Norwegian Pearl Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Norwegian Pearl 11/30 - 12/9/2007 My wife and I have been on 6 cruises with 3 different cruise lines staying in various types of cabins. This was a 25th anniversary cruise, so we splurged to try NCL's Pearl freestyle cruising. Our room was an aft Suite on the 9th floor that came with butler and concierge service. We are also Latitude members. My review will highlight the aspects of our trip on which we found information hard to come by prior to our trip. This trip comprised my wife and me along with 2 friends who were also celebrating 25 years of marriage. We flew into Palm Beach International to take advantage of great rates available. We rented a minivan from Alamo at Palm Beach International which gave us the best price and excellent service. They provided a free shuttle to the port the next morning after drop-off at the Miami airport and also free shuttle after the cruise. NCL's excellent service for those staying in VIP suites started at the port. My wife and friends were dropped off at the port while I took the rental car back. They were ushered quickly onto the ship and were told they would take care of me when I got back. Upon arrival at the door, I was refused entry by security since my wife had all the travel documents. Al, the concierge, came to my rescue and I was quickly processed and had boarded within 10 min. The ports of call were great. We make it a practice to book privately, looking for locals who can interpret and provide guide services on the island. Even Samana turned out to be a great excursion for us, though some were disappointed. It amazed me that even the staff of NCL made jokes about Samana. I guess you have to avoid the cattle call to find the fun

My husband and I have numerous cruises behind us (his 86th) and my (41st) and we truly enjoyed our time on the Pearl --- we chose the Pearl for the ports of call and for the freestyle dining. The entertainment (production shows) rate right up there with Las Vegas style revues --- bravo to the Jean Ann Ryan Company! We did miss the 2 for 1 early dinner special rates in the specialty restaurants as we experienced on other Norwegian ships. Embarkation and Disembarkation was very smooth and effortless -- another plus! Overall a "GREAT" cruise for the price you pay.

Great ship , 1 wasted poor port called Samana. norovirus on ship wed. made last part of voyage, not good.

My wife and I have sailed on most if not all of the major cruise lines for the past thirty plus years, and have been on at least a dozen Norwegian Cruise Lines ships. Needless to say the Norwegian Pearl certainly lives up to it's name. In all categories, including the ship's decor, entertainment, food quality, availability, and variety, on-board activities, and anything else not mentioned, the "Pearl" shines in every category. NCL has spared no cost in making sure that it's passengers are satisfied in every way.

Beautiful ship, cont be taken back by cronic complainers, where there are many. Most staff are friendly, but unfortunately not too knowledgeable. It took a few staff members, just to find our room. It was even listed wrong on the elevator directory. Show overall were great. Too bad many people got sick. I will keep an eye on reviews and see had the next cruise went. Fortunately we were well, being on the med deck, we saw too much sickness.

We have traveled on Norwegian three times now, and we really like this cruise line. Others are too formal or similar in options , but Norwegian has a friendly crew and extremelly clean ship. Great entertainment, shore excursions, and in every other other way, we feel that Norwegian provided the ultimate experience for us.

NCL's Norwegian Pearl is a brand-new ship giving a lot of options for dining and entertaining, even though we missed some activities such as classical music performances.

The ship was beautiful & very clean everywhere

Suite was good, overall service was good.

Before going on this ship I read a lot of negative reviews of the Pearl, that I wanted to try it out myself, because since competition is so fierce out there, you just can't afford to mess things up. I boarded the Pearl with a "whatever"attitude. O,o , what was I pleasantly surprised and found out that nothing (negative)what I've read was correct, or I was just very lucky. And this being my sixth ! cruise this year alone, so I have plenty of "fresh"material to compare. And I've been on all the bigger ones(except Celebrity). It might not be my favourite one, but for the price paid, it was worth every penny ! Conclusion: I can higly recommend this particular ship.

Beautiful Ship and was very clean..service was horrible it was like everyone was on their first day of their job. Food was probably the worst food I have ever had on a ship, i have been on 8 cruises and this and the Carnival line are neck in neck, everything was surcharged and it was not even good!! We had 9 pple in our party and we could not get a reservation unless we called at exactly 7am every day and when we did get one our only choice was 5:30 or 9pm!!When we get to the restaurants mostly the whole place was empty!!!Quality and variety of food HORRIBLE..we were on the 9 day and it got really old really fast trying to get somewhere to eat every night. the itinerary was great except for the Samana DR stop why are they even bothering? it is disgusting there is nothing to do and nothing to see..NCL is the ONLY cruise line that stops ther, go figure..Activities were few and far in between, we had 4 kids ages 7-12 and the kids club was not impressive at all, same thing every night for their " late night Party" Overall very unimpressive.. rooms and public areas were kept very clean the coffee bar was great and probably the most reasonable priced thing on board..they did not even have a kids channel in the cabins for the kids..they c;laim they have cartoon network when available well we were on for 9 days and it was NEVER available. they showed Sunday Football on the big screen and all it did was freeze up every 3 seconds, impossible to even watch, with a brand new 500 million dollar ship you would think they would have an awesome satellite system..I have cruised 5 times with RCCL and 1 time w/ Princess and 2 times with Carnival, I will never cruise on Carnival again and more than likely I will never cruise on NCL again either..for the amount of money we spent on surcharges and drinks (that were EXTREMELY overpriced in comparison to other cruise lines) I could have gone on a 14 day Princess or RCCL cruise!!!

the ship was nice and the staff members were very friendly. I dod have a very dissapointing experience with the shore exvurssions dept. And they credited another activity at half price but that experience ruined 1 of our pnly 2 ports we were at.

