Kdiamond55

Does anyone know what the * means next to the MegaRockStar level suites? Is it unlimited everywhere including the room or just the “first round on Richard”?

Does anyone know if they’ll just take your clothes and steam them? I’m gonna have a lot of wrinkly dresses in my suitcase after 2 days of traveling/hotel stay before boarding.

5 hours ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

Does that make us bad people? 

Oh lawd I sure hope not! Lol. I’ll never understand these ridiculous comments “Glad we’re not drinkers”. Like what is your point?

2 hours ago, smplybcause said:

 

From all I've read it's available on board only. 

Thanks for the info! 🍾

I’d bathe in Verve Cliquot if I could, so I’d love to upgrade to it for my upcoming Bliss cruise this Sunday but I don’t see it offered online at this point. Maybe when I get onboard. I already have the UBP.

Interesting thanks! Glad I asked 😁

Or if I leave my teenagers in their mini suite and just my husband and I try to move to the OS which would be fine, however I’m not listed on the reservation (we have one adult and one teenager listed on each cabin) so would I be blackballed from entering the Haven lol. 

Does anyone know if you have 2 cabins (there are 2 adults 2 teenagers) and are upgrading to an owners suite which has room for all 4 of us, how does that work since we don’t know when and if we get the upgrade? I did get an offer to upgrade for both cabins. I obviously know the upgrade would be per person but I’m just wondering how it works going from 2 cabins to 1...

thanks

My two theories:

 

Sinister Theory

Some evil genius in their IT department got baked one night watching "Office Space" and coded something into the system to add these extra charges in a pseudo random manner and funnel the funds to their Swiss account. He is currently sitting next to Milton on a beach, both sipping Mai Tais.

 

Innocent Theory

With the mini bars being emptied, their IT department was supposed to code:

If Room Steward records bottled water consumed

Charge

Else

No Charge

End If

 

But instead he coded or was given a spec that said to code:

If Room Steward records bottled water not consumed

No Charge

Else

Charge

End If

And no one told the room stewards they have to specifically list the water as still there and officially report it as still there.

I love the Office Space theory. I'm rolling with it.

But in all seriousness, I bet it is more of a mistake by the overworked stewards than an evil conspiracy to extract more money from unsuspecting consumers. I always order a case of waters to the room, but I've definitely utilized those extras in the past - I'd bet if they stopped putting them in there everyone would complain about that.

Checking...

Also be careful because I did this for my son because he goes through so many shorts and tshirts and they didn't return the laundry until Friday, so he didn't have enough clothes from Tuesday to Friday. It really only makes sense if you want to go home with clean clothes, not be able to rewear them.

Looks like an amazing trip and I'm definitely considering Star class for a cruise down the road - I didn't know much about it before but now I've heard enough! Sounds amazing.

Like you said, people should just mind their own business!! The rudeness of people still shocks me. And what does that gain them exactly?

Thanks for your report and pics. Fireball in the room? Yes, please!!!

I love that place. I know people drink wine, so I can't figure out why nobody is ever in there, but I don't mind, its a good place to go before dinner that I know won't have a hundred kids crawling around. (I have kids, but I send them away from the bars LOL)

Checking

Juneau was the coldest port for sure.

I wore long leggings, a long sleeved tee, a hoodie, and a puffy vest over that. Then socks and sneakers and I brought gloves, I only wore them when up on deck. I wasn't overly cold but definitely wear layers, you can always take off and store on the boat.

Did you walk around at Mendenhall Glacier if so were your feet dry or did you wear boots?

We wore sneakers for everything and had no problems. Of course we didn't have rain. We did walk in down by the waterfall.

UGH - sorry my title should say 8-7!!!

Hello all, I thought I'd post a review on our experience on the Pearl last week.

Overall it was was an amazing trip. It was me (39), hubby (42), our daughter (15), our son (13), and my MIL.

Pre-trip: we took Alaska Air straight through to Seattle from Ft. Lauderdale, good flight, like the airline, first time on them. Stayed at Seattle Marriott Waterfront, very nice, it is literally right across the street. The valet guys will take your luggage over for you. We spent a little time in the morning checking out Pike's Place, that was fun.

Embarkation: kinda disorganized, but if you're a Latitudes member (we were gold now platinum) they basically move you to the front of the line.

Ship & Cabins: the ship is old and showing its age, BUT it is still very clean and maintained. They definitely need to upgrade those small TV's, lol. We had 2 balconies next to each other (10160 & 10162) and an inside for the kids across the hall 10161. I have 2 small complaints about the cabin my husband and I were in which was 10162. It butts up to a suite and maybe some kind of engine room so the balcony is odd, like sort of enclosed, and it gets noisy in the early am. Not sure if that's because the buffet is only 2 floors up, or because of the (engine?) room next to it, but I wouldn't book those aft cabins again. We usually stay mid ship but weren't able to get 3 cabins next to each other this time. Beds are super comfortable as usual, we all commented on how well we slept.

Staff: all very friendly, after 15 cruises with NCL I think some of the best staff we've ever had. Our room steward Danelo was awesome, did a good job. The staff at the coffee bar were great, always remembered my order and made excellent lattes with designs in them. Eddie Spaghetti the assistant cruise director was excellent as was Evan who is another staffer. Bingo was fun because of his jokes!

