REVIEW - Norwegian Pearl Oct 31-Nov 7

[Scrappygrrl]

So we met Carlos on Deck 13 and he escorted us up to the Villa. Wow - it is really something else. We met the Captain and his wife and to pictures taken (didn't turn out well, so didn't get it). There were passed Hors d'œuvres and and Champagne, rum punch and the like. We chatted with the Hotel Director for bit,and then got to chatting with Andy the CD. We had blast and chatted like old friends! After he found out that I did improv comedy in my pre-kids life, he brought over some of the cast from Second CIty, so that was GREAT! I really enjoyed his company and he made an effort to always chat for a few minutes when we crossed paths on the ship.

 

 

Some photos:

 

We headed to the Summer Palace for dinner after this. I liked the ambiance of the Summer Palace over Indigo - just personal preference.:)

 

DH had Summer rolls, (2 big thumbs up), and the salmon (also thumbs up). I had the French onion soup and the Chicken Picatta with gnocchi - both were very good. I had the cheesecake again for dessert. DH had tiramisu - also thumbs up. Really nice meal.

 

Big night of entertainment ahead. We went to the 8:30 Rod Long show in Spinnaker, then ran down the stairs to see to Oh What Night! Really enjoyed both. The singers are so talented! Kids Crew closes at 10:30 pm (after care is extra, but reasonable at $6/hour until 1:30 am. Then I tucked the boys in because I wanted to see Dancing with pearl Stars! What a Hoot! They use the Second City cast for the judges, and then show video screen of the Losers Lounge after each person is booted off, and another Second City member "reports live" from the Losers Lounge - Really fabulous and so funny! So sorry I did not bring my camera. I have to say the audience members really got into it.

 

Tomorrow - Samana!

[mkad1109]

I have been SOOO nervous about leaving my children for the first time that I have not had the opportunity to get excited about my trip. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! Your pictures and style has me so excited that I have been able to forget my poor puppy being boarded for the first time, and my four teens being minded by my brother...

 

Can not wait for more...

[Inuvikcouple]

My husband got the smoked salmon which was a very weird dish. It was a hot cooked filet of salmon (like an entree, not thin sliced and cold, like we are used too - sort of like lox, you know?) Was not what he expected. His grouper for his entree was much better. And I adored my risotto. And I tasted my son's sliders which were very yummy too.

 

The grouper:

 

After lunch we headed to get changed and check out the pool. It was cool, but pleasant (Miami was very muggy that day):

 

 

FWIW - my DS was upset that the pool was salty. He is fine with the salty ocean but the salty pool threw him for a loop. Also, I saw plenty of kids wearing swim diapers. I personally did not bring my 2 year old because of that issue. I saw more some days than others so I am not sure if the rule was enforced sporadically or not. There is a small enclosed splash pool for toddlers back by the bar on the port side.

 

Around 2 they announced rooms were ready do we checked out our room. As I said, we were in 10584. Great location, just a few rooms down from the midship elevators. Never heard any noise. I really did not take any cabin pics, but it looks just like the picture they advertise. Upon entering the room, we noticed another surprise:

 

 

Champagne and fruit from the captain. Still pinching myself. This is the first moment we had a chance to sit and regroup a bit, and think about all this VIP stuff. I realized that it must be from the CC roll call. I had helped set things up (along with another member Miss Rabbit - hello!), but literally all I did was send 1 email to the group coordinator ask for a meet and greet. That is IT. that was my only communication with NCL. Later, when I touched base with Miss Rabbit she had gotten the VIP perks as well, so that must have been it. I was surprised and I think it was bit over the top but I am not complaining. I do, of course, realize, that NCL is sweetening the pot, and wants me to report back to CC a positive review. So I feel I needed to share this perk with you all so that you can fairly assess my review. Yes, it was the icing on the cake, for sure, but the cake was pretty darn good.

 

Next up: Sailaway!

 

I just wanted to let you know that we have been lucky enough to receive the same VIP upgrade on the Pearl a couple of years ago. Carlos was the Concierge on that sailing as well. On my last cruise I mentioned this on our thread and was chastised by some other CC members for lying. I was told in no uncertain terms that this never happens. With any luck some of the nay sayers will read your review and see that it does indeed happen and like you, we really appreciated it. So much so that in our 2 NCL cruises since we booked suites so that we could continue to receive the VIP benefits.

[Scrappygrrl]

Inuvikcouple -sorry you had to deal with that drama :( It did indeed happen, and I hesitated to mention it, but it was a fairly big part of our trip and I thought it would be in the interest of full disclosure for me to mention it. I was expecting to perhaps get some grief - this is CruiseCritic after all :D

 

 

Onto Samana -

 

The day before the captain was not 100% about tendering into Samana, but we were able to. Remember, at this point Tomas was on the other side of the island. The day started off sort of miserable and rainy.

 

We watched a storm blow in while we watched them lower the lifeboats (they use them as tenders in Samana).

 

 

We chose to do the Cayo Levantado excursion. We had a time to meet in the Stardust Theater, and after waiting approximately 15 minutes, our tour was called. We headed down to Deck 4, and disembarked onto a Speedboat catamaran thing. My husband was seated in the last row on port the side, and was blasted with water in the face the whole ride. Needless to say he was not a happy camper. It was a crazy fast and bumpy ride.

 

View of the Pearl as we sped off:

[Scrappygrrl]

It started sprinkling as we docked, but it only lasted a few minutes.

We grabbed some chairs and then explored a bit. We ended up using the restrooms and then decided to sit over on the right hand side of the beach near the sea lion encounter. My son wanted a drink in a coconut, so I bought him one from the guys who roam around showing you menus. BEWARE: they do this thing where they refuse payment from you at first, ("Enjoy - pay me later!") and then jack up the price from what was agreed on. For example, we ordered the $17 Carribean lobster. It was very good and came with rice and beans, fried plantains and salad. When we paid, they tried to say it was $27, because the rice and beans were extra. My husband threw a fit!! The menu clearly says the platter is "con arroz y frijoles y plantanos". They took the $17 :)

 

They also charge you for the chairs (on the right side, not sure if they did that everywhere). If you pass the merchants to use the bathrooms, they are quite aggressive.

 

The beach itself was nice, although the water was quite rough. Getting ripped off when you paid a nice chunk of change to go there, kind of put a damper on things, but overall we had a good time and my son thought it was paradise.

I would not do that excursion again. I would probably go to the El Valle waterfall if I went back. Folks who went to Samana proper for the waterfall hike and other excursions did say the poverty and begging were really upsetting.

 

Some pictures:

Rough surf:

Guy fishing near the rocks:

 

 

Storms threatened all around but it stayed sunny right over top of us:

[Deb0702]

Thank you for posting your review and pictures.. it could not have come at a better time for me. My family of four is cruising on the Norwegian Pearl to Alaska next summer and to be honest I've been second guessing the decision. It will be our first cruise and lately I've been feeling a little iffy about the whole idea, but your review has really perked me up. Thank you! :D

[realcindylouwho]

Do you have the dailies that you could post here? We leave in 2 weeks and would like to get a heazds up (if they don't switch things around!).

[joiedanslavie]

Well I'm really enjoying the details so far. Can't wait until you get to the ship, I hope it has a similar level of detail! Thanks for sharing with us.

 

 

Me too....keep going :-) Love it when cool-cruisers share their experiences & we get to sail along! :)

[TD & SD]

I need more...........we are sailing in December.:D

[beetle9]

i am glad:) you and rabbit got the vip treatment for stting up the group stuff and think your review is great i will try my luck later how did you finally get the pics to post.:)

[Scrappygrrl]

Thanks Tim - I finally used photobucket. It provide you with the IMG code to cut and paste.

 

To all: I am trying to get some more up today - weekends are tough with 2 small kids. Also working on getting the dailies and the Kids Crew schedule scanned. :p

[Scrappygrrl]

OK - trying to sneak in a post while the boys are playing nicely...

We got back to the ship, and rested for a bit. DS was chomping at the bit to go to the Kids Crew. We ordered him room service, and they said "45 minutes wait". My DH went out exploring and I jumped in the shower. Not 2 minutes later my DS is barging in, "Mom, someone is knocking!". I jump out of the shower, and let my son open the door while I am standing dripping behind the bathroom with it cracked a bit. I just yelled "I want to tip you but I am indisposed!" The deliverer was like "No worries!". I felt so bad. But literally the order was at the door in less than 5 minutes!! I was not prepared! My son loved the Room Service the PB&J was a triple-decker which he loved. My DH and I also got a Greek Salad to hold us over until dinner. It was very good.

Side note: the water pressure in the shower is divine!!!

 

We dropped DS off and we walked around and decided to enjoy some of the drink specials. The Star Bar was offering 2 for 1 "art cocktails and highballs" from 5:30 to 6:30.

 

The "French Kiss"

 

Then we headed to Bar CIty which was offering 2 for 1 martinis from 7 to 8!

 

Banana Banshee (soooo good!! and a lychee saketini)

 

 

We headed over to Indigo for dinner. Tonight the menus changed. THere was some brou-ha-ha on the boards here about them putting the majority of the menu on the always available side and only having 3 additional appetizers and entrees on the Daily Menu. Well they added more entrees to the Daily side, and also changed some of the always available options. I took a picture - hopefully you can make it out.

 

[Scrappygrrl]

It was lobster night. Instead of Lobster and grouper. It is now Lobster and Red Snapper. Everything was very tasty. I ordered the calamari which was a new item on the Always Available side and it was delish!! The lobster was a touch overdone but not chewy or tough. The rice and vegetables that came with it were very tasty too. I had the Bread and Butter pudding for dessert and it was not good, unfortunately. Way to egg-y and flan-like. It's OK, I was stuffed anyway :D

 

 

I was not feeling well from imbibing a bit too much :D The boat was really

rocking. But I soldiered on. Tonight's show was Sharkbait. The kids crew took the kids to the 7:30 show, and we picked up our son after to see if he needed a snack or anything.

Kids coming back from the show (click on image to play the video clip)

:

 

 

He wanted to see Sharkbait again, since he loved it so much! So we skipped the 8:30 game show "Majority Rules" to get him a snack in the garden cafe, and went to the 9:30 Sharkbait. These guys are awesome. What a must-see show. Add the crazy ship motion and wow - not sure how they do it! At 10:30 they were doing the Not-So-Newlywed show, but again, too many cocktails and we all hit the sack! Per the Daily tonight's late-night party was the toga party!

[MissRabbit]

so awesome to hear your review Scrappy! You and i had such a different schedule, participating in different activities, that it is awesome to read about the cruise from your POV.

 

Seeing the pics of Cayo Levantado, i'm glad we just went to town for a couple hours then went back to the ship. We're in the Ft. Lauderdale airport right now so I'll post my review of our B2B in a few days.

 

oh, and I agree, those 2for1 drink specials really get ya. Tried martinis for the first time a few days ago and dammit i liked them!

 

Can't wait to read more of your reviews and our other 2 ports.

[tennispretzel]

Scrappygrrl, your review is great and thanks for all the pictures. I don't have that ability so I will direct anyone who asks to see pics to YOUR review as I finish mine!

We loved Sharkbait too and I am trying to figure out how to get them to our area to the theater I volunteer at!

[e.durban]

What a great review! Just like being there, and as others have said, your son is adorable (he should do NCL commercials.) Thanks for taking the time to write and post your pics.

 

David

[debbie2000]

I'm enjoying reading your review. I will be on the November 28th sailing of the Pearl & can't wait!

[Scrappygrrl]

Wednesday - St. Thomas.

View from balcony:

Plenty of time to do 2 excursions or to ferry over to St. John. We had the St. John Champagne catamaran and snorkel scheduled to meet at 12:15. We had a leisurely breakfast at Cagney's and then walked around Havensight a bit. (in retrospect, I wish we had taxied to downtown or visited Magen's Bay or something).

We saw that we were docked behind the Celebrity Solstice and RCL Liberty of the Seas.

We headed back to the ship to tank up the 6 year old with food, and then met our group. While we were waiting for our group, we saw the captain heading off with his wife to do some shopping. We took a safari taxi-ride about 20 minutes to where the catamaran was docked.

I got nervous because the group we saw getting off the catamaran ( from the morning) were BOMBED. I know it was a champagne cruise, but it did say kids 6 and up. FYI - My son was the only one under 21.

 

Many of my pics are on the underwater camera, but I have some.

 

Sailing behind a sister catamaran:

 

More to come.

[Scrappygrrl]

The captain and crew were really nice and personable. You can have juice, water or soda on the way out (they do not serve alcohol until you are done snorkeling). We had the sails up but used the motor for the sake of maximizing our time at St. John. We went to a beautiful spot called Honeymoon Beach. Gorgeous!!!

We were there about and hour and 45 minutes total. Plenty of time for snorkeling or sunbathing on the beach. We saw alot of colorful fish and the big bonus was sea turtles!!! One surfaced only 5 feet away from us. Very cool - this place was the highlight of our trip. Note: if you are not a strong swimmer or just want to beach it, they crew will bring you to the beach and back via dinghy.

After a great time, we headed back:

 

in addition to champagne, they also had beer, rum punch, rum and cokes, etc. As much as you wanted. They also put out cheese spread and crackers, and pineapple and watermelon. Our group imbibed but no real rowdiness. I have to say, I was worried about my son, but he was a gem, and just enjoyed sailing and watching the grown-ups. Everyone was giving him hi-fives and rave reviews about his behavior.I was really happy, as anyone with a 6 year old can tell you, even the best-behaved kid can fall off the rails occasionally, but it was just fine.

 

Father-son moment:

 

We got back to the ship by 4:45 or so. Sailaway at 6 pm:

 

 

Showered and rested a bit, but tonight was SUSHI night! My DS is a big sushi fan, and tonight was the night. Note: you do not need to make reservations to sit and eat at the sushi bar.

 

More to come!

 

 

ore to come.

[tennispretzel]

Keep it coming, scrappy. Your pictures are great. Wish we had done the St. John Catamaran cruise. Your son has sophisticated tastes if he likes sushi! My little grandson is so "fries and chicken nuggets"!

[minnesotalady]

Our Hannah loves sushi also and wait to have some on our cruise. Was this a tour through the cruiselines or private. We usually do not do the cruiseline tours.

[Scrappygrrl]

Our Hannah loves sushi also and wait to have some on our cruise. Was this a tour through the cruiselines or private. We usually do not do the cruiseline tours.

 

The St. John Champagne Sail and Snorkel was an NCL-sponsored excursion.

[TD & SD]

Thanks for the review and the great pictures. Cant wait for Dec. 12th

[Scrappygrrl]

OK - so sushi night. $15 pp, half for our son. You don't need reservations to sit at the bar. If you want t sit in Lotus Gardn, you can make a reservation. If you choose to eat from the Lotus Garden Menu, you can have one order of sushi instead of an appetizer. If you want more than that, you have to pay the sushi fee as well.

We sat at the bar and had a blast! You get miso soup to start, and then you can order as much as you want. We ate A LOT :D PLus they made us an extra roll, Dragon Roll, - see pic below. We thought the quality was really, very good.

 

Menu:

 

 

Rainbow roll (I think)

 

Big mouth:

 

My son's order:

California roll, shrimp tempura roll, and two orders of ebi sashimi. He also ate tekka maki off my plate, and some of teh dragon roll!

 

 

Dragon Roll!

[Travel1989]

Great review. I would love a copy of the kids club to pass to a friend who is sailing in a few weeks. Thanks,

triplesevensontario@yahoo.ca