Freestyle cruising is ok but all the restaurants are not included for seating without a cover charge ranging from $10.00 to $20.00 per head. The food isn't that great to warrant a cover charge. I will try another cruise line next time such as Royal Caribbean where there are NO hidden costs and a different theme.

The Pearl is a new ship, so we were very impressed with her. Unfortunately, that was the only good part of our trip. The food and service on the ship were less than ordinary and freestyle dining is highly overrated. We can "freestyle" on any cruiseline by eating at the buffets.

We were unaware of the surcharge on restaurants. Everything was included on all cruises taken before. The food was not good at all except in the Garden Cafe for breakfast. Of course it is hard to mess up a plain breakfast. The eggs benedict were not good.

My wife and I cruised on the Norwegian Pearl out of Miami from November 11 to November 16, 2007, we traditionally cruise on Princess and Royal Caribbean but decided to try NCLs Freestyle Cruising. Unfortunately, our experiences on the Pearl were sub par to the other cruise lines that we will not be cruising on NCL again. Pre-Cruise Excursions: We booked two excursions prior to the cruise. The cancellation policy clearly states that we could cancel 48 hours prior to reaching the port. What the policy doesnt talk about is the logistics of trying to cancel the excursion with 5 days of sailing. Apparently, the records are sent to the ship 5 days prior and your land side excursion team could not cancel the reservation. After three phone calls and massive confusion on NCL staffs part, one representative who identified herself as a supervisor said she would email the ship on our behalf. Fortunately, when we arrived on board the excursion had been canceled and we were not charged. Boarding: We arrived early and found the doors open to our surprise. We processed quickly and were seated to wait for boarding to begin. While the process was smooth and efficient, the staff was rude and obnoxious. There were several staff members barking and yelling at guests. This was our first impression and it was not a good one. There is a fine line between being directive and being rude to provide orderly and efficient boarding, NCL staff was rude. Stateroom: The stateroom was as we expected. The small refrigerator was a nice surprise. We did not receive the level of personal service found on Princess or Royal Caribbean. The stateroom attendants were friendly but there just wasnt that personal feel. On the other cruise lines we always feel like we are on a first name basis on other cruise lines, on NCL we felt like a one night stay hotel guest. Dining: Food quality in all restaurants was not anywhere close to being as good as Princess or Royal Caribbean. Upscale Restaurants: We expected to find great food in the up charge restaurants and after eating at Cagneys Steak House we decided not to pay for any other food upgrades because the quality was just not that good. I found my T-Bone cut to be something Id find at an inexpensive steak chain restaurant when we fully expecting a higher quality. 24 Hour Dining: The 24 hour dining selection was terrible. There wasnt a midnight buffet just a small dining facility with a very limited menu. One evening we waited over 25 minutes for a burger and watched as 5 tables were served that arrived after us. We asked the waitress to check on our food and once again we experienced complete confusion, three different staff members asked us what we ordered and we finally just left without any food. Main Dining: In the main dining rooms we found the staff to be friendly but there was not the personal service that we experienced on other Cruise Lines. I suspect this is a result of Freestyle Cruising. Again the food quality just wasnt up to the other cruise lines. There was a variety of food on the menu and the presentation was great. The taste left a lot to be desired. Garden Caf: Breakfast in the Garden Caf was probably our best dining experience during the whole cruise. But once again there were shortcomings. On Princess and Royal Caribbean there were staff members bringing drinks to the tables. We found ourselves being trampled while trying to get water, milk, or tea. I found it nearly impossible to get a diet coke at breakfast. Entertainment: The cruise director and staff were excellent. In fact, without them I might have jumped overboard and swam back to Miami. The dance company was absolutely fantastic, the best show Ive seen on any cruise ship. We did not see much of the comedy routine but what we did see was good. Bowling: Interesting concept on a ship we tried it once but thought this should be an included amenity and not $5 per game.

This was our first cruise so we are not able to compare, but I can say we had a fabulous time. We enjoyed the after dinner shows. We ate in four of the ships restaurants and they all had great food. Our room was always taken well care of. This was our 40th anniversary and we had cards of congratulations in our room when we arrived. The staff was very polite and went out of their way to make sure we had a good time. There were always some type of show, singing, or band playing. The Norwegian Pearl was beautiful and the staff showed their pride by the way they conducted themselves and the way they took care of the ship. We hope to do this again.

Freestyle dining was so great. We have been on every cruise line and this was great. The entertainment was only good not great. But the wonderful service and Excellent food was amazing!

The seating throughout the ship was designed specifically to relax, lounge and accomodate big bottoms! Some of the ports were not very fun to get off and explore, the locals seemed to be anticipating the tourist dollars immediately as you disembarked the ship. The cruise director stressed the importance of using rhe hand sanitizers throughout the ship during the criuse. The ship is very new and has not had a chance to get run down yet.Staterroms and public areas extremely clean!

This being my fifth cruise and first with Norwegian, overall, it was a great trip. The staff was wonderful; the atmosphere was great; the decor, art, and live music on the boat was phenomenal; the food was great, but I have had better with other cruise lines. What I did not like about the freestyle cruising was that by reading advertisements and NCL's webpage, I booked this trip thinking all the specialty restaurants: the sushi, the steak house, the French, restaurants, etc. were included, but were actually an average of $15 to dine in; for four of us to bowl for an hour, it was $40; and bingo was out of the question because the cheapest buy-in was about $30 while with other cruise lines you can usually get cheap tickets for about $5. The other thing is that I would not recommend bringing your kids from ages 18-20, unless they want to go to bed right after dinner because while NCL catered to teens with there teen club and 21 and over in there Bliss Night Club and other bars, there was really nothing for 18-20 year olds to do on the boat, but lay out by the pool during the day or go to the casino, but lets face it, unless you have enough money to drop on gambling, slots aren't all that exciting.