of them, and almost always they were stopped by cruisers before they could make it beyond 50 feet from the bar. One MAJOR problem was this particular Cruise had a extremely large group ( numbering easily into the hundreds) of people from a popular TV show called “The Trailer Park Boys” ( I’ve never heard of it). Many of the popular bars were “reserved” for “Private” functions and access to them was denied during most of the Cruise. In fact, we never got to see a show or enjoy a drink at the beautiful Spinnaker lounge. Very Disappointed that we not not informed of any of this at booking time. I would have probably gave the bars a 4 star, but because of the limited access to many of them, I give it 2 stars. I’m not a smoker, but my wife is. The smoking sections were not defined very well, and until day 3, there was no place for a smoker to sit. Because of the poorly designated smoking sections, smokers easily wandered away from their designated areas. Furthermore, Vaping was everywhere, including the elevators. Obviously the Cruise-line cannot fix the ignorance and rudeness of the few certain people, but I’m not sure they even tried. One suggestion is to use stanchions to clearly mark the designated areas, and for Christ Sake, give the smoking people a place to sit. 2 stars The lay out of this ship was confusing. We’ve sailed on 7 other cruises, and this ship was by far the most confusing, layout wise. Hallways deadened, lack of signage all lead to the confusing aspect. She is a big ship, and was very clean and well kept. A suggestion is more ship deck maps on the walls. 3 stars. We stayed in an inside state room on Deck 11, with no complaints. Sure, they are a little small, and yes, the TV only gets a few stations ( most either news channels or NCL propaganda), but you basically only sleep in the rooms. 4 stars. The “night life” and “entertainment “ was awful. Of all our Cruises, this was the worst. No Vegas style shows, no comedy, and although the house band was fairly good, they spent far too much time running from bar to bar. The fact that Great Stirrup Cay was removed from our itinerary only worsened this problem. NCL needed to step up the fun and entertainment after this port was cancelled, but failed miserably. Perhaps their hands were tied. 1 star The Pools and hot tubs were exactly what we’ve experienced on every other Cruise... too crowded. Sometimes as many as 25 people crammed into the hot tubs with a limit of 10. All too often, there was no where to sit and especially no where to lie on a lounge chair as they all seemed to be used by Ghosts with blue and white stripped towels. This is a Cruise Wide problem, not limited to the Pearl. 3 stars. All in all, in-spite of some flaws, it was a good, fairly priced getaway. Just wish paradise ( Great Stirrup Cay) was open.

mrmartyawe2416 Cruise Review on Norwegian Pearl on Mar 06, 2019

Overall rating:

Review summary

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