Norwegian Pearl Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The Itinarry is great so are the off shore excursions .But the entertainment is almost non existent and the overall quality of the food in the buffets,or so called specially dinning was horrible .That was our 6th cruise with Norwegian we were very disappointed .

Ship is tired. Stateroom large but tired. TV, etc, tired but functional rust was apparent in many outside areas. Food was poor to fair, even in specialty restaurants. We could eat anywhere as we had Haven Suite. Personnel were very attentive and available always. Room service was poor as the food was served cold and menus were not available.

The Haven Courtyard (our "special" place was small, claustrophobic and food served there was cold and tasteless.

Tours were only fair, several were terrible. We signed up on board so not all available. Same with specialty restaurant reservations. Considering the amount we paid ($23,000+) it was quite disappointing. We have cuised on several lines: Crystal, Renaissance, Celebrity, Holland America. All were considerably better. We chose this cruise and ship because of the schedule and Miami round-trip feature, (We live there)

This ship needs to either be docked or upgraded.  Rusty and needing paint.  Its a sad little boat with very cramped quarters and extremely poor bedding.

We really enjoyed our vacation. The food was great, the service in the restaurants was excellent. The only complaint that I have is about the cleaning of our cabin. It was always done very late,and even when we left early in the morning for excursion,when we came back the cabin was not cleaned yet( at 2.00 pm). In addition the mirrors were never clean and occasionally the carpet was not vacuumed. Otherwise everything was very good and the staff always helpful.

First, the good:

-We LOVE the NCL free-style concept.

-There were a great team of folks taking care of us. They became our little cruise family.

-The bed was incredibly comfortable.

-Going through the Panama Canal was a spectacular experience. So worth a balcony cabin.

Now the bad:

-We absolutely froze, and no one was responsive to our requests. We ended up spending a lot of our time in our cabin, with the balcony door open, just to try to warm up.

-NCL is cutting too many corners when it comes to dining. Lobster night is gone. Chocolate buffet is gone. Cheese plate dessert option is gone. It's like they're trying to coerce cruisers to pay for specialty dining, although even then lobster is an additional upgrade. (So $50 for a lobster when we've already paid for the cruise. Really?!)

-Belize shore excursions are too expensive for what you get, as are ship photos.

-Itinerary said "cruise Gatun Lake," which caused us to forego a Panama Canal excursion (thinking we'd get to see the scenery from the ship). In reality, the Pearl made it in to the lake and dropped anchor. Didn't budge until it was time to go back. Also, comedian Tim Kominsky's (sp?) third show was billed as "all new," but it was the same show we saw in March.

Next cruise? Want the free-style approach but don't care to freeze--or pay extra for things that have been included in the past. We did not participate in their Cruise Next program for these reasons.

Cruise was great, very relaxing. I have had better shore excursions on other cruises. Food selections could have been better. There is usually one night of lobster offered but not on this cruise.

The trip was good but I expected more from the cruise line. I expected more daily activities on the ship. Shopping expensive. Beverages expensive, no daily special. Food good but not a lot of variety.

The experience started by booking our cruise with which we

have booked the last 3 through. Our specialist ,Julie, is someone I can say goes the extra mile and deserves our business. If you haven't put the Panama Canal on your bucket list be sure to get it there because it is truly an awesome adventure.

The staff on the Norwegian Pearl were extremely happy to take care of the small or large needs of ourselves and many challenged people aboard. It was the small things that you notice more than the items that are expected.

When you get ready to travel this to this area a few places you may want to visit;

1} Panama Canal and adventure of going through the locks

2} banana plantation tour

3} zip lining was another adventure and a chance to meet some real monkeys !!!

4} travel through the rain forest and it's beauty

Make sure you have your camera always ready for the Kodak moment

It was awesome.

Bob Hilmer

Was not told that you had to pay corkage fee before we boarded ship. Stateroom was small. Bingo did not pay out enough. Prices in the gift shop especially the fragrances were quite expensive compared to the duty free shops in port.

We took an 11 day cruise out of Miami to the Panama Canal. It was on our bucket list and it was well worth visiting. The shore excursions from Panama's Gatan Lake are only available from NCL and it was the only NCL shore excursion that we felt was worthwhile.  We took 2 other NCL shore excursions- one was fair and the other was not good at all. 

The cruise ship (The Pearl) was large (2400 passengers) but except for the embarkation and disembarking, we did not really notice the "crowds".

The specialty restaurants were generally not worth the premium, except for Cagney's steak house - that was excellent - we should have dined there 2 or 3 times.

Our stateroom (Balcony-GUAR) was very nice.  The service from the room steward helped add to the ambience of the stateroom. We thought the original cost was a bit high, but this was to be our special Thanksgiving vacation. However the NCL website was selling the same staterooms for almost 50% less the week before the cruise departed.  Even Mini-suites were selling for less than we paid.  When I inquired about an upgrade, United Cruises had to go through NCL, and NCL was not offering any consideration. They said I would have to cancel my current reservation (at a penalty) and then re-book to get the new rate.  NET COST INCREASE! 

