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Pearl review & pictures Dec. 16th

GottaLuvCruising

By GottaLuvCruising,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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GottaLuvCruising

GottaLuvCruising

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We left the ship this morning, drove to Orlando, picked up the cat, unpacked, working on laundry...but uploaded some pictures (so far only staterooms - will do public areas later) to Kodak Gallery. Wrote review on laptop in the car. Need a nap...

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=10q6e9zr.bhbwzg83&Uy=ksu8uk&Ux=0

 

Norwegian Pearl 12/18/06

 

We had the pleasure of sailing on the 12/16 inaugural and were able to stay on board the ship while docked in Miami, so we did not encounter embarkation for the four-day cruise. However, the process was painless on 12/16.

 

We were booked in an oceanview stateroom on deck five. Ours was equipped to be a triple with two lower twins and a pullman. We asked our stateroom attendant to make the twins up as a queen and she promptly did so. We liked the bathroom with sliders for the shower and commode areas, but I don’t know how a larger person would manage with the rather small bathroom. Our room was also smaller than most other rooms we have had. Storage for hanging clothes was limited, but there were plenty of drawers and shelves for everything else. We had excellent temperature control, but did hear from some other guests that their room was always too warm. I used the vanity to do my hair & makeup and my husband used it to work on the laptop. We had another small table with a coffee maker…not so sure that was a good use of space, but perhaps some guests do make coffee in their rooms. We had a small flat-screen high-definition TV. We felt that the channels provided were better than what we have experienced on 20 other cruises. There were a couple news stations, a couple national stations (TNT, Cartoon network and maybe another?) and a couple channels running newer release movies. We were pleased that the TV offered a sleep timer as we usually fall asleep with it on. Our stateroom attendant was wonderful! She was always sweet and cheerful when we saw her in the passageway. Our room was cared for perfectly, but we never saw her in it. A couple times she directed us to the correct room when we made a wrong turn…as if she actually knew who we were and where we belonged. She was just so sweet and made a great impression on us. We did show our appreciation on the last evening of the cruise, despite the automatic service charge.

 

We had sailed on the Norwegian Jewel a year ago, so this ship felt very familiar. I loved the bolder colors and felt that they did a wonderful job coordinating the décor. The ship wasn’t as elegant as some others, but it was very beautiful and interesting. The deck plan was quite annoying as, like many other ships, “you can’t get there from here” played out over and over again. But we learned our way around (more or less) in just a couple days. We liked the Tahitian Pool deck area as it offered covered (shady) spaces for those of us who are not sun worshippers. One deck above and open to the pool, there were plenty of chaises for guests who wanted to lay out in the sun, but enjoy the music and activity on the pool area below. There were two larger pools, one was supposed to be adult only, enforced fairly well. But there were ALWAYS children in all four hot tubs. If any were designated as adult only, it was definitely not enforced and the source of great frustration on our part. We enjoyed the hot tubs only once as they were always teeming with kids. We found a fairly quiet area with chaises in the shade but an oceanview and open deck so we could hear the ocean on deck 13 aft. It was actually on the jogging track and with ping-pong tables, but we camped out there in relative peace and quiet most of the time. I enjoy reading and managed a whole book during this short cruise.

 

Freestyle Dining…not so much. We never went hungry and we enjoyed most of our meals. But there is nothing “freestyle” about the arrangements. If you wish to dine in a specific restaurant, you must make reservations, or you will be turned away at the door in favor of those folks who knew two or three days in advance what time they would be hungry and where they wished to dine. We made reservations twice to be sure we could enjoy the restaurants we wanted (nothing “Freestyle” about planning days in advance!) That said, we enjoyed the restaurants very much. The cream of mushroom soup @ Le Bistro was the best I’ve ever had. We loved our filet mignons @ Cagneys. At Mambos, we were treated to a table at the railing, overlooking the Crystal Atrium with Trio Amigos (or something like that) performing. Our fajitas were awesome, but the dessert (cream puffs, coffee ice cream, chocolate, almonds) was one of the best we’ve enjoyed on a cruise ship. We enjoyed wonderful service in all venues, although at times it was a little slow since it’s a new ship and the are just working the bugs out. The casual dining / buffet was OK. We felt that it offered the same stuff day after day with only a few dishes varying. Nothing was particularly exciting. The pasta was perfectly cooked as I like mine al dente, but the sauces were mediocre at best. They had an adequate salad bar, plus the same grill items day after day. The carving station and a couple hot dishes varied, but otherwise the same basic stuff and it got old fast, particularly when we had no dinner reservations and were forced to go to the casual dining or wait an hour for a table in the main restaurant. This was a new ship and we’re hopeful that things will run more smoothly after the Pearl has done a few cruises. But to be on the safe side, we’ll make reservations for our Alaska cruise as soon as we board.