Food: we had the specialty package and ate at 5 specialties (the 4 main ones and the sushi place). All were excellent, but Le Bistro stuck out as the best. The sushi was really good too. We did not eat at any main dining rooms, ate at O'Sheehans a few times which was fine. We ended up eating off the ship at a couple of the ports too. Side note: Skagway Brewing Company had great food and beer!

Ports:

Juneau - did the Mendenhall Glacier and Evening Whale Watch. Great excursion. We saw at least 6-8 whales (among other sea life), they played and one even breached. The staff is great and so is the food, it's a big spread.

Skagway - did the White Pass train we all loved it. Then we dropped the kids and MIL off and went around town, it's a tiny town but really cute. Nice people!

Ketchikan - cute town, did our shopping here, walked around and did our own tour, saw Creek Street and ate crab.

Victoria - we were originally going to skip this excursion but since MIL is so obsessed with flowers we did the Buchart Gardens with the tour of Victoria. Very interesting and what a neat town. Our tour guide talked our ears off but it was interesting. And yes, the gardens are beautiful.

Shows & entertainment: we didn't see any shows so I can't report on that. We played trivia a lot, that was fun. Bingo was great. Bowling in Bliss was fun. We were always way too tired to stay out past 11 due to everything we did at the ports so I can't comment on nightlife.

Casino: played once in there, didn't win anything on the slots or blackjack, but wasn't planning on it LOL. We did win one of the bingo games with the kids and they thought that was great!

We had fantastic weather, no rain in Juneau which they say is rare, sunny skies in Glacier Bay (which was amazing!!!) and although it was a little cooler than we thought (maybe we're just babies from Florida) it wasn't uncomfortably cold. However at night we would not go outside, too windy and cold. The day coming back (Saturday) the weather was terrible but it cleared up when we got to Victoria. We saw pretty much every animal you aim to see except for any bears. I'd definitely bring more cold weather attire than warm weather! I wore my hoodie everywhere, along with my sneakers and leggings. Only time I wasn't in athletic wear was when I dressed up for dinners. Would have brought another hoodie and more long sleeved tees.

I'm glad we did it and we think MIL and the kids really enjoyed the scenery but we probably wouldn't do it again (maybe when we're retired who knows). Kind of a checkmark on the bucket list!

I think that's all but if anyone has any questions I'll be happy to answer.

Thank you for your review.

My husband and I are in our 30's/40's but we will have our kids (teenagers) with us. We are expecting the nightlife will be lame, just because of the nature of the cruise and where it sails to. We are definitely going for the ports.

How do you sign up for the shows? Haven't been on the Pearl for a very long time and I'm used to the technology on the new ships for booking. Did they have the app on this ship?

We decided to surprise the kids with a cruise one year. We packed all of their things in the back where they couldn't see them and told them we were taking them to lunch near the beach. They were 8 and 10. As we drove into the port area (Fr. Lauderdale, which is manned by Port Authority guards), my son gets all frantic and says "Are you sending me to military school"? Hahahahahaha

If you go on the website that shows the ship's positions (I googled NCL docking schedule Alaska 2016) it shows where every ship is right now, its pretty cool. For example I saw the NCL Pearl is in Ketchikan and it does not look like it is docked, kinda off to the side of the port and not in one of the dock slips. At least that is what the picture shows.

Some things that have me concerned about the Getaway and/or NCL in general: small balconies, non-connectable balconies, crowded ships (especially the pool deck), cigarette smoke billowing (if you believe some posters) from the casino, smaller cabins, more children onboard, and no bottled water included in the drink package.

 

However, I am looking forward to the following: more entertainment options, less formal attire, a more lively ship late at night, and a plethora of dining options as opposed to staying in one MDR.

You didn't mention your ages? It doesn't matter because they really cater to all ages. January will not be crowded with kids at all. We have never had an issue opening balconies between our cabins (use a little screwdriver or the tip of some scissors), you can buy a bottled water package to be sent to your room (you're spending a good amount of money on a cruise, what's $25 extra dollars?), we are in the casino every night and are never bothered by smoking (we are nonsmokers).

You will find good entertainment that appeals to all ages and a TON of dining options which are all very good! There is a lot of nightlife, we had a few 3am nights and others were still going! Love the Getaway!

I think there are a lot of negative nellies on here that like to complain about this and that, but I have been on 14 NCL cruises now and we have always had fun! It's what you make of it!

There were so many teenagers on the early July cruise on the Pearl.

 

I hardly ever saw my DS13 and DD17 when we were not in port , they both made a large group of friends, enjoyed Dino the Entourage counselor and a lot of the the activities there, b.=ut we also gave them sign in and out privileges.

So they spent a lot of time in Spinnaker hanging out and the card room playing games.

That's great! Yes, we gave them sign in/sign out on our last cruise and it worked out just fine. So great when they get to this age and have freedom!

We sailed the Pearl on June 19th. Noticed a decent amount of teens. Our son is 15. He did go to the teen club a couple of times and said there were about 30 there for movie night.

 

T

Thanks! That's good news.

Thank you for the info and wow I'm actually surprised there were that many in his age group. My kids are afraid there won't be any kids their age, but they are 13 and 15 now so in the teen club.

Can you report on how many teenagers you noticed on your sailing?

I could be wrong but when I was researching our cruise earlier this year for end of July the Jewel was a good amount less and my agent told me that was because the Pearl was the ship that did the inside passage whereas the Jewel did not. That could have been the time of year as another poster indicated. I'd probably call NCL and speak to an agent.