Norwegian Pearl Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The Alaskan scenery is breathtaking.  

Normally we look to go to tropical destinations but we are so glad we made it to Alaska. 

Norwegian Cruise Lines does a great job. Every staff member looks to make it a great experience.

We had a wonderful cruise. Everything worked out perfectly. I would especially like to thank our agent Melissa Lemke who understood our requirements and found us the right cruise along with the rooms and even the appropriate deck. I would highly recommend both the cruise and the agent.

 Nice ship. Probably the friendliest crew I have ever experienced. The buffet was good but the dining room was a joke. The only cruise that I have ever been on that I lost weight on. Wow!  I had a 21 day Mediterranean trip scheduled for 2/3/16. I cancelled it.

This was my first cruise and it was a wonderful experience, I cant wait to book another one. The Staff on the Norwegian Pearl and the nicest, most attentive people I have met in a long time, they are to me what made the cruise special.

Thank you

It's important to note that the reservation process through United Cruises was delightful; my rep was very helpful.  The embarkation and disembarkation process on NCL was one of the most seamless processes that we've experienced when cruising.  

The photography staff and the art auction staff were both wonderful.  They were engaging and entertaining and met all of our needs during the vacation. 

But... that's where our relaxation ended. The NCL Pearl was a nice ship with adequate amenities for the guests, but this cruise line is just not for us.

1. The food in the main dining room was awful. We dined there for lunch on embarkation day.  The fish & chips were hard and cold. My son spilled cranberry juice and no one helped us clean the table or offered to move us to another table, although there were only 20 tables occupied in the Summer Palace.  We experienced very poor service in addition to terrible food. 

2. So… if the main dining room doesn’t work, there’s always the buffet, right? That’s a great theory, but there was not enough seating in the buffet area.  Guests were arguing over tables and it was difficult to move through the seating area to find a place to eat due to the way the sections are configured.  When you're carrying a plate a food, a drink, utensils (forks and knives are provided at the tables, but not spoons), and a child, it creates a very negative experience.  After 10 minutes (or more) looking for a table, your food is cold, your child is cranky, and your patience is gone – that’s not a vacation.

3. On Day 5, we celebrated a birthday in our stateroom and I had a cake delivered.  We called 2X to have the remainder of the cake removed from our room - we called on Thur and Fri.  It was not removed until Saturday night before disembarkation.

4. The room was not clean. When we first arrived in our room, there were old candy wrappers in the bed, hair in the murphy bed where our son was to sleep, and crackers scattered under the bed.  

5. We ate dinner only at the specialty restaurants. Le Bistro (French), Cagney's (steakhouse), and Teppanayaki (hibachi) were good; however, the service in La Cucina (Italian specialty restaurant) was exceedingly slow -- so much so that our son fell asleep before he received his food and we missed the entertainment show that night as a result of the slow service.  The food was mediocre -- I'd rather eat at Olive Garden than pay extra for La Cucina.

6. The dining staff is clueless about dealing with small children and the vessel is not equipped to serve them drinks. The drinking glasses are not suitable for a child -- the glasses are wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, causing them to easily tip over when lightly touched by little hands.  I had to come up with my own solution, so I kept having to ask for the porcelain coffee mugs so my son could drink juice or water.  Additionally, the straws are not 'bendy' straws, so for a child to use them, they have to kink them, which somewhat defeats the purpose.  Why don’t they have plastic cups with lids onboard?  Or simply shorter glasses with wider bottoms for the kids?

7. We attempted to watch shows in the theater twice.  Both times, one of the seats that we sat in was broken, so that we tried to sit down and just landed on the floor the first time; the second time, we tested the seat – yep, broken.  There was not one person visible for us to inform them of the broken seats. Really?

8. We visited the Splash Academy for our son, who is three years old.  It seemed like a great deal of fun, but there were always lines out the door and long wait times, so we can't comment on the quality of the children's programs.

9. Our entire trip, 1 of the 4 elevators in the elevator bank near our room was out of commission.  If you've ever been on a cruise, you know how frustrating it can be to get an elevator to stop on your floor -- try that with one elevator out of commission.

NEVER AGAIN!  I spent thousands of dollars on a stressful "vacation".  I will never cruise with NCL again and I'll make certain that my friends and family stay away from this cruise line.  Freestyle dining and battling over tables, dirty rooms, sub-par service and poorly trained staff, and extra stress may make for a great vacation for some people, but not for us.

We loved the Alaskan scenery and wildlife.  The NCL Pearl cabin and porter were excellent.  The Balcony provided a nice spot to avoid the crowds, but noisy neighbors with screaming children made it unpleasant at times.  Also our daughter's cabin space was polluted with smoking neighbors on the balcony. Food was OK, but offered very little chance to reserve the upper scale spots.