 

Entertainment…We do NOT like Jean and Ryan Productions. Some guests did, which really surprised us, because we were totally turned off by all three main shows (Tubez, SeaLegs, Garden of the Geisha). The entertainers were very talented and the show lounge was great. But we really did not like the big production shows. Tubez was themed for 16 year olds with weird music (rap and other unrecognizable crap). Sea Legs had no theme and wandered from one type of music to another with no continuity. A few of the routines were nice, but the show had no direction. Garden of the Geisha was well themed, with great costumes, but just didn’t capture our attention. I would so much have preferred Broadway show tunes or any kind of theming with fun upbeat music we recognized. But we did find plenty to do. “Second City” the ship’s improv performers were delightful and we really enjoyed that show. The magician was awesome and put on a great show. The entertainers in the smaller venues were very good and we enjoyed wandering around the ship checking out the varied music. The show band was wonderful. There were plenty of activities around the ship and guests seemed to be enjoying them. We relaxed and read, slept a lot and found this to be a quiet cruise for us.

 

We loved the cruise director, Matt Baker. He was friendly, personable, hysterical and very high-energy. Matt was everywhere and very accessible to the guests. We hope he is still on board when we sail to Alaska on the Pearl.

 

We have been to both Key West and Cozumel many times and planned to stay on the ship and enjoy having it to ourselves. Apparently plenty of other guests had the same intentions! We anchored off Key West and guests had to tender in; that process took hours and I’m glad we decided to stay put. In Cozumel, we changed our minds and walked into town to do just a little shopping. Getting off and back on the ship was clean and easy with no lines.

 

 

Odds & Ends…We got such a kick out of the stateroom passageway carpets as they were designed with tropical fish all swimming forward. This facilitated us heading in the right direction (although, as already noted, we still missed our stateroom at times!) We found the temperature in the public areas to be rather cool. I chose to wear outfits with jackets and shoes & socks most of the time, as I was always cold. We detest cigarette smoke and did find it annoying a few times. But generally we were able to avoid smoky areas which contributed to a more pleasant cruise experience.

 

Disembarkation was unbelievable! We had our breakfast, got our bags (carried everything off ourselves) and walked off the ship @ 7:40am. No kidding! We were on I-95, headed north @ 7:50am. That has never happened before in 20 cruises.

 

Overall, we had a wonderful time. It’s a beautiful ship with excellent service, generally very good food, some good entertainment. We look forward to sailing Alaska on the Pearl in May.

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BettyNL

BettyNL

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Just booked repositioning next May on Pearl, so really appreciate this "sneak preview".....

 

By the way, GottaLuvCruising: We also have an oceanview on Deck 5 so we found your comments most interesting --- indeed who knows when they will be hungry in three days :D

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whatawonderfulworld

whatawonderfulworld

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Thanks so much for the review, very nice flow and easy to read. I absolutely loved the pictures and thank you for taking the time to post them.

 

We're looking forward to our cruise in September and seeing what our room will look like is really terrific.

 

I may sound a little nuts, but each Pearl review is like opening another Christmas present...I learn more with each one I read. And when there are photos attached...geesh...that's like hitting the lottery for me! :eek:

 

Thanks again!

