NCL STAR VS NCL PEARL

[aceparty]

Hello we have the Star booked for Nov. 2019. However I will be running in the Berlin marathon in Germany in sept and thinking about doing NCL pearl 2 days after the marathon . so I was wondering which ship is better. the int is very close to each other (I will add below) we are already doing 2 weeks on the Escape in Jan. so time off of work for my girlfriend will be tight.

 

We have the Star booked:

 

12-Day Italy & Greek Isles from venice

Nov. 10th to 22th

CRUISE PORTS Embark Venice (Italy); Kotor (Montenegro); Dubrovnik (Croatia); Corfu (Greece); Santorini (Greece); Athens (Piraeus) (Greece); Mykonos (Greece); Naples (Italy); Rome (Civitavecchia) (Italy); Florence/Pisa (Livorno) (Italy); Provence (Marseille) (France); Disembark Barcelona (Spain)

 

We are looking at the Pearl instead

13-Day Greek Isles & Italy from Rome (Civitavecchia)

 

Oct 1st to 14th

CRUISE PORTS Embark Rome (Civitavecchia) (Italy); Kotor (Montenegro); Dubrovnik (Croatia); Corfu (Greece); Santorini (Greece); Athens (Piraeus) (Greece); Mykonos (Greece); Taormina (Sicily) (Italy); Naples (Italy); Florence/Pisa (Livorno) (Italy); Monte Carlo (Monaco); Disembark Rome (Civitavecchia) (Italy)

 

A lot of the same ports. The cost is almost the same. The perks are very close. It will be our 27th cruise, but our first Europe cruise. never been on the STAR or PEARL.

All input would be good. Probably will stick with the Star unless there is more positives with the Pearl.

 

 

 

[Son of a son of a ...]

I have been on both ships.  Both are decent.  I would pick the early October cruise as opposed to the mid-November based on weather considerations.  Additionally, Rome is a city that needs more than one day to explore.  

[herdingdogmom]

We have been on the Star 4 times and the Pearl twice.  We prefer the Pearl with the outdoor aft buffet area and forward deck 13 lounge.  I would hate to miss Venice and Barcelona, but I'd choose the Pearl over the Star unless you are in one of the deck 12 suites on the Star.

Edited December 1, 2018 by herdingdogmom

[casofilia]

We have not been on the Pearl but have been on the Jewel and the Star and love them both.  However I would probably go for the earlier cruise with time in Rome before or/and after.

[aceparty]

We are also looking at a 7night out of Rome wed to wed on the Epic. So we would arrive in Berlin, Germany on a Fri play tourist on Sat run marathon Sun then fly to Rome Tuesday and get on the Epic Wed. for 7 night get off on wed and fly home on Sat.

 

Would have to cancel the Star in Nov. because girlfriend could not get off of work, unless she took two weeks off unpaid.

 

Is Nov ok Temp. for a cruise?

[TrumpyNor]

11 minutes ago, aceparty said:

Is Nov ok Temp. for a cruise?

 

It depends on what you consider as OK... In November it will peobably NOT be temperatures for sun bathing during any of the suggested cruises, not even during the day - and the evenings might be chilly. Also some rain to be expected, unfortunately. The tourist seasons around the  Mediterranen are usually not after October, because of the weather.... Here is a link to a webpage that describes the weather in Mediterranen countries/cities in detail - if you "click" on the specific cities or countries, you can find pretty much everything you need (min., max., average): 

https://www.weather2travel.com/november/mediterranean/

All information provided there is however in the "metric system", so you would have to use an online "converter" to convert from metric to US measurements. Hope this helps in making your decision. 

[aceparty]

6 minutes ago, TrumpyNor said:

 

It depends on what you consider as OK... In November it will peobably NOT be temperatures for sun bathing during any of the suggested cruises, not even during the day - and the evenings might be chilly. Also some rain to be expected, unfortunately. The tourist seasons around the  Mediterranen are usually not after October, because of the weather.... Here is a link to a webpage that describes the weather in Mediterranen countries/cities in detail - if you "click" on the specific cities or countries, you can find pretty much everything you need (min., max., average): 

https://www.weather2travel.com/november/mediterranean/

All information provided there is however in the "metric system", so you would have to use an online "converter" to convert from metric to US measurements. Hope this helps in making your decision. 

We have been to the Caribbean so many times some of the islands we would stay poolside and never get off the ship. However never been to any where in Europe so we will be doing a lot of site seeing. As long as its not really cold we will be fine even if a light jacket is needed.

[maja651]

We’ve been on both ships. We much prefer the Pearl because of the location of the Spinnaker lounge  being forward with all of the windows.  That is, unless you’re booking the Garden Villa.  Then, the Star wins hands down because the GV is so much nicer on the Star.

[wimsikl]

I assume you have no small children? The Pearl had its waterslides removed as it is used for corporate cruises and the deck space was needed. This turned out to be a big deal for my family so we have to avoid the Pearl.

[Heartfelttraveler]

On 11/30/2018 at 9:27 PM, herdingdogmom said:

We have been on the Star 4 times and the Pearl twice.  We prefer the Pearl with the outdoor aft buffet area and forward deck 13 lounge.  I would hate to miss Venice and Barcelona, but I'd choose the Pearl over the Star unless you are in one of the deck 12 suites on the Star.

Why deck 12 suites?  We are booked in deck 10 Owner’s w/2 balconies.  Is this a not as good choice?

[4774Papa]

The Star is OK, except its design is one of my least favorite.  It has no aft sunset bar just outside the buffet, since the spa and fitness center are there.   Also, there are few places on the ship to see out to the ocean, like on the Dawn.

Haven't been on the Pearl.

Pearl goes to Rome, which is one of my favorite cities.

[herdingdogmom]

1 hour ago, Heartfelttraveler said:

Why deck 12 suites?  We are booked in deck 10 Owner’s w/2 balconies.  Is this a not as good choice?

No, I'm sure the Owner's Suite on deck 10 will be lovely.  We've only been in the suites on 12 with all the windows where the forward lounge used to be.

 

Also, in the latest refresh, an aft bar area with a couple of hot tubs was added on the Star.

[Linda the Book Lover]

We have sailed on both and felt both are great smaller NCL ships. I personally prefer the spa on the Pearl. Yet, the aft corner suite on the Star is our personal favorite. I think either ship will be a perfect sail. Dates and itinerary are the most important choice between the two ships.

 

[mugtech]

To me October weather and extra time in Rome wins this choice.  Our favorite European city is Barcelona, but 11/22 is a little late in the year.

[old nutter]

21 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

The Star is OK, except its design is one of my least favorite.  It has no aft sunset bar just outside the buffet, since the spa and fitness center are there.   Also, there are few places on the ship to see out to the ocean, like on the Dawn.

Haven't been on the Pearl.

Pearl goes to Rome, which is one of my favorite cities.

I don't understand the ocean view comment. Both Star and Pearl have full wrap-round promenade decks with excellent views around the stern as well as lots of places higher up the ship where you can sea the ocean.

 

The weather issue is largely irrelevant because it can be so variable depending on the jet stream variations. We went on the Star in late September and had cold weather throughout the whole cruise and a Medicane (Mediterranean hurricane) as well around the southern end of the Adriatic.  We were on Jade last year on the same week and more or less same itinerary and it was perfect very warm weather.

 

Rome airport is pretty good but there is that long trip to Civitavecchia port to consider to and from the ship.  Venice airport is a complete zoo but the port run is short and that sailout along the Giudecca Canal past St Marks Square is a top bucket list experience. If you have never done that sailout you have yet to experience the best sailout anywhere on the globe.

Edited December 3, 2018 by old nutter

[4774Papa]

3 hours ago, old nutter said:

I don't understand the ocean view comment. Both Star and Pearl have full wrap-round promenade decks with excellent views around the stern as well as lots of places higher up the ship where you can sea the ocean.

 

The weather issue is largely irrelevant because it can be so variable depending on the jet stream variations. We went on the Star in late September and had cold weather throughout the whole cruise and a Medicane (Mediterranean hurricane) as well around the southern end of the Adriatic.  We were on Jade last year on the same week and more or less same itinerary and it was perfect very warm weather.

 

Rome airport is pretty good but there is that long trip to Civitavecchia port to consider to and from the ship.  Venice airport is a complete zoo but the port run is short and that sailout along the Giudecca Canal past St Marks Square is a top bucket list experience. If you have never done that sailout you have yet to experience the best sailout anywhere on the globe.

Perhaps your definition of a FULL wrap-around promenade deck is different from mine.  The aft portion of the ship is blocked at the level of the buffet at deck 12.   The Fitness Center dominates.  Also, the fore part of the ship at deck 12 were there were once a lounge with a scenic view was modified years ago to add suites.  Going to Deck 5 there is a deck where you can walk outside, below the lifeboats for some part of the ship, but much of the fore part of the ship is blocked by a steel hull.

You can walk around the deck above the pool, but it is not the entire ship, it is an abbreviated portion.

 

Compared to ships like the Gem and Jade, the Star has a far less desirable design.

Still, we have done two cruises on the Star, which we enjoyed and the price was great.  I just wish that NCL would stop chopping off the aft (including the sunset bar) and filling up the lounge at the fore part of the ship with suites, reducing our ability to enjoy the ocean.

[old nutter]

Now I am really confused.  The wrap-round outside Promenade deck is Deck 7 on both the Star and the Pearl/Jade Jewel and whilst I agree that the front is enclosed by those big front steel plates (as it is on the Jewel Class ships), the rest of that deck has rails to the ocean that go right round (on Star past where that silly woman jumped off near the stern in the summer).  I spent the best part of an hour on that Deck 7 aft area as we went round to and to an from Kotor in the summer and the views were fantastic. There are now even a few tables and chairs on that deck outside the new "5 O'Clock Somewhere Bar on Star.  On the Star, Deck 13 also has a lot of ocean views as long as you count looking through the running track glass enclosure.  We didn't go on the Star, before the big refit but I do agree that the loss of the Spinnaker in exchange for a few suites looked definitely a backward step for the rest of us.    The Jewel ships have the running track on Deck 13 but not enclosed by those glass windows and we were very glad to see that the Spinnaker survived the last big update on the Jade.

 

The Star now has the new Spice H2O at the stern on Deck 12 with views to the ocean, although the best views are from the two elevated hot tubs whereas the Jewel ships have that super outside "Great Outdoors" area round the stern.

 

I can't remember what the Getaway looked like when we went on her, but I have to say that we really missed the views outside on the Epic.  Apart from the Posh and the fore sundecks and the few open areas on Decks 15 and 16 and 7 it always seems so enclosed, especially when you are inside that big area with the entertainments, food and casino.