Pantherfan!

Cruisegus, thanks for the info on the hotel.  Our family is booked on Liberty of the seas in July leaving from Galveston.

Cruisegus, I see from the address you used in your "report back" that you may have stayed at the Springhill Suites on JFK BLvd?  If so what was your experience with this hotel?

Glad you all made it onboard ok.  Any recommendations on the food at Chops?

Our family will be cruising on a July sailing of Liberty of Seas out of Galveston.  Have a great cruise!

When my family went this past July, we took the Nugget Falls trail which is a gravel trail to the base of Nugget Falls and fairly close to the glacier.

We were ok with just wearing tennis/running shoes. I think there may be only one trail that they consider challenging but we did not have the time for that.

Great review. So detailed that I felt like I was on the ship with you guys. lol

It is interesting to hear other's opinions about a cruise you were on. We never really encountered a long wait in the MDR. It may have been because we tend to eat very early.

Hearing about your Train/Dogsled excursion I wish we had booked that instead of the Train roundtrip. The train ride was amazing but since it is an out and back instead of a loop you don't really get to see much more on the return trip.

As you know we also did the Whale watch in Juneau, but it sounds like the one in Victoria was better. We chose to walk around the city which if I had do again I would have at least done a horse drawn carriage ride next time.

Again great review and nice hearing from you. Tell your DH my family says hello.

My family was on the Pearl last week and used the shoe organizer on bathroom door of our Family balcony room.

Also I recommend taking magnets for hanging important papers like the Dailies, port information and excursion tickets.

The walls are metallic and it made room on the small tables for other things like electronics, camera and Binoculars.

They even had shuffleboard tournaments scheduled during our cruise 7/3-7/10

Not sure if this helps but, I do recall on the monitor displays showed it to be a CAVS system.

Like I said not sure if that helps.

Great review. Very detailed.

My family will be on the Pearl July 3rd.

Four of us in a Family Balcony room. These rooms have a Pullman bed along with a single sofa bed. It will be tight but we have cruised before and know how to make it work.

Thank you for posting. We will cruising Alaska on the Pearl at the end of July. From reading the Dailies, I had a few questions:

 

I see "adult soccer" listed a few times. What about teen soccer? I have two (age 12 and 15) serious soccer players who would love the expeirence of playing soccer on a ship!

 

Documentaries: how are they? Since there is on naturalist on board (which I am quite bummed about--this is one thing Princess has over Norwegian), I am hoping to augment the educational piece of my trip thorugh the documentaries. Hope they are good--and not crowded/hard to get in to see.

 

Open court time: can tweens/teens play pick up games of BB or soccer then?

 

Running track--I guess this isn't a "Dailies" question per se: My older son needs to log 400 miles (?!) for Cross Country this summer. He plans on running on the track. He is a fast runner. I am hoping the running track is for real running and not just for walkers/slow joggers (like me).

 

Spinnaker Lounge--Is it quiet during the day (for someone like my dad who doesn't love a lot of noise but would enjoy sitting and watching beautiful views)?

 

TIA!

Concerning the running track on the Pearl. I have done a little research since my son trains for his college XC team and we will be sailing early July on the Pearl.

Although I will tell you I have never sailed on the Pearl before but from what I have seen from photos or from others, the "jogging" track on the pearl is 5 1/2 laps per mile, it is extremely narrow and since it is on an upper deck can be very wet. As one poster put it, it is un-practical for serious runners.

But there is an alternative, the best thing for him would be the treadmills in the fitness center. I know for serious runners this can become very boring for him but it will be the safer option. Have him get a decent pair of running earphones so he can at least watch the TV's or music while running.

I will say that not all ships have this issue. We were on the RCL Allure and the track was under cover went the whole length of the ship and was wide enough with had hardly any dangerous blind spots. Good Luck!

Thanks for the Dailies.

My kids will enjoy picking out things they are interested in. We are leaving on July 3rd. Getting close.

Thank you!

My family will be sailing on July 3rd. Looking forward to your posting!

Pro tip from a friend in Seattle: If you're in the mood for a swanky dinner, make reservations at the restaurant in the Space Needle. The menu prices look pretty steep, but when you factor in the free ticket to the Observation Deck (which is normally $22/adult,) it looks a whole lot more reasonable for a fun evening out. Call well in advance, though, they book up fast.

Thanks for the tip.

Wow that is one expensive elevator ride! Will have to factor that in to where we have dinner.

Thanks!

Thanks Boo and TRIVIMP for your follow up reviews.

I will pass on your suggestions to the rest of my group. We are only one month away.

Did you have any time to tour Seattle? We are going to have a half a day there to sightsee. Probably will hit the Market and Space Needle.

boolinla;

Nice review. I will be on the Pearl with my family on the July 3rd Alaskan 7-day.

We are also planning on just doing complimentary dining also. That has worked well enough for us on other cruises. Can you please tell me what in the MDR you particularly enjoyed, appetizer, main, dessert? I have heard from other reviewers that desserts were not a strong suite for NCL with the exception of the chocolate lava cake.

Did you enjoy any of the other entertainers, singers comedians?

What excursions did you do? We are doing the Medenhall and Whale watch, Skagway Railroad trip and Lumberjack show.

Oh, we will have 4 people in the smaller family balcony room. Ouch!

Also, if you happened to have kept any dailies I would really like to see them posted.

Thanks again for your review.

Thank you all for responding to my question. That was what I was thinking but wanted to be sure.

Those of you that got vouchers, did you get them prior to boarding or once on the ship?

Sounds like I should book on board as soon as possible to get the place and time I want.

Thanks again!

When I booked my cruise on the Allure the TA was giving two complimentary dinners to a specialty restaurant.

Should I be able to make reservations in advance?

The TA said I will have to do this once onboard, but was curious if others had the same comp and was able to book in advance.

Thanks!