NCL Pearl Review W/ Photos!!! 5-Day Pacific Coastal

[flyawayca]

My husband and I (both in our early 30s) just sailed on part of the NCL Pearl repositioning cruise from LA to Vancouver. It was a 5 day cruise with a stop in San Francisco and Victoria.

 

For those who have signatures turned off this was our second NCL cruise and our 7th cruise overall (we have also sailed RCCL, Carnival, and Princess).

 

After getting off the ship in Vancouver we stayed the night there and took a 3 day Pacific Coastal from Vancouver to San Francisco on the Star Princess to get back home.

 

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask!

 

Here is a photo of the Pearl while we were in San Francisco:

[SeahawkSiren]

Beautiful photo! I'm looking forward to boarding the Pearl tomorrow in Seattle!

[flyawayca]

We live in northern California so we decided to drive to Oakland and fly from Oakland to LAX. This way our car would be in the area when we got back so we could just drive home.

 

For those of you who do this, or may want to do this. There is an awesome off-site parking location in San Leandro. They have outdoor, indoor, and valet parking available. We ended up paying only $9/day for indoor parking! It's called Expresso Parking. They will provide you with free shuttle service to the Oakland airport. It has 24 hour security as well.

 

After our flight to LAX we used Super Shuttle to get to the San Pedro cruise terminal. With all the bad reviews on Super Shuttle I was concerned but we didn't have a problem. A quick easy ride with some fellow cruisers and we were there.

 

Unfortunately, I did not have an SD card with me when we were boarding. I had to buy one in San Francisco. But I did end up getting pictures of the ship later on.

 

I love the hallway on this ship! They make the rooms look like really cute lockers.

 

 

 

The atrium. They were getting ready to do photos. I love the big screen NCL has. I know on the Epic they played football on this screen. I would only hope they do that on all of these ships :D

 

 

 

This is on every floor and will help you find where you need to be:

 

[flyawayca]

Beautiful photo! I'm looking forward to boarding the Pearl tomorrow in Seattle!

 

Enjoy your cruise! I see you have done Alaska before. It's such a beautiful itinerary! You'll have a great time on the Pearl.

[www3traveler]

I am glad you had a wonderful time. The Pearl is a great ship. Did you happen to take mote of who the Senior Bridge Officers are?

[flyawayca]

There is so much to do on cruise ships. If you don't want to just lay around and sleep and eat (but who wouldn't???) there are plenty of things to keep you occupied on the Pearl!

 

The Pearl has a rock climbing wall (if it's too windy it will be closed)

 

 

 

The Pearl has a full size basketball court (some ships only have half courts). This space is also used for volleyball and soccer. Check your daily schedule because they set up times to play games with the cruise staff here. Lots of fun to watch.

 

 

 

For those who like to gamble the casino is always busy. They even keep snacks and drinks here so you never have to leave. Haha

 

 

 

And you cannot miss the bowling alley! NCL the only cruise line with bowling at sea. It is $5 a game. But watch your schedule! One day I saw a buy one game get one free deal! This ship had 4 lanes total. They can be found in the Bliss Ultra Lounge.

 

[flyawayca]

I am glad you had a wonderful time. The Pearl is a great ship. Did you happen to take mote of who the Senior Bridge Officers are?

 

Sorry I didn't. I kept my paperwork so I'll check to see if they mentioned it anywhere. If they did I will let you know.

 

Princess gives you a list of all your ship details on the last day. Officers, distance traveled, ports, time of arrival, etc. It would be neat if all the cruise lines did that.

[flyawayca]

If you are sailing with children you should know that they will take good care of them. I have learned the kids clubs on all the cruise lines seem to be really good.

 

What stood out to me on NCL was that one day the kids give the cruise passengers a show. They prepare for the show throughout the cruise and at the end show off everything they learned. They do circus acts like juggling and the Chinese yoyo. The really little ones are tigers and they jump through a "flaming" hoop. So cute! And explains why the little ones were always roaring when I saw them randomly around the ship.

 

 

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[flyawayca]

Our first stop was in San Francisco. I work in San Francisco at least a few days a month so this port wasn't all too exciting for me. It became a joke to people who knew I was stopping here that I should go home, take a nap, then go back to the ship. Of course I wouldn't do that though.

 

My husband and I walked through Pier 39 with everyone else so I could be a very overpriced SD card. Finally I could take pictures with my camera.

 

 

Then we took a long walk to Brenda's French Soul Food. It's a restaurant I eat at regularly when in the city but my husband has never gone with me before so I decided to take him. If anyone is up for a long walk, or taking a cab or bus, it is located at 652 Polk Street.

 

Docked next to us was the Norwegian Jewel. I have since found out it docked next to us to get fixed up. That explains all the NCL people in blue coveralls!

 

 

The coolest thing about stopping in San Francisco was being able to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge while we were there. That's something I don't get to do when working.

 

 

 

 

And a picture of the ship with the Golden Gate behind it:

 

[flyawayca]

One night they had a chocolate buffet. Chocolate everywhere. I have to say I was a little disappointed. A chocolate buffet with no chocolate dipped strawberries? That's all I wanted and they didn't have any. You could chocolate dip marshmallows and melon though. But if you're a chocolate fan check it out. I would say most of it was so-so. But I did really like the chocolate they used on the apples.

 

 

 

 

[flyawayca]

The very best thing about NCL? The Second City! They are not to be missed. Hilarious sketch comedy and improv. I've never been disappointed seeing any of their shows. Make sure you take the time. Unless you have no sense of humor, then don't go. They were much better than the comedian who was hired for our cruise.