The gratuities and the daily service charges (which were increased this year!)  have become a hefty surcharge to the cost of a cruise. We found that the bartenders and the room steward fully earned their gratuities.  The dining room staff and the table waiters in the lounges gave only fair to often very poor service. (However the hostess in the Garden Palace Dining room was outstanding!)

Overall, NCL would not be my first choice on a future cruise.  Two of the enticements (free premium specialty dinners-you still pay the gratuities, free beverages-you still pay the gratuities) might make a cruise appealing if it were going to the right places, but I would do a lot of comparisons between several alternative cruise lines before choosing NCL.  I would definitely choose United Cruise Lines shore excursions over NCL's.  United's were better, with fewer people, more informative, and generally a bit lower in price.  Definitely better value.

Despite a few disappointments, overall, we had a good time.  

Really nothing to do on the ship as entertainment after 9:30 PM and no 24 hour food available unless you dine in. Also, it appears every one is in their cabinet or sleep around 9:30 PM (other words a ghost town)

The cruise was great and would do again. The on board experience was great as well.  The weather, food , shows and entertainment was good. all of the ports and excursions was excellent.  Not a dull moment.

It was an excellent experience and I appreciate Cruises Only for saving me money off the "going" price.  It was a real "high" to see the Panama Canal, an icon everyone in the World has heard about and is effected by. 

Ship needs some updating, but the cruise was great and we loved the ship. The staff in Moderno at breakfast and lunch were great! Rahul and Dollarage (sp?) especially. Also, Elvina, the concierge is amazing!!!

Spa is really good and Monika was outstanding.

Food is excellent as well.

Loved it. The ship is beautiful.  The people work so hard and are very friendly. Lots of fun things to do. Great time to spend with family, friends or hold a reunion.

I've sailed on Norwegian cruises and Carnival and normally I prefer Norwegian hands down.  This cruise was rather disappointing and I could not believe the condition of my state room.  Also hidden costs all over the place.

NCL needs to get their act together in more ways than one. My wife and I booked a suite and it was to include priority check in, all 4 package offers, etc. When we checked in for our cruise, there was no priority check in for customers with suite/haven cabins, our initial key card was wrong that was given to us when we checked in, and we were issued 3 other key cards before it was finally made right.

Then at around 8 PM on Nov. 05, 2015 there was a diesel fire somewhere on the ship, and we were in our robes in our suite at the time. There was no announcement in our cabin, and we had to keep opening our cabin door to attempt to hear what was going on. Finally a crew member starting banging on our door and ordered us out of our suite. At around 10:30 PM we were finally allowed to return to our suite, but it was announced the A/C in the Aft cabins was shut off to clear the smoke and diesel fumes, which made me sick from the smell. Our A/C in our suite never worked properly at night after the fire. We did not get any sleep the night of the fire, and were very apprehensive, the A/C didn't work, our suite was hot and plus the lingering smell of diesel fuel. All the restaurants I had booked online via the NCL website for our cruise did not happen, so we had to rebook them when we got onboard, and the pillow selections we chose online did not happen. We must say that the onboard concierge attempted to make things right as much as she could, but there was nothing she could do about the fire, the A/C not working properly after the fire on the lingering smell of diesel. All in all, NCL ruined most of our cruise. All the food onboard was very good with one exception, the Italian restaurant was terrible. The fact that when the fire occurred and there was NO announcement in our cabin was and is a major safety issue and violation and jeopardized our well being and safety, fortunately the fire was contained and we did not have to evacuate the ship. We would never sail our the NCL Pearl again after this experience and feel NCL should provide us a credit for what we went through and were put through. We did report the lack of an announcement in our cabin to our concierge and that our A/C did not work properly after the fire and the lingering diesel smell.

We lovend THE cruise and THE beds were very comfortable also THE bathroom and shower were quitte comfortable THE food was delicious and a lot of choices

the only thing we were upset About is that we did not get our package in THE mail as promised we did not know About THE free dining rooms other than THE garden café and we also did not know About THE drinks  package we were very upset About iT and we found out THE second day and were not able to purchase it we would like to see if you can do something for us on our next cruise

yes we Will take another norwegian cruise thank you

I really enjoyed the freestyle cruising.  The food in the different restaurants was great.  My favorite place to go for drinks was the Martini Bar. When I wanted a turkey burger, the staff was quick to provide it to me.  I like the idea of the white night but to much heavy metal music.  They should have accommodated the music for all ages. The room was cleaned every day.  The ship layout was beautiful.  I loved the steakhouse food.  The comedy was terrible.  I wish they had more exciting entertainment in the theater.  I was on the special promotional package for drinks.  They should offer this package offend. My husband enjoyed the Latin dancing club especially the training excises.   

Norwegian runs a very user friendly cruise with very good food, service and entertainment served in a comfortable and casual manner.  The management is somewhat unfocused at times yet overall this was a very good cruise.  I would definitely consider choosing Norwegian again.