Alaska is incredible and we very much enjoyed our cruise as the way to experience it!!  The cruise ship was very clean and in great shape.  We had a balcony stateroom that I would highly recommend as you will see so much from just sitting outside your room and it helps as rooms of the cruise ships aren't very big. The room was just right for the two of us!  Food on the cruise was okay, but not great.  We did not eat at the specialty restaurants, so we can't comment on those.  We had the unlimited beverage package which was nice, but it was still a pain having to sign the receipts anyway.  We did not have any surprise bills at the end, so we were happy about that as many people complain of that on other cruise ships.  Entertainment was okay, comedian was really good!!!  Our cabin steward did a great job with our room and very friendly!!  Service at the bars in most areas was really slow and staff not always the most friendly.  The service at the Martini bar area was really good and the staff was better than most areas!  Getting on and off the boat was very organized and easy.  We opted to take our own luggage when getting off  and we were off the boat in ten minutes!!  We arrived at the ports on time and really had no problems at all during the cruise.  I would definitely recommend this cruise!

FROM EMBARKATION, TO PORTS OF CALL, THE STAFF WAS ALWAYS COURTEOUS, THE SHIP WAS VERY CLEAN, THE WAIT STAFF WERE ALWAYS ATTENTIVE TO OUR NEEDS, THE FOOD WAS GREAT, T HE CAPTAIN AND HIS STAFF, WERE  EXTREMELY PROFESSIONAL..

 UNFORTUNATELY, THE ONLY PART OF THE CRUISE WE WERE DISAPPOINTED IN, WAS THAT THERE WAS A  CHARGE FOR ROOM SERVICE. NEVER ENCOUNTERED THIS ON PRIOR CRUISES.

Great service, always smiling, friendly & helpful. This is the 3rd cruise we've been on (and the 2nd Norwegian), and it had to be Norwegian for it's Freestyle dining.  We've done a cruise with another cruise line which was a sit down dinner with the same people (strangers) for 3 meals a day for 8 days and hated it.  Great food choices, can't go wrong with Norwegian.

Our trip was wonderful. I highly recommend the Norwegian chose line. They treat you like royalty and you feel like you are part of their family. We will use Norwegian cruise line again in the future.

When reading this review keep in mind that me and my wife know  a lot of the  crew members on the Pearl because of the  business she has in Miami. Boarding was a breeze in Seattle. I was a little bit surprised to see the  ship docked in what seemed like  downtown.  There was a  little bit of a problem because my wife has a  Philippines passport. But  that was  quickly taken care of  when she showed  them her green card.

Once aboard the buffet was open. We  got enough to eat to carry  us over until the  party started up top. The weather in Seattle could not have  been better.

The first day is at sea and it was flat out cold outside. But I'm from south Florida. Of course there  were a few brave souls  in the  hot tubs.

The weather in Juneau was nice. We did the  Mendenhall glacier explorer with the  tram. This is where I  should have  listened to a crew member  we know. He recommended taking the  helicopter tour. I wish we had of done that after  seeing  Glacier bay. And as it turns out I  talked to  some people on the  ship that  went on  the  helicopter and they said  it wasn't that cold  on the  glacier. We didn't have a lot of  time to spend at the summit where the  tram goes, so I really can't give  an opinion.

Skagway was cold around the  docks but in town, a short walk away, it was nice. We walked around the  town a little bit and talked  with  some local people. 

The  next day  was Glacier bay. All I can  say  about it is the  pictures don't do it  justice. It's  just  something  you  have to see. There was a little  light  rain and  snow but it  cleared up as the day  went by.

Ketchikan is another nice  little  town. My sister did the fishing excursion here. She had a great time. A pod of  orcas came through just as a girl was reeling in her catch. I saw the photo of the fish that was she was left with. There was  not much left of her  catch.

The last day was sailing. We got to  Victoria at 6pm. Me and my wife got  off the ship.  Walked around  a bit and nothing else. We were both exhausted and ready to go back to the  real world.

The  buffet was open when we got to  Seattle. We got a  good  breakfast and once the ship cleared customs it was 15 minutes at the most we were back in the  real world . We used Shuttle express to and from the airport. It was 22 dollars per person.

Wonderful scenery, ports, staff and room (we had balcony).  Food had little to no variation day to day, even if you choose a different dining area.  If we did the cruise again, we would purchase the specialty dining, so we could have some variety.

Great cruise lots of wildlife and spectacular scenery. Well worth it. The ship is clean and pretty. Food above several cruise lines but not at the top. Did not eat at the speaility restaurants. The ports are great. Save money by renting a car directly from local car rental places.

Boarding process could be improved - boarders were shuttled to the center elevators of the ship where the wait was over 5 minutes.  As we waited patiently for our turn to board, it became very crowded with new passengers continuously pushing into earlier boarders already waiting for the elevator - people were extremely pushy and rude.  We gave up and ended up walking up three flights because it was just too crowded and the wait was too long.  There should be staff at the center elevators during the initial boarding process who could direct passengers to also use the bow and aft elevators. 

