My NCL Pearl Alaska Lengthy Trip Review!

[Basketweaverz]

If everyone liked the same thing, it would be a boring old world!! The White Pass/Yukon train and then bus tour is our favorite tour ever. From near the top of the Chilkoot Pass, you can still see the trail that the gold rush miners used. We are from near Seattle and go cruising to Alaska every two or three years and always take that tour. We follow the Iditarod race and love seeing the racing huskies and petting the puppies. Friends moved down from Alaska and brought a team with them. One of the most exciting things I have ever done in my life is stand on the sled runners when the team is first let loose to run. No control whatsoever and the snow is flying past!!! Those dogs are such athletes!

 

If you want to see what Alaska looks like away from the tourist ports, take this tour.

[West Coast Gal]

My thanks also for the review. I will be a first time cruiser on the Jewel to Alaska next May (we had originally been booked for September but circumstances encouraged us to push this back) and have little idea what to expect to reviews like yours really help. .

SSIMS20 - Dress warm - May around this neck of the woods can be quite chilly

KATIE88f - Thank you so much we are on the Pearl in Dec, 1st timer on NCL - appreciate you taking the time to do this review

[duhgbert]

Thanks alos for the great review. I heard there was "a" beer pub crawl, but I like to hear there are multiple beer, wine, and martini tastings/events.

 

One question from throughout your review...where/what is "bar city"?

 

I've looked throught the deck plans and see some bars across the higher entertainment decks, but wonder what your reference is specifically referring to.

 

It sounds like y'all like the adult beverages like we do...what specific bars & lounges did you find the best for the martinis and beer selections?

 

-Duhg

[triptolemus]

 

One question from throughout your review...where/what is "bar city"?

 

I've looked throught the deck plans and see some bars across the higher entertainment decks, but wonder what your reference is specifically referring to.

 

-Duhg

 

Venturing a guess I'd say the OP is likely referring to deck 7 mid where Fyzz, Sake, Java, etc are located.

[tenpintap]

We just got off the Jewel this past week. We had an "enclosed balcony" and didn't know what to expect. Someone posted pictures of and 'enclosed balcony" for us to review. Check the boards from a week or two ago and you will find the pictures. Hope this helps. The Pearl and Jewel are sister ships.

[STEVENJAN]

Our final day on the cruise was a mostly at sea day until we got to Victoria at 6pm. This was my last day at the spa and honestly, its what I miss most about my vacation!! I spent as much time as I could here since it was our last day. For lunch they were doing a german beer fest on the outside deck at garden café. I decided to brave the buffet for my love of german food. It was a beautiful day, a bit of overcast, but mostly sunny. We sat on the outside deck and saw more whales! The German food was good they had pig, red cabbage, sausage, pretzels, potato salad, schnitzel, and strudel. All of which I thought were pretty delicious. They had a special on beer that day as well, by 2 get one free and another special with jagger…I forget the details. We stuffed our faces and then headed yet another martini tasting!! I was excited they were having a 4th one since I really enjoyed the one the day before. Sophia was again the host and this one was mostly premium martinis with lots of ingredients. From what I remember we had a green tea, lychee, peach, banana, and melon one that day. Again they were all great. At the end she gave each couple a free martini and I got the espresso martini, I wish I would have known how great it was at the beginning of the week, it would have been my martini of choice for sure!

Once at Victoria we decided to get a cab to gastro pub called spinnaker. We just wanted a relaxing evening. It was pretty good; they have a nice beer selection. I will honestly say I was shocked with Victoria. I did not expect it to be that beautiful, it was breathtaking. It was so clean and we had the best weather. I wouldn’t mind returning here and exploring the city a little more. That night we enjoyed our last night on the ship by having some drinks and listening to music. We also of course had to pack!

We decided to walk off the ship on our own and with our own luggage. I had booked a 12 pm flight on delta. Two weeks before our trip I got an email saying the flight had been changed to 11:45AM. Ill admit I was a bit nervous, and even considered changing it. Especially after reading about some of the horrible lines in Seattle. I was thinking we would prolly be cutting this flight a little close but was keeping my fingers crossed. At 7:20 the cruise director said anyone with their own luggage could now leave. We were off the ship and in a cab by 7:35. Got to seattle…not a single line. We were at our gate by 8:30. I was so glad I had decided not to switch our flight. I understand every Sunday is different. However; if you carry your own luggage off and attempt to be on the firsts in line and get a cab you should have no problem beating the majority of the crowd that Sunday!

Overall thoughts:

-I loved this cruise, it was probably one of my favorite itineraries I’ve been on. It allowed for site seeing, but also there was time to relax.

-Overall the crew was friendly…there were of course exceptions to this one being the aft balcony attendant, and several of the bartenders. But that’s life.

-Most of my complaints about this cruise are around other people…not NCL, and that’s one thing I can’t fix- I cant quite afford to rent a whole cruise ship out for myself!

-Avoid the buffet if possible, there are plenty of other free options that are better and a ton less crowded!!

- Out of my 9 cruises this has to be the only one that I am wanting to do again!

Let me know if you have any questions, and have a great time on your upcoming trip!

 

It gave us a good sense of the ship and I am glad that we are traveling when school is in session. I am sure that we couldn't cope. I like kids, but 1 at a time.

[Silent Penguin]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. It was very helpful. We are still in the planning stages of an Alaskan cruise. It probably won't be on the Pearl, though. For the most part, I think it's a beautiful ship, and I was very satisfied with our balcony room, but I can't stand the buffet, and I didn't think the main dining room or the Bistro was anything to write home about.

[jdvmd]

Great review!