First time Norwegian

Item: Norwegian Pearl
Rating: 3.8
Author: ryancreations

Norwegian Pearl Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas

ryancreations

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 62

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5

Verified Review

4 Night Bahamas: Great Stirrup & Nassau (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 13, 2024

Ship: Norwegian Pearl

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 5014

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 10 months ago

Review summary

Overall it was a nice getaway. This was our 10th cruise since 2021. We have sailed princess, celebrity, royal, and one carnival. We wanted to try Norwegian. Slow service encouraged people to drink more as they would let them get bulk amounts of drinks. Yet you won’t give them a water bottle for free. We felt Norwegian nickel and dimed for many things. The private island is nice but everything was way overpriced. Overall it was not a bad trip, but for us Norwegian is not our style. Room was nice and ship was well maintained.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Quick and easy

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Drink service is non existent. You will have to line up at bars and many bartenders acted like they were in no rush. I was assuming this was a regular thing for them. Understaffed. Many people would get 3-4 drinks at a time because service was so slow. Additionally water is not free. This is a deal breaker for me and Norwegian in the future. Buffet and restaurants were good.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment team tried, felt thing were lackluster

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Overall okay, liver performers were not that good, however we felt 2 of the main shows were good. One Michael Jackson impersonator was fantastic.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Most staff seemed unhappy. Bar service non existent. Room service and dining room service were great.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Fantastic condition for a ship of this age. We don’t expect it to be perfect so it shows age. However, you can tell they put a lot of work into maintaining it.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

First time in this category. No complaints. Would do it again on a short cruise.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

4 out of 5

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

3 out of 5

Great Stirrup Cay (Cruise Line Private Island), Bahamas

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Quick

10 Comments

TheBigSalad 9 months ago

Thanks for sharing your experience.

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Ruby13 9 months ago

Thank you for sharing

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cortneyb 9 months ago

I agree with service being slow. I was on ncl in 2019 and no body came around lido taking drink orders like they do on carnival. when we would get up to go to the bar for a drink it was super slow. I'm cruising ncl again tomorrow (1/22) hopefully it's better than my last cruise with them

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Niavlys 10 months ago

Tks for sharing

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bubbles60 10 months ago

Glad you had a good trip. We like Ncl very much. We have sailed on 5 other lines, and Ncl and celebrity are our favorites. Isn't it great that each cruiseline is a little different. That gives us lots of options for the cruiseline that best fits our preferences.

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Brittni1223 10 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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Gwbigdog 10 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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javawoody 10 months ago

Appreciate the feedback

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cruising2004 10 months ago

Thank you for your review.

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Niavlys 10 months ago

Tks for sharing

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