Just back from XMASS on the Pearl

[idjaffe]

a quick review.

 

My family and I had a great time. This was our 4th cruise in the last 3 years, 2 on RCCL, 1 0n Carnival, and this one. So we have a pretty good point of comparison.

 

Embarkation - terrific. 1 hour from dropping luggage to on board at lundh.

 

Pearl itself - clean, new, well maintained...and rather boring. The "artwork" is nothing special, and the layout of the overall ship is very broken up...no sence of excitment.

 

Stateroom - 1st major issue. We had an outside cabin for 4 people....now we know that it is always tight, but this was silly. When we got to the stateroom, the stewart told us that the room was really for 3. It did not even have a 4th birth. Went to the desk to complain, and was told that we would get a rollaway. When it came, my daughter had to sleep with 1/4 of her bed UNDER my wife's - because thay could not fit 3 beds plus the drop down in the room. NCL should be embarrased that they sell this as a 4 cabin.

 

Food/dinning - all the food on ship was good. Like the action stations vs a traditional buffet. La Cuccina was fun - kids loved the pastas and pizza. Indigo (which we liked far better than Summer Palace) was very good. Cagnees was a good steak, but NOT as good as a real stakehouse. Better than beef and ale, but not Smith and W's or the Palm, or Arthur's, or NY Prime, or Maxwells, or one of the other "great" steakhouses around the country. The Japanese steakhouse was good - to me they all taste the same, but the show was worth the $$$. The real LOOSER was LOTUS GARDEN....1st the service was awfull - 30 min to get a waiter, and another 25 before we saw the first bite of food...and then it was ICE COLD. Bad...real bad....do not eat there bad.....NCL should be ashamed bad.....

 

POOL area - was great. Slide is fun, and like the fact that there was adults only pool and hottub. NCL needs to regulate the main pooll better - saw MANY swimming diapers in the pool and the hottub - yuck. The band at the pool was excellent....highlight of the trip for my kids - watching my 5 year old boy get up with the band and sing Margaritaville...at hte band's request.

 

Rock wall - kids had a blast. George was very kind to my 5 yr olds, learned their names the first day, and called out to them every time he saw them.....my son ended up giving him a huge hug goodbye on the last day.....

 

Kid's club - Excellent. One of the best we have been too.....most of the counslers were from the USA or UK, and that made my kids feel very welcomed. Activites were the run of the mill, but done with big smiles.

 

Shows - boo. Carnival's are much better, and RCCL is a step up as well. With the exception of the 2nd city scripted show, the rest were a 5 on a scale from 1 - 10. The magician was particularly bad.

 

Nightlife - overall not a lot going on...1 or 2 shows, and the piano area (not a sing along piano bar). This may have to do with Freestyle, but the general tone of each night was reserved and quite.....Personaly prefer the "Fun ships" where there is great entertainment in every room.

 

Ports - NCL has some work to do here.....

 

Samana - a complete and total waist! (And we find something good about every port we go to...) EVERYONE we talked to said that this was a looser...did not hear 1 good thing about this stop.

 

Tortola - our favorite stop. Went to the bath's with Patouche..GREAT! One note - there is no reason for a 4:30 all aboard...the next day is in St. Thomas which is only 11 nautical miles away....while I understand that NCL wants our bar and casino $$s, this is silly. Make the all aboard 7PM....you will still get the casino $$ and post dinner bar bills, and the passangers can have a full day in port.

 

St. Thomas - Loved the port (even if we did have to tender), and the island. Did a private sail with the Winifred - definitly take another charter...I will post our expierience under St. Thomas port of call.

 

NCL Private Island - NCL should be embarrased. Maybe 30 years ago this was a great stop...but not anymore. The RCCL island is right next door (you can see it when you tender in), and I can tell you from personal expierience that it is FAR supperior. The beach is only a couple of hundred yards, and can not handle the crowds from the Pearl....saw a ton of people going back by 2PM. People were fighting for space and chairs. The lunch on the island was ok (nothing special). Also, while the last tender was called for 5:30, all food was shut down at 3PM. Can not tell you how many people missed the chance to eat, AND the hundreds that were looking for a 3:30 snack.

 

Kids eat luch at 12 or 1PM, at 3 are looking for something - a cookie or ice cream or fruit....there was nothing. One of the line workers saw that people were gettig mad, and started to open up a container of brownies...swarms of people started digging in, and the supervisor yelled at her to put the food away...too many people were still eating! Well if too many people are eating, then maybe you have closed up WAY too early. RCCL does this much nicer and on a much nicer beach. The RCCL beach goes almost alll the way around the island, which gives you a chance to find a nice spot to sit and enjoy the sand. On this beach there was no room for kids to dig with a pail.

