Scubadoc

We just returned from a wonderful cruise in Europe on the Norwegian pearl. We have been pretty loyal to Princess in recent years and our next cruise in February is on the crown from Sydney to New Zealand. we will be in D737 the aft suite. 

How would you compare the suite experience on Princess to other lines like Norwegian? We thought the food on Norwegian was terrible but the Butler experience was astonishing! We were on a suite on Princess a few years ago and I don’t remember the Butler taking care of everything in that way. He brought us anything we needed almost immediately, escorted us off the ship for every excursion, and just pretty much spoiled us. We know we will have a great experience in February but wondering if it can possibly compare to the treatment we got on the Norwegian suite? 

Just returned from a 10 day cruise on the pearl out of Trieste. We had a few days before hand in Positano and a few in Venice, which was wonderful.

We stayed in an aft penthouse suite with large balcony 10664. Overall, this was the best suite experience of our six suites we have stayed in on three different cruise lines.

Our Butler was simply amazing. He never intruded, but we never had to wait more than five seconds to get a question answered, a problem solved, a reservation made or anything else needed. We have, in the past rarely even seen our butlers!

And being escorted off the ship for all excursions was an incredible bonus. 
 

The room was really good but not great. The bathroom is too small for a suite at this price level. And there should be a full-size sofa. Princess does a much better with their aft suites as far as size and layout. But the balcony was still large enough for two lounge chairs, which is important to us. When we first arrived, the chairs were the cheap plastic variety and we were not happy. They replaced them with really amazing padded chairs and we spent a lot of time there on our trip.

 Every day our Butler brought us snacks, M&Ms, nuts, pictures of water, ice, and pretty much anything else we wanted. 
 

We had some tough weather a few days, but we managed around it, and the ports were simply amazing. The views going in and out the fjord of Kotor is not to be missed.

The spa in the thermal suite was our favorite of any ship we have ever been on. The view out the front of the thermal suite made it hard for us to want to even sit by the crowded pool. And that thalassotherapy therapy pool was amazing. The massages were wonderful, and the people in the spa were the sweetest people we met on the ship.  

We loved the layout of the ship, the wonderful promenade to walk around on deck seven, the great outdoors was such a quiet, beautiful place to eat lunch. The special breakfasts and lunches for the suites in Moderno were just fantastic.

We love karaoke, and they have it for about four hours every single night! They have a karaoke superstar contest, which I was fortunate enough to participate in and tie for first place! So wonderful to meet so many people who just love music and love to sing.

we found the customer service really great. Never waited long to get any small problem solved.

 Here were a few problems with the ship. 

We were actually shocked at how bad the food was in the main dining room. We are not picky eaters and this was literally the first time we did not enjoy the food at all. I think it was just objectively bad and I would be surprised if anyone thought it was great.

I thought the buffet was actually much better. And I will say that any soup on the ship was gourmet quality!

We ate at four specialty restaurants and they were somewhat better. We liked La Cucina Best and ate there twice. We liked Moderno as well, but I liked it better than my wife. The salad bar is amazing and some of the meats were really good and others were a little dry. We thought Cagney was OK. The kind of steak we might get at a lower level steakhouse at home. Le Bistro was just bad. 
 

Better experiences were had at O’Sheehan’s where we ate twice. Really good burgers and fish sandwiches and pretty much everything was tasty.

What was truly good is the room service pizza. Order the supreme with extra cheese and you won’t be unhappy.  
 

We thought the central atrium was pretty ordinary and missed some of the grand experiences. We have had on other ships like the Piazza on Princess. 
 

Also, the entertainment felt seriously bad compared to other cruise lines like Royal Caribbean or princess. Most of the entertainment seem to surround ways to get people to spend more money. 
 

We have never had a perfect cruise, and so the problems did not seriously harm our experience. The itinerary was amazing, and so much about the ship and the crew was so good. 
 

We definitely would recommend the ship and this itinerary. It would be a tough decision to choose in the future between princess, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean. There are pluses and minuses for us on all three and if Norwegian would just improve the food it would rise to the top for us, Happy cruising! 

Thanx!

We board the Pearl this Friday. We are coming from a few days in Venice and would love to walk around Trieste. Can you board and then get back off without going through the whole process again?  
 

Or can we check our luggage and walk around before we actually board? 

First time in a suite on Norwegian. On Pearl next week. Is the concierge located in a specific place where u can go find him/her?  Or do u call?  Same question with the butler

We are trying to tell a transportation company where to meet us in Mykonos. Is it the Mykonos port or the old port? We’re on the pearl and will be in Mykonos September 13.

We sail on the pearl September 6. So excited! What entertainment is on the pearl these days? Shows? Magicians? Anything unique?

We sail on the pearl September 6. So excited! What entertainment is on the pearl these days? Shows? Magicians? Anything unique?

Oops on Tinder!  😂

On the Norwegian website for my cruise only Santorini says that they will definitely “anchor at sea.” 
 

Dubrovnik, Kotor and Mykonos say they could do either docking at port or at sea.

For those who have taken this cruise recently, is it just chance or does the ship normally dock or tender at those three ports?

So excited to be on the pearl September 6! A couple of questions.
 

Can someone tell me which of these ports we will have to use a Tinder? We’ve not done very much of that and I really like just walking off the ship. But we are in a suite and I understand that’s easier?

Ports are Rijeka, Koper, Dubrovnik, Kotor, corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, and Zadar

Also, I’m not sure I understand exactly how Norwegian Main dining rooms work? There’s no reservations and we just show up at either one of the dining rooms we want whenever we want? We will definitely want a table for two. Is that hard to come by and do we usually have to wait? Thanks!

We love the spa when we cruise and will be on the Pearl for 10 days in September. I was just looking at a video tour of the spa and I saw some thing that looked like a Vichy shower. It looked like a table where you lie down and they lower a shower over you. we’ve done this before and it was pretty fabulous. Does anyone know if that’s what it is or is it something else? And it lookedlike there was a massage table right beside it It. 
 

And just in general, what has been your experience recently with the spa on the pearl?

Stealthdog and peachypoo - what do you like best about the pearl. Why do you rank it first? We travel on the pearl in September and have not been on Norwegian and 10 years.  

I feel like I unleashed the beast with this post 😂 but I am enjoying it. I love hearing everyone’s different opinions. Isn’t it amazing that we get to do this thing called cruising with all of these options. Very grateful and can’t wait.  

Thanks everyone! Great advice! After hearing from everyone, I think we’re only going to do Cagneys once and do Moderno and Teppanyaki if I can get it.  

Teppanyaki sounds good to me. My only concern sounds bad. 😳 We are not social people on a cruise. I lead a nonprofit and we are constantly around groups of people. On a cruise ship we stay to ourselves. Does it feel like a group dinner you enjoy it just as a couple?

So we have four specialty restaurants to reserve on our September cruise on the Pearl. We love and will probably do it twice. We have also reserved Le Bistro. The menu looks good to us. What should we do for our final choice? We are not fans of Asian food so that’s out.  

Oh, that’s some helpful inside information! Thanks so much. Keep it coming everyone.

So we have not been on Norwegian in about 10 years. But we are regular cruisers. We found an itinerary that we loved for this September on the Pearl from Trieste for 10 days. Very excited. We are in an Aft Penthouse suite. But we feel a little like rookies on Norwegian. So some questions:

— what are can’t miss experiences on the Pearl? Entertainment or favorite restaurant or unique place to hang out?

— I read there is a crêpe bar somewhere. Where is that and when is it open? Is it every day? Do they serve savory and sweet crêpes? Sure do love crêpes

— we love the spa and the thermal suite and we have already booked the thermal suite. On the Pearl, is it a place to consider getting a lounge chair and just reading a while? If I understand it right, there is an ocean view with shade?

— where else on the ship would you go to sit with a view and shade?

Anyone else sailing Sep 6?

Now  that would be fun if they did it with a live band. Anybody see that on Pearl?

Love karaoke. Lately we’ve been on Princess. So much fun with voice of the ocean on Princess. Don’t want to brag, but I’m a two-time winner.  😂 

We will be on the Pearl in September. We haven’t been on Norwegian at all in about 10 years. How is karaoke now? Is it different from ship to ship? On the pearl do they have the old worn out books or the new system where you can find almost anything? Is not much fun to do karaoke with you and your wife. Although I’m always always glad to sing her a love song. ❤️🔥🕺

I don’t think this cruise goes to Athens does it? Isn’t it Trieste to Trieste? We are on the September 6 sailing

Very helpful. Thank you so much. We have decided to go with the Ford facing balcony. The owner suite is $11,000 more and that’s just not something we want to do. So we booked 9002.

We are trying to convince ourselves to splurge on the owner suite but what is frustrating to us is that a balcony where we can stretch out on the lounge chair it’s pretty much a requirement for us on a cruise. We love privacy and spend a lot of time on our balcony. It looks to me like the options For balcony deep enough to fit two lounge chairs are the owner suite, forward facing suite, and aft suite with large balcony. We would take an aft suite with large balcony in a second. We’re in one of those September on the Norwegian Pearl. But it looks like all those are sold out  on the Dawn. If I’m wrong and there’s another category of cabin that has a deep balcony, please someone let me know!

We are looking at a pretty incredible itinerary on the Dawn in 2026. A 16 day cruise with Maldives and Seychelles. Truly a trip of a lifetime. But we always try for an aft suite with a large balcony. Those suites are already taken even this far in advance! But the forward facing suites are available. I love the large balcony, but I’m concerned about wind and I’m not sure these balconies are actually over the water. I can’t find any pictures or videos online. Has anyone stayed in one of these? Anyone have pix? Would you recommend these rooms? Also on the deck plans it looks like the size of the balconies is larger on deck nine but the rooms are smaller? Is that true? The other deck available is 10.