Just returned from the 5/23 Pearl Sailing - Review

[SeattleSarah]

We’ve just returned from our very first cruise which was on the NCL Pearl to Alaska. A little about us, DH and I are both 34, he’s not into social things or night life, I’m a fan of meeting new people and can enjoy myself in crowds. We selected a balcony cabin knowing that my DH would not enjoy viewing the sights when having to fight for space on a railing or being surrounded by large groups of people. This proved to be the best decision of the trip since we spent hours every day in our room enjoying the passing scenery (more on that later). We are a well traveled couple who normally do our best to take the road less traveled (which is why we have avoided cruises before now).

Embarkation Day – In reading reviews from this forum I knew the buffet would be a mad house on this day so we avoided the restaurants on board like the plague. We started off the day with a fantastic breakfast at Lola in downtown Seattle and headed down to the ship at 11. We were dropped off and onto the ship in less than 30 minutes…it was a breeze. Once on board we headed straight to Spinnaker Lounge and had our pick of lounging bed. We parked ourselves there with reading material and ipods until about 1:45. We thought we’d get a jump on the rush to rooms but found the hall ways to be roped off. Instead of waiting we decided to take a tour of the spa. We were sold on the week long pass ($99 per person) once we laid down on the hot stone lounges. They sell 120 week long passes per sailing to avoid overcrowding. We ended up using the spa everyday of the trip. This would be especially key if you didn’t have a balcony room since the spa is directly over the bridge, the view is incredible. They have lounges to hang out on and enjoy the view (both in the co-ed area and on the M/F sides). We would get back onto the ship early on port days and then watch the ship pull out as we lounged in the spa…heaven!

Shows and Goings On – We attended the preview show on the first night to get a taste of what would be interesting to attend through the week. They had small performances from everyone except Shark Bait (who hadn’t boarded yet). We left the show and my DH said “at least we won’t waste time going to a show this week” he didn’t enjoy any of it. He couldn’t handle the cheese factor from Andy the cruise director so he didn’t want to attend a single event after the preview. I did drag him back for Shark Bait and we both enjoyed that show. We also attended part of Garden of the Geisha show and left early because it was just ok (in comparison to Cirque De Soleil we’ve seen in the past). We both had a great time the nights we went to see the band play in the Bliss Lounge, that was more fun to us than sitting in the Theatre. I was interested in playing bingo but learned they asked you to buy a package to all games…I held out until they offered a “free” card with their pull tab packs they sell at the start of every show. If you don’t want to buy several days worth of bingo just hold out, as with most things we found the deal to get sweeter as the week went on.

[SeattleSarah]

Room – We were in room 9138 on the Starboard side with a balcony. The room was small as expected but storage spaces was ample (and we packed A LOT of crap). We had a small couch to sit on and two chairs on the balcony. I thought it was a little weird to have the hair dryer in the room and not the bathroom but THANK GOD they did this. It’s at a little vanity where I could comfortably sit and do my hair while catching the view in the mirror. It had a light and a single plug I could use for my curling iron. Getting ready in the cramped bathroom would not have been fun.

The bed was a king size with no noticeable lump or gap from where they had pushed the beds together. The sheets were high thread count and the bed was comfy. I was really surprised we never heard noise from any adjoining room or the hallway. They must have miracle insulation! The only noise we heard was when on the balcony. The attendant will bring fresh ice every time your room is made up. It was a little annoying there wasn’t an ice station on our floor but lucky for us we were very near the buffet so it was a quick trip to refill up there. They supply shampoo, hand soap, body wash, and lotion. We brought our own of each and preferred to use ours.

Food – I have to start by saying my DH and I are admittedly Foodies but not snobs. Overall we were not pleased with the food. It was ok and I have to be careful not to mix the frustrations of getting said food into the opinion of its taste. I’ll start by saying the worst in everyone can be seen when going to the buffet. The poorly designed layout made for elbowing and blocking of food when it didn’t need to happen. Almost every time we ate there it was a mad house, a fight to get your food and then the quest to find a seat which was very hard indoors. There was a big selection but after about day 3 you notice it’s the same food with a few new items in the rotation each day. The best bets for us were an omelet at breakfast, and roasted chicken, curry, and salad fixings for lunch and dinner. The only thing with real chocolate flavor for desserts was their brownies (which were excellent!) and the chocolate crossants. They did a nice job with presentation of the desserts. It was some form of “mouse” on a thin layer of sponge cake with a chocolate piece and drizzle of fruit sauce every day. The flavors just rotated, but it was a light dessert if you needed something sweet.

We finally learned to eat at The Great Outdoors for lunch and dinner when not dining at Indigo. The food selection is the same as the buffet but usually much fresher and WAY less pandemonium.