 

Overall feeling about NCL - average - not great. We had a great time, but that was due to great weather and our general good mood as travelers. If you are going with another couple of 2 where you are going to make your own good times, then it works....but for a big group, or if you are looking for "excitment" then I would go with Carnival or RCCL.

 

Please feel free to ask questions.....

 

Idjaffe

[heelfan94]

Thanks for the review. Which category cabin were you in?

[cruisewmn]

Nightlife - overall not a lot going on...1 or 2 shows, and the piano area (not a sing along piano bar). This may have to do with Freestyle, but the general tone of each night was reserved and quite.....Personaly prefer the "Fun ships" where there is great entertainment in every room.

 

....but for a big group, or if you are looking for "excitment" then I would go with Carnival or RCCL.

Idjaffe

 

We're set to sail on the Pearl in Alaska this summer and are looking at a Southern Caribbean cruise for next December. Can you describe the nightlife in more detail? Were there people in any of the bars or nightclubs? Recently, we've been sailing on Disney which is pretty quiet by midnight. We don't need a party atmosphere, but we don't want to be the only ones at Bliss, either.:confused: Thanks!

[electricron]

Many agree with you that Great Stirrup Cay's beach is too small for the large ships in NCL's fleet. This isn't new news!:rolleyes:

I don't understand why you thought there was nothing to do in Samana.

NCL offers the following excursions, I can't believe one didn't tickle your interests.:confused:

Catamaran Sail & Snorkel

Caves, Mangroves & Rainforest Exploration

Cayo Levantado Beach Escape and Party

Discover Samana

Historical Walking Tour

Jeep Safari Adventure

Salto El Limon Horseback Ride

Self Drive 4 X 4 Expedition

Cayo Farola Scuba

Cayo Farola Snorkeling & Beach

ATV Adventure

Las Terrenas Town & Beach

Las Terrenas Beach & Horseback Riding

 

Maybe you should have gone to the beach at Samana, and stayed aboard the ship at Great Stirrup Cay?:)

[idjaffe]

Cabin 5058.

 

Nightlife was generaly quite but ok....no real parties going on. The deck party on night 3(?) was hopping, but other than that.....

 

 

As for Samana - If you want to get off the boat I would defintly book an excursion, and not do it on your own. For a variety of reasons, the excursions did not work for us, BUT I will give a quick note on each:

 

Catamaran Sail & Snorkel - we already had booked sails in both Tortola and St. T

Caves, Mangroves & Rainforest Exploration - no kids

Cayo Levantado Beach Escape and Party - we planned on doing this on our own...general feeling from those that did this is that it was not worth it.

 

Discover Samana - boring

Historical Walking Tour - ditto

Jeep Safari Adventure - kids too young

Salto El Limon Horseback Ride - heard there were not enough horses

Self Drive 4 X 4 Expedition - kids too young

Cayo Farola Scuba - ditto

Cayo Farola Snorkeling & Beach - ditto

ATV Adventure - ditto

Las Terrenas Town & Beach - heard from others that the tour operator did not show up for over 2 hours

Las Terrenas Beach & Horseback Riding - same horse problem.

[newmexicoNita]

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your NCL cruise as much as others you have taken but it sounds like your kids had a good time. NCL does offer a good kids program.

 

As for the food and entertainment, we have always enjoyed both. It sounds like you enjoyed the food but not the entertainment. Our experience has been it is much better than HAL and somewhat better than Celebrity, can't compare with RCI as we haven't cruised them for some time. Yes, the island isn't equipted for the large influx of people although DD and I had a ball there last spring. We found it relaxing, fun to watch everyone playing volley ball and the lunch was great. Maybe in the future NCL will consider relocating their private island or just do away with it.

 

We didn't like Samana but didn't book a tour. That was our own fault.

 

As for the decor, my boss thought the ship was outstanding and absolutely beautiful. I guess it is a matter of what one is looking for. Cabins, well NCL isn't known for their large cabins, nor is RCI. If size is important I think Carnival is the line to cruise.

 

I don't mean to be picking your review apart as I feel you gave a very good, objective opinion as you saw it. I am just sorry you didn't find it more to your liking. NMnita

[idjaffe]

Don't get me wrong...we had a great time. There are certainly advantages to NCL....Like that the slide is right next to the main pool.....LOVED the outside adult pool - and the fact that they kept the kids out.

 

But to be fair in the review, there is certainly room for improvment....

 

IDJ

[hadleys9538]

Since you had children with you, can you tell me what the upcharge is for them in the specialty restaurants? Is it the same as the adult charge? Thanks!

[calmac]

Since you had children with you, can you tell me what the upcharge is for them in the specialty restaurants? Is it the same as the adult charge? Thanks!

 

Unless the policy has been changed, children will be charged the full surcharge if they select items from the specialty restaurant's menu. If they select items from the children's menu then they won't be charged.