 

This is a picture of the lounge they perform in:

 

 

It's a nice and big room. Not the theater, but a good amount of room. I have been on other cruises where most people have to stand in order to watch the comedy show. Not here.

[craftygrandma]

Thanks for the beautiful pictures. We are taking my granddaughters on this ship next Sunday the 25th. It will be the first cruise for the youngest. I will show her the pictures, when we get back from her dance recital this afternoon.

[flyawayca]

Okay. My review is a little out of order. I just took the time to take the pictures off of my cellphone so I could upload them on here to show all of you.

 

Here are picture of a basic interior room on the NCL Pearl. I have to admit, out of all the interior rooms I have been in NCL seems to be the worst at designing them. I much prefer the interior rooms on Carnival. But, it wasn't bad by any means, it worked, it just isn't my preference. And what is with the teeny tiny TV? :p I did however like the shower, no curtain!

 

 

 

[Linda the Book Lover]

My husband and I (both in our early 30s) just sailed on part of the NCL Pearl repositioning cruise from LA to Vancouver. It was a 5 day cruise with a stop in San Francisco and Victoria.

 

For those who have signatures turned off this was our second NCL cruise and our 7th cruise overall (we have also sailed RCCL, Carnival, and Princess).

 

After getting off the ship in Vancouver we stayed the night there and took a 3 day Pacific Coastal from Vancouver to San Francisco on the Star Princess to get back home.

 

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask!

 

Here is a photo of the Pearl while we were in San Francisco:

What a great idea for cruising. I never thought about doing a coastal on one line staying a few days and returning on another line. You gave me something to think about. I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. We loved the Pearl.

[flyawayca]

I have to say NCL has some of the nicest employees ever. Everywhere we went they were so friendly. They always said hello and asked how we were doing. It was weird getting off of NCL then getting on Princess the next day because they were just not as friendly.

 

Happy happy washy washy smiley smiley didn't even get old :D

 

And on a different subject...

 

BBQ when we were getting ready to sail away from LA.

 

 

And views from the Freestyle Deck:

 

 

[flyawayca]

What a great idea for cruising. I never thought about doing a coastal on one line staying a few days and returning on another line. You gave me something to think about. I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. We loved the Pearl.

 

In one way it was really nice to do. The cruise home cost only $10 more than a flight. Why fly home when you can cruise home?? Plus we had a chance to sail two different ships and make it an 8 day cruise.

 

However... it was tiring. Having to pack, unpack, pack, unpack. and move around so much. We ended up not even unpacking on our Princess cruise because it was only 3 days so we just pulled what we needed from our suitcase.

 

But would I do it again? Probably the pros of it outweighed the cons.

[flyawayca]

We paid for one specialty restaurant. Lotus Garden.

 

Don't waste your money.

 

This was the most disappointing place I have eaten. It just is not worth the extra money. The quality of the food was not special and it tasted like what you would get in the buffet. Don't get me wrong. I don't mind eating in the buffet. But if I'm paying $15 extra per person for a meal I expect to get my money's worth. We did not get it here. I'm just happy I had $50 in free OBC to cover it.

 

Here are pictures:

 

 

 

[flyawayca]

Both of our ships on this B2B cruise stopped in Victoria British Columbia. Our first stop, while on NCL, we decided to just explore the city on our own.

 

This was our second time in Victoria but our first time on a decent schedule. Last time here our cruise stopped from 7pm - midnight. Not the best schedule, but it seems that's common for Alaskan cruises. This time we wanted to take advantage of being here during the day.

 

If you don't have mobility issues the walk into Victoria from the cruise ship terminal is an easy walk. They have this sign posted right off of the ship to give you an idea of where to go and how long it will take to walk.

 

 

The Waterfront Walk will take you by Fisherman's Wharf. Take the time to do a quick walk through here to take a look at the float homes.

 

 

While in Victoria we made sure to see the main attractions. The Legislative Building and The Empress Hotel.

 

 

 

Then based on all of the recommendations we ate at Red Fish Blue Fish. The fish and chips was excellent! However I did not like their coleslaw. The bad thing about that was the coleslaw was inside of the tacones so I didn't like the tuna tacone we bought.

 

The line at Red Fish Blue Fish was long, but bearable. It wasn't raining so we stuck it out. Once we had our food we were able to get a seat and the view is amazing. It was fun to watch the float planes take off.

 

 

[flyawayca]

The ship has a library and next to it a card room. I saw plenty of people taking advantage of both rooms. In the library you could borrow books to read. In the game room there were board games and cards (UNO, playing cards, dominoes, Monopoly, Clue, etc.)

 

 

Oh, and we saw plenty of dolphins jumping around near the ship while spending time in the card room :D

[auntierobin]

Your pictures are amazing! I have a quick question, on the 5 day did they have a Meet & Greet?

[flyawayca]

Here are some random pictures from around the ship:

 

The kids pool area

 

 

The gym. This is one part of it. Not pictures is the side room with the exercise bikes in it.

 

 

 

Practice your swing

 

 

 

The Bliss Ultra Lounge

[flyawayca]

Your pictures are amazing! I have a quick question, on the 5 day did they have a Meet & Greet?

 

They did have a meet and greet! But I am sad to say I missed it :o

[bachcruise]

Thanks for posting! I'm enjoying your review and pictures. I saw the Pearl at San Pedro a couple weeks ago..I'm guessing the day you boarded. She looked great.

 

 

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[flyawayca]

I have to head out to run some errands. I'll wrap this review up as soon as I can! :D