We ate at Indigo for dinner and enjoyed being seated and brought food. They would make adjustments to the meal as requested and the food was overall a good rating. We enjoyed sharing a table and meeting new people when eating here.

The Java Cafe also had really good late night snacks, the chicken wings were really tasty!

[SeattleSarah]

Scenery – The scenery was breathtaking! I felt guilty if I wasn’t looking out the window because it was all just stunning. We saw whales several times each day starting on Monday. Glacier Bay did not disappoint, the beauty was almost more than I could take. The ship sailed past everything on the port side first and then rotated to give those on the starboard side a shot. It was not announced they would do this so we ran to see the first glacier up on the deck for fear of missing it. We relaxed and returned to our balcony once we found out they would turn the ship for each of them. This was good since up on deck it was the same story as the buffet with people pushing, shouting, and general rudeness. The beauty of the glaciers screamed for silence and reverence to us and we were able to take it in together on our balcony.

Cost of Things – 6 beers in a helmet will run you $30 with a $5 deposit for the container. This is a good deal since a single beer will cost you $6.95. Most cocktails run you $8.95 but the last two days there were some drinks offered at $4.95 which by that time seemed like a steal. At the beginning of the week they will sell 5 strips of 5 pull tabs for $20 (saying they are normally $25) by the end of the cruise they will sell them 6 for $20 with bingo cards and drawing tickets for a free cruise. They have daily specials at the Duty Free that are usually really good deals (2 bottles of Absolute for $24 and accessories for $10 each) we checked these out each day. The daily spa specials get better as the week goes on as well. We opted for 5 steps to bliss which was 75 minutes of treatments for only $99 on Friday. The treatments were wonderful for both DH and I. The portrait style photos taken of you will go for $19.99 each or buy 4 and get the 5th free. The smaller photos taken in restaurants and getting off the ship will be $12.99.

Overall we had a fantastic trip and decided we would cruise again although we’re not in a hurry to book it. I’d be happy to answer any questions…I’m off to do laundry and wait for the room to feel like it’s stopped moving!

[themaxydog]

Thanks for all the information we are thinking of Alaska on Pearl in 2012.

 

You did state that the ship turned around and both sides got a good view, do you think there was any benefit at all to being on the port or the starboard side at any time?

 

As far as shore excursions go did other passengers and/or yourself have an opinion on which one was the "must do" excursion?

 

many thanks.

John

[SeattleSarah]

Thanks for all the information we are thinking of Alaska on Pearl in 2012.

 

You did state that the ship turned around and both sides got a good view, do you think there was any benefit at all to being on the port or the starboard side at any time?

 

As far as shore excursions go did other passengers and/or yourself have an opinion on which one was the "must do" excursion?

 

many thanks.

John

 

Thanks for reminding me about excursions! We did Mendenhal Galcier and Salmon Bake in Juneau. The trip also included a trip to a salmon hatchery which no one on the bus knew was included. I think really it was just a stop to help stager the visitors at the glacier. The Glacier was amazing and my DH still says he enjoyed this more than Glacier Bay (I don't agree). Being able to walk fairly close to the glacier is pretty dang cool...I'd say this is a must for nature lovers. I booked this with the Salmon Bake because it was the only way I could ensure my DH would get Wild Alaskan Salmon on the trip and it turn out to be true as the salmon on NCL is farmed (confirmed by our servers). The Salmon bake is a little hokey and for those that actually love salmon they mask the taste by drenching each piece in a brown sugar, butter, & lemon sauce that does taste good but over powers the flavor of the fish. Everyone around us loved it and remarked on how they didn't think they even liked salmon much until they tried this. Just try to catch them before pouring the sauce on if you want to enjoy the flavor of the fish.

 

In Skagway we opted for the noon train to White Pass. This worked out perfect since we could get off the ship at our leasure and walk town before the train ride. The Ride is stunning and I would also say this is a must. The view is on the left side of the train going up and it doesn't matter if you don't get a seat on that side because they make everyone swap sides once you reach the top. One thing we learned was to sit in the middle cars! It was a really warm day so the doors were open on each end of the train (windows can't be opened) to create a breeze. This was really nice on the way up but then the engine was moved to our end of the train for the ride back down. We were in the 3rd car from the end of the train when we boarded. The entire way back down the smoke poured into the car stinging everyone's eyes and making people cover their faces with their shirts. We finally shut the door to make it a little better but you could still smell deisel through the whole car. Sitting in the middle of the train avoids the whole problem :)

 

About which side to chose for your room, it's hard to say. I've talked to people that said they toured Glacier Bay on the Starboard side so who knows. I just wanted to share that either way don't freak out, know the captian will turn the ship so everyone can view the sites from each side. It was popular to order room service for breakfast that day so you could just hang out in your room. We entered the park by 7AM.