[electricron]

Since you had children with you, can you tell me what the upcharge is for them in the specialty restaurants? Is it the same as the adult charge? Thanks!

 

It's the same if they order from the Speciality Restaurant menu, but free if they order from the Kid's Menu.

[sneakerstud]

I laways lovem when people go with party of 3 or 4 in one tiny cabin and then complain about the size...how stupid! It is even for one person like Camping!

To the nightlife on the Pearl I can only say one thing...the ship is pumping till the whee hours! I never got to bed before 3am or 4am that week I spend on her.

[hadleys9538]

Thank you!!!

[beachseasand]

I laways lovem when people go with party of 3 or 4 in one tiny cabin and then complain about the size...how stupid! It is even for one person like Camping!

To the nightlife on the Pearl I can only say one thing...the ship is pumping till the whee hours! I never got to bed before 3am or 4am that week I spend on her.

 

I did not like the bed configuration. I was not complaining about the size. They had something fine with the Majesty and questioned why they would change to this antiquated system of a trundle in the middle of the room. Just because people are on a tight budget does not make them stupid. I would rather go on a trip in a lower deck than not go at all.:p

[newmexicoNita]

I laways lovem when people go with party of 3 or 4 in one tiny cabin and then complain about the size...how stupid! It is even for one person like Camping!

To the nightlife on the Pearl I can only say one thing...the ship is pumping till the whee hours! I never got to bed before 3am or 4am that week I spend on her.

I rarely book more than 3 in a cabin unless someone insists. Yes, it is less expensive but cabins were not meant to hold 4 people. Cruise lines know they have to design some cabins to hold more than 2 or 3 so they can sell out, but 4 in any cabin other than Disney is just not terribly workable. I cruised with both daughters about 10 years ago. We were on Carnival and survived but I don't think I would want to do it again. When our daughter started cruising with her girls, they were about 10 and 14 she always got 2 cabins; she even got 2 hotel rooms. NMnita

[cruisewmn]

To the nightlife on the Pearl I can only say one thing...the ship is pumping till the whee hours! I never got to bed before 3am or 4am that week I spend on her.

 

Thanks for responding -- we won't be out that late, but it's nice to know the option exists!:D

[luv2cruisecarnival]

ldjaffe: Do you happen to have a picture of the cabin for 4? We have sailed with Carnival several times in an outside room and always had room with 4 people in the cabin. Keep in mind that my son was 6 and my daughter 16 on our last cruise. They are now 8 and 17, but I was hoping for the same room configuration as Carnival.

 

We are also on deck 5, sailing on 3/16. My inlaws are paying for this cruise as a gift for my daughters 18th bday, so we did not have a lot of input.

 

Debbie

[cantwait2cruize]

Can anyone compare a RCCL JS to NCL mini suite?

[shoreguy]

ldjaffe: Do you happen to have a picture of the cabin for 4? We have sailed with Carnival several times in an outside room and always had room with 4 people in the cabin. Keep in mind that my son was 6 and my daughter 16 on our last cruise. They are now 8 and 17, but I was hoping for the same room configuration as Carnival.

 

We are also on deck 5, sailing on 3/16. My inlaws are paying for this cruise as a gift for my daughters 18th bday, so we did not have a lot of input.

 

Debbie

 

It depends - standard inside or outside way to cozy

Balcony quad a lot like Carnival with two twins, a bunk and sofa bed. Below from the sun but similar.

[shoreguy]

Standard inside about the same as an outside:eek:

[luv2cruisecarnival]

Yikes! Thanks Shoreguy. Appears the cabins on Carnival are a little more roomy. Maybe my dfil will get a call from the upgrade fairy! I can't imagine 9 days at sea with 3 beds across the room!

[luv2cruisecarnival]

 

This is what you we used to on Carnival. The fourth bed comes out of the ceiling above the couch (which makes into a full size bed)

[luv2cruisecarnival]

sorry

[idjaffe]

Thanks - I've been called worse by much better.

 

Yes - the picture from Shoreguy is on target ....except in our case the 3rd bed did not "pop up" it was 4 inches off of the ground.

 

The picture of Carnival is also accurate....2 beds, and then a couch that folded out and one from the ceiling. MUCH BETTER.

 

Bottom line is that you can see the difference in space on the web site and descriptions, but until you see it in real life you do not realize the total inpact to the room.

 

For those that are concerned about space for 4 in a stateroom, the PEARL is TIGHT.

 

Idjaffe

[idjaffe]

At the Japanese Steakhouse they charged the kids 1/2 price.

 

At Lotus the Mait'r de comped the meal due to HORRIBLE service and food.

[jimc_usa]

Can you explain the "action stations"? And how many "free" restaurants compared to the one that charge extra?