Pearl Paradise and Problems

[Scubadoc]

Just returned from a 10 day cruise on the pearl out of Trieste. We had a few days before hand in Positano and a few in Venice, which was wonderful.

 

We stayed in an aft penthouse suite with large balcony 10664. Overall, this was the best suite experience of our six suites we have stayed in on three different cruise lines.

 

Our Butler was simply amazing. He never intruded, but we never had to wait more than five seconds to get a question answered, a problem solved, a reservation made or anything else needed. We have, in the past rarely even seen our butlers!

 

And being escorted off the ship for all excursions was an incredible bonus. 
 

The room was really good but not great. The bathroom is too small for a suite at this price level. And there should be a full-size sofa. Princess does a much better with their aft suites as far as size and layout. But the balcony was still large enough for two lounge chairs, which is important to us. When we first arrived, the chairs were the cheap plastic variety and we were not happy. They replaced them with really amazing padded chairs and we spent a lot of time there on our trip.

 

 Every day our Butler brought us snacks, M&Ms, nuts, pictures of water, ice, and pretty much anything else we wanted. 
 

We had some tough weather a few days, but we managed around it, and the ports were simply amazing. The views going in and out the fjord of Kotor is not to be missed.

 

The spa in the thermal suite was our favorite of any ship we have ever been on. The view out the front of the thermal suite made it hard for us to want to even sit by the crowded pool. And that thalassotherapy therapy pool was amazing. The massages were wonderful, and the people in the spa were the sweetest people we met on the ship.  

 

We loved the layout of the ship, the wonderful promenade to walk around on deck seven, the great outdoors was such a quiet, beautiful place to eat lunch. The special breakfasts and lunches for the suites in Moderno were just fantastic.

 

We love karaoke, and they have it for about four hours every single night! They have a karaoke superstar contest, which I was fortunate enough to participate in and tie for first place! So wonderful to meet so many people who just love music and love to sing.

 

we found the customer service really great. Never waited long to get any small problem solved.

 

 Here were a few problems with the ship. 

We were actually shocked at how bad the food was in the main dining room. We are not picky eaters and this was literally the first time we did not enjoy the food at all. I think it was just objectively bad and I would be surprised if anyone thought it was great.

 

I thought the buffet was actually much better. And I will say that any soup on the ship was gourmet quality!

 

We ate at four specialty restaurants and they were somewhat better. We liked La Cucina Best and ate there twice. We liked Moderno as well, but I liked it better than my wife. The salad bar is amazing and some of the meats were really good and others were a little dry. We thought Cagney was OK. The kind of steak we might get at a lower level steakhouse at home. Le Bistro was just bad. 
 

Better experiences were had at O’Sheehan’s where we ate twice. Really good burgers and fish sandwiches and pretty much everything was tasty.

 

What was truly good is the room service pizza. Order the supreme with extra cheese and you won’t be unhappy.  
 

We thought the central atrium was pretty ordinary and missed some of the grand experiences. We have had on other ships like the Piazza on Princess. 
 

Also, the entertainment felt seriously bad compared to other cruise lines like Royal Caribbean or princess. Most of the entertainment seem to surround ways to get people to spend more money. 
 

We have never had a perfect cruise, and so the problems did not seriously harm our experience. The itinerary was amazing, and so much about the ship and the crew was so good. 
 

We definitely would recommend the ship and this itinerary. It would be a tough decision to choose in the future between princess, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean. There are pluses and minuses for us on all three and if Norwegian would just improve the food it would rise to the top for us, Happy cruising! 

[laudergayle]

Thanks for your balanced review.  A couple days in Positano sound amazing!  It’s on my very long bucket list.

[surfone]

We have to agree with you on several comments,  We were on the cruise just before yours (we did Athens to trieste) we are not big foodies but thought the food was not good in the MD. Servuce was good in the MD>   Cagneys not good and neither was the service which was very surprising.  Maybe our waiter just had a bad night.  We usually don't eat in the buffet but did on this cruise and it was much better than the MD>   ate at the Japanese steak house which was just ok.  Le Bistro again was a let down.  We've have not had a very good meal there on several of our cruises  since post Covid.

 

Ports made up for it all though,  and was a trip we will never forget.  I like the size of the Pearl.