Norwegian Pearl Cruise Reviews - Reviews

It is a magnificent ship but that is where it stops. To begin with I felt like I was on a no frills cruise. The wait to get into the terminal was a first for us. It seemed as if no one knew what they were doing. I was told it was the first day for using this terminal, unfortunately for us. Finally we get on and we are truly impressed with the decor and cleanliness as well as the many hand santizers at our convenience. The accomodations were ok, about what you get on all ships except the shower doors are a better touch than the curtain. There were not many things to do during the course of the day for people in our age category (66-83). The planner that you leave in the room for the day is somewhat difficult to read and understand. Might I suggest you check some others and see how they are done. They are also perforated so it can be easily torn to fit in ones pocket. There were 4 of us that went on this cruise as it was my sisters 60th anniversary present from us. The food that was of no charge was adequite nothing special, but Le Bistro was wonderful. It' s a first that we paid anything on a cruise for food. I also didn't like that at the end of the cruise WE had to go pick up our liquor and luggage tages on our own. We've usually had them delivered to our room. Getting off was equally as stressful as getting on . Although we didn't disembark until after 10am which as you advertise "you can have a leisurely morning". we still had to be up and out and wait. The line for immigration was tremendous. You are doing something wrong. This is our first time cruising on NCL and I hadn't heard many great things but I felt to each his own and gave it a try.............sorry another disappointed cruiser.

The whole cruise was well organized and on very high level. Brand new ship, professional staff, excellent food and drink, and many different places to entertain yourself. The only little objection I had was the hidden $10/day/person fee (tips and gratitude), which my wife and I didn't find out about until we got on board, but it wasn't a big deal, since we would spend that money anyway. Highly recommended!

Nice rooms, pool and facilities.

At times some things fall through the cracks. This was evident in our preboarding and most evident in our debarkation. Pre boarding there was no bus to take us to the pier from the airport, (transportation had been pre-paid). We finally got a shuttle that wanted to leave us off at a differnt ship. He finally left us off at the correct ship after I demanded that he do so. We shouldn't have had to go through this. The dates of our cruise were there for a long time, so there is no excuse for NCL not having proper transportation already in place. Upon return we were offered the BAGS program, which sounded great. This was even a worse disaster. According to the program you put your luggage outside your door the night before docking and pick your baggage up at your destination baggage claim (Orlando Florida) for us. To say the least this did not happen. It was a complete disaster. This is not the first time this program has been offered, so I lay all the blame at the feet of NCL. They will be hearing from me. The cruise itself was wonderful, very relaxing. We saw some very good shows, and we saw some shows by the Jean Ann Ryan Co. that we had seen seven months previously on the same ship, shame on them. The only other thing that bothered us was the lack-luster of the activities program (it was flat).Will I cruise with NCL again the answer is yes. The good far outways the bad. The positive far outways the negative.

The Norwegian Pearl was really beautiful and well designed. The stateroom (an outer regular cabin) was carefully planned. I particularly liked the bathroom, since it was functional in spite of the limited space and had handles to grab on to. I had dislocated a knee before the trip and was positively impressed by the ease of getting around the ship in wheelchair and later with a walker. The food was absolutely superb. We happen to prefer the well appointed dining rooms and specialty restaurant, but the food was of top quality at the buffet as well. On the negative side - we did not get the paperwork until two days before departure in spite of booking and paying months in advance. Embarkation and disembarkations routines provided serious bottlenecks and long waiting times and can hopefully be improved. However, I escaped the bulk of the embarkation problems by being in a wheelchair!

We took a 4 day cruise from Vancouver to LA, stopping in San Francisco on Sept 24th. We have gone on a RCL 7 day cruise about 7 years ago on the "Mexican Riviera". We are in our late 40's and most of our winter vacations are in Mexico staying in 4 star-ish properties. We have never taken a repo cruise since it seemed like sailing down the coast would be boring, cold and likely rough water. This was a nice surprise since the weather was great and even when the wind was blowing the boat is designed so you can be out of the wind on the deck most of the time. The outside restaurant on the back of the ship is really nice and peaceful most of the time. Overall, the cruise was incredible value and exceeded our expectaitons. The ship seemed very smooth, even when the waves got fairly big one afternoon. The ship is very new, so everything is in new condtion. We booked a balcony, but got upgraded to a mini-suite on deck 11. The room was well designed and lots of space for 2 of us. If you had small kids it would also work very well. Meals - we ate most dinners in Indigo and they were quite good (other than the steak). Our best meal was at the French restaurant Le Bistro. I had the duck which was excellent. Lunch was best from the buffet - if it is too busy take it back to your room (you can also take it to the La Cucina next door since it is not open for lunch or dinner, so acts as extra seating...most people did not know that so much quieter). as mentioned we really enjoyed sitting out on the back deck to eat lunch/breakfast. The have the ususal things like art auctions, pictures, casino, bingo etc etc that we avoided. They don't push it so easy to ignore. The pool area was well designed and works really well if you are travelling with kids. We would go on this ship again....it would work very well in the Carribean in my opinion.

