Wonderful cruise aboard the Pearl!

We are just back from the 9/16/2018 sailing to Alaska aboard the Pearl. This was our fifth NCL cruise and just about everything exceeded our expectations. We were treated SO wonderfully and with such friendliness by all crew members we interacted with. The only disappointment was how very bad the food was at La Cucina. And the weather was literally perfect, sunny the entire trip!

 

I booked our next cruise while aboard, we are heading to Australia and NZ on the Jewel in January 2020!

So happy to read that you had such a wonderful experience. I'll be skipping the Specialty options so no risk of La Cucina not measuring up for me. My cruise will be during Christmas, anything you can share that was special for you about the ship? Also was this still an Alaska cruise or different itinerary?

Edited September 25, 2018 by Nola26

So happy to read that you had such a wonderful experience. I'll be skipping the Specialty options oso no risk of La Cucina not measuring up for me. My cruise will be during Christmas, anything you can share that was special for you about the ship? Also was this still an Alaska cruise or different itinerary?

Yes, our cruise was the Alaskan itinerary and we had incredibly beautiful weather!

If you're not in a Cruise Critic roll call for your sailing, join it and go to the roll call meet up aboard. The ship executives, especially Hotel Director, Cary Turecamo, are serious about CC feedback as well as tremendously welcoming. If there isn't a meet up planned, try to get one organized!

If you drink, pick a bar and get to know the bartender and servers, they will remember you and try to make your experience the best. Same for dining, we ate mostly in Cagney’s the food was fabulous and the service 5-star.

In every case, passengers who treated the crew as "people" and behaved warmly to them got it back a thousand-fold no matter where you encountered them.

Glad you enjoyed the Pearl!

I am sailing on the Christmas cruise too. Were Cagney's and La Cucina the only specialty restaurants that you tried there? This would be my second time on the Pearl but I did not try the specialty restaurants there.

I am sailing on the Christmas cruise too. Were Cagney's and La Cucina the only specialty restaurants that you tried there? This would be my second time on the Pearl but I did not try the specialty restaurants there.

This trip we tried Cagney’s (5 times! We had 7 nights specialty and the food is excellent IMHO), Moderno (1 time is enough for the meat insanity!) and La Cucina (unmentionable).

We've done Teppanyaki on the Pearl in the past, food is very good but the space is quite noisy, which takes away from the enjoyment and the Le Bistro menu just doesn't appeal that much to us.

The MDR menus looked good, we cruised through the Garden Cafe a few lunchtimes and didn't find it appealing, but the Great Outdoors had some good choices the one time we went. I don't know if the menu theme changes day, but it was German food that day, all good, including a whole roast suckling pig.

We are just back from the 9/16/2018 sailing to Alaska aboard the Pearl. This was our fifth NCL cruise and just about everything exceeded our expectations. We were treated SO wonderfully and with such friendliness by all crew members we interacted with. The only disappointment was how very bad the food was at La Cucina. And the weather was literally perfect, sunny the entire trip!

 

we were on the Pearl last year for the Panama Canal. It was one of favorite cruises

We also love the Pearl! Thanks for posting!

As for La Cucina, I have found it hit or miss, on some ships it was great and others, pretty sad. With that said, I only visit specailty restaurants when they are a part of a perk.

We also love the Pearl! Thanks for posting!

As for La Cucina, I have found it hit or miss, on some ships it was great and others, pretty sad. With that said, I only visit specailty restaurants when they are a part of a perk.

I hate dissing it so bad, but compared to all the other specialties, La Cucina is a step down. The Maitre d' at Cagney’s sent the Executive Chef to our table after we mentioned being disappointed at La Cucina, he said he agreed it needed improving.

It's pretty bad when you make a selection from the menu that seems safe and the waiter says "I suggest you order something else." As we left after the meal, the bussing station was piled with dishes with food that looked untouched.

I know it's corporate, not the ship that sets the menu and recipes. They need to do a makeover badly and either settle for serving Olive Garden generic American Italian or go upscale to fresh pasta and authentic dishes. Currently, Olive Garden would be better than the Pearl's lasagne or spaghetti.

We are just back from the 9/16/2018 sailing to Alaska aboard the Pearl. This was our fifth NCL cruise and just about everything exceeded our expectations. We were treated SO wonderfully and with such friendliness by all crew members we interacted with. The only disappointment was how very bad the food was at La Cucina. And the weather was literally perfect, sunny the entire trip! I booked our next cruise while aboard, we are heading to Australia and NZ on the Jewel in January 2020!

We're glad you had a good cruise! We certainly agree that the friendliness of the NCL crews far exceed those we have experienced on RCCL lately.

We're glad you had a good cruise! We certainly agree that the friendliness of the NCL crews far exceed those we have experienced on RCCL lately.

Thank you. We had a Cruise Critic recap meeting the second to last day and at the end the HD said "The crew talent show is starting now, I really encourage you to attend, they work really hard on it." So we went, and it was so sweet. All these young, mostly behind the scenes crew, singing and dancing. It honestly choked me up. And I think that the HD asking people to go and speaking about how hard they work for the show says a LOT about the relationships aboard and the interest in passenger experience.

We are just back from the 9/16/2018 sailing to Alaska aboard the Pearl. This was our fifth NCL cruise and just about everything exceeded our expectations. We were treated SO wonderfully and with such friendliness by all crew members we interacted with. The only disappointment was how very bad the food was at La Cucina. And the weather was literally perfect, sunny the entire trip!

 

I booked our next cruise while aboard, we are heading to Australia and NZ on the Jewel in January 2020!

 

So glad to hear it! We love NCL and will be on Epic early in the new year. We love the Jewel, small and cozy (sailed to Alaska on it in June - FYI, The La Cucina there was our favorite restaurant, so clearly all are not equal; we actually found Chops to be MEH). I would love to see NZ, my handsome husband has some Maori DNA. If they would just pull it a little closer than 1/2 way around the globe!:rolleyes:

 

Lynn

So glad to hear it! We love NCL and will be on Epic early in the new year. We love the Jewel, small and cozy (sailed to Alaska on it in June - FYI, The La Cucina there was our favorite restaurant, so clearly all are not equal; we actually found Chops to be MEH). I would love to see NZ, my handsome husband has some Maori DNA. If they would just pull it a little closer than 1/2 way around the globe!:rolleyes:

 

Lynn

LOL. I hope to finagle some corporate visits to my employer's north and south island offices for private excursions and a post cruise stay.