We very much enjoyed our time on Norwegian. The entertainment and documentaries were great! Our porter was fantastic - always available and helpful. We did feel like the introductory safety lecture was insufficient to say the least! Just showed us how to put on lifejackets and that was it - no mention of anything else to be aware of. Also, our suggestions concern the layout of the Crystal atrium - there is way too much going on there at once - the coffee bar should be separate from the bar, the excursions desk and reservations desk should be somewhere else - always a queue of people through the middle of the room and the big screen seemed more annoying than informative.

Enjoyed the entire cruise.  Alaska is amazing and the staff and crew of the Norwegian Pearl was excellent and fun.  Customer service was excellent and it was a joy to get to know the hard working staff.  We liked the "freestyle" cruising that allowed us the opportunity to eat as various complementary restaurants in addition to the on-going buffet.  Glacier Bay was my favorite and the crew did an outstanding job of slowing turning the sip 360 degrees three times so we could get a complete view of the end of Glacier Bay to include an excellent presentation by the Park Rangers.  All stops including Juneau, Skagway, Katchikan, and Victoria were wonderful and my favorite was Juneau where we could take a 20 minute trip to see Mendenhall Glacier.  The inside passage was simply gorgeous and I would recommend a balcony because you see great coast lines, islands, and majestic mountains and peaks.  The entertainment was great and my favorite place to hang out was Spinnaker Lounge which gave a 180 degree forward view plus great music and dancing.  The only thing I would recommend that changes on cruise to Alaska on the "Pearl" is that the swimming pool area be covered since many of the days can be cold and rainy.  When that happens there is no way to swim or go out doors.  Also the hot tubs were not very hot.  I would say around 93 degrees (a guess).  Other than that, all was great!!

Bad overall experiences.  First, it is not wheelchair accessible. It is very hard to find a place to eat, people who are able to walk, quickly grab the tables available while you are pushing through the masses of crowds. You can not go thru the buffet line with a wheelchair, people pushing!  It is so cold out that most people stay inside to stay warm so it was too crowded. And every 2 feet there is a bump in the floor that you need to lift the front of the wheelchair over. Not enough elevators, people rush in, in front of wheelchair,  when doors open.  We have cruised 5 times before, this was horrible. Staff in 2 of 3 other places to eat were like robots, no smiles, barely acknowledging you were there. And NEVER go to the ships dr!!  I got a stomach ache and went for some pepto. The nurse said "Sure, we have it, sign here for the pepto" as soon as I signed I was told I had to stay in my room for 24 hours! I had paid for an expensive excursion thru , and was not allowed to go. And if I left my room, I would be put off the ship and would have to find my own way home. I am not a child. I was traveling with my handicap husband and my daughter.  So I stayed in my room, my daughter took my husband and went on the excursion. But I am still out the $200.00 for my part. I called the agent and she called . She said she would not charge me for the trip and would have refund my money.  refused!! Said because I did not purchase the protection,they would not refund my $200.00.  I wanted to go but the captain of the ship would not let me off the ship. NOT MY FAULT!!!!!! So the agent didn't get the money, I didn't get the money, KEPT the money.  Norweigen said if I would of booked the excursion thru them, they would of refunded my money. So the lesson here is never book thru !!!  Great!! Hard lesson to learn, I'm out $200.00, but believe me, I will let everyone I know, not to book thru . Not worth the $20.00 I saved. And the customer service rep I booked the excursions thru, lied!  I called to book the excursions to make sure they were handicap accessible and they were not.  2 of the 3 excursions were extremely difficult for us to go on. My husband had a horrible time on the bus trip, could not get out to see anything and the whale watching trip was difficult because he could not move about the boat to actually see the "spray" from the blow holes, which is all we really saw.  So it sucked anyway.  And we didn't get to see the sunset on the double decker sunset bus trip. The bus driver was only interested in showing us the city. And you say, if you are not completely satisfied your money back! Sure, right.  Thanks !!

It was so great and the crew of the Norwegian Pearl took excellent care of us and helped us at every turn no matter what the dumb question we had to ask was.  Freestyle dining is the way to go!  Thanks so much for making our vacation AWESOME!

It was me and my husband's first time going to a cruise. The Norwegian Peal ship is kept very clean, and the all the staff were very friendly and helpful. Foods were excellent!

This is my first time cruising, so I have no other cruises to compare with.  In general, the appearance of public areas is pleasant and clean.  The food in the complimentary restaurants is tasty and varies daily to keep the palate stimulated.  The activities on board of the ship can keep someone busy most of time.  I enjoyed the evening entertainment, except for one where the comedian mostly made fun of the professions of the people he chose to bring on the stage from the audience.  That was distasteful.  As for the cruise destinations, I especially appreciate the time spent at Glacier bay and the fact that the ship spins slowly 360 degree at the glacier so all passengers have a chance to see it up close.