 

W A W W

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HIPPIE KILLER

HIPPIE KILLER

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:) hello,Im getting in at 12:00,on jan 14th,from the nine day,whats your estimate of how fast I will be able to disembark?,if i carry my bags off etc......I have a limo picking me and my family up out front of the peir at 12:45,then straight to the airport,PBI!?am i ok??thanks alot,greg,oh if anyone cares to see my pics of my big tattooed body(in antigua etc) they are over at cruise mates,search hippie killer

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Zeno

Zeno

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Lovely photos! I enjoyed the review a lot.

 

One point of clarification though - it is only for the "specialty" restaurants that one needs to make a reservation (unless of course you are in a large group who wish to dine together every night). On all three of our NCL cruises we (just 3 of us) dined mainly in the main dining rooms and never had to wait longer than 10 minutes to be seated. (Note one caveat - on "lobster" (optional formal night) it is generally a good idea to dine early (before 6:30 or late after 8 PM) - for some reason half the ship seems to decide to want to dine at 7PM that night (the only time we have ever seen significant line-ups for the dining rooms on any of our cruises).

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coka

coka

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Wowsa wowsa wowsa! Great review and great pictures of the cabins and ship! The slide show at kodakgallery worked a lot better than others who used webshots...at least on my computer!

 

Sign me up for cabin 11512! Great decor!

 

Remind me to not request 9003...looks like they had leftover curtain and carpet material from the Jewel's 10000 cabin! LOL,

 

Coka

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GottaLuvCruising

GottaLuvCruising

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Is it at all possible to make reservations at the specialty restaurants PRIOR to boarding the ship??

 

At this time, you cannot. However, we were told that the option will be coming in 2007. I'll be watching for it. But I do think that will make the cruise all the more frustrating for guests who don't book reservations in advance.

 

And, yes, in response to Zeno, the reservations do not apply to the main dining rooms unless you are in a group that makes arrangements in advance. But that was also frustrating as our wait times were extended. But I was told by other guests that they've cruised on other ships and had to wait only a short time for the main dining rooms. We hope that will be the case in May.

 

For H.K. (Greg?) - If I understand correctly that your ship docks at noon and you plan to be in the limo @ 12:45, I think you may be cutting it too close.

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Zeno

Zeno

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And, yes, in response to Zeno, the reservations do not apply to the main dining rooms unless you are in a group that makes arrangements in advance. But that was also frustrating as our wait times were extended. But I was told by other guests that they've cruised on other ships and had to wait only a short time for the main dining rooms. We hope that will be the case in May.

 

 

I wonder if this has anything to do with the Pearl being "new". We cruised

on the Sun (2x) and the Sky and we were nearly always seated as soon as we arrived at the dining room (we usually dined at about 6:30PM - occasionally earlier or later).

I certainly hope for future Pearl cruisers that it is just a question of "getting things in proper efficient working order on a new ship".

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HIPPIE KILLER

HIPPIE KILLER

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At this time, you cannot. However, we were told that the option will be coming in 2007. I'll be watching for it. But I do think that will make the cruise all the more frustrating for guests who don't book reservations in advance.

 

And, yes, in response to Zeno, the reservations do not apply to the main dining rooms unless you are in a group that makes arrangements in advance. But that was also frustrating as our wait times were extended. But I was told by other guests that they've cruised on other ships and had to wait only a short time for the main dining rooms. We hope that will be the case in May.

 

For H.K. (Greg?) - If I understand correctly that your ship docks at noon and you plan to be in the limo @ 12:45, I think you may be cutting it too close.

I CHANGED MY LIMO TO 1PM,IF I CARRY OFF MY BAGS,AND LET THE PURSERS KNOW I NEED TO GO,HOPFULLY ILL MAKE IT,DID I MENTION MY PLANE LEAVES FROM WEST PALM BEACH AT 355PM? THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT,GREG
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mrtractor

mrtractor

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Looks like you have beat me to it again! We'll be going on the Pearl in February, but alas in a lowly balcony room. Please tell us all about it when you get back and post some pix!

 

MrTractor<--------knows Sandy and Dave will have a "posh" time on the Pearl..............

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