Just back from Pearl 1/2/10 sailing

[CarlaMasterson]

We just got off the Pearl as well. We were not offered any champagne and did not see anyone else with champagne. We were wondering if the ship was full, because it just didn't seem crowded. The most crowds we saw were the at sea days when the pool area was packed. This was our first time on NCL, after 3 Carnival cruises and we have decided NCL is the line for us.

 

Really, I have cruised Carnival as well and am concerned that I won't like NCL as well as Carnival. I am pretty sure I will not be happy with the room as it is an inside guarantee with me, my husband and 2 daughters. The inside room on Carnival had lots of room for the 4 of us.

 

Did you sail with kids? If so did they enjoy the kid/teen programs?

[Sailawaytoday]

We did this excursion in Samana over New Years and it was great. One hour boat not-so-fast "speedboat" ride to some small bird-infested islands, then to the mangroves. About a one hour guided kayak tour in 2-person kayaks, thru beautiful and lush channels, then a one-hour guided exploration thru a large multi-room cave. The group was split in half, with about 20 people per group. Complimentary soft drinks both ways, with rum available on the way back. The guides were Samana native. Very personable, and knowlegable about the local history. It was about 5 hours away from the ship, and a great day. The options in Samana are few, but we feel we lucked out on this one.

 

Our family is going on the Pearl at the end of March. I looked through the excursions list and none jumped out at me as a must do. Do you recommend any musts? My husband and I have cruised once before on the Carnival Legend and did an excursion at every port. However, we are fine with staying on the ship this time around. Thoughts?

[pintessential]

Hey Luv,

 

Thanks for all your helpful answers. I'm sailing on the Pearl this Saturday and I was wondering if they offered the "Your Ticket To Dine" program on your sailing. Someone else posted on CC that they did not offer it on your sailing so I wanted confirmation. Also, can you remember if they offered 2-for-1 at Cagneys or any other specialty restaurants on your voyage? Thanks!

[bammers]

Did you happen to go on the one that went to Samana, DR?

[luvdznee]

Hey Luv,

 

Thanks for all your helpful answers. I'm sailing on the Pearl this Saturday and I was wondering if they offered the "Your Ticket To Dine" program on your sailing. Someone else posted on CC that they did not offer it on your sailing so I wanted confirmation. Also, can you remember if they offered 2-for-1 at Cagneys or any other specialty restaurants on your voyage? Thanks!

 

Yes, they did offer the Your Ticket to Dine program on our sailing. Our butler informed us about the program as soon as we boarded. However, unfortunately, I did not see any 2 for 1 offers for any of the specialty restaurants. And I checked the dailies everyday for these offers. But not one. Sorry.

[downsized]

a few more pics...

 

Thank you for the post.

 

We were once graced with an upsell to the OS, and loved it so much that we've never gone back to anything else!

I must admit though, we've never even gone to the courtyard...don't know why...other than maybe we considered it more for the GV suites.

 

We will most certainly find the time to make our way up there on this trip, however.

 

Tell me, were the three bottles of liquor still an OS perk?

We've heard conflicting stories on that lately.

[luvdznee]

Thank you for the post.

 

We were once graced with an upsell to the OS, and loved it so much that we've never gone back to anything else!

I must admit though, we've never even gone to the courtyard...don't know why...other than maybe we considered it more for the GV suites.

 

We will most certainly find the time to make our way up there on this trip, however.

 

Tell me, were the three bottles of liquor still an OS perk?

We've heard conflicting stories on that lately.

 

 

Hi...Yes, the three bottles of liquor are definitely still a perk in the Owners Suites. The very first day our butler gave us a list to choose the three bottles. The following morning they were in our cabin. We chose a vodka, rum and wine and actually brought the rum and wine back home unopened.

[downsized]

Hi...Yes, the three bottles of liquor are definitely still a perk in the Owners Suites. The very first day our butler gave us a list to choose the three bottles. The following morning they were in our cabin. We chose a vodka, rum and wine and actually brought the rum and wine back home unopened.

 

Oddly, we too often bring back unopened bottles, but it has always been "one of the perks", and we have heard so many horror stories lately, about "cutbacks".

 

Once again, I want to thank you for posting about the villa area.

I don't know why we never got around to at least visiting it.

 

We typically eat breakfast and lunch at Cagney's and then have dinner either in our suite, or pay the premium to eat at Cagney's.

 

We save and scrimp all year for our vacations, so we thoroughly enjoy the "perks".

[shines4]

wow that is weird you were offered the ticket to dine. I asked for it by name and was told twice they were not offering it on this sailing. I was asked where i had heard about it. She was nice enough and seemed to know what she was doing. I tried to purchase it the first day on the cruise. Oh well i would have purchased it for all 6 of us but had a great time anyway.

[luvdznee]

wow that is weird you were offered the ticket to dine. I asked for it by name and was told twice they were not offering it on this sailing. I was asked where i had heard about it. She was nice enough and seemed to know what she was doing. I tried to purchase it the first day on the cruise. Oh well i would have purchased it for all 6 of us but had a great time anyway.

 

 

That is weird. We were told about it right away. Funny thing is we ended up not buying it because all the booklets had Cagneys as an option and we are not huge fans of Cagneys for dinner. However, we love Teppanyaki which is not offered in the ticket to dine, so we passed.

[RNPJN]

We purchased the 4 restaurants ticket to dine (for our group of 7) before the cruise. On the ship, one of the officers told us it was so popular, they "sold out" because it would overwhelm the restaurants. & said it was being discontinued on the Pearl for now & they would be testing it on the other ships. Not sure that's true because everyone is saying the program is going fleet-wide. I think its a great idea so hopefully it'll continue. & we saved a good bit of $ (we also made our reservations as soon as we got on the ship - didn't want to wait for the concierge because we knew exactly what we wanted & didn't want to chance not getting that)

[luvdznee]

We purchased the 4 restaurants ticket to dine (for our group of 7) before the cruise. On the ship, one of the officers told us it was so popular, they "sold out" because it would overwhelm the restaurants. & said it was being discontinued on the Pearl for now & they would be testing it on the other ships. Not sure that's true because everyone is saying the program is going fleet-wide. I think its a great idea so hopefully it'll continue. & we saved a good bit of $ (we also made our reservations as soon as we got on the ship - didn't want to wait for the concierge because we knew exactly what we wanted & didn't want to chance not getting that)

 

 

I guess maybe that explains why some people were told the tickets were not available - they sold out. Though, we ate at several specialty restaurants and frankly they didn't seem very full at all. Le Bistro and Mambo's especially were on the empty side.

[george2000]

Could the ticket to dine have only been offered to the suite passengers? We checked on the very first day as soon as we boarded around 1:00 and were told they were not offering it anymore.

[Smallmarinerstale]

Hi Random:

Yes I feel you are right about vacations going well or not well being how one would make them. Yes I did contact them about the lifejackets violation many times. I am not concerned about drowning for I already had twice before I learned to swim. Obviosly I was dealt with because I am still here to write this. I just didn't want them to get nabbed on any violations. There are pop inspections through the Mexican and South American lanes. They mainly are after drugs. But since they take the time they do like going after any vioaltions as well. There were three of us all adults in a Cabin suitable for 3 Adults. It was a balcony suite as we always go balcony. The ship was not in good condition. The captain was definitely not in touch with the crew and passengers on that cruise. It was from the Panama dissaster that happened before. Port authorities refused to allow them in something went on there. Then the guests refused to disembark once in port. Our cabin was vandalized by the guests before. That is not the fault of the crew I realize. But that makes it look bad for us as the next occupants to the cabin. A bartender can be fined and sometimes loose their liquor license for such violations. They need to be more careful...no blame on them from me. Yes we did enjoy their shows and their musicians especially the Harmonic Trio (I think they were Korean or Japanese). But what a range they had of voices. Out of all of the crew members and onboard employees-no I didn't talk to 3 or 4 or 6. I talked to all of them I came into contact with. All the photographers, Bob Trunnell (you may remember him from the dissappearing tacos InTaco Bell adds) anyway magician. I talked to Chief Officer "Deep" Willy D'Souza which is very fortunate to be on the Epic coming April. One of the nurses I talked to as well. All of the concierges and cafe workers including the chefs. The 6 you want to throw at me wanted off the ship. I think perhaps the chemistry of workers is more of the problem there. The ship needs repair. I hope they get her in dry dock after her use as the Olympic Hotel is finished.

 

SMT.

[garycarla]

What was that last post all about?

 

..

Yes I did contact them about the lifejackets violation many times.

 

I am not concerned about drowning for I already had twice before I learned to swim. ..

 

... I just didn't want them to get nabbed on any violations. T..

 

... The captain was definitely not in touch with the crew and passengers on that cruise....

... It was from the Panama dissaster that happened before.

... Port authorities refused to allow them in something went on there.

...Then the guests refused to disembark once in port. Our cabin was vandalized by the guests before. T

 

...A bartender can be fined and sometimes loose their liquor license for such violations.

.... The 6 you want to throw at me wanted off the ship.

 

SMT.

 

 

Huh?

[scchasgal]

Hi Random:

Yes I feel you are right about vacations going well or not well being how one would make them. Yes I did contact them about the lifejackets violation many times. I am not concerned about drowning for I already had twice before I learned to swim. Obviosly I was dealt with because I am still here to write this. I just didn't want them to get nabbed on any violations. There are pop inspections through the Mexican and South American lanes. They mainly are after drugs. But since they take the time they do like going after any vioaltions as well. There were three of us all adults in a Cabin suitable for 3 Adults. It was a balcony suite as we always go balcony. The ship was not in good condition. The captain was definitely not in touch with the crew and passengers on that cruise. It was from the Panama dissaster that happened before. Port authorities refused to allow them in something went on there. Then the guests refused to disembark once in port. Our cabin was vandalized by the guests before. That is not the fault of the crew I realize. But that makes it look bad for us as the next occupants to the cabin. A bartender can be fined and sometimes loose their liquor license for such violations. They need to be more careful...no blame on them from me. Yes we did enjoy their shows and their musicians especially the Harmonic Trio (I think they were Korean or Japanese). But what a range they had of voices. Out of all of the crew members and onboard employees-no I didn't talk to 3 or 4 or 6. I talked to all of them I came into contact with. All the photographers, Bob Trunnell (you may remember him from the dissappearing tacos InTaco Bell adds) anyway magician. I talked to Chief Officer "Deep" Willy D'Souza which is very fortunate to be on the Epic coming April. One of the nurses I talked to as well. All of the concierges and cafe workers including the chefs. The 6 you want to throw at me wanted off the ship. I think perhaps the chemistry of workers is more of the problem there. The ship needs repair. I hope they get her in dry dock after her use as the Olympic Hotel is finished.

 

SMT.

 

Huh can't make head nor tail of this one. Have no clue what they are rambling about. I read their other posts thinking they were having a bad day but they are all confusing like this one.

[Smallmarinerstale]

Garycarla:

You need to go back to the beginning and read my original post then read random's response.

 

SMT