This was our first cruise and we had a wonderful experience. The Norwegian Pearl is only one year old and everything looks new. Our mini-suite far exceeded our expectations. The bathroom was actually big enough for 2 people at the same time!!. The suite was very roomy, with desk, couch, comfortable bed and private deck. There was more than enough storage. We have travelled a lot but never taken a cruise before because we thought it would be too formal and too regimented. Freestyle on the Norwegian Pearl was just the opposite. We did dress up several nights for dinner, but never felt like we had to. We ate whenever we wanted to and didn't have to decide ahead of time. The food was good and there were many choices of restaurants. There were also many choices of activities and entertainment each day. The best show was Sea Legs - talented singers and dancers gave us a Broadway quality review. The Alaska itinerary was a wonderful experience, inside passage, juneau, skagway, ketchikan, and best of all Glacier Bay. The scenery was incredible and we were lucky enough to see some whales. We will cruise again with NCL.

This was our first cruise experience and we were thoroughly impressed. The ship is beautifully decorated and impecable clean. Each of the ships staff had a warm smile and greeting whenever we passed. The cabin crew were tireless in there efforts to keep up the stateroom. The food was another surprise, we expected good meals but we found the food and preparation to be excellent. Always served hot and beautifully presented. We are looking foreward to our next cruise. Well,done!!!

we had a wonderful time. simon the cruise director was great and always a laugh. The room service menu could use more varitary. I only wish the casino was opened earlier and stayed open.it seemed that it was closed everytime I went to it, that was I only thing I didn't like.I was there for fun!!!!!!

The ship was clean, cheerfull and very welcoming in appearance. Directions were well marked and easy to follow. The food was above what we had expected and the staff just were wonderful, we were with a group of seven friends and last night at home the consencus was that we would all go again. The scenery on this particular cruise was also amazing.

The Norwegian Pearl is a new ship and was very clean and bright. The main dining area (Summer Palace) is beautiful and the food is excellent. The service and friendliness is top rate as everyone tried to make one feel welcome. The individual musical performers were not top rate and did not appear to be of the quality we had experience on other cruises. The Captain was very cordial and appeared almost daily throughout the ship. We did not use the bowling alley or the casino during the cruise. The excursions offered were of a wide variety and allowed people to choose whatever might interest them. Our stateroom was alway clean and ready for us.

Beautiful new ship. Bowling alley, rock climbing wall, water slide, outdoor dining, this ship has it all!

The ship was great (new/clean - they did maintenance and cleaning of the entire ship every day, nice layout and elevators had info by them that detailed what was on each floor). GREAT fitness center. Nice selection of shopping items with reasonable prices. The cabins were nice and well planned. The window and balcony cabins that some people I met had were amazing. Easy access to information on TV (ship location, show info, time, etc.). Nice assortment of TV channels. Great food (the buffet had so many choices and EVERYTHING was good). Lots of different restaurants to choose from.

Perfect. Thought the ship, crew, interior design and food was top rate. The only draw back was due to the cooler weather which forced everyone inside at meal time, making it almost impossible to find seating in the buffet area during meal time. We solved that by going to the main dining room for the remainder of our meals. There was always seating available there.

Embarktion and disembarking was a breeze here in Seattle. 30 min on. 20min off. The ship is beautiful, the service impecable, food great. We were told by the crew that we had the best weather on this Alaskan cruise to Glacier bay of the season. We had an inside stateroom, it was cozy but plenty big for us. There are plenty public areas to watch the scenery go by. So a balcony room for us wasnt important. Depending on the weather to Alaska, it could be too cold or foggy to enjoy a balcony anyway. On our trip weather was great so I'm sure those who had balconies enjoyed them. We had a full ship but rarely felt crowded. The food in the dining rooms and at the buffet were really delicious. We traveled with my elderly mother who walks with a cane. At the buffet, there was always someone who helped her carry her food. The service was great, we felt like royality. I would highly reccommend this trip. It helped that we had fabulous weather.

This being our first cruise, we didn't quite know what to expect. The Pearl, however, lived up to it's name; it is certainly a gem. The shipboard service was phenominal, the food delightful and wonderfully varied. The miles of walking fore to aft, prevented any weight gain and allowed for that elusive excercise despite not using the ships gym. On the last day of the cuise, we finally located the bridge viewing room and wished it had been better publicized. Our only disappointment was the length of stay at the various ports of call, which in some instances was so short as to allow you only a choice of one activity while there without time to see the town. The stops in Juneau and Ketchican barely allowed enough time to take a tour and squeeze in a 1/2 hour shopping. The Skagway stop was a good length for both the excursion and to see the town/shop. The canoe rainforest excursion in Juneau was amazing, and don't worry if you've never canoed before; you don't need to know a thing (we hope Todd is your guide). The best part of this trip was, of course, the glaciers in Glacier Bay. Why would anyone go to Alaska if not to see that? Amazing.

The Ship was great, like the freestyle cruising idea but the variety has caused a mediocre food selection and taste is not comparable to previous (before freestyle) NCL cruises.

the ship was very clean, staff was friendly, however the eating areas where at times limited, having wait for a place to sit after getting your meal. It would have been nice to hear more up beat music for at least part of the cruise. the majority of the music was very easy listening, perhaps not the most recent hits. although it i did enjoy it at times, it seemed that's all they played.

Loved the freestyle of the whole ship. I didn't know when I booked the Cruise that the Pearl was only 8 months old. Everything was sparkling clean. There was so much storage space and the shower was exceptionally big. We had been to Alaska before but the best part of this trip was Glacier Bay

An excellent ship and wonderful cruise experience. Off ship trips were